A65285:1700
A Body of Practical Divinity
A body of practical divinity consisting of above one hundred seventy six sermons on the lesser catechism composed by the reverend assembly of divines at Westminster : with a supplement of some sermons on several texts of Scripture / by Thomas Watson ...
London: printed for Thomas Parkurst, 1692
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
1. I begin with the First, the Preface to the Preface, vaiedabbur elohim, God spake all these Words, saying, &c. This is like the Sounding of a Trumpet before a Solemn Proclamation, [God spake;] other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the Mouth of the Holy Prophets, Luke 1.70. but here God spake in his own Person.
Quest. How may we understand this, [God spake,] he hath no Bodily Parts or Organs of Speech?
Resp. God made some intelligible sound, or formed a Voice in the Air, which was to the Jews as God's very speaking to them. In the Text, 1. The Law-giver, God, [God spake.] 2. The Law it self, [all these Words.]
1. The Law-giver, [God spake:] There are Two things requisite in a Law-giver. First, Wisdom. Laws are Founded upon Reason; and he must be Wise that makes Laws. God in this respect is most fit to be a Lawgiver; he is Wise in Heart, Job 9.4. He hath a Monopoly of Wisdom, 1 Tim. 1.17. The only Wise God. Therefore he is the fittest to Enact and Constitute Laws. 2. The Second thing requisite in a Law-giver is Authority. If a Subject make Laws, though never so wise, yet they want the stamp of Authority. God hath the Supreme Power in his Hand; he derives a being to all; and he who gives Men their Lives, hath most right to give them their Laws.