Wesley Corpus

A Thought on Necessity Source: The Works of John Wesley, Volume 10 (Zondervan) Author: John Wesley --- apprehensions, all our actions, passions, and judgments are ultimately resolvable into the vibrations of the brain. And all of them together follow each other in one connected chain. 4. “But you will say,” (says the Doctor) “This infers the universal necessity of human actions. I am sorry for it; but I cannot help it.” But since he saw, this destroyed that very essence of morality, leaving no room for either virtue or vice, why did he publish it to the world? Why? Because his brain vibrated in such a manner, that he could not help it. Alas for poor human nature ! If this is so, where is “the dignity of man?” II. 1. But other great men totally disapprove of the doctrine of vibration. They give an entirely different account of this whole affair. They say, the delicate, soft, and almost fluid substance, of which the brain is composed, is absolutely incapable of such vibrations as the Doctor ascribes to it; but that the animal spirits, whatever they are, continually moving through that soft substance, naturally form various traces therein; first, very simple, then less or more compounded; that these are afterward varied innumerable ways; and that from these simple or compounded traces arise simple or compounded ideas, whether of sensation or reflection. From these result the judgments we form, with all our train of reasonings; and, at a little farther remove, our passions, our tempers, and from these our words and actions. 2. It is easy to observe, that this scheme equally infers the universal necessity of human actions. The premises indeed are a little different, but the conclusion is one and the same. If every thought, word, and action necessarily depends upon those traces in the brain, which are formed whether we will or no, without either our consent or knowledge; then the man has no more liberty in thinking, speaking, or acting, than the stone has in falling. III. That great man, President Edwards, of New-England, places this in a still stronger light. He says,-- 1.