THE DIVINE PRESCIENCE Consistent with HUMAN LIBERTY: Or, Mr. WESLEY's Opinion of Election and Rebrobation , prov'd to be not so absurd as represented in a late Letter published under the Title of Free-Grace indeed ! But to be clear of those destructive Consequences that will forever attend the Calvinistical Doctrine of an absolute Fatality .

Tho ' I believe Mr. Wesley is on the right side of the Question, yet I shall not undertake to vindicate the whole of his Sermon, nor to reconcile those Places where he may seem inconsistent with himself: But shall endeavour to put his Opinion of Election and Reprobation in a just and clear Light, and then examine whether the Letter-Writer has effectually prov'd this Scheme to be attended with the same Consequences as the other.

It is Mr. Wesley's Opinion, if I mistake him not, That Mankind are Free Agents , capable of determining their own Actions, and that God freely affords every Man, (agreeable to the State he is placed in, and answerable to the Obligations he is under) a sufficient Measure of Light and the Assistance of his Holy-Spirit, to ennable him both to see and perform his Duty; and that no Man shall be punished for not doing what God never afforded him a sufficient Power to do, but God will always be fast and Clear when he is Judged , and the finally rebellious Part of Mankind wholly inexcusable. If any of them Perish, it will be entirely owing to themselves, their Destruction will be thro' their own default.

He also Holds, that the Omniscient God did know from Eternity, what Use his Creatures would make of their rational Faculties, their active Powers, their Freedom of Choice : And those whom he knew would by proper Motives and Encouragements be prevailed with freely to accept a freely offered Salvation , upon the merciful and indulgent Terms agreed upon and proposed to them, thro' the Mediation of Mans Redeemer: Them from Eternity he Elected to everlasting Life.

But those whom He knew would, under the like Advantages, abuse his Mercies, bury his Talents unimprov'd in the Earth, and thro' an indolent or obstinate Infidelity, despise the awful Prohibitions of infinite Holiness, and the most merciful Proposals of immense and eternal Love, persisting in obdurate Impenitence, and final unrelenting Disobedience. He determined from Eternity the very same concerning them as will be awarded against them at the Day of Judgment, When he will render to every Man according to his Works; according to what he hath done in the Body whether it be good or evil. This I take to be Mr. Wesley's Opinion of Election and Reprobation , and in § 28 he has exprest himself to the same effect, tho' in other and fewer Words.

And this Method of Procedure seems both Rational and Scriptural, every way worthy of God, consistent with all the amiable Perfections of his Nature, and suitable to his moral Government of Free and Accountable Agents.

I shall now proceed to examine the Basis of what the Calvinist Letter-Writer has advanced against it, and whether it be so fruitful of Absurdities as it is represented; or attended with the like Difficulties, and the same detestable Consequences as the Calvinistical Doctrine, which Mr. Wesley undertook to explode.

I find the Letter-Writer undertakes to make appear, that there is no difference between the two Schemes, as to their Consequences , but that the same Difficulties attend the one as the other. See page 5 to 9.

But all he has advanced on this Head is founded upon a vulgar mistaken Notion of the Divine Prescience , and consequently cannot have very great Weight in it. He supposes that Gods Fore-Knowledge of any contingent Event, causes that Event to be as necessary and unavoidable, as it would have been, if He had absolutely Decreed it.

Or in other Words, That God's Fore-Knowledge of an Action that one Man left to his Liberty will freely chose to do, renders it as impossible for him not to do it; as it is for another Man not to do what God is supposed to have positively Decreed he shall do.. See page 6. 9.

And upon this Principle that God's Fore-Knowledge does Necessitate, as much as his positive Decree, He undertakes to prove, that the same Consequences do as naturally result from the Doctrine of God's Predetermining the future State of all his rational Creatures, by the unalterable Rules of Justice, exactly agreeable to their fore-known future Behaviour, as from the Doctrine of our final State being irreversibly fixt from Eternity, by an arbitrary absolute Decree , without any antecedent Regard to our future Behaviour, as rational and moral Agents at all.

But, as I said before, this is founded upon a mistaken Notion of the Divine Prescience . For God's Fore-Knowledge , tho' allow'd to be certain, has no causal Influence upon the Event foreknown: Which, if I can make appear, there will be no such Parity between the two Schemes as is pretended; nor will the Consequences drawn from the former stand for any Thing.

Now in order to discover the fallacy of the Principle I am to confute, and to make appear what I have now asserted, I shall State the Case thus — — If God from Eternity foreknew every human Action, and every Action he foreknew, must necessarily and unavoidable come to pass, then every such Action must have been made Necessary, either by an absolute Decree, antecedent to its being Fore-known; or God's Fore-knowledge must have made it necessary: Neither of which, I think, can be true. For if God by an absolute Decree has made every human Action necessary and unavoidable; then Murder and every other Sin committed by Mankind, must be Innocent, for absolute Necessity excludes all Guilt . And then if we suppose that God will punish what his own Decree has made Necessary, we fix such a Reproach upon his Moral Character as can scarce be mentioned with a Preservation of the Esteem and Reverence we owe to his sacred Majesty.

And if any Good that we do, was made necessary from Eternity, by an absolute Decree, then our doing of it is no more an Act of Virtue in us; than the involuntary Motions of an inanimate Machine are Moral Virtues. For except we are at Liberty, freely to choose and determine our own Actions, there can be no such Thing as Moral Good or Moral Evil in the World; not any Thing Rewardable nor any thing Punishable.

Therefore if we would think honourably of God, or consistently of ourselves, we must conclude, that our Actions are not made Necessary by any former absolute Decree. And if they are not made Necessary by some former absolute Decree, it is impossible that bare Fore-knowledge of them can make them Necessary. For Fore-Knowledge is but Knowledge , and Knowledge of what now is, is not the Cause of its Existence, but its existing Now is the Cause of its being now known . So God's Fore-Knowledge of any Action is not the Cause of that Action; but its having a Futurition or an Existence in Time to come, (which was always as Present to God) is the Cause of its being fore-known. For no human Action could possibly be Fore-known, but what would equally have been future, with all its Circumstances of Time, Place, &c. supposing there had been no Fore-knowledge of it. And if our Actions notwithstanding their being Fore-known , would all of them have been the same, supposing there had been no Fore-Knowledge of them; then it is evident that Fore-Knowledge lays no constraint, upon our Active Powers, nor causes our Actions to be unavoidably Necessary. And if Fore-Knowledge does not Cause our Actions to be unavoidably Necessary, then it must be possible for us to act otherwise than God foreknew we would Act . Otherwise, if God Fore-knew every Sin that I have hitherto committed, and his Fore-Knowledge made every of them necessary and unavoidable, then it was always absolutely impossible for me to commit either one Sin more or one Sin less than I have committed, and if so then I have been as Wicked and Guilty of as many Sins as it was possible I could be; and yet never Guilty of any Sin but what I was under an absolute Necessity to commit, and consequently never Guilty of any Sin at all: For, as I said before, absolute Necessity excludes all Guilt, and, I may add, excuses from all Punishment. But these Contradiction; cannot be true, nor the Principle that implies them: Therefore we must conclude, that it is possible for us to act otherwise than God knows we do, and Fore-knew we would do: God Fore-knew all our Actions, let us do what we will, it will be what he Fore-knew we would do. But his Fore-Knowledge makes none of our Actions necessary or unavoidable, therefore we may do as we will, notwithstanding his Fore-Knowledge of what we will do.

This, however it may seem a Paradox, is really true. For let us suppose, for Instance, That two valuable Objects both equally eligible, were presented before me in order to choose one of them, which we may distinguish by A and B Now let me choose which I will, it will be that which God Foreknew I would choose, yet I am at free Liberty to choose either , and I make Choice of B but before I made my Choice, it was as possible for me to have chosen A . Therefore it was possible for me to choose otherwise than God knows I did, and Fore-knew I would choose. And as in this so in other Cases it is our free Choice fore-seen, existing in Futurity , that was the Cause of God's Fore-Knowledge of it. Not his Fore-Knowledge the Cause of our Choice.

I suppose there's no Man of common Understanding, but allows GOD to be a Free Agent , for to be under a Necessity of Acting naturally implies Imperfection . And if all God's Actions are of Necessity , there must be an external Cause for each of his Actions ; and then it cannot be true that he made all Things out of Nothing ; for if he did, then there was a Time when Nothing but Himself existed, and sure no one can believe that Nothing can Cause any Being to act .

If then GOD is by Nature a Free Agent , Man may also be so, notwithstanding any Thing in this Argument, because it makes as strongly against the Freedom of the Almighty , as it does against that of Man . — — For the Purpose, let us suppose God to make a World to day; it was in Event eternally true , that he would make that World this Day ; and therefore he could not (by this Rule) avoid doing it, but was infallibly under as fatal a Necessity to do it , by its being from Eternity certain that he would do it , as any Man is under a Necessity to do a Thing because it was certain from Eternity he would. Therefore as GOD is, and cannot but be a Free Agent , and this Argument militates a much against his Freedom as it does against Man's: Man therefore may be a Free Agent , for any Thing in this Argument.

Those who desire farther Satisfaction on this intricate Subject, I would recommend to them Dr. Clark's Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God , from page 103 to 107. And the Religion of Nature delineated , by the famous Mr. Wollaston from page 99 to 103. But from what has here been advanced it appears, that Gods Fore-Knowledge of our Whole Behaviour does not make any Part of it Necessary , but we behave in all respects the very same as we should, supposing none of our Behaviour had been Foreknown: And it also naturally follows, that our future everlasting State, being secretly determined from Eternity, exactly agreeable to our Behaviour to come, does not alter our Cafe in the least from what it would have been if our final State had not been determined 'til the Day of Judgment: When, we are sure, we shall be disposed of exactly agreeable to our Behaviour past. Nor does it so six our happy or miserable Condition, as to make either of them our necessary and unavoidable Portion . For our Happiness or Misery, thro' a never ending Eternity, depends entirely upon our free Compliance or Non-compliance with those reasonable and indulgent Terms of Salvation, mercifully revealed to us by the Ministration of the Son of God; which Terms by whomsoever sincerely comply'd with, GOD, of his free unmerited Grace , thro' the Mediation of our crucified Redeemer, Will accept, instead of unsining Obedience, and Reward with everlasting Happiness. But will render indignation and Wrath, Tribulation and Anguish to every Soul who despise or reject them .

Now its impossible for the same Consequences to attend this Scheme as doth the other . For That supposeth our final State to be unalterably fixt by an eternal absolute Decree, without any Regard to what we do whether Good or Evil . And it must likewise suppose that our Actions are by divine Appointment made necessarily correspondent to our Predestinated End, in order that the future Distribution of Rewards and Punishment may seem to us Just and Adequate to our past Behaviour, tho' in reality we are not to be dealt by with any Regard to that, but according to the aforesaid absolute Decree; for if God had no Regard to our Behaviour when he made the Decree , neither will he when he puts it in Execution . The Consequence of which is, All Religion is vain .

To conclude, it is evident that this Scheme, call it Arminianism , or what you will, has abundantly the advantage of the other, as it implies no such Contradictions ; but is more worthy of God, consistent with our valuable Liberty, and inspires the noblest Sentiments of Virtue; It represents our holy Religion as a reasonable Service, the Glory and Ornament of our rational Nature, and an Introduction to future Felicity; It encourages all to seek for a happy Immortality in a patient continuance of welldoing , by the most encouraging Motives and the Eternal possibility of universal Success ; and threatens none with Disappoinment, but those who by obstinate final Disobedience harden their Hearts in Impenitence, and Treasure up for themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God; who will impartially render to every Man according to his Deeds , Rom. 2. 6.

This was the Doctrine of the primitive Church held by the ancient Fathers and holy Martyrs in the first and purest Ages of Christianity and I think it is much safer for us to follow them, who were taught the Faith of Christ from the Mouths of his Apostles , then those of latter Ages, who have perplexed the Christian World with novel Schemes of their own inventing , founded upon hidden Unsearchables, of which they can form no adequate Ideas; and have propogated such Doctrines upon them as are dishonourable to God and destructive of both natural and revealed Religion.

POSTCRIPT.

As Dr. Edwards is often mention'd in the foregoing Dialogues , it may not be amiss to acquaint the Reader, that he was a rigid Predestinarian ; and made himself remarkable by his Writing in favour of that Scheme ; and more particularly by his uncharitable and enthusiastical Criticisms on some of the best Books that ever were Published on the other. — — And it is from a Treatise of his that Mr. Whitefield has extracted his injudicious Remarks, upon that truly wife, good and moderate Man , the late Archbishop Tillotson , whose Works will stand the Test of all the wise and thinking Part of Mankind, when those of the Doctor will vanish into Smoke and Air .

When I consider this, and the Doctrine Mr. Whitefield Preaches — — that there's no Condition on Man's Part, that Justification precedes Regeneration , that our Conversion is instantaneous and irresistable that Christ died not for all Men, with many others which naturally appertain to these: I do not see how it can remain a Doubt (as I know it does with some) that Mr. Whitefield holds the Doctrine of absolute PREDESTINATION.