Richard Finch - Free and Impartial Thoughts, on the Sovereignty of God, The Doctrines of Election, Reprobation, and Original Sin - Humbly Addressed To all who Believe and Profess those Doctrines.

Being very desirous to get all the Information I could, concerning the Matter in Debate; I have attentively read over Mr. Cole’s Treatise on the Sovereignty of God. I know ’tis thought an unanswerable Performance; and, so far as it regards general Christianity, it is worth every Christian’s serious Notice: But as to the Doctrine it was wrote to support, it leaves it (in my Judgment) no better than it found it; but is miserably weak, and defective, as to any Thing that looks like sound Reason, or true Argument; and amounts to no more than this poor Assertion, That because God is a Sovereign, he may do what he pleases: And, from the Instances he brings from Scripture, ’tis plain, that Mr. Cole himself pays as little Regard to the intrinsick Worth and Excellence of Things, as is done by many of his Brethren. The manner in which he has been pleased to give us the Story of Jacob and Esau , proves the Truth of this Observation, I have no great Inclination to spend Time in explaining hard Passages of Scripture, (tho’ if any thing of that kind can be serviceable, or deem’d excellent, ’tis Mr. Taylor of Norwich his Book on Original Sin ,) or to trespass on the Reader’s Patience, by throwing one Text of hard and uncertain Meaning against another; for by this means the Controversy hath been needlessly prolonged. Where the Scriptures are plain , positive and reasonable , their Authority ought to be conscientiously adhered to: But as this is not always the Case, the next Thing to knowing what is the true Meaning of any particular Text of Scripture is, to know what it neither does nor can possibly mean; in which Case, the Divine Attributes, and the Nature and Reason, or (if you please) Fitness of Things, is the best Rule. We cannot , it is impossible we should , understand the certain determinate Meaning of any Text of Scripture better , if altogether so well , as we do know certainly, that God is just and good , and know also as clearly, what Justice and Goodness mean, when applied to the Deity , as we do, when we apply them to ourselves . And this Rule, if duly observed, would be abundantly sufficient, to set aside many Interpretations of Scripture, too commonly admitted upon this and the like Occasions. And, besides this never failing Argument (to all who attend duly to its Force) it is worth while, just to remark, that though, as the Bible now stands, there are in it (as we must acknowledge) some Passages, which (especially at first sight) seem to favour the Doctrine of Sovereignty , &c. yet as it is possible, nay sometimes easy, to give them another interpretation , and the general Scope and Tenor of the Scripture being agreeable to such an Interpretation, we have abundantly more Reason to reject , than to admit of the Sense, in which these Gentlemen are pleased to understand and expound many Texts of the Bible , relating to this and other affinitive Points.

I would not, as I observed before, presume to impose on the Reader’s Time and Patience, by entering unnecessarily into the scriptural Part of the Argument; yet I must beg Leave, to make now and then an Observation or two as I go along: And the first Thing that falls in my way is, the Story of Jacob and Esau , and the Account which Mr. Cole gives of it. He not only relates the Story, but assures us, that Jacob’s obtaining the Blessing was of Divine Appointment, and (what is more extraordinary) that the Falsehood and Fraud he practised to accomplish it, was all of God’s own immediate Direction; and this he gives as an Instance of God’s Sovereignty , and proceeding contrary to the moral Fitness of Things, and the Nature of those Laws he hath given to Man. That God intended Jacob the Blessing , or preferred him to Esau , I readily grant; but cannot admit it to be inferred from thence, that the Means, by which it was, as we reckon, accomplished, were Divine also: There is a more natural or (at least) more justifiable way of accounting for the whole Matter. According to the History, it seems plain, that Rebecca only, and not her Husband, was privy to this Designation of the Deity: she had upon Inquiry (when with Child) received such an Assurance from the Lord; which might be the first Cause of her preferring Jacob to Esau , and which in Time, ’tis probable, grew up into a much greater Degree of Partiality and Fondness: All this Time the good Old Patriarch , her Husband, seems to have been entirely unacquainted with the Affair. And when the Time drew nigh, in which, according (as some think) to Custom, he was about to bless his eldest Son, Rebecca then grew diffident of the Accomplishment of the Promise made in Jacob’s Behalf, and applied herself to the Means, which the Text tells us was used on that Occasion. As to the Authority those Heads of Families had to confer Benefits on their Offspring, by way of Blessing , though I shall not now much contend about it, yet give me Leave to make a few Observations. It don’t appear to me that Isaac , in giving his Blessing, did so properly or so much bestow it on the Person of Jacob present, as he did on the Person of Esau absent; because it is the Intention which ought principally to be regarded, and Esau undoubtedly was intended. Again, this way of blessing, if considered in itself as a mere Tradition, could be no more efficacious, than what now prevails in some Parts of the Christian Church . All true Authority of this kind (if any there be) must result from immediate Inspiration and Command; and whether Isaac had these Qualifications, while Jacob stood before him, personating Esau , is a Matter of no small Doubt and Dispute. He was (’tis evident) much surprised at the Cheat , put on him by his Wife and Son , and would doubtless very willingly have given Esau the Preference, according to his first Intention; but something supernatural seems now to have seized and satisfied him, that Jacob was the Person intended; for he cries out, “I have blessed him, yea and he shall be blessed.” And this latter Assurance, and the Energy and Satisfaction wherewith the Words were pronounced, I take rather to have been the true Blessing than the other . For, as the Reason of Jacob’s Dissimulation was intirely owing to his Mother’s Diffidence and Impatience; so, there is no Doubt to be made, but that the Almighty himself would, had she not interfered, have brought it about in a manner becoming his Holiness , and not by Falsehood , Deceit , and Dissimulation . Religion can never be more dishonoured, or the Despensations of God to Mankind receive greater Reproach, than when Divine Purposes are (under God’s immediate Direction) said to be accomplish’d by Methods in themselves evil and immoral , and altogether opposite to His Commands. Hath he forbid us Lying, under the Penalty of Hell-Fire , and shall he himself practise it, or immediately influence another to do it, for the sake of bringing to pass some Event, which he could as easily have accomplish’d, by Methods purely righteous and honourable! And had Jacob never been prompted, or attempted to obtain the Blessing in the manner he did attempt it, ’tis more than probable, that God, who removed Isaac’s Surprise, and caused him to break forth as he did, “I have blessed him, yea and he shall be blessed,” would never have permitted or impowered Isaac , to have blessed Esau , in an effectual manner beyond his Brother: Or if a mere Pronouncing of Words, when uttered as a Blessing from the Heads of Families, was in itself an irreversible Blessing , and Isaac had attempted to bestow it on Esau , God no doubt would have stayed his Mouth by Intimations within; as he did, on another Occasion, the Hand of Abraham , by an Angel without: Provided, I say, it be allowed, that a formal Blessing , from the Mouth of Isaac , was necessary to confirm on Jacob those superior Privileges, which God had designed for him; and that this Interpretation of the Text is more honourable, and better becoming the Truth and Majesty of the Divine Being . I appeal not to Reason only, but to Mr. Cole himself: For whatever Influence Prejudice, or Enthusiasm, may have on some Minds, there are certain Seasons, wherein Truth will display itself to the Realm and Understanding of Mankind, and extort, even from the Mouths of those, who sometimes oppose her, the most ample Concessions in her Favour. Take the following as an Instance — Cole’s Sovereignty of God , Page 41, 2d Edit. “To this also might be added the strict Injunctions that God hath laid upon the subordinate Dispensers of his Law; as namely, to judge the People with just Judgment, not to wrest Judgment, nor respect Persons; yea, he curseth them that pervert Judgment, and will surely reprove them that accept Persons; and shall mortal Man be more just than God? will he, under such Penalties, command Men to do thus, and not do so himself?”