Of PredéFtination. 43 the narrowCreature . hath lower ends befides the Ultimate , infeparable from it. And fo manmutt intend his own felicity, and above that the perfe&ion of the Univerfe, and above that the complacency ofGods Will. 9. And becaufe all the parts are to contribute to the perfeétion of the whole, and foall the parts of themeans do make up oneperfect Univerfe, in the {late ofGlory, and there and then the whole world than bear the livelieft imprefs of the Divine Perfe&ions, this Imprefs or obje&iveSplendor and Imageof God, together with the a&ive Vifion, Loveand Praifeof the glorified (which is part of the faid Image or Imprefs) is called Gods Glory : which fhineth inpart in every part, and perfe&ly in the whole perfectedworld. ao. So that in a word, the perfe&ionof the Univerfe being the medium compleated, . iscalled Gods End in the lowermaterial notion : And thefulfilling and ',leafingof his Will in the perfe&ed world, is called his End in the formal and higher notion. And we can fay no more ofGods vellefinem. C. " Iconfefsyour explicationofGods Endand Intentionfeemeth to be " to agreeable to the Principles ofTheology. B. Anddo you think that it iswife and Chriftian-like dealing to fill the ChurchwithContentions, and make others odious to the people, about theOrder ofGodsDecreesfecundum intentionem, while menknow not whether God do Intendere finens or not ? or what his End is ? or what his Intention is ? or while they miftake all ? Will you makeas manyfines operantis and Intentions inGod, as there arefines opens, and as the means or Creatures are made for one another as an End ? orwill you afftgnto Godone End alone ? C. "Ton know that in that ourDivines do differ.. some that write of the "Order oftheDecrees, make Gods Glory the endof Salvation andDamna- tion, and theft the end of Grace and permitted sin, and thefe the endof " Creation, &e. But Dr. Twifle writeth eegainfi them (even Perkins and, " Beza,&c.). maintaining that Godbathbut two Decrees i onede fine, and " the otherde mediis ; and that hisEnd is but one. B. If you are nobetter agreed, bear with others that differ from you. But either you diverfifie Gods Decreesby their connotedObjects, or as, divers intrinfick real Ads in God. Ifyou fay the latter, your ownParty, . and all the School-Divines, will fay you blafpheme, by making Goddi- vifible or compounded, and will callyou [Tor .}l fans. Ifthe former, how; innumerable mutt you snake GodsDecrees? And why may not the Order as well as thefpecies andnumber of them be fodenominated fromconno- tation? And then you will fay that God firft intended tomake.man as the end of inferior Creatures, and after decreed to make them for man.. And he firft decreed that there fhould be fruit, and then that there fhould be a Tree to bear it, and then thatthis Tree fhould be rooted in theEarth, and then that it fhould be planted, and then that therefhould be Earth andWater to nourifh it, &c. And if poorman be but a little part of Gods Creation, unlefs we could anatomize the whole frame of theUniverfe, how fhould we know juft what place andorder our own intereft bath in fuch a frame amongfo many millionsOf millionsof Crea- tures, ofwhich Angels and the fuperior World are nobler than we? Is he to be numbred with the Churches Friends, who will make us fuch- work, and lay mens love and peace upon it ? C. "But what haveyouagainfi the (impler mayof two Decrees ? B. In Gad thole are not two but one : ButI feenot, but fpeaking after the mannerof men it may pats, as the fafeft diftribution by connotation and extrinfick denomination, if he had but rightlier defcribed thole two. Of which I Paid enough before. G a C.
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