2. _Quod nulla res potest aliquid facere, nisi Deus per se & immediate
facit illud idem._
3. _Quod nulla res potest facere aliquid, nisi Deus faciat illud idem
immediatiùs quolibet alio faciente._
[Sidenote: Amos 3. 6.]
4. So that however permission may be understood, it must properly relate
to intellectual and rational creatures, and that only and especially in
respect of those actions which we call moral, that is, in regard of sin,
evil or _malum culpæ_; for whatsoever is _malum pœnæ_, God is the
author, causer and inflicter of, according to the Text: _Shall there be
evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it?_ To understand aright the
nature of permission, we are to consider the affections, properties and
adjuncts of it, both in regard of the person permitting, the creature
permitted to act, and the thing permitted to be done, with all the
circumstances about them, and these we shall take from their Ring-leader
and great Champion _Arminius_ himself in these points.
[Sidenote: _Vid. Twisse Vindic. grat. de permiss._ _p._ 341.]
5. And first in respect of the person permitting (he saith) it is
necessary that he know, what, to whom, and the ability of performance,
that is to be granted, or used, by the person permitted, and that the
person permitting have power to permit and to impede, and also that he
have the right and authority of permitting. 2. In the person permitted,
it is necessarily requisite, that he have sufficient power to effect and
perform the thing permitted, if not hindered; for otherwise it would be
nonsense to say, that a person is permitted to do an act that he hath no
power to perform. 3. If the person permitted have sufficiency of power
to perform the act permitted, yet there is also required a propension
and disposition in the person permitted, to perform the thing permitted,
otherwise the permission as to that act would be without a certain end,
and so would be _in vagum_, inconstant and not to be performed, and
therefore he concludeth thus: _Imò nec rectè dici potest quod alicui
actus permittatur, qui actus illos præstandi affectu nullo tenetur_.
[Sidenote: _De permiss._ _p._ 342.]
[Sidenote: Eccles. 7. 29.]
6. We shall omit the exceptions that the learned and subtile Dr.
_Twisse_ hath made against diverse particulars in these passages, and
shall only fix upon one that is manifestly false (if he mean of
permission in general which he confesseth.) For in the Angels and _Adam_
before their falling and committing of sin, there was not any propension
or disposition to sin, and therefore to this we shall give the most
acute answer of Dr. _Twisse_ in these words: _Nam licèt insit homini
propensio ad peccandum (scilicet post lapsum) per modum dispositionis,
quæ præcedanea sit permissioni actus peccaminosi; At in Adamo (ante
lapsum) nulla inerat hujusmodi dispositio, aut ad peccandum propensio,
ante peccatum ejus primum. Sed neq; in Angelis, qui à statu suo
ceciderunt. Secundo, ut ut dispositio, sive habitus insit qui inclinet
ad agendum, non est ex natura dispositionis sive habitus cujuscunq; ut
faciat hominem propendere ad actum aliquem particularem, cujus vel
solius ratione dicitur permissio._ And though it be granted that God did
create the Angels, and _Adam in statu labili_, wherein they had a
sufficiency of power or grace not to have sinned, or faln, and though
that power or grace was not withdrawn from them, and that there was no
coaction upon their wills to inforce them to sin; for if it had been so,
their falls would have been no sin: so neither did God supply them with
more assisting grace to have upholden them, for then their estate had
not been labile, nor they in a possibility to sin. But it is manifest
that they in their Creation were set in _æquilibrio_, and had equal
power of freedom of will either to sin or not to sin, and so had no
propension or disposition at all to commit that sin, to which they were
left by a free permission: and so propension and disposition to the act
permitted (if permission be understood generally) had no place in the
Angels nor _Adam_ before their first sinning, according to the Text,
_God made man upright_, that is like a straight or right line that
falling perpendicularly upon another right line, doth incline to neither
end of the line upon which it falls, so _Adam_ was made upright without
any propension or inclination to sin at all. And if this propension and
disposition be understood, and applied to Angels in their condition
after their fall, then it is true they have not only an inclination but
a most strong will and desire to commit more evil and mischief than God
in his goodness permits them to perform, for _the Devil goeth about like
a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour_, and it was Satan that not
only had a disposition, but _desired to sift Peter as wheat_. And it is
manifest that wicked Men have a strong will and desire to commit
mischief; but that God hath an hook in their Nostrils, and a Bridle in
their Jawes wherewith he curbs and restrains them, that they cannot act
out all the mischief that they intend, as is manifest in the example of
_Sennacherib_ and many others.
[Sidenote: Twisse _de Permiss. ut supra_.]
[Sidenote: _Fran. Jun. de peccat. prim. Adam._ _p._ 111, 114.]
[Sidenote: _August. Enchir._ 75, 76.]
7. Permission must be referred and reduced to the will of God, for
nolition is an act of his will as well as volition: and to speak
properly and truly, permission is but an act of the Divine Will not to
impede such or such particular actions of the creatures; and therefore
the same things will follow from his volition or his will _non
impediendi_, as from his volition to the acts of a free agent, seeing
neither do put coaction upon the will of the Creature that is to act.
And that permission is an act of the Divine will, and to be reduced unto
it _Arminius_ confesseth in these words: _Permissionem ad genus actionis
pertinere ex ipsa vocis flexione est notum, sive per se sive reductive,
ut in Scholis loquuntur. Cessatio enim ab actu, ad actum quoq; est
reducenda: causam autem proximam & immediatam habet voluntatem, non
scientiam, non potentiam, non potestatem, licet & ista in permittente
requirantur._ And when he defineth permission, he saith: _Permissio Dei,
est actus voluntatis Divinæ_; than which nothing can be more clear. And
not much different from this is the definition of permission, that is
given by learned _Junius_ thus: _Est autem permissio actus voluntatis,
quo is penes quem est alienas actiones inhibere, eas non inhibet, sed
agentis voluntati permittit earum modum_. And again he saith: _Apud Deum
verò Opt. Max. nulla est omnino permissio, nisi voluntaria: quandoquidem
omnis divina permissio à principio interno est, id est, à voluntate
ipsius, & movetur ad finem quem voluntas præfinivit ejus_. But we will
conclude this with that of S. _Augustin_ thus Englished: “Not any thing
cometh to pass, unless the Omnipotent will have it to be done, either
that it may be done by his suffering, or by his Volition. Neither is it
to be doubted that God doth well, even by suffering those things to be
done, that are done evilly; For he doth not permit but by a just
judgment, and verily every thing is good that is just. Although
therefore those things that are evil, in as much as they are evil, they
are not good; notwithstanding, as they are not only good, but also as
they are evil, it is good. For unless this were good that there should
be evils, they would by no means be permitted of the omnipotent good, to
whom without all doubt it is always as easy to do that which he would,
as it is easy not to suffer that which he would not have to be.” By all
which it is plain that his permission is the act of his Divine Will, and
if he would not have it done he would not permit it, and so the same
consequences will follow from Nolition, that follow from Volition, in
respect as they are both acts of the Divine Will.
[Sidenote: _Twisse ut supra._ 346.]
[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 4.]
8. It is a certain truth that all moral actions are performed by a
physical power in respect of the sustentation of the will in its natural
being while it acteth, and that the creature is conserved even in the
act as it is natural, though there be obliquity in the will of the
creature acting in reference to the law given, or made known unto it.
And this _Arminius_ acknowledgeth in these words: _Necesse itaq; est, ut
cum Deus potentiæ creaturæ actum aliquem permittit, creatura illa
conservetur, ut sit, & vivat, potentia ejusdem permaneat, idonea ad
actum producendum, nulla major vel æqualis potentia opponatur, objectum
deniq; offeratur, & potentia permittatur_. From whence therefore to
instance in the first sin of the Angels and _Adam_, besides the equal
power and liberty of will that they had to sin or not to sin, it is
manifest that God willed and determined not to withdraw his conservative
power from them, but that they might be and live in the very act of
their sinning. Neither did he withdraw that power they had, nor opposed
a greater, or equal power to impede them, much less did he create or
infuse any evil into their natures, nor put upon them any coaction of
will, to inforce them to sin, but solely left them to the power and
liberty of their own free wills. And though by his prescience he
certainly knew that they would sin and fall, yet he determined in his
purpose not to hinder them, but by his providential decree did set down
how to guide and order that fall and defection the most advantagiously
for his glory both in his Mercy and Justice. So that even in this there
was no bare passive permission, separate and distinct from his will and
decree in his providence, but only permission to the moral act of their
wills, which by his wisdom, decree and providence, he ordered for his
own glory, according to the Text: _The Lord hath made_ (or wrought) _all
things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil_. The
Hebrew word _hath wrought_, doth properly signifie, to work by
polishing, trimming, or framing and fitting, so that the wicked (who
have made themselves so by the acts of their own wills) God by his
decree and providence doth polish, fit and order for the setting forth
of his own glory in framing the wicked for the day of evil, the evil of
punishment and judgment.
9. Further it is necessary that the creature acting a moral act
(especially in this case of the Angels and _Adam_ before their fall)
have the liberty and freedom of will, and that the will at the instant
of the act, be not restrained nor under a coactive power, for otherwise
_malum culpæ_ or sin would cease to be evil, and so there could be no
sin at all. And thus far, and in this peculiar respect only, the Angels
and _Adam_ before their acting of sin, and in the very instant of the
act it self, were permitted, that is, God willed and determined not to
impede them, but for the ordering of that sin and fall, the permission
was conjoined with his will and providence, and not separate from it, or
a nude permission.
[Sidenote: Rom. 7. 8, 11.]
10. That _malum culpæ_, or sin doth arise by the occasion of a law; for
where no law is, there can be no sin, and therefore the Apostle saith:
_But sin taking occasion by the Commandment, wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence_. So that sin considered as it is sin, is an Aberration or
Deviation of the Will of the creature from the revealed law of the
Creator, and hath simply and absolutely no other causality, but only the
deficiency and ἀταξία of the Creature to produce it, especially in these
cases of the Angels and _Adam_ in their first acts of sin.
[Sidenote: Psal. 73. 18.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 37. 10.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 75. 6, 7.]
11. Now we will come to the application of this unto wicked Men as they
are under original and actual sins, and that in these few examples. 1.
It is not by a bare permissive power, but by his will and order in his
providence, for he _setteth up the wicked in slippery places_, and _yet
a little while and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently
consider his place, and it shall not be_. So _Cain_ was suffered to slay
his Brother _Abel_, but by and by he was sent from the presence of the
Lord into the land of _Nod_: So he set up _Saul_ to be _King_ over
_Israel_, and soon after rejected him, and also destroyed him: these
were by providence, not only bare permission. 2. _For promotion cometh
neither from the East nor the West, nor from the South: But God is the
judge, he pulleth down one, and setteth up another._ So wicked _Haman_
was set up to be the highest in the Kingdom next _Ahasuerus_, and got a
decree to have all the Jewes put to death, and had set up a pair of
Gallows to hang _Mordecai_ upon, and yet see the providence of God, who
quickly brought him to be hanged upon them himself: and this will be
further made out where we speak of providence.
[Sidenote: _Resp. Fludan. ad Lanov._ _p._ 18.]
12. Though those that ascribe so large a power unto Devils and Witches,
do take it for granted that they are only under a bare passive
permission, and that the faln Angels do act, what, when, where and how
they list, yet is it a meer falsity, for they are under the rule of Gods
Divine Will, decree and providence, and do act nothing, but as and so
far as they are licensed, ordered and limited by his will and
providence, and are under a punctual restraint, nay kept in the chains
of everlasting darkness unto the judgment of the great day, as we shall
prove at full in that Chapter where we handle the knowledge and power of
faln Angels. And therefore here we shall only say this, that if Devils
could do as much mischief as they would, and were under no restraint or
chains, then none of the godly would be left alive. But it is manifest
that Devils do act nothing (excepting the obliquity and evil of their
own wills) but meerly as instruments of the Divine Will and Providence,
for as the Christian Philosopher saith: _Illa est impietas; nimirum ea
falso attribuere creaturis, quæ radicaliter Deo soli sunt propria, &
inter cætera, actum aliquem peculiarem in diabolo esse existimare, qui
non est originaliter à Deo, & consequenter immediatè, cum essentialis
Dei actus sit per se sine divisione in omni re_.
[Sidenote: _Greg. in Dialog._]
[Sidenote: Isai. 42. 9.]
[Sidenote: Acts 15. 18.]
[Sidenote: _August. de. Trinit._ _l._ 15. _c._ 7.]
[Sidenote: Ephes. 1. 11.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 3.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 33. 13, 14, 15.]
[Sidenote: _Vid. Rivet. de Provid. Disput._ 1.]
[Sidenote: _August. de lib. arbitr._ _l._ 3.]
Concerning Divine prescience, which is as S. _Gregory_ saith,
_Præscientia est unamquamq; rem antequam veniat, videre, & id quod
futurum est priusquam præsens sit prævidere_, we may only note this,
That it is certain and infallible, as saith the Lord by the Prophet:
_Behold the former things are come to paß, and new things do I declare,
before they spring forth I tell you of them_: Also, _known unto God are
all his works from the foundation of the World_. “So that his prescience
is that infallible vision, by which he comprehendeth all what he knows
by one eternal, immutable and ineffable vision.” But this prescience in
God doth not flow from the things that are to come to pass, but from his
decree, by which all future things are determined, who doth _all things
according to the counsel of his own will_, for _God is in heaven, he
hath done whatsoever he pleased_. But this prescience is not to be
considered only by it self, as a bare vision, or inspection, but as it
is coupled and joined with his providence, _For the Lord looketh from
heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his
habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Forming_
(or framing) likewise _their hearts, and considering all their works_.
And this prescience considered solely by it self, is not the cause of
the things that come to pass, for as the Father saith well: _Sicut tu
memoria tuâ non cogis facta esse quæ præterierunt, sic Deus præscientia
suâ non cogit facienda quæ sunt futura_. So that we conclude that God by
a naked prescience doth not only behold infallibly the things that are
to come, and so is only a spectator of what Devils and wicked Men will
do, but also that he doth order, rule and predesign all their works and
actions.
[Sidenote: _Andr. Rivet. disputat. Thes._ 1. _p._ 4.]
[Sidenote: _De provid. Trac._ _p._ 9.]
[Sidenote: _Isagog. Christ._ _c._ 32. _p._ 52.]
1. As touching Gods Government and Administration of the World by his
Divine providence, we shall in the first place lay down some of the
definitions of it from the most sound and learned Divines of the
Reformed Churches, and that in English, after this order. The acute and
learned _Rivet_ describes it thus: “Providence is an ineffable force and
virtue of the Divine Sapience and Potency, by which God doth conserve
and govern to his own Glory all his Works according to his eternal, most
wise, and most free decree, and directing every thing in time unto its
end.” _Johannes de Spina_ defines it thus: “Providence is the prescience
and counsel of God eternal, most free, immutable, most just, most wise;
most good, whereby God worketh and determineth all good things in all,
but doth only permit evil things, and doth dispose and direct all things
to his own Glory and the Salvation of his elect.” And much to the same
purpose doth _Lambertus Danæus_ speak in these words: “Providence is a
most free and most powerful action of God, by which he not only stirreth
up and governeth universals, but also singulars, in every one of their
single actions. And (he saith) it is called a most free and most
powerful act, because it can neither be hindered nor overcome by any
law.” And to these for substance do agree _Calvin_, _Musculus_, _Beza_,
_Zanchius_, and the rest of all Orthodox Divines.
[Sidenote: _Exeges. Loc._ 6. _p._ 143, 144. _&c._]
2. But we shall chiefly insist on that definition that is given by
learned _Piscator_ in these words: “The providence of God is his
eternal, most wise, most just and immutable counsel or decree, whereby
he doth most freely govern all things by him created to the glory of
himself, and the Salvation of his elect.” To which he giveth this
explication: “That it doth consist of a Genus and three differences. The
Genus is the word _Decretum_ which is illustrated by four adjuncts;
Eternity, Sapience, Justice and Immutability. The first difference is
taken from the objects; which are all created things. The second from
the ends, which are two, the Glory of God, and the Salvation of the
elect. The third from the effect, which is the government of things
created, which Gubernation is illustrated by the adjunct which is
liberty.”
[Sidenote: Acts 2. 23.]
[Sidenote: Acts 4. 27, 28.]
[Sidenote: Heb. 1. 3.]
[Sidenote: Matth. 10. 29, 30, 31.]
[Sidenote: Deut. 19. 4, 5.]
[Sidenote: Gen. 45. 5.]
[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 33.]
[Sidenote: Prov. 16. 4.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 22, 23.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 8. 28, 30.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 115. 3.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 15, 18.]
[Sidenote: Job 34. 13.]
3. The parts of this definition are thus proved. 1. That the providence
of God is his counsel and decree, appeareth most plainly from these
Scriptures: _Peter_ in his Sermon to the Jews upon the day of Pentecost
saith: _Him_ (that was Jesus) _being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God_ (τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει Θεοῦ)
_ye have taken, and by wicked hand have crucified and slain_. And again
the Church at _Jerusalem_ in their prayers say thus: _Of a truth against
thy holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of Israel were gathered together,
For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined_ (ἡ χείρ σου
καὶ ἡ βουλή σου προώρισε γενέσθα) _before to be done_. 2. That all
things created (nay also those things which do seem to happen
fortuitously, or to be by permission, as sinful actions) are governed
and ordered by the providence of God, as these Scriptures will
sufficiently demonstrate. _Christ Jesus the son of God, doth uphold_ (or
sustain) _all things by the word of his power_. And doth not our Saviour
tell us: _Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your father? But the very hairs of
your heads are all numbred. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows._ That place concerning the Cities of refuge, and the
fleeing of the ignorant man-slayer thither is most remarkable, and is
this. _And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither,
that he may live: whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated
not in times past, as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour
to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroak with the ax to cut down the
tree, and the head slipeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his
neighbour that he die, he shall flee unto one of those Cities, and
live._ And was not the action of _Josephs_ brethren, sin and sinful in
selling of him to the Ismaelites, and yet he acknowledgeth, _that God
sent him before them to preserve life_. So that God brought good forth
of evil, and doth order even the sins of the wicked to just and good
ends by his Divine Providence. Again: _The lot is cast into the lap, but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord_. So when the Men in the Ship
with _Jonah_ did cast lots, by the Lords disposing _the lot fell upon
Jonah_ who was justly guilty, and so by providence pointed out. 3. That
God doth govern all things to his own glory is manifest by these Texts:
_The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea even the wicked for the
day of evil_. And, _what if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make
his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath
fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory?_
And that he governeth all things for the Salvation of his elect, is
plain: _And we know that all things work together for good, to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose_. So that
if God be for the Elect, who can be against them? 4. That God doth
govern all things most freely is clear, because he is omnipotent and
supream, and there is no power that can either impede, or constrain him,
_For he hath done whatsoever he would, both in Heaven and Earth_. And
the Apostle saith; _I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth._ For _who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath
disposed the whole world?_
[Sidenote: Gen. 37. 18, 19, 20, 26, 27.]
[Sidenote: _Id._ 45. 5. & 50. 20.]
[Sidenote: Prov. 21. 1.]
[Sidenote: Exod. 7. 3.]
[Sidenote: _Id._ 9. 16, 17.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 9. 17.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 105. 25.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 8. 14.]
[Sidenote: Matth. 4. 1.]
[Sidenote: Mark 1. 12.]
[Sidenote: Luke 4. 1.]
[Sidenote: Gen. 9. 27.]
[Sidenote: 2 Sam. 24. 1.]
[Sidenote: 1 Chron. 21. 1.]
[Sidenote: 1 Kings 22. 22.]
[Sidenote: Judges 9. 23, 56, 57.]
[Sidenote: Psal. 81. 11, 12.]
[Sidenote: Acts 14. 16.]
[Sidenote: Rom. 1. 24.]
[Sidenote: Gen. 20. 6.]
4. The several ways that God useth in governing the creatures in the
world whether good or bad, may be comprised in these four ways. 1. He
ruleth and ordereth them, by bending, inclining and turning of their
wills and intentions, to serve and fullfil his decree and pleasure. So
when the Brethren of _Joseph_ were fully resolved to murther him, God by
the means of _Reuben_ and _Judah_, so wrought upon their minds and
wills, that they were contented to sell him to the Ismaelites, that so
the determinate counsel of God might be fulfilled; for though they
intended it for evil, that he might never return to his Father, nor to
have his dream fulfilled that they might bow down before him, yet God
intended it for good, and so brought it to pass. And this he did not by
changing or taking away their natures, nor by putting a coactive power
upon their wills; but by inclining and bending them to his own purpose,
so that the act was the act of their own wills, but the moving of their
wills to spare his life was from the Lord: for as he that made the eye
must needs see, so he that made the will must needs have a power to
move, incline and turn it. And therefore the Father said well, _Certum
est, nos velle cum velimus, sed Deus facit, ut velimus bonum_. And it is
apparent that the hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord, and he
turneth and inclineth them according to his will and purpose, as saith
_Solomon_, _The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of
water: he turneth it whithersoever he will_. Upon which the note of
_Tremellius_ and _Junius_ is this: _Est quidem animus omnium hominum
gubernaculum, quo velut naves in mediis aquis reguntur corpora &
actiones nostræ: tamen ne ipsorum quidem regum animus ex seipso
permovetur, impellitur, inhibeturque, sed Deus in singulorum animis,
veluti clavum tenet_. And concerning the wicked God saith: _I will
harden the heart of Pharaoh, and multiply my signes and wonders in the
land of Ægypt_. And again: And _indeed for this cause, have I raised_
(made thee stand, _feci ut existeres_, as _Beza_ notes) _thee up, for to
shew in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all
the earth. And as yet exaltest thou thy self against my people, that
thou wilt not let them go?_ And further the Text saith: _He turned their
hearts, to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants_. 2. God
also ruleth and ordereth his creatures by leading, drawing, inciting and
moving their wills to his own ends and purposes, as sometimes to good,
as in his own people: _For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they
are the sons of God_. And so was our Saviour _led_, or driven (ἐκβάλλει,
ἤγετο, ἀνήχθη) _into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil_. To
this agreeth the blessing and prophecie of _Noah_: _God shall perswade_,
or allure _Japhet_, _to dwell in the tents of Shem_. Sometimes God
inciteth the creatures to evil by the ministery of Satan, as is manifest
in these examples. For the Text saith, _And again the anger of the Lord
was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, to say, Go
number Israel and Judah_. And another place saith: _And Satan stood up
against Israel, and provoked David to number the people_. Whereby it is
plain that Satan was the instrument, as sent and ordered of God to move
_David_ to number the people, that thereby the King and people might be
punished, and the King thereby brought to a deeper sight of his sins,
repentance, and a closer trusting and adhering to his God. So when the
Lord intended to have _Ahab_ to go up to _Ramoth Gilead_ that he might
be slain, he sent forth an evil Angel, to be a lying spirit in all
_Ahabs_ Prophets, and said unto him, _Thou shalt perswade him, and
prevail also: Go forth and do so_. So that what God orders, Satan doth
but execute. So when God intended to punish and destroy _Abimelech_, and
the Men of _Shechem_, he sent an evil spirit between them to divide
them, and so accomplisht his will upon both parties, as saith the Text:
_Thus God rendred the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his
father, in slaying his seventy brethren. And all the evil of the men of
Shechem, did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse
of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal._ 3. God ruleth his creatures by
permission, or his will of not impeding them to act according to their
wills and power, as in these cases. For God speaking of his people of
_Israel_ saith: _But my people would not hearken unto my voice; and
Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts lusts,
and they walked in their own counsels._ Agreeable to which is that in
the _Acts_: _Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own
ways_: which is as _Beza_ notes: _Ex arbitrio suo vivere, nulla ipsis
præscripta ratione religionis_. And in this sense, and to this purpose
it is that _God gave_ (παρέδωκεν) _them up to uncleanness, through the
lusts of their own hearts_; because of that horrible Idolatry that
formerly they were guilty of. 4. God ruleth his creatures by his
providence, sometimes by repressing, prohibiting and impeding the
execution of their wicked wills, as is clear in the case of _Abimelech_
King of _Gerar_, who took _Sarah_ _Abrahams_ Wife intending to have had
carnal knowledge of her, but God plagued him and his Family, and said;
_For I also withheld thee from sinning against me; therefore I suffered
thee not to touch her_.
Now we shall come to consider how the faln Angels are under the rule and
restraint of this Divine and all-governing providence, wherein we shall
make it appear, that they act nothing in this elementary and sublunary
World, after any corporeal manner, but as they are ordered, licensed and
limited by the will and decree of the Almighty, and so do not wander and
rove at their own pleasures to act in corporeal things, what, when and
how they list, as the Witchmongers vainly suppose, and this we shall
clear in these particulars.
1. It cannot rationally be supposed that God is less wise, in ruling and
ordering the Prince of darkness, the Prince of Devils, and the head of
all Rebellion and Rebels, than he is in ruling his Subjects and
Servants, which are all wicked men; but all these he ruleth with a rod
of Iron, and breaketh them in sunder like a Potters vessel: And
therefore much more hath he a restraint upon, and a rule over the faln
Angels who kept not their first estates, and therefore are reserved in
chains in darkness until the judgment of the great day.
[Sidenote: Matth. 25. 41.]
[Sidenote: Luke 8. 31.]
2. As he is the Prince and Ring-leader of all Sin and Rebellion against
God, though he yet have not his final punishment, unto which he is
reserved for the judgment of the great day, and though he be not yet
thrust into the abysse or great depth, nor into that everlasting fire
that is prepared for him and his Angels; yet is he kept in chains and
darkness, and can act nothing but as he is licensed, ordered and limited
by the Almighty.
[Sidenote: _Thom. Aquin. Caten. aur. in Luc._ 8. _p._ 200.]
3. And though he compass the earth to and fro, and walk about _like a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour_, yet is that but according to
the malice and purpose of his wicked will, for in punishing or
afflicting of the godly he must have licence from God first, or else he
can do nothing in this Elementary World, as is most manifest in the
affliction of _Job_, neither could he enter into the herd of Swine, but
by Christs leave and order, nor deceive _Ahabs_ Prophets but by order
from the Lord. And therefore an ancient Father said well: _Quod si super
porcos potestatem non habent, multò magis nullam habent Dæmones contra
homines factos ad imaginem Dei; oportet ergo Deum solum timere,
contemnere autem illos_.
Therefore we shall conclude this briefly here, having occasion to handle
it more fully hereafter, to wit, that the Witchmongers can have no
shelter for their opinion from the Doctrine of Gods permission (if
rightly understood) because God doth neither order, nor permit faln
Angels to act any thing (especially in corporeal things) but what is for
just, good, and wise ends, which cannot be shewed in these actions
attributed to Witches.