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Title: A Body of Divinity, Vol. 2 of 4
Author: Thomas Ridgley
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A Body of Divinity
A BODY OF DIVINITY:
WHEREIN THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
ARE EXPLAINED AND DEFENDED.
BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF SEVERAL LECTURES ON THE ASSEMBLY’S LARGER
CATECHISM.
BY THOMAS RIDGLEY, D. D.
WITH NOTES, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED,
BY JAMES P. WILSON, D. D.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE THIRD EUROPEAN EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED BY AND FOR WILLIAM. W. WOODWARD, CORNER OF CHESNUT AND SOUTH
SECOND STREETS.
1815.
i
THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
Quest. XIV, XV. Of the work of Creation.
CREATION, the word explained Page 5
It was not from eternity 7
This proved from the invention of things 13
By the power and for the glory of God 14
Performed in six days 16
Each day’s work 19
Of instantaneous production 17
The condition and season of the year in which things were created 24
Antiquity of nations vainly boasted of 10
Quest. XVI. Of Angels.
Of their existence 26
Nature and properties 28
Work and employment 30
Worship. Harmony therein, but no Hierarchy 31
How they impart their Ideas to one another 33
Quest. XVII. Of the creation of Man.
Man was created male and female 34
Excellency of his make 40
Origin of the soul, in a note 41
Of God’s image in man 44
No men before Adam 37
Quest. XVIII. Of Providence.
Providence governs all creatures 47
And all their actions ibid
His concern for man 51
How conversant about evil actions 52
Sin over-ruled for God’s glory, and his people’s good 53
Other things over-ruled by providence 59
Objections against providence answered 60
Unequal distributions of providence vindicated 61
Quest. XIX. Of God’s providence towards the angels.
How it was conversant about the fall of apostate angels 63
These fell all at once 64
Some angels confirmed in holiness and happiness 66
Ministry of angels 68
iii
iv
Quest. XX. Of God’s providence towards man in innocency.
Of Paradise 70
Man’s secular employment and food therein 72
His dominion over the creatures 74
His spiritual concerns were under the direction of providence 75
Sabbath instituted and the covenant established 76
Representation, in a note 77
Difference between a law and a covenant 78
Adam was under a covenant 82
Objections answered 83
Conditions of that covenant 84
Tree of life a seal of it 86
Of the tree of knowledge 90
Quest. XXI. Of the fall of man.
Our first parents were endued with freedom of will 93
Were left thereunto 94
How they were tempted 96
Satan’s subtilty in the temptation 99
Eve represented by Adam, in a note 103
Aggravations of their sin 105
Its immediate consequences 104
Quest. XXII. All mankind fell in Adam.
Adam a federal head 109
All fell in him, except Christ 112
His sin imputed to his posterity 113
Penal evils which followed 111
Appointment of his headship vindicated 114
Quest. XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI. Of Sin.
Original sin 118
Actual transgressions proceed from it 120
Conveyed by natural generation 132
Original righteousness lost 121
Man’s nature inclined to sin 123
Propensity to sin not put into our nature by God 124
Not harmless even in childhood 125
Origin of moral evil 127
The notion of two first causes exploded ibid
Pre-existence of souls a mere fancy 126
Corruption of nature not by the soul’s traduction 128
Not from imitation ibid
Necessarily ensues on the privation of original righteousness 131
v
Quest. XXVII. Of man’s misery by the Fall.
Various opinions about the salvation of infants 138
Punishment of original sin increased by actual 141
Sinners liable to God’s wrath and curse 143
Slaves to Satan 144
Sin exists in the intentions, in a note 145
Quest. XXVIII, XXIX. Of the punishment of sin in both worlds.
Of judicial blindness of mind 146
Hardness of heart 149
Sins that lead to it 150
Difference between the hardness found in believers and judicial 152
Of strong delusions 147
A reprobate sense 152
Vile affections 153
Horror of conscience. When judicial 154
Punishment of sin in outward things 155
In the world to come 158
This will be perpetual, in a note 159, 160
Quest. XXX. Of man’s Recovery.
God’s love the only moving cause of it 162
Covenant of grace. Its various periods 166
Opposed to that of innocency 165
Quest. XXXI. The covenant of grace made with Christ, and, in him, with the elect.
Covenant, scriptural sense of the word 168
Between the Father and Son, explained 171
And proved 173
Of redemption distinguished by some from the covenant of grace 178
God’s covenant differs from human 170
How he covenants with man 181
How man covenants with him 183
Quest. XXXII. Of the grace manifested in the second covenant.
Conditions of a covenant, how understood 190
Faith is a duty, in a note 193
Meritorious performed by Christ 192
Conditional promises uncertain 191
Interest in Christ, what meant by it 189
Grace glorified, in ordaining, promising, and working faith 197
Other graces promised and connected with salvation 195
vi
Quest. XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV. Of the various dispensations of the covenant of grace.
Christ revealed of old by promises and prophecies 199
Ceremonial law typified Christ and the gospel 201
Types. Cautions about them 203
Rules how to judge of them 205
How the Jews knew their meaning 207
Cocceius’s sentiments about the bondage and darkness of that dispensation 208
Gospel-dispensation, when it began 212
How it excels the Legal 213
Quest. XXXVI, XXXVII. Of the Mediator of the covenant of Grace.
Saints and angels no Mediators 218
Christ the only Mediator 217
Two distinct natures in Christ, but not two Persons 222
His human nature was united to his Person 220
It shall continue so for ever 234
How formed like ours. How not 227
It was formed of the Virgin 229
His body was truly human 224
His soul distinct from his deity 226
He was expected by the Jews 231
Born in the fulness of time 233
What meant thereby 233
Quest. XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL. Of the necessity of the Mediator’s having two natures.
Why he should be God 235
Why man 238
Why both God and man 242
Quest. XLI, XLII. Of the Mediator’s name and offices.
Why he was called Jesus 244
Why he was called Christ 245
His offices distinguished, but not divided 252
He was set apart and authorized to execute them 248
He was fitly qualified for them 249
Quest. XLIII. Of Christ’s prophetical office.
He reveals the will of God 253
He was qualified for it 254
He does it in various ages 257
To whom and how he does it 255
Quest. XLIV. Of Christ’s priestly office.
vii
Priesthood of Christ and Aaron compared 280
Typified by Melchisedek 264
Various opinions who Melchisedek was 265
Proved that he was Christ (quære tamen) 267
Objections answered 270
Satisfaction demanded for sin, of what value and kind 275
Of Christ was necessary 273
His active obedience a part of it 283
Least degree of his sufferings not sufficient for it 281
No redemption without price 286
Death of Christ a ransom 290
Confirmation of his doctrine not its principal end 293
Christ died in our stead 290
Objections answered ibid
Modern opinions on the atonement, in a note, 276 to 280, and 292 to 297.
He offered himself
by the Spirit 297
without spot to God 297
Not for all men 301 & 276
but for his sheep and friends 316
and for his church 318 Dr. Magee’s Discourses, in a note 298-317
This evidenced
by his love to it 318
his propriety in it 322
and saving it ibid
Objections answered 319
Christ purchased grace and glory 328
Universal redemption,
its consequences 326
Arguments for it considered 327
Texts urged for it explained 343
How the word All, &c. is to be explained 341
Special Redemption,
consistent with the covenant of grace 329
and with preaching the gospel 331
It advances grace more than general does 337
It leads not to despair 331
Whether it be contrary to scripture 338
Christ intercedes not for all 324
Divine expostulations explained 333
How all should repent and believe, though Christ died not for all 335
Sacrifice of Christ sufficient for all, in a note 349
Quest. XLV. Of Christ’s Kingly office.
As respecting his subjects
What they were, before subdued 353
viii
How brought into subjection 354
How their subjection expressed at first 357
Their behaviour and conflicts 358
How Christ deals with them 361
As respecting his enemies 362
He governed the church before and since his incarnation 364
This office executed by him in glory 365
Of the Millennium.
Various opinions about it 366
Some have gross Ideas of it 370
What shall precede or attend it 368
Gospel shall then be more spread 373
How this doctrine to be treated 367
In what respects it is to be allowed 368
Some prophecies of the call of the Jews not yet fulfilled 376
Why Christ shall not reign visibly in his human nature 379
Temple-service not to be revived 381
Gospel-ordinances shall be continued 382
First resurrection; how understood by some 383
Its literal sense debated 384
General conflagration 387
New heavens and new earth 388
Resurrection of the church sometimes taken mystically 389
1000 years how understood by some 391
These not yet begun ibid
Mediatorial kingdom of Christ eternal 392
1 Cor. xv. ver. 24, 25, 28. explained 393
Quest. XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII. Of Christ’s Humiliation.
This shewn in his birth and infancy 398
In his parentage 399
In the place of his birth and abode 400
In the sinless infirmities of his life 422
In his being made under the law 401
In his being exposed to indignities 402
Temptations endured by him 404
General remarks on them 406
The time and place thereof 405
His first temptation 410
His second temptation 412
Its matter explained 416
His third temptation 417
What to be observed therein 419
Temptations were mental, in a note 420
ix
Quest. XLIX, L. Of Christ’s humiliation before and after his death.
Christ betrayed by Judas 424
Forsaken by his disciples 425
Denied by Peter 426
Scorned by the world ibid
Reviled by many 428
Inferences ibid
Prosecuted by the Jews 429
Condemned by Pilate ibid
Tormented by his persecutors 431
Bore the wrath of God ibid
Death of the cross cruel and painful 433
Shameful, servile, and cursed 434
Christ buried with respect by his friends 437
Was under the power of death till the third day 438
Of his descent into hell 440
How the Papists understand it 441
1 Pet. iii. 18. explained, in a note 442
Quest. LI, LII. Of Christ’s Resurrection and Exaltation.
Resurrection of Christ proved 444
By credible witnesses 448
They were men of integrity 449
By the conduct of his enemies 450
By miracles 451
Properties of his risen body 452
Christ raised the third day 453
Reasons of it 454
Was not three whole days and nights in the grave 455
Socinians’ account of Christ’s resurrection 457
Christ’s own and his peoples’ concern in his resurrection 458
Quest. LIII, LIV. Of Christ’s Ascension.
It was real and visible 464
Its necessity and design 468
Its distance from the time of his resurrection 461
How this interval was employed 463
Matter of his conversation with his disciples 464
Remarks on what preceded it 460
He ascended from mount Olivet 467
Christ’s sitting at the right hand of God 471
Quest. LV. Of Christ’s Intercession.
Necessity of it 473
x
His fitness for it 474
Manner of it 477
How it differs from our prayers 476
What procured by it 479
How to be improved ibid
Quest. LVI. Of Christ’s coming to judge the world.
The time of his appearance 481
The glory that shall attend it 482
Quest. LVII, LVIII, LIX. Of the benefits of redemption, and the application thereof.
Benefits procured by Christ 486
These applied by the Holy Ghost 487
To all for whom they were purchased (vide 349) 488
Quest. LX. Of the disadvantages of those who never hear the gospel.
State of the Heathen considered 491
No salvation without the gospel—tamen quære 492
Nor without faith in Christ—tamen quære ibid
Deists; falseness of their hope set forth 494
False grounds of hope in others 496
Salvation in none but Christ 498
This proved 499
Objections answered 502
Christ the Saviour only of his Body the church 508
Quest. LXI, LXII, LXIII, LXIV. Of the Church, visible and invisible.
Church, the word how used, (515 in a note) 510
Places of worship so termed 511
Their first erection 512
Its distinction into visible and invisible 516
Invisible church described 519
This farther explained and defended 520
Visible church described 521
In what respects it is one 522
In what respects it is not one ibid
Its concern for the children of its members 526
Jewish church, its establishment ibid
Its government 527
How they promoted religion in their synagogues 529
Their Proseuchæ, or places appointed for prayer 530
A particular gospel-church described 536
Its matter 539
Its form or bond of union 540
xi
Its subjection to Christ to be professed 542
How this to be made visible 543
Its power of admission 541
The reformed churches differ about this ibid
Terms of communion fixed by Christ ibid
Its power of exclusion 544
Causes of exclusion 545
The way of proceeding therein 547
With what temper this should be done 549
What meant by being delivered to Satan 550
and for what end 551
The first preaching and success of the gospel 532
Conduct of the Apostles in planting gospel-churches 534 Church-communion proved
from the law of nature 538
from scripture ibid
Government of churches by their officers 552
Αποστολος, Επισκοπος, Διακονος, in a note, ibid
The office of a Pastor, Bishop, or Elder 555
Bishops and Elders the same 556
Jerom’s account of the increase of the power of Bishops, in a note 558
Pastors chosen by the church 561
Χειροτονεω, in a note 563
How to be set apart ibid
How their office to be discharged 565
Whether a Teacher be a distinct officer 566
Synods, the abuse and advantage of them 566
Parishes, why churches were so called by ancient writers 567
The office of a Deacon 570
Officers of the church, in a note 571
Privileges of the visible church 572
It is under Christ’s special care 574
Wherein this consists 575
It is under Christ’s special government 576
In what respects 577
It enjoys communion of saints ibid
It has the ordinary means of grace 578
xii
THE WORK OF CREATION.
5
Quest. XIV., XV.
Quest. XIV. How doth God execute his decrees?
Answ. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence, according to his infallible fore-
knowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will.
Quest. XV. What is the work of creation?
Answ. The work of creation is that, wherein God did, in the beginning, by the word of his power, make, of nothing,
the world, and all things therein, for himself, within the space of six days, and all very good.
Having considered God’s eternal purpose, as respecting whatever shall come to pass, which is generally called an internal,
or immanent act of the divine will, we are now to consider those works which are produced by him, in pursuance thereof.
It is inconsistent with the idea of an infinitely perfect Being, to suppose, that any of his decrees shall not take effect, Hath
he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Num. xxiii. 19. His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure,
Isa. xlvi. 10. This is a necessary consequence, from the immutability of his will, as well as from the end which he has
designed to attain, to wit, the advancement of his own glory; and therefore, if he should not execute his decrees, he would
lose that revenue of glory, which he designed to bring to himself thereby, which it cannot be supposed that he would do;
and accordingly we are to consider his power as exerted, in order to the accomplishment of his purpose. This is said to
have been done either in the first production of all things, which is called, The work of creation, or in his upholding and
governing all things, which is his providence; both which are to be particularly considered. And,
I. We are to speak concerning the work of creation, and so to enquire what we are to understand by creation, and to
consider it as a work peculiar to God.
II. That this work was not performed from eternity, but in the beginning of time.
III. How he is said to create all things by the word of his power.
IV. The end for which he made them, namely, for himself, or for his own glory.
V. The time in which he made them. And,
VI. The quality or condition thereof, as all things are said to have been made very good.
I. As to the meaning of the word creation; it is the application thereof to the things made, or some circumstances attending
this action, that determine the sense of it. The Hebrew and Greek words[1], by which it is expressed, are sometimes used
to signify the natural production of things: Thus it is said, in Psal. cii. 18. The people that shall be created, speaking of the
generation to come, shall praise the Lord; and elsewhere, in Ezek. xxi. 30. says God, I will judge thee in the place
where thou wast created, that is, where thou wast born, in the land of thy nativity. And sometimes it is applied to signify
the dispensations of providence, which, though they are the wonderful effects of divine power, yet are taken in a sense
different from the first production of all things: thus it is said, in Isa. xlv. 7. I form the light, and create darkness; which
metaphorical expressions are explained in the following words, I make peace, and create evil.
And, on the other hand, sometimes God’s creating is expressed by his making all things; which word, in its common
acceptation, is taken for the natural production of things; though, in this instance, it is used for the production of things
which are supernatural: thus it is said, in John i. 3. All things were made by him; and elsewhere, in Psal. xxxiii. 6. By the
word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all by the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Therefore it is by
the application of these words, to the things produced, that we are more especially to judge of the sense of them.
Accordingly, when God is said to create, or make the heavens and earth, or to bring things into being, which before did
not exist, this is the most proper sense of the word creation; and in this sense we take it, in the head we are entering upon.
It is the production of all things out of nothing, by his almighty word; and this is generally called immediate creation, which
was the first display of divine power, a work with which time began; so we are to understand those words, In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth, Gen. i. 1. that is, that first matter out of which all things were formed,
which has been neither increased nor diminished ever since, nor can be, whatever alterations there may be made in things,
without supposing an act of the divine will to annihilate any part thereof, which we have no ground to do.
Again, it is sometimes taken for God’s bringing things into that form, in which they are, which is generally called a mediate
creation, as in the account we have of it in the first chapter of Genesis; in which God is said, out of that matter which he
created at first, to create the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all living creatures that move therein, after their respective
kinds, which no finite wisdom, or power, could have done. The work was supernatural, and so differs from the natural
production of things by creatures, inasmuch as they can produce nothing, but out of other things, that have in themselves a
tendency, according to the fixed laws of nature, to be made, that which is designed to be produced out of them; as when a
plant, or a tree, is produced out of a seed, or when the form, or shape of things is altered by the skill of men, where there
is a tendency in the things themselves, in a natural way, to answer the end designed by them that made them, in which
respect they are said to make, but not create those things; so that creation is a work peculiar to God, from which all
creatures are excluded. Accordingly, it is a glory which God often appropriates to himself in scripture: thus he is called, by
way of eminence, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Isa. xl. 28. and he speaks, concerning himself, with an
unparalleled magnificence of expression, I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands, have
stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded, Isa. xlv. 12. and he is said to have done this,
exclusively of all others: thus he says, I am the Lord, that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone,
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that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself, Isa. xliv. 24. And, indeed, it cannot be otherwise, since it is a work of infinite
power, and therefore too great for any finite being, who can act no otherwise, but in proportion to the circumscribed limits
of its own power; and being, at best, but a natural agent, it cannot produce any thing supernatural. From whence it may be
inferred, that no creature was an instrument made use of, by God, in the production of all things; or that infinite power
could not be exerted by a finite medium: but this has been already considered, under a foregoing answer.
II. We are now to consider that this work of creation was not performed from eternity, but in the beginning of time. This
we assert against some of the heathen philosophers, who have, in their writings, defended the eternity of the world[2], being
induced hereunto by those low conceptions, which they had of the power of God, as supposing, that because all creatures,
or natural agents, must have some materials to work upon, so that as this proposition is true, with respect to them, that
nothing can be made out of nothing, they conclude, that it is also applicable to God. And this absurd opinion has been
imbibed by some, who have pretended to the Christian name; it was maintained by Hermogenes, about the middle of the
second century, and, with a great deal of spirit and argument, opposed by Tertullian; and, among other things, that father
observes, that philosophy, in some respects, had paved the way to heresy[3]; and probably the apostle Paul was
apprehensive that it would do so; or that they, who were bred up in the schools of the philosophers, would, as it is plain
they often did, adapt their notions in divinity, to those which they had before learned therein, of which this is a flagrant
instance; and therefore he says, Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy, and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ, Col. ii. 8. and they, who have defended this
notion, have been divided in their sentiments about it. Some suppose, in general, that matter was eternal, but not brought
into that form, in which it now is, till God, by his almighty power, produced that change in it, and so altered the form of
things. Others suppose, that the world was in a form, not much unlike to what it now is, from eternity, and that there were
eternal successive ages, and generations of men, and a constant alteration of things. Some parts of the world, at one time,
destroyed by deluges, or fire, or earthquakes, and other parts at another time; and so there was a kind of succession of
generation and corruption; former worlds lost and buried in ruins, and all the monuments of their antiquity perished with
them, and new ones arising in their stead. This they assert, as a blind to their ungrounded opinion, and as an answer to that
reasonable demand which might be made; If the world was eternal, how comes it to pass that we know nothing of what
was done in it, in those ages, which went before that which we reckon the first beginning of time?
As for the school-men, though they have not any of them given directly into this notion, which is so notoriously contrary to
scripture, yet some of them have very much confounded and puzzled the minds of men with their metaphysical subtilties
about this matter; as some of them have pretended to maintain, that, though God did not actually create any thing before
that beginning of time, which is mentioned in scripture, yet he might, had he pleased, have produced things from eternity[4],
because he had, from eternity, infinite power, and a sovereign will; therefore this power might have been deduced into act,
and so there might have been an eternal production of things; for to suppose, that infinite power cannot exert itself, is
contrary to the idea of its being infinite. And to suppose that God was infinitely good, from eternity, implies, that he might
have communicated being to creatures from eternity, in which his goodness would have exerted itself. And they farther
argue, that it is certain, that God might have created the world sooner than he did; so that, instead of its having continued in
being, that number of years, which it has done, it might have existed any other unlimited number of years; or since, by an
act of his will, it has existed so many thousand years, as it appears to have done, from scripture, it might, had he pleased,
have existed any other number of years, though we suppose it never so large, and consequently that it might have existed
from eternity. But what is this, but to darken truth, by words without knowledge? or to measure the perfections of God, by
the line or standard of finite things? it is to conceive of the eternity of God, as though it were successive. Therefore, though
we do not deny but that God could have created the world any number of years that a finite mind can describe, sooner
than he did; yet this would not be to create it from eternity, since that exceeds all bounds. We do not deny but that the
divine power might have been deduced into an act, or created the world before he did; yet to say that he could create it
from eternity, is contrary to the nature of things; for it is to suppose, that an infinite duration might be communicated to a
finite being, or that God might make a creature equal, in duration, with himself; which, as it contains the greatest absurdity,
so the impossibility of the thing does not, in the least, argue any defect of power in him.
From whence we may infer, the vanity, and bold presumption, of measuring the power of God by the line of the creature;
and the great advantage which we receive from divine revelation, which sets this matter in a clear light, by which it appears,
that nothing existed before time but God; this is agreeable to the highest reason, and the divine perfections. To suppose,
that a creature existed from eternity, implies a contradiction; for to be a creature, is to be produced by the power of a
creator, who is God, and this is inconsistent with its existing from eternity; for that is to suppose that it had a being before it
was brought into being.
Moreover, since to exist from eternity, is to have an infinite, or unlimited duration, it will follow from thence, that if the first
matter, out of which all things were formed, was infinite in its duration, it must have all other perfections; particularly, it must
be self-existent, and have in it nothing that is finite, for infinite and finite perfections are inconsistent with each other; and, if
so, then it must not consist of any parts, or be devisible, as all material things are: besides, if the world was eternal, it could
not be measured by successive duration, inasmuch as there is no term, or point, from whence this succession may be
computed, for that is inconsistent with eternity; and if its duration was once unmeasured, or not computed by succession,
how came it afterwards to be successive, as the duration of all material beings is?
Again, to suppose matter to be co-eternal with God, is to suppose it to be equal with him, for whatever has one divine
perfection, must have all; so that this is contrary to those natural ideas, which we have of the divine perfections, and
contains such absurdities, as have not the least colour of reason to support them.
But it more evidently appears, from scripture, that the world was made in the beginning of time, and therefore did not exist
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