>NI 72 Ofthe Nature, "I rronledge, Will that he is Impotent if hecannot fin, or caufe Contradidlions to be true: The cafe is the very fame. 487. Object. Bur Scripture oft afcribeth both Nolitions pfNothings, andKnowledge ofthem unto God. Anfw. And fo mull we in that fenfe as the Scriptureloth We.will fay, and mutt fay of force Nothings, that God Nilleth them. I hope the Lear- ned will not take it amifs, if I fpeak where the Schoolmen are too iì- lent, as well as delire filence where they unprofitably fpeak, as long as the cafe is, I. Weighty, 2. And made plain , 3. And I go the middle healing way. 488: In all thefe cafes and refpedls we afcribe:.Nolitions unto God: I. He that by a Pofitive operationcaufeth a limited caufe, maybe faid to caufe the limitation of effedls by confequence. And he that pofitively willeth realities with fuch limitations , from whence the confequence ne- cetlarily followeth [Nothing elfe will ever be] is laid Morally, or re- putatively or by Conlequence towill thatNothing elfe ¡hall be. Andhe that knoweth all things that belong to the perfedlion óf knowledge , is improperly laid to knowallNothings,in that he ,knoweth that Nothingmore is or will be. And fo as knowingBeings is by confequerite reputatively or morally called theknowing of Nothingsby men, we. are fain to ufe Inch terms of imperfedlion even ofGod, left wefeem to make him Idle or Ig- norant. When we fay, that God is the Caufc that there is no more crea- tures, we mean but that ,he caufeth not more creatures. And fo to fay, thatGodwilleth that there fhall be no moreWorlds, meanethbut that God willeth not that there (hall be more. 489. I I. This Interpretative confequential Ad, which is but morally fo called, is fitlier expreffed in the grofs of univerfal Nothings, than of millions of imaginary particulars. It is fitter to fay, that by willing a limited or finite World, God willed that there fhould be nothing more, than to fay, He willed that there fhould not be. ä Sun in every mans pocket, or Heaven andEarth in every mans fiff, &c. Thoughas to thetruth all is one. 490. II.I. When God pofitively willeth the Pofitive hindering of a thing, he may morally be laid to Null the thing, or to will that it (hall not be. That there are Pofitive Impeditions of God ( by Dr. Twufes leave) I have ellewhereproved : But then youmull. fuppole that as the fountain ofNature, as it were by a Decree, he hath relolved to continue the Nature of things and hisnatural Concurfe.: which fuppofed, their Na- tures may incline them to fuch AFtion as needeth Pofitive Impedttion. So God hindered the fire from burning, and the Lyons from killing Daniel ( it's, like) Dan. 3. & 6. Certainly if aman can flop a Cart-wheel with a Stone, or bind a man in chains, God can do the fame. And mens In- clination to fin needeth a Pofitive Impedition. Now though non-agere is nothing, and hath no caufe, yethe that deftroyeth or hindereth the Caufe ofAIlion, is morally faid to be the Caufe that there is no A&ion : Though fiddly it be but deflroying theCaufe of Adlion, and fo preventing further adlion. And this moral languageeven ofGod is the fitter, becaule it is ofMoral things. 491. IV. And here Gods Law being called his Will, though it be formally but de debito, yet being materially de re ipfa, a double reafon will thence arife. For when God forbiddeth and condemneth fin, &c. 1. He doth verymuch to hinder it, and that pofitively ( and fohe doth by his grace), a. And his prohibition may be called his Nolition fib nified. 492. V.
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