Of f Prèdeffination. C. Godwilleth not the Form, that is, fin asfin, andyet he willeth the AEi with all its circumflances. B. I have told you before that awicked man may will tin in matter and form, and yet not will it asfn. To will it asfin, is totake theform offin as fuch tobe good, and fo tobe theratiovolendi ; whichfew ifany Sinners ever do. But towill both matter andform inone, not as the formal reafon of Volition, but making total fin, the matter chafen as a means toforceother defired end , this is poffible for a very wicked man todo : But I think the ordinary cafe ofSinners, is not at all towill the . formof fin, but call that by, andtowill thematterof it, for the carnal pleafure or inferior good which it feemeth to tend to. Now this ex- cufeth not their will from wickednefs, that theywill notmattem flab ra- tiene mali, or fn becaufe it is fin, but for another end. And (hall we charge Godof willing fin as thewickeddo? C. Godwilleth it to agoodend, and they' to anevil end. B. As evil muff not be done, that good may come by it, foneither muff it be willed to that end. Manmayneed fuch a*means tohis ends, but focannot God. Yea, men haveoft good ends for evils Alts : Many lye to glorifie God, and fin for his Caufe and Church, and for their ownand other mensSalvation. Much of the Blood, and Cruelties, and Superftitions in the World, havehadgood ends; whichyet excufednot thethings from finfulnefs. C. God isunder no Law, and therefore cannot (in : But man ir. B. a. That proveth God no Sinner ; but not that he caufeth or milleth not the fin ofman. 2. Gods natural effential Perfe&ion is his Law,and more thanaLaw tohim : And from that Perfe&ionall Laws in the world, that are juft and good, have their Original ; that is, Gods ownLaws are the expreffions of his holy perfeet Will and Nature ; and MansLaws are authorized by, and fubfervient to, and derived from the Làws of God;inNature and Scripture: So that when theApoftle would defcribe a man beft and Iikeft unto God, he faith, That the Law is not made for the Righteous. 3. IfGods Holinefsand Wifdommake man a Law, for- bidding fin on pain of Hell, the fame Wifdom and Holnfs, with his Juhhice and Mercy, will not will the fin fo forbidden, nor caufe it; nor confift with fodoing. C. It is not theformor effence offns that Godwilleth, but theexiftence, and futurityor event ; not fin but that finbe: B. I many ayear ftudied thinkingto prove that true t But I doubt it is but agameat words, and groundlefs diftinguifhing, for a falfe conclu- lion. For, I. Sin is a Relation formally; even a difconformityof an Mt ordifpofition, and foof the perfon to Gods Law. It canno other- wife be caufed, but bymaking the Law, andcauring the All in the circum- flances difconform. God maketh the Law, and God maketh man and his faculties, and Godcaufeth theObjet , and God permitteth the tempter: If God alto caufe the All in the prohibited circum(tances, he doth all thatcan be done in the caufationof fin : And fo of his Volitions or De- crees. As for the effence of fin in notion, without the exiflence, more may be laid that God indeed is fame caufe of that, without culpability, yea by hisHolinefs and Power. For as the Relations of curvitude and Diìmilitude refult from the Relates fsindamentism, as compared to the correlate, or terminus ; fo hé that caufeth anyof them, hath Tome hand in carding the Relation as a Relation: And foGodby forbidding Adul- tery, Lying, Vic. by hisLaw, doth by Inftitution make thofe alts to be fin ; that is,He layeth down the rule from which they are fodenominated when z Sure Arminiese grant- eth enough, and that which Gibeeuf and many School-men deny, and for my pare I cannot grant, when he faith, At per accident bourn ell ut malan flat, proper Dei fapientiam, bonitatem er potentiam, feeundum gaam Deut expeccato mate- riamgloriafueeillu/irande fumit.Eftergopercatan illo refpeblu non mediumper fe illullranda Gloria Divi- na; fedeccafao tantum,non data inbuns finem neq; na- turafaa ad Alm accom- modata,fed a Dee arrepta, er herlammira arts er laadabili abufu ufurpata.] Armin. exam. Perkins. pag. sag. An occafion it is indeed :- but I will notgrant that ex peccato God fetcheth matter for his Glory ; nor that by accident it is good ut fiat. Caterampeccata etiam fecundan rationem male. fix maralir, ebjcita [ant feu materia circa quamdi- vina pradeflinatio verfa- tar t ea modo goner/at/0 penitentia, Vafgn. in r. T11o1.43.a. 5.1ifp.9 ;. ç. z.
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