e, ascribing to the
_eternal, unchangeable Being_, an inconsistent and contrary Conduct.
Here is, _first_, a _mere_ arbitrary Being, that decrees, or
pretends to decree, by mere _Sovereign Pleasure_ only, the Salvation
of the _Elect;_ but, because such a Being may as well break his
Promise as keep it, here is _another_ to make _good_ the Promise,
who invariably acts according to the moral Fitness of Things: Or, if
you take it the other way, here is, 1_st_, A Promise made as a mere
_Sovereign_, undetermined by, and unregardful of, _all_ moral
Obligations; and, 2_dly_, The Performance of this Promise is
expected, from a Principle of Justice and Goodness; ever conformable
_to_ the moral Reason and Fitness of Things: And certainly, in
either Case, it leaves Things very precarious; nor can the Promises
of such a Being as this (I speak it with all possible Reverence to
the true God himself) be any thing near so valuable, or fit to be
depended on, as the Engagements of a good and worthy Man. And
whatever these Gentlemen, to put a more plausible Out-side on their
Doctrines, say, concerning the Freedom and Excellence of that State,
wherein our first Father _Adam_ was created, and the _Possibility_
of his having remained perfectly innocent, and the Blessings of
eternal Life, which would have been thence derived to all his
Posterity, it is plain to me, they generally believe no such thing;
but that, on the contrary, God absolutely _willed_ and _decreed_ the
_Fall of Adam_, Mr. _Cole_ himself, their great Advocate, is far
from supposing the Condition of _Adam_ to have been proper for
abiding long in Obedience to the Divine Command, or that, had he
stood, his Posterity would have thence become _impeccable_ and
_happy:_ on the contrary, he represents _Adam's_ Condition as a very
weak and imperfect State, by no mean suited to the Temptations,
which his Maker knew he would shortly be exposed to, and overcome
with; and all his Posterity, _had they been tried one by one,
would_, it seems, _have failed as he did_, Page 72. If all this does
not amount to something equal to a positive Assertion, that God
_willed_ the Fall of Adam, and in Consequence of it, the Guilt and
Desert of eternal Death, which is said to be thence derived, to
_all_ his prosperity, I do not know what is, or can be equal to it;
and indeed all this, and much more, may easily be resolved into the
Doctrine of God's _Sovereignty:_ and whoever thinks I have
misrepresented