5$" do antecedently make themknown. And God could caufe blell'ed Spi- rits toknow all his cr- feCtions before there was any fin. 2. Gods Holinefs andGoodnefs is called Mercy and Ju- Ilice.by extrinfick deno- mination, and connota- tion of fin and mifery. And if his Holinefs and Goodnefs had been known as preventing all fin andmifery , men will think that he bath not proved that this had been Evil in the Uni- verfe, or lefs .Good. 3. Pafta Diving Valit'- one asthe rule of Goo , it followeth I con s,. that it were evil no to have that will fulfilled: But I deny, that God willeth fin or its eri Ilene. Therefore it is not Good becaufe not Yolitum àneo. It is fuf- ficient, that it is not fo far evil as tobe Abfolutè Nalitum ; but onlyevil, r. As prohibitum, 2. As hurtful to thefinner, and to others. Methinks they that maintain that fin is Privatio y Iliould not fay, that it is Poftiv Valium à Dea. 4. All this dependeth on that curious quefiion , Could not God havemade the Worldbetter than it is ? or at leaft as good with many alterations from what it is ? They that hold the firft, fay that God freely made things nobetter than theyare : Eut had there been no Devils, no Sin,no Toads, no diforder, the world had been better, that is, a perfeCter demonfirati- on ofGods perfedion. Bat they that are more modelt , are content with the latter, and fay, that God - freely made things as they are, and not necellárily. But it bad been necefarily if no other may had been as good. And that if God had pleatedto Thew his Goodnefs by pre- venting all fin , it had been as Good, and no lofs or difparagemeut to the Utsiverfe. 5. And bedots through all his Books beg the quefiion, Whether a meer occafi- on be a conducible "ore- dinrn and fo; good ? If lie will fireídr the word Of Cod's gracious Operations on Man's Soul And therefore it is but ccnfonant to the ref( of his works, that MAN is 'neither pettedly like to Angels nor toBrutes: For as God made one fort of creatures naturally determined to things fenfable, and another fort ne, cefarily ( though freely ) determined to things fpiritual fò it pleafed him to make a middle fort, endued with Reafon andfree-will , undeter- mined as to their choice, andablefreely to determinetheir own Volitions, without any predetermining premotion of their Creator or any other. That fo they might be fit fubjeds to be governed,in this Life, by Laws and other moral means. *. 4. God asCreator makethpabfiantes, with their vece f faryAccidents and as the NaturalOrderer of them, placed' them in their natural order : and as Motor ( or Actor ) he caufeth Action as fuch ; But as Moral Reiter he caufeth only the MoralOrder of Altions, as far as be!ongeth to a Recior ( the reft being prefuppofed in Nature, ) and leaveth it to man to caufethe reft. 0.5. Seeing God is not to be blamed for making Inch a creature as man ( of a middle, defeEtible, undetermined Will, left to hisfree choice, with neceflary helps,) it being part of the beauty ofhis works tobe di_ verfified ; He is not then to be blamed for any of the fins of fuck a creature, becaufe he fupporteth his Being and hisAdtive Nature, and is his firft caufe of Adlion. 6. God could prevent all future fin, if he abfolutely willedfo to do, either by deftroying the World, or difabling the (inner, or by withhold- ing his Moving Influx, or by fuch a change of his nature, as Mould make him indefectible. But he that made man, in this .Middle fate, will fo continue him, and not make a change in the frame of Nature, to fulfil our wills. ?).1. No All as an44-t, nor/hi/4aas Vital, no intellection, novoli- tion as fuch, is Virtue or Sin ; And therefore to caufe it as fuch is not to caufe either moralgood or evil. 0.8. As God is Related to us as out Owner, Ruler and our chiefgood, (efficiently as our Benefactor, and finally asour End;) fo to confent to thefe Relations, and: to theDutiesof our correlations,and toPrattife them, is the fumm of all Moral Good; even Difpofitively and Afíually, to be Reigned and devoted to God as otir Owner, to obey and pleafe him as our Ru/er , and to be Thankful to Him, and totally Love Hir, as our Benefactor and ourultimate End. AllMoral Goodnefs lyeth in this. (). "g. By which it appgareth , that Morality confitleth in the due or undue O RDER ofour adtions and difpofitions, as they are a Moral Agent's related toGod himfelf in thefe three Relations, and to his Adìions therein, viz. his Difpofals, his Laws, and his Attratiive final Goodnefs withhis Benefits. - . I o. , In thefe, the Morality confifieth as fampliciter tali- in all three infepárably, (as Gods Relations are infeparable and our correlations: ) Bat the Relation of our A&ions to any one of them, is. Morality fecun- duns quid. 0..11. And among them all, ourAetion, (fubmiffion, refignation, pa- tience) to God meetly as our Owner, is Moral but in the flendereft initial fence. And our A&ions as related to him as our Rahn, are Moral in ,the fuller formal fenfe ,: ( And therefore by molt accounted the only formalMorality,as being a relation to a Law) : But yet our Adi- ons as Related to God ourBenefie tar, Lover and End, are Moral in the higheft, moti perfeétive notion. ßìs_
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