Of . Predegindtiói> . B. t. Even fore -knowledge it fell, fay the Schools; is but the fame with knowledge, and fpoken ( fay they) but to the refpe& and fenceof man. There being neither print velpoterius, beforeor after in eternity But this I now infitt not on. 2. It is commonly taken for blafphemy, to talkof a Caufeof God, or any thing in God. IfGods Will be his Effence, it hath no Caufe. He caufeth not himfelf, being no Effect. 3. If this were fo asyou fay, yet (till you make but God himfelf the : Cattleof hisown Will by his knowledge. * For Sin fore-fen is no Sin, n Vafgne7 en or: d.91. and nothing is no Castle 5 fo that you your felf refolve all into God. GodsDecree,Divin And indeed, what can be acaufe of the firft Caufe, or any thing in voluntatisnonfrtum neat tom effe eaufatsAdieu: him ? motivam , per toodom ob- Life not tergiverfation, and vain wordsnow, and tell me what you jetti, fedetiam nolrom If have to fay. objeitum. creation quad y pop Pea rife ratio volendi A. A thing not exiftent, but fore-feen, may be a moral Cartfe, though altnd, fed folam foam boni- nota h tcal and fo fore-teenSinmaybe to God. tan r rni(e tamers union p yf y creation abjeCTúm effe ra- B. I. Yet dare you talk ofa Caufe ofGod: There is nothing in tionem e4 canfam altering God but God. To be a caufe ofhis Will, is commonly faidto be a drrtahcet Dens on vent caufe of his Effence 5 And{hall fo bale a thing as Sin caule God ? 2.We p piera /iau,mv l e rmen are ftill at the cheating Game, of playing with arbitrary Notions. unam rem creatamefleprop- What mean youbya moral caufe ? If a true caufe ofmoralBeings, that's akerir*Ñoeo ¿oe `11,e7;../4 one thing : If any thing that is not phyfically or properly, but by moral mooan aliudfit ratio me- imputation only a caufe of any event, that's another thing. The firs} C a vnó E yodnmf ré you dare not own, as ifany thing which is nothing ( Sin not exiftent ) prster foambonitatem ni- tvere a Caufe of Gods Will. The fecond Caufe is called Caufs meta- Ìdbdifp9 .c.4Refeettu phorica : It is really tto Caufe 5 but that, for which the Agent thall have volnntatis Dei ntbtl fuck praifeordifpraife as belongeth to one that is equivocally a Caufe. ere eft id cialigratin, ér ratio neléndt aftgutd ; 3. Thereforeif you ufe not theword [caufe] equivocally, your rule fedproptergeodcæteraelf isfalle. Nothing is nomoral Caule. You will inftance in good dFred, vat Dens. infine nondum ex f ente, &c. But I anfwer you, Goodand amiable are Accidentsor Modes, which are never foundbut in an exiftent entity or fubje&. Anegatiouefubjetliadnegationemaccidentis, & negatione eft fecxndlAdjeîli adnegationem efi tertii, valet argumentum. That which is,not, is not good oramiable : Therefore that which exifteth not is nd Caufe. But if wewill let go the toy, and come to the matter 5 It is no othergood, but the deftre ofgood, or the apprehenfion of the fiattrity of good which caufeth fo that all the caufe is in the Agent. 4. The common reafon of man mutt acknowledge, that when any man faith, That fin which is no f n, and nothingasfore fees is the moral caute ofGods Will, he mutt needs mean no real caufe5 Becaufe to be a caufe, is tertiumAdjeclum, and prefuppofeth to be : That which is not, is not a' caufe 5 much lefs ofGod, or of his Will. A. I can thewyou, that you overthrown theChriftian Religion by yourLogick : For if this hold true, then the fore fight ofChrilc's Incar- nation and Sufferings, &c. was nomoral true caufe of Gods Will to par- donSm, and faveSouls, to thole under the Promife before the Incar- nation. B. Your diverlion turneth us from the matter, but advantagethyou not at all. Would you bringit to denyfo evident a Principleas this,that . nothing candonothing, nor caufe nothing. It wasnot Chríft'sBodyor ailuat Suffering, not yet exiftent, that caufed Gods Will to pardon Sinners. Nor had Gods Willany proper cattle : But feeing God willed one thing' to be the meansofanother, he willed that Chrift's ïncarnation andDeath fhould in the fulnefsof time demonftrate hisJuttice, and makeit agree- able to theends ofhis Government to difpenee with the Law ofIrmo: eency,'
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