As religion is the great business, for which we are created, and on which our happiness depends; and as religion consists in an intercourse between ourselves and our Maker; and so has its foundation in God's nature and ours, and in the relation that God and we stand in to each other; therefore a true knowledge of both must be needful in order to true religion. But the knowledge of ourselves consists chiefly in right apprehensions concerning those two chief faculties of our nature, the Understanding and Will. Both are very important: yet the science of the latter must be confessed to be of greatest moment; inasmuch as all virtue and religion have their seat more immediately in the will, consisting more especially in right acts and habits of this faculty. And the grand question about the Freedom of the Will, is the main point that belongs to the science of the Will. Therefore I say, the importance of this subject greatly demands the attention of Christians, and especially of Divines. - Summary from the preface
Chapters
1 Preface 15 min 2 I.I - Concerning the nature of the will 12 min 3 I.II - Concerning the determination of the Will 27 min 4 I.III - Concerning the meaning of the terms Necessity, Impossibility, Inability, etc.; and of Contingence 21 min 5 I.IV - Of the distinction of natural and moral necessity and inability 20 min 6 I.V - Concerning the notion of liberty, and of moral agency 10 min 7 II.I - Showing the manifest inconsistence of the Arminian notion of liberty of will, consisting in the will's self-determining power 11 min 8 II.II - Several supposed ways of evading the foregoing reasoning considered 14 min 9 II.III - Whether any event whatsoever, and volition in particular, can come to pass without a cause of its existence 17 min 10 II.IV - Whether volition can arise without a cause, through the activity of the nature of the soul 12 min 11 II.V - Showing, that if the things asserted in these evasions should be supposed to be true, they are altogether impertinent, and can't help the cause of Arminian liberty; and how (this being the state of the case) Arminian writers are obliged to talk inconsistently 11 min 12 II.VI - Concerning the will's determining in things which are perfectly indifferent, in the view of the mind 20 min 13 II.VII - Concerning the notion of liberty of will consisting in indifference 25 min 14 II.VIII - Concerning the supposed liberty of the will, as opposite to all necessity 9 min 15 II.IX - Of the connection of the acts of the will with the dictates of the understanding 19 min 16 II.X - Volition necessarily connected with the influence of motives; with particular observations on the great inconsistence of Mr. Chubb's assertions and reasonings, about the freedom of the will 35 min 17 II.XI - The evidence of God's certain foreknowledge of the volitions of moral agents 51 min 18 II.XII - God's certain foreknowledge of the future volitions of moral agents, inconsistent with such a contingence of those volitions, as is without all necessity 37 min 19 II.XIII - Whether we suppose the volitions of moral agents to be connected with anything antecedent, or not, yet they must be necessary in such a sense as to overthrow Arminian liberty 9 min 20 III.I - God's moral excellency necessary, yet virtuous and praiseworthy 10 min 21 III.II - The acts of the will of the human soul of Jesus Christ necessarily holy, yet truly virtuous, praiseworthy, rewardable, etc 36 min 22 III.III - The case of such as are given up of god to sin, and of fallen man in general, proves moral necessity and inability to be consistent with blameworthiness 18 min 23 III.IV - Command, and obligation to obedience, consistent with moral inability to obey 29 min 24 III.V - That sincerity of desires and endeavors, which is supposed to excuse in the nonperformance of things in themselves good, particularly considered 23 min 25 III.VI - Liberty of indifference, not only not necessary to virtue, but utterly inconsistent with it; and all, either virtuous or vicious habits or inclinations, inconsistent with Arminian notions of liberty and moral agency 24 min 26 III.VII - Arminian notions of moral agency inconsistent with all influence of motive and inducement, in either virtuous or vicious actions 18 min 27 IV.I - The essence of the virtue and vice of dispositions of the heart, and acts of the will, lies not in their cause, but their nature 19 min 28 IV.II - The falseness and inconsistence of that metaphysical notion of action, and agency, which seems to be generally entertained by the defenders of the arminian doctrine concerning liberty, moral agency, etc 23 min 29 The reasons why some think it contrary to common Sense, to suppose those things which are necessary to be worthy of either Praise or Blame 15 min 30 IV.IV - It is agreeable to common sense, and the natural notions of mankind, to suppose moral necessity to be consistent with praise and blame, reward and punishment 23 min 31 IV.V - Concerning those objections, that this scheme of necessity renders all means and endeavors for the avoiding of sin, or the obtaining virtue and holiness, vain, and to no purpose; and that it makes men no more than mere machines in affairs of morality and religion 18 min 32 IV.VI - Concerning that objection against the doctrine which has been maintained, that it agrees with the stoical doctrine of fate, and the opinions of Mr. Hobbes 8 min 33 IV.VII - Concerning the necessity of the divine will 21 min 34 IV.VIII - Some further objections against the moral necessity of god's volitions considered 30 min 35 IV.IX - Concerning that objection against the doctrine which has been maintained, that it makes god the author of sin 35 min 36 IV.X - Concerning sin's first entrance into the world 6 min 37 IV.XI - Of a supposed inconsistence of these principles, with God's moral character 12 min 38 IV.XII - Of a supposed tendency of these principles to atheism and licentiousness 8 min 39 IV.XIII - Concerning that objection against the reasoning, by which the Calvinistic doctrine is supported, that it is metaphysical and abstruse 13 min 40 Conclusion 23 min 41 Appendix 27 min
