XXXVII. We are taught by our own inward Confcioufnefs, That the Love of Light produces it •, and that Attention of Mind is a Natural Prayer, by which we obtain Inftruc~tion of God -, for all the Enquirers of Truth, who apply themfelves to Truth, difcover it in proportion to their Application. And if our Prayer were not interrupted, nor our Attention difturb'd, if we had any Idea of what we ask, and fhould ask it with a competent Perfeverance, we mould not fail to ob- tain, whilft we were capable of receiving it. But our Prayers are continually interrupted, unlefs Selfinterefs'd; our Senfes and Imagination muddy, and confound all our Ideas. And though the Truth we confult anfwers our Enquiries, the confus'd Noife of our Paffions deafens us to its An- fwers, or makes us fpeedily forget them.
XXXVIII. If it be confider'd, that Man, before the Fall, was animated with Charity, and pof- fefs'd with all that was requifite to his Perfeverance in Innocence •, and that by his Perfeverance and Application, he ought to merit his Reward, 'twill eafily be conceived that' the feveral Defires of his Will were eftablifh'd the Occafional Caufes of the Light receiv'd in hisllnderftanding; other- wife his Diftra&ion had not been voluntary, nor his Attention meritorious. But Nature, how- ever corrupted, is not deftroy'd: God has not defifled to will what he once wilFd. And the fame Laws ftill fubfift. Therefore our manifold Volitions are ftill the Occafional or Natural Caufes of the Prefence of Ideas to our Mind. But becaufe the Union of the Soul with the Body is chang'd into a Dependence on it by a Natural Confequence of Sin, and the immutable Will of God, as I have explain'd elfewhere^ our Body at prefent difturbs our Ideas, and fpeaks fo loud in favour of its refpe&ive Goods, that the Mind but feldom confults, and diftractedly liltens to Internal Truth.
XXXIX. Moreover, Experience daily teaches us that our Converfation with Underftanding Perfons, is capable of inftru£ting us by railing our Attention; that Preaching, Reading, Converfe, a thoufand Occurrences of all.forts, may raile fome Ideas in us, and likewife infpire us with good Thoughts. The Death of a Friend is, • doubtlefs, capable of putting us in Mind of Death ^ unlefs fome great Paffion takes us up. And when a Preacher of great Natural Endowments un- dertakes to demonftrate a moft fimple Truth, and convince others of it:, it muft be own'd that he may perfuade his Hearers, and even move their Confcience, give them Fear and Hope, and -raile in them fuch other Paffions as put them in a lefs State of Oppofition to, the Influence of the Grace of J ejus Cbrift.
Men being made for a fociable Life, 'twas requifite they mould mutually communicate their Thoughts and Motions. 'Twas fit they mould be united in Mind as well as Body; and that Seaking by the Voice tp their Ears, and by Writing to their Eyes, they fhould infufe Light and nderftanding into one anothers Minds.
XL. But Light, whatever way produc'd in us, whether by particular Defires, or fortuitous In* fiances, as the Occafional Caufes of it, may be call'd Grace; efpecially when it nearly relates to Salvation 3 though it be but a Confequence of the Order of Nature; becaufe fince Sin, God owes us nothing, and all the Good we have is merited for us by J ejus Cbrift, in whom our very Being fubfifts. But this kind of Grace, though merited for us by J ejus Cbrift, is not the Grace of our Lord, but that of the Creator; Rncefcfvs Cbrift is not ufually the Occafional Caufe of it, but the Caufe of it is difcoverable in die Order of Nature.
XXL There are ftill feveral other Natural Effe&s which we might reafbnably look upon as Graces. For Example: Two Perfons have at the fame time two Defires of Curiofity. The one to go fee an Opera, the other to hear a celebrated Preacher. If they fatisfie their Curiofity, he that goes to the Opera fhall find fuch Objects, as, according to his prefent Difpofition of Mind, (hall raife in him Paffions that will damn him; whilft the other fhall find in the Preacher fo great Force and Light, that the Grace of Converfion working in him at that moment, fhall be able to fave him. Which fuppos'd, Let but a (hower of Rain, or any other Accident happen, that may ftay them at home. Though the Rain be a Natural Effeft, as depending on the Natural Laws of the Communication of Motions; yet it may be faid to be a Grace, in refpett of him whole Damnation it prevents, and a Punifhment to him whofe Converfion it hinders.
XLIJ. Grace being conjoin'd to Nature, all the Motions of our Soul and Body have fome re- lation to Salvation. This Man is fav'd, by having in a State of Grace made a falfe Step, which happily broke his Neck -, and another is damn'd, by having on fome Occafion misfortunately avoided the Ruines of a falling Houfe. We know not what is for our Advantage, but we -'well know there is nothing of it felf fo indifferent but lias fome reference to our Salvation, becaufe of the Mixture and Combination of Effe&s depending on the General Laws of Nature, with others that depend on the General Laws of Grace.
XLIII. As therefore Light points out to us the True Good, the Means to obtain it, our Duties to God ■, in a word, the Ways we are to follow; it is fufficient to caufe thofe who are animated with Charity, to dq good, to merit new Graces, and to conquer fome Temptations, as I fhall ex- plain in another Place •, fo I think we may lawfully give it the Name of Grace, though Jefits Cbrift be only the Meritorious Caufe of it. And whereas External Graces, which have no imme- diate Influence on the Mind, come nevertheless into the Order of Predeftination of Saints, I con- fider them alfo as True Graces. In a word, I fee not why we may not give the Name of Grace to all Natural Effefts, when relating to Salvation, fubfervient to the Grace of Jefus Cbrift, and delivering us from fome Hindrances to his Efficacy. Yet if others will not agree with me, I fhall not contend with them about Words.
XLIV. All thefe Graces, if we may be allow'd to call them fo, being thofe of the Creator, the * General Laws of thefe Graces are the General Laws of Nature. For we muft ftill obferve, that Sin has has not deftroy'd Nature, though it has corrupted it. The General Laws of the Communications of Motions are always the lame r 5 and thofe of the Union of the Soul and Body are chane'd no otherwise than that the Union of the former is grown into a Dependence, for the Realbnsf have given elfewhere. For at prefent we depend on that Body, to which, before Sin, we were onlv united. ' ' X.LY* ^?Wi the ^aJ^°,f Nature are always moft SimPle and General s For God afts not bv Ear£™ Wlils> ™lefs 0rder quires a Miracle. Which Truth I have f iifficiently prov'd in the Firlt Difcourie. Thus when a Stone falls on the Head of a good Man, and rids him of his Life it tails in confequence of the Laws of Motions; and not becaufe that Man is Juft, and God de- figns to recornpenfe him. When a like Accident deftroys a Sinner, 'tis not becaufe God will actually punilh him: For God, on the contrary, would have all Men fav'd. But he is not to change the Simplicity of his Laws, to fufpend the Punifhment of a Criminal. So likewife when Light breaks into our Undemanding, 'tis becaufe our Defires are the Natural or Occafional Caufes of it •, 'tis becaufe we hear fome underftanding Perfon, and becaute our Brain is difpos'd to receive the Impreffions of the Speaker: And not that God has a particular Will on our behalf, but that he follows the General Laws of Nature, to which he has oblig'd himfelf. I can fee nothing My- fterious in the Diftribution of thefe kinds of Graces, and I Hand not to draw Conlequences dedu- cible from thefe Truths.
XLVI. 5Tis to be obfenrd, that Jefus Chrift, who is the fole Meritorious Caufe of the Goods we receive from God, by the Order of Nature, is fometimes the Occafional Caufe of the Grace of Light as well as of that of Senfation; yet I am of Opinion, that this but rarely happens; becaufe indeed it is not neceffary it ffiould. Jefus Chrift, as much as poflible, makes the Order of Nature fubfervient to that of Grace. For befides that, Reafon evinces that Order will have it fo; becaufe that Method is moft fimple, it is fufficiently manifeft by the Conduct he takes on Earth, and the Order he has eftablifh'd, and ftill preferves in his Church. Jefus Chrift made ufe of Speech for the Inftru&ion of the World, and likewife fent his Difciples, two by two, to Luk. jo." prepare the People to receive him. He has fettled Apoftles, Prophets, Evangelifts, Dollars, Bijhops, EPh- »** and Priefts, to labour in the Edification of the Church. Is not this to make Nature Handmaid l2' to Grace; and to propagate the Light of Faith in Mens Minds by ways moft Simple and Natu- ral; And indeed Jefus Chrift on Earth was not to inftrucl Men by particular Wills, fince he might inftru£t them as Interiour Truth and Eternal Wifdom, by the moft fimple and exuberant Laws of Nature.
XLVII. That which lies moft hidden and unreveal'd in the Order God has follow'd for theEfta- blifhment of his Church, is, doubtlefs, the Time, Place, and other Circumftances of the Incarna- tion of his Son, and the Preaching of the Gofpel. For why mould Jefus Chrift, for whom the World was created, become Man Four thoufand Years after its Creation > Why muft he be born among the Jews, he that was to reject that wretched Nation? Why muft he choofe to be the Son of David, when the Family of David was obfcur'd; and not rather to be born from Em- perours, who have commanded the whole World, fince he came to Convert and Enlighten all the. Earth? Why to ele£l his Apoftles and Difciples out of the Ignorant and Illeterate, to preach to the Inhabitants of Bethfaida and Corazin, who remain in Incredulity; and to leave Tyre and Si- don, who would have been converted by the like Grace afforded them; to hinder St. Paul from preaching the Word of God in Afia, and to appoint him to pals into Macedonia? A thoufand other Circumftances, which have accompanied the Preaching of the Gofpel, are, no doubt, fuch Myfteries as admit not clear and evident Reafons; nor Is it my Defign to give them. My Purpofe is only to eftablifh fome Principles that may afford fome Light to thefe and the like Diffi- culties •, or at leaft, give us to underftand that nothing can be thence concluded againft what I have faid of the Order of Nature and Grace.
XLVIII. 'Tis certain that Natural Effects are complicated and mix'd a thoufand ways with the Effe&s of Grace; and that the Order of Nature ftrengthens or weakens the Efficacy or Effe&s of the Orders of Grace, according as thefe two Orders varioufly combine together. Death, which by the General Laws of Nature, at a particular Juncture befals a good or ill Prince, or Bifhop, occafions a great deal of Good or Evil in the Church; becaufe fuch kind of Accidents caufe a great. Diverfity in the Sequel of Effecfs, which depend on the Order of Grace. But God would have all Men fav'd by the fimpleft ways. Therefore we may and ought to fay in general, That He has chofen the Time, the Place and Manners, which in the procefs of Time, and by the General Laws of Nature and Grace, muft, all things confider'd, introduce a greater Number of the Pre- deftinate into the Church. God does all things for his Glory: Therefore, among all the poflible Combination of Nature and Grace, he has from the infinite Extent of his Knowledge made choice of that which could form the perfefteft Church, and moft fuitable to his Majefty and Wifdom. XLIX. This, one would think, were fufficient to anfwer all the Difficulties that can arife about the Circumftances of our Myfteries: For if it be fajd, i\\2Xjefm Chrift ought to be born to a Roman Emperour, and to perform his Miracles in the Metropolis of the World, that the Gofpel might fpread it felf with greater Eafe into the remoteft Countries: It may be boldly anfwer'd, That though this feems fo to Men, yet that Combination of Nature and Grace had not been fo wor- thy of rhe Wifdom of God as that which he has chofen. I conihik Religion had been propagated with greater eafe; but its Eftablifhment had not been fo Divine and Extraordinary, nor confer quently an invincible Proof of its Reality and Truth. So hat, according to that Combination, Religion would at this Day have been deftroy'd., at leaft' lefs diffeminated abroad in. the World.
Befides, 20 F. Malebranche Concerning Befides, when we fay that God a£ts by the fimpleft ways, we ever fuppofe an Equality in the reft, and efpecially in the Glory that ought to redound to God from his Work. But the Church had not been fo perfect, nor fo worthy of the Greatnels and Holinefs of God, if it had been form'd with To much eafe. For the Beauty of the Heavenly Jerufalem confiding in the Variety of Rewards accruing upon the feveral Combats of Chriftians, 'twas requifite the Martyrs fhould lay down their Lives as well as Jefm Chrift, to enter into the Poffeflion of their prefent Glory. In a word, this Principle^ That of all the infinite Combinations of Nature and Grace, God has chofen that which ought to produce an Effe£t moft worthy of his Greatnefs and Wifdom, fuffi- ces for a General Anfwer to all the Difficulties that can be ftarted about the Circumftances of our Myfteries •, like as, ' to vindicate the Orders of Nature and Grace in themfelves, we need but know, That God, being infinitely wife, frames no Defign but upon the admirable Proportion of Wifdom and Fecundity, difcover'd in the ways capable to bring it to pafs, as I have explain'd itj the Firft Difcourfe.
L. Molt Men judging of God by meafure of themfelves, imagines that he firft forms a Defign, and afterwards confults his Wifdom about Ways to execute it. For our Volitions generally pre- vent our Reafon, and our Defigns are hardly ever perfectly Rational. But God's Ways are not like thofe of Men, who a£ts in the following manner, if I have well confulted the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect. God, by the infinite Light of his Wifdom, knows all poflible Works, and at once all the refpe&ive Ways of producing them, He fees all the Proportions between Means and their End. He- compares all things by one Eternal, Immutable and Neceffary View -y and by the Comparifon he makes of the Proportions of Wifdom and Fecundity, which he difco- vers between the Defigns and Ways of executing them, he freely forms a Defign. Bur the De- fign being form'd, he necejjarity choofes the general Ways moft worthy of his Wifdom, Great- nels and Goodnefs. For fince he forms no Defign, but through the Knowledge of the Means of executing it, the Choice of the Defign includes the Choice of Means.
LI. When I fay, That God forms his Defign freely, I would not be thought to mean that he may make choice of another lefs worthy, and reject that which is more worthy of his Wifdom. For fuppofing that God wills the Production of an external Work worthy of him, he is not indif- ferent in the Choice, but muft produce the perfe&eft poflible, with reference to the Simplicity of the Ways he atts by. This God owes to himfelf, from following the Rules of his Wifdom, and he muft always aft in the wifeft and perfe£teft manner. But I fay, that God forms his Defign freely -, becaufe he does not invincibly and neceffarily love any thing befides his own Subftance, Neither the Incarnation of the Word, nor for a much ftronger Reafon, the Creation of the World, are neceffary Emanations of his Nature. God is fully Self-lufficient: For the Being infinitely per- fect may be conceiv'd alone, and without necefTary Relation to any of his Creatures.
LII. As God neceffarily loves himfelf, he neceffarily follows the Rules of his Wifdom. But whereas his Creatures conftitute no part of his. Being, he is fo full and fufficient in himfelf, that •nothing obliges him to produce them •, and he is abfolutely indifferent or free on their Account. And therefore it is that he has made the World in Time: For that Circumftance fufficiently fhews that the Creatures are not necefTary Emanations of the Divinity, but effentially depending on the Free Will of the Creator.
LIII. Lo! however an Objection that offers it felf immediately to the Mind. If it were true, that God neceffarily follow'd the Rules of his Wifdom, the World would not have been created in Time: For either the World is worthy or unworthy of God. If it were better that the World fhould not be produc'd from Nothing, it ought to be Eternal •, if on the contrary, that it fhould remain in Nothingnefs, it ought not to be created. Therefore God is not oblig'd to Hick to Rules which his Wifdom prefcribes, fince the World was created in Time.
But this Objection is eafily anfwer'd. 'Tis better for the World to be, than not to be -, but it had better not be at all than be Eternal.. The Creature ought to carry the Effential Character of Dependency. If Spirits were Eternal, they might have ibme reafon to confider themfelves as Gods, or necefTary Beings; or at leaft, as capable of contributing to the Greatnels or Felicity of God; whilft imagining he could not forego producing them. They might in a manner compare themfelves with the Perfons in the Deity, while believing themfelves produc'd like them by a neceffary Emanation. Thus God ought by the Rules of his Wifdom to leave Creatures the Mark of their Dependence •, and yet give them Affurance that he made them not to annihilate them •, and that being conftant in his Purpofes, by reafon of his unlimited Wifdom, they mall eternally fubfift.
LIV. This Difficulty may ftill be driven farther in this manner. God neceffarily follows the Rules of his Wifdom, and neceffarily does what is beft. But it was at leaft better for the World to be created in Time, than not to be at all. And certainly it was fit, by the Rules of the Wifdom of God, that the World fhould be produc'd in the Circumftances in which he produc'd it. There- fore the Creation of the World in Time is abfolutely neceffary, God was not at Liberty on its account, nor capable of hindring its temporary Production.
tor the Reiolution of this Difficulty, it muft be obferv'd, That though God follows the Rules prefcrib'd by his Wifdom, yet he does not neceffarily what is beft •, becaufe, being Mafter of his action, he may chooie to do any thing. To aft, and not to follow the Rules of his Wildom, is a Fault: Therefore, on fuppofition that God afts, he neceffarily ads in the wifeft manner con- ceivable. But his Liberty in the Production of the World, is a Sign of his Abundance, Fulnefs, and Self-fuificiency. 'Tis better for the World to be, than not to be; the Incarnation of ' Jefus Chriji NATURE '^ GRACE. l{ Chrijl renders the Woi-k of God worthy of its Author, I acknowledge: But whereas God is ef- fentially happy and perfeft, and as nothing is good on his Confideration, but himfelf,or theCaufe ot his Perfection and his Happinefs, he loves nothing invincibly befides his own Subffc incc; and whatever is extenour to him, ought to be produc'd by an Aftion really eternal and immutable but that derives its Neceflity from Suppofition of the Divine Dectees.
LV. I offer another Principle, which I have already mention'd, which may afford fame Light to the Difficulties that may arife about the Incarnation of Jefus Chrifi, and the Geation of the World. Reafon and Authority of Holy Writ teach us, that the Firft and Principal of the De- hgns of God, is the Conftitution of his Church in Jefus Chrijl. The ptefent World is not crea- ted to remain as it is: The Falfhood and Errour, the Injuftice and Difbrder, that are ieen in ir, give us fufficiently to underftand it ought to have an end. The future World, which Truth and Juftice (hall inhabit, is the Earth which God has fettled on inviolable Foundations s and which be- ing the Object: of Divine Love, fhall eternally fubfift. God has not created this Vifible World with other Defign than to raife by degrees that invifible City, whereof St. John f peaks fo many Wonders -, and as Jefus Cbrijl fhall be the principal Beauty of it, he was always had in View by God in the Production of his Work. He has made all for Man, and with reference to him, as the Scripture teaches: But he for whom, according to St. Fan/, God has made all things, is Heb. 2. the Man Jefus Chrif. 'Tis to teach Men that they are created, and that they fubfift in Jefui Chrijl; 'tis to unite them ftraitly to him 5 'tis to induce them to make themfelves like him, that God has rlgur'd Jefus Chrijl and his Church, in the principal of his Creatures. For 'tis neceilary that Jefus Chrijl fhould be found in the whole Work of God, that it might be the worthy Ob- ject of his Love, and of the Aft ion that produe'd it.
LVI. If we confider the manner of the Firlt Man's Creation, as related by Holy Scripture, how his Wife was form'd out of his Flefh and Bone; his Love to her, and the Circumftances of their Sin, we fhall doubtlefs judge that God thought on the Second Adam in the Formation of the Firft:-, that he confider'd the Father of the future World, in creating the Father of the prefent- and that he'defign'd the Firft Man and Woman for exprels Types of Jefus Chrijl and his Church. 1 Cor. 12. St. Paul permits us not tQ doubt of this Truth, when he allures us we are form'd of the Flefh *7- and Bone of Jefus Chrijl, that we are his Members-, and that the Marriage of Adam and 'Eveif^' 5'3°> is the Figure of Jefus Chrift and his Church.
LVIL God might perhaps form Men and Animals by ways as fimple as common Generation. But fince this way typified Jefus Chrijl zndlmChurch, fince it wore the Imprefs of the principal of God's Defigns, and reprefented, as I may fay, the well-belov'd Son to his Father, that&vz in whom alone the whole Work of the Creation fubfifts, God ought to prefer it before all other •, thereby likewife to teach us, that as intelligible Beauties confift in their Relation to Eternal Wifdom, fo fenfible Beauties muft, though in a manner little known to us, relate to Incarnate Truth.
LVIII. Doubtlefs there are many Analogies and Agreements betwixt the mod principal of the Creatures, and Jefus Chrijl, who is their Pattern and their End. For all is full of Jefus Chrijl; every thing reprefents and typifies him, as much as the Simplicity of the Laws of Nature will per- mit. But I (hall not venture to enter on the Particulars of this Subjeft. For befides that I am fearful of miftaking, and have not a competent Knowledge either of Nature or Grace, of the prefent World, or the future, to difcover their Relations •, I know that the Imagination of Men is fo farcaftical and nice,* that we cannot by Reafon lead them to God, much lefs to Jefus Chrijl,mth- out tiring their Patience, or provoking their Railery. Moft Chrijl ians are accuftom'd to a Philo- fophy that had rather have recourfe to Fiftions, as extravagant as thofe of the Poets, than to God; and fome of them are fo little acquainted with Jefus Chrijl, that a Man would perhaps be reckon'd a Vifwnijl, if he faid the fame things with St. Paul, without ufing his Words. For 'tis rather that great Name which perfuades them than the View of Truth. The Authority of Scri- pture keeps them from blafpheming what they do not underft and; but whereas they are but little converfant with it, it cannot.much enlighten them.
LIX. 'Tis certain that the Jewijh People was the Figure of the Church, and that the molt Holy and Remarkable Perfons among the Kings, Prophets, and Patriarchs of that Nation, were the Types of the Me/Jiah, our Saviour Jefus Chrijl; which is a Truth not deniable, without under- mining the Foundations of the Chrijl tan Religion, and making the moft Learned of. the Apojlles pafs for the moft Ignorant of Men. Jefus Chrijl being not yet come, ought at leaft to be typi- fied. For he ought to be expefted, he ought to be defired, and by his Types he ought to itrew fome fort of Beauty over the Univerfe, to make it acceptable to his Father. Thus it was neceffary he mould in fome manner be as ancient as the World, and that he mould die prefently after the Sin in the Perfon of Abel. The Lamb that was (lain from the Foundation of the World: The Begin- ning andEnd: Alpha and Omega: Tejhrday and to Day.: He is, was, and is to come. Thefe are the Qualifications St. John attributes to the Saviour of Men.
I his ^iSs^^'^^^^ffi^^'^'^^^ GoV loving 'that moft which had neareft Relation to his Son, ought to make the Jews the Fathers of Jefus Chrijl, according to the rlelli, fince they had been the moftlively and exprefs Figures of his Son.. _ LXI But if driving this Difficulty up higher, The Reafon be demanded ot the Choice God made of the Jews to be the principal" Figures of Jefus Chrijl, I think I may and ought afhim, T« Ill-It F. Malebranche Concerning that God a&ing always by the fimpleft ways, and difcovering in the infinite Treafures of his Wifdom all the Combinations of Nature with Grace, chofe that which was to make the Church the moft ample, moft perfect, and moft worthy of his own Greatnefs andHolinefs, as I have faid before. Secondly, I think I ought to anfwer, that God forefeeing that what was to happen to the Jevoijh People by a neceflary Confequence of Natural Laws, would have more Analogy to his Defign of typifying Jefus Chrift and his Churchy than all that could befall other Nations, thought fit to choofe that People rather than any other. For, in brief, Predeftination to the Law is not like Predeftination to Grace •, and though there be nothing in Nature that can oblige God to filed his Grace equally on a whole People, yet methinks Nature may merit the Law in the Senfe I here under ftand it.,