5.3 Section III

    Section III.–God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure.

Exposition The providence of God is either ordinary or miraculous. In his ordinary providence God works by means, and according to the general laws established by his own wisdom: we are, therefore, bound to use the means which he has appointed, and if we neglect these, we cannot expect to obtain the end. But though God generally acts according to established laws, yet he may suspend or modify these laws at pleasure. And when, by his immediate agency, an effect is produced above or beside the ordinary course of nature, this we denominate a miracle. The possibility of miracles will be denied by none but Atheists. To maintain that the laws of nature are so absolutely fixed, that they can in no case be deviated from, would be to exclude God from the government of the world,–to represent the universe as a vast machine, whose movements are regulated by certain laws which even the great Architect cannot control.