The reconcilableness of God's prescience of the sins of men with the wisdom and…The reconcileableness of God's prescience of the sins of men with the wisdom and…

And whereas the conjunction is rare, among men, of deep political wisdom, with integrity and strict righteousness; This proceeds from the imperfection and insufficiency of the former in great part, that they know not how to compass their designs, unless often, by supplying their want of wisdom, out of the spoil and violation of their justice and honesty. Otherwise, these are things not so altogether out of credit in the world, but that men would rather accomplish their purposes by fair and unexceptionable means, if they could tell how. Only the ⟨p. 21⟩respect and deference they have for them is less, than what they bear to their own interests and ends.

But besides the natural inflexible rectitude of the divine Will, we are secured, from his all-sufficiency, that we shall never be fraudulently imposed upon by any of his declarations unto the children of men. For there is nothing to be gained by it: And we cannot conceive what inducement he should have, to make use of any so mean and pitiful shifts for the governing of his Creatures, whom he spontaneously raised out of nothing, and hath so perfectly within his power.

But besides the natural inflexible rectitude of the divine Will, we are secured, from his all-sufficiencie, that we shall never be fraudulently imposed upon by any of his declarations unto the children of men. For there is nothing to be gained by it: And we cannot conceive what inducement he should have, to make use of any so mean and pitiful shifts for the governing of his Creatures, whom he spontaneously raised out of nothing, and hath so perfectly within his power.

Unless we should be so most intolerably injurious to him, as to imagine a worse thing of him than we would of the worst of ⟨p. 22⟩