Dreiudices Since we fee Animals, and Plants on the Earth, Fowls inhabiting the Air and times E n the Water God, to let us underftand, that his Order confhtuted them in thefe Places prod? "d them therein. From theEarth he form'd Animals, and I Plants; not that jje Earth w caDable of Generating or as if God had to that intent given it a force, and Vertue which it retains Xowf £0^ S fufficiently agreed that the Earth does not Procreate ^™*£«&*£ becaufe out of the Earth the Bodies of Animals were form'd, as is fa id in the tallowing Uhapter, 9 ITofZ ground the Lord form'd every Beaft of the field, and W™^^ ™ " 9' were form'd out of the gound, (formatis de humo animantibus, fays the Vulgar Latin; and not pro- Ed % V Therefore8when Mofes had related how Beafts and Fifh were produe'd.by Vertue of 4e Command which God gave the Earth and Water to produce them he adds that itwasffcrf. Ch.x.2JL^XS, % WefhLd attribute their. Production to _ the ^Earth an Waten AndGod CREATED great Whales, and every living Creature that movetb, which the W A l EKb,. BROVGHT FORTH abundantly after their kind, and every winged Fowl after his kind, fnd a little lower after he had fpoken of the formation of Animals, he adjoyns And GOD %^E^ic^^^h%tr his kind, and Cattel after their kind, and every thing that creep- £thZ t obf rvfbk h by The way, That what the Vulgar Tranflates, Producant af« reptile anim* J^S^%^^^^^f^ Lf the Water bring forth abundant* *, moving- Creature' that hath life, and Fowl that may fly above the Ear A the ^^^r^/^^ Let the Fowl ilv above the Earth: Which diftinaion fhows, as is evident from the tore citecfc narfaee of the n4t Chapter that Fowls were not produe'd from the Water, and that it was not ^efs^nS^o^t^V/BX^ were truly empower'd to produceFifh and Fowl,but only to Ste: the refpXe place defign'd for each by the Order *^"J^*£%£ ^ £ due'din; Et volatile VOL IT ETfuperTerram For «>™m°SL wat^ Id'sJte which are produces Trees and Plants we only mean to fignifie that it furnifhes Water, and Salts, which are thefe Scripture PafTages, which Literally taken, make for Second Caufes: For we aiefo far from Koblkd that it is fometimes dangerous to take Expreflions in the Letter, which are founded on common Opinion, by which the Language is form'd.. For the vulgar part of Men fpeak of al! things according to the Impreffions of Senfe, and the Prejudices of Infancy.
The fame Reafon which conftrains us to interpret Literally fuch Scripture PafTages, as directly oppofe Prejudices,gives us Reafon to believe the Fathers never defign'd ex propofito, to maintain the Efficacy of Second Caufes, or the Nature of Ariflotle. For though they often fpeak in a manner t^Tcoun tenances Prejudices, and the judgments of Senfe, yet they fometimes fo explain them- Xs as to manifeft ihe difpofition of their Mind and Heart. St. Aufim, for ^inftance, gives us fufficenty^ That he believed the Witt of God, to be the Force and Nature ot every omnia thing, when he fpeaks thus, We are wont to fay, but not truly, that *^™«\*^N™fc** J po, the Nature of every Creature' being but the Will of the Creator; How can that which t ^byje Wl Inucl of Cod be contrary to Nature? Miracles therefore and Prodigies arc not agamft Nature, but agamfl what tmnf: we know of it..,. t ' nl Sk red nonfunu Quomodo mm eft contra «mrm% quod Dei fit voluntas? Cum votunw urnim^ cremnscondtt* ret cu^ue »*• lun 1 fit 'Portent™ ergo ft noncontra naturam, fed contra quam eft not* natura. S. Aug. de Cmta.De.i /.2i. c 8.
'Tistrue, St. Auflin fpeaks in feveral places according to Prejudice: But 1 affira.that ^hat is na Argument ■, for we are not Literally to explain, but thofe Expreflions which are contrary to them, for which 1 have given the Reafons. ^ The Search after Truths \jh ' if St Aujiin in his Works, had faid nothing againft the Efficacy of Second Caufes, but had al- ways favour'd this Opinion, his Authority might be made ufe of to confirm it. But if it mould not appear that he had induftrioufly examin'd that Queflion, we might dill have reafon to think he had no fettled and refolv'd Opinion about the Subject, but was, it may be, drawn by the Imnreflion of £he Senfes inconfiderately to believe a thing which no Man would doubt of, before he had carefully examin'd it, . 'Tis certain for example that St. Aufiin always fpeaks of Beafls, as if they had a Soul, I fay not a Corporeal Soul; for that Holy Father too well knew the diftinction of the Soul and Body, to think there were Corporeal Souls; I fay a Spiritual Soul, for Matter is incapable of Senfc. And yet it would feem, methinks, more reafonable, to employ the Authority of St. Aujiin to prove that Beaftshave not a Soul, than to prove they have. For from the Principles which he has carefully Some of examin'd, and ftrongly eftablifh'd, it manifeflly follows they have none, as is fliown by Ambrofius St^ttfi^ Viclor, in his Sixth Volume of Cbrijiian Pbilofopby. But the Opinion that Beafls have a Soul, and Pnnc'Ples arefenfible of Pain when we flrike them, being confonant to Prejudices, (for there is no Child but What has believes it; ) we have (till reafon to believe that he fpeaks according to Cuftom and Vulgar Opini- never fin- bn; and that if he had ferioufly examin'd the Queflion, and once began Bo doubt and make reflexi- ned> c™ on, he would never havefaid a thine fo contrary to his Principles. not fuffer ° r evil. But according td him, Pain is the greateft Evil, and Beafts fuffer it. That the more Noble cannot have the Icfs Noble for its end. But with him rheSoul of Beafts is Spiritual, and more Noble than the Body, and yet has no other End. That what is Spiritual is Immortal, yet the Soul of Beafts, though Spiritual, is fubject to Death. Many fuchlike Principles there are in his Works,where- by it may be concluded, That Beafts have no fuch Spiritual Soul as he admits in them.
And thus, though all the Fathers had conftantly favour'd the Efficacy of Second Caufes, yet, it aiay be, no regard were due to their Opinion, unlefs it appear'd that they had carefully Examin'd the Queflion, and that their Alfertions, were not the refults of common Speech, which is form'd tmd founded upon Prejudices. But the cafe is certainly quite contrary; for the Fathers, and fuch as were moll Holy, and befl acquainted with Religion, have commonly manifefted in fome places brother of their Works, what was their Difpofition of Mind and Heart, in reference to the pre-* fent Queflion.
The mofl Understanding, and indeed the greatefl number of Divines, feeing that on one hand the Holy Scripture was repugnant to the Efficacy of Second Caufes^ and on the other, that the Impreflion of the Senfes, the publick Vote, and efpecially Arifiotleh Philofophy, which was had in veneration by the Learned, eftablilh it: For Ariftotle believ'd God unconcern'd in the particulars of Sublunary Tranfactions; That that change was below his Majefly, and that Nature which he fuppofes in all Bodies, fuffie'd to produce all that was done below. The Divines, I fay, have fo equally balanc'd thefe Two, as to reconcile Faith with Heathen Philofophy, Reafon with Senfe, and to make Second Caufes ineffective without the additional concourfe ol God Almighty. But becaufe that immediate concourfe, whereby God acts jointly with Second Caufes includes great difficulties fome Philofophers have rejected it, pretending that in Order to their Acting, there needs no more than that God fhould continue to them their Vertue he endow'd them with in their Creation. And fince this Opinion is exactly agreeable with Prejudice, becaufe of the infenfible Operation of God, in Second Caufes, it is commonly embrae'd by the vulgar fort of Men, and fuch as have more fludied Ancient Naturalifts and Phyficians, than Theology and Truth. Mofl are of Opinion that God created all things at firft, and gave them all the Qualities and Faculties that were neceffary to their prefervation; that he has, for example, given the firft Motion of Matter, and left it afterwards to it felf, to produce, by the Communication of its Motions that admirable variety of Forms we fee. 'Tis Ordinarily fuppos'd that Bodies can move one another -7 and this is faid to be Mr. da Cartesh Opinion, though he fpeaks exprefly againft it, in the Thirty Sixth and Seventh Articles of the Second Part of his Tbilofophical Principles. Since Men muft unavoidably acknowledge that the Creatures depend on God, they Men and abridge, as much as poffible, that dependance, whether out of a fecret Averfion to God, or a ftrange and wretched ftupidity and infenfibility to his Ope- ration. But whereas this Opinion is receiv'd but by thofe who have not much fludied Religion,and have preferr'd their Senfes to their Reafon, and Ariftotle's Authority to that of Holy Writ, we have no reafon to fear its making way into the Mind of thofe, who have any Love for Truth and Religion; for provided a Man ferioufly examin'd it, he muft needs difcover its falfity. But the Opinion of God's Immediate Concourfe to every Action of Second Caufes, feems to accord with thofe PalFages Of Scripture, which often attribute the fame Effect, both to. GOD and the Creature.
We muft confider then, that there are places in Scripture, where 'tis faid that God is the only Agent: lam the Lord that maketh all things, that flretcbeth forth the Heavens alone, that fpread- 44" tth abroad the Earth by my felf. Ego fum Dominus, fays Ifaiah, faciens O MNl A, Extendens coe- 24Mac. 7. Ids' SO LV S, ftabiliens Terr am, & NV L LVS Mecum. A Mother Animated with the Spirit 22, & 23! of God, tells her Children, it was not her that form'd them, I cannot tell how you cams into my Womb: For I neither gave you Breath nor Life, neither was it I that form'd the Members of eve- ry one of you: But doubtlefs the Creator of the World, &c. Nefcio qualiter in utero meo apparui/lis,,\,(?, fingulorum membra NO N EGO IPSA CO MP EG I, fed mundi Creator. She does not fay °„^m with Ariflotle, and the School of the Peripateticks that to her, and the Sun, they ow'd their Birth; bominem. but to the Creator of the Univerfe. Which Opinion that God only Works, and forms Children AHfl. Thy. in their Mothers Womb, not being conformable to Prejudice and Common Opinion; Thefe Sen- ^^ *• *-• T t tences c' 2' See st. 7*. tences according to the pre-eftabliili'd Principle, mufl be explain'd in the Literal Senfe. But on upon the the contrary, the Notion of Second Caufes falling in with the vulgar Opinion, and being Suited lext- to the fenfible impreffion ^ thePafiages which exprefiy make for the feparate Efficacy of Second Caufes, muft be reckon'd invalid when compar'd with the former. Concourfe therefore is infufficient to reconcile the different Texts of Scripture ^ and all Force, Power and Efficacy mufl be afcrib'd to God, But though the immediate concurrence of God with Second Caufes, were fit to accommodate the difagreeing paflages of Holy Writ, yet after all it is a queflion whether it ought £0 be admitted. For. the Sacred Books were not compos'd for the Theologifts of thefe times, but for the People of the Jews. So that if this People had not underftanding, or Subtilty enough, to imagine a Concourfe, fuch as is admitted in School- Divinity, and to agree to a thing which the greateft Divines are hard put to, to explain, it follows, if 1 miftake not, that the Holy Scripture which Attributes to God, and even to God alone, the production and prefervation of all things, would have betray'd them into Error. And the Holy Pen-Men had ftood chargeable with writing not only in an unintelligi- ble, but deceitful Language. For in faying that God Work'd all, they would have defign'd no more than that God affifted to all things with his concourfe, which was not probably fo much as thought on by the Jews; Thofe amongft them, who we're not very great Philofophers, believing, that God Work'd all, and not that he concurred to all.
But that we may pafs a more certain judgement about this Concourfe, it would be requifite to ex- plain with care the different Hypothefes of the School-Men upon it. For befides, thofe impene- trable Clouds, and Obfcurities which involve all the Opinions, that cannot be explain'd and de- fended without loofe and indefinite Term's; there are upon this Matter fo great a variety of Opi- nions, that it would be no hard Matter to difcover the caufe of them. But I defign not to engage in adifcuffion that would be fo wearifom to my felf as well as the greateft part of Readers: On the contrary, I had rather try to fhow that my Opinions may in fome thing accord with thofe of the greater number of Scholaitick Divines, though I cannot but fay their Language looks very Ambi- guous and confus'd. To explain my felf.
I am of Opinion, as I have faid elfewhere, that Bodies for example have no Force to move them- felves, and that therefore their moving force is nothing but the Action of God; or not to make ufe of a Term which has no diftinct import, their moving force is nothing but the Will of God, al- ways neceflarily Efficacious, which fucceffively preferves them in different Places. For I believe not that God Creates any particular Beings, to make the moving force of Bodies-, not only becaufei have no Idea of fucb a kind of Being, nor fee how they could move Bodies: But alfo becaufe thefe Beings themfelves would have need of others to move them, and fo in infinitum. For none but God is'truely Immoveable, and Mover altogether.
Which being fo, when a Body ftrikes, and moves another, I may fay that it Acts by the Con- v currence of God,and that this Concurrence is not diftinct from its own Action. For a Body meeting another moves it, by its Action, or its moving force, which at bottom is nothing but the Will of God preferving the Body fucceffively in different Places, the tranflation of a Body being not it's ABion, or moving force, but the Effell of it. Almoft all Divines fay too, that the Action of Se- cond Caufes is not different from that of God's Concurrence with them. For though they have a various Meaning, yet they fuppofe that God Ads in the Creatures by the fame- Action as the Crea- tures. And they are oblig'd, if I miftake not, thus to fpeak: For if the Creatures Acted by an. Action which God Work'd not in them, their Action, confider'd as fuch, would no doubt, be independent. But they acknowledge, as it becomes them, that the Creatures depend immediately on God, not only as to their Being, but likewifeas to their Operation. - So likewife, in point of free Caufes, I believe that God inceffantly gives the Mind an Impreffion towards Good in General, and that he moreover determines this Impreffion towards particular Goods, by the Idea's or Senfations that he gives us, as I have explain'd in the firft Illuftration -? which is the fame with what the Divines intend, by affirming, That God moves, and prevents our Wills. Thus the Force which puts our Minds in Motion, is the Will of God, which Animates us, and inclines us towards Good. For God Creates not Beings to conftitute the moving force of Minds, for the fame Reafon that he Creates none to be the moving force of Bodies. The Wills of God being of themfelves Efficacious, He need but Will, to do. And we ought not to multiply Beings without neceffity. Befides, whatever is real in the determinations of our Motions, pro- ceeds likewife from the Action of God in us, as appears from the firft Illuftration. But all we Ad or produce, is by our Wills, that is, by the Impreffion of the Will of God, which is our moving force. For our Willsare Efficacious no farther than they are of God, as mov'd Bodies impel not others, but in as much as they have a moving force that tranflates them; which is no other than v. Suarez the Will of God, which Creates or preferves them fucceffively in different places. Therefore we /. i.decon- Act no otherwife than by xhzConcourfe of God; and our Action confider'd as Efficacious, and ca- ewfuDa pabie of producing any Effect, differs not from his, but is, as fay moft Divines, the felf fame Acti- cumvolun- Q^ eademnumero aBio, Now all the Changes which arrive in the World have no other Natural Caufe, than the Motions of Bodies, and Volitions of Minds. For, Firft, by the General Laws of the Communications of Mo- tions, the invifible Bodies which furround thevifible, produce, by their various Motions, all thefe divers Changes, whofe Caufe is not apparent. And, Secondly, by the Laws of Union of our Soul and Body, when circumambient Bodies Act upon our own, they produce in our Soul a multiplicity of Senfations, Idea's, and Pajfwns. Thirdly, Our Mind, by its Volitions, produces in it felf infinite different 7'he Search after Truth. \>,* afferent Idea's -0 for they are our Volitions, which as Natural Caufes intend, and Modifie our Mind: Their Efficacy, neverthelefs, proceeds from the Laws which God has eftablifh'd. And, Laflly" when our Soul acts upon our Body, (he produces /ewerd/ Changes in it, by vertue of the Laws of her Union with it; and by means of our Body (he effects in thofe about it abundance of Changes, by vertue of the Laws of Communication of Motions. So that the Motions of Bodies and the Volitions of Minds, are the only Natural, or Occafional Caufes of Natural Effects, which no Man will deny who nfes any Attention; fuppoling only, he be not prepoffeft by thofe who underftand not what they fay, who fancy perpetually to themfelves fuch Beings as they have no clear Idea's of, and who offer to explain things which they do, not underftand, by others abfolutely incomprehenfible. Thus having fhown that God by his Concourfe, or rather by his Efficacious Will, performs whatever is done by the Motions of Bodies, and the Wills of Minds, as Natural or Occafional Caufes,it appears that God does every thing by the fame Action of the Creature. Not that the Creatures have of themfelves any Efficacious Aclion, but that the Power of God is in a manner Communicated to them, by the Natural Laws which God has eftablifh'd on their account.
This then is all that I can do to reconcile my Thoughts to the Opinion of thofe Divines, who defend the neceffity of immediate Concourfe, aud hold that God does All in all thirfgs by an Action no ways differing from the Creacures. For, as to the reft of the Divines, I think their Opinions Dunni. Utterly indefenfible, and efpecially that of Durandus, together with the Sentiments of fome of the >" 2 dift. Ancients, refuted by St. Auflin, who abfolutely denied the neceffity of God's Concurrence, pre- Si'.jJS* ^ tending, that Second Caufes did all things by the Power which God in their Creation gave them. pgGe„Jf, For though this Opinion be lefs intricate and perplex'd, than that of other Divines, yet to me.it ailfreram feems fo repugnant to Scripture, and fo fuicable to Prejudices, to fay no worfe of it, that I think 1. ■>. c. 20. it altogether unwarrantable.
I confefs that the School-Men, who make God's immediate concourfe to be the fame Action with that of the Creatures, do not perfectly agree with my Explication; and all thofe that I have read, in 4 Sent. except Biel and Cardinal d" Ailly, are of Opinion, That the Efficacy which produces Effects pro- D$- u?• ceeds from the Second Caufe as well as the Firft. But as I make it indifpenfable for me to fpeak u ^flu nothing but wh at L clearly conceive, and always t;p take the fide that beft comports with Religion, m I think I am not liable to blame, for deferting an Opinion which to many Men feems ftill more in-^ conceiveable, as they ftrive more to comprehend it; and for eftablifhing another, which agrees perfectly not only with Reafon, but alfo with the Sacrednefs of our Religion, and Chrijlian Morality, which is a Truth already prov'd in the Chapter that's the Subject of thefe Reflexions. However 'tis not inconvenient to fay fomething to it, that I may fully verifie what I have faid upon the pre- fent Queftion.
Both Reafon and Religion evince, That God will be Lov'd, and rever'd by his Creatures: Lov'd as Good, and Rever'd as Power. Which is fuch a Truth as it would be Impiety and Madnefs to doubt of. To love God, as he requires and deferves, we muft, according to the Firft Command- * booJ^ 4. ment, both of the Law and Gofpel, and by Reafon it felf, as I have * fomewhere mown, Love Him c 1. with all our Strength, or with the whole extent of our Loving Capacity. 'Tis not fufficient to pre- fer Him before all things, unlefswe moreover Love Him in all things. For otherwife our Love is not fo perfect as it ought to be, and we return not to God all the Love that he gives us, and gives us only for Himfelf, in whom every one of His Actions Center.
So to render to God all the Reverence that is due to Him; 'tis not enough to adore Him, as the Supreme Power, and fear Him more than His Creatures; we muft likewife fear and adore Him in all His Clotures; all our refpedts muft perpetually tend towards Him, to whom alone Honour and Glory are" o be afcrib'd: Which is what God Commands us in thefe Words': thou /halt Love the Deut.c.6. Lord thy God, with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength. And in thefe: Thou /halt fear the Lord thy God, and Him only /halt thou ferve. Thus the Philofophy that convinces us that the Efficacy of Second Caufes is a Fittion of the Mind, that the Nature of Ariflotle, and fome other Philofophers, is a Chimera, that none but God is Strong and Powerful enough, not only to Act on our Soul, but even to give the leaft Motion to Matter. This Philofophy, I fay, perfectly Accommodates with Religion, whofe end is to Unite us to God in the ftricteft Bonds.
'Tis Cuftomary with us to Love only thofe things which are capable of doing us fome Good. This Philofophy therefore Authorifes only the Love of God,and Condemns the Love of every thing elfe. We ought to fear nothing but what is able to do us fome Evil. Therefore this Philofophy approves'the fear of God, and abfolutely Condemns all other: Thus it juftifies all the ju ft and Reafonable Motions of our Soul, and Condemns all thofe that are contrary to Reafon and Religion:, For we can never juftifiethe Love of Riches, the defire of Greatnefs, the Extravagance of De- bauchery by this Philofophy, by the Principles whereof, the Love for Bodies is abfuid and ridi- culous.
'Tis an indifputable Truth, 'tis a Natural Opinion, 'tis even a Common Notion that we ought to Love the caufe of our Pleafure, and to Love it proportionably to the Felicity it either Actually does, or is able to poffefs us with. ' Tis not only )ufi, but as it were neceffary that the caufe of our happinefs, fh ould be the Object of our Love. Therefore this Philofophy will teach us to Love God only, a s being the only Caufe of our Felicity: That furrounding Bodies cannot Act upon that we Animate; and confequently much lefs upon our Mind. That 'tis not the Sun which enlightens us, and gives us Life and Motion: Nor that fills the Earth with Fruits, and Beautifies it with Flowers, and fupplies us with Food and Nourifhment. This Philofophy feconding the Scripture, * teaches that 'tis God alone who gives us Rain, and Regulates the Seafons, that fills our Bodies with * Aa* 14.
i^g P. MalebrAnche Concerning Food, and our hearts with Joy, tbftt he alone is able to do us good -, and thereby has giikn a perpetual Tefti- rnony of what he vs; though in the ages paffed hefuffefd all Nations to walk in their own ways. Accord- ing to the Language of this Philofophy,we mull not fay that 'tis Nature that fills us with good ', ndr that it is * God and Nature together: But that it isGod alone,fpeaking thus without Ambiguity, Ergo nihil for fear of deceiving the Ignorant. For we mult diftin&ly acknowledge one ofafe of our happinefs* ugis,bigra- jf we we raake it the oniy object of our Love.
ulium, quite riegws Deo debere, fed nuturx: quia nee naiurd Deo eft, nee. Veus fine natura, fed idem eft mnimque, nee aijint. Officium.ft quod A Seneca aecepijfes, Annuo diceres te debere t vet Lucid: Won credhorem mutires, fed nomen. Sen. 1. 4. de BeneF, 'Tis likewife an undeniable Truth, That we ought to fear things that are able to harm us, and to fear them,in Proportion to the Evil they can do us. But this Philofophy teaches us that God only can do us evil •, that 'tis he, as fays Ifaiah, who forms the Light and creates Darknefs, who makes Ifa. 4$. 7« Peace and creates Evil; and there is no Evil but what he does, as fays the Prophet Amos. Therefore Amos.3.6. jt is he only that is to be fear'd. We mufl not fear either Plague or War, or Famine, or our E- nemies, or even Devils themfelves: But God alone. We ought to fhun the Sword, when We fee a Blow a coming, we are to fly the Fire, and avoid a ruinous Houfe that's ready to crufh us:, but we mull not fear thefe things. We may fly from thofe Bodies which are the Occafional or Natural Caufes of Evil, but we mufl fear God as the true Caufe of all the misfortunes of Sinners; and hate only Sin which neceffarily provokes the caufe of our Happinefs to become the Caufe of our Mifery: In a Word all the Motions of our Mind, mud center upon God, fince he alone's- above it, and the Motions of our Body may relate to the Bodies round it. This is what we learn from that Philofophy that admits not the Efficacy of Second Caufes.
But this Efficacy being fupposM, I cannot fee but we have reafon to fear and Love Bodies; and that to regulate our Love by Reafon, we need but prefer God before all things -, the Fir ft and Vni- verfal, to every Second and Particular Caufe. We can fee no need of Loving him with all our Strength:, Ex tot a mente, ex toto corde, ex tota anima, ex tot'vs viribus, as fays the Scripture.