merciful care and provifion for their recovery out of that miferable state. And this may fuffice for answer to the first objection, if God be fo good, whence then comes evil?

The Second objection against the goodness of God, is from the doctrine of abfolute reprobation; by which I mean, the decreeing the greatest part of mankind to eternal mifery and torment, without any confideration or refpect to their fin and fault. This feems not only notoriously to contradict the notion of infinite goodness, but to be utterly inconfitent with the least measure and degree of goodnefs. Indeed, if by reprobation were only meant, that God, in his own infinite knowledge, forefees the fins and wickedness of men, and hath, from all eternity, determined in himself, what in his word he hath fo plainly declared, that he will punish impenitent finners with everlafting deftruction; or, if by reprobation be meant, that God hath not elected all mankind; that is, abfolutely decreed to bring them infallibly to falvation: neither of these notions of reprobation is any ways inconfiftent with the goodness of God; for he may forefce the wickednefs of men, and determine to punish it, without any impeachment of his goodness: he may be very good to all, and yet not equally and in the fame degree: if God please to bring. any infallibly to falvation, this is tranfcendent goodnefs; but if he put all others into a capacity of it, and ufe all neceffary and fitting means to make them happy, and, after all this, any fall fhort of happiness through their own wilful fault and obftinacy; these men are evil and cruel to themselves, but God hath been very good and merciful to them.

But if, by reprobation be meant, either that God hath decreed, without refpect to the fins of men, their abfolute ruin and mifery, or that he hath decreed that they fhall inevitably fin and perish; it cannot be denied, but that fuch a reprobation as this doth clearly overthrow all poffible notion of goodness. I have told you, that the true and only notion of goodnefs in God is this, that it is a propenfion and difpofition of the divine na ture, to communicate being and happiness to his creatures: but furely nothing can be more plainly contrary

to

to a difpofition to make them happy, than an abfolute decree, and a peremptory refolution to make them miferable. God is infinitely better than the best of men, and yet none can poffibly think that man a good man, who fhould abfolutely refolve to difinherit and destroy his children, without the forefight and confideration of any fault to be committed by them. We may talk of the goodness of God; but it is not an easy matter to devife to fay any thing worfe than this of the devil.

But it is faid, reprobation is an act of fovereignty in God; and therefore not to be measured by the common rules of goodnefs. But it is contrary to goodness, and plainly inconfiftent with it; and we must not attribute fuch a fovereignty to God, as contradicts his goodness; for, if the fovereignty of God may break in at pleafure upon his other attributes, then it fignifies nothing to fay, that God is good, and wife, and juft, if his fovereignty. may at any time act contrary to thefe perfections.

Now, if the doctrine of abfolute reprobation, and the goodness of God, cannot poffibly ftand together, the queftion is, which of them ought to give way to the other? What St. Paul determines in another cafe, concerning the truth and fidelity of God, will equally hold concerning his goodness; Let God be good, and every. man a liar. The doctrine of abfolute reprobation is no part of the doctrine of the holy fcriptures, that ever I could find; and there is the rule of our faith. If fome great divines have held this doctrine, not in oppofition to the goodness of God, but hoping they might be reconciled together, let them do it if they can; but if they cannot, rather let the schools of the greateft divines be called in queftion, than the goodness of God, which, next to his being, is the greatest and cleareft truth in the world.

Thirdly, It is farther objected, that the eternal punishment of men, for temporal faults, feems hard to be reconciled with that excefs of goodness, which we fuppofe to be in God.

This objection I have fully anfwered, in a difcourfe upon St. Matthew, chap. xxv. 46.; and therefore shall proceed to the

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Fourth

Fourth and laft objection against the goodness of God. from fundry inftances of God's feverity to mankind, in thofe great calamities, which, by the providence of God, have, in feveral ages, either befallen mankind in general, or particular nations.

And here I fhall confine myfelf to fcripture-inftances, as being most known, and most certain and remarkable, or at least equally remarkable with any that are to be met with in any other hiftory; fuch are the early and univerfal degeneracy of all mankind, by the fin and tranfgreffion of our firft parents; the destruction of the world by a general deluge; the fudden and terrible deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, by fire and brimstone from heaven; the cruel extirpation of the Canaanites by the exprefs command of God; and, laftly, the great calamities which befel the Jewish nation, especially the final ruin and difperfion of them at the destruction of Jerufalem: thefe, and the like inftances of God's feverity, feem to call in queftion his goodness.

Against thefe fevere and dreadful inftances of God's feverity, it might be a fufficient vindication of his goodness, to fay in general, that they were all upon great and high provocations; and molt of them, after long patience and forbearance, and with a great mixture of mercy, and a declared readiness in God to have prevented or removed them, upon repentance; all which are great inftances of the goodness of God: but yet, for the clearer manifeftation of the divine goodness, I fhall confider them particularly, and as briefly as I can.

1ft, As for the tranfgreffion of our first parents, and the difimal confequences of it to all their pofterity: this is a great depth; and though the fcripture mentions it, yet it fpeaks but little of it; and, in matters of mere revelation, we must not attempt to be wife above what is written. Thus much is plain, that it was an act of high and wilful disobedience to a very plain and eafy command, and that, in the punishment of it, God mitigated the extremity of the fentence, which was prefent death, by granting our first parents the reprieve of almost a thousand years: and, as to the confequences of it to their pofterity, God did not, upon this provo

cation,

cation, abandon his care of mankind; and though he removed them out of that happy ftate and place in which man was created, yet he gave them a tolerable condition and accommodations upon earth: and, which is certainly the most glorious inftance of divine goodnefs that ever was, he was pleafed to make the fall and mifery of man, the happy occafion of fending his Son in our nature, for the recovery and advancement of it to a much happier and better condition than that from which we fell. So the Apottle tells us at large, Rom. v. that the grace of God by Jefus Chrift, hath redounded much more to our benefit and advantage, than the fin and difobedience of our first parents did to our prejudice.

2dly, For the general deluge, though it look very fe vere, yet if we confider it well, we may plainly difcern much of goodness in it; it was upon great provocation, by the univerfal corruption and depravation of mankind: The earth was filled with violence, and all flesh had corrupted its ways; the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; which is not a de fcription of original fin, but of the actual and improved wickedness of mankind: and yet, when the wickedness of men was come to this height, God gave them fair warning, before he brought this calamity upon them, when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, for the space of an hundred and twenty years; at last, when nothing would reclaim them, and almost the whole race of mankind were become fo very bad, that it is faid, It repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth, and it grieved him at his heart; when things were thus extremely bad, and like to continue fo, God, in pity to mankind, and to put a stop to their growing wickedness and guilt, fwept them away all at once from the face of the earth, except one family, which he had preserved from this contagion, to be a new feminary of mankind; and, as the Heathen poet expreffeth it, Mundi melioris origo, "The fource and original of a better race."

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3dly, For that terrible deftruction of Sodom and Go morrah by fire and brimstone from heaven, it was not brought upon them till the cry of their fin was great, and gone up to heaven; till, by their unnatural Tufts they

had

had provoked fupernatural vengeance. And it is very remarkable, to what low terms God was pleafed to condefcend to Abraham for the fparing of them; if in those five cities there had been found but ten righteous perfons," he would not have deftroyed them for thofe ten's fake. So that we may fay with the Apoftle, Behold the goodness and feverity of God! Here was wonderful goodness mix-' ed with this great severity.

4thly, For the extirpation of the Canaanites, by the exprefs command of God, which hath fuch an appearance of feverity, it is to be confidered, that this vengeance was not executed upon them, till they were grown ripe for it. God fpared them for above four hundred years, for fo long their growing impiety is taken notice of, Gen. xviii. 28. where it is faid, that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full: God did not proceed to cut them off till their cafe was defperate, paft all hopes of recovery, till the land was defiled with abominations, and furcharged with wickedness, to that degree, as to fpue out its inhabitants; as is exprefly' faid, Lev. xviii. 28. When they were arrived to this pitch, it was no mercy to them to fpare them any longer, to heap up more guilt and mifery to themfelves.

5thly and lastly, As for the great calamities which God brought upon the Jews, efpecially in their final rain and difperfion at the deftruction of Jerufalem; not to infift upon the known hiftory of their multiplied rebellions and provocations, of their defpiteful ufage of God's prophets, whom he fent to warn them of his judgments, and to call them to repentance; of their obftinate refufal to receive correction, and to be brought' to amendment, by any means that God could ufe; for all which provocations, he at last delivered them into their enemies hands, to carry them away captive: not to infift upon this, I fhall only confider their final deftruction by the Romans, which though it be dreadfully fevere, beyond any example of hiftory, yet the provocation was proportionable; for this vengeance did not come upon them, till they had, as it were, extorted it, by the most obftinate impenitency and unbelief, in rejecting the counsel of God against themselves, and refifting VOL. VII.

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