Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic VI
James Dodson
CHAPTER VI
Of the Divine Decrees
I. After the attributes follow the works of God, which here are not taken for the things produced, as in Rom. 1:20, τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ... νοούμενα καθορᾶται [for His invisible things... are clearly seen, being understood], but for His actions, as in Acts 15:18, γνωστὰ ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνός ἐστι τῷ Θεῷ πάντα τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ [known unto God from eternity are all His works], etc. These are either transient in time, or immanent from eternity; either internal, terminating in the divine Persons, or external, which are the decrees.
II. This name is read in Dan. 4:17, or 14, 24, or 21: גְּזֵרַת עִירִין [the decree of the watchers], and גְּזֵרַת עִלָּיָא [the decree of the Most High], etc. Elsewhere, will, good pleasure, purpose, statute, and counsel are put for it: Isa. 46:10–11, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,” etc.; Eph. 1:9, γνωρίσας ἡμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ [having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure], etc.
When this last name, “counsel,” is attributed to God, ignorance, doubt, and wisdom received from another are to be excluded; rather, the eternity, wisdom, and immutability of the decrees are to be thought of. Here, however, decree is understood as the act of decreeing, which, although one in God, is nevertheless considered as manifold because of the multitude of objects and effects.
III. The decrees of God are generally proved from His various perfections, among which is immuta—
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—bility; then from the certain futurition of things, and from foreknowledge in God, which presuppose decrees.
IV. They are defined as the eternal, most free, most wise, absolute, and immutable statutes of God concerning all and every thing future in time, whether to be effected or permitted, and both to be ordained to His own glory and the salvation of the elect.
V. They are not accidents in God, because He is simple and immutable; and therefore they are not many except with respect to objects, nor free except with respect to determination, since otherwise there is in God one act of willing, and this, because of the spiritual nature of God, is necessary. They are also not mere ideas, which do not exist outside God from eternity, nor do they in God imply future things, but merely possible things. They are not the divine will itself considered absolutely in itself, because from this nothing outside God is posited. But they are acts of the will tending toward the existence and ends of things.
VI. From this flow all the properties of the decrees. First, eternity, which is also evident from the foreknowledge of all things, Acts 15:18, “known unto God from eternity are all His works”; and from 1 Cor. 2:7, “we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,” ἣν προώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων [which God ordained before the ages], etc.; Eph. 1:4, καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου [as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world].
The Socinians wrongly oppose this, establishing only three general divine decrees as eternal, and the rest as temporary.
Objection 1. God precedes decrees as their cause.
Reply: In order, not in duration.
Objection 2. Order among the decrees overturns eternity.
Reply: This has place in our mode of conceiving, and in the mutual relation of the things decreed, not in God—
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—Himself.
Objection 3. God is often presented in Scripture as deliberating in time: Gen. 1:26, “Let Us make man,” etc.; Gen. 6:6–7, “It repented Jehovah that He had made man on the earth,” etc.
Reply: This is done anthropopathically, to mark either the declaration of eternal counsel or its suitable execution.
VII. To eternity we join freedom, αὐτεξουσίαν [self-authority / liberty], from Jer. 18:6, “Cannot I do with you as this potter, O house of Israel? saith Jehovah,” etc.; “as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel”; Matt. 20:15, ἢ οὐκ ἔξεστί μοι ποιῆσαι ὃ θέλω ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς; [is it not lawful for Me to do what I will with Mine own?]; Eph. 1:5, 9, “according to the good pleasure of His will,” etc.; “according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself,” etc.
This does not prevent God from decreeing or willing something necessarily in general; or, in certain things, from being led by His own perfections to one side of a contradiction, for example, to the punishment of sin permitted by Himself; or similarly from attributing to things necessary perfections suitable to their own powers and essences; or, after the decree, from executing immutably the same thing. And He proposes to Himself an end, but the ultimate end in Himself.
Therefore this freedom is the highest willingness and spontaneity, which admits no cause outside God, whether naturally leading or in any way impelling.
VIII. To freedom we add wisdom, from Rom. 11:33–34, ὦ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως Θεοῦ [O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God], etc.; and this is conspicuous also in the execution of the decrees, Ps. 147:5, “His understanding is infinite”; Eph. 3:10, ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ [the manifold wisdom of God], etc., though it is often not observed—
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—by men, who do not attend to the ends and connections of things. Hence ineffective decrees have been invented.
IX. Independence is by no means to be passed over; by this the decrees are absolute—not as to the means of execution, but as to doubtful conditions and things antecedent to the decree. This is established from the dependence of all events upon the divine will, and from the efficacy of the decrees.
The Jesuits and Arminians object:
1. That from the Word of God they are conditional.
Reply: This flows from the absolute decree of God concerning the connection of the end with the means.
2. That God has wishes differing from the event, Ps. 81:13, “O that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways,” etc.
Reply: These are attributed to God anthropopathically, since they regard His commandment and complacency.
3. That all things would thus also be necessary.
Reply: By necessity of consequence, but not intrinsic necessity, which would remove liberty or contingency.
Thus every antecedent and conditioned will of God falls.
X. Finally, immutability belongs to the decrees of God. We prove this from James 1:17, παρ᾽ ᾧ οὐκ ἔνι παραλλαγὴ ἢ τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα [with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning]; Isa. 46:10, “My counsel shall stand,” etc.; Heb. 6:17, τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ [the immutability of His counsel], etc.; and from this, that in God there is no defect of wisdom, power, or holiness, from which a change of will among men arises.
The Jesuits and Arminians hold the contrary, when they urge some ineffective and non-peremptory decree, which God, being grieved and pained, changes by another consequent decree.
Objection 1. Repentance is attributed to God, Gen. 6:6.
Reply: Anthropopathically; and a change of work is denoted.
Objection 2. God does not execute His—
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—promises and threatenings, nor does He will His commands to be executed.
Reply: This occurs without a change of will, because such words are to be understood conditionally; and such commands were either temporary or vicarious.
Objection 3. God wills and at the same time does not will the salvation and damnation of men, Ezek. 18:32, “for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah”; 1 Tim. 2:4, “who will have all men to be saved,” etc.
Reply: There it treats of the will of precept and complacency, since salvation regards those who are damned.
XI. God has decreed all things which happen in time: Acts 15:18, “known unto God from eternity are all His works”; Eph. 1:11, προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόθεσιν τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ [being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will].
Among these, against the Arminians, we maintain that free and contingent things are also included. This is clear from manifest examples: Gen. 50:20, “Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good,” etc.; Acts 4:28, ποιῆσαι ὅσα ἡ χείρ σου καὶ ἡ βουλή σου προώρισε γενέσθαι [to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done], etc.; and from the general reason, which subjects all things, as dependent, to the divine will.
Objection 1. God looks upon these things as future, Jer. 26:3, “If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way”; Luke 20:13, “I will send My beloved Son; ἴσως τοῦτον ἰδόντες ἐντραπήσονται [perhaps, seeing Him, they will reverence Him],” etc.
Reply: This is done anthropopathically; and the uncertainty must be referred not to God, but to things and men.
Objection 2. The nature of contingency and liberty does not allow a certain decree of God.
Reply: It allows it excellently, since neither consists in indifference; contingency consists in the non-necessary connection of second causes, and liberty in rational willingness—
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—which is not excluded by God’s decree, but produced. Hence many things are at once free and necessary: Luke 24:26, οὐχὶ ταῦτα ἔδει παθεῖν τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ; [ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?]; 1 Cor. 11:19, δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι [for there must be also heresies among you], etc.
Objection 3. Thus neglect of prayers and means is introduced.
Reply: By no means, since God has decreed the means together with the end, and therefore they must be used in order that we may come to the end. Compare Acts 27:24, 31, μὴ φοβοῦ, Παῦλε... Καίσαρί σε δεῖ παραστῆναι, καὶ ἰδοὺ κεχάρισταί σοι ὁ Θεὸς πάντας τοὺς πλέοντας μετὰ σοῦ [Fear not, Paul... thou must be brought before Caesar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee], etc.; ἐὰν μὴ οὗτοι μείνωσιν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ, ὑμεῖς σωθῆναι οὐ δύνασθε [except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved].
XII. God has also decreed a certain and immutable term of life for every individual. This is clear from Job 14:5–6, “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with Thee; Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,” etc.; from the example of Christ, John 7:30, οὐδεὶς ἐπέβαλεν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τὴν χεῖρα, ὅτι οὔπω ἐληλύθει ἡ ὥρα αὐτοῦ [no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come]; and from the comparison drawn from threatening, Matt. 10:29–30, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father,” etc.
The Arminians, with others, deny this, and object:
1. That we often read of the prolongation and shortening of days, Exod. 20:12; Ps. 55:23, and of the natural strength—
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—of men.
2. That fifteen years were added to Hezekiah, Isa. 38:1, 5, “Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live,” etc.; “Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years,” etc.
Reply: God’s counsel had not previously been announced to him, but either a conditional threatening, or the deadly danger of the disease, unless God’s miraculous power should intervene.
3. That prayers and the means of preserving life are thus deservedly neglected.
Reply: Means are not everywhere unsubordinated by God, and, since we are ignorant of the event, they must be used by us according to command.
XIII. God decreed both good things, indeed to effect them, and evil things, but only to permit and direct them; according to the examples already adduced of Joseph and Christ Himself; and according to the impurity of all human actions, which otherwise would equally be withdrawn from decree and providence.
The Arminians and others object:
1. God does not will evil, but hates it.
Reply: These things regard the precept and delight of God, not the decree.
2. God would thus become the author of sin.
Reply: By no means, because this decree is permissive.
3. Men would never sin, because they thus do the will of God.
Reply: They nevertheless sin altogether, because they act against the will of precept, and they do not will to serve His decree, but their own depraved affections.
4. Men are thus compelled to sin.
Reply: Not at all, since they sin from their own depraved willingness, although this occurs with necessity of consequence, which flows no less from the certain foreknowledge of God.
XIV. Since the decree in God is only one, several decrees can be ordered by us in various ways—
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—either according to execution, or according to the nature of the things. And if heresy is absent from the matter, no quarrel should rashly be raised against anyone here.
XV. Besides things, God also decreed the connection of things, such as the perpetual connection between salvation and faith, whence follows the truth of all promises and threatenings. Indeed, some hold that there is also a decree concerning the connection of certain things which are not, but have been revealed by God, such as the striking of the ground and of the enemies, 2 Kings 13:19: “by striking five or six times, thou wouldest then have smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it,” etc.
XVI. God can also be said to decree concerning possible things which are not future, namely, that they plainly will not be future; something which could not be asserted before the decree.
XVII. The end of all the decrees is the glory of God: Prov. 16:4, “Jehovah hath made all things לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ [for Himself]”; Rom. 11:36, εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα [to Him are all things], etc. Especially the glory of justice and mercy: Rom. 9:22–23, εἰ δὲ θέλων ὁ Θεὸς ἐνδείξασθαι τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ γνωρίσαι τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτοῦ [what if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known], etc.; καὶ ἵνα γνωρίσῃ τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ [and that He might make known the riches of His glory], etc.; Eph. 1:6, εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ [to the praise of the glory of His grace], etc.
And then the salvation of the elect: Rom. 8:28, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God”; 2 Pet. 3:9, οὐ βραδύνει ὁ Κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἀλλὰ μακροθυμεῖ εἰς ἡμᾶς, μὴ βουλόμενός τινας ἀπολέσθαι, ἀλλὰ πάντας εἰς μετάνοιαν χωρῆσαι [the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance].