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Object. IN the Old Testament, the Lord is said to harden mens hearts, which is an evill worke; and therefore it proceed∣eth from a God that is a worker of evill.
Ans. God is said to harden the heart, without any touch of* 1.1 sinne. 2. It was not any violence from God that hardned Pha∣roahs heart, but his owne impiety and obstinacy that hardned him; like as the water is frozen untill the Sun shine upon it, and then it resolveth, but when the Sun is departed it, is bound with cold againe; now the Sun is not the cause of the freezing of the wa∣ter,* 1.2 but the coldnesse of the water bindeth it selfe: So properly, God causeth not the heart to be hardned, but by the absence of his grace it is hardened. As one speaking in the Person of God to Pharaoh saith, When my grace is drawne from thee, then thy owne wickednesse shall harden thy heart, the cause then must needs be ascribed to their owne wickednesse, which deserveth to be hardned, or it must be referred to the just judgements of▪ God, which are often hid, but never unjust; it sufficeth us to know and beleeve, as the Apostle saith, Rom. 9. 15. Is there unrighteousnesse with God, God forbid.