Keach - Houston-Packer Collection BS537 .K4 1779

Part L A N A N T H R 0 P 0 P A T H Y, 8t By the fame ·Reafon a difcretive Q;,antity, or Plenty, is af~ribed to God, as Pfal. Ixxxvi. 15. :11 much (or plentiful) in Mercyand'J'ruth, Pjal. cm8. Great (or plenteous) in Mercy, Pfal. cxxx 7· With him is pl~nteous Redemption, by which is noted the lnfi– nitenefs of God and h1s Attnbutes, as lt IS defcnbed, Pfal. cxlvu. 5· Great IS our Lord, and of o-reat Power, and of his Underftanding (there is) no Number, fa the Hebrew, See Pfal. xxvi. 6. Rom. xi. 33· 1 Cor. ii. 1. In SPEAKING of Things inanimate feverally, we will dill:ribute them, 1. Into Things ce/cjfial. And, 2. Things elementary. To the fir£1: Kind belongs when God is faid to look down from Heaven, andfit in, cf inhabit Heaven, as his Throne. Of which before. Alfo when God is called LIGHT, 1 John i. 5· by which his Majell:y, Holinefs, Per" fetlion, and Bldfednefs is noted, as when celdtial Light is tranfmitted to us, there is nothing fairer, clearer, purer, or more comfortable, whence it is f.1id, Eccl. xi. 7· 'I'ruly the Light is Jweet, and a pleafant Thing it is for the Eyes to behold the Sun. The Greeks had an Adagy or Proverb r''""" <p~~, dulce lumen folis, fweet is the Light of the Sun. 1 'J'im. vi. t6; God is [aid to dwell in (<pw; ~wpo~mv) lucem inaccej}ibilem, inacceflible or unapproachable Light, or as our Englith Tranllwon renders it, '.{he Light which no Man can approach unto, that is, tO at\ with, that Glory, Majefty, and Felicity whiclt no Creature either can have, or comprehend. Upon which Chryfoflom ·• fays, '!'he Apo– flle Jays, that God dwells in inacce.Jlible Light, which is more than if he had Jaid incompre– hmjible, for that which by Inquiry and Search we ca;mot find out, we call incomprehe'!fible, but that which prohibits all EJ!ay of Search, and to which none can come near we call inac– cej}ibfe. Some with inacce.Jlible Light, compare an oppofite Phrafe, where the Difficulty of' full y knowing God 1n his Majell:y and Elfence is defcribed by his dwelling in Mifls and Clouds; for every corporeal Light, which for its exceeding Brightnefs cannot be beheld, may be rruly ll:iled a Mift, and .therefore inacceflible, &c. To this is referred, where God, Jam. i. 17. is called the Father of Lights, with whom is no Variablenefs nor Shadow of 'J'urning; in which Phrafe is denoted h1s effential Ma• jelly, and Immutability in aCting. Some (and very firly) judge that the Phraft: FATHER of LIGH'J'S, is a Periphrajis of the Sun, attributed to God, av9rw""w;, or after the Manner of Men: For as that fuper-celt!Hal Sun is dif1:inguithed from the cor– poreal, and vifible Sun, it is added, that with him is no Variablenefs, nor Shadow of 'I'urni1tg. When the Sun is in the oppoGte Hemifphere it leaves ours darkened and obfcure, which Viciflitude of Dark_nefs and Light agrees not with God ; for he.is never the Caufe of Sin and Death (which are noted by the Term Darknefs) bur always the Author of Good and Life (noted by the Term Light) and this is the Scope of the Apoll:le, as Verle '3· Let 110 Man Jay whw he is tempted, I am tempted of God: For God cannot be tempted of Evils, neither tempteth he any Man, &c. Salmeron upon the Words, fays, In the Words, Tl"'"; ~"'~~~~/'-~• (viz. Shadow of 'turning) he alludes to t11e Sun, which by a certain Viciflitude, and Decltnatton of itfelf from one Tropic to the other, begets Shadow< of a different Size, and the nearer it is to us, the greater are the Shadows; but thefe Viciflitudes are not compatible with God-But the firlt Interpretation is more comfortable to the Apoftle's Scope. From this Denomination of Light attributed to God, with Refpetl to his Elfence and Majell:y, the Son of God is called ~r.~·~r~~l'-~ Tr,; Jot"' e.., The Splendor (or Bright· ners) of the Glory ofGod, Heb. i. 3· The primary Rea ton of this Appellation is, in J{ef: pe{t of the heavenly Father: from whom he, by ineffable Generation (as it were) lhined • Hom. 3· de incomprelum. Dei Nat. y from

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