Serin. II. The Excellency ofAbraham's Faith andObedience. z 5 It mutt be a firong Faith indeed, and a mighty Refolution, that could make him. to hold out three days agaiift the violent Affaults of his own Nature, wadi the. charming Pretence of his Son, enough to melt his Heart, as often, ac he call his Eyes upon him : And yet nothingof all this, made him to ftagger in his Duty, but beingffrong in Faith he gaveglory to God, by one of the molt mira- culous ads ofObedience that ever was exa&ed from any of the Sons ofMen, III. In the Third and laft place, I come to confider theReafonableuefs of his Faith, in that he was able to give fatisfaaion to himfelfin fo intricate and perplext a cafe. Theconftancy ofAbraham's Faith, was not an obftinateand ftubborn Per- fwafion, but the refult of the wifeft Reafoning, and fobereft Confideration, So the Text fay% that he counted, the Word is T.oyiQZpesvat., he Reafoned with himfel, that God was able to rail him up from the Dead; fo that he de- bated the matter with himfelf, and gave himfelffatisfa&ion, concerning the Ob- je&ions and Difficulties in the Cafe ; and being fully fàtisfied that it was a Divine Command, he refolved to obey it. . As for the ObjeElions I have mentioned. r. The horrid Appearance of the thing, that a Father fhould Slay his Inno- cent Son. Why fhould Abraham fcruple the doing this, at the Command of God, who being the Author of Life, bath power over it, andmay refume what he bath given, and take away the Life of any of his Creatures when he will, and make whom he pleafeth Inftruments in the Executionof his Command ? It was indeed a hard Cafe, confidering natural Affeftion ; and therefore God did not permit it to be executed. But thequeftion ofGod's Right over the Lives of Men ; and of his Authority to command any Man to be the Inftrntnent of his pleafure in fuch a Cafe, ad- mits of no difpute. And tho' God hath planted firong affe&ions in Parents towards their Chil- dren ; yet he hath written no Law in any Man's heart to the prejudice of his own Sovereign Right. This is a Cafe always excepted, and this takes away the Obje&ion of Injuftice. 2. As to the Scandal of it, that could be no great Obje&ion in thofe times, when the abfolute power of Parents over their Children was in it's full force, and they might put them to Death without being accountable for it. So that then it was tío fuch Baffling matter, to hear of a Father putting his Child to Death. Nay, in much later times we find that in the molt ancient Laws of the Romans (I mean thofe of the XII. Tables) Children are abfolutely put in the power of their Parents, to whom is given, jus vita 6- necis, a power of Life andDeath over them ; and likewife to fell them for Slaves. And tho' amongft the Jews this Paternal power was limited by the Law of Mofes; and the Judgment of Life and Death was taken out of the Father's hands, except in cafe ofContumacy andRebellion ; (and even in that cafe the Pro- cefs was to be before the Elders of the City) yet it is certain, that in elder times the Paternal Power was more abfolute and unaccountable, which takes off much from the horror and fcandal of the thing, as it appears now to us whohave no fuch Power. And therefore we do not find in the Hiftory, that this Obje&ion did much flick with Abraham ; it being then no unufual thing for a Father to put his Child to Death upon a juft account. And the Command of God, who hath abfolute Dominion over the Lives of his Creatures, is certainly a juft Reafon; and no. Man can reafonably fcruple the doing of that, upon the Commandsof God, which he might have done by his own Authority, without being accountable for the A&ion, to any but God only. 3. As to the Obje&ion from the horrible Confequence of the Thing Com- manded, that the Slaying of Ifaac Teemed to overthrow the Promife, which God bath made before to Abraham, That in Ifaac his Seed fheuld be called. This Items
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