God may alter or

Laws of

Nature,

us affu

rance that

V. As to the fecond fort of Divine Laws, viz. the Pofitive; 'tis certain that God, who is the Auadd to the thor of Nature and establish'd the Laws of it, can either alter them or add to them when he fees it and give proper. Neither does he want Means, whenever he pleases, to affure Mankind that he will do it. he intends When therefore we find any Alteration in the to do fo; Laws of Nature, we may from hence conclude hence the that God demands our Attention. And hereupon origin of we esteem the Promulgation of a new Law repofitive Laws, and commended to us by this Token to be an authena Revela- tic Declaration of the Will of God. In this mantion. ner were the Mofaic and Evangelic Laws eftablifh'd; viz. by Miracles.

Laws are

what is

to them.

VI. But it is ufually afk'd, Why did God eftathe means blish and promulge thofe Laws which he knew of inform- Men would not obferve? It must be answer'd, ing FreeAgents of That these Laws are Means of acquainting Free Agents with what is expedient for them, and of ufeful or moving them to the choice of it. Neither does prejudical their Nature admit of any that are more efficacious for it is fuch as must be perfuaded and not compell'd. Notwithstanding therefore God knew that his Laws would not be obferv'd by all, yet he proposes them to all, for by this Means a great many learn their true Intereft, thankfully embrace the Laws and obey them; and the reft are no worse for them, fince they would be involv'd in the fame Evils which they feel from the Sanction of the Laws, and perhaps greater, tho' these Laws had never been. (86.)

NOTES.

(86.) 'Tis a very useful Obfervation which our Author makes in this place, and illuftrates in the following Section, par. 3. viz. that the Divine Laws (efpecially thofe of the Christian Difpenfation) are chiefly Declarations of the natural and ne

ceffray

But granting that fome who tranfgrefs the Laws meet with greater and more Inconveniencies than they would have done without them, 'tis better that fome fhould fuffer Inconveniencies thro' their own fault, than that all fhould be depriv'd of the Benefit of the Divine Laws; God therefore out of infinite Goodness, which is always inclin'd to the beft, promulg'd thofe Laws which he knew all Men would not observe.

ceffary Effects of Sin, or Directions and Means to avoid them; which neceffary Effects are conceived to be the real Sanction of thefe Laws. Confequently thefe Laws cannot properly bring us into a worse State than we should have been in without them.- They do not introduce a new Train of arbitrary and additional Evils, but on the contrary are defign'd in pure Goodness to leffen the Number of the old ones, to forewarn us of the natural Confequences of our own Acts and Habits, and prevent thofe Moral Evils to which we are expofed by the very conftitution of our Being;--which the univerfal Law of Liberty makes it poffible for us to incur, and impoffible for God to hinder, by any other means, as has been fhewn above. Farther; this Notion, that most of the Mifery both in this World and the next, is the neceffary Confequence of finful Actions, according to the fix'd Laws of Nature, rather than any pofitive Punishment immediately inflicted by the Deity, will, I am apt to think, have the greatest Influence on moft Men to deter them from fuch Actions. I am fure I find myself more deeply affected with this Reflection, that Mifery will follow of Courfe upon fome certain Practices, and that by indulging them, I naturally and neceffarily deftroy myself, than I fhould be by a Profpect of the very fame Degree of Pain threatned as a Punishment for fuch Practices. And the Reafon of this is evident: I am apt ftill to hope that the latter may poffibly be remitted: but the former leaves no room for Hope. Again, A due attention to this Doctrine, that all our moral Happinefs in this World must be of our own making, and that difordered, evil Affections, irregular and perverfe Habits, &c. will conftitute a great part of our Hell, in the next, (which might be fhewn in the fame manner as was hinted concerning virtuous Habits, in Note, 80. but

is

Punishment is a

Evil con

SECT. II.

Concerning Divine Rewards and Punishments.

T was proper to fay fomething concerning a thefe, fince Punishment is a natural Evil, natural viz. Pain, Difappointment of Appetite, or Danected mage annex'd to a wrong Choice, by a Forefight with a de- whereof we might be deterr'd from making a wrong Choice. In thefe confifts the Power and Efficacy of Laws, nor would they be of any force without them. Now Good or Evil, i. e. Rewards and Punishments, may be annex'd, either by Nature, or by Laws of pofitive Inftitution.

praved Choice,

NOTES.

II As

on Ri

is render'd unneceffary by the Authors there mention'd.) This
Doctrine, I fay, if rightly understood and apply'd, would
difcover the weakness of all fuch pretences to Salvation as are
built upon the bare Belief of, or Confidence in what any other
has done or can do for us; or even of what we do ourselves
purely by way of Opus operatum. i. e as ultimately relying on
the bare Difcharge of any Duty, and not ufing and applying
it as a means to fome farther End, v.g. on Prayer, as the mere
Labour of the Lips; on the Sacrament as a Charm ;
pentance as a fimple A&t entitling us to Happiness: In short, of
any thing which does not enter the Heart and improve the
Temper. If Heaven be not fo much the Reward of Religion,
as the natural Confequence of a Religious Frame of Mind, and
vice versa; then how abfurd is it for us who are afpiring after
that State, to ftop by the way, to reft in any particular Acts
of Religion as arbitrary Inftitutions procuring, and as it were
purchafing it for us, inftead of ufing them as, what they really
are, fit Inftruments to work out our own Salvation, by producing
this frame of Mind in us as proper Helps and Allistances

enabling

violence done to

Action has

re-action

II. As to Nature, all Evil is prejudicial to it, Evil is i. e. interrupts its Courfe: Evil therefore proceeds from fome Violence done to Nature, and that Nature; which offers Violence must neceffarily fuffer it; but every for every natural Action has Re-action join'd with natural it. According to the Laws of Mechanifin then Evil done to another is for the most part repy'd correfponwith Evil to the Doer, i. e. with Punishment. By dent to it which piece of Machinery or Contrivance God has therefore: manifefted both his Wifdom and Goodness. For he that by this means he has taken effectual Care that none lence muft fhould tranfgrefs the Laws of Nature without Pu- neceffarily nifhment, or offer unneceffary Violence to the Ap- fuffer Viopetites of others; or if it were neceffary to offer that none it, yet that it fhould not be without fome Incon- may fin

does Vio

lence,

venience to him that does offer it. For it is better without

ment.

that a Creature fhould be able to provide for its Punishown Safety with fome Inconveniencies, than that it fhould be at Liberty to offer needlefs Violence to others, and the Laws belonging to their particular Nature be broken to no manner of end: For by that means there would be more Evils in Nature than there are at prefent, and they would be multiply'd unneceffarily. Hence it appears how worthy it is of God to have framed the Nature of things in fuch a manner, that from the very Conftitution of them, the Intemperate, Injurious, the Thief, Robber, Adulterer, Proud, Envious, &c. Kk 2 fhould

NOTES.

enabling us to acquire this Heavenly Temper? And on the other Side, how vain must be our Hopes of efcaping Hell by any fuch Methods as these, if we ftill carry our Hell within us! The Mind is its own Place, and in itself.

Can make a Heav'n af Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.

See Par 11 of the following Sect.

Paradije Loft B. 1.

Pofitive

Laws ac quaint us

with the Punishments

which at

tend deprav'd Elections from the

fhould have fomething to dread. If any one afk why there are not fuch Punishments as might effectually imprint a lively fenfe upon our Minds, and thereby totally reftrain us from a wrong Choice? I anfwer: A greater Evil must not be done on account of a lefs; but if the Punishments and Dread of them were increas'd to fuch a Degree, as to be fufficient to prevent all kind of Evil, they themfelves would be the greatest of all Evils, and the dread of them would more deeply affect, and be a greater Affliction to the Minds of Men, even of those who would not do amifs, than the Evils themfelves are, for the Prevention of which these Punishments are propofed by Gad. It was therefore fit that there should be fome measure in Punishments; viz, left by being always present to the Minds of Mortals they fhould prove a greater Prejudice to our Eafe and Happiness, than those very Evils which are prohibited under the Penalty of them would be, were we forced to undergo them.

III. As to the Punishments which God has affix'd by way of Sanction to pofitive Laws, we must affirm, that they are to be efteem'd as Admoniti ons and Notices of the Mifchiefs confequent upon evil Elections, rather than that God himself will immediately inflict them. Natural Conscience is for the most part fufficiently able to inform us what is Good and what is Evil: but it was impoffible for Nature to acquaint us with all the Confequences Nature of which attend our Actions in an infinite Train and the thing, Continuance of things. Now, left we should be inflict new involv'd in Evils unawares, and contrary to our Expectations, God has inform'd us by pofitive Laws what our Condition muft be if we will indulge ourfelves in Evil Elections. And has promulg'd them by way of Punishments denounc'd, rather than by fimple Prediction, that they might enter more deep

ratherthin

ones.