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has any thing of the nature of evil, but, on the contrary, that He and his agency are altogether good and holy, and that He is the fountain of all holiness. It would be strange arguing, indeed, because men never commit sin, but only when God leaves them to themselves, and necessarily sin, when he does so, that therefore their sin is not from themselves but from God; and so, that God must be a sinful being; as strange as it would be to argue, because it is always dark when the sun is gone, and never dark when the sun is present, that therefore all the darkness is from the sun, and that his disk and beams must needs be black." (Free Will, 294.)

It is highly creditable to President Edwards that his feelings would not allow him to consider God the positive cause of sin.

I have endeavored to show, that there are no sinful volitions, nor liberty of the mind in willing; if God be the active cause of all human volitions. Here Mr. Edwards considers Him, the negative cause of sin. Negative cause is explained in Chap. VI. If. sinful volitions have only a negative cause, then they have no cause at all, and the mind wills with liberty. Would Mr. Edwards be understood in this sense? If so, why has he said so much about the strongest motive in the mind's view being the cause of volitions? Did he intend by strongest motive nothing more than a negative cause? I appre

hend he meant by it a positive cause; and I see it is possible that God should be the negative cause of our sinful volitions, and they have a positive active cause. But nothing can be this cause, but what has an active power, and can begin action in itself; and although this cause may not act immediately, but remotely; still the intermediate and immediate causes can act only as they are acted upon; their actions are more properly called passions. (See ante. Chap. I & II.) And as it is against the soundest principles of philosophy to suppose matter has an active power we cannot consider it the positive active cause of our volitions; it may be the passive cause; that is, it may be acted upon, and made to act upon the mind. If matter is not the positive active cause, of our sinful volitions, and God is not, and they are effects, what is their positive active cause? It must be some spirit; for we have no idea of any thing else, that has an active power and can begin action in itself. And it must also be an evil spirit to produce all our sinful volitions; and we may as well call him the devil, as by any other name. So we are brought to this by Mr. Edwards' scheme, that the mind in all its sinful volitions wills with liberty; or that when God leaves the mind, the devil takes it, and makes it put forth sinful volitions. On the whole, I agree with Mr. Edwards, that God is no cause of our sinful volitions.

And

as the human mind is a spirit, which has an active power, I see no necessity of tracing its sinful volitions to the devil, however much like him they may be. I see no more difficulty in supposing, that our sinful volitions have their beginning in the human mind, without the assistance of the devil to produce them, than to suppose they have their beginning with the devil, without the assistance of some other evil spirit to produce them in him. In short, I am not willing to allow, that the tempter has this power over us; I believe we are free agents, and are constantly under the protecting care of our Heavenly Father.

CHAPTER XI.

SINFUL VOLITIONS EXISTING IN THE BEST POSSIBLE SYSTEM OF THINGS DO NOT REQUIRE GOD FOR THEIR ACTIVE CAUSE.

I. THAT'whatever is, is right,' has been the theme of some philosophers, divines and poets.They have said that the Universe is the best possible system of things; that all make one perfect whole; that sin is a part of this system, and as necessary to it, "as shades are to the beauty of a picture" strip the picture of its shades, and it would be less beautiful; so if sin were not to exist, the system would be less perfect, and not fit to have God for its author, who is infinite in every perfection. Hence they conclude, whatever is necessary for the best system does exist, and God produces it; and whatever is not necessary cannot exist, because God does not produce it. In this way they make God the author of sin for the greatest possible good. In answer, I would concede, that God is infinite

in power, wisdom and goodness; yea, I would grant, that in one sense, 'whatever is, is right;" still it does not follow, that the Most High is the active cause of our sinful volitions, or that it does agree with his perfections to produce them. Let us suppose, as these philosophers do, that God's system of things is the best possible, and see if sin cannot exist in it, without having God for its active cause? I have said that the human mind is a spiritual substance, which has power to receive impressions, have ideas, reflect, attend to, examine, compare, see the agreement, or disagreement in things, have knowledge, and to will with liberty. If such a mind does exist, it has a being in this best possi ble system of things, and is a part of the system ;. therefore its place, other things remaining as they are, could not be filled with any thing better than the mind; for this would be to make the most perfect system more perfect, which is impossible: nor could its place be filled with any thing worse than the mind without making the most perfect system imperfect. Hence we may infer, that in the best system possible, it was necessary for the human mind to exist as it is; that is, with its powers and faculties, as they are, and as I have described them to be. If this be true, then the mind can sin without God being the active cause of its sinful voli tions; that is, the mind wills with liberty in trans

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