Part I. AN A N T H R 0 P 0 P AT H y, , The thir<l Kind of Ac1ion is generative, not that eternal Generation! by .''chich God the Father from everlat\in<> becrat the Son, eo-eternal and conlubftantial w1th l11mftlf, for that is not metapborical,"' bu~ moil: proper, Pfal. ii. 7· Prov. viii. 24, 25. Heb. i. ;;. But thatJpiritual andmyjlical Generation, by which he is faid to beget his believing People, when he remits thetr Sms, renews hts own Image upon them, and adopts them mto the Privilege of Son01ip, through Chrijl the Savior. Of which fee !fa. lxvi. 6. John .i. q. and iii. 5, 6. '(it. iii. 5· I Pet. i. 3, 23. 1John iii. 9· James i. 18, &c. God is faid to be a Father with RefpeC\: to certain inanimate Creatures, Job xxxviii. 28. Hath tbe Rain a Father? or who hatb begotten the Drops of the Dew ?-that is, be– fides me. For there is no other can fend it upon the Earth, by which God intimates, that he only can give this Benefit, and that Men cannot imitate it. And Ver(e 29' Out of wbofe Womb came the Ice? (that is, where is the Artiil: befides me, that can make it?) And the hoary Frofl of Heavm, who bath gendered it? viz, bef1de me. To this may be referred that Phrafe, Zeph. ii. 2. where God fays 1 Before the Decree ·/Jring forth. Upon which Place the learned Tarnovius * thus paraphrafes. Prepare yourfdves to meet the Lord, who has not yet brought forth, produced orexecuted his Decree, or Statute, which he (as if he were pregnant with Punifhment) goes now big with. For as the Birth does not immediately follow Conception, but has a certain allotted and prefcribed Time by Nature's Law, for its Ripening or Maturity; fo God although he hath certainly decreed to punifh, and has eftablifhcd and conceived the Sentence in his own Mind; yet he defers Execution for a certain Space, that he may give Opportunity for Repentance, which if Sinners will by no Means do, then their Iniquity grows ripe, and God's Punifhment mature, and fit for Execution. And as the Birth mu(t of Neceffity follow Conception, when the Time limited by Nature is ·expired ; fo the Judgments of God are inevitable, when the determinate Time comes. Human Adjunfts afcribed tu God, THESE are either privative t, or pojitive. Of the firfl: Sort are thefe, viz. When fomcthing of Impotency or Inability is (after the Manner of Men) attributed to God, or when God fays of himfelf, that he cannot do a Thing, being as it were pro– hibited by his Truth, Goodnefs, and Holinefs, as Gen. xix. 22. Hajfe thee, efcape thither; for I cannot do any 'fhing until thou be come thither. Thefe are the Words of the Son of God, who when he departed from Abraham, turned towards Sodom, to de– ftroy the Cities, and fays thus to Lot, viz. Whereas it is the immutable and certain De– termination of God, out of a gracious and favorableRefpeC\: to you, to deliver you from this Odl:ruftion, therefore before you be placed in Safety, the Execution of the Sen– tence by which Sodommu(l: be burnt, !hall be delayed. Upon which Place D. Hunnius :j: fays, The Execution ofGod's abfoluteDecree or Power no Creature can retard, but here he fpeaks of his Power as it is tempered, qualified and allayed, by the Favor of his fatherly Mercy towards Men, and as accommodated for the Profit of Believers, that nothing which he does fhall hurt them. To this may be referred that Speech of God, which of all is mofl: fweet· and gra– cious, and full of Comfort (inafmuch as it \Vas fpokcn in the very [welling, as it were; of Anger.) When he fpeaks to Mofes of the grievous Sin and Apoil:acy of the People, Exod. xxxii. 1 o. Now therefore let me alone, that my Wrath may wa.Y hot againfl them, and tbat I may coiifume them,&c. Jehovah fpeaks as if he had been bound and conil:rained by the Faith and Prayer of Mofes, fo as that he could not deftroy the People unlefs he had afked him Leave, as Pfal. cvi. 23. Therefore he faid that he would dejlroy them, had not Mofes bis Chofen, flood before him in the Breach to turn a':»ay his Wrath lejl he Jhould dejlroy them. Of fo great a Virtue and Efficacy are the Prayers of the J ufl: be– fore the Lord, Jamesv. 16. See Gen. xxxii. 28. Hofea xii. 4· Jojh. x. 12, 13, 14, &c. !fa. t. '3· '!'he Calling of Ajfemblies I cannot away with (or m >re properly I can– not bear) it is Iniquity. This is expounded with RefpeC\: to the Sanctity of God, and • P.-:r~tt '"oJOJ ht oaur:Jiun Domini, cum nMdum parit, feu i11 Luum edit t:! exequitur Dtcretumfiu jlatutum f110d pa:nu v elut prtegnaru Deus fecit, ea/quejam parturit, &c. Tarnovius in loco. t r"'P'J1utoc:, pri<vateva; et ,S,TIItct pofitiva. t PfJtmtiam Dei abfolutam 11ulla creatura retar:darepotefi. Hie vrrU loquitur defoa pottnlia, }'rout ilia> &c: S hiS
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