CHAP. V.

*WEE have treated of God and his Attributes, which are of the Es∣sence of God; we come now to treat of the Knowledge and Will in God, (as much as may be known by Natural and Metaphysical Reason) which by Ana∣logy to things created (though there be nothing in God but is of his Essence, for quicquid in deo est deus est, yet) in a pe∣culiar manner we shall here handle as Faculties and Operations, and not as those which are of his Essence.

That in God there is Knowledge is so plain and evident by Natural light, that none of the Philosophers who acknow∣ledge a God hath ever denied it; Aristo∣tle in his Metaphysicks and Ethicks af∣firms it, proving it further from the Im∣materiality of God; the more Immate∣rial any thing is, the more Intellectual, as we have formerly said, now God is summè immaterialis, therefore is he summè cognoscitivus.

Page  199Again, from the Effects and Works of God in this World; the order and beau∣ty that is in them manifesteth they were produced both by an Intellectual and free Agent,* which opinion was generally received of all Philosophers after A∣naxagoras and Hermotinus Clazomenius, who were the first that taught it, as Plato and Socrates, yea and Aristotle in 1 Me∣taphys. cap. 3. affirm.

This Knowledge in God, according to himself must needs be Infinite, for so in the precedent Chapter hath been proved; the Knowledge & the Object known are Adaequate and Proportionate the one to the other; the Object is Infinite, such therefore must the Knowledge be; and this is called Gods Knowledge Essential.

Besides, there is a Knowledge of God External, and this is also Infinite, & in∣tensivè & extensivè, as the Schoolmen term it; by which is set forth unto us that Infinite perfection which this Knowledge hath even in all the conditi∣ons and properties incident to perfect Knowledge; for first it is most clear and evident, secondly most certain, thirdly most infallible, with a most perfect and simple aspect beholding every truth as it is in it self, and judging of every Page  200 truth (though in themselves not equal) according to the measure of Verity that is in every of them; some being Increate truths, some Create, some Mediate, o∣thers Immediate, some Necessary, some Contingent truths; yet all these Varie∣ties fall within this Infinite Knowledge which seeth every Verity according to the state in which it hath Determination and Certitude, and judgeth thereof ac∣cording to the measure and degree of truth that is in every of them.

And this resolves the doubt which some have made how a Future Contin∣gent (which may or may not be) can be foreknown, (since till it come to pass it is not determined to a being or no be∣ing, till which there can be no determi∣nate truth in either proposition; which was Aristotles argument, from whence is concluded, that even God himself could not foreknow either part, to wit, the Affirmative or Negative of such Future Effects as determinately true; for what is not true is not knowable, for truth is the Object of Knowledge, and there∣fore what is not determinately true can∣not be known as determinately true, so God hath no certain and infallible Knowledge of such Contingencies fu∣ture:) Page  201 For this doth not hinder but that such Contingencies may be certainly known even before they have any being, at least with that Knowledge which ac∣cording to its all Infinite and Eternal ve∣rity comprehends all times, and every Object knowable, and beholds them as they are in themselves, in the self same manner, and according to the measure of truth they have in them.

Neither doth this certain and Infal∣lible Knowledge of Future Contingen∣cies destroy the Nature of a Con∣tingent; for God doth infallibly know Contingent Effects under the no∣tion of Contingencie, as well as necessa∣ry Effects under the notion of necessi∣ty, without the destruction of either, without any change or Alteration of the Object; otherwise that Knowledge is grossly deceived that knoweth any thing to be Contingent, when by the ve∣ry Knowledge such Contingent Effects cease to be Contingent, and forthwith become Necessary.

Besides, Knowledge is not a Cause, but rather a Consequent of a future Event, for scientia nil ponit in re, it adds no ne∣cessity to the being of the thing known, though it may add certitude to it self, for that's the perfection of Knowledge; Page  202 the ground of Science is not necessity but certainty.

And for the Will which is in God by the like argument it may be proved; for God is an Intellectual Agent, so hath been said; and there is no Intellectual Agent but worketh for some end, and is also determinate to that work by some Appetite, will and desire; hereupon the antient Philosophers laid it down for a rule, mentem & amorem esse causam mundi efficientem; according to those Verses quo∣ted by Aristotle, 1 Metaphys. cap. 4. out of Hesiod and Parmenides, to prove this Assertion; Aristotle besides every where affirming that God worketh intelligendo & volendo.

God as he is an Intellectual, so is he a a free Agent, all his Operations ad extra are freely and willingly done, not dri∣ven on by any necessity of Nature; True it is, the love wherewith he loves him∣self is necessary, arising from the dignity of the Object and necessity of it; God as he is summum, so is he necessarium bonum, which being the Object of his Will can∣not but be willed necessarily ex necessitate naturae, himself being the Object of his Will, necessitates his Will to love him; voluntas divina etiam naturaliter ac necessario Page  203 vult suum principale objectum, saith Suarez; But there is not the like necessity in a∣ny created Object to compel Gods good-will unto it, but so to love it as he may also not love it; Though it was the opinion of certain Philosophers of the Sect of the Stoicks, who held, That all things here below were Ruled and Go∣verned by a certain Fate; and though they denied not that the Order of these Secundary Causes proceeded from the good-will of God, Yet they Attributed thereunto a necessity altogether Inevi∣table, even in respect of God, because they supposed that God did order and work all things ex necessitate naturae;* But clear it is by Natural Reason, that as God works knowingly, so he Acts willingly and freely; for is freedom of Will an Essential and necessary Con∣comitant of all created Intellectual crea∣tures, whether Angelical or Humane, and shall we deny it in God? This free∣dom of Will in God may be proved from the effects of Divine Power. Ask Page  204 we therefore why God made no more Worlds than one; or the Angels, where∣fore he Created in such a number and not in a greater or lesser multitude, and the like, the resolve must be ei∣ther that he could not, or he would not; to say he could not, must exceedingly Derogate from Gods Power, which we have heretofore sufficiently manifested to be Infinite; to say he would not, is to grant him freedom of Will, and that whatever he doth, he doth not necessari∣ly but freely.

Nor is not God therefore free because he is Immutable, as some would thence conclude so, for Immutability and free∣dom of Will in God will very well stand together, and it is no more than to say God is Immutably free; for that necessity which comes from Gods Immutability, thwarts not Gods VVill, but necessarily inferrs this perfection of Will (which we call freedom) to be as unchangable as his other Attributes, of VVisdom, Goodness, Power and Eternity are; nam ineo quod deus semel liberè decrevit immuta∣bilis permanet, saith Suarez; so to speak in reference to this present time, and ac∣cording to our capacities, God necessa∣rily willeth now, what formerly he did Page  205 VVill; but this is necessitas ex supposi ione, or immutabilitatis, though to speak pro∣perly, there is neither time past nor time future with God, to say he hath willed or shall VVill; But God doth Will and Will freely from Eternity, and to Eter∣nity abideth in the same freedom Immu∣tably.

This Metaphysical Science of Gods free Will in all things agreeth with the Faith which Holy Church professeth; the Scriptures every where are plain and full; not Metapho∣rical, but Literal and proper, and so are un∣derstood by the Fathers, He doth what e∣ver pleaseth him; and again, Who worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will; whereby it is evident, that the Power and Will of God are two distinct things; he doth not what ever he can do, but he doth whatever he pleaseth; so that the Effects of God are the Effects of his Will, God willeth what he doth, and doth what he willeth; to do which is an Act Ex∣trinsecal, is an Effect of his Will and love which is Intrinsecal.

Though there are and have been some Stoicks in the Church of Christ as well as in the School of Nature, who have maintained that all things fall out by such an Intrinse∣cal Page  206 necessity, that even God himself could not have made things otherwise than they are made, nor Govern otherwise than he doth Govern.

And however few have been so bold as to call thus in question the Infinite Power of the Supreme Cause, yet have many laid an Inevitable necessity upon all Secundary Cau∣ses and Effects, even the Liberal Actions of men and Angels; saying, all things are Ne∣cessary in respect of Gods decree, nothing can fall out Contingently; It is impossible for ought that is, not to have been, for ought that hath been, not to have been, for ought that is, not to be, for ought that shall be hereafter that shall not be.

But there are Contingencies in Nature, some things that might have fallen out o∣therwaies than they do or shall, as well as there are some things which could not fall out otherwaies than they have done; we speak not onely of those Extrinsecal Contingen∣cies which proceed from Natural Causes, (for those come not from the Power (but rather from a defect and weakness of the Power) of their Immediate Cause, which toughit work necessarily, is notwithstand∣ing unable to resist the Counter-workings of all other Causes conducing to that effect, and so produceth an Effect praeter intentio∣nem Page  207 suam, which therefore is called Contin∣g•nt) but also of those Intrinsecal Effects which flow from a Cause, that of it own Intrinse∣cal Power and Vertue is able to give Con∣tingencie to them, as being not determinate to one Effect, but is inspired with Variety of choise, and this is the Praerogative of all Ra∣tional and Intellectual Agents, yet none of these that fall out praeter intentionem dei, besides the mind and Will of God; he willeth Contingencies as well as Necessi∣ties.

Nor do they fall out extra scientiam dei, Gods infinite Knowledge comprehends them all, those which are in their own Na∣ture absolutely Contingent, are not Casual in respect of his Providence and Eternal Wisdom; in that he comprehends the number of all means possible, and can mix the seve∣ral possibilities of their miscarriage in what degree or proportion he list; he may, and of∣tentimes doth Inevitablely forecast the full accomplishment of his proposed ends by mul∣tiplicitie of means in them themselves not Inevitable but Contingent, thus Doctor Jackson.

And though some Theologists as well as Naturalists have or do question how there can be a certain Knowledge of a Future Con∣tingent; I answer.

Page  2081. All Contingencies are Finite, but Gods Knowledge is Infinite, therefore must they needs be swallowed up and comprehen∣ded in that Infinite, Infinite not to be In∣comprehensive of them.

2. Infinite and Eternal Knowledge hath Coexistence with all times, therefore the Fu∣turition is no impediment; with God is no distinction of times, flux of time belongs to the Creature; he knoweth all things in aeter∣nitate sua, as we do in praesenti tempo∣re; our instant is Gods Eternity; all things are present before him, and Eternally pre∣sent.

So Contingents (future in respect of us, not of God) do fall within this Infinite E∣ternal and Infallible Knowledge, and not onely Contingents future, but Contingents possible, though never future, as in the case of Keilites, Sam. 23.11, 12. God did as certainly know that the Keilites would have delivered David to Saul, if he had stayed in their City, as that David should thence de∣part and be safe.

Therefore the prescience of God is most certain and infallible of Future Events of what kind soever: but this proceeds not from a necessity of the Event, but from the Infinity of his Science.

3. Gods Knowledge is as large and ex∣tends Page  209 as far as his Power, otherwise it should not be Infinite; but Gods Power extends to Contingent Effects, to all that may be, as to all that must be, to all that never shall be, as to all that necessarily will be, to all possible Effects though they never come to pass, as to those that are already accomplisht; for Gods Power which is Infinite cannot be determi∣ned to produce all it can of it self, but in that it produceth these Effects rather than other, makes some entia realia, others only entia possibilia, is meerly by the determi∣nation of his Will and Knowledge; therefore entia possibilia, such are all Future Con∣tingents, fall within the prescience of God, and are certainly known of him.

He calleth things that are not, as though they were, saith the text, & the Psalmist, thou knowest my thoughts afar off; God is a searcher of the heart and trier of the reins, the desires of the soul, & thoughts of the heart are not hid from him; he long before knows all the free and volunta∣ry acts of men, and certainly can foretell the Event of every Future Contingent; this is by Vertue of that Infinite Knowledge which is proper to God alone. Prevision and Pre∣diction of Contingent Effects none is capa∣bel of but God alone, and those to whom God is pleased to reveal it; and therefore Page  210 though the Prophets of old have foretold (as we may read in holy Writ) of many effects of this Nature, which most truly and certain∣ly came to pass; yet it was not they, but God in them foretold them,* so saith Zacharie in his Benedictus; As he spake by the mouth of his Prophets since the World began, and St. Peter in his 2. Epist. 1.21. Prophesie in old time came not by the Will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Devils have formerly spoken in O∣racles, and taken upon them to foretel such Future Events; but this is above the Na∣ture of any Angel; a Conjectural Know∣ledge they may have at the best (such as a Mariner by his long Experience may fore∣tel of the Wind, the Husbandman of rain, the Physician of diseases, and the like) by which the Devils have presumed to foretel such things to come, in which also often they have both deceived themselves and o∣thers.

And where this Knowledge could not be attained, wherein they could have no proba∣ble conjecture of Future Events, they have in Oracles uttered Amphibologiously, and in a double meaning, that so (if the Event proved otherwaies) the fault might be im∣puted Page  211 to the Misinterpretation, and not to the Prediction; But a certain Knowledge of a Future Contingent that they have not, it is onely proper to God.

Your Astrologers, Genethlialogists,* and other such Diviners, who (like Gods Apes) take upon them to imitate him in such Pre∣dictions, are here to be derided and rejected as Impostors and deluders of mankind; since they pretend not to Divine Revelation and Inspiration of God, from whom alone such Effects do come to be certainly known.

The consideration hereof may make us with the Appostle cry out, and say, O the depth of the riches both of the Wis∣dom and Knowledge of God; Great is the Lord, and great is his Power, yea and his Wisdom infinite; sapientiae ejus non est numerus.

Stand thou in Admiration and Adora∣tion of this Knowledge of God (O my Soul) & say with the Prophet David, such Know¦ledge is too wonderful forme (O God) I cannot attain unto it: for of such Know∣ledge doth the Prophet David there speak, (viz.) of the Knowledge of Future Cogi∣tations, saying, thou knowest my thoughts afar of; not such as there alrea∣dy are, but such as shall be hereafter, nor Page  212 such as shall be, but such as may not be here∣after also.

Now the heart of Man is deep and un∣searchable (profundum & inscrutabile, saith the Steptuagint) and who can know it? It is answered, I the Lord which search the heart and trie the Reins; this makes the Psalmist crie out; such knowledge is too wonderfull for me.

If we but cast in our mind the number of all mankind that have been since the Crea∣tion of the World living upon the face of the Earth, and add thereto the num∣ber of those that are, with those that shall be conversant upon the Earth before the Con∣summation of this Universe, and we shall find they will not fall within the number of Arithmetick; Millions of Millions, and ten thousand times ten thousand are not the one half of them. Let us withall cast in our mind, the several various thoughts and de∣sires of the heart which this day and night hath passed us, thee and me, much less the thoughts of every mans particular heart since the beginning of the World throughout the whole course of his life; we are not able to re∣count them; yet (such is the infiniteness of his Wisdom and Knowledge) that Page  213 God in the Book of his Remembrance hath the number of all, with the names of every one that hath been, or now are, from the be∣ginning of the World to this very instant, with a Register of all, and every one of their Thoughts, Words, and Actions, of what Na∣ture soever, or how secretly soever commit∣ted; nor onely so, but every mans thoughts and imaginations of heart that shall be, nay more, every thought that may be (though it never be) fall within the compass and comprehension of this infinit knowledge of God; the thoughts which are not in thy heart (O my Soul) but furthest from thee, nay and against thy mind as loathsom to re∣tain, are known to God.

It was not in Hasaels heart to kill his Master, to take the strong holds of the Chil∣dren of Israel and set them on fire, to slay the young men with the sword, to dash their Children, & rip up their women with child; when he answered the Prophet, What? is thy Servant a dog, that he should do these great things? nor was it in Peters heart, (he was not guilty of such dissimula∣tion) to deny his Master when he answered our Saviour, though all should forsake thee, yet would not I; and again, though I should die with thee, yet will not I deny thee, yet these were fore∣told, Page  214 and so came to pass as they were foretold, by that admirable Knowledge of him, who searching the hearts, and trying the reines, seeth not as Man seeth, but knoweth the thoughts afar off, even such as are not, yea and depend upon the Will of Man, whe∣ther ever they spall be or not; Such Knowledge is too wonder∣ful for thee (O my Soul) thou canst not attain unto it.