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The human spirit is so weak that when it would look
too curiously into the causes and reasons of God's
will it embarrasses and entangles itself in the
meshes of a thousand difficulties, out of which it
has much to do to deliver itself; it resembles smoke,
for as smoke ascends it gets more subtle, and as it
grows more subtle it vanishes. In striving to raise
our seasonings too high in divine things by curiosity
we grow vain or empty in our thoughts, and instead of
arriving at the knowledge of truth, we fall into the
folly of our vanity.
But above all we are unreasonable towards Divine
providence in regard to the diversity of the means
which he bestows upon us to draw us to his holy love,
and by his holy love to glory. For our temerity urges
us ever to inquire why God gives more means to one
than to another; why he did not amongst the Tyrians
and Sidonians the miracles which he did in Corozain
and Bethsaida, seeing they would have made as good
use of them; and, in fine, why he draws one rather
than another to his love.
O Theotimus ! my friend, never, no never, must we
permit our minds to be carried away by this mad
whirlwind, nor expect to find a better reason of
God's will than his will itself, which is sovereignty
reasonable, yea, the reason of all reasons, the rule
of all goodness, the law of all equity. And although
the Holy Ghost, speaking in the Holy Scripture, gives
reason in divers places of almost all we can wish to
know of what this divine providence does in
conducting men to holy love and eternal salvation,
yet on various occasions he shows that we must in no
wise depart from the respect which is due to his
will, whose purpose, decree, good-pleasure, and
sentence we are to adore; and he being sovereign
judge and sovereignty equitable, it is not reasonable
that at the end he manifest his motives, but it is
sufficient that he say simply -- for reasons.
And if charity obliges us to bear so much respect
to the decrees of sovereign courts, composed of
corruptible judges, of the earth and earthly, as to
believe that they were not made without motives,
though we know these not - ah! Lord God, with what a
loving reverence ought we to adore the equity of thy
supreme providence which is infinite in justice and
goodness!
So in a thousand places of the holy Word we find the
reason why God has reprobated the Jews. Because, say
S. Paul and S. Barnabas, you reject the word of God,
and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold
we turn to the Gentiles.(1) And he that shall
consider in tranquillity of heart Chapters IX. X. and
XI. of the Epistle to the Romans, shall clearly see
that God's will did not without reason reject the
Jews; nevertheless, this reason must not be sought
out by man's spirit, which, on the contrary, is
obliged to be satisfied with purely and simply
reverencing the divine decree, admiring it with love
as infinitely just and upright, and loving it with
admiration as impenetrable and incomprehensible.
So that the divine Apostle thus concludes the long
discourse which he had made concerning it: 0 the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the
knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his
judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! For who
hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his
counsellor?(2) By which exclamation he testifies that
God does all things with great wisdom, knowledge and
reason; yet so, that, as man has not entered into the
divine counsels, whose judgments and designs are
placed infinitely above our reach, we ought devoutly
to adore his decrees as most just, without searching
out their motives. These he keeps in secret to
himself, in order to keep our understanding in
respect and humility to ourself.
S. Augustine in a hundred places teaches us this
practice. "No one cometh to Our Saviour," says he,
"if not drawn; - whom he draws, and whom he draws
not, why he draws this one and not that, - do not
wish to judge if you do not wish to err. Listen once
for all and understand. Art thou not drawn, pray that
thou mayst be drawn." "Verily it is sufficient for a
Christian living as yet by faith, and not seeing that
which is perfect, but only knowing in part, to know
and believe that God delivers none from damnation,
but by his free mercy, through our Lord Jesus Christ;
and that he condemns none but by his most just truth,
through the same Lord Jesus Christ. But to know why
he delivers this one rather than the other - let that
man sound so great a depth of God's judgments who is
able, but let him beware of the precipice." "These
judgments are not therefore unjust because they are
hidden:" "But why then does he deliver this man
rather than that? We say again, O man, who art thou
that repliest against God?(3) His judgments are
incomprehensible, and his ways unknown, and let us
add this: Seek not the things that are too high for
thee, and search not into things above thy
ability:"(4) "Now he granteth not them mercy, to
whom, by a truth most secret and furthest removed
from men's thoughts, he judges it not fit to
communicate his favours and mercy."
We see sometimes twins, of whom one is born alive
and receives Baptism, the other in his birth loses
his temporal life, before being regenerated to the
eternal, and consequently the one is heir of heaven,
the other is deprived of the inheritance. Now why
does divine providence give such different fates to
one equal birth? Truly it might be answered that
ordinarily God's providence does not violate the laws
of nature, so that one of these twins being strong,
and the other too feeble to support the labour of his
delivery, the latter died before he could be
baptized, the other lived; divine providence not
willing to stop the course of natural causes, which
on this occasion were the reason why the one was
deprived of Baptism.
And truly this is a perfectly solid answer. But,
following the advice of the divine S. Paul, and of S.
Augustine, we ought not to busy our thoughts in this
consideration, which, though it be good, yet in no
respect enters into comparison with many others which
God has reserved to himself, and will show us in
heaven. "Then," says S. Augustine, "the secret shall
end why rather the one than the other was received,
the causes being equal as to both, and why miracles
were not done amongst those who in case they had been
done would have been brought to repentance, and were
done amongst such as would will not to believe them."
And in another place the same saint, speaking of
sinners, some of whom God leaves in their iniquity
while others he raises, says: "Now why he retains the
one and not the other, it is not possible to
comprehend, nor lawful to inquire, since it is enough
to know that it is by him we stand and that it is not
by him we fall." And again: "This is hidden and far
removed from man's understanding, at least from
mine."
Behold, Theotimus, the most holy way of
philosophising on this subject. Wherefore I have
always considered that the learned modesty and most
wise humility of the seraphic Doctor S. Bonaventure
were greatly to be admired and loved, in the
discourse which he makes of the reason why divine
providence ordains the elect to eternal life.
"Perhaps," says he, "it is by a foresight of the good
works which will be done by him that is drawn,
insomuch as they proceed in some sort from the will
but distinctly to declare which good works being
foreseen move God's will, I am not able, nor will I
make inquiry thereupon and there is no other reason
than some sort of congruity, so that we might assign
one while it might be another. Wherefore we cannot
with assurance point out the true reason nor the true
motive of God's will in this: for as S. Augustine
says: 'Although the truth of it is most certain, yet
is it far removed from our thoughts.' So that we can
say nothing assuredly of it unless by the revelation
of him who knows all things. And whereas it was not
expedient for our salvation that we should have
knowledge of these secrets, but on the contrary, it
was more profitable that we should be ignorant of
them, to keep us in humility, God would not reveal
them, yea the holy Apostle did not dare to inquire
about them, but testified the insufficiency of our
understanding in this matter when he cried out: O the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the
knowledge of God!"
Could one speak more holily Theotimus of so holy a
mystery? Indeed these are the words of a most saintly
and prudent Doctor of the Church.
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