SECTION II.

THE WISDOM OF GOD

THE PLAN OF CREATION.

In the use of the word "wisdom in this connec◄ tion, which is more popular than precise, we mean chiefly knowledge-knowledge of all things and all events; knowledge which embraces, all possibilities, and excludes all contingencies. This is a necessary element in the character of Deity-a part of his essence. We cannot take away the attribute of omniscience, and leave the idea of God and the Creator perfect. All things are of God; creation is but the out-birth of his thought and action; all events flow from causes which his will has set in motion-and, therefore, of necessity, he knows all things as the original cause of all things.

This fact is recognized everywhere in the Bible, in such passages among others as these:-"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." -Acts xv. 18. "Great is the Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite."-Ps. cxlvii. 5. "He is perfect in knowledge." "With him is strength and wisdom; the deceiver and the deceived are his."-Ps. xxii., xxvi. Ps. xxii., xxvi. "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."-Isa. xlvi. 10. "For thou, even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men."-1 Kings viii. 39. "For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall

come and see my glory."-Isa. lxvi. 18. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."- Heb. iv. 13. "Doth not he see my way, and count all my steps? . . For his eyes are on the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. ... Therefore, he knoweth their works and overturneth them."-Job xxxi., xxxiv. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good."-Prov. xv. 3. "Thou understandest my thought afar off (i. e. before it has fairly reached me, or come into my own mind), and art acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word in my tongue, but lo! O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.”—Ps. cxxxix. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them."-Isa. xlii. 9.

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These passages set forth the doctrine of God's omniscience in clearest terms. The past, the present, and the future, are all one to him, as the darkness and the light are one. The future cannot hide from him any more than the darkness. Eternity cannot teach him anything new.

There can be no additions to his knowledge, by the occurrence of events which he did not foresee or anticipate; events or results which were not embraced in his original plan. Nothing can come to pass by the action of causes outside of himself, causes independent of his will, and self-creative.

Both the character of God as sole Creator, as the Alpha and Omega of the universe, and the Scriptures as the authorized exponent of his attributes, establish

beyond controversy, the fact that all things are known unto him from the beginning to the end. He knows what is to be; and he shows this knowledge in the spirit of prophecy, by foretelling the events before they come to pass. He knows the thoughts and purposes of the hearts of all the children of men, the evil and the good; marks all their ways, counts their steps, and numbers the very hairs of their heads. Every thing, thought, word, desire, action, event, lies open, naked before his all-seeing eye; from the establishment of a solar system, or the destruction of a nation, down to the idle word, or the heart-pulse of the obscurest mortal on earth; yea, down to the least interests of the invisible animalcule. "His understanding is infinite; he is perfect in knowledge."

The logical deductions from these divinely authorized premises, are obvious to every one who has given any thought to the subject. The Divine Knowledge embraces the future and final condition of every soul of man, and did embrace it from the beginning, as a part and portion of the original plan of God, inherent in the very purpose and end had in view in the creation of man.

Let us consider this well. Far back in the solitudes of eternity, neither man nor the earth had an existence. It was entirely optional with God, whether he would or not, shape this earth, and set it running through its orbit; whether he would or not, create such a being as man, and put him here to live out his threescore years and ten. There was no power nor influence outside of his own choice, to compel him to create He was perfectly free to do, or leave undone.

But he chose to do; he determined to create just such a world as we are living in, and just such a race of creatures as mankind. Of course, he did not do this without a motive, without some specific object in view, and some clearly defined plan, or method, by which this object was to be obtained. He could not foreordain the end, without a foreordination of the means necessary to it. We cannot suppose he began the work of creation, as the man of the parable began to build his house, without counting the cost, or considering whether he were able to finish or not. Let us now take the case of a single soul, and follow it through its various experiences to the close of its earthly course, and its entrance upon the scenes of its future and final destiny. By the will of God this soul exists. Why did he bring it into being? Was it from caprice or sudden impulse, without a motive or a plan, without knowing what he should do with it, or what was to become of it? Or, did he enter upon the solemn work of giving existence to this immortal creature, for a good and satisfactory reason, knowing perfectly what he was doing, seeing into all the future of its life in time and eternity, having a distinct and settled purpose in regard to its destination, and having all the agencies appointed and arranged, by which this purpose was to be accomplished?

Certainly this last. The very idea of infinite knowledge, of unerring and all-comprehensive wisdom, compels to this conclusion. Of course, then, it follows, that in creating this soul with a specific end in view, with a pre-determined object to be realized, he would endow it with reference to this end and ob

ject. Whatever moral powers and faculties, whatever physical passions and propensities, whatever strength or weakness, knowledge or ignorance, entered into the organization of this being, it would be with a perfect foresight of their operative relations to the plan with which, or the specific destiny for which, he was created. All his attributes of spirit and body, all his intellectual and moral qualities, would be harmonized with this plan. Nothing would be allowed to enter into his composition, which would work to the defeat of this plan. This is implied in the very notion or conception of plan. He would not create this immortal being for a foreordained destiny, and then endow him with moral and mental qualities, which he distinctly saw would, and of course, therefore, intended should, forever prevent it from realizing that destiny!

Let us have this in a more definite form. "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably determined, and their number is so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished."

Now suppose the soul, whose case is under review, was one of the number "foreordained to everlasting death;" suppose God had, at the time of its creation, purposed and pre-determined that it should, in common phrase, be damned, is it likely he would bestow upon it such spiritual faculties and tendencies, and surround it with such heavenly influences as would surely work out its salvation? Suppose, on