696 OfSupererrQgation. Of Indijferency: Whetl1er Mdrriage be Indifferent. tbhindg it is not wbo11y indifferent• And becaufe it is antmdently ufeltfs , it is co•Jiqutntly fmful to e one. · Objee/. I. §• 9· Object. I . But thofe that fay thin~~ 1ndiffmnt may bt Von>td, mtan not, things ufiltfs or unprojit>hle ." any gocd end ; lut only thofe tbmgrthat art Good aod Vfeful, but n01 commanded: focb"' ab"d~he m1tter (If Gods CounfiUJ, a1:d tend to man1 ptr[tlUon, as to V1R1 Chajliry, PQlltrry and abfolutt o e una. · , . Anfw. There are_ no fuch things, as arc mor.fy Good and not commanded: This is the fiction of Sec the four· men that have a mmd to accu[e Gods Laws and Government of imperf,ction and think fin~ 1 ~fel~~~bc.~r~!~lh can do !utter than. he is commandtil,_ when hone but Chrift ~ver did {o n>tU. ' u m::m of EIIJ,la~td &!tef~· ~· ~hat IS mora) l?oo~nefs m an.y cre~ture and fub)ed', ~ur ~ conformity to hi1 Rulerrwill :~g:~inliVolm;- expr<fftd Jn h1s Law? And 1f th1s C~nformzty be us vtty form andbemg, It cannot be that any thin rary Works, lhould bt: morally good that is not comm_:~.nded~ • g over ~rd ~!ujl. 2. Dorh not the Law of God command us to lovt himwith all our heart and foul a d ~boc;~~J~5 firt:nglh, and accordingly to fe1Ve him? And is ir poffible to give him mere than a'u; or c~.;G~d mer:ts, as im· come after and com{el us w give him more than is pof!ible? piou·, ~ejl._ 3·. Doth not the Law of Nature oblige us to ferve God to theurfnoil of our Power? He th;t denydh H, IS bec01~e ~nnatural, an~ mufl: deny God to be God, or deny himfclf to be his ntional creature: f or nothmg ts more clear m nature, than that the Crtaturt who Hnothing, and b~tb nothing but from God, and is abfolutely His Own, doth owe him all that he is able to do. ~~tjl. 4· DothnotChriildeterminetheC.fe tohisDifciplcs? Lu/(!I7· IO· 5: A :niddle bwvern Gvod and !-vil inMorality is a eo~tradicti~n: There is no fuch t~ing. For G 89 J . and Ewl art .the whote of !foraltty : W1theut thefc[p~ctes there IS no Morality. Ohje{/. 2· §. 10· Object. 2. Tt feems then you hold that thtre u noahing indijfmnt, n>hich u "paradox. \.!;'hether any Anf_w. No fuch matter : There a~e thoufinds and millio.ns ?f things that are indiffaent ; But they t~i~g$ be In- are '(htHgs NatNr6l only, and r.ot Thmgs Mora/. They are mdijftrent as to ltloral Good and Evil, be· dill~;;rem? cau{e they are neitbcr : But they arc not Indi.ffertntia Moralia : The Indifferency is a Negation of any Stoici indilfc- Morality in them in gtntrt, as well as of both the {pecits of Morality. Whatfo-ever participaterh remia ~dh1t· ~or ofVirtue or Vice, and is not Eligible ?r Refufable. bra moral a~(nt as fuch, hath no morality in ~~~n~c~;~dr!~ lt• There ma.y be two 'lf'~rd~ fo cqrtal a~ Jt may be mdttfcren~ wluch you fpeak ; and two Eggs fo hcit.:ltem. neq; equal, as that tt may be ~.~different whsch y~u eat: Bu~ that ts no more than. t~ fay, rh: cboofing ::.d mfreltciu.- of one before the other, JS not a{1111 m~r11l~.: There IS no matter of Morality tn the cho~er. temconfc:nmt, ~t fu~t ~iv.itiz, flnidt, vires, glorill:, &c. Na~ & fine his contingit frelicem dfe; cum euum ufus v.ei re8us frelicit2ti!, vel prnus ~:~):c;.:a~~11:;~hor fit. 1. Q!_Jz: ~que :appemum nequc occll:fi~nem movent , 'l ut pares vel m1potrcs 4aber~ capillus, &t. Objea. 3· · Objd1. 5· §. I I . Object. 3· But if thtte may be <fhingr Natural tbat are Indifferent , why "" thing• Mral! Anfn>. As Goodnefs is convertible with Entity, there is no Natural Being but is good : As Gaodnrji figoiticth Commodity, there is nothing but is Profit•ble or Hurtful, and that is Good to one that is Hunful to another: But if it were not JO, yet fuch Goodmfs or Badnefi is but .AccjJental to Natural Being ; but Moral Goodntfs and Eadneji is the whole l!ffence of Morality. §. 12· Object. 4· But rJ,th not tbt Apoj!le fay, He that marritth d11h weU, and he that marrittb not d.oJb buter? Therefort aU »not ji~t, wbicfJ i1 not beft. · Whether Mar:- Anfw. The Q!efiion put to the Apon!e to decide, was about Marrying or m;t Marrying, as it belong~ rying be ln~ ed to all Chrilhans in general, and nor as it belonged to rhis or that individual perfon by fame fpc~ 'htle:em ? cial reafon diJferently from others. And foin refpcd: to the Church in general, the ApofilcdetermiHcih that there i5 no Law binding them tg r»iJrry, or not to marry : For a Law that is made for many mufi be•fuited to what is common to thofe many. Now Marriage being good for one and not for another, is not made the mauer of a common Law, nor is it fit to be fo, and fo far is left in... dilfererlt t But bccaufe that to mojl it was r~ther a hinderance 10 good in thofe times of the Church, than a hdp, therefore for the prefent nmffity the Apofile ealleth marrying, dai11g wtU, becaufe it was not againfi any Univerfal Ltw, and it was a fiatc that was fuitable to fame: But he calls not marry– in", d 01 i1:1g brtttr, bt:caufc it was then more ordinarily fuited eo the ends of Chritlianity. Now God m~kcth not a diftinll Law for every individual pcrfon in the Church ; but one Univerfal Law_for all : And this being a thing variable according to the various Cafes of individual perfons, was untit t? be •panicu:larly determined by an Univerfal Law. But if the quefiion had bee~ only of any one indt– vidual ptrfon, then the decifion would have been thus: Though mmymg IS a thmg not dJrectly commanded or forbidden, yettofomc it is helpful a!> toMoralEnds, to fame it is hu!1{11l, and t~ fome it is fo equal or indifferent, that it is neither difcernably helpful nor hurtful : Nowby the Ge– neral L tJWI or R:tfes of Scripture, to th<m that ( conjidtra:H confiderandi1 ) it is difcernably helpfuT, 1t is not indifferent) but a dury : To them that it is difcernably hurtful, it is not indifftren~, but a fin: To them that it i1 neither difcernably helpful or hurtful as to'Moral Ends, it is indijfe~ent, as be– ing neither duty nor fm ; for it is not a thing of Moral choice or nature at all. But the Ltght of Na.. ture rellcth ~s that God hath not left it Indifferent to men to Hinder themfelves~ or t? Help themfdves as to Moral Ends : Elfe why pray we, Lead us not: into temptatioJt l And marriage JS f~ great a Hrlp to fome, and fo great a Hurt to others , that no man can fay that it is MoraUy Indijfmnt to all men
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