Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

3. Since 'tis a part of his Mercy and Goodness, 'tis not a constrained or faint-hearted Patience. 'Tis not a slowness to Anger, arising from a despondency of his own p••er to revenge. He hath as much power to punish, as he hath to forbear punishment. He that created a World in six days, and that by a word, wants not a strength to crush all mankind in one minute; and with as much ease as a Word imports, can give satisfaction to his Justice in the blood of the offender. Patience in man is many times interpreted, and truly too, a cowardice, a feebleness of Spirit and a want of strength. But i• […] not from the shortness of the divine arm, that he cannot reach us, nor from th• […] of his hand, that he cannot strike us. 'Tis not because he cannot lev• […] dust […] us in pieces like a Potters Vessel, or consume us as a Moth• […] • tiest, to fall before him, and lay the strongest at his fe• […] crime. He that did not want a powerful Word, to […] want a powerful Word, to dissolve the whole frame of […] it out of being. 'Tis not therefore out of a distrust of his own power, that he hath supported a sinful World for so many ages, and patiently born the Blasphemies of some, the neglects of others, and the ingratitude of all, without inflicting that severe Justice which righteously he might have done; he wants no thunder to crush the whole generation of men, nor waters to drown them, nor Earth to swallow them up. How easy is it for him to single out this or that particular person, to be the object of his Wrath, and not of his Patience? What he hath done to one, he may to another; any signal judgment he hath sent upon one, is an evidence, that he wants not power to inflict it upon all. Could he not make the motes in the Air to choke us at every breath, Rain thunderbolts instead of drops of water, fill the Clouds with a consuming Lightning, take off the reverence and fear of man, which he hath imprinted upon the Creature, Spirit our domestic Beasts to be our Executioners, unloose the Tiles from the house top to brain us, or make the fall of a house to crush us? 'Tis but taking out the pins, and giving a blast, and the work is done. And doth he want a power to do any of those things? 'Tis not then a faint-hearted, or feeble Patience, that he exerciseth towards Man.