# The Faith as Unfolded by Many Prophets/Of the Absolute Decree of God

OF THE ABSOLUTE DECREE OF GOD.
When Eber returned, he found the child of Havilah weeping, while Aza told him that Nathan the Jew was dead, and how he died.
But yesterday, said the boy, I saw him, and he smiled upon me:—Now, he shall smile upon me no more. If I had known this, I would not have turned from him to my play.
Aza replied, Neither he, nor thou, nor any in the whole city, supposed that his hour was at hand; for no sickness was upon him, and the Angel of Death did not, as is his wont, cast shadows from his wings over the sunshine of the spirit. Even while the angel descended into the depth of yonder wood, Nathan went forth thither with an untroubled mind, not dreaming of the judgment which awaited him. I trust that thou, child, shalt be ever among the Faithful; but if it should be written that even thou shouldst become as Nathan the Jew, ​may the Disposer give thee such warning of his awful judgment as he gave not to Nathan!
Did not God, then, love Nathan?
My child, Nathan was a Jew, and received not the Prophet.
Eber then spoke, saying, Paul the Apostle was also a Jew, and once received not the prophet of God, but even persecuted the faith; yet was he cared for by God, even in the days of his unbelief. God is a father to all men.
Yet mark, said Aza, the difference of his decrees according as men are faithful or infidels. — A viper came out of the fire, and fastened on the hand of Paul, who shook it off and was not harmed. A viper stung the foot of Nathan from among the grass, and he died. Such was the righteous judgment of God, who ordains all things from everlasting.
Was it written of old, inquired the child, that Paul should thus be saved, and that Nathan should thus die?
From everlasting, replied Aza, it has been written on the table of decrees, where also the Book was first inscribed.
Was it not also written that Paul should believe, and that Nathan should be an infidel?
​It was; for God knows the mind and the spirit before they are created.
Why then was God angry with Nathan?
The wrath of God, replied Aza, is upon all unbelievers; as it is said in the Book, 'They shall be set over the fire of hell; and God shall say, Taste the punishment due unto you because ye have disbelieved.'
Then the child looked sorrowful and perplexed, and presently he turned to Eber, saying, Tell me, Why was the curse of God on Nathan, — why did he hate him before he was born?
God hath hated no man, replied Eber; and as for Nathan, I know that he was beloved of God.
So I indeed believe, cried the child joyfully, for God will not curse him whom all men love.
Listen to me, said Aza, and hear if he was not cursed in his death. — When he was going forth from his house, his wife would have prevented him, because the darkness was coming on; but he would not listen to her. His daughters also entreated him to remain, because the guests for whom he had prepared a feast were already at the door; but he refused them. The ​merchant was with him, in whose power his wealth was placed; and if he had staid to finish the business on which they were met, his riches would have been safe: but the eyes of his mind were blinded, and he rushed forth to meet his death unwarned by many warnings. He was brought back to his house dying. In his last moments he saw the despair of his wife and the grief of his children, and heard that the possessor of his wealth had fled, and that poverty awaited his household, for whom he had labored many years. — Where is the wrath of God seen, if not in blindness and obstinacy and ruin like this?
Listen now to me, said Eber, and I will tell how the death of Nathan happened. I have been mourning with his household, and from themselves I learn the tale. — There was a feast prepared in Nathan's house; and when the guests were about to enter, Nathan's wife and his children saw that he was going hastily forth, and not knowing wherefore, they entreated him to stay. When, however, they heard that a young child of one of his servants could not be found, and was supposed to have gone out alone into the fields as it grew dark, they no longer urged him to remain. His sons, however; ​reminded him that his business with the merchant was yet unfinished; but he answered, 'When I return it shall be done: but if I were to stay now, the child might be lost by my delay.' So every man of the household, and also the child's mother, hastened forth. It was Nathan who found the babe asleep in a thicket of yonder wood: but as be approached to lift up the little one he trod on a viper, which stung him. When he met others of his household, he was already faint with pain. While he restored the child to its mother's bosom his strength failed him utterly; but seeing the woman's joy, he smiled, as he fell to the ground. His spirit was not overclouded by the despair of the mourners, for they had learned of him to be calm in the midst of grief. When he asked for the guilty merchant, in order to finish his business if he yet had strength, his wife would have kept from him that the time to secure his wealth was past; but by his questions he discovered all. Yet even at this was his spirit not long troubled: but his eye was bright, and his voice strong through faith, as he said, 'The Lord is your shepherd, ye shall not want; for He shall lead you in green pastures, and beside the still waters. I will trust that his goodness and ​mercy shall follow you all the days of your lives: for thus has it been with me until this hour.' Nathan died in peace: and as he did not feel, so do I not believe that any cuase from God, or from angels, or from men, was upon him in his death. That he would have been more blessed if he had known what a greater than Moses has revealed of the ways of God and the things of a better life, I am convinced; but though the highest and purest religious faith was not his, he was assuredly among the righteous who are beloved of God.
I will seek my father, said the child of Havilah, and entreat him to beware of the vipers in the grass, for even the Faithful are stung unaware.
According as it is written, answered Aza, do all which men call accidents befall them.
Whether they be unbelievers or believers, added Eber.
It is also determined, said Aza, whether or not they shall be believers; else would I not suffer yonder child to listen to the teachings of a Christian; and I would also warn his father against thy words, though in all other things, thy wisdom, Eber, is great; and as for ​thy virtue, far be it from me to compare myself with thee.
As Havilah approached with the child, Aza repeated his last words.
Havilah, replied, I believe as thou, that it is ordained already what the faith of the child shall be when he is a man; for it is certain that all things are known to God, and determined by him from the beginning of time to the end. But since the same thing is not known to myself, I would not bid the boy listen to Eber, unless the words of Eber were pure.
Why else, said Eber, is the boy forbidden to talk with the ignorant and the idle among the servants, while his father is ever pleased to see him at the feet of Aza?
But said Aza, if the event is already certain, how matters it whether it be known or unknown to thyself? In either case thou canst not alter the decree.
It is true, replied Havilah; for the decrees of God have never been changed by the weak will of man: but this ignorance of the future is ordained by God, as the chief method by which the spirit of man is to be exercised, and his heart enlarged, and his holiness to be ​improved or perfected by the discipline which is appointed to him.
Explain this to me, said Aza; for I understand not how, if the end be fixed from the beginning, that which must happen between can be of any importance. Neither do I understand the reason why two persons who believe in the Book should differ where the Book speaks so plainly.
There are some of the Faithful, replied Havilah, who believe with thee, and some with me, and some in yet another manner; for though the Book speaks plainly in some parts, of the predestination of men, it yet contains some thoughts which appear to many to be inconsistent with this great doctrine. I will relate how the truth appears to me, when thou shalt first have spoken.
Far be it from me, said Aza, to doubt the words of the Book, or to disbelieve the words which the Prophet elsewhere spoke. Doth not the Book declare that 'The fate of every man is bound about his neck,' and that 'no soul can die unless by the permission of God?' And hath not Mohammed told how Adam and Moses disputed before God? 'Thou' said Moses, 'art Adam, whom God created and animated ​with the breath of life, and caused to be worshiped by the angels, and placed in Paradise, from whence mankind have been expelled for thy fault. — Whereto Adam answered, Thou art Moses, whom God chose for his apostle and entrusted with his Word, by giving thee the tables of the Law, and whom he vouchsafed to admit to discourse with himself. How many years dost thou find the Law was written before I was created? Moses said forty. Adam replied, Dost thou not find these words therein, 'And Adam rebelled against the Lord and transgressed?' Which Moses confessing, Adam went on, Dost thou therefore blame me for doing that which God wrote of me that I should do, forty years before I was created; nay, for what was decreed concerning me fifty thousand years before the creation of heaven and earth?' Since Mohammed declared that Adam was right herein, I believe that he was so: and that the fate of every man is bound about his neck, like that of Adam. Therefore would I submit wholly to the will of God in all things. I would neither hope nor fear, nor exercise labor nor foresight. I would not flee from danger, nor seek after good. Neither would I mourn for the good which has departed from me, if ​God had given me a will as submissive as my faith is strong.
Eber looked with compassion on the old man, as he said, From Aza have many learned to resign themselves to the inflictions of God; but it is not to be wished that the submission of the heart should be such as the lips have now spoken. If thou hadst fields, wouldst thou not till them without waiting for a promise that the harvest should repay thy toil?
Aza was silent.
The husbandman knows not, continued Eber, whether the corn he sows shall be ripened by a genial season, or whether it shall be washed away by floods, or blighted by unwholesome dews. Yet he toils and watches, in the hope that his labor will be fruitful. If his toil should be frustrated, he is not therefore the less ready to submit to the will of God; but if he should be idle when others are sowing, he will surely be in poverty while others are reaping, and all men will declare the fault to be his own.
Yet, said Aza, is the end determined before the seed is cast into the ground, though the issue is hidden.
True, replied Eber: but though the issue be hidden, thus much it is given to man to know, ​— that unless the ground is tilled, it will not bring forth. The husbandman knows not that the harvest will surely spring from the seed; but he knows that without seed there can be no harvest.
Havilah said, If Aza saw my child sporting on the brink of a precipice, would he not stretch forth his arm to save him? If he beheld a serpent coiling around the boy's limbs, would he not seize the reptile and fling it away?
Aza smiled as he answered, I have owned that I have not learned to stretch forth or to stay my hand as my faith bids; therefore I should perhaps strive to guard thy child as if I had indeed power over his fate; but if I obeyed my faith, I should only sit still and watch.
But it may be the will of God, said Eber, not only that the child should be saved, but that he should be saved by thy hand. It is thine therefore to stretch forth thy hand and try. If thou fail, it is the will of God; if thou succeed, the child is saved, and thou art thankful. Thus is it also with the perils of the spirit. Though it has long been known to God whether this child shall die in the faith of Christ or of Mohammed, the issue is not known ​to his father or to his friends. They know, however, that if from this day he dwelt among Christians, so as never again to hear the Prophet's name, it is not to be supposed that he would call upon that name in his last hour; and therefore, if I were to take the boy with me to my own land, and be careful that he should not henceforth see the Book, or be told of any later prophet than Jesus, — what hope could his father have that he would retain the faith of his country?
No more, answered Havilah, than that he could be wise if he dwelt alone among the ignorant, or pure if his abode were with the vile, or earthly if he should henceforth converse with none but angels.
Now, said Aza to Havilah, tell me what is thy assurance respecting the absolute decrees of the Creator. Was Moses wrong in blaming Adam, or was the fate of Adam determined by himself?
The fate of Adam was fixed, like the fate of every other man, replied Havilah, by Him to whom time is as nothing. To Him one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; so that the sentence of the judgment-day was pronounced by Him in the moment ​that the creating word went forth. Neither these decrees, nor any others which He has made, shall be set aside for ever: they are absolute and immutable. These decrees also comprehend, not only the issues of all events, but the means by which every end is wrought.
Let not this be forgotten, said Eber; nor that He has made the connection certain between the progress and the issues of events, between the end and the means by which that end is wrought; and that He has made known this certainty unto man. If the olive should yield its fruit in plenty, whether it were fixed in the midst of a stream, or on a barren rock, or amidst a rich soil, man would but waste his care in tending it: but because it is not so, it would be folly to expect fruit where there has been no culture. In like manner, if knowledge were given without being sought, and wisdom came like the manna of the wilderness, none knowing whence or how, men might hope to become sages by sporting or sleeping all the day. But since it is not so; since wisdom can only be gained by much toil, and thought, and self-denial; a thoughtless man can no more hope to be a sage, than one who toils after knowledge can fear to be, in the end, altogether a fool. — ​Thus far is the absolute decree revealed to man.
Was this made known to Adam? said Aza.
It was; for he was assured on the word of his Maker, that if he transgressed, he should surely die, — as we are assured that if we transgress, we shall surfer.
Why then, said Aza, is there this death and this suffering, if it be predetermined that man shall transgress?
Eber answered, Why there is pain and death in the world, it has not yet pleased the Father to declare : but since his goodness is abundant, and his wisdom and power have no bounds, we cannot doubt but that the reasons, when they shall be made known, will attest some hidden wisdom which man is not yet able to comprehend. All that we yet know is, that every thing exists by God's absolute decree; that evil exists, — and therefore that evil exists by God's absolute decree. Why plagues and earthquakes have desolated the earth, why pain and guilt have troubled mankind, we may hope to learn hereafter; and till then we may wait patiently, since we see how beauty rises up out of the dust, how peace issues from woe, and how purity is wrought out of repentance.
​Why, said Havilah, does Aza inquire respecting evil, if he believes that all things are from God?
Not for myself, said Aza smiling; for since I believe in the absolute predestination which the Prophet taught, none of these questions trouble me. I inquired, because one who holds that sin is the work either of the Despairing One, or of man himself, inquired thus of me concerning Adam and every other sinner. He inquired, as Adam did of Moses, why he should suffer for that which was preordained; and whether it is not a mockery to give threats and promises when the issue is already fixed?
If such an one should inquire again, said Havilah, tell him that we will explain why there is guilt, and sorrow the consequence of guilt, when he shall declare why his gardens are not full of the fruit and waters of Paradise; why the life of man is not stretched out to a thousand years; and why all his days are not filled with gladness. Why man is not made equal to the holy among the genii, and the genii to the angels, and the angels to the archangels, we know no more than why there is evil in the world.
Tell him also, said Eber, that it is no ​mockery to give threats and promises from Heaven, whether or not they shall avail to the persons to whom they are first given. Every end is wrought by means; and these are some of the most important means by which the minds of men are disposed to good and evil. The warning to Adam did not sane him from his first offence, as was known to God from the beginning: but we may well believe that, having found how transgression and punishment are connected, Adam was saved from such future sin by this first warning: and we know that in every age men have looked back with awe upon this proof that God must be obeyed.
Not only, said Havilah, was the first sinner himself a warning, but the Divine command was made sure through all generations. But how did he who inquired of Aza suppose that the sin and the punishment were caused?
The punishment he declared to be threatened and inflicted by God, and the transgression to be caused by the Evil One.
If so, said Eber, from whom had the Evil One his power, and by whose permission did he use it? Was God weak that he could not control, or blind that he could not foresee?
Such was my answer, said Aza; and when he ​supposed that sin was created by Adam, I made the same reply, saying, If God permit aught evil which he could prevent, the evil is from him: — If he could not prevent, why call we him God?
Rather let us suppose, said Eber, that what men now call evil shall prove in the end to bring forth that which is holy and blessed. Pain is now grievous to us, and it is lawful to escape from it when an innocent way is open, though we must endure willingly that which it is not permitted to escape. Sin is the most odious of all things, and therefore we must watch against it, and flee from it with all our might. We ought to dread falling under temptation more than the dangers of a precipice, and should purify ourselves from the infection of bad examples more carefully than from that of the plague. Having sinned, we should be more anxious to repent than the sick man to be healed of his sickness. Fearful are the ways of God in the earth: — but of all the sorrows which he has ordained, none are so terrible as those which await upon guilt.
Is sin then to be patiently endured like sickness? asked Aza.
The sinner, like the afflicted, must humble ​himself before God, replied Eber; but he must not struggle the less to free himself from his sin. There are many sicknesses for which no cure is known; they can only be willingly borne; but for sin of every kind there are remedies at hand, and alas for him who seizes them not! By confession and prayer to God, by making reparation to man where we have offended, by controlling the desires of the heart, by studying and waiting upon God's will, — the sinner may become holy, and the penitent spirit may attain peace. O Havilah! teach thy child from this day how fearful is sin, and how the disobedient are wretched above all who suffer! Teach him, that though neither thou nor he can know what shall be appointed to him on the judgment-day, it is the duty of both to hope that he shall be found pure and happy. If the means are used, he shall surely become so; and look whether the means be not in thine hand.
Ought not Moses, said Aza, rather to have had compassion on Adam, than to have reproached him for his disobedience?
The rebukes which are spoken to sinners by God, replied Eber, are uttered to alarm and bring back the guilty, and to deter others from ​sin, even as the threatenings which are offered before the sin is committed. Thus should it be with the rebukes of man towards man. If by rebuke any one can be brought to repentance, or those who behold to fear and carefulness, it is wise and kind to offer just reproach: but to do thus to one who has already repented, or when the opportunity to sin is past, is not only useless but cruel: and because Moses is said to do this in the tradition thou hast related, I believe not the tradition. If Adam and Moses had indeed reasoned together in the presence of God, they would already have known why death came into the world by the one, and the Law was given by the hands of the other; and Moses would not have taken account of Adam as if he could have been the first cause of anything. If they had reasoned, it would have been concerning the will of God, without charging any man with creating evil.
As for the compassion which Moses ought to have felt, said Havilah, we know not how grief and pity are felt beyond the grave; but it is certain that on earth there are none who so much need it as the guilty. If the diseases of the spirit be more fearful than those of the ​body; if sin be a heavier woe than the loss of friends, or of health, or of riches, as Eber has justly declared; — then for whom should our tears be shed, to whom should our help be given so earnestly as to the guilty? Little indeed do they know of the ways of God who hate or injure the sinner!
Little indeed! replied Eber, for God loves all, and has pity on all. It is for man to fear and detest sin, to fly from it, and to guard from its infection all whom he can protect. But it is less cruel to suffer a man to be swept away by a flood when our hand could save him, than to leave a sinner unwarned. It is more merciful to reproach the blind and to mock the lame, than to point at the sinner with bitter scorn, and to laugh at his shame when we should rather weep for his woe.
This have I never done, said Aza; nor have I at any time intermeddled with any, be they holy or be they guilty. The will of God shall be done upon every man, and I wait to behold what it is, knowing that nought which I can do shall change it.
The will of God is wrought on man by the hands of man, said Eber, and therefore can no man be justified in refusing to act where ​God has opened the way. If Mohammed had remained retired in the cave to watch what God should do in the earth, what would have been the faith of the multitudes whom ye call the Faithful at this day? If Havilah were henceforth to take no more care of his child, waiting to see the will of God concerning him, how could the mind of the child be unfolded, or his spirit made devout? What then would be the lot of the boy?
It would be that of an orphan, answered Havilah, for Eber would take him to his bosom and be to him as to one who had no father. Then would my boy become a Christian. — But these things shall not be, if, as I trust, it is the will of God that he should be among the Faithful, and shall dwell by my side till one of us shall die.
Thou knowest not, said Aza, but that thou mayst be called away to the war; or that the boy shall die; or that utter poverty may overtake him and thee, so that thou canst not give him bread; or that his heart shall be unbelieving as that of Nathan the Jew, or corrupt as that of Sachem the Cruel.
It is true, said Havilah, that I know not what the providence of God may design for my ​child and myself: but since there is hope of growing purity and peace for both, I will strive to obtain these blessings for my son. I will, while the means are in my hand, open his mind with knowledge and his heart with love: I will teach him to adore God with his spirit, and to serve men with his hands. If God send his blessing on my labors, I shall go to my grave in peace; or if my child should go down thither before me, I shall yet rejoice that he has lived, and have hope that he shall bless me hereafter.
But, said Aza, if it is written that he should become an unbeliever and a reprobate?
I have said, answered Eber, that some part of the Divine decrees are made known to man, — that part in which it is fixed that the end shall not fail where all the means to the end are used. By this knowledge does the child of whom we speak look for flowers when he has planted the seed, and watered the ground, and striven to preserve the stem from being withered by scorching heats, and the leaves from being blighted by unwholesome dews. It may be that some rude hand shall snap the stalk or destroy the opening buds, or that a hidden worm is feeding on the root: but if these ​dangers are avoided, the flower shall surely blossom to his wish. Thus surely shall many virtues adorn the mind of the child to the parent's wish, if his young days are tended by watchful and enlightened care, so that no evil is permitted to lay waste the fair promise he puts forth.
If I thought like Aza, said Havilah, I should be like the ostrich of the desert, who leaves her eggs in the sand, unguarded by her care, and uncherished by the warmth of her breast. Whether her young have perished, she returns not to see: if she meets them abroad, she knows them not for her own, and they pass her by as a stranger, and leave her alone. Wiser is the stork, who shelters his young in the high cedar. When the tree is bowed before the storm, he spreads his wings over the nest: he takes his young abroad in the morning sunshine, and leads them home when the thunder is in the sky. When he is old, his children forsake him not. They gather food for him, and bear him on their wings, and guard him as he guarded them in the days of his strength. Though God cares for all, though he supplies warmth to the young ostrich from the sun, as to the stork from the breast of his parent, the ​lot of the parents is not equal: — the one stretches herself out on the burning sand to die alone; the other hears the fluttering of wings about him while death is closing his eves.
Would the last hour of Nathan have been as peaceful as it was, said Eber, if he had not labored to do the will of God, as well as believed that it would be done? He knew that the original decrees of God could not be reversed or changed; that if his children were appointed to forsake the God of their fathers, no man could save them; and that if the destitute were ordained to perish, no man could preserve them. Yet he brought up his children carefully, and fed the poor; so that through him it has been proved that the will of God was merciful to them.
Havilah answered, God works every where, and none stays his hand. He orders all things that are done in heaven and on earth: but he orders many things through the purposes of man, and works many things by the hand of man.
Alas for him, said Eber, who fulfills the designs of God against his own impure will! Happy is he whose purposes are godlike, and whose holy deeds show whence proceeds the power of his will!
* ↑ Koran, chap. 6.
* ↑ Koran, chap. 17.
* ↑ Ibid. chap. 3.
* ↑ Prelim. Dissert. p. 163.