XLV. If God gave Grace by particular Wills, doubtlefs he would never go to convert a Sin- ner, who had four Degrees of Concupifcence, by giving him three Degrees of Spiritual Election, luppofing thefe Degrees infufficient tor his Converfion. He would defer his Liberality till the Sinner was abfent from the tempting Object, or rather would beftow the fame Grace of three Degrees Strength to him whofe Concupifcence was lefs lively. For ro what Purpofe is it to give three Degrees of Spiritual Delectation to one that wants four, and to deny them him whom they were fufficient to convert? Is this fuitable to the Idea we have of the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God? Is this to love Men, to will they fhould be fav'd, and to do for them all he can > Neverthelefs, God cries out by his Prophet: 0 Inhabitants of ferujalem, and Men of Judah, ifajah $, judge, 'I pray ye, betwixt me and my Vineyard. What could have been done more to my Vineyard. 3, 4. that 1 have not done in it: Wherefore, when I looked that it fhould bring forth grapes', brought it forth wild grapes? What Wifdom is there in giving by particular Wills fo many fruitlefs Graces to Sinners, if we fuppofe God wills their Converfion, as we are taught by Scripture, and has no fatal Defign of rendring them more culpable and criminal by his Gifts?
XLVI. But if Grace be beftow'd on Men by molt Simple and General Laws, all thefe great Difficulties vanifh. The fettled Order of Grace having a greater proportion of Wifdom and Fe- cundity to the Work which God produces than any other, ought to be cholen for the Eftablh'h- ment of Flis Church. Thus we may affirm, That God' truly wills the Salvation of all Men 5 that He does for them all that's pofTible, whillt he acts as becomes him; that if there were any Order of Grace as fimple, but more fecund, as worthy of his Wifdom, and more advantageous to Men, he would have chofen it •, and that therefore he faves as many as it's pofTible to lave, whilft act- ing by the adorable Rules prefcrib'd by his Wifdom.
XL VII. Let Men therefore love and adore not only the Good Will of God, by which the Elect are fanctify'd; but alfo the fecret Judgments of his Jultice^ by which fo great a Number are re- jected.:Tis the fame Order of Wifdom; they are the fame Laws of Grace which produce thefe fo different Effects. God is equally adorable and amiable in all he does; his Conduct always abounds with Wifdom and Goodnefs. Wo to the Wicked, who condemn it without'under- itanding it, and who would have the immutable Order of Divine Wifdom to ftoop and accom- modate it felf to their PafTions and Interefts!
XL VIII. The wife and induftrious Husbandmen plow, dung, and fow their Lands with great Labour and Coft. They carefully obferve the fittelt Seafons, for the different Agriculture, and tax not God with the Succefs of their Labours. They leave their Work to the Order of Nature, well knowing it's in vain to tempt God, and to fancy that on our behalf he will change the Or- der- which his Wifdom prefcribes.
XLIX. Jejus Chriji came to teach us to imitate their Conduct, who having for us an immenfe Charity, and defiring to fave us, as much as the Simplicity of the General Laws of Nature and Grace will permit, has forgotten nothing that might bring us into the ways that lead to Heaven. That which moft withftands the Efficacy of Grace, are fenfible Pleafures, and Senfations of Pride; there being nothing which fo much corrupts the Mind, and hardens the Heart, more than thefe. But has not J ejus Chr/f facrifked and annihilated in his Perfon all Grandeurs and Pleafures fen- fible? Was not his Life to us a continual Example of Humility and Repentance? How was he born? how did he die? what was his Conversation in the World > every Body knows. To what likewife is his Doctrine reducible, and whither tend all his Counfels? Is it not to Humility and Re • \nc'e% to a General Self-denial 'of all that gratifies the Senfes, of all that corrupts the Purity of the Imagination, of all that cherifhes and ftrengthens the Concupifcence of Pride? Therefore-what- ever he has laid, whatever he has done, whatever he has fuffer'd, was to prepare us by his Do-. chine, his Example, and Merits, to receive the Celeftial Rain of Grace, and to render it ef clous.' Since he could not, or ought not to alter the Laws of Nature, tempt God, or. trouble the Order ana Simplicity of his Ways; He has done all for Men that could ii fpire t) h IO F. Maleeranche Concerning L. I fear not, after what the Scripture has faid of it, to affirm that the Charity of J ejus Cbrifi is Immenfeand Incomprehenfible h and though all Men receive not the Effects of it, it would be t Cor. 8. prefumptu'ous Rafhnefs to go to fet Bounds to it. He died for all Men,^ even for thole who perifh "• everlaftingly/ Why do not Sinners enter into the Order of Grace? Why do they not follow the Counfels of J ejus Cbrifi, and prepare themfelves for the Reception of the Rain of Heaven? They cannot merit it, but they may encreafe its Efficacy on their Account. Cannot they from a Prin- ciple of Self-love, through the Fear of Hell; or if you will, by General Graces, avoid many Occafions of finning? deny themfelves Pleafures, at leaft thofe they have not yet tarred, and con- fequently are not enllaved to? Thus they may take away fome Letts and Impediments to the Effica- cy of Grace, at;d prepare the Earth of their Heart, fo as to make it fruitful when God mall pour his Rain upon them, by the General Laws he has ■prefcrib'd himlelf. But they would have God to lave them, without any trouble on their part •, like thofe lazy and fenfelefs Labourers, who, with- out giving their Fields the ordinary Improvements, pretend that God ought to fhower down fo impregnating and abundant Rains,_ as may fave them their Trouble. Falie and vain Confidence! God caufes it to rain as well on Fallow as Cultivated Lands. But let the Proud and Voluptuous know, that the Rain of Grace fhall fall much lefs.on them than on other Men, whilft yet they put themfelves in fuch a Condition as requires much more to convert them.
LI. Since God ordinarily diffufes his Graces by General Laws, we clearly fee theNeceffity of the Counlels of Jefus Cbrifi. We fee that they ought to be followed, that God may lave us by the fimpleft ways -, whilft giving us but little Grace, he operates a great deal in us. We fee clearly that it lies on us to labour and to cultivate our Field, before the Heats of Concupifcence have dried and hardned it; or at leaft when the Rain has diluted and foftned it -, that we muft diligently obferve the moments in which our Pafliqns leave us fome Liberty, that we may feize the Advan- tage that is offer'd: That we muft extirpate, as much as pofhble, whatever may fuffocate the Seed of the Word; and not foolifhly imagine we fhall repent, when we have made our Fortune in the World, or are ready to leave it. For befides that, it depends not on the Husbandmen to make it rain when their Occafions call for it; when a Field has lain long fallow, the Brambles and Thorns ftrike their Roots fo deep, that thofe who are moft us'd to labour, have neither ftrength nor denre to cultivate it.
LIT. But if God a£ted in the Order of Grace by particular Wills, and efficaciouily caus'd in all Men all their good Motions, and Operations, with a particular Defign •, I fee not how it- might be juftify'd, that he acts by the moft fimple Laws; when I confider all thofe indirect ways by which Men arrive to the Place where God conducts them. For I doubt not but God lome- times gives a Man no more than an hundred good Thoughts in a whole Day. Nor can I any more conceive how 'tis pollible to reconcile his Wifdom -and Goodnefs, with all the ineffectual Graces the Malice of Men refills. For God being Good and Wife, ought he not to proportion his Supplies to our Needs, if he afforded them with a particular Defign cf comforting us?
LIII. God makes the Weeds to grow with the Corn till the time of Harveft -, he caufes it to rain on the Tuft and Unjuft; becaule Grace falling on Men by General Laws, is often given to fuch as make no ufe of it 5 whereas if others had received it, they would have been converted. If Jefus Cbrifi had preach'd to the Syrians and Sydonians, as well as to the Inhabitants of Betb- falda and Cborazin, they would have repented in Sackcloth and Alhes. If the Rain which falls on the Sands had been fhower'd upon prepar'd Fields, it would have made them fruitful. But what is regulated by General Laws, is not fuited to particular Defigns -, and it fuffices to ju- ftifie the wife Eftablifhment of thefe Laws, that being extremely fimple, they carry to its Perfe- ction the Grand Work for which they were enacted.
But though I do not believe that God has innumerable particular Defigns for every of his Elect, or that he daily gives them multiplicity of good Thoughts and Motions by particular Wills 5 yet I deny not but they are predeftined by a bounteous Will of God had to them, for which they ought to pay their Eternal Gratitude and Acknowledgments. Which things I explain as follows.
LIV. God dilcoveis in the infinite Treafures of his Wifdom an Infinity of pofiible Works • and at once the perfefteft way of producing each of them. Amongft which he confiders his Church: Jefm Cbrifi who is the Head of it, and all the Perfons which in confequence of fome General Laws eftablifffd, ought to compofe it. In brief, upon Confederation of Jefus Cbrifi and all his Members, he conftitutes Laws for his own Glory. Which being fo, is it not evident that Jefus Cbrifi, who is the Principle of all the Glory redounding to God from his Work, is the firlt of the Predeftinate? and that all the Elect are likewife truly lov'd, and predeftined gratis in Jefus Cbrifi, becaule they may honour God in his Son? That, laftly, they are all under infinite Oblir gations to God, who without regard to their Merit, has fettled the General Laws of Grace, which ought to fanctifie them, and conduct them to the Glory they fhall eternally poffefs.
LV. You'll fay, perhaps, that thefe Laws are fo fimple and exuberant, that God mult prefer them to all other •, and that fince he only loves his own Glory, his Son ought to become incar- nate; and fo has done nothing purely for his Elect. I confefs God has done nothing purely for his Elect: For St. Paid teaches us, that he has made his Elect for Jefm Cbrifi, and Jefus Cbrifi for h'mfelf. If God cannot be rendred amiable to Men, unlefs we make him act purely for them, or not in the wifeft manner, I had rather be filent. Reafon teaches me, that we render God ami- able by (hewing him to be infinitely perfect, and by reprefenting him io full of Love for his Crea- tures, as not to produce any one with Defign of making him milerable. For if all are. not fo happy as to enjoy his Prelence, 'tis becaule Order requiring that fo great a Good fhou Id be merited -, all NATURE and GRACE, i\ all do not deferve ir, for the Reafons I have given. Surely this is to make God lovely, to re- prefent him. fuch as even the Reprobate cannot choofe but adore his Conduct, and repent them of their Negligence.
LVI. Yet for their Satisfaction, who will have God to predefine every of his Elect by a par- ticular Will, it may be faid with a Salvo to the foregoing Hypothecs, That God, before he created Souls to unite them to Bodies, Ibrefaw all that could befall them by the General Laws of Nature and Grace, and all that they mould do in all poffible Circumftances: Therefore being able to cre- ate, as is fuppos'd, the Soul of Paul, or of. Peter, and to unite it to a Body which he forefaw fhould be that of a Predeltinate Perfon; he refolved, from all Eternity, to create the Soul of Paul by a Benevolent Will had for him, and to predeftine him by this Choice to Life Eternal -, whereas he creates the Soul of Peter, not for any Benevolent Will had to him, but by a kind of Neceitity,. by Reafon of the Laws of Union which he has moft wifely eftablifh'd betwixt Souls and Bodies, by which he is oblig'd, as foon as Bodies are form'd, to unite Souls to them; which would have been advantageous to all, if Man had not finned. But the Body of Peter being begotten of an Heathen Father, or of one that is carelefs of his Children's Education; or, Laltly, Peter being engaged- by the Fortune of his Birth, Places, Times, Employments, which induce him to Evil, will infallibly be one of the Reprobate. Yet Peter fhall be ufeful to the Deiigns of God. For though he himfelf mall not enter into the Number of the Predeltinate; yet he mall by fome of his Pofterity: Fie fhall be fubfervient to the Beauty and Grandeur of the Church of JefmChrjft, by the infinite Relations he fhall have to the Elect. Furthermore, he fhall not be miferable, bin in proportion to the wrong ufe he has made of his Liberty, fince God punifhes with Pain only voluntary Diforders. This is what may be offer' d for the Satisfaction of fome Perfons Inclina- tion; though I cannot clearly fee how it can be altogether rely'd on.
LVII. Such as afcribe to God particular.Defigns and Wills, for all the particular Effects pro- duced in Confequence of General Laws, commonly employ the Authority of Scripture tojtiiiifie their Opinion. But being the Scripture is made for all the World, for the Simple as well as the Intelligent, it abounds with Anthropologies. It not only afcribes to God a Body2 a Throne, a Chariot, and Equipage •, Paflions of Joy, Sorrow, Wrath, Repentance, and other Motions of the ■Soul -, but alfo attributes to him the cuftomary Ways of humane Actings, that it may fpeak to the Simple in a more fenfible manner. If JefmChriji became Man, 'twas in part to fatisfie the Inclination of Men, who love what is like them, and are ftudious of what affects them. 'Twas by this real and true kind of Anthropology to perfuade Men of thofe Truths they were incapable to comprehend any other way. Thus St. Paul, to accommodate himfelf to the World, fpeaks of the Sanctification and Predeftination of the Saints, as if God continually work'd in them by particular Wills; and even Jefus Chrijl fpeaks of his Father, as if he took care by fuch like Wills to adorn the Lilies, and to preferve every Hair of the Ffead of his Difciples: Becaufe, m truth, the Goodnefs of God to his Creatures being extreme, thefe Expreflions afford a great Idea of it, and recommend God to the Affections of the groffeft Souls, and fuch as are moft infected with Self-love. Yet as by the Idea we have of God, and by the Paffages of Scripture conforma- ble to that Idea, we correct, the Senfe of other Texts which attribute to God Members and Pat lions like ours; fo when we would fpeak with Exactnefs of the manner of God's acting in the Order of Grace, or Nature, we ought to explain thofe Paflages which make him act as a Man, or a particular Caufe, by the Idea we have of his Wifdom and Goodnefs, and other Scripture Taff tges comporting with that Idea. For, in fine, if we may fay, or rather if we are oblig'd to fay, from the Idea we have of God, that he caufes not every drop of Rain to fall by particular Wills, though the natural Senfe of fome Scripture Paffages authorifes that Opinion -, there is the fame Neceffity to think, notwithftanding fome Authorities of the Scripture, that God gives not by particular Wills to fome Sinners all thofe good Motions which are ufelefs to them, and which would be ufeful to feveral others: For otherwife I fee not how 'tis poffible to reconcile the Holy Scripture either with Reafon, or it felf, as I think I have prov'd.
If I thought what I have faid mfufficient to convince attentive Perfons, that God acts not by particular Wills., like particular Caufes, and finite Underftandings, I would proceed to mew that there were very few Truths that would admit of greater Probation •, on Suppofition that God go^ veins the World, and that the Nature of the Heathen Philofophers is nothing. For indeed every thing in Nature proves this Opinion, except Miracles -, which yet would not be Miracles, or dif- ferent from thofe we call Natural Effects, if it were true that God acted by particular Wills, fince Miracles are fuch only from their not happening by General Laws. Therefore Miracles fup- pofe thefe Laws, and prove the Opinion I have eftablifri'd. But as to ordinary Effects, they clear- ly and directly demonftrate General Laws or Wills. If, for Inftance, a Stone be dropp'd upon the Head of Paffengers, it will continually fall with equal fpeed, not diftinguifhing the Piety or Qua- lity, or Good or 111 Difpofition of thofe that pafs. If we examine any other Effect, we mall fee the fame Conflancy in the Action of the Caufe of it: But no Effect proves that God acts by par- ticular Wills ■, though Men commonly fancy God isconftantly working Miracles in their Favour.
That way they would have God to act in, being confonant to their own, and indulgent to Self-- love, which centers all things on themfelves; and very proportionate to their Ignorance of the Complication of Occafional Caufes, which produce extraordinary Effects, naturally falls into Mens Thoughts, when but greenly ftudied in Nature, and confult not with fufficient Attention the abftract fdea of an Infinite Wiidom, of an Univerfal Caufe, of a Being Infinitely Perfect.
i- F. Malebranche Concerning CONCERNING ISC OU RSE II.; Of the Laws of G R A C E in particulars and of the Occafional Confer, which regulate and determine their Efficacy.
PART I.
I. g^\ INCE none but GOD can a£l immediately and by himfelf on Minds, and produce IL. in them all the various Motions they are capable of: Tis he alone who fheds his Light ^k within us, and infpires us with certain Senfations, which determine our diverfe Voli- * By True Y^d? tions. And therefore none but he can, as a * True Caufe, produce Grace in our Souls.
Cau(e, / For Grace, or that which is the Principle or Motive of all the Regular Motions of our Love, is tfitw?H neceffaruy either a Light which inftructs us, or a confus'd Senfation that convinces us, that God atj's'fyfrs 's our Good '■> ^nce we never ^eBln t0 *ove an ^bje8:, unlefs we fee clearly by the Light of Reafon, mn Force, or feel confufedly by the tall of Pleafure, that this Objeft is good -, I mean capable of making us happier than we are.
II. But fince all Men are involv'd in Original Sin, and even by their Nature infinitely beneath the Majefty of God. 'Tis Jefus Chrift.alone that can by the Dignity of hisPerfon, and theHo- linefs of his Sacrifice, have accefs to his Father, reconcile him to us, and merit his Favours for us -and confequently be the meritorious Caufe of Grace. Thefe Truths are certain: But we are not feeking the Caufe which produces Grace by its own Efficacy -, nor that which merits it by its Sacrifice and Good Works. We enquire for that which regulates and determines the Efficacy of the General Caufe, and which we may term the Second, Particular, and Occafional.
III. For to the end the General Caufe may a£t by General Laws, or Wills; and that his AcFion may be regular, conitant, and uniform, 'tis abfolutely necelTary there mould be fome Occafional Caufe to determine the Efficacy of thefe Laws, and to help to fix them. If the Collifion of Bos, or fomething of like Nature, did not determine the Efficacy of the General Laws of the Communication of Motions, it would be neceffary for God to move Bodies by particular Wills. The Laws of Union of the Soul and Body become efficacious only from the Changes befalling one or other of thefe two Subilanc.es. For if God made the Soul feel the Pain of pricking, tho' the Body were not prick'd, or though the fame thing did not happen in the Brain, as if it were, he would not act by the General Laws of Union of the Soul and Body, but by a particular Will. If Rain fell on the Earth otherwife than by a neceffary Confequence of the General Laws of Communication of Motions, the Rain, and the Fall of every Drop that compofes it, would be the Eft'eci of a particular Will. So that unlefs Order requir'd it mould rain, that Will would be abfolutely unworthy of God. 'Tis neceffary therefore that in the Order of Grace there fhould be fome Occafional Caufe, which ferves ro fix thefe Laws, and to determine their Efficacy. And i: the Caufe we mull endeavour to difcover.
IV. Provided we confult the Idea of intelligible Order, or confider the fenfible Order, which appears in the Works of God, we mall eafily difcover that Occafional Caufes, which determine the Efficacy of General Laws, and are of ufe in fixing them, muft necefTarily be related to the Defign for which Cod haseftablififd them.
.Example: Experience evidences, that God has not made, and Reafcn certifies that he ;:; not ke the Co'iries of the Planets the Occafional Caufes of the Union of our Soul >ueht not to will that our Arm fhould be mov'd in fuch or fuch a manner, or hat our Sou) fhould reel the Tooth-ake, when the Moon fhall be in conjunction with tire Sun, if njun'cnoq acts not on the Body. God's Defign being to unite our Soul to our Body, he" cannot, in profeciking that Defign, give the Soul Senfations of Pain, iave when there happen lbme NATURE and GRACE.,3 fome Changes in the Body repugnant to it. Wherefore we are not to feek out of our Soul or Body the Occafional Caufes of their Union.
t V. Hence it follows, that Goddefigning to form his Church by fefus Chriji, could not accord- ing-to that Defign, feek the Occafional Caufes, which ferve to fettle the General Laws of Grace (by which the Spirit of Jefus, diftus'd through his Members, communicates Life and Holinefs to them) except in Jefm Chriji, and in the Creatures united to him by Keafon. Thus the Rain of Grace is not deriv'd to our Hearts, by the diverfe fituations of the Stars, nor by the Collifion of certain Bodies, nof even according to the different Courfes of the animal Spirits, which give us Motion and Life. All that Bodies can do, is to excite in us Motions and Senfations purely Natu- ral. For whatever arrives to the Soul, through the Body, is only for the Body.
VI. Yet, as Grace is not given to all thatdefire it, nor as foon as they define it, and is granted to thofe who do not ask it -, it thence follows, that even our Defires are not the Occafional Cau- ies of Grace: For this fort of Caufes have conftantly and raoft readily their Effe£t -, and with- out them the Effect is not produc'd. For Inffance, the Collifion of Bodies being the Occafional Caufe of the Change which happens in their Motion • if two Bodies did not meet, their Motions would not alter; and if theyalter'd, we may be aflur'd they met. The general Laws which filed Grace upon our Hearts, find nothing therefore in our Wills to determine their Efficacy 3 as the ge- neral Laws which regulate the Rains are not founded on the Difpofitions of the Places rain'd up- on. For it indifferently rains upon all Places, on hollow and manur'd Grounds, even on the Sands, and the Sea it felf.
VII. We are therefore reduc'd to confefs, that as Jefus Chrifi alone can merit Grace for us, fo it is he alone that can adminifter Occafions to the General Laws by which it is diftributed to Men. For the Principle or Foundation of thefe General Laws, or that which determines their Efficacy, being neceffatily either in us, or in Jefus Chriji, fince it is certain that it is not in us, it mull needs be found in him.
VIII. Befides, when Man had finn'd, did it behoove God to have any more regard to his De: fires? Being we are all in a diforder'd State, we can-no longer be an Occafion of God's (hewing us Favour. But a Mediatour was needful, not only to give us Accefs towards God, but to be the Occafional Caufe of the Favours we hope from him.
IX. Whereas God had a Defign of making his Son the Head of his Churchy it was requifite he mould conftitute him the Occafional or Natural Caufe of the Grace which fan&ifies it. For 'tis the Head which communicates Life and Motion to the Limbs; and with that ProfpeQ; God per- mitted Sin. For if Man had continued in Innocence:, as his Will had been meritorious of Grace, and even of Glory -, fo the inviolable Laws of Order would have requir'd that God fhould have appointed in Man the Occafional Caufe of his Perfe£lion and his Happinefs: In fo much that Je- fus Chriji would not have been the Head of the Church -, or, at moft, had been but the Head of thofe Influences which all the Members might have eafily difpens'd with.
X. If our Soul were in our Body before it was form'd, and if by her diverfe Volitions all the Parts which compofe it were rang'd and poftur'd; with how many various Senfations and diffe- rent Motions would (he be touch'd, upon confideration of all the Effetts which were to follow her Volitions: Efpecially if fhe were extremely defirous of forming the moft vigorous and bsft made Body poblhle > XI. Now Holy Scripture does not only fay, that Jefm Chriji is the Head of the Church • but alfo that he begets it, and fafhions it, and gives it increafe -, that he fuffers, merits, a£ls and in- Epk *• 22* fiuences continually in it. The Zeal which Jefus Chriji has for his Father's Glory, and the Love ^ 4- *& he bears to his Church, conftantly fuggeft to him the Defire of making it the moft ample, the 2.°i9>' 24° moft magnificent, and the perfe&eft that can be. Therefore, as the Soul of Jefus has not an in- 1 Cor. 12. finite Capacity, and yet would endow his Church with infinite Beauties and Ornaments, we have 27. all reafon to believe, that there is in his holy Soul a continual Chain of Thoughts and Defires, ¥}* u 24* with reference to the myftical Body which he conftantly forms.
XII. Now they are thefe continual Defires of the Soul of Jefm that tend to fan&ifie his Church, and render it worthy of his Father's Majefty, which God has eftablifffd the Occafional Caufes of the Efficacy of the general Laws of Grace. For we are taught by Faith, that God hath given his Son an abfolute Power over Men, in conftituting him Head of his Church; which yet cannot be conceiv'd, unlefs the feveral Volitions of Jefus Chriji aje foilow'd by their Effe&s. For 'tis manifeft I fhould have no Power over my Arm, if it mov'd when I would not have it, and remain'd dead and motionlefs when I defir'd to move it.
XIII. This Sovereign Power Jefus Chriji has merited over Men, as alfo that Quality of Head of the Church, by the Sacrifice he offer'd upon Earth, on full PofTeffion of which Right he en-