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Principal Articles of the Christian Religion: 23 - The Perfection, Blessedness & Glory of God

By Jacobus Arminius


      DISPUTATION XXIII ON THE PERFECTION, BLESSEDNESS AND GLORY OF GOD

      Next in order, follows the perfection of God, resulting from the simple and infinite circuit of all those things which we have already attributed to God, and considered with the mode of pre-eminence -- not that perfection by which he has every individual thing most perfectly, (for this is the office of simplicity and infinity,) but that by which he has all things simply denoting some perfection in the most perfect manner. And it may be appropriately described thus: It is the interminable, and, at the same time, the entire and perfect possession of essence and life. II. And this perfection of God infinitely transcends every created perfection, in three several ways: (1.) Because it has all things. (2.) It has them in a manner the most perfect. And (3.) It does not derive them from any other source. But as the creatures have, through participation, a perfection from God, faintly shadowed forth after its archetype, so, of consequence, they neither have every perfection, nor in a manner the most perfect; yet some creatures have a greater perfection than others; and the more of it they possess, the nearer are they to God, and the more like him. III. From this perfection of God, by means of some internal act, his blessedness has its existence; and by means of some relation of it ad extra, his glory exists. IV. Blessedness is an act of God, by which he enjoys his own perfection, that is fully known by his understanding, and supremely loved by his will, with a delightful satisfaction in it. It is, therefore, through the act of the understanding, and of the will; of the understanding, indeed, reaching to the essence of the object, but the act of which would not be an act of felicity, unless it had this, its being an act of felicicity[sic.], from the will which perpetually desires to behold the beatified object, and is delightfully satisfied in it. V. But this blessedness is so peculiar to God that it cannot be communicated to any creature. Yet he is, himself, with respect to the object, the beatified good of creatures endowed with understanding, and the effector of the act which tends to the effect, and which is delightfully satisfied in it. Of these, consists the blessedness of the creature. VI. Glory is the divine excellence above all things, which he makes manifest by external acts, in various ways. VII. But the modes of manifestation, which are declared to us in the Scriptures, are principally two -- the one, by an effulgence of unusual light and splendour, or by the opposite to it, a dense darkness and obscurity; the other, by the production of works which agree with his perfection and excellence. VIII. This description of the divine nature is the first foundation of all religion. For it is concluded, from this perfection and blessedness of God, that the act of religion can be worthily and usefully exhibited to God, to the knowledge of which matter, we are brought, through the manifestation of the divine glory. The candid reader will be able, in this place, to supply from the preceding public disputations, the theses on the Father and the Son, and those on the Holy Spirit, the Holy and undivided Trinity.

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See Also:
   1 - On Theology
   2 - How to Teach Theology
   3 - On Blessedness, The End of Theology
   4 - On Religion
   5 - Rule of Religion: The Word of God
   6 - Authority & Certainty of the Holy Scriptures
   7 - The Perfection of the Scriptures
   8 - The Perspicuity of the Scriptures
   9 - The Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures
   10 - The Efficacy of the Scriptures
   11 - On Religion in a Stricter Sense
   12 - The Christian Religion, Its Name and Relation
   13 - The Christian Religion in General
   14 - The Object of Christianity: God
   15 - The Nature of God
   16 - The Life of God
   17 - On the Understanding of God
   18 - The Will of God
   19 - Various Distinctions of the Will of God
   20 - God's Attributes: From the Viewpoint of His Will
   21 - God's Attributes: Relating to Moral Virtues
   22 - On the Power or Capability of God
   23 - The Perfection, Blessedness & Glory of God
   24 - Creation
   25 - Angels in General and in Particular
   26 - The Creation of Man After the Image of God
   27 - The Lordship or Dominion of God
   28 - The Providence of God
   29 - The First Covenant Between God & Man
   30 - Manner of Our 1st Parents in the 1st Covenant
   31 - On the Effects of the Sin of Our First Parents
   32 - On the Necessity of the Christian Religion
   33 - On the Restoration of Man
   34 - On the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ
   35 - On the Priestly Office of Christ
   36 - On the Prophetical Office of Christ
   37 - On the Regal Office of Christ
   38 - Christ's Humiliation & Exaltation
   39 - God the Father & Christ's Will, & Command
   40 - The Predestination of Believers
   41 - The Predestination of the Means to the End
   42 - Relation of Sinful Men to Christ, & the Means of Salvation
   43 - True Repentance Towards God
   44 - On Faith in God and Christ
   45 - On the Union of Believers With Christ
   46 - The Communion of Believers With Christ Regarding His Death
   47 - The Communion of Believers With Christ Regarding His Life
   48 - Justification
   49 - The Sanctification of Man
   50 - The Church of God and of Christ
   51 - The Church of the Old Testament
   52 - The Church of the New Testament
   53 - The Head and the Marks of the Church
   54 - The Catholic Church, Her Parts and Relations
   55 - The Power of the Church in Delivering Doctrines
   56 - The Power of the Church in Enacting Laws
   57 - The Power of the Church in Administering Justice
   58 - On Councils
   59 - The Ecclesiastical Ministrations of the New Testament
   60 - On Sacraments in General
   61 - The Sacraments of the Old Testament
   62 - The Sacraments of the New Testament in General
   63 - On Baptism and Paedo-Baptism
   64 - On the Lord's Supper
   65 - On the Popish Mass
   66 - On the Five False Sacraments
   67 - On the Worship of God in General
   68 - On the Precepts of Divine Worship in General
   69 - On Obedience, Object of All Divine Precepts
   70 - Obedience to God's Commands in General
   71 - The Material Object of the Precepts of the Law
   72 - Love, Fear, Trust, and Honor Towards God
   73 - On Particular Acts of Obedience
   74 - On the First Command in the Decalogue
   75 - On the Second Command in the Decalogue
   76 - On the Third Precept of the Decalogue
   77 - On the Fourth Command in the Decalogue
   78 - On the Fifth Command in the Decalogue
   79 - On the Sixth Precept

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