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<DATE>2010-03-26</DATE>
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<NAME>Kayla Ondracek</NAME>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE HINGE OF FAITH AND RELIGION; OR, A Proof of the <HI>Deity</HI> again&s;t <HI>A|thei&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Profane</HI> Per&s;ons, by <HI>Rea|&s;on,</HI> and the Te&s;timony of <HI>Holy Scripture:</HI> the <HI>Divinity</HI> of which is demon&s;trated,</P>
<P><HI>By</HI> L. Cappel, <HI>Doctour and Profe&s;&s;our in Divinity.</HI></P>
<P>Tran&s;lated out of <HI>French</HI> By <HI>Philip Marinel,</HI> M. A. and Fellow of <HI>Pembroke</HI>-College in <HI>Oxford.</HI></P>
<P>Printed for <HI>Thomas Dring,</HI> at the <HI>George</HI> near St-<HI>Dun&s;tan</HI>'s Church in <HI>Fleet-&s;treet.</HI> 1660.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the WORSHIPFULL <HI>S^t-JOHN CHERNOCK,</HI> E&s;quire.</HEAD>
<P>_IT was not any de&s;ire I had to appear in <HI>Publick,</HI> that incited me to &s;et forth the&s;e D^r. <HI>Cappel's</HI> la&s;t Works in <HI>Engli&s;h:</HI> I am con|&s;cious enough to my &s;elf of my de|fects. Neither would I have ven|tured ever to let this <HI>Tran&s;lation</HI> &s;ee the light; but that &s;ome Friends per&s;waded me, that this piece a|gain&s;t <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> was very &s;ea&s;ona|ble
<PB REF="3">in <HI>the&s;e</HI> Times, where almo&s;t e|very body (through our late unhap|py <HI>Di&s;tractions,</HI> and <HI>Toleration</HI> of the wilde&s;t <HI>Phan&s;ies</HI> in matter of <HI>Divine Wor&s;hip</HI>) is to &s;eek for his Religion. And it is to be feared, that many, who profe&s;s outwardly the <HI>Princi|ples</HI> of Religion, have yet no &s;ound apprehen&s;ions of the main <HI>Foun|dation</HI> of it, <HI>viz.</HI> Of the Deity: which they (I mean, mo&s;t part of the <HI>Common</HI> people) &s;eldom think of: or, if they do, they have &s;uch conceptions of it, as that it would make a man of Rea&s;on think, he is not of the &s;ame kinde. So gro&s;s|ly, and &s;o ab&s;urdly, they do talk of the <HI>Almighty,</HI> and of tho&s;e matters in <HI>Religion,</HI> which <HI>Natural Rea&s;on</HI> teacheth: that I have often been
<PB REF="3">in the mind, to think with an an|tient <HI>Philo&s;opher,</HI> that the <HI>Forms</HI> of <HI>A&s;&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Hogs,</HI> did now and then animate tho&s;e <HI>Bodies,</HI> which are fra|med in the &s;hape of a <HI>Man,</HI> and which are common among&s;t us. But I have &s;ince perceived, that the&s;e things (for I knew not what other names to give them) were apt to be taught; that they <HI>indeed</HI> had <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> and that <HI>really</HI> they were <HI>men,</HI> and therefore had <HI>Souls</HI> to &s;ave: which, I am &s;ure, they cannot do, unle&s;s they have a right appre|hen&s;ion of the Deity; in the&s;e pla|ces e&s;pecially, where they have means enough afforded them to effect this. This &s;mall Treati&s;e will, I am &s;ure, (if read &s;eriou&s;ly, and without prejudice) help &s;uch igno|rant
<PB REF="4">people very much. But it is not the main end, for which it was in|tended. It is wholly to confute a company of <HI>Ruffling Fellows,</HI> who call them&s;elves the <HI>Strong Wits,</HI> for|&s;ooth! and that with an <HI>Empha&s;is</HI> too: who think it is a piece of <HI>Gallantry</HI> to deny a God, and a <HI>Provi|dence,</HI> and who indeed would have it &s;o, for the <HI>Rea&s;ons</HI> alleadged in the <HI>fir&s;t Chapter</HI> of this Book. They &s;hall find here &s;atisfaction enough; if they do but take the lei&s;ure to per|u&s;e it. I am not ignorant, that there have been many pieces made by &s;undry Learned men upon this &s;ubject: but I never read, or heard of any, who hath handled it in this <HI>Me|thod,</HI> and &s;o clearly. And, &s;ince I am utterly uncapable to expre&s;s, and &s;et
<PB REF="4">forth the <HI>Prai&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elogies</HI> due to the worthy <HI>Authour,</HI> I will rather choo&s;e to bury them in <HI>&s;ilence,</HI> and let him gain it him&s;elf, in his <HI>Book:</HI> the <HI>Tran&s;lation</HI> of which I undertook at fir&s;t, but to &s;atisfie a Friend's de&s;ire. I have done it as well as I could, and to a <HI>&s;incere end,</HI> and therefore I do not much fear to be <HI>blamed.</HI> As for the <HI>Publication</HI> of it, your own <HI>incitement, Honoured Sir,</HI> was a &s;ufficient <HI>Motive</HI> to attempt it: and I do here humbly pre&s;ent it to you, as a <HI>Te&s;timony</HI> of that <HI>Gra|titude</HI> I am bound to pay you, for tho&s;e manifold favours you have Honoured me withall; and as a <HI>To|ken</HI> of that <HI>Re&s;pect</HI> I ow unto your <HI>Piety</HI> and <HI>Virtue,</HI> which is the <HI>Nobi|lity</HI> God hath eminently endowed
<PB REF="5">you with; be&s;ides that of <HI>Blood,</HI> that your Illu&s;trious <HI>Ancestours</HI> have con|ferred on you. Whom I be&s;eech the Almighty to <HI>protect</HI> and <HI>pre&s;erve</HI> in all pro&s;perity in <HI>this</HI> life, and in the life <HI>to come</HI> to give you an immor|tal <HI>Crown</HI> of <HI>Glory;</HI> And remain,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Honoured Sir,</SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your mo&s;t humble, most obedient, and obliged Servant, <HI>P.M.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>THE AUTHOURS <HI>PREFACE</HI> TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>THIS &s;mall Treati&s;e is not compiled with any Hopes to reduce wholly tho&s;e, again&s;t whom I argue. For &s;uch per|&s;ons are not recall'd by Di&s;pu|tations, Di&s;cour&s;es, or Humane Rea&s;onings. That they may be healed and converted, God him&s;elf mu&s;t &s;peak, mu&s;t &s;courge, and terrifie them, with his revengefull Judgements. The &s;in of &s;uch Per&s;ons is like that of <HI>Sodom</HI> and
<PB REF="6"><HI>Gomorrah, viz,</HI> Pride, Fulne&s;s of Bread, and Abundance of Idlene&s;s. <HI>(Ezech. xvi. 49.)</HI> They mo&s;t e&s;pecially are troubled with this Di&s;ea&s;e, who live in this World, accor|ding to their own de&s;ires, who abound with the Goods of this pre&s;ent World, who are over|whelmed with the Wealth, Honours, Sweets, and Plea&s;ures of this Life: <HI>For the turn|ing away of the Simple &s;hall &s;lay them, and the Pro&s;perity of Fools &s;hall de|&s;troy them;</HI> Prov. <HI>i. 32.</HI></P>
<P>While&s;t they enjoy this Pro&s;perity, and have their ea&s;e and quiet, they avert their thoughts from God; the Remembrance of whom would but make them &s;ad, and would much trouble their Repo&s;e, &s;ince they can|not promi&s;e to them&s;elves any good from him, who loveth Virtue, Ju&s;tice, and Holine&s;s, which in no waies is con&s;i&s;tent with that kind of Life, which they have cho&s;en, to pa&s;s it in Plea&s;ure, Delicatene&s;s, and Effeminacy.</P>
<P>Then do they &s;top their Ears, as the Ser|pent again&s;t the Charms of the Charmer, they leave off to be wi&s;e, and to do good; therefore they are not capable of receiving In&s;truction,
<PB REF="6">and they would be very angry to acknowledge their Errour; becau&s;e, if &s;o, they mu&s;t be bound to amend their Lives, which is that they will not do, finding it wonderfully &s;weet and delicious. But when they are met with by Death, and that they be a grapling with her, when &s;hee doth over-power them, or when by &s;ome notorious, wonderfull, and exempla|ry Judgement of God, they are fallen from their Greatne&s;s, Wealth, Goods, &amp; Plea&s;ures, and are reduced to the State of <HI>Job,</HI> or the <HI>Prodigal Son</HI> in the <HI>Go&s;pel:</HI> then &s;ome|times they may be healed, then their affright|ed Con&s;cience doth awake them from their deep &s;lumber; then at &s;ometimes they o|pen their eyes to the acknowledgement, and dete&s;tation of their Errour. Without this, they are like tho&s;e, who, being &s;ick of a Lethar|gy, may be pinch'd, &s;poken to, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet never budg, nor will not awake; becau&s;e they take more plea&s;ure in their &s;leep, and drow&s;ine&s;s, which at la&s;t layes them in their Grave.</P>
<P>This Treati&s;e is rather intended to the&s;e ends: <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To keep from this horrible Precipice
<PB REF="7">tho&s;e, that have &s;ome Natural bent and in|clination that way. For the general, and Natural Corruption of man is to them an hid|den Ma&s;ter, and Teacher of <HI>Athei&s;m,</HI> which now and then &s;ugge&s;ts the&s;e thoughts into their hearts; <HI>Who hath told you that there is a God, whom you never &s;aw?</HI> And, <HI>Where have they learn'd it, who taught you this? What greater a&s;&s;u|rance of this have they them&s;elves?</HI> And, <HI>Whence did it proceed?</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, It is to uphold their Faith, in whom the&s;e thoughts have taken &s;ome Impre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Thirdly, To &s;hew the mi&s;take of tho&s;e, who think, that, &s;etting a&s;ide the Revelati|on of the word of God, tho&s;e per&s;ons (<HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI>) are not void of Rea&s;on, and &s;peak not without &s;ome warrant. For it is here &s;hewed, that they oppo&s;e Rea&s;on, and bely it in divers manners.</P>
<P>Finally, This is to beat down, in &s;ome manner, the vain-glory, and the profane mockings of tho&s;e per&s;ons, who laugh at the &s;implicity (as they think) of the World, which is of &s;o light a belief, (as they call it)
<PB REF="7">as to give credit to tho&s;e Writings, which are called the <HI>Bible,</HI> without any more warrant of their Belief, then the common Report, or an hear-&s;ay, or el&s;e the Te&s;timony of &s;ome men, that take upon them the Authority to give to the&s;e Sacred Writings the Credit, which it hath among&s;t us, and yet cannot in any other ways &s;hew, upon what their Te&s;ti|mony is grounded; and thereby do weaken the Faith of tho&s;e, who are taught to attri|bute more then meer Rea&s;on to the Te&s;timo|ny of the&s;e Books and Sacred Writers. For here it is &s;hewed again&s;t the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> that they make them&s;elves ab&s;urd and ridiculous in doubting, without any appearance of Rea|&s;on, of the Authority of the&s;e Sacred Books.</P>
<P>It is now three years ago, &s;ince this Trea|ti&s;e was dictated to &s;ome young Divines in this place, without any other De&s;ign, then their own &s;atisfaction; and this was al&s;o done at their Reque&s;t, and to be to them as a <HI>Ba|&s;is</HI> and Foundation of their Faith and Reli|gion. For it is that by which we mu&s;t begin, <HI>That there is a God:</HI> which many do not know, but becau&s;e they have heard other &s;ay
<PB REF="8">&s;o, without having pondered and examined upon what ground this Common belief is &s;eat|ed. But &s;ince that time, after this &s;mall piece had been viewed and approved by able <HI>Ma|&s;ters,</HI> to who&s;e Judgement I (as it is my du|ty) do &s;ubmit: I, by their per&s;wa&s;ions, have thought that this, being made publick, can|not do any harm to any, and may profit &s;ome. And this the rather; that I might evi|dence, that we ought to &s;erve God to the utmo&s;t of our abilities, in maintaining his cau&s;e again&s;t his mo&s;t furious Adver&s;aries; and that tho&s;e of our Coat, and Profe&s;&s;ion, are not &s;uch, as &s;ome would willingly make the world believe them to be, <HI>viz.</HI> Enemies of God, and of his Truth, &s;ince we do (as much as in us lies) e&s;tabli&s;h the grounds of it: clean contrary to tho&s;e of their Profe&s;&s;ion, who, feigning to lay this Foundation firm, do in ef|fect overthrow it; &s;etting it upon rotten Pil|lars, and by a &s;ecret intelligence with tho&s;e enemies, again&s;t which they &s;eem to fight, do betray, &amp; abandon that Truth, whereof they would have men believe them to be the A&s;|&s;ertours. If, by the reading of this &s;mall Trea|ti&s;e,
<PB REF="8">(which cannot much divert the Rea|ders from their other employments) any find them&s;elves edified, and &s;trengthened in the faith and belief of this &s;o important Arti|cle, which is the Ground of Religion; I &s;hall have attained my end, and will believe that my Meditation on this point hath not been vain. And to God, who directs by his Wi&s;|dom the thoughts of men to his own Glory, and for his own Work, be a&s;cribed all Ho|nour, Prai&s;e, and Glory, for ever. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="9">
<PB N="1" REF="9">
<HEAD>ATHEISME CONVICTED, AND PROFANENESSE CONFUTED, By the Light of Right Rea&s;on and by the Te&s;timony of GOD and MEN.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. I.</HI> The reach of Athei&s;me, its fir&s;t &s;pring, di|vers Branches of this Notorious Infidelity.</HEAD>
<P>_IT is a &s;trange and wonderfull thing, that (&s;eeing the Know|ledge of divine and Cele&s;tial matters is far greater and clea|rer in mo&s;t of men that are up|on the face of the Earth then ever it was) we &s;ee neverthele&s;s more Athei&s;ts and profane per&s;ons then ever were, even among the Hea|then,
<PB N="2" REF="10">which do appeare by the &s;tupendous wickedne&s;&s;e, and abominable Corruption of good manners, which is at this day &s;o common among Chri&s;tians, being mo&s;t true which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>That many do acknowledge God with their Lips, but by their works do deny him.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;pring of this Evill, is the unlimited Love of the Wealth, Plea&s;ures, Commodities, honours &amp; dignities of this pre&s;ent World. For men being hurried by their Pa&s;&s;ions towards the&s;e things, and neverthele&s;&s;e having a natu|rall Re&s;entment of a Deity, and &s;ome Know|ledge of the Difference between Good and E|vill, Vice and Vertue, and of the Puni&s;h|ments and Rewards which they do ju&s;tly de|&s;erve (which is to them as mo&s;t bitter Gall, and Wormwood, and doth deprive them of the plea&s;ure and content which they do take in glutting them&s;elves with the&s;e fal&s;e and de|ceiving Goods) do endeavour to quench in them&s;elves this &s;trong per&s;wa&s;ion they have of a Deity, or at the lea&s;t do frame fal&s;e Opini|ons of him and of his Nature, that they may go on with more loo&s;ene&s;&s;e, le&s;&s;e Remor&s;e, and more plea&s;ure in the Execution of their evill de&s;ires, and to fortifie them&s;elves in this Opinion they do &s;eek, and gather all the Rea|&s;ons and Arguments, which the &s;ubtillne&s;&s;e of their Wits and Parts can furni&s;h them with|all.</P>
<PB N="3" REF="10">
<P>Now there are two &s;orts of Athei&s;ts, the fir&s;t are formally and openly &s;o, The &s;econd are clo&s;e and re&s;erved. Again of the&s;e fir&s;t, there are two kinds, The fir&s;t of which acknowledge and profe&s;&s;e that there is no God, and even do upon all occa&s;ions, endeavour to make others beleeve the &s;ame: the other &s;ort is of tho&s;e which per&s;wade them&s;elves that there is no God, and notwith&s;tanding dare not vent that Opinion openly either for fear of the Ju&s;tice of men which doth mo&s;t ju&s;tly cha&s;tice and pu|ni&s;h this horrible Impiety, or for &s;hame of the World which doth abhor and dete&s;t &s;uch Mon|&s;ters as the&s;e.</P>
<P>Now they, who&s;e profanene&s;s is not &s;o open, do indeed acknowledge a Deity, but they have erroneous Opinions of it, which cannot con|&s;i&s;t with the Reality of its Nature. The God of &s;uch per&s;ons is nothing el&s;e but an Idoll, a Fal&s;e God, and only a Phanta&s;me of the Dei|ty, now he that hath but this is not far from Athei&s;me.</P>
<P>Of all the&s;e Opinions &s;ome are more gro&s;s and le&s;s agreeing with the Nature of the Deity, the other are more &s;ubtill and harder to be ap|prehended, which neverthele&s;s do oppugne its Nature, and cannot really agree with the true Deity.</P>
<P>Of the former is the Tenet of <HI>Epicurus</HI> who did acknowledge a Deity, but &s;uch a one
<PB N="4" REF="11">as had nothing to do with the World, and had neither made it, nor did governe it, and was without any care what was done in it. Next to this was the Opinion of the Peripateticks, who did hold that there was a fir&s;t matter, but to whom they did attribute only the moving of the <HI>Primum mobile,</HI> and a generall and unde|terminated Action without any Cognizance or Government of particular things, who was neither the efficient cau&s;e of this world, which they did a&s;sert had beene from all Eternity without any Beginning. The &s;ame al&s;o was the Opinion of the Heathen, who did believe a Plurality of Gods, either Independent one upon another, or generated and procreated the one by the other, to which al&s;o they at|tributed humane Pa&s;&s;ions and Affections, as Anger, Envy, Carnall Lu&s;ts, Joy, and Sor|row.</P>
<P>The &s;econd &s;ort of fal&s;e Opinions, more cunning and &s;ubtile, is of tho&s;e who cannot think that God is infinitely ju&s;t, or infinitely mercifull, but beleeve that he pardons Sin without puni&s;hing of it, and that he doth pu|ni&s;h it only becau&s;e it is his plea&s;ure, &s;eeing that he could ab&s;tain from the puni&s;hing of it if he would, and that he could (if he plea&s;ed) be unwilling to puni&s;h it. Which Opinion car|ries this with it, that Good and Evill are not &s;o in their Nature, but only as it plea&s;eth God
<PB N="5" REF="11">to command the one, and forbid the other, and hence it followes that he could forbid the Good and command the Evill, and this doth transforme God in the Principle of the ancient and abominable Heretick <HI>Manes,</HI> who becau&s;e of the difference of Good and Evill, did con|&s;titute two Principles of them, the one good and the other evill; nay, the&s;e do wor&s;e then him, &s;ince they holding one Principle, make it &s;u&s;ceptible of both, <HI>viz</HI> Good and Evill.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e al&s;o that will not acknowledge that God is &s;uch as he hath revealed, and made him|&s;elf known in his word, <HI>viz.</HI> One in three di&s;tinct per&s;ons, and by his Eternall word Je|&s;us Chri&s;t his Son, who was incarnate, and dy|ed for to &s;ave the world, &s;uch are tho&s;e anci|ent Hereticks who have re&s;i&s;ted the mo&s;t holy and mo&s;t happy Trinity, and our Saviours In|carnation, together with the Di&s;ciples and followers of <HI>Mahomet,</HI> who is by them pre|ferred before Chri&s;t. For all &s;uch per&s;ons un|der a fal&s;e pretence they have of maintaining the Unity of God, do annihilate him as much as in them lyes, in crying down his Power and Eternall Wi&s;dome, which are the Son and the Holy Gho&s;t, and would have them to be only bare names, phanta&s;mes or meer creatures.</P>
<P>There might be added many other opinions, Ancient and Modern, as namely that of old, of the <HI>Anthropomorphites</HI> that thought God
<PB N="6" REF="12">to be corporeall, and that he was furni&s;ht with Armes, Leggs, and Eyes like a man: From whom do not go very far tho&s;e who erect Ima|ges of the Holy Trinity to adore and &s;erve it. All &s;uch Opinions are intirely unworthy, and a|lienated from the Infinite Excellency of God, do beget in the Spirits of men a fal&s;e appre|hen&s;ion, and a meer Phanta&s;me of the Deity, and do avert men from the true Feare, Re|&s;pect, Obedience, Piety, and Honour, which his Creatures are bound to pay him.</P>
<P>There is al&s;o another Ri&s;e and Root of this Prophanene&s;s, and as it is more hid and &s;ubtle, &s;o it is more generall and common, <HI>viz.</HI> of tho&s;e who do indeed acknowledge a Deity, and have no erroneous opinions of its Nature, but neverthele&s;s would be very glad, and wil|lingly could wi&s;h that there were no God, and that for the &s;ame end and rea&s;on, as tho&s;e have, who endeavour to per&s;wade them&s;elves that there is none, to wit, that they may more licentiou&s;ly follow their evill de&s;ires, and Con|cupi&s;cences.</P>
<P>And this Wickedne&s;s is &s;o common, that there are none but the truly faithfull, and tho&s;e who are regenerated by the Spirit of God, that are wholly free from this, and al&s;o to the&s;e &s;omt mes &s;uch thoughts come into their Hearts when they are tempted and enticed by their own Lu&s;ts, which is like a Spring of Gall &s;pout|ing
<PB N="7" REF="12">on high with which they are defiled, which they re&s;i&s;t as much as they can by the efficacy of the Spirit of God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. II.</HI> Two Waies of Convincing A|thei&s;me, <HI>viz.</HI> by Argu|ments and Authority.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">I. Argument, Drawn from this, <HI>viz.</HI> That the World hath had a Begin|ning.</HEAD>
<P>THere are two waies of handling a &s;ubject, the fir&s;t to prove po&s;itively that it is, and what it is, the &s;econd to confute that which may be brought again&s;t it. We purpo&s;e to our &s;elves here only to prove again&s;t Athei&s;ts, that there is a God, &amp; not to an&s;wer to all the per|ver&s;ne&s;s and &s;ubtilty of humane rea&s;on (ingeni|ous &amp; prone to its own Ruin) can bring to per|&s;wade it &s;elfe the contrary, becau&s;e that as there are common Truths &s;o clear and evident
<PB N="8" REF="13">that no Sophi&s;me or Paralogi&s;me can make us to &s;werve from it, though (it may be) we can|not di&s;solve and untie the Knot of the So|phi&s;me; &s;o this truth, that there is a God, be|ing well and &s;olidly proved and demon&s;trated, there will be no Argument (though never &s;o artificiall) that &s;hall make us to decline it, al|beit we could not clearely &s;ee which way we might di&s;-intangle our &s;elves and come out from the&s;e Labyrinths. Unle&s;&s;e we perchance were of the number of tho&s;e (of whom we have heretofore &s;poken) who &s;hould be very willing that there were no God: For we glad|ly beleeve, and ea&s;ily per&s;wade our &s;elves, that which we de&s;ire; we our &s;elves give weight and &s;trength to tho&s;e Arguments which do inforce it upon us, and contrarily weaken, as much as in us lies, tho&s;e that oppo&s;e them. Hence cometh to pa&s;s, that this day &s;o many give ear to Athei&s;ticall Doctors, and are ea&s;i|ly per&s;waded to credit their abominable di&s;|cour&s;es, which is prejudiciall to them&s;elves, and an Argument of the weakne&s;s of their cau&s;e, for it is no wonder ea&s;ily to beleeve that which is vehemently de&s;ired.</P>
<P>Now there are two wayes of proving a thing. The fir&s;t by Rea&s;on, The &s;econd, by Te&s;timony and Authority. The la&s;t is more curt and ea&s;ie, but &s;ometimes more doubtfull and le&s;s certain, and that it may be made valid,
<PB N="9" REF="13">and firm, it mu&s;t be demon&s;trated, that he who gives this Te&s;timony fir&s;t, knowes and under&s;tands well what he &s;aith. Secondly, That he is true and faithfull, and that he is neither able or willing to lye and deceive, and that there is no rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect him of igno|rance and malice, and in this ca&s;e the proof is certaine and evident. And of this kind of Te|&s;timony we &s;hall &s;ay &s;omething towards the end of this Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>The Deity may be proved by many Rea&s;ons of which we &s;hall &s;elect &s;ome of the mo&s;t com|mon, upon which we neverthele&s;&s;e will not more enlarge, then it &s;hall &s;uffice to &s;hew the force and validity of them.</P>
<P>Among all tho&s;e Rea&s;ons that prove a De|ity, this may be the fir&s;t. To wit, That this World nece&s;&s;arily hath had a Beginning, and con&s;equently a Maker, (which hath produ|ced it, and hath given it its Being) which cannot be &s;uppo&s;ed to have been any other but God.</P>
<P>There are two Wayes of proving a thing by Rea&s;on. Fir&s;t is, That which Philo&s;ophers call <HI>a Priori,</HI> in coming down from the Cau&s;e to the Effects, and demon&s;trating the Effects by the Cau&s;es. The &s;econd <HI>a Po&s;teriori,</HI> a&s;|cending from the Effects to the Cau&s;e, and proving the Cau&s;e by the Effects. This fir&s;t kind of Demon&s;tration cannot be here admit|ted,
<PB N="10" REF="14">for there is nothing above or before God by which its Being may be demon&s;trated, it cannot therefore be proved but by his Effects only. And here we may take notice of <HI>Epicu|rus</HI> his mi&s;take, who did acknowledge a Deity but which was neither the Cau&s;e of this Uni|ver&s;e, nor did any wi&s;e Governe it. For from whence could he know or acknowledge a Deity, but from the Con&s;ideration of this World as its Effect? Such an Opinion as this he could not get by Revelation, &s;eeing that according to his Tenent, it did not take no|tice or meddle with mens affaires, and be&s;ides that he would not admit any &s;uch Revelations. From whence it is clear, that it hath only been an <HI>Artifice</HI> of this Philo&s;opher to &s;hun the hatred and dete&s;tation of men which he had incurred if he had wholly and openly denyed the Deity.</P>
<P>The Deity therefore can neither be known nor proved, but by the due Con&s;ideration of its effects, from which diver&s;e Rea&s;ons may be drawn, and from this fir&s;t way, the Deity may be thus inferred.</P>
<P>Nothing can produce its own &s;elfe, for if it was &s;o, then that thing &s;hould be afore it was, which is ab&s;urd, and implyes a Contra|diction: It nece&s;&s;arily then followes, that ei|ther the World hath been from Eternity with|out any Beginning, or el&s;e that it hath had a
<PB N="11" REF="14">Beginning: For there is no <HI>Medium</HI> betwixt the&s;e Termes, <HI>It hath not beene, nor could be from Everla&s;ting, and without a Beginning;</HI> which might be proved by Divers Arguments, but we will content our &s;elves with two or three. The fir&s;t of which is, That if the world were Eternall, there &s;hould be not only one Number but many, yea almo&s;t infinite Num|bers really, and actually infinite, which cannot be, and is manife&s;tly Repugnant to Rea&s;on; For there, is not, or can be conceived any num|ber, let it be never &s;o great, but that there may be added to it, not only an Unite, but any other Number what&s;oever, let this Number be imagined to be &s;o great as it can.</P>
<P>And that which is yet more unconceiveable, goes beyond all Ab&s;urdities, and implyes a manife&s;t Contradiction is, that there &s;hould be many Numbers really, and actually infinite, which &s;hould be le&s;&s;er or greater then &s;ome o|thers that are &s;uppo&s;ed to be infinite, which is ab&s;urd. To the infinite nothing can be added; all infinite things con&s;equently ought to be equal. Now if this World is Eternall, the Heavens have turned from all Eternity, and if they have alwayes turned without any Beginning of this Circumvolution; there hath hitherto been a Number actually infinite of their Revolutions, becau&s;e a&s;cending from this dayes Revolution, we &s;hall never find an end of the&s;e Revoluti|ons,
<PB N="12" REF="15">&s;ince they are &s;uppo&s;ed to have had no Beginning: So in this Eternity there hath been an infinite number of years (&s;ince there hath been an infinite Number of the&s;e Revolutions) each of which doth make a yeare now, &s;o it is that there are more Months then years, more dayes then Months, more houres then dayes, and more minutes then houres, &s;o that (as I have &s;aid) there hath beene in this Eternity divers Numbers, each of which is actually in|finite, and neverthele&s;&s;e &s;ome are greater then others. Likewi&s;e upon this &s;uppo&s;ition there hath beene an infinite number of Trees and plants &s;ucceeding the one to the other by that perpetuall vici&s;&s;itude which is perceived in Na|ture. Now in a Tree there are many greater Branches upon one &s;tock, many le&s;&s;er Branches upon greater Branches, and finally more Leaves then Branches: And con&s;equently the number of Trees, Branches, and Leaves, will be actually infinite, and neverthele&s;&s;e the number of Leaves &s;hall be greater then that of the Branches, and the number of Branches greater then that of the &s;tocks. The &s;ame may be &s;ayd of men and of all other bodies which con&s;i&s;t of many parts, for in a man there are more fingers then armes, more haires then heads, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Moreover in this &s;uppo&s;ed Eternity, there hath been an infinite number of dayes, and an
<PB N="13" REF="15">infinite number of nights, now the day pre|cedes the night, or the night the day in re&s;pect of each Hemi&s;phere, which we take it matters not, for it will alwaies follow that in this E|ternity, there hath been a number actually in|finite either of nights or of dayes, which &s;hall be le&s;&s;er or greater then another infinite num|ber by an Unit, for nece&s;&s;arily in either of the Hemi&s;pheres there are more daies then nights by one, and more nights then daies by one.</P>
<P>Moreover the Generation of men, and the manner of it, as we do apprehend it, contra|dicts the Eternity of the World. And that fir&s;t, becau&s;e if the World is eternall, an infinite number of men have beene before the&s;e that live this day upon the face of the Earth; and an infinite number al&s;o of tho&s;e who lived a thou&s;and years ago, and infinite tho&s;e who are &s;uppo&s;ed to have lived ten thou&s;and yeares ago, and &s;o con&s;equently to the infinite; &s;o that there are infinite numbers that are infi|nite, which neverthele&s;&s;e are le&s;&s;e then &s;ome others al&s;o infinite. For to the infinite number of tho&s;e who have preceded ten thou&s;and years ago, we mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity add tho&s;e who have been &s;ince the&s;e ten thou&s;and years.</P>
<P>Secondly, in the generation of men this is a generall note, that men who this day are li|ving (taken not each one apart but every one together) have more Fathers then Grandfa|thers,
<PB N="14" REF="16">more Grandfathers then great-Grand-fathers, for each man hath his own Father, but many men have the &s;ame Grand-father, and the &s;ame Grand-father hath many more Chil|dren of his Children then the Father; &s;o that going upwards we &s;hall &s;ee the number of <HI>Prae|dece&s;&s;ors</HI> to dimini&s;h, from whence it is nece&s;|&s;arily concluded, that at la&s;t we mu&s;t come to a fir&s;t Father, who had no Ance&s;tors, but is the <HI>Origin</HI> and &s;pring of all the re&s;t. Which Foundation being layd, it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily fol|low, that there was an infinite time in which there was no Generation of men; or that the World hath exi&s;ted for an infinite time with|out any men before the production of this fir&s;t, now neither can be a&s;&s;erted or maintained with the lea&s;t appearance of Rea&s;on. For how &s;hould this man have thought of generating af|ter he had exi&s;ted from Eternity without Ge|nerating? The &s;ame que&s;tion cannot be mo|ved again&s;t us of God, why, and how he &s;hould have thought of creating the World af|ter that he had exi&s;ted for an infinite number of Ages without creating: for the Eternity of God is not a &s;ucce&s;&s;ive time, as the pretended Eternity of the World is, where nece&s;&s;arily &s;ome moments follow the others, &s;ince Gods Eternity is alwaies indivi&s;ible, and where there is neither <HI>A prius</HI> or <HI>po&s;terius,</HI> fir&s;t or &s;econd.</P>
<P>Moreover, The Hi&s;tory of things pa&s;t is re|pugnant
<PB N="15" REF="16">to this pretended Eternity of the World, for if it had exi&s;ted from the very Depth of Eternity, &s;o that there have been al|waies men upon the Earth, whence doth it come to pa&s;&s;e, that a&s;cending to, and looking over things pa&s;t, we cannot finde any Monu|ment or Remembrance of things done above five or &s;ix thou&s;and years ago? Experience teacheth us, that the longer a man lives, the more doth he take notice of the Events that befall in his life time: By &s;o much the more as Commonalties and Corporations do la&s;t, by &s;o much do they poli&s;h and refine them|&s;elves, and do al&s;o leave more Monuments of their Actions. If therefore the World and its Inhabitants were only but from fifty thou&s;and years ago, we &s;hould have at this day &s;ome Monuments of their Hi&s;tories very cleare and di&s;tinct, at lea&s;t from above ten thou&s;and years &s;ince (e&s;pecially) that the World being ex|i&s;tent; according to our Hypothe&s;is of five thou&s;and years, and a little above, we only have Monuments of Hi&s;tories that are evident but from two thou&s;and years.</P>
<P>That which can be excepted again&s;t the forementioned Argument is, that there have been Deluges, and Univer&s;all Inundations, that have aboli&s;hed all the preceding Monu|ments, and all men that then were exi&s;tent, be&s;ides one or two, or &s;uch a &s;mall number to
<PB N="16" REF="17">Repleni&s;h the Earth. But that they may &s;olve the forenamed Argument, they mu&s;t a&s;&s;ert that there have been infinite Inundations of the like Nature (otherwi&s;e we &s;hall alwaies a&s;cend to a man that was in the Beginning, the &s;pring and Ri&s;e of all the re&s;t, who exi&s;ted from E|ternity without generating) which Hypothe|&s;is is lyable to many inconveniences, and may be evinced with many &s;trong Arguments. Be|&s;ides that tho&s;e give them&s;elves a great deal of Liberty, who will conclude an infinite number of Inundations from that which (as we do all agree) did once come to pa&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Moreover if we grant Inundations of the &s;ame Nature, we mu&s;t al&s;o acknowledge a De|ity, which mu&s;t governe and guide them, o|therwi&s;e how can it come to pa&s;&s;e that from each one of the&s;e deluges, there &s;hould be &s;ome men pre&s;erved to people the Earth again, for if they did happen by chance only, we cannot imagine but that &s;ome of them, yea the mo&s;t part of them &s;hould have wholy aboli&s;hed and Raced from the face of the Earth, all men and bea&s;ts without any exception, &s;ince it is gran|ted by the Hi&s;tory of this of which we do agree, that men and bea&s;ts have been pre&s;erved by a &s;ingular, and admirable Providence of the Deity, without which, man could not have e&s;caped it without a great deale of danger; much le&s;&s;e pre&s;erve with him&s;elfe all parts of
<PB N="17" REF="17">Beafts. For to a&s;&s;ert with <HI>Ovid</HI> in his <HI>Meta|morpho&s;is</HI> drawne from other Pagan Fables, That beafts have formed them&s;elves out of the mud after this Inundation, is not to &s;peak like a Philo&s;opher, or a Rationall man: Such as tho&s;e would appeare to be who do oppugne a Deity. Add to this, that if the like Inundati|ons had frequently hapned, there &s;hould without doubt have remained &s;ome Memory of them. And the fir&s;t that &s;hould have e&s;caped it, would have transferred the Monument of it to their i&s;&s;ue, and the&s;e to them that &s;hould have &s;ucceeded them, and &s;o from hand to hand we &s;hould have Records of many like Inundations which is very fal&s;e.</P>
<P>Finally, This Argument which the Athei&s;ts do a&s;&s;ume, drawne from the Eternity of the World may be retorted again&s;t them, for if a thing Corporeall, Finite, Materiall, &s;o gro&s;s, and &s;o imperfect as this World is, can never|thele&s;&s;e have been, and &s;ub&s;i&s;ted from all E|ternity, as now it is exi&s;tent; how much more is it according to right Rea&s;on to con&s;titute a &s;pirituall, immateriall, infinite, and eternall E&s;&s;ence, &s;ub&s;i&s;ting of it &s;elfe which is nothing el&s;e but the Deity? For by how much the more things are immateriall and &s;pirituall, by &s;o much the greater activity have they, and con|&s;equently are more able to &s;ub&s;i&s;t and la&s;t lon|ger,
<PB N="18" REF="18">as is &s;een in Soules, Angells, and Spi|rits.</P>
<P>Moreover we &s;ee that this World is corrup|tible almo&s;t in all its parts, which are in perpe|tual vici&s;&s;itudes &amp; changes of being and not be|ing, which doth argue that it draweth towards its end, and that finally it will be di&s;&s;olved, for the whole participates of the Nature of its parts, and cannot be contrary to them, now how can that have been from all Eternity, and without any Beginning, that draweth to an end, and that at la&s;t will come to it? For if hi|therto it hath endured infinitely, it may do the &s;ame for the future, if it cannot la&s;t for the future, it is clearly evident that it cannot have beene from all Eternity. If then the World hath neither been, nor can be &s;uppo|&s;ed to have exi&s;ted from all Eternity, it hath ne|ce&s;&s;arily had a Beginning, and &s;ince nothing can produce it &s;elfe, we mu&s;t conclude, That it hath been produced by &s;ome one that hath had no Beginning, but hath been from all Eternity, who is no other but God him&s;elfe; otherwi&s;e we mu&s;t affirm that this Architect of the world hath been produced by &s;ome other, and this al&s;o by another, and &s;o to the infinite, which is gro&s;&s;ely ab&s;urd.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e do not much more further the Athe|i&s;ts cau&s;e, who from all Eternity do con&s;titute a confu&s;ed Chaos, and a fir&s;t matter of this
<PB N="19" REF="18">World from which it hath been extracted. For fir&s;t, It is a thing beyond imagination that that which is only a meere <HI>Power</HI> without any forme, &s;uch as the fir&s;t matter is &s;uppo&s;ed to be, hath, or can have of it &s;elfe &s;o much &s;trength as to have &s;ub&s;i&s;ted from Eternity, or that a con&s;u&s;ed and indige&s;ted matter, &s;uch as the Chaos is imagined to be, could have exi&s;ted infinitely in an equall Con&s;u&s;ion. Be&s;ides, tho&s;e that are of this Opinion, as <HI>Plato, &amp;c.</HI> have been forced to acknowledge a Workman and Architect &s;upreamly wi&s;e and indu&s;trious, <HI>viz.</HI> The deity which hath extracted this order, which we now &s;ee out of the Confu&s;ion of this Chaos, and hath reduced that Power of the fir&s;t Matter into Act, who hath formed &s;o wonderfull a Workman&s;hip out of &s;o confu&s;ed a Matter, which had it not been for &s;uch an in|finite power as this is, it might have for ever remained in its Di&s;order and Confu&s;ion: for why &s;hould it have beene otherwi&s;e, and why &s;hould have Order &s;prung out of Di&s;order in &s;uch or &s;uch a moment, rather then at any o|ther time, unle&s;&s;e it were by the meanes of a &s;uperior power, and a free Agent who hath compo&s;ed it according to his Will? As of a ma&s;&s;ie Clay, no ve&s;&s;ell can be formed without the indu&s;trious and artificiall hand of the Pot|ter.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="19">
<P>For as to this new and admirable Philo&s;o|pher, greater Mathematician then Naturali&s;t, who will renovate the Doctrine of <HI>Democri|tus's Atoms</HI> (moving them&s;elves not in a <HI>Vacu|um</HI> and infinite &s;pace, but in us I know not what Quinte&s;&s;ence hitherto ignored, which runs and pa&s;&s;es betweene them as &s;mall leaves and &s;trawes, through the Thornes of a thick Hedge) who requires that there may be a&s;|&s;igned him a certain matter, and he will de|mon&s;trate, that out of it may come forth, and form it &s;elfe &s;uch a World as this is. When he hath put forth his demon&s;trations upon that Point, it will be &s;eene whether this his Pro|mi&s;e is as well grounded as that of his Ma&s;ter <HI>Archimedes,</HI> who de&s;ired that there might be a&s;&s;igned him a fixed and immoveable point, and he would remove the Earth and all the World out of its place, and tran&s;port it into another.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="21" REF="19">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. III.</HI> The &s;econd <HI>Argument</HI> again&s;t A|thie&s;me, Drawn from the Order and Di&s;po&s;ition of this World.</HEAD>
<P>IT is a Difference, &s;een and noted by all, be|tween Ca&s;uall things, and tho&s;e which pro|ceed from Prudence and Rea&s;on, that in tho&s;e things which are Fortuitous, and Ca&s;uall, nei|ther Order, nor Di&s;po&s;ition is perceived: but only a confu&s;ed mixture of things; in the o|ther is deprehended, Order, and Right di&s;po|&s;ition, and a certain Symmetry and compo&s;iti|on, from which doth proceed an Agreeable, and Gracious Beauty; and the more the Workman is indu&s;trious, able, and expert, the more is &s;een in his Works, Order, and due Di&s;po&s;ition; as for example, other are the Magnificent buildings of great Kings, and the &s;mall Cottages &s;een in Country Villages, or tho&s;e pa&s;times of Children, who pre&s;ume to build Ca&s;tles and Hou&s;es, of &s;mall pieces of brick, and chips of wood.</P>
<P>In the Compo&s;ure and Edifice of this great Univer&s;e, and of the liltle World, Man; one
<PB N="22" REF="20">mu&s;t needs be very blinde, who doth not per|ceive in it an Order, a Di&s;po&s;ition, and Com|po&s;ition of Proportions, and Symmetry, in all it's parts, which is exceeding admirable, and hath ravi&s;hed out of them&s;elves tho&s;e among the very Heathens, who have narrowly con&s;i|dered it, and hath forced them to acknow|ledge a Deity, from which this Order is pro|ceeded.</P>
<P>Such an Order and Di&s;po&s;ition, and the&s;e &s;o wonderfull Proportions can neither be an effect, or Production of a blinde and fortuitous fate: but, we mu&s;t in this acknowledge a Wi&s;|dome, Prudence, and Indu&s;try, above any mans reach of apprehen&s;ion, that hath &s;o wi&s;e|ly ordered the&s;e things. For any Man to &s;ay, that they have alwayes continued &s;o, without any beginning, and that therefore they have no Creator, is that which we have Confuted in the preceding Chapter, and moreover, it is that which can neither be comprehended, nor imagined; that &s;o admirable an Order &s;hould not proceed from any cau&s;e, and were not the product of Superior Wi&s;dom. Now, what can be this Wi&s;dom, but the Deity it &s;elf? for any man to refer this to a Vertue Phy&s;icall, Irrationall, <HI>&amp; &s;ui ne&s;cia,</HI> diffu&s;'d, and &s;cattered thorough this great Ma&s;&s;e of the World, as tho&s;e Philo&s;ophers, which, in ano|ther &s;en&s;e, did imagine, that there was a
<PB N="23" REF="20">&s;oul of the World, almo&s;t like that Power we &s;ee &s;eeds to have, in producing Plants, Trees, and Animalls, is an error, want of right rea&s;oning, <HI>&amp; Petitio Principii,</HI> for that vertue we deprehend in &s;eeds, could not produce effects &s;o wonderfull in the compo&s;i|tion and Symmetry of all parts of bodies which &s;pring from thence, unle&s;&s;e it was di|rected by a Superiour cau&s;e, mo&s;t wi&s;e, and full of admirable indu&s;try. Since a thing that is irrationall, and inanimate, cannot be a fit &s;ubject of &s;o marvellous a Wi&s;dom, and &s;o ad|mirable an indu&s;try.</P>
<P>Again, this imaginary &s;oule of the World, &s;o diffu&s;'d thorough this va&s;t body, mu&s;t con|&s;titute an Animall (as man, who is compo&s;ed of body and &s;oule) or not. If it doth not make an Animall, it doth not informe this great and Ma&s;&s;ie body; but hath it's Sub&s;i&s;tency by it &s;elfe, if it &s;ub&s;i&s;ts by it &s;elfe; here is by their own Conce&s;&s;ion, and Confe&s;sion, a thing im materiall, Incorporeall, that is infinitely wi&s;e, and infinitely Powerfull, &s;ince it produceth &s;o &s;o many, and &s;o wonderfull effects; and what is that but the Deity of which is our di&s;|pute? for, this &s;oule which is &s;o wi&s;e, and mighty, mu&s;t of nece&s;sity have been from all Eternity; and mu&s;t have made and ordered this World as it's efficient cau&s;e, and yet it mu&s;t be &s;eparated from it, &s;ince it is not the
<PB N="24" REF="21">forme that doth animate it, as the &s;oule doth the body of Man. Now, what needs rather to a&s;&s;ert that there is &s;uch an efficient cau&s;e, all wi&s;e, and all mighty, which hath from all Eternity, made and compo&s;ed this World, and &s;o to ca&s;t ones &s;elfe upon the manifold, and unavoidable ab&s;urdities, that do nece&s;&s;arily follow the a&s;&s;ertion of the Eternity of the World, then with us, and the truth, to con&s;ti|tute &s;uch a cau&s;e as hath made this World, &s;ince only a certain &s;pace of time, and by that to di&s;intangle ones &s;elfe from tho&s;e Labyrinths and inevitable ab&s;urdities.</P>
<P>If they &s;ay, that this &s;uppo&s;ed &s;oule of the World doth informe its matter, and doth con|&s;titute a naturall compo&s;ure, &s;uch as the &s;oule, and body doth con&s;titute a Man, then this world mu&s;t needs be a great, va&s;t, and Mon|&s;trous Animall, which is compo&s;ed of parts that are not organicall (as the limbs, and parts of a humane body are) and mu&s;t have &s;ome corre&s;pondency and proportion with the forme, and the &s;oule which animates them, which is a frantick, and wilde imagination; unworthy, not only of Philo&s;ophers (&s;uch as the&s;e would be thought to be) but even of men, of mean and low capacities; but more|over, this only followes, that according to this &s;uppo&s;ition, and conce&s;sion of the Athei&s;ts, we have here a great, and almo&s;t infinite Ani|mall,
<PB N="25" REF="21">Eternall, Almighty, and all wi&s;e, from which all things that are &s;een are produced, as &s;o many effects of its wi&s;dom and Power. Now, how neere comes &s;uch an imagination to that which we &s;ay is the Deity? but that it is much more con&s;onant to rea&s;on, and to that Digni|ty and Maje&s;ty of this wi&s;dome, and Power to place it (as we do) by it &s;elfe, and &s;eparated from the matter, immen&s;e, infinite, &s;ub&s;i&s;ting of it &s;elfe, and by it &s;elf, then with them to af|firm, that it informes &s;o vile and gro&s;&s;e a mat|ter, as this of the world is, and to &s;hut it up within the precincts of this world, without be|ing, or &s;ub&s;i&s;ting out of it. For, this is to make it finite, and Limited, in re&s;pect of its exten&s;ion; now, if in this re&s;pect it is fi|nite, and limited, why then not al&s;o in re&s;pect of its duration? So, that according to the Te|net of tho&s;e per&s;ons, we mu&s;t at la&s;t come a|gain to this, that this world hath made it &s;elf, or rather is ri&s;en out of nothing, without the helpe of any cau&s;e, and that in a certain time, which is a very wilde, and ab&s;urd imagination. And if this wi&s;dom and Power is infinite, in re&s;pect of its duration, being eternall (as they &s;ay it is) why &s;hall it not al&s;o be infinite in re|&s;pect of its exten&s;ion? and if they &s;ay it is in|finite as to its exten&s;ion, it exi&s;ts, and &s;ub&s;i&s;ts without this world, and out of it, which ne|ce&s;&s;arily we mu&s;t affirm to be finite, &s;eeing
<PB N="26" REF="22">there is no body (no more then number) act|ually infinite. So are they compelled to avouch a Wi&s;dom, and Power immateriall, infinite in all its acceptions, as well in re&s;pect of its exten&s;ion, as of its duration, &s;ub&s;i&s;ting of it &s;elf, and from all Eternity, and &s;eparated from all matter, which is nothing el&s;e but that which every one meanes by a Deity. And here we may take notice of the impertinency and ab|&s;urdity of the opinion of <HI>Democritus,</HI> and of <HI>Epicurus</HI> after him, that would have had this world to have been framed by a fortuitous con|cour&s;e of <HI>Atoms,</HI> moving them&s;elves ca&s;ual|ly, in an infinite Vacuum, and in an infite &s;pace of time al&s;o; for, be&s;ides the ab&s;urdity, there is, in imagining to ones &s;elf, &s;mall indivi|&s;ible bodies, which, neverthele&s;&s;e have little hooks, by which they catch one another, and &s;o concurr together in the produceing of any thing, as tho&s;e people did fancy, and be&s;ides that, it is unimaginable, that in &s;o minute, bodies, &s;uch as tho&s;e are, there &s;hould be found various, and infinite qualities, which we de|prehend in the bodies compo&s;ed of them; or, if they be without any quality, that out of their concour&s;e there &s;hould &s;pring forth &s;o many, and &s;o various qualities; there is yet this very palpable ab&s;urdity, which is, that out of &s;o fortuitous and ca&s;uall concour&s;e, which is not directed by any Superiour intel|lect,
<PB N="27" REF="22">there &s;hould be produced a work &s;o admirable, as the world is, all the parts of which are conformed with &s;uch a Harmo|ny and Symmetry, that it confounds the thoughts of tho&s;e who do &s;edulou&s;ly con&s;i|der it, and &s;o con&s;tant a duration of this order in the perpetuall &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of bodies, which we &s;ee are formed by nature, and again, that if by this fortuitous concour&s;e, the world hath been &s;o made by the &s;ame motion of tho&s;e <HI>Atoms,</HI> it may likewi&s;e be di&s;&s;olved, and &s;o we mu&s;t imagine in an Eternity, an infinite number of worlds made, and again di&s;sol|ved, &s;ucce&s;&s;ively, one after another, by the motion, and fortuitous concour&s;e of <HI>Atoms,</HI> and by this is de&s;troyed the pretended E|ternity of this world: for the defending of which, the Athei&s;ts do &s;o much trouble them&s;elves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="28" REF="23">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. IIII.</HI> A third <HI>Argument,</HI> Drawn from the Difference, which is between Vice and Vertue.</HEAD>
<P>AS in the works of Nature, there is that Symmetry, and wonderfull di&s;po&s;ition; &s;o well managed, &s;o con&s;tant and regular, (of which hath been &s;poken in the precedent chap|ter) that it doth clearely evidence to us, an admirable and infinite wi&s;dom, which is the Author of it; &s;o al&s;o in humane things, even in the actions of men, and in the products and emergencies of their intellects and wills, we may plainly &s;ee an Order and Symmetry, &s;o wonderfull, that it cannot be conceived to be a product of fate, from which nothing but confu&s;ion doth proceed.</P>
<P>This Principally doth appeare in the wi&s;|dom and &s;ubtlety of a mans Spirit, and in the effects of the&s;e faculties of his Soule, or in the rectitude of his actions, flowing from the practicall part of his &s;oul, which is called Morall vertue, both of which do point at &s;omething of Divine in Man, and which cannot have its birth from a fortuitous and blinder cau&s;e, that is &s;uppo&s;ed to act
<PB N="29" REF="23">without Knowledge, and from this al&s;o is drawn another Argument again&s;t Athei&s;me, of which we will treat in its place.</P>
<P>To this Virtue and Morall good, Evill, Sin, and Vices are oppo&s;ed, which oppo&s;ition doth not wholy depend on mans Free Will, (for things of this Nature ea&s;ily do change and vary) but this difference of Good and Evill, Vice and Virtue is fixed and altogether immu|table, and is &s;o deeply tooted in the heart of man, who doth naturally know it, that all the men in the World cannot alter it, and it will be knowne by them even in de&s;pight of them|&s;elves; for the mo&s;t barbarous and de&s;perate, although they be Virtues grand Adver&s;aries, cannot but often admire its Excellency, and highly value it where &s;hee is found, and al|though they many times know not the Vice, which re&s;ides in their hearts, and the evill A|ctions which they (blinded by their Pa&s;&s;ions) do commit, yet they will with facility depre|hend it in others, and dete&s;t and condemn it, if e&s;pecially it turns again&s;t their intere&s;t, and to their prejudice: And as all acknowledge the Beauty and Excellency of Virtue, and the deformity of its contrary, <HI>Vice;</HI> &s;o all agree in this, that the former calls for the Love, Prai&s;e, and Commendation of men: Con|trarily, that the latter is worthy of the bitte|re&s;t hatred, and of all mens dete&s;tations, and
<PB N="30" REF="24">ought to draw after it &s;elfe &s;evere puni&s;h|ments, as its due, from thence we draw a|nother Argument again&s;t Athei&s;me.</P>
<P>This difference of Good and Evill is not a meer Fancy and Opinion, but E&s;&s;entially reall as in naturall things, Black and White, Light, and Darkne&s;&s;e; Neither doth it proceed from any cu&s;tome, that by degrees hath gained upon mens minds, for that which comes by cu&s;tome doth grow by little and little, and is weaker in the bud then afterwards, may be altered ea&s;ily, and in&s;en&s;ibly turnes to nothing, which is not &s;een in the difference of Good and Evill, which hath alwaies beene deepely rooted in all mens Hearts at all times, and more &s;trong per&s;wa&s;i|ons were there of it in the Beginning then now in this age, where the Corruption of men is &s;tronger then ever.</P>
<P>And this cannot be aboli&s;hed by any contra|ry Cu&s;tome, for it alwaies remaines the &s;ame in it &s;elfe. The Lawes of Magi&s;trates, or the Morall Precepts of Philo&s;ophers, have not gi|ven to Virtue its Being, they have only appre|hended it in the Actions, and Deportments of men, and according to their apprehen&s;ions they have framed their Precepts and Lawes to rule the lives of men, and to hinder them from Vice its contrary. As we may &s;ay of <HI>Ari|&s;totle,</HI> That he hath not meerly invented out of his owne Brain the Rules and Precepts of Ar|gumentation,
<PB N="31" REF="24">but only hath framed them up|on the Remarks which he hath made of all mens Di&s;cour&s;es and Arguments. And upon the&s;e Remarkes, hath compiled his <HI>Organon,</HI> where the Rules of Argumentation are layd, which are neither mutable or arbitrary, but certain and unchangeable, effected upon the right and Naturall Rea&s;on common to all men.</P>
<P>This Virtue hath its Ri&s;e and Foundation in Mans Nature, as he is Rationall, and endowed with that Will and Under&s;tanding which ought to have the Supremacy over the Affections, and to hold them in their Right Compa&s;&s;e, and this doth con&s;i&s;t in the <HI>Symmetry,</HI> and proportion which is in the Rationall Souls Faculties, from this doth &s;pring forth the Beauty and Excellen|cy of virtue, which doth compel the mo&s;t barba|rous to admire it; as in Bodies &amp; Works, either artificiall or naturall, their Beauty proceeds from the due Po&s;ition of all their parts, for the one is no more Arbitrary or Imaginary then the other, but both are True and Reall, that of Virtue being &s;o much the more glorious, as the &s;pirituall exceed the Corporeall in worth and dignity.</P>
<P>This Virtue as we have de&s;cribed it, cannot proceed from a blind fate, or fortuitous cau&s;e which can produce nothing well regulated, but ought to have a mo&s;t certain, con&s;tant, and invariable Cau&s;e, which hath in it &s;elfe all man|ner
<PB N="32" REF="25">of virtues in the highe&s;t Degree, which is the mo&s;t perfect pattern, and the exacte&s;t mo|dell of all humane Virtues, and which is the Author and efficient cau&s;e of it in man, &s;eeing it cannot come from any other principle, which (if it were &s;uppo&s;ed) would be much le&s;&s;er then its Effect, for there is nothing in all that man can imagine in Nature, more di|vine and excellent then Virtue, by which man is not only infinitely more excellent then bea&s;ts, but is in &s;ome manner deified, and in &s;ome re|&s;pects &s;urpa&s;&s;es him&s;elfe. And here we need not to con&s;titute two Principles, with the <HI>Ma|nichees,</HI> the one of all good, the other of all evill, one only being &s;ufficient: for, as the &s;treight line is the rule of it &s;elf, and of the oblique, &s;o this pattern and Modell of all Vertue and perfection, which is the Deity, is the rule of all human vertues, and by it is known its contrary, <HI>viz.</HI> Vice, which of it &s;elfe hath no more need of a Principle, or ef|ficient cau&s;e; then darkne&s;&s;e which only pro|ceeds from the privation and ab&s;ence of light. The Spirit of Man being &s;o wavering, and uncon&s;tant, cannot be &s;o good a rule of this mo&s;t excellent and glorious vertue, as it is of it &s;elf.</P>
<P>Again, that knowledge of the difference of good and evill, which all men have &s;o deeply and naturally inprinted in their &s;oules, doth
<PB N="33" REF="25">not &s;imply proceed from any Tradition, or In&s;titution, there being &s;everall barbarous Nations, who, having no &s;uch In&s;titutions, neverthele&s;&s;e acknowledge, and admire ver|tue, and highly dete&s;t vice: many al&s;o who want tho&s;e Traditions, or, may be, are taught the contrary to this Truth, do often (not|with&s;tanding their bad education) acknow|ledge the difference between vice and virtue. Now, from whence can proceed &s;o &s;trong, lively, and con&s;tant impre&s;&s;ion in the &s;oule of man, but from &s;ome Superior cau&s;e, which hath engraved this in the Creation of it. Which cau&s;e can be none el&s;e but the De|ity, there being none but it above man to effect this.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="34" REF="26">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. V.</HI> The fourth <HI>Argument,</HI> Drawn from the di&s;order which is &s;een in Man, which Di&s;order, of nece&s;sity hath a beginning and an ending.</HEAD>
<P>WE have in the preceding Chapters drawn two Arguments again&s;t A|thei&s;me, the one from the order of Nature, and the other from Man. We will now draw one from the di&s;order which is in both. Ver|tue is indeed proper to Man, as he is rationall, and by it he chiefly differs from brutes, which are not capable of it; but, yet it is not natu|rall, or e&s;&s;entiall to him (for then man &s;hould never &s;in) but accidentall, from which he hath departed him&s;elfe; witne&s;&s;e the great corruption of manners which we &s;ee in the World, which of nece&s;sity hath had &s;ome be|ginning, and cannot have exi&s;ted from ever|la&s;ting, for di&s;order is a perturbation of order, and a confu&s;ion introducted &s;ince in mens natures; and that di&s;order and confu&s;ion can|not po&s;sibly be Eternall, is evidenced from this, that to be without a begining, is one of the
<PB N="35" REF="26">greate&s;t perfections that can be imagined. And truely, experience teacheth, that the more we go on forward, we &s;ee corruption to be greater and greater, and wonderfully to encrea&s;e; for, corruption and all evill, is at this day much rifer then it was a hundred yeares agoe, and was greater a hundred yeares agoe, then it was one hundred yeares before, which a Heathen hath very well noted about &s;ixteen hundred yeares ago, in the&s;e Ver|&s;es.</P>
<Q><L>Aetas parentum pejor Avis, tulit</L>
<L>Nos nequiores, mox daturos</L>
<L>Progeniem vitio&s;iorem.</L></Q>
<P>And &s;o going upwards, corruption will be found &s;en&s;ibly to dimini&s;h, untill we come unto a fir&s;t beginning. If then Vice hath had its fir&s;t ri&s;e in Man, man cannot be from everla&s;ting; and this World of nece&s;sity hath had a begin|ning, from this, <HI>viz.</HI> (that the World was Created) we have heretofore proved a Deity that Created it; for the beginning of this corruption cannot be &s;o far &s;tretched upwards, but that an infinite &s;pace of time preceded ne|ce&s;&s;arily the beginning of this corruption. Now, if man could for an infinite &s;pace of time
<PB N="36" REF="27">remaine uncorrupted, why could not he con|tinue &s;o &s;till? Add to it, that if Vice and Corruption hath begun, after an infinite time of uprightne&s;&s;e, it may ju&s;tly be asked, whe|ther it hath begun in one man only, or in all men at once. Which of the&s;e two que&s;tions be a&s;&s;erted, it matters not, in the a&s;&s;ertion of ei|ther, there is a very gro&s;&s;e ab&s;urdity. For, if they &s;ay that it began in one man only, we may ask again, why it begun in one rather then in another? and if one was the fir&s;t Au|thor of Vice, why the re&s;t did not &s;uddenly di&s;patch him, for fear that he might infect, and &s;poile the re&s;t; as at this day we &s;ee Ma|gi&s;trates putting the wicked to death, that they may not by their ill example, draw the re&s;t to their exorbitancies. And if all have at once, it is a thing beyond imagination, how it could be &s;o after infinite time of their per&s;evering in Vertue and uprightne&s;s, chiefe|ly if there is no other Governor of this Uni|ver&s;e, then the fatall order of Nature, as the Athei&s;ts &s;ay, which; doubtle&s;&s;ely &s;hould al|wayes have remained the &s;ame, as it was before in an infinite &s;pace of time, and there cannot be given, or imagined, any rea&s;on of &s;o &s;udden, and univer&s;all a change. The &s;ame cannot be objected to us, who hold, that the World and Man have had a beginning; who, though he was Created by God pure, and without
<PB N="37" REF="27">Vice, was not therefore immutable (there being nothing immutable, to &s;peak pro|perly, but that which is Eternall) and therefore he being naturally mutable, it is no wonder, if &s;ome time after he hath &s;uf|fered &s;ome change and alteration.</P>
<P>We have &s;aid that Corruption growes more and more, but, yet it cannot grow to the infinite: both becau&s;e evill being a defect, and imperfection; it cannot be in|finite, becau&s;e to be infinite doth denote perfection; and al&s;o for that, if evill &s;hould grow to be infinite, the Society of men could not &s;ub&s;i&s;t, but &s;hould be at la&s;t wholly a|boli&s;hed, and the humane kinde annihilated by this evill, all men at la&s;t coming to kill and de&s;troy one another, which again is a|gain&s;t the pretended Eternity of the World, and opinion of the Athei&s;ts, who &s;ay, that as this world hath no beginning, &s;o it ought to endure for ever. And the World being made for Man, and all things in it mini&s;tring to him; if humane kinde &s;hould come wholly to peri&s;h, as we have &s;hewed it would come to pa&s;&s;e, if evill grew infinitely, the root of the World would of nece&s;&s;ity totally peri&s;h, being deprived of its Principall end, which is the &s;ervice and good of man. It is ea&s;ie for tho&s;e that con&s;ider diligently the works of Nature, to &s;ee in them a wonderfull order,
<PB N="38" REF="28">and a firm con&s;tancy, but it is al&s;o ea&s;ie to de|prehend in them be&s;ides, and again&s;t this or|der a manife&s;t di&s;order, and as it were an ex|travagancy, or exorbitancy of nature, for, if there is in Nature a regulated and con&s;tant vici&s;situde of the &s;ea&s;ons of the yeare, fol|lowing one another, the Spring after the Win|ter, and Summer after the Spring; there is in it al&s;o a manife&s;t alteration of the&s;e &s;ea&s;ons, as exce&s;sive cold in Summer, extraordinary heat in Winter, one &s;ea&s;on intrenches upon another; a Winter we many times &s;ee in the &s;pring, and a Summer-in Autumn. If raine and &s;now, ice and mi&s;ts, and dewes, have their regulated times for the production of the fruits of the Earth, and to furni&s;h Man and all Ani|malls with food, yet al&s;o, often we &s;ee them confu&s;ed, and altered, hence proceed droughts, and extraordinary moi&s;ture, which &s;poile the fruits of the Earth, and bring famine, and want of all things along with them; hence al&s;o pro|ceeds the corruption of the air, from which proceeds plagues, and divers kindes of epide|micall di&s;ea&s;es, hence proceed thunders and tempe&s;ts, earthquakes, and &s;tupendous inun|dations, and a thou&s;and other di&s;orders which are dayly &s;een in nature.</P>
<P>Now its nece&s;sary that &s;uch di&s;orders &s;hould have their bounds and limits, otherwi&s;e what &s;hould hinder di&s;order from growing to the
<PB N="39" REF="28">infinite, and all things from returning to their fir&s;t <HI>Chaos,</HI> for to &s;ay, that the&s;e di&s;orders have their naturall cau&s;es from which they proceed, that is very true, but it doth not &s;olve the que|&s;tion, and doubt; for, if there is not &s;ome Su|perior Power, and wi&s;dome above nature, that doth rule and direct all the&s;e di&s;orders and ex|orbitances of Nature, it will inevitably follow, that Nature will be turned up&s;ide down, and wholly confounded, and indeed, it is not diffi|cult to perceive, that the&s;e di&s;orders are regu|lated and governed by an immen&s;e wi&s;dom, and directed by an evident ju&s;tice, and mani|fe&s;t goodne&s;s, in token of vengeance again&s;t the &s;ins of the one, and of bounty for the re|ward and recompen&s;e of others, and to refer the admini&s;tration of the&s;e things to a fate, and blinde fortune, is to deceive ones &s;elf wilfully, and to put out ones eyes on purpo&s;e to &s;ee no|thing.</P>
<P>For example, what rea&s;on is there to referr to a blinde fate, the deluge of <HI>Noah,</HI> the &s;ub|ver&s;ion of <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah,</HI> the &s;even yeares famine of <HI>Egypt,</HI> its manifold plagues, the pe&s;tilences in King <HI>Davids</HI> dayes, the drought in <HI>Elias</HI> times, and a thou&s;and like, that happen, and may every day be &s;een in the World? This di&s;order then, &s;o regulated, as well as the firm and con&s;tant order of nature, is an Argument of a Deity mo&s;t wi&s;e and Pow|erfull,
<PB N="40" REF="29">and Superior to it, which hath e&s;tabli&s;h|ed this order in it, and which doth manage and containe the&s;e di&s;orders in their certain bounds, and doth direct them wi&s;ely, ju&s;tly, and mercifully, for the puni&s;hment of the one, and the ble&s;&s;ing of the other.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. VI.</HI> The fifth <HI>Argument</HI> drawn from a Providence that over-ruleth all hu|mane things.</HEAD>
<P>WE have in the two la&s;t preceding Chap|ters, proved a Deity from the order and di&s;order, which is remarked in the nature of this great World, the &s;ame may be done from the order and di&s;order which is &s;een in the little world, man, whom we do not now con|&s;ider as a Phy&s;icall, or naturall body, but as he is a morall creature, and endued with rea&s;on, in which re&s;pect we may &s;ee in him order, and di&s;order, but yet altogether mo&s;t wi&s;ely regu|lated, and from the&s;e both is drawn another Argument to prove the Deity.</P>
<P>And here fir&s;t we mu&s;t con&s;ider, that al|though
<PB N="41" REF="29">all men be of the &s;ame nature, we &s;ee neverthele&s;s in them a wonderfull, and almo&s;t infinite variety, not only of faces and propor|tions of bodies, but al&s;o, and principally, of manners, of opinions, of manner of living, and of languages, and al&s;o a di&s;tinction by families, bodies, politick Comonalties, States, Republicks, Kingdomes, Empires and Monar|chies, all which di&s;tinctions and varieties are not &s;een in other animals of the &s;ame kinde. This &s;o wonderfull variety and di&s;tinction can proceed but from an infinite Wi&s;dom, which is above it, which hath been the cau&s;e of all the&s;e diver&s;ities, in &s;o admirable an uniformi|ty of Nature; chiefly, &s;eeing that in the&s;e va|rieties there is a &s;ingular Symmetry, and di&s;|po&s;ition of all things &s;o various.</P>
<P>For to fly for the &s;olution of this to a fate and fortune, which hath by meere chance hap|pened upon this order, it is a wilfull blindne&s;s, for order and di&s;po&s;ition cannot proceed from that which hath none, and which, to &s;ay truth, is nought but a <HI>Chimaera,</HI> and which hath no vertue, or efficacy, by which it may act, or pro|duce any thing.</P>
<P>And above all, we are in all the&s;e varieties to con&s;ider that of &s;peech, which is &s;o great in per&s;ons who have all the &s;ame u&s;e of rea&s;on, which demon&s;trateth it &s;elfe by words, and all the &s;ame organs of the voice, from whence
<PB N="42" REF="30">according to rea&s;on, &s;hould proceed the &s;ame Language, the witne&s;&s;e of all our conceptions, as we &s;ee in other Animalls, that all tho&s;e that are of the &s;ame kinde have the &s;ame voice, by which they expre&s;&s;e their pa&s;&s;ions, and the mo|tions of their affection.</P>
<P>For to referr this to the free will of men, who would have it &s;o, and have of them&s;elves framed &s;o many and &s;o various idioms, there is no probability, for what rea&s;onable end could they propo&s;e to them&s;elves in &s;uch a de|&s;ign, e&s;pecially &s;ince this diver&s;ity of Langu|ages doth greatly hinder the mutuall com|merce and communication of one with ano|ther, by which the Society of all humane kinde, (to which nature its &s;elfe hath framed us, and powerfully enclines us) is wonder|fully interrupted and hindered, &s;o that there is no rea&s;on, or likelihood, that men would con|&s;ent of them&s;elves to a diver&s;ity &s;o prejudiciall to them, and contrary to the end towards which they all naturally tend, which is a mutu|all Society and Communication.</P>
<P>Moreover, this diver&s;ity either hath been in an infinite &s;pace of time, if the World hath had no beginning, or el&s;e this &s;aid variety hath had &s;ome beginning; there is no rea&s;on to &s;ay that it hath had no beginning, yet being re|pugnant to the uniformity of Nature, which is in all men; to &s;ay al&s;o, that it hath had &s;ome be|ginning,
<PB N="43" REF="30">there is no rea&s;on. For, why &s;hould men (after an infinite &s;pace of time, in which they are &s;uppo&s;ed to have all &s;poken one and the &s;ame Language) have changed in an in&s;tant their idi|om, without any rea&s;on, or nece&s;&s;ity, and again&s;t the end to which they all naturally do tend.</P>
<P>It is then nece&s;&s;ary to acknowledge here a Power, and Superior Wi&s;dom, that, for certain rea&s;ons, be&s;t known to it &s;elf, beyond, and again&s;t the intention of men, hath brought to pa&s;&s;e this admirable variety of idioms, each one of which hath its elegancies proper and peculi|ar to its &s;elf, and which men could not have fore&s;een, or conceived in their mindes, this ve|ry thing &s;urpa&s;&s;ing farr all that ordinary wi&s;|dom which is &s;een in men, the wi&s;e&s;t of which cannot with all his wit and indu&s;try frame a Language, in which there may be found &s;o much elegancy, and grace, as there is in either of tho&s;e that are now in u&s;e in the World, which manife&s;tly evinces; that a Wi&s;dom, more then humane, and truely divine, hath &s;o wi&s;ely di&s;tributed in each of the&s;e Idioms all the words that make it up, with all the flouri&s;h|es and elegancies which we &s;ee in them.</P>
<P>The di&s;tinction of men in Bodies, Commo|nalties, States, Republicks, Kingdomes, Em|pires, and Monarchies, doth nece&s;&s;arily bring us to the acknowledgement of this Providence and Deity, and likewi&s;e &s;hewes the World not to be Eternall.</P>
<PB N="44" REF="31">
<P>It is a thing that Nature teacheth, <HI>viz.</HI> that Fathers ought to command, govern, and have the care of their children, and Grandfa|thers of their Grand-children, and &s;o con|fequently, that Ance&s;tors have, and take the care of their Progeny, and if this order was unchangeable, and duely kept among men, that might in &s;ome manner be refer|red to the regulated di&s;pen&s;ations of Nature, and there would be in it nothing &s;trange, or extraordinary, but it is quite otherwi&s;e in the Government which is among men; for, tho&s;e that Command, and are at the Helme of a State, are not alwayes (nay, almo&s;t never,) the Grandfathers, or Ance|&s;tors of them over whom they Rule, and are for the mo&s;t part in no wayes allied by blood to them, therefore in this we mu&s;t acknowledge that there is &s;omething el&s;e be|&s;ides the right of Nature, which hath given them this Power and Authority of Ruling, which al&s;o mu&s;t be very extraordinary, o|therwi&s;e they could not be &s;o obeyed by tho&s;e who Naturally (as not being de&s;cend|ed from them) are in no wi&s;e their &s;ub|jects. We may not enervate the &s;trength of this Argument, by &s;aying, that a vo|luntary, and meerely arbitrary &s;ervitude, without any rea&s;on at all, hath by chance &s;o &s;ubjected men one to the other; but
<PB N="45" REF="31">we mu&s;t in this acknowledge, that a &s;u|preme and mo&s;t divine Wi&s;dome, hath enrich|ed &s;ome men above others with gifts and facul|ties fit for Government, which have made them to be admired and re&s;pected by tho&s;e who have &s;ubjected them&s;elves to them. And in truth, Experience, and the Monuments of Hi&s;tory teach us, That the fir&s;t Founder of Kingdomes, Empires, and Monarchies were men noted for the Heroick and extraordinary Vertues they had more then the re&s;t, by which they have gained to them&s;elves the admiration, Re&s;pect, and Obedience of tho&s;e that in this were their inferiours.</P>
<P>So it is &s;aid of <HI>Nimrod,</HI> that fir&s;t erected the anciente&s;t Monarchy in the World, <HI>That he was a great and mighty Hunter before the Lord,</HI> that is, That he was indeed more illu|&s;trius and glorious then the re&s;t, being endow|ed with many rare qualifications for Govern|ment, and in which he did &s;urpa&s;&s;e the re&s;t. So was <HI>Cyrus</HI> the Author of the Per&s;ians Mo|narchy, &s;o was <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, That erected that of the <HI>Grecians,</HI> and &s;o were <HI>Cae|&s;ar</HI> and <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> which built the Romans Em|pire, and likewi&s;e the Scripture takes notice of all tho&s;e that undertooke the Rule of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that God did rai&s;e the &s;pi|rit of &s;uch and &s;uch a one.</P>
<P>And of <HI>Saul</HI> him&s;elfe their fir&s;t King, that
<PB N="46" REF="32">God did change his Heart into that of another mans, to let us know that the&s;e men have been endowed with mo&s;t excellent, Heroicall, and extraordinary Virtues above the re&s;t, that &s;o they might command them, and that a Deity hath had the management of all this, and hath directed and excited them. And &s;o by Analogy it is of all others, that have at fir&s;t un|dertaken to rule any other Nation, People, or Common-Wealth. Moreover there being in the World &s;o many divers Corporations, and &s;o variou&s;ly Rul'd and Governed, yet ju&s;tly and with a great Order, there &s;hines in this vari|ety and multiplicity of Governments, the lu|&s;tre of a wonderfull Wi&s;dome which cannot proceed from the Prudence and VVi&s;dome of any particular per&s;on that governs them, for this Power can extend it &s;elfe no further then on their own Subjects, and therefore nece&s;&s;a|rily comes from &s;ome &s;uperiour wi&s;dome which is above all the&s;e Corporations and Commonweales, and which hath &s;o wi&s;ely di|rected and ordered them. This &s;ame Power or Deity is al&s;o nece&s;&s;ary to give to every one of tho&s;e Corporations their regulated and cer|tain limits, and duration in the con&s;titution and determination of which this &s;elfe &s;ame wi&s;|dome doth appear.</P>
<P>So we read that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the 32. Chapter of <HI>Deut.</HI> and the 8th, <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> doth attribute to
<PB N="47" REF="32">God the &s;everall habitations of all Nations upon the face of the Earth: VVhen God di|vided to the Nations their Inheritance, when he &s;eparated the Sons of <HI>Adam,</HI> he &s;et the Bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>Moreover, Such a diver&s;ity of States, Kingdomes and Mooarchies cannot have exi|&s;ted from everla&s;ting, and without a Beginning, for the &s;ame rea&s;ons by which we have in the be|ginning oppo&s;ed, and laid down the Eternity of the world, &amp; if they have had &s;ome Beginning, &s;o the men that are Governours of them have had a Beginning al&s;o, and &s;o con&s;equently the world which is made altogether for man, and if the world hath had a Beginning, there is a Creatorof it, <HI>viz. The Deity.</HI></P>
<P>The di&s;tinction of Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions and Heritages which we &s;ee among men doth likewi&s;e make us to acknowledge a Deity, and &s;o doth wholly evert the Eternity of the World. Men are not as Bruites, which po&s;le&s;&s;e nothing, and live upon that they meet with, and which the Earth brings forth of it &s;elfe, for man po&s;&s;e&s;es &s;omething, &s;o as that it pertaineth not to ano|ther, whether they be moveable or not, Lands, Fields, or whatever Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions they be.</P>
<P>The bodies-Politick, and Commonalties have al&s;o their owne Limits and Di&s;tinctions from other bodyes, &s;o States, Republicks,
<PB N="48" REF="33">Empires, Kingdomes, and Monarchies, have each one of them their Limits, within which Bounds their Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions are contained, which evidently &s;hewes, that men have divided the Earth betweene them&s;elves, &s;ince that they have and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e each one a part of it. Now if they have divided it, then there was a time when it was not divided, and if men have in a certain time begun to divide the Earth, it fol|lowes that they have not been alwaies upon the Earth, for what &s;hould they have done upon the Earth for an infinite &s;pace of time without dividing of it? and if they had alwaies been up|on the Earth, why did they at la&s;t think of di|viding it? And if they have began to divide the Earth, then of nece&s;&s;ity there hath been a Beginning of their Beings, and a fir&s;t Roote of them all, it being impo&s;&s;ible that they &s;hould have been upon the face of the Earth from all Eternity, and in the &s;ame number as they are now, as heretofore hath been plainly &s;hewed. So from this Divi&s;ion of the Earth, it appears that this World is not eternall, and therefore that &s;ince it hath a Beginning, it hath al&s;o an Author, to wit <HI>God.</HI></P>
<P>Now in this Partition of Lands, Goods, and worldly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions between men, its nece&s;&s;a|ry that a wi&s;e, ju&s;t, and powerfull Providence intervene to rule over all this, that every one may have his &s;hare, otherwi&s;e in &s;uch a Partiti|on
<PB N="49" REF="33">there could be but a horrible and &s;tupendi|ous Confu&s;ion and Di&s;order which would al&s;o de&s;troy it &s;elfe; for the Coveteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of men being infinite, and without any Limits or Bounds, each man would get as much as he could to him&s;elfe, even to the di&s;advantage of any one, unle&s;&s;e there was any one gave them a &s;tint, and &s;et the limits to every mans po&s;&s;e&s;|&s;ion, &s;uch as he judgeth convenient.</P>
<P>And indeed, Who&s;oever &s;hall &s;eriou&s;ly con|&s;ider, how the Earth is divided in &s;everall par|cells, according to the diver&s;ity of Nations, Peoples, Languages, Empires, and King|domes, and how in every State or Common-Wealth, each one of their Bodies and Commo|nalties have their proper and peculiar portions, and in each Commonalcy each one his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;i|ons and Heritages, doubtle&s;&s;e in this he &s;hall finde a wonderfull Harmony, and an admirable di&s;po&s;ition, which cannot proceed from Fate and Fortune; but indubitably is from a &s;u|preame Wi&s;dome, which hath &s;o managed and di&s;po&s;ed of the&s;e things, and given to every one &s;o much as it judged fit, as a dying Father doth ju&s;tly and wi&s;ely give to every one of his Children their Portions to avoid the Suits and Quarrells that might ari&s;e among them.</P>
<P>This di&s;tinction of Heritages and Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions doth not proceed from the Fancy <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">nd meere Will of man (&s;ee the forecited pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI>
<PB N="50" REF="34">for that) but is grounded upon Ju&s;tice and Rea&s;on, it proceeds I &s;ay from that Rea|&s;on by which man is above bruits, and is the Foundation of all tho&s;e virtues which make him &s;o wonderfull and excellent above bea&s;ts, for without the di&s;tinction of <HI>Mine</HI> and <HI>Thine,</HI> there could not be among&s;t men any Operation of Virtue. The Earth of it &s;elfe brings forth, and affords to all living Creatures all that is ne|ce&s;&s;ary for them to keep them alive, Man only excepted; therefore they have nothing of their own, but live in common with what they meet withall, but as for man, if he will &s;upply his nece&s;&s;ary wants, he mu&s;t labour, till the Earth, and in &s;undry manners &s;eek out of it that which is profitable to, or nece&s;&s;ary for him: And to this end he is endowed with Rea&s;on, which guides and in&s;tructs him in his undertakings. Now it is ju&s;t, and con&s;onant to Rea&s;on, that every one &s;hould enjoy the fruits of his Labours, and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the incoms of them: Add to this, that man comes naked into the World, and hath need of Cloathes to cover him&s;elfe, as well for decency, as to protect him from the injuries of Weather, and therefore needs a hou&s;e al&s;o to &s;helter him&s;elfe, and of &s;everall Uten&s;ills to &s;upply the needs of this Life, which obligeth him to betake him&s;elfe to divers kinds of Handy-crafts, and Workman&s;hips, the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and di&s;po&s;ition of which ought to belong to tho&s;e that made them.</P>
<PB N="51" REF="34">
<P>Moreover, Man in this differs from Bea&s;ts, in that he ought not to follow his Lu&s;ts loo&s;ely without Rule or mea&s;ure, but ought to be tied to one woman by an indi&s;&s;oluble Bond, and this Nature hath taught to all Peoples and Na|tions, even the mo&s;t wild and barbarous, all which of them do practi&s;e Marriage as a Do|ctrine taught them by Nature and Rea&s;on: it followes then that the breeding and education of the Children which are born from Marriage, ought rather to be given them by their Fathers and Mothers then by any others.</P>
<P>From all the&s;e forementioned, it appeares that the di&s;tinction of <HI>Mine</HI> and <HI>Thine,</HI> and the difference of Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of Goods and He|ritages, proceeds from an immutable and Na|turall Right grounded in Rea&s;on, Equity, and Ju&s;tice, and not an arbitrary thing meerly de|pending upon the Fancy of men that would have it &s;o, whence the impertinency of <HI>Plate</HI> is evident, who would in his Common Wealth have all things, even Women and Children common, for be&s;ides that, in this &s;tate of &s;in which man is now involved in, &s;uch a thing is both ab&s;urd and impo&s;&s;ible, and would intro|duce in the &s;ociety of men a mon&s;trous confu&s;i|on of things, I &s;ay that even if there were no &s;ins in man, and that he was in his fir&s;t are of purity, it could not with any pretence of Rea&s;on have place any where, as before it hath beene &s;hewed.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="35">
<P>Now in this difference of <HI>Mine</HI> and <HI>Thine,</HI> which is, and ought to be among men, and without which their &s;ociety cannot &s;ub&s;i&s;t, is grounde the Exerci&s;e of all Virtues, as of Ju|&s;tice, Temperance, Truth, Fidelity, Mag|nanimity, Liberality, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> This being &s;o, we mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily acknowledge a Providence and infinite Wi&s;dome which hath endowed man with this Rea&s;on, and ground of this difference of <HI>Mine</HI> and <HI>Thine,</HI> and &s;o con&s;equently of all Morall Virtues which all do acknowledge to be the mo&s;t glorious, admirable, &amp; excellent things in all the world, and which could never have had for its Author, Fate, or change, or any ir|rationall thing, &s;uch as nece&s;&s;arily the order of Nature is, unle&s;&s;e it be rul'd and governed by a &s;uperiour wi&s;dome.</P>
<P>If the order which is &s;een in the Actions of men, and in the regulating of their &s;tates, is a &s;ufficient argument to inforce us to the acknow|ledgement of a Providence which over rules them, as it hath been before &s;hewed, the di&s;order which we evidently &s;ee among them, is no le&s;&s;e valid and clear to demon&s;trate this &s;ame Provi|dence, which is alwaies imployed in regulating and amending of it. Now as Order in the fore|named Actions doth con&s;i&s;t in Virtue, and the Exerci&s;e of it, &s;o the di&s;order con&s;i&s;ts in vi|ces and crimes which are contrary to Virtue,
<PB N="53" REF="35">and as it was concluded before, that unle&s;&s;e there was a Providence to containe within cer|tain bounds the di&s;orders which are &s;een in Na|ture, all this Ma&s;&s;e of the World would pre&s;ent|ly be in a confu&s;ion, and would be re&s;olved in its fir&s;t Chaos, &s;o we mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e that the di&s;|order in the lives and actions of men is &s;o en|ormous, and great, that unle&s;&s;e it were bridled by Providence, the Society of men could not &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and would be nothing el&s;e then meer robberies, and like enormities, every man en|deavouring as much as in him could lie to ful|fill his lu&s;ts to the prejudice of any body, and by what meanes &s;oever he could devi&s;e.</P>
<P>This di&s;order is regulated and &s;uppre&s;&s;ed two manner of wayes: Fir&s;t by Lawes, and Politick con&s;titutions, the Authority and Pow|er of Magi&s;trates, both Supreme and inferior, and be&s;ides this, by a Power and imperceptible in&s;tinct of Providence. And in this Con&s;tituti|on of Lawes, and humane Policies, we mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity acknowledge a Providence, that di|rects them, and makes them &s;trong and valid in the &s;pirits of men, for otherwi&s;e, who is it that would obey them, &s;eeing mens corrupti|on of humours and manners, to which the&s;e Sanctions are directly oppo&s;ite? Again&s;t this, it may be, it will be objected, that nece&s;&s;ity hath compelled and obliged men, to make &s;uch Lawes, and to &s;ubmit to them, becau&s;e other|wi&s;e
<PB N="54" REF="36">the Society of men could not &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and that they would devoure and kill one another. It's true indeed, that this con&s;ideration hath been a Powerful motive to this, but yet it is not this alone which hath been the cau&s;e of enact|ing Lawes and Con&s;tituting Governments in the World. For, among the&s;e Lawes there are &s;ome, which though they do only provide for the &s;afety nece&s;&s;ary for Society and commu|nication, as all the Lawes again&s;t Murther, Theft, Perjury, or fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es; yet there are others, which concern only hone&s;ty, Civili|ty, and temperance, as Man is a rationall creature; and concerning Piety towards God, and the charity and humanity which we have one towards another, as tho&s;e concerning the Honor due from the children to their Parents, again&s;t adultery, and other exce&s;&s;es, and villa|nies of this nature, and concerning the cult due to the Deity, and the exerci&s;e of charity and humanity towards men, which clearly e|vidences, that there is &s;omething el&s;e then this nece&s;sity here objected to us, that hath induced men to frame and obey &s;uch Lawes, to wit, a Deity, the pattern and modell of all ver|tues, and which hath made man to his image and likene&s;s, endowing him with rea&s;on, by which he might follow, and imitate them. Add to this, that if this nece&s;sity alone had compel|led men to that, they had them&s;elves by a com|mon
<PB N="55" REF="36">con&s;ent and advice framed the&s;e Lawes, and had con&s;tituted Magi&s;trates to keep them only, re&s;erving the full Power and Authority to change them, add to them, or to take and dimini&s;h from them, and &s;o to privilegiate whom they plea&s;ed, and to exclude them at their will, as it is done in Common-Weales, where the people is Governor, as in Demo|cracies. But, albeit there was heretofore, and are yet &s;ome &s;uch like Common-Wealths, yet there hath alwayes been, and are now many more bodies and Commonalties that are Go|verned Monarchically, the Lawes of which have not been erected by little and little, accor|ding to the &s;everall acca&s;ions, by the votes and &s;uffrages of the people, as at <HI>Rome,</HI> or <HI>Athens,</HI> but by &s;ome wi&s;e Law-giver, which being compiled, have ever &s;ince been embraced for their apparent Ju&s;tice and equity. And the mo&s;t ancient Law-giver of all tho&s;e of whom mention is made in Hi&s;to|ries, <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> rai&s;ed manife&s;tly by God, to give Lawes unto his People, and after him there have been in many corners of the World many wi&s;e Legi&s;lators, that have given Lawes to the bodies, and Comonalties of which they were members; which &s;hewes, that nece&s;sity alone hath not brought men to the making of Lawes, and &s;etting of Magi&s;trates over them, but that a wi&s;e and Supreme Providence hath intervened, and &s;tirred, and directed the
<PB N="56" REF="37">Law-givers to this &s;ettlement, and hath u&s;ed the con&s;ideration of the nece&s;&s;ity, there is of Lawes to make people to &s;ubmit to them: And which hath every where, in every State rai&s;ed &s;ome one or other more noble then the re&s;t, for the &s;ingular virtues which was knowne he was endowed withall, to undertake the Govern|ment, the Cu&s;tody and Pre&s;ervation of Lawes, and even who&s;e will in the Beginning, was a Rule and a Law, and this was, that men might enjoy in him an Image of that &s;upreame wi&s;|dome and Power which guides and over&s;waieth all this VVorld. This Providence which mani|fe&s;teth it &s;elfe &s;o in the curbing of evill and di&s;order by the meanes of Lawes and Magi|&s;trates, both &s;upreame and inferiour, which he hath &s;etled for the Pre&s;ervation of humane Society, is al&s;o plainly perceived, if we con&s;ider the &s;ecret motions of it by which men are con|tained within the limits of their duty, &amp; appeares yet more in this, that many particular per&s;ons being overcome by their evill pa&s;&s;ions, and neg|lecting the feare and reverence they owe to the Lawes, do openly tran&s;gre&s;&s;e again&s;t it, and People them&s;elves many time ri&s;e again&s;t their Supreme Magi&s;trate, to di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e them of their Authority. For, &s;ince the feare of the Lawes and Magi&s;trates alone is not capable to re&s;traine mens Corruptions, and their prone|ne&s;&s;e to evill, as it appeares by &s;o many &s;ad ex|amples
<PB N="57" REF="37">and events, we mu&s;t needs &s;ay, and confe&s;&s;e, that there is &s;ome Power &s;tronger, that all that, and which is farr above all the&s;e Powers, which doth &s;ecretly bridle, and re|&s;traine the&s;e pa&s;&s;ions within us; as al&s;o our vehement inclinations to evill, otherwi&s;e, with|out this curb, we &s;hould run on our cour&s;es with a &s;trange impetuo&s;ity, and turn all things up-&s;ide-down, and wholly di&s;annull the &s;oci|ety of men. For, why &s;hould not all commit the &s;ame extravagancies and enormities that &s;ome are guilty of, unle&s;&s;e there were &s;ome &s;ecret thing that re&s;trains them within them|&s;elves? and, why &s;hould not all commonalties together mutiny again&s;t their Magi&s;trates and Governors, as &s;ome do, &s;ave only for this bridle that holds them in. Now, if all did &s;o, it is evident, that no Society could in any wi&s;e &s;ub&s;i&s;t; we mu&s;t then acknowledge from this, that there is a Providence which curbs this vio|lent affection, which man hath towards evill, and hinders him to execute all that he would do, that &s;o the Society and communication which is between men, may be pre&s;erved, and that the Deity may be Glorified, in the acknow|ledgement they are bound to pay him for it.</P>
<P>If Providence doth evidence it &s;elf in the re&s;traint of evill, that it may not grow to the infinite, it appeares no le&s;s, in that it doth direct, and converts it to good, and in ex|tracting
<PB N="58" REF="38">order out of confu&s;ion, and light from darkne&s;&s;e. The order of humane actions ap|peares in their ju&s;tice and equity, the di&s;order in inju&s;tice.</P>
<P>Now it is evident how great a di&s;order there is in all the actions and deportments of men, witne&s;&s;e the inju&s;tice, and palpable wickedne&s;s which is &s;een among them; but, neverthele&s;s, in this horrible confu&s;ion, and di&s;order, one may perceive a wonderfull order, which ap|peares in the events of Ju&s;tice, Goodne&s;&s;e, and Truth, which proceed from this confu&s;ion. For example, who doth not &s;ee from the inju|&s;tice of <HI>Jo&s;eph's</HI> brethren, &s;elling him to tho&s;e that went to <HI>Egypt,</HI> a wonderfull effect of goodne&s;s, in the pre&s;ervation of all <HI>Jacob's</HI> fa|mily during the famine. And, in the expedi|tion of <HI>Nebuchodono&s;or</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Jewes,</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which proceeded from the un|bounded ambition of this man, an example of Gods Ju&s;tice, in cha&s;ti&s;ing of this People, and finally, from the inju&s;tice and wickedne&s;s of the <HI>Jewes</HI> and the Prie&s;ts again&s;t our Lord, i&s;&s;ue forth a wonderfull effect of goodne&s;s, which is the Salvation of mankinde. It would be too long to mark and quote all the like ex|amples in which the ju&s;tice and vengeance of God again&s;t the &s;ins of men, or his goodne&s;s and bounty towards the other, doth manife&s;t it &s;elfe by the Mini&s;tery of wicked men, again&s;t
<PB N="59" REF="38">their intentions and de&s;ignes, who do think nothing le&s;s then this, which is an evident te&s;timony that there is a wi&s;e and Power|full Providence, which farr &s;urpa&s;ses all the Coun&s;ell, of men, and which bowes and in|clines their hearts, to what it plea&s;eth, and doth wi&s;ely guide their thoughts, and their hands to execute (though unwittingly) his good, wi&s;e, ju&s;t, and boly will. For, to attribute unto chance and hazard, all tho&s;e events, in which appeares &s;uch a wi&s;|dom, Ju&s;tice, truth, and goodne&s;s, would be the &s;ame, as if one &s;hould father upon a blinde man a piece where all the glorious, wonderfulle&s;t, and faire&s;t draughts, whether of Limning, or writing &s;hould appeare, and one mu&s;t be more blinde then fortune it &s;elf to beleive or think &s;o. This Providence ap|peares no le&s;s in the ca&s;uall effects and events which every day happen in the World, in which appeare al&s;o the effects of Ju&s;tice, goodne&s;s, and truth, which could not be without the direction of a Providence, which guideth all the&s;e events, and makes them turn alwayes to the end it hath propound|ed it &s;elf, and tho&s;e that take occa&s;ion to deny the Providence, becau&s;e there are con|fu&s;ions and di&s;orders among men, and to think that all is done by chance, and do not perceive amid&s;t the&s;e confu&s;ions the order
<PB N="60" REF="39">that may be &s;een in them, are ju&s;t like lit|tle children, who not under&s;tanding the play at Che&s;s, and &s;eeing two excellent game|&s;ters play, would judge, to &s;ee the men here and there upon the board, that there were nothing there but di&s;order and confu|&s;ion, becau&s;e they do not under&s;tand how each hath reference to another, nor the rea|&s;on why they are &s;o placed, and as the ig|norance of the&s;e children doth not prove that the Che&s;s-men are not well ordered, &s;o, neither tho&s;e that will not acknowledge the wonderfull effects of Ju&s;tice, goodne&s;s, wi&s;dom, and truth of God, which appeares in the confu&s;ion, and di&s;order of humane acti|ons, do by their incredulity, prove that they are not directed and guided by a won|derfull and inperceptible wi&s;dom.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="61" REF="39">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. VII.</HI> The Mistakes, and Childi&s;h over|&s;ights of <HI>Epicurus,</HI> who, though he acknowledges a Deity, yet de|nies its Providence.</HEAD>
<P>THe Di&s;ciples of <HI>Epicurus</HI> of the&s;e times, would not &s;tick much to confe&s;&s;e, and grant, that there is a God, &s;o that it were al&s;o granted them, that he doth not meddle with the Affaires of this World; for, that which leads them to this, is, the feare they have to be evill entreated by this Deity, if it takes any notice of their actions: but, becau&s;e they plainly &s;ee the coherence and indi&s;&s;oluble tie of the&s;e two things, <HI>viz.</HI> That if there is a God, he doth al&s;o take notice of the Affaires done in the World; and &s;o reciprocally, if there is a Providence, that Providence is a God Almigh|ty, Good, Ju&s;t, and Wi&s;e, they not da|ring to promi&s;e them&s;elves any good from this Deity; here they leave their Ma&s;ter, and bold|ly deny both God and Providence too. And, although that it may &s;eeme here &s;uperfluous to confute <HI>Epicurus</HI> opinion, who acknow|ledges
<PB N="62" REF="40">a Deity, but no Providence, &s;ince, that in this point his Di&s;ciples, which are now, do not follow him, neverthele&s;s it will not be a|mi&s;s to &s;hew in this very thing the puerile mi&s;|take of their Ma&s;ter, that it may appeare that they have no great rea&s;on to follow him in o|ther things, who in this mi&s;takes, and faulters &s;o gro&s;&s;ely.</P>
<P><HI>Epicurus</HI> then might ju&s;tly be asked this que&s;tion, why, if there is a God, he doth not take notice of the things of this World? And, whether it is becau&s;e it is a thing too low, and vile, and unworthy his greatne&s;s and Maje&s;ty, or, is it becau&s;e he cannot, or that he will not do it, becau&s;e it would di&s;turb his quiet and tranquility. There is no rea&s;on in either of the&s;e. And, as to the fir&s;t, If there was in this World no order, but only a totall confu&s;ion, and di&s;order, it would not be rea&s;onable to at|tribute to God and his conduct this di&s;order and confu&s;ion: but, this World (as well the great, as the little one) being (as we have &s;hewed before) Governed with &s;uch a won|derfull order, and compo&s;ed with &s;uch a ra|vi&s;hing Symmetry, which cannot proceed but from a Wi&s;dom altogether un&s;peakable, is it a thing below the greatne&s;&s;e, wi&s;dom, and Al|mighty Power of God, to have &s;o admirably fra|med, and compo&s;ed all the&s;e things and to pre|&s;erve and keep them alwaies in this order? By
<PB N="63" REF="40">what is known the skil of an Artificer, but by the fair Compo&s;ure &amp; greatne&s;&s;e of his worke: The work then of Creation and Providence being (as indeed they are) &s;o great and &s;o wonder|full, are they unworthy the Greatne&s;&s;e and wi&s;edom of God. And what can wee conceive greater or more wonderful, &amp; con&s;equently more worthy of him. And indeed the works of Redemption are yet far more admirable and full of a wi&s;dome, goodne&s;&s;e and power more con&s;picuous, but hence it doth no waies follow, but that the works of Creation, and Providence are to be attributed to him e&s;pe|ally. Seeing that they are the Ba&s;is and Foun|dation of the worke of Redemption, and be|cau&s;e they are the Subject matter of it, for man &s;hould not have been &s;aved and redeemed unle&s;&s;e he had been fir&s;t created, and unle&s;&s;e he was conducted and gnided by God in this World. Nor may it be here objected, that the Earth and mud, and a thou&s;and Excrements of Sea and Land, are things too vile and ba&s;e to be handled, by &s;o clean hands as tho&s;e of God, and to be an effect of his &s;o mighty and glorious Power.</P>
<P>For fir&s;t, Is there not in the World things of a nobler and purer matter then tho&s;e, the Heavens and tho&s;e wonderfull Torches that &s;hine in them, their Powers and Influences are they too low, vile, and abject things to
<PB N="64" REF="41">be mann<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ged and governed by him, or to be produced by him? Let then the&s;e per&s;ons find us out, and &s;hew &s;ome matter more glorious, noble, and luminous. And as to tho&s;e vile things which they object to us, it would be indeed below the great Maje&s;ty and purity of God, that they &s;hould be created and extra|cted out of this E&s;&s;ence, or that they &s;hould make a part of it, and therefore they have not their Ri&s;e from thence (they are made of nothing by his Almighty Power) neither make they any part of it. And if God had a Body, Hands, and Fingers, as wee have, one might rationally doubt whether it would be fit for him to touch with his mo&s;t &s;acred &amp; mo&s;t pure hands, any matter &s;o vile &amp; ba&s;e, be|ing that it is not be&s;eeming the Maje&s;ty of a King to handle and remove the Earth and Mud as a Potter doth his Clay, or as a Groom the dung from a Stable: But being as he is, incorporeall, and altogether a &s;pirit, his E&s;&s;ence is in &s;o wi&s;e contaminated with the&s;e things, much le&s;&s;e is then the Sun and his Beames is &s;oyled with the Dunghills and Carca&s;&s;es upon which they act and di&s;per&s;e them&s;elves, much le&s;&s;e yet then the Soules E&s;&s;ence is tainted with this body which it animates, nor with its part and excrements which it moves and a|gitates by its Operation and Virtue.</P>
<PB N="65" REF="41">
<P>But, I will ask, Is vertue a thing unwor|thy of Gods cognizance and care, that he may recompen&s;e and reward it? contrariwi&s;e, what is there in the World more Noble, and more re&s;embling the Deity? In what is man &s;o like to God, as in living holyly and vertuously? &s;hall we e&s;teeme it a thing unbe&s;eeming God, to love, cheri&s;h, and reward vertue, and ver|tuous men; and con&s;equently, that he knowes, &s;ees, and takes care of them? what &s;hall he love then, and to what &s;hall he take plea&s;ure, unle&s;s he loves vertue, and tho&s;e that endea|vour after it? And, as for vice, and vicious men, doth not God hate them? yes certainly, unle&s;s we will transforme him in that wicked Principle of the <HI>Manichees</HI> and make of God a Devill; and hating vice and vitious men, &s;hall we think that he leaves them unpuni&s;hed, and that he doth not care to &s;hew by his cha&s;ti&s;e|ments, his hatred of, and di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t them; would not this be to make men believe, that vice and vertue are things indifferent to him, and that he cares for either alike. Briefe|ly, the Conduct, Government, and Superin|tendency of &s;o many Peoples, Nations, States, Kingdomes, Common-wealths, and Monar|chies, which are upon the face of the Earth, their Generation, their Succe&s;&s;ion one to ano|ther (as well as the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of particular men) and the divers, and &s;o admirable events,
<PB N="66" REF="42">which are &s;een in them, and in which one may perceive &s;o wonderfull a Wi&s;dom, even in their very di&s;orders (as we have &s;hewed before) is it a thing too low, and vile, and unworthy the care, and intermedling of God? Who is it then &s;hall do all the&s;e things, and to whom will this be better attributed? To hazard, and to blinde fortune? But, we have &s;hewed, that &s;o admira|ble an order, which markes out unto us a won|derfull wi&s;dom, cannot be the product, and ef|fect of a thing, &s;o bruti&s;h and blinde as fate is. So then, it is evident, that it is not a thing unbefitting the greatne&s;s of God, to take upon him the care and Government of this World, but contrariwi&s;e, that there is no|thing more be&s;eeming his Wi&s;dom, Power, Ju|&s;tice and goodne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Let us &s;ee whether it is a thing that he can|not, or that he will not do. If God is, he mu&s;t needs have &s;ub&s;i&s;ted of all Eternity, without a|ny beginning. For, who &s;hould have given him his being? He could not have created him&s;elfe, nor be made out of nothing, with|out any cau&s;e, and no fir&s;t, or Superior cau&s;e can challenge the Creation of him, for there is nothing before, or &s;uperior to God. And if he hath exi&s;ted from all Eternity, he is then infinite, in re&s;pect of his duration. And if he hath an infinite duration, his Power is al&s;o infinite; and if he is infinitely Powerfull,
<PB N="67" REF="42">this World, which (though very great) is not|with&s;tanding finite, and is not &s;o great, but that it can have been made, or created by him, or ruled and Governed by an infinite Power, &s;uch as his is. Moreover, this God, which <HI>E|picurus</HI> acknowledgeth, is not he to be placed above all the vi&s;ible Heavens? yes, for it would be below him, and his greatne&s;s, to place, or confine him within this Worlds compa&s;s, and among&s;t vi&s;ible things. In what&s;oever place then that we are upon the Earth either in this, or the other hemi&s;phere, as the Heavens do al|way compa&s;s us about, &s;o we mu&s;t conceive, that God is above all the&s;e vi&s;ible Heavens, and not in &s;ome part of them onely. God then enclo&s;es on every &s;ide all the&s;e Heavens above, where he is granted to be, and con&s;equently, although his E&s;&s;ence &s;hould not extend it &s;elf infinitely above them all, and that in the <HI>ul|tramundane</HI> &s;pace there was &s;ome limits of his being (which is fal&s;e, and contradicts the in|finity of his E&s;&s;ence and Power) yet &s;hould he be much greater then this vi&s;ible World, and &s;o &s;hould have alwayes Power and &s;trength e|nough, for to move, guide, and Govern this World. He wants then no Power to do this.</P>
<P>Hath he then no minde to do it? yes, certain|ly he hath, for why would not he Govern it, &s;ince he can do it? We have but ju&s;t now
<PB N="68" REF="43">&s;hewed, that it is not a thing below him, but rather much be&s;eeming, and worthy of his Ma|je&s;ties care. Why then would not he Govern it, is it becau&s;e he hath no Right to it, or Power over it, and that being ju&s;t, he will not encroach out his juri&s;diction? Who then &s;hall have Right and Authority over this World, unle&s;&s;e it be God. Shall we imagine with the <HI>Manichees,</HI> that there is another Prin|ciple which hath this Right, or, that hath his &s;hare in it? This would be to con&s;titute two Gods, and albeit another had a &s;hare in the Government of this VVorld (which is fal&s;e, and impo&s;&s;ible, yet God alwayes mu&s;t have his part al&s;o) and &s;o by this conce&s;&s;ion, we mu&s;t turn to the party of tho&s;e extravagant and de|te&s;table Hereticks, with their two Principles, ju&s;tling and fighting again&s;t one another, and one &s;till endeavouring to overcome the other. Seeing then that God hath Right and Power o|ver this VVorld, why would not he Govern it? Is it becau&s;e that would give him too much trouble, would perturbate his repo&s;e, and dimini&s;h his felicity? It is that indeed which <HI>Epicurus</HI> &s;aith, but with what ground, or ap|pearance of rea&s;on? God being endowed with an infinite Power and VVi&s;dom, cannot he without labor or paine Govern this World, &s;ince that &s;o great as it is, yet it is &s;till infinitely below God. The heavens, and tho&s;e glorious bo|dies
<PB N="69" REF="43">that are fixed to them, are not wearied with turning alwayes above us, nor of acting by their influences in the&s;e &s;ublunary bodies, for the production of all things that are; and &s;hall we believe that the Deity, which is a Spi|rit Almighty, and All-wi&s;e, &s;hould toyle, or weary him&s;elfe in &s;u&s;taining, maintaining, con|ducting, and governing this World, which is &s;o &s;mall, in compari&s;on of him, that it is le&s;&s;e then nothing. Men, in their thoughts, Coun|&s;ells, and de&s;igns, and in the deliberations they take, for the regulating, and managing of their Affaires, or tho&s;e of the publick, do weary them&s;elves, and thence grow &s;ad, and irk&s;ome to their own &s;elves (which perturbates their content) becau&s;e they are corporeal, and that the motions of their &s;oules are made through the help of the organs of the body, which by the motion and agitation of the ani|mall &s;pirits, do &s;ometimes &s;tretch, rai&s;e, and bend them&s;elves too much, and &s;o as it were they break, and &s;plit them&s;elves, or el&s;e they weary and hurt them&s;elves, by being too ea|ger and intent on what they do; and the&s;e &s;pi|rits al&s;o di&s;&s;ipate them&s;elves, &s;o that they need an often reiterated re&s;t, to repaire the lo&s;&s;e of the&s;e di&s;&s;ipated &s;pirits. But God being a pure Spirit, without any mixture of body or mat|ter, is never weary in his thoughts, purpo&s;es, and de&s;ignes, neither doth he di&s;cour&s;e after
<PB N="70" REF="44">the manner of men, drawing a conclu&s;ion from the Premi&s;es, neither doth he think of one thing, and then of another, for there is not in him (I meane in his wi&s;dom and intelligence, no more then in the Eternity of his duration) neither fir&s;t nor &s;econd <HI>prius &amp; po&s;terius,</HI> but all the&s;e thoughts, de&s;igns, coun&s;ells, and re&s;o|lutions, are in him but one &s;ingle and pure act, by which he &s;ees, knowes, under&s;tands, wills, and ordereth all things; his mo&s;t pure, and perfect &s;implicity (which agreeth with &s;o excellent and infinite a Nature) requireth that, and it implies a contradiction, that there &s;hould be in his E&s;&s;ence any variablene&s;&s;e, or &s;hadow of turning; we do conceive the E&s;&s;ence of God, his vertues, and properties, his wi&s;dom, pow|er, under&s;tanding, his will, that is to &s;ay, his Coun&s;ells, and de&s;igns, as by &s;o many images, formes, and di&s;tinct conceptions, becau&s;e that being corporeall, and finite, and he a Spirit, altogether infinite, we cannot &s;ee, nor com|prehend what God is in him&s;elfe, but we know well neverthele&s;&s;e, that Gods perfection, and &s;implicity doth not admit of &s;o many things wholly different one from another; neither doth it imply that they be in his E&s;&s;ence <HI>forma|liter</HI> (as the Scholemen &s;ay) but <HI>eminenter, &amp; cau&s;aliter,</HI> as we hold that the Sun is not in his &s;ub&s;tance and E&s;&s;ence hot as the fire is, but only as he is the cau&s;e of heat every where.
<PB N="71" REF="44">It is then a very low thought of God, to ima|gine, that he labours in thinking, or de&s;igning any thing, or that he wearies him&s;elfe in act|ing, and from thence, that he growes melan|cholly, and &s;ad, and that this troubles his re|po&s;e, and content, and in &s;ome manner abates from his felicity.</P>
<P>Whence then did proceed this Philo&s;ophers &s;o low and ba&s;e thought and imagination, un|worthy his great parts. It &s;eemes to me indeed, that it was rather an eva&s;ion, then any certain and fixed opinion of his. That is, that he not da|ring (as I have &s;aid before) to deny flatly and plainly all manner of Deities, for feare of be|ing per&s;ecuted, hated, and dete&s;ted by the World, laught at, hi&s;&s;ed, and neglected by hone&s;t men, and men of parts, he hath yielded to the commonly received opinion concerning the Deity, but hath debarred him from any knowledge of, or care for the World, which is that which all his Di&s;ciples and followers would have granted to them. And when he was asked, why he denied that the Deity had any &s;uch knowledge, or care, he hath waved this que&s;tion, by this eva&s;ion, that then God would have too much trouble upon him, and that it would di&s;quiet him, and would &s;omething dimini&s;h of his happine&s;s and tranquility, And when it hath been ob|jected to him, that then it is a vaine and un|profitable
<PB N="72" REF="45">thing to &s;erve and honour this Dei|ty; that he might not &s;eeme altogether pro|phane, in granting, that Gods &s;ervice is &s;uperfluous, and unprofitable, he hath e|luded this que&s;tion, by &s;aying, that although we receive nothing from the Deity for all the &s;ervice we do him, yet it is to be &s;er|ved and adored, as being in it &s;elfe mo&s;t glorious and excellent, and as &s;uch it ought to be honoured and adored by us, as we honour, and have in great e&s;teeme, tho&s;e Kings and Princes that are &s;trangers, al|though we do not expect any reward from them, nor feare their puni&s;hments. And up|on this, to give &s;ome colour to his Witty, but prophane an&s;wer, he hath built many &s;ublime &s;peculations of the excellency of the nature of God, of his immutability, of his perfection, that he needeth nothing out of him&s;elfe, having in him&s;elfe all manner of perfections, which make him perfectly hap|py and contented. And, becau&s;e quiet and tranquility of &s;pirit doth conduce much to, yea, doth almo&s;t wholly make up the happi|ne&s;&s;e of man, he would in no way deprive God of it, but hath exalted it highly both in God and in men, and held that this &s;aid tranquility con&s;i&s;ted in vertue, and in the exer|ci&s;e thereof, and hath enlarged upon the&s;e Noble &s;peculations much more then any o|ther
<PB N="73" REF="45">of tho&s;e heathen Philo&s;ophers that were before him: and by the&s;e he hath got both the admiration and commendation of men; and all this was, that his opinion might be received, and pa&s;s for currant among&s;t the refined&s;t wits: But all this was, that he might e&s;tabli&s;h his a&s;&s;ertion, <HI>viz.</HI> That God hath neither care nor knowledge of humane things, as not having need him&s;elfe for the perfecting of his happine&s;s, of contentment and tranquility, or the enjoyment of any of the&s;e vi&s;ible things, without which he may very well be, and the care and Government of which would rather be a care and tediou&s;|ne&s;s to him, then any plea&s;ure and content|ment. Now it is very true that God is per|fect, yea, much more perfect then ever this man believed him to be, and that for his happine&s;s and perfection he hath no need of any Terre&s;triall, Worldly, and vi&s;ible things, and that he was very well without them in an infinite number of ages, before the World began. Neither hath he created all the&s;e for any need that he had of them, or that by them he might add &s;omething to his happi|ne&s;s; but incited by his own goodne&s;s, that he might communicate out of him&s;elfe, as much as might be his goodne&s;s, vertues, and perfections.</P>
<P>Which is an argument of his perfection,
<PB N="74" REF="46">to be not only good and happy in him&s;elf, but al&s;o to be willing to do good to others, in communicating to them &s;omething of his goodne&s;s and perfections. We &s;ee a &s;hadow and image of this in tho&s;e per&s;ons which are vertuous and liberall, who, not being con|tented to be rich, and to abound them&s;elves, do communicate to others as much as in them lieth of their vertues and riches, which all naturally do e&s;teem to be a great perfect|ion.</P>
<P>This great, but profane Philo&s;opher, hath not con&s;idered, or at lea&s;t would not do it, that this, (<HI>viz.</HI> Communication) being a vertue mo&s;t commendable in man, he was not to alienate it from God, but attribute it to him as a quality and property mo&s;t con&s;onant to the excellency of his nature, and from thence he was to conclude, that this World was the production and workman&s;hip of God, (according to this his propriety) and that he had in his hands the ruling and Govern|ment of it; being it is in no wi&s;e rationall, that the Creation, Sub&s;i&s;tence, Pre&s;ervation, Conduct and Admini&s;tration of &s;o admirable a piece of workman&s;hip, &s;hould properly be|long to any other but him.</P>
<P>And albeit &s;ome will &s;ay in his favour, that it was &s;o farr from him to be an enemy to ver|tue, and a friend to vice, that he hath extolled
<PB N="75" REF="46">it the mo&s;t of any, and hath made it to &s;eem more glorious then ever it was thought &s;he was before; that which he hath done, was in effect nothing el&s;e then to make a vaile to cover his profanene&s;&s;e, and by his doing &s;o, make his poy&s;on to be &s;wallow|ed down with more ea&s;e, by the fine wits which he hath entangled and caught by his di&s;cour&s;es: for this &s;pot and &s;taine will never be taken away, <HI>viz.</HI> That he taught that we mu&s;t not hope any thing from God, or feare him who did not meddle with any thing we have to do in this World. By which doctrine he doth cry down Prayer, Invoca|tions, and Thank&s;giving to the Deity (which is the very heart and marrow of true Religi|on and Piety) yea, the very feare and re&s;pect, and love which we owe to God. For, what feare, and re&s;pect, and love, can we have to|wards a Deity, which, by their tenents we cannot know, becau&s;e it hath neither made the World, nor Governs it and which hath no commerce with Man; there being no o|ther way to come to the knowledge of a Dei|ty, then either the con&s;ideration of the World, and of the works of God in it, or the Revelation that he may make to us of him|&s;elfe, in his own Word. And therefore, all that <HI>Epicurus</HI> and his followers can &s;ay, touch|ing the Service and Honour due to God, is in
<PB N="76" REF="47">effect, nothing but a &s;light eva&s;ion which they framed, that they might avoid the envy and hatred of men again&s;t their impiety, at which cults and &s;ervices (as in no wi&s;e agreeing to their maxims) they did laugh within them&s;elves, as <HI>Cicero</HI> doth report, that the ancient <HI>Au|gurs</HI> did laugh among them&s;elves at their Do|ctrine of the <HI>Au&s;picia,</HI> though they did re|commend it to the &s;imple people as a Divine thing.</P>
<P>Which the Di&s;ciples of <HI>Epicurus</HI> have veri|fied &s;ufficiently by their practi&s;e, in which there was little or no re&s;pect rendered by them to the Deity, witne&s;&s;e a Latin Poet in the&s;e Ver|&s;es.</P>
<Q><L>Parcus deorum cultor, &amp; infrequens</L>
<L>Ju&s;anientis dum &s;apientiae</L>
<L>Con&s;ultus erre.</L></Q>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="77" REF="47">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. VIII.</HI> The &s;ixth <HI>Argument,</HI> Drawn from the Immortality of the &s;oule.</HEAD>
<P>THo&s;e that do deny a Deity, do al&s;o con&s;e|quently deny that there is another life after this, and that mans &s;oule is immortall, and will acknowledge neither Paradi&s;e, nor Hell, nor Angells, nor Devills, and the&s;e things indeed are &s;o firmely conjoyned to|gether, that who&s;oever denyeth, or affir|meth one of them, ought al&s;o to affirm, or deny the re&s;t. So that the <HI>Sadduces</HI> among the <HI>Jewes,</HI> who denyed that there was ei|ther Angell, Spirit, or Re&s;urrection, were in effect right <HI>Epicures,</HI> and <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> like tho&s;e of the&s;e times, who for the feare of the Lawes, and &s;hame of the World, not daring openly to &s;ay what they think, make an outward Profe&s;sion of the Religion which is Publiquely received in the Land or State, of which they are members, though they really believe nothing of it, but laugh and gibe at it &s;ecretly, and hold it to be a meere tale.</P>
<PB N="78" REF="48">
<P>The Rea&s;on of this impiety and Propha|ne&s;&s;e, is that which we have noted in the be|ginning, <HI>viz.</HI> That the&s;e per&s;ons are wholy &s;en&s;uall and carnall, bewitched with the plea|&s;ures and &s;weets of this World, in which they con&s;titute their &s;upream good &amp; happine&s;&s;e; which is that that makes them to hold for Fa|bles all that is &s;aid of another Life after this, and the Happine&s;&s;e and Mi&s;ery which attends men there. They hold al&s;o that the Soule dy|eth and peri&s;heth with the Body, neither will they acknowledge that there are any Angells or Devills, that &s;o they may not be forced to confe&s;&s;e that the Soule is immortall, and that there is an Eternall puni&s;hment of the wicked after this Life, and by this means they do de|ny al&s;o the Deity and his Providence. For they plainly perceive that if there is a God, he is a ju&s;t Judge, and a Revenger of the &s;ins and iniquities of men, and that the God of <HI>E|picurus</HI> is in effect nothing but an Idoll and a vain imagination. From the Deity they can|not expect or promi&s;e to them&s;elves any fa|vour; &s;ince that they do not love and cheri&s;h Virtue, but only de&s;ire to &s;atisfie their evill Concupi&s;cences in which they think the <HI>Sum|mum bonum</HI> is contained, which is that, that makes them to deny the Deity, the Immorta|lity of the Soule, and another Life where there is a Hell, and a Paradi&s;e, their Con|&s;cience
<PB N="79" REF="48">telling them, that they cannot have a part in the Paradi&s;e, and that Hell, if there is any, is for them and their like.</P>
<P>On the other &s;ide, if the Soule is immortall there is another Life, and in it a place of plea|&s;ure or &s;orrow for man, there are al&s;o Angels Copartners of this Joy, and Devills the Exe|cutioners of the&s;e Supplices, and above all, a God who doth ju&s;tly reward the one, and pu|ni&s;h the other: For if the Soule is immortall being, as it is, naturally very active, it cannot be alwaies without any &s;entiment, and remain &s;o forever, for that would be little le&s;&s;e then death, it mu&s;t needs then follow that it parti|cipates of &s;ome joy and content, or that it is tormented and hath an infinite &s;hare of &s;or|row, and that for the Reward of that good or evill, vice or virtue, to which it hath been ad|dicted in this Life; for we have &s;hewed here|tofore that Virtue is worthy of Commendati|on and Reward, and Vice of &s;hame and of &s;or|row. Which not being &s;ufficiently according to their merits rewarded in this Life; it mu&s;t needs be rewarded in the other: otherwi&s;e both vice &amp; virtue &s;hould be deprived of their due, which is again&s;t Nature and Right Rea|&s;on. And this is to grant a Paradi&s;e and a Hell. And if the Soule is immortall, there is no rea|&s;on to deny that there are Angells and Devills; &s;ince either of them are immateriall, &s;pirituall
<PB N="80" REF="49">and incorporeall &s;ub&s;tances. And indeed no|thing makes the&s;e men to deny that there are Angells, and Devills, but that if they grant this, they mu&s;t al&s;o confe&s;&s;e, that the &s;oule is immortall, and &s;o that there is a Heaven and a Hell, which is that which they &s;o much feare and tremble at.</P>
<P>Now it may be proved, both by te&s;timony and by rea&s;on, that the &s;oule is immortall, by the Te&s;timony, I &s;ay, of all men, that are, or have ever been upon the face of the Earth; for, if the records of Antiquity be looked into, and Hi&s;tory, both Ancient and Modern be read, it will be found that there never was yet, neither at this day is there any People, or Nation, whe|ther civiliz'd or not, which doth not acknow|ledge that the &s;oule of man doth &s;ub&s;i&s;t, and lives after the death of the body: but of the &s;trength of this proofe we will &s;peak hereafter; as for the arguments that prove the immorta|lity of the Soule, they cannot be <HI>a priori,</HI> for there is none but God that is the cau&s;e of it, who&s;e exi&s;tency we are now about to demon|&s;trate. The&s;e arguments then mu&s;t be taken <HI>a po&s;teriori,</HI> and we mu&s;t prove this immortality by the effects of the Soule, and indeed they are &s;uch effects, &s;o great and admirable, as cannot proceed from a mortall and materiall cau&s;e; Now its effects and operations are ei|ther internall in the &s;oule it &s;elfe (and tho&s;e
<PB N="81" REF="49">either in the Intellect, as Knowledge, or in the Will, as the Virtues) or externall, as the Speech and the motions of the body, and the parts of it, whence doe proceed the won|derfull and &s;tupendious works of liberall, and mechanicall arts. In all the things that are &s;een in this great World there are &s;everall de|grees of the excellency of things, the one be|ing above the other, by which, as by &s;o many Ladders, we a&s;cend at la&s;t to the knowledge of immateriall and eternall things, the lower de|gree of the&s;e is of in&s;en&s;ible things, that have neither Life nor Motion, as Stones, Metalls, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The &s;econd is of tho&s;e that have &s;ome life by which they grow, and are nouri&s;hed, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The third is of tho&s;e, that be&s;ides this kind of life have a &s;en&s;itive facultie, and locall motion by which they are carried from one place to another, as all the Animalls. Among&s;t which there are &s;everall degrees of perfection. For there are &s;ome of them that have only the &s;en&s;e of feeling, as Oy&s;ters; &s;ome, be&s;ides the &s;en&s;e of feeling, have the &s;en&s;e of ta&s;ting al&s;o, as Bees, and many other In&s;ects: O|thers again have the &s;en&s;es of &s;melling and hearing, as the Moles or Wants. And final|ly, the&s;e are the mo&s;t perfect Animalls, which have the five externall &s;en&s;es, and among the&s;e there are &s;ome that excell in one &s;ence, &s;ome in another: as the Eagles, which have a very quick
<PB N="82" REF="50">and &s;harp &s;ight, and the Vultures, Wolves, and Dogs have a very exqi&s;ite faculty of &s;mel|ling. The&s;e Sen&s;es do receive in them the <HI>Spcies</HI> and <HI>Ideas</HI> of the materiall qualities that are inherent in their Subjects, from the&s;e &s;en&s;es they are afterwards conveyed to the I|magination or common &s;ence, which receiveth them, and from which doth &s;traightwaies pro|ceed the knowledge of the things them&s;elves. By this Knowledge they are induced to hate, or fly from; to love, or pur&s;ue after the&s;e very things, and to move towards, or remove from them. But all this Knowledge, which con|&s;i&s;teth and is &s;eated in the Imagination, is on|ly of &s;ingular and individuall things, and they are al&s;o materiall, becau&s;e the qualities, which are the Objects of the &s;en&s;es, are all materiall, and have quantity for their Subject and foun|dation: Above all this is man endowed with Rea&s;on, of which all other Animalls are de|prived, and by which he doeth things much more wonderfull then they altogether can. For by it he knowes not only &s;ingular, individuall, and immateriall things, but al&s;o tho&s;e that are univer&s;all: And by it he di&s;cour&s;es, makes Arguments, drawes and deduces one thing from another, doth dive into the Nature of things, and &s;eekes after their Cau&s;es from whence the Sciences are rai&s;ed, and the know|ledge of Philo&s;ophy and of all its parts is at|tained
<PB N="83" REF="50">to: to which we can find nothing like among the other Animalls. By this &s;ame Rea|&s;on he ab&s;tracts quantity from matter (by a mentall ab&s;traction) be it either <HI>Quantit as Concreta</HI> or <HI>Di&s;creta,</HI> as they terme it, <HI>Viz.</HI> Numbers, Superficies, Geometricall Bodies, and doth con&s;ider their &s;ever all kinds, figures, qualities, properties, proportions analogi|call, &amp;c. from whence do proceed the Mathema|ticall &s;ciences &s;o wonderfull in all their kinds, whether they be &s;imple and ab&s;olute, as A|rithmetick and Geometry; or compound, as A&s;tronomy, Opticks, Mu&s;ick, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> from the knowledge of which proceed &s;o wonderfull effects, that they even ravi&s;h out of them&s;elves the very Arti&s;ts in tho&s;e Sciences. By this &s;ame Rea&s;on man doth con&s;ider the time and place, and all things that are done in them, and not only tho&s;e that are pre&s;ent; or that are done, or happen before his eyes, but al&s;o tho&s;e things that are pa&s;t, which he doth keep in his Memory, &amp; keeps a Regi&s;ter of them; &amp; often judges of tho&s;e things that are to come, which he doth often fore-&s;ee by a Morall con|jecture, he knowes al&s;o the place, not only of his Birth, and where he dwelleth, <HI>viz.</HI> his hou&s;e, and that which is round about it, but al&s;o all the Country round about, even of all the world &s;o great as it is; for he conceiveth it in his mind, and gets a certain &amp; true <HI>Idea</HI> of it,
<PB N="84" REF="51">and by the means of all the&s;e things he acqui|reth &s;o exqui&s;ite a wi&s;dome and prudence, that he is known to be admirable, not only in the admini&s;tration of his hou&s;hold affairs, but al&s;o of tho&s;e of entire Corporations, Com|monalties, Cities, States, Common-wealths, Kingdomes and Monarchies: to which there is nothing like in any other of the Animalls.</P>
<P>By this &s;ame Rea&s;on man comprehendeth that which is infinite; conceiving in his mind that which hath no limits, either in re&s;pect of quantity, time or place: for he apprehendeth that there is not &s;o great a number, but may be made greater, and that to the infinite: And that there is neither line, &s;uperficies, body, or place &s;o great, but that it may be extended further, and that infinitely.</P>
<P>And that there is neither time, nor durati|on of great length; but that it may be concei|ved infinite, either in regard of that which was before, or which is to follow after. And &s;o in &s;ome &s;ort he comprehends Eternity and Immen&s;ity, which could not be, unle&s;&s;e his Soule was in &s;ome Re&s;pect infinite, at lea&s;t in re&s;pect of its duration, that is to &s;ay, unle&s;&s;e it was indeed mortall, and immateriall.</P>
<P>Finally, By this &s;ame Rea&s;on, man concei|veth and comprehendeth the things immateri|all as Spirits and Intelligences, and even the Deity it &s;elfe, and doth con&s;ider their Proper|ties,
<PB N="85" REF="51">qualities, virtues, aftections, and actions, and reflecting upon its own &s;elf, and by her proper actions and operations, &s;he knowes and judges that &s;he is, and ought to be Immortall, Im|materiall, and &s;pirituall, which could not be effected by her, unle&s;&s;e that in deed &s;he was &s;uch. By this Rea&s;on man is capable of Virtue, which is its owne effect produced in its Will; by which Virtue man doth chiefly appear to be more excellent then Brutes, and comes near|er to the Deity, of which Virtue is a lively Image. Virtue, which is prai&s;ed and commen|ded by men, and by the Deity it &s;elfe, to which is mo&s;t ju&s;tly due that Recompen&s;e and Reward, which is but &s;eldome paid to her in this Life. For who knows not, that the mo&s;t ho|ne&s;t and virtuous men are often de&s;pi&s;ed and of no E&s;teem, and commonly hated, per&s;ecu|ted and tormented by the re&s;t of men: Which is the cau&s;e, that many Heathen of old, percei|ving how unju&s;tly and ill Virtue was entreated, and not being able to comprehend how a wi&s;e and ju&s;t Providence could or &s;hould &s;uf|fer this, have rather denyed the Providence, and committed the managing of humane affairs to chance and fortune, then to tax the Deity of this Errour, which (they thought) could not be avoided, if this Providence had any thing to do in this World. Whereas they &s;hould have rather acknowledged the Immortality of the
<PB N="86" REF="52">Soule, and that there is another Life then this, in which man is to receive that ju&s;t Re|compen&s;e due to his works, which is more conformable to Rea&s;on, then to deny the Providence and Deity. This Virtue then which is &s;o excellent, and which doth in &s;ome &s;ort Deifie men, and is by all acknowledged to be &s;uch, cannot be an effect or production of a gro&s;&s;e and corruptible matter, but rather of a &s;pirituall and immortall E&s;&s;ence. As to the Effects of rea&s;on, which &s;hew them&s;elves exter|nally and out the Soule, there is fir&s;t the Speech, by which man expre&s;&s;eth his Conce|ptions, Pa&s;&s;ions, and Affections, and makes it &s;elfe to be under&s;tood by others, which &s;peech is a proper and incommunicable Effect. And this faculty is found to be in no other then in man, &s;o that the Jewi&s;h Philo&s;ophers have alwaies defined a Rationall Animall to be a <HI>Speaking Animall:</HI> for though &s;ome Birds may be taught to &s;peak, their Speech is nothing but a bruti&s;h imitation, void and de&s;titute of all Rea&s;on, and which is in no waies guided by it: and though &s;ome Animalls have a voice by which they expre&s;&s;e their de&s;ire, and internall motions, that comes nothing near the &s;peech of man, by which he expre&s;&s;eth &s;o di&s;tinctly, and in every particular all his Conceptions: therefore the voice of Brutes is an effect pro|ceeding from a much inferiour Cau&s;e, and al|together
<PB N="87" REF="52">of another Nature, then that from which proceeds the &s;peech of man.</P>
<P>The motions of mans body and of all its parts which proceed from the Will, and are guided by Rea&s;on, are &s;uch, &s;o various, and wonderfull in re&s;pect of tho&s;e of Bea&s;ts, that they give a plain evidence that the Body of man, &s;o artificially made and fitted to &s;o ma|ny motions, is the dwelling of a more excel|lent Gue&s;t, then that which carryes and moves the body of Bea&s;ts: for the&s;e admirable works and effects of both Liberall and Mechanicall Arts being &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idered, do argue a cau&s;e altogether &s;pirituall and divine, and are not the Effects of a corruptible matter. For, I pray, for example, what wonderfull thing is <HI>Writing,</HI> which with &s;o few Characters doth expre&s;&s;e an infinite number of words &s;o diffe|rent, which &s;erve not only for every particu|lar Langnage, but for every Tongue under Heaven? And what a wonder is it, that the Hands and Fingers are &s;o artificially made and fitted to infinite forts of Motions nece&s;&s;ary for the Exerci&s;e of all the Arts, and for the working of all tho&s;e things that are in a man|ner infinite? In which thing we mu&s;t acknow|ledge a wi&s;dome altogether divine, which hath &s;o wi&s;ely framed this humane Body, and grant that there is an immortall and &s;pirituall facul|ty, which directs and guides all the&s;e &s;o diffe|rent,
<PB N="88" REF="53">and almo&s;t infinite motions. Time would be wanting to any that would decipher the Wonders and Excellencies of Limning, Sculpture, Mu&s;ick, and of all other Arts, both Liberall and Mechanicall, the effects of which are &s;o admirable, that man wonders at his own &s;elfe, and is almo&s;t &s;wallowed up with the admiration of his works. By all that hath been &s;aid, it is ea&s;ie to &s;ee what an infinite di&s;tance there is between the Soule of Man and that of Bea&s;ts, &s;ince the effects of both are &s;o divers, and that there is no Rea&s;on to &s;ay that the one as well as the other is materiall, cor|ruptible, or mortall. Tho&s;e that have ob&s;er|ved and collected the various effects of the imaginative faculty of Brutes, of their indu|&s;try and fore-&s;ight of things, of &s;ome appea|rance of Virtue, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that they might make them run parallell with tho&s;e which proceed from mans Rea&s;on, to &s;hew by this, that the Soule of the one is not of another Nature then the Soule of the other; and that bring for Ex|amples, the quickne&s;&s;e and vivacity of the Apes and Elephants, and their aptne&s;&s;e to be taught to do any thing one would have them to do; Al&s;o the Labour and Indu&s;try of Bees, by which they frame their Lodges, and make the Wax and Honey; The Oeconomy and fore-&s;ight of Amets, the cha&s;tity of Doves, and Turtles, the watchfullne&s;s, order, and obe|dience
<PB N="89" REF="53">of Cranes, (&s;uch as is the Author of a di|alogue intituled <HI>Brother An&s;elme,</HI> where he brings an A&s;&s;e di&s;puting again&s;t this Monke, and proving to him, that all the advantages, priviledges, prerogatives, and excellencies, that man pretends to have above bea&s;ts, are equal|led, if not &s;urpa&s;&s;ed, by all tho&s;e things that we &s;ee of their nature) &s;uch per&s;ons I &s;ay have not &s;aid or written the&s;e things &s;eriou&s;ly, but ra|ther to &s;hew the vivacity of their wit, and the Knowledge that they had of the Nature of brutes, or if they have done it &s;eriou&s;ly &amp; deli|berately, and on purpo&s;e to make good the Mortality of the Soule, and to plead the Athei&s;ts Cau&s;e (as it &s;eemeth that this fore|mentioned Author hath done, becau&s;e that after he hath pleaded at large the Cau&s;e of Bea&s;ts again&s;t man, and ingeniou&s;ly con|futed, as he thinks, all the arguments that can be brought to prove its excellency above that of bea&s;ts, at la&s;t he yeelds, and flies to one argument taken from the death of the Son of God, which he hath &s;uffered only for man, and to which the bea&s;ts have no part: an argument very &s;trong, but which is of no va|lue among Athei&s;ts, and prophane per&s;ons, and at which they laugh in them&s;elves, as being fooli&s;h and ridiculous) the&s;e I &s;ay &s;hew them|&s;elves in this to be more bruti&s;h and ignorant then this A&s;&s;e, which they make to di&s;pute &s;o
<PB N="90" REF="54">&s;ubtilely: there being in effect no compari&s;on betwixt the&s;e pretended wonders and excellen|cies of bea&s;ts, and tho&s;e which are really &s;een in man; which in this goes infinitely beyond them, and in re&s;pect of which all the re&s;t are as a phanta&s;me, or meer nothing.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>Chap. IX.</HI> The &s;eventh <HI>Argument,</HI> Drawn from the good and evill Con&s;cience of men.</HEAD>
<P>It is a certain thing, and dayly experience teacheth us, and the Records of Antiquity do witne&s;&s;e, that every man (unle&s;&s;e he is al|together barbarous and bruti&s;h) hath a con|&s;cience of the good and evill that he doeth. For he knowes very well, when he hath done well or ill: and if he hath done ill, his Con&s;cience accu&s;eth him, and if he hath committed any enormous crimes, his Con&s;cience doth affright him, and gives him no re&s;t, but doth continu|ally torment him, fills his &s;oule with angui&s;h, and &s;ometimes, yea very often, doth ca&s;t him into de&s;paire. Of the truth of this no one can doubt, &s;ince Hi&s;tory is altogether full of ex|amples of the like nature. The&s;e be the <HI>Furies</HI> of the Heathen Poets, who with their whips, &s;corpions, and torches, do ince&s;&s;antly pur&s;ue and torment the wicked, and this is no other but
<PB N="91" REF="54"><HI>Prometheus's</HI> Vulture, which doth con&s;tantly gnaw mans heart, and the <HI>Worm that dieth not,</HI> which is mentioned in Scripture.</P>
<P>The&s;e fears and terrours do not proceed from the &s;ear of the puni&s;hment that men may inflict upon them, and tho&s;e men them|&s;elves are perplexed with them, which fear nothing from men, as the Tyrants, and other wicked men, and all tho&s;e that are in great Authority among men, as <HI>Diony&s;ius,</HI> the Ty|rant of <HI>Sicily,</HI> made his great favourite to acknowledge this, by hanging a &s;word ju&s;t over his head; and <HI>Caligula</HI> al&s;o, who did hide him&s;elfe under his bed-clothes when&s;oever he heard the thunder. And that which is to be much noted is this, that very often they are then more affrightned by alarums of their con|&s;cience; when they are near their end, and have as it were one foot in the grave, and have no rea&s;on to feare any thing from mens part, all which is a clear evidence that they dread another Judge, and fear &s;ome o|ther puni&s;hment, and that they acknowledge there is another life then this, in which there is &s;omething to be feared, or hoped for. It is a poor and &s;imple eva&s;ion to &s;ay, or imagine, that the&s;e fears and terrours proceed from a fal&s;e opinion that men are per&s;waded to, <HI>viz.</HI> That there is another life; for, if this per&s;wa|&s;ion was &s;al&s;e, and without any foundation,
<PB N="92" REF="55">how can it be &s;o prevalent over mens &s;pirits, as that (for what they can do) they cannot be per&s;waded to the contrary, though (I &s;ay) they do with all their hearts de&s;ire that it were fal&s;e.</P>
<P>It is a very ea&s;ie thing to per&s;wade our &s;elves with that which we de&s;ire, but it is not ea&s;ie to per&s;wade a thing, which is wholly contrary to that which we de&s;ire and wi&s;h, and e&s;pecially to per&s;wade it univer&s;ally, to all, without any exception; for, who&s;e Authority at any time might have been &s;o great, as to make us believe this without any rea&s;on? or, who &s;hould have been &s;o very &s;ubtile, as to back this with rea&s;ons, which deceive all the World, and even tho&s;e that de&s;ire to di&s;cover the fal&s;ity of them? and how is it, that, if the opinion of the Athei&s;ts is true in this, and their rea&s;ons and arguments &s;o good and &s;olid, they do not make all the World believe them, and do not &s;how clearly how vaine is the contrary opinion, and the rea&s;ons for it: for though they make &s;ome believe it, they be &s;uch as have overwhelmed and drowned their rea&s;on in carnall delights and plea&s;ures, and who are like a Malefactor, who makes him&s;elfe drunk in the pri&s;on, while&s;t the Sen|tence is pronouncing again&s;t him. But all their rea&s;on and &s;ubtilene&s;s will never per&s;wade it to tho&s;e that are perplexed, and tormented with|in them&s;elves by the guilt of their crimes, and
<PB N="93" REF="55">they them&s;elves very often are not free from the &s;courges of the&s;e Furies, which in &s;pite of them do &s;ometimes give them terrible checks, which is an invincible argument of this great truth, naturally imprinted in the hearts of men, that there is a ju&s;t Judge, and a &s;evere Revenger of their &s;ins, which he never leaves unpuni&s;hed. It is al&s;o a poor eva&s;ion to &s;ay, that &s;uch are not bred in the Schole of <HI>Epicu|rus,</HI> who&s;e followers and di&s;ciples laugh at the&s;e phanta&s;mes and <HI>Chimeras.</HI> For fir&s;t, expe|rience &s;heweth, that they them&s;elves are not ex|empted from the&s;e terrours of con&s;cience: and (I think) they will grant <HI>Caligula,</HI> and &s;uch like Mon&s;ters were of their tribe, who yet have felt the&s;e compunctions and terrors.</P>
<P>Secondly, every one, through the corruption of his Nature, and his &s;trong inclinations to evill is to him&s;elfe a Ma&s;ter of <HI>Epicuri&s;m,</HI> and a profe&s;&s;or of Athei&s;m, and would (if he could) per&s;wade this to him&s;elfe, that &s;o he might with more freedom let the reins loo&s;e to all his pa&s;&s;ions. And though it may be tho&s;e that have the&s;e alarums and terrours, are not open and profe&s;&s;ed Athei&s;ts, yet they are &s;o in their will and de&s;ires, and neverthele&s;s they cannot do &s;o much as to free them&s;elves from the&s;e fears, and to loo&s;e the opinion they have of a Deity, and of a Providence which will avenge it &s;elf of their crimes, which
<PB N="94" REF="56">doubtle&s;&s;e they could ea&s;ily do, &s;ince they de|fire and endeavour after it, if this opinion was fal&s;e and vaine, and did proceed from nothing but from a vaine in&s;titution, or the phan&s;y of &s;ome that &s;hould at fir&s;t have taught it. And it is much to be wondered at, if the opinion of the Athei&s;ts be true, how tho&s;e that have rid Common wealths of Tyrants, and oppre&s;|&s;ors, have been commended by all, have had their Statues erected, and <HI>Panegyricks</HI> have been compo&s;ed to prai&s;e them, and extoll them unto Heaven; whereas, if <HI>Epicurus</HI> in <HI>Athens,</HI> or <HI>Lucretius</HI> in <HI>Rome,</HI> had a&s;cended the Theatre, to per&s;wade men to their opini|on, and to free them from the&s;e Tyrannicall, in&s;ulting, and by them pretended Panicall ter|rors of Con&s;cience, which do perplex and torment the &s;oules of men; in&s;tead of being applauded, they had been &s;toned, and brand|ed with the execrations and cur&s;e of every one.</P>
<P>And although all tho&s;e that are laden with vices, and enormous crimes, are not vexed, or tormented by the&s;e Furies, yet this is not an argument to evince, that therefore the&s;e ter|rours are vaine (no more then becau&s;e all here below do not receive the ju&s;t puni&s;hment due to their crimes, is an argument that there is no Providence that taketh notice of them) but is rather a clear evidence of the &s;otti&s;hne&s;s
<PB N="95" REF="56">and bruti&s;hne&s;s of men, which drown their rea&s;on in the torrent of their vices: and the remor&s;es and worme of con&s;cience in the re&s;t, are &s;ure proofes and effects of the Deity, which never leaves it &s;elf without a witne&s;s in man, who&s;e con&s;cience is his own accu&s;er, witne&s;s, judge, and executioner altogether.</P>
<P>If man knowes, and is certain of the evill that he doth, and if his con&s;cience accu&s;es and affrights him, he knowes al&s;o, and is very certain of the good he doth: and that know|ledge that he hath of his innocency, and good life, doth cau&s;e in him a great re&s;t and quiet|ne&s;s, and a wonderfull tranquillity of minde, which he values and e&s;teemes more, and which makes him more happy and content then wick|ed men are with the enjoyment of all their goods, honors, plea&s;ures, and riches. And of this felicity and content, which hone&s;t men do partake of more then the wicked men, the writings of heathen Philo&s;ophers them&s;elves are full, without excepting even <HI>Epicurus,</HI> who hath been forced to acknowledge this truth, which is a &s;trong argument, that vertue hath a more reall and nobler recompen&s;e in it &s;elfe, then that happine&s;s which is pretended to con|&s;i&s;t in the goods, honours, plea&s;ures of this life; and that it carries along with it &s;elfe its own reward, and expects another &s;omewhere el&s;e then in this life (and that cannot be alto|gether
<PB N="96" REF="57">the prai&s;e and e&s;teem of men, and the po&s;terities romembrance of their good works, becau&s;e mo&s;t commonly vertue and vertuous men are deprived of this) which &s;hewes unto us its excellency above vice, and an infinite di&s;tance between her and evill. Moreover, when men are wrongfully and unju&s;tly bla|med, their goods, life, and laudable actions calumniated, and their per&s;ons abu&s;ed and diffamed, they ju&s;tifie and defend them&s;elves as much as they can, and pa&s;&s;ionately and vehemently endeavour to prove their inno|cency; and this very thing do the Athei&s;ts, again&s;t whom we di&s;pute, if they are at any time calumniated, or blamed without a cau&s;e. Why this, I pray, unle&s;&s;e there was a va&s;t difference between good and evill, vice and vertue, unle&s;&s;e the one was worthy of prai&s;e, the other of di&s;graces; the one of puni&s;h|ment, the other of reward? I &s;ay, what need they care to be prai&s;ed, or vilified, if the&s;e prai&s;es, or di&s;graces are in effect but imagina|ry things, without any reall ground, and if all this doth confi&s;t but meerly in fancy and opini|on?</P>
<P>The&s;e pretended &s;trong wits &s;hould laugh at all the ill opinion that men can have of them for their crimes, and &s;hould not put them&s;elves to the trouble of making any Apologies then when they are wrongfully accu&s;ed, for why
<PB N="97" REF="57">&s;hould one trouble him&s;elf for a fal&s;e imagina|tion, that hath no real and &s;olid foundation? And this is an Argument to prove, that tho&s;e men, maugre them&s;elves, are forced to acknow|ledge, even again&s;t their own Maxims, what a va&s;t difference there is between good and evill, vice and virtue, the recompen&s;e due to the one, and the puni&s;hments which the other doth de|&s;erve.</P>
<P>Again, experience teacheth us, that when men are violently and unju&s;tly oppre&s;&s;ed, with|out any means or hopes to revenge them&s;elves, they have recour&s;e to the Deity, from who&s;e Ju&s;tice they expect and promi&s;e to them&s;elves the revenge of that wrong which is done to them. Which <HI>Tertullian</HI> doth remark very well in his <HI>Apologetick</HI> again&s;t the Heathen, and &s;aith, that if any one of them was oppre&s;&s;ed, he did cry out, <HI>Deus videt &amp; Deus reddet;</HI> God &s;ees, and God will render it: and that in &s;aying &s;o, he did not look towards the Ca|pitoll, where was the Temple of <HI>Jupiter:</HI> but toward Gods Throne; and he adds, that it is an evidence of a Soul really Chri&s;tian.</P>
<P>For, this motion doth not proceed from a preconceived opinion of a Deity, which hath been imprinted in a mans &s;oul by education: but which proceeds from his con&s;cience, and from the bottom of his heart, and from the judgement of his be&s;t and pure&s;t rea&s;on.
<PB N="98" REF="58">which dictates, and &s;ugge&s;ts to him, yea, makes him in effect to acknowledge, that there is a Deity and Providence, which &s;eeth from above the wrongs that are done here below, and takes notice of them to the end that they may be re|venged, and innocence defended. For it would be a poor refuge, and a &s;mall comfort, to have then, and in &s;uch a ca&s;e, recour&s;e unto a fal&s;e per&s;wa&s;ion, which &s;hould have no other foundation then the authority and in&s;titution of a man, that &s;hould have invented, and gi|ven for currant &s;o gro&s;s a fal&s;hood, &s;uch as the Athei&s;ts would have the opinion of the Deity to be. It is true indeed, that in things where we have no intere&s;t, we are &s;ometimes per|&s;waded by tho&s;e per&s;ons that are eminent, ei|ther in learning, or Authority, and do believe things, the fal&s;hood of which we cannot ea&s;ily di&s;cover: but in tho&s;e things that do &s;o nearly relate to us, that are &s;o important, and that do excite in us &s;o violent motions and pa&s;&s;ions, we do not re&s;t upon tho&s;e per&s;wa&s;ions, that have &s;o groundle&s;s a foundation.</P>
<P>By all this it doth appear, that man hath not only an acquired, but al&s;o a naturall knowledge of the Deity and Providence, and of the reall and e&s;&s;entiall difference there is between good and evill, vice and virtue; his own con&s;cience and rea&s;on dictating and per&s;wading him both the one and the other.</P>
<PB N="99" REF="58">
<P>Again, experience &s;hews us, that man hath a natural knowledge, and re&s;entment of the Dei|ty and his Providence: for, when he is &s;urpri|zed in a moment by a manife&s;t, evident, and unavoidable danger of death; as if a bou&s;e falls upon him in an in&s;tant, or that he &s;all into a precipice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> he lifts up pre&s;ently his heart and minde towards Heaven, and in this extre|mity, and di&s;tre&s;s, hath his recour&s;e to the Deity, and prays unto it, that it would aid and &s;uccour him, and ca&s;ts him&s;elf in the arms of his protection, as a child doth in the arms of his father.</P>
<P>Likewi&s;e the firmne&s;s, con&s;tancy, and quiet|ne&s;s of minde of the truly-faithfull, and <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans,</HI> when they did depart from this World; as al&s;o the con&s;tancy of the holy Martyrs of the Lord <HI>Je&s;us;</HI> and the hope, which they have of a better life, is an evident te&s;timony of this truth. For then, and in that place, it is not a time to &s;ooth ones &s;elf, and feed ones hopes with Fa|bles. And how could the imagination of a meer <HI>Chimara</HI> cau&s;e in them &s;o wonderfull a re&s;olu|tion, and &s;o great tranquillity of minde? If the per&s;wa&s;ion of a Deity did meerly proceed from In&s;titution, and Authority, which &s;hould make us believe it without any ground of Rea|&s;on, it would not doubtle&s;s make &s;o deep an impre&s;&s;ion in our Souls, and would quickly va|ni&s;h of it &s;elf at deaths encounter.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="100" REF="59">
<HEAD><HI>Chap. X</HI> The eighth Rea&s;on, drawn from <HI>Wizards, Magicians, Enchantours,</HI> and from all the <HI>Heathens</HI> Idolatry and Super&s;tition.</HEAD>
<P>IT is a certain thing, which the experience of our days, and that of all ages doth averr, which the Monuments of Hi&s;tory, both antient and modern, confirm, and that the Writings, as well of <HI>Heathens</HI> as <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> certifie; That there are, and have been at all times in the World, <HI>Witches, Magicians, Diviners, En|chantours,</HI> and &s;uch like notoriou&s;ly-wicked people; that have a familiar communication, and a frequent commerce with the Devils: by who&s;e help &amp; power they do many &s;trange and prodigious things, above and beyond all human wi&s;dome. All which con&s;equently doth inferr, that the&s;e things proceed from a &s;upernatural, and immaterial cau&s;e; &s;uch as the <HI>Daemons</HI> be.</P>
<P>The Laws made, and promulgated in all wel|governed States and Common-wealths, as well that of the <HI>Jews</HI> by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as tho&s;e of the <HI>Chri|&s;tians,</HI> and of the Heathens them&s;elves, do evi|dence this to us. The executions and &s;upplices, which ju&s;tice doth frequently inflict upon &s;uch per&s;ons; their Proce&s;&s;es; the Relations and In|formations, that are made about them, do a&s;&s;ure as of this, and leave no doubt of it. The damna|ble
<PB N="101" REF="59">curio&s;ity of many per&s;ons, which every day have recour&s;e to &s;uch as they, to know, &s;ee, and do tho&s;e things, that cannot be done by any o|ther means, doth al&s;o confirm this. The writings of the Heathens, as well <HI>Greeks</HI> as <HI>Romans,</HI> are full of in&s;tances of &s;uch per&s;ons, and of their effects, which are &s;tupendious and wonderfull. So that a man mu&s;t wholly renounce his rea&s;on, and believe nothing of tho&s;e things that are done, if he will not al&s;o believe that there are &s;uch per|&s;ons; which is true and manife&s;t by all tho&s;e kinds of Te&s;timonies, and Monuments, which may induce us to believe any thing.</P>
<P>Now, if there are any <HI>Witches, Enchantours,</HI> &amp;c. it nece&s;&s;arily followes, that there are <HI>Dae|mons,</HI> by who&s;e help and power they cau&s;e the&s;e prodigious effects to come to pa&s;s, which men do wonder at, and look upon with horrour and amazement; it being not po&s;&s;ible, that the&s;e things &s;hould be done by any humane Power. The Hi&s;tories therefore, and writings of all Na|tions, and even of the Heathen them&s;elves, are full of examples of the Devils apparitions, and of their &s;trange effects.</P>
<P>The <HI>Sybills,</HI> &s;o much taken notice of among the Heathen, are a clear te&s;timony of this; &s;ee|ing their Predictions could not proceed but from a Deity, or from &s;ome <HI>Daemon</HI> that did po&s;se&s;s them. Now, if there are any <HI>Daemons,</HI> (as cannot be denied) <HI>it</HI> followes, that there is
<PB N="102" REF="60">a Deity above them, which doth re&s;train them &s;o, as that they &s;hall not overthrow all things by their might: for they have &s;trength and malice enough to do it.</P>
<P>The Sacred and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory, which is in this conformable to dayly experience, teacheth us, that there have been in former a|ges, and that there are now per&s;ons po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by Devils; which is evident, and clear, and plainly appeareth by the &s;trange effects, which proceed from them. This &s;ame Sacred Hi&s;tory lets us know, that there have been <HI>Magici|ans</HI> and <HI>Enchantours;</HI> as it appears by the Hi|&s;tory of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the <HI>Magicians</HI> of <HI>Egypt;</HI> by the Hi&s;tory of <HI>Saul,</HI> who went to con&s;ult with a woman who had a Familiar &s;pirit; and by that of the maid, of whom mention is made in the book of the <HI>Acts of the Apo&s;tles.</HI> But of the truth recorded in the&s;e Sacred writings &s;omething may be &s;poken hereafter.</P>
<P>The books, which &s;ince have been written of the&s;e Diabolical and Magical Arts, and which are to be got too ea&s;ily, even among <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans,</HI> who&s;e damnable curio&s;ityleads them to this: The publique profe&s;&s;ion of &s;uch Magical Arts, which hath been &s;ometimes tolerated in &s;ome of the mo&s;t &s;amous Univer&s;ities of <HI>Christendom,</HI> to the great di&s;honour of <HI>Chri&s;tianity.</HI> The com|mon di&s;tinction of <HI>black</HI> and <HI>white</HI> Magick, which hath been invented by &s;ome antient Phi|lo&s;ophers
<PB N="103" REF="60">of the Sects of <HI>Plato</HI> and <HI>Pythagoras,</HI> who would have found a way, by which they might have &s;ubjected the good <HI>Daemons</HI> to them, and reconcile them to them&s;elves, and which hath from them pa&s;&s;ed to the <HI>Jewi&s;h Cabali&s;ts,</HI> and from them to the <HI>Chri&s;tians:</HI> are an invincible argument that there are Magicians and Daemons. The cer|tain and averr'd Relations of the <HI>Northern</HI> Countries, and of both the <HI>Indies,</HI> do te&s;tifie, that all tho&s;e places do &s;warm with them, and that there is &s;carce one, which hath not his <HI>Daemon,</HI> and Familiar &s;pirit. That <HI>Aignan</HI> of the people called <HI>Toupinambous,</HI> and the <HI>Demons,</HI> which pre&s;ide over other Barbaro us people, and which do torment and perplex them mo&s;t greivou&s;ly, is a &s;ufficient argument, that they be none, but evill &s;pirits. And it is to be noted, that where there is none, or very &s;mall knowledge of the true God, there it is, where the Devils have more power over men, and where they do al&s;o mo&s;t commonly ap|pear; as having in tho&s;e places a greater Liberty from God, who gives them power to Tyran|nize and domineer over tho&s;e, who know not their Creatour and Benefactour.</P>
<P>The Religion of tho&s;e of <HI>China,</HI> and of mo&s;t part of the <HI>Indians</HI> is nought el&s;e, but an open profe&s;&s;ion that they make of adoring the Devil, whom they reverence and honour,
<PB N="104" REF="61">that he may do them no harm; thinking that the Deity hath no need of &s;uch &s;ervices, and that, (being perfectly good) it will never do them any hurt, and will (without all the&s;e &s;er|vices) do them good, when&s;oever they need it.</P>
<P>The multitude of Gods, which anciently the <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Roman</HI> Heathens did adore, and that di&s;tinction which they made of them, in <HI>deos majorum &amp; minorum gentium,</HI> of <HI>Gods, Demi|gods, Heroes</HI> of divers &s;orts, <HI>Satyres, Fauns, Pans, Aegypans, Nymphs</HI> of all &s;orts, <HI>Joves, Vejoves;</HI> all this in effect was nothing, but a di&s;tinction of <HI>Daemons,</HI> which did veile them|&s;elves under the&s;e names, and &s;o cau&s;ed them|&s;elves to be adored by men. And their books are full of the&s;e <HI>Daemons,</HI> and all, or the mo&s;t part of their &s;uper&s;titions, were brought up by the commands of the&s;e fal&s;e Gods, which did &s;peak, and had &s;ociety with the&s;e &s;uper&s;titious per&s;ons, and which were adored by them, as if indeed they had been Gods. Their Oracles al&s;o &s;o famous among them, and &s;o much taken no|tice of in divers places, are &s;o many Te&s;timo|nies of this truth, that there are <HI>Daemons,</HI> and immaterial &s;pirits: the&s;e Oracles being no|thing el&s;e, then the utterings of the&s;e evill &s;pi|rits, by which they did maintain the Heathens in their &s;uper&s;titions and Idolatries.</P>
<P>All the&s;e things do plainly &s;hew, that there are <HI>'Daemons,</HI> and con&s;equently a Deity, which
<PB N="105" REF="61">is above them; as heretofore it hath been de|mon&s;trated.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. XI.</HI> Wherein are an&s;wered all the Objecti|ons, that are brought against the foregoing Argument.</HEAD>
<P>MAN, who is ingenious enough in his own de&s;truction, doth here endeavour to deceive him&s;elfe, and to enervate the &s;trength of the forementioned argument. There are &s;ome that think that all things that are re|ported of Witches and Magicians, and of all their wonderfull and prodigious Effects, are old wives Fables, and meer inventions, and the ground of their opinion is; becau&s;e (&s;ay they) notwith&s;tanding that they have de&s;ired &amp; loo|ked after &s;uch things, and having for the&s;e ends made their addre&s;&s;es to tho&s;e that were repu|ted famous, and notable Magicians, and Witches, and having de&s;ired and &s;olicited them (with promi&s;es of great Rewards) to &s;hew them &s;omething extraordinary and &s;trange, they could never obtain it of them, notwith&s;tanding all their intreaties; but the&s;e men do not con&s;ider that (if what they &s;ay is
<PB N="106" REF="62">true) it is a plot of Sathan; who, to confirm them in their erroneous Opinion, and by the&s;e means to make them &s;urer to him&s;elf, hath declined to &s;atisfie their curio&s;ity on pur|po&s;e: being rather willing to have &s;uch per|fect Athei&s;ts, then to deterr them, and make them quit their Errours, by affrighting and a|mazing them with tho&s;e things that they had &s;een. Others &s;ay, that there are many fabu|lous things reported of &s;uch per&s;ons, and of their Effects, and of the Apparitions of Spirits, and from this they take an occa&s;ion not to be|lieve any thing that is &s;aid of them, as if they were all forgeries. But, although there be ma|ny things fal&s;ly reported of them, and that many do delight in inventing &s;uch things, we may not therefore conclude, that all things that are &s;aid of them are fal&s;e, and that there are no &s;uch per&s;ons, nor Daemons. Nay, we may conclude to the contrary, that &s;uch &s;to|ries could not be rai&s;ed, if there was no ground for them: For who would believe a|ny &s;uch things; if there had never been any apparitions of Spirits, nor any &s;trange Effects cau&s;ed by Witches. For fal&s;hood is in &s;ome manner a con&s;equent of Truth, and can finde no admittance in mens beliefs; but under &s;ome colour of Truth. Vnle&s;s there were a Phy&s;i|cal Virtue in Plants, Stones, Metals, and Natural bodies, to produce &s;everall wonder|full
<PB N="107" REF="62">effects, there could not be &s;o many Fables of their Powers, as we read in <HI>Solinus, Pliny,</HI> and &s;uch Writers. One mu&s;t indeed, with judgement and di&s;cretion, di&s;cern in &s;uch things that which is fabulous and untrue from tho&s;e that are averr'd and atte&s;ted by Experi|ence and irrefragable Witne&s;&s;es; of which we have an infinite number, but one may not therefore pre&s;ently condemn all things that are &s;aid and writ by credible per&s;ons, without making any difference between that which is fal&s;e, and that which is true: E&s;pecially, when &s;uch men have no by-end in relating the&s;e things For, if it were &s;o, we might not upon the &s;ame account believe, that there ever were &s;uch men as <HI>Regnault</HI> and <HI>Roland,</HI> becau&s;e there have been many <HI>Roman|ces</HI> and <HI>Tales</HI> made of them.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e, who are the <HI>Wizards</HI> Patrons think to excu&s;e them; Fir&s;t, By &s;aying, that all things, which are told of their <HI>Sabbaths,</HI> (or Conventicles) and of all tho&s;e things that are done there, is nought, but a meer imagina|tion, and a troubled brain, and no real truth; which they maintain to have been verified, in that there have been &s;ome, who believing and maintaining, that they have been &s;o tran&s;por|ted, and reporting what they had &s;een and done; have for all that been found lying in their Beds at that very time, or lying as if
<PB N="108" REF="63">they had been dead, altogether in&s;en&s;ible, and in an Exta&s;ie: Whence they conclude that all tho&s;e tran&s;ports are meerly imagina|ry.</P>
<P>Secondly, As to tho&s;e harms they think to do, (as for example, to rai&s;e &s;torms, and to &s;end the Vermin into fields and hou&s;es, to cau&s;e a Rot to fall upon the cattell, and to in|flict grievous di&s;ea&s;es upon tho&s;e men, that they bewitch) their Abettors think to excu&s;e them, in &s;aying, that the Devill, fore-&s;eeing the&s;e things to come, per&s;wades the&s;e execra|ble people, that they are the cau&s;e of all the&s;e things, and that they do all by their Sor|ceries and charms; although there is no pow|er or virtue in the charms them&s;elves. But fir&s;t, by &s;aying thus, they grant that, which we would have, <HI>viz.</HI> that there are <HI>Daemons;</HI> whence we infer, that there is al&s;o a God to re|&s;train them, and they mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity grant it: For how can tho&s;e people, without the help of the Devill, fore&s;ee tho&s;e &s;torms and tempe&s;ts, tho&s;e Vermin, and tho&s;e Mortalities to come? And if they did prophe&s;ie tho&s;e things by natu|ral cau&s;es, why &s;hould they endeavour to make them come to pa&s;s by their Sorceries? why &s;hould they fancy to them&s;elves, that their Charms are the cau&s;e of them? Add to this, that the&s;e &s;tormes and Tempe&s;ts are mo&s;t commonly &s;o terrible and furious, and the
<PB N="109" REF="63">Effects of them &s;o &s;trange and wonderfull; that it plainly appears, that the&s;e things do not proceed meerly from Natural Cau&s;es; but that there is with them &s;omething &s;uper|natural, which gives them their &s;o &s;trange vi|gour and motion.</P>
<P>And as to tho&s;e harms which the&s;e per&s;ons confe&s;&s;e them&s;elves to be guilty of: Albeit their Inchantments had not that power, as to cau&s;e them, it cannot therefore follow that they are not guilty, becau&s;e they will and in|tend to do it: and to this purpo&s;e they make Compact with the Devill to help them: This evill purpo&s;e joyned with this Com|pact renders them wholly inexcu&s;able. Even as he is not to be pardoned, who, not thinking him&s;elfe able to kill his Enemy, doth implore the help of another to ef|fect it. The&s;e Sorceries therefore, being the &s;ignes of the Compact they have made with the Devil, and &s;ufficient proofs of their ill Will, and of the endeavours to bring it to pa&s;&s;e, do render them wholly guilty; and the le&s;&s;e &s;trength and Phy&s;icall Virtue their <HI>Sortileges</HI> have, the more clearly its &s;eene, that there is &s;ome &s;upernaturall Cau&s;e, that produces the&s;e Effects, which Cau&s;e can be none other, but the Devill, with whom they have made an agreement to do it. And if there is &s;ome Phy&s;ical
<PB N="110" REF="64">Virtue in any of tho&s;e things, that they u&s;e, to cau&s;e &s;trange di&s;ea&s;es, and tho&s;e Plagues, which they afflict men withall, they mu&s;t needs have been taught to u&s;e them by the Devil; they not being able to know the&s;e Virtues by any Study or Experience, or the power of any thing they u&s;e in their Sorceries; being that they be all, or mo&s;t of them, rude, illiterate, ignorant, and &s;tupid per&s;ons.</P>
<P>But, be&s;ides this, we mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily grant, that <HI>Sathan</HI> hath a great power over the <HI>'Di|viners</HI> and <HI>Magicians,</HI> who do prophe&s;ie and reveal things to come, and things occult; which they cannot do by any art, and which cannot be known to them, but by the help of the Devils. The like doth appear in tho&s;e, mon&s;trous and &s;trange things, which tho&s;e that make their addre&s;&s;es to the&s;e <HI>Magicians,</HI> do &s;ee, feel, and hear. For the&s;e things can|not be by any art effected, but proceed meerly from the power and efficacy of the <HI>Daemons.</HI></P>
<P>As to the exta&s;ies of <HI>Witches,</HI> during which they really think them&s;elves to be carried to their <HI>Sabbaths</HI> (or meetings) and there to &s;ee, feel, and do many &s;trange and mon&s;trous things; although their tran&s;port was not real and corporeal, but only an imagined one: (to which many Relations of the Reality of them, and which al&s;o are verified, are direct|ly contrary) they neverthele&s;s are highly guil|ty;
<PB N="111" REF="64">becau&s;e &s;uch Exta&s;ies, and all tho&s;e things they think they do and &s;ee at that time, proceeding from the Devil, with whom they have made a Contract, cannot have their Ri&s;e from any Phy&s;ical and ordinary cau&s;e; &s;ince that Natural Cau&s;es do not operate at mans will and plea&s;ure. For tho&s;e Exta&s;ies come to them when they lift, and do not at all happen, unle&s;s they have a minde to it.</P>
<P>Finally, there are &s;ome, who pretend, that what&s;oever wonders are &s;poken of <HI>Witches, Diviners, Magicians,</HI> and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed per&s;ons, do or may proceed from Natural Cau&s;es. And there are &s;ubtile men, and great Philo&s;o|phers, which have employed all their parts and abilities to demon&s;trate this; and to this end do in&s;tance in &s;everal wonderfull effects, which proceed meerly from Phy&s;ical Cau|&s;es.</P>
<P>It is very true, that in Natural bodies there are wonderfull qualities, and proprieties, both manife&s;t and occult; which produce Effects to the amazement of tho&s;e that are ignorant of their Cau&s;es. And tho&s;e, that have diligently enquired into the &s;ecrets of Nature, have written &s;omething of Natural Magick, where they mu&s;ter many examples of &s;uch &s;trange ef|fects and proprieties; but all that they have writ comes nothing near to that, which the <HI>Witches, Magicians</HI> and <HI>Diviners</HI> do bring to
<PB N="112" REF="65">pa&s;s, and in this we mu&s;t acknowledge, that tho&s;e people have another gue&s;s Ma&s;ter then the&s;e; <HI>viz,</HI> The Devil him&s;elfe. For &s;uch people, (being all, or mo&s;t of them, Rude, Illiterate, and unexperienced men) cannot have learned of them&s;elves to do the&s;e won|derfull things by any acquired Knowledge of the Virtues and Proprieties of Natural things, of which they cannot di&s;cour&s;e; nor render any pertinent Rea&s;on. Which doth evident|ly &s;hew, that what they do is not by any pro|found Knowledge, that they have of the oc|cult virtues of Naturall things, but that all the&s;e things proceed from the mini&s;try and help of the Devill: who doth not teach them the&s;e Virtues of Natural things neither, but only imploy them as per&s;ons, with whom he hath made a Contract, to the end they may practi&s;e &s;uch wicked things, the cau&s;es of which they knew not at all.</P>
<P>All Natural Bodies are &s;o compo&s;ed, that they have qualities and proprieties, by vvhich they do act, one on the other, or do mutually &s;uffer &s;ome alterations, the one by the other; whence the naturall Sympathies and Antipa|thies do ari&s;e. From the&s;e virtues and pro|prieties proceed all the alterations and changes tran&s;mutations and effects, which are &s;een in nature: And if one could exactly know all the&s;e virtues and qualities, and &s;hould apply
<PB N="113" REF="65">them exactly <HI>agentia patientibus,</HI> he would doubtle&s;s produce very &s;trange Effects, and wonderfull to tho&s;e, that &s;hould be ignorant of their Cau&s;es. All which the Devils knowing exactly, and being able to do the&s;e things, they (I &s;ay) having an (almo&s;t-perfect) knowledge of Nature, and of the Qualities, Vertues, Pro|prieties of natural things, and applying them fitly by their activity and motion, which is not at all perceptible to us; it is no wonder, if they do, by the hands of <HI>Witches, Diviners,</HI> and <HI>Magicians,</HI> &s;o many &s;trange things, which make men to wonder at them, even to an a|mazement.</P>
<P>It is commonly held, and, it may be, not with|out rea&s;on; That all the operation of <HI>Daemons</HI> doth con&s;i&s;t in their local motion. By which, Fir&s;t, they are carried from place to place, though never &s;o farr di&s;tant, almo&s;t in a mo|ment, or imperceptible &s;pace of time: Second|ly, they move, and tran&s;port Phy&s;ical bodies, though never &s;o great, or heavy, with an incre|dible &s;trength: Thirdly, They mix and compound diver&s;e bodies together by their &s;trength and power: Fourthly, they mix, and, as it were, incor|porate them&s;elves in tho&s;e bodies, and thereby make them to act as they plea&s;e: Fifthly, they &s;tupi&s;ie, dimini&s;h, &s;trengthen, augment, and animate, the virtues and proprieties of all things. For, they knowing all the virtues, and
<PB N="114" REF="66">Proprieties of all bodies, &amp; being able, through their activity and local motion, to apply <HI>quod|libet agens cuilibet patienti,</HI> they ea&s;ily do all tho&s;e things, which are reported of the <HI>Divi|ners, Wizards,</HI> and <HI>Magicians.</HI> And in this &s;en&s;e we may &s;ay, that all the&s;e things are done by Natural Cau&s;es; becau&s;e (as it hath been &s;aid before) they are done by the application of Natural Cau&s;es: but this application of Cau&s;es Natural is not, nor cannot be done by the <HI>Magicians</HI> and <HI>Diviners</HI> without the help of Devils. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e the &s;aid per&s;ons, being commonly rude, illiterate, and ignorant men, they cannot have any knowledge of the&s;e Na|tural things: and Secondly, though they had an hundred times more knowledge and expe|rience, then indeed they have, yet it &s;hould not be &s;ufficient to produce tho&s;e Effects. And again, had they &s;uch a knowledge, yet could not they apply <HI>agentia patientibus,</HI> with that promptne&s;s and ability, which is requi&s;ite in the production of tho&s;e Effects. So that we may conclude, that it is nece&s;&s;ary that the <HI>Daemons</HI> &s;hould have &s;ome influence in the production of the&s;e Effects.</P>
<P>For example, By what Natural Cau&s;e can a <HI>Diviner</HI> know tho&s;e things which are hidden, and the which he reveales, and which have been done in a time, and place utterly unknown to any, but the Authours of tho&s;e actions, as
<PB N="115" REF="66">the revealing of Murthers, Poy&s;onings, Adul|teries, Rapes, Thefts, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> and by what natu|ral cau&s;e could the two hor&s;emen, in the &s;hape of <HI>Ca&s;tor</HI> and <HI>Pollux,</HI> bring tidings to the <HI>Ro|mans,</HI> in their publique place, of the Victory their Con&s;ul had gained in <HI>Macedonia</HI> but a few hours before? And by what natural means can a foot-man go in few hours four or five hundred miles, which the be&s;t Po&s;ts can &s;carce do in many dayes? and a thou&s;and like wonderfull effects? So then, it appears (from that we have &s;hown, that they are <HI>Witches,</HI> and <HI>Magicians,</HI> which do the&s;e things) that they are Devils, which are the true cau&s;es of the&s;e effects, and who&s;e In&s;truments the <HI>Witches</HI> are.</P>
<P>Now, if there are evil &s;pirits, there is no rea&s;on to deny, that there are good ones too. For good doth precede the evil; evil being no|thing, but the corruption of goodne&s;&s;e. Whence it nece&s;&s;arily followes, that the&s;e evil &s;pirits were good at fir&s;t; but that they have corrupted them&s;elves afterwards. And, if there are good and evil Angels, we mu&s;t conclude, that there is a Deity above them, from which they have had their be|ing, and which doth conduct the one, and re&s;train the other. For, were it not &s;o, that ince&s;&s;ant jarring, and contrariety, which would be among them, would nece&s;&s;arily cau&s;e the
<PB N="116" REF="67">ruine and &s;ubver&s;ion of all the World, and of all the bodies, over which they have &s;o much power. Again, what rea&s;on is there to deny there is a Deity, if it is once granted, that there are good and bad Angels, which are &s;pi|ritual, immaterial, invi&s;ible, immortal, power|full, and intelligent &s;ub&s;tances? For above the&s;e there is nought, but the Deity; of who&s;e Na|ture they do very much participate, and which doth excell them only, in that it is Infinite, Im|men&s;e, and Eternal.</P>
<P>Again, if there are evil Spirits, or Devils, there is an Hell, where they are placed, which is their pri&s;on, and the pri&s;on of tho&s;e wicked and abominable ones, which do follow, and imitate them in their wickedne&s;s. And, if there are good Angels, there is a Paradi&s;e for their Man&s;ion, and for the dwelling of tho&s;e good and virtuous per&s;ons, which are like unto them: and above all a God, a righteous Judg, which avengeth the one, and rewardeth the other.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="117" REF="67">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. XII.</HI> The ninth <HI>Argument,</HI> drawn from the Univer&s;al Con&s;ent of the World, That there is a Deity.</HEAD>
<P>THe &s;econd kind of Rea&s;oning again&s;t the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> is from Authority, or Record: which is two-fold, <HI>Divine</HI> or <HI>Humane.</HI> I call that <HI>Divine</HI> Te&s;timony, which is drawn from the holy Writ: I call that <HI>Humane,</HI> but yet unque&s;tionable, Te&s;timony, the Con&s;ent of all the men in the world; all of which do naturally acknowledge, that there is a Deity and Provi|dence. And here we mu&s;t take notice, Fir&s;t, that the mo&s;t ancient Philo&s;ophers, and the mo&s;t eminent and illu&s;trious per&s;ons in Learning and Virtue, of whom any mention is made in Hi&s;tory, have acknowledged a Divine Provi|dence, which &s;eeth, knoweth, and rules all things, rewards the one, and puni&s;heth the o|ther. Secondly, all the People, and Nations of the Earth, which are; or ever have been, have acknowledged this &s;ame truth? Which is evident, becau&s;e there was never any, that hath not profe&s;&s;ed &s;ome Religion, or in&s;tead
<PB N="118" REF="68">of it an open and manife&s;t communion, and a familiar conver&s;ation with evill &s;pirits; as the&s;e &s;avage and bruti&s;h Nations have, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Toupinambous, Margajas, Caribes, Can|nibales, Patagons,</HI> and the like, and tho&s;e <HI>Septentrional</HI> Nations, which are neerer to our <HI>Arctick</HI> Pole, in <HI>Europe, A&s;ia,</HI> and the <HI>New world,</HI> as it appears by the Relations of them, which at this day are common and vulgar.</P>
<P>Now we have proved heretofore, that, if there are Devils, there is a Deity; and con|&s;equently tho&s;e Nations, acknowledging that there are <HI>Daemons,</HI> by that commerce which they have with them, do al&s;o tacitely ac|knowledge, and are forced to grant, that there is a Deity. Every Religion al&s;o doth imply, that there is a Deity: For it is wholly imployed in the &s;ervice and adoration of it, and to make it propitious, and mercifull to men, and to obtain from it, either the fruiti|on of tho&s;e things that are de&s;ired, or an im|munity from tho&s;e evils that are feared, or &s;uffered either in this life, or in the other: and this is done either by Prayers, Invoca|tions, Acknowledgements, Thank&s;givings; or by Sacrifices, and other Ceremonies. This is the end of all Religions.</P>
<P>Since therefore, that there hath been no People, or Nation, whether civilized, (as in old
<PB N="119" REF="68">time, the Heathen <HI>Romans,</HI> and <HI>Graecians,</HI> the <HI>Chaldaeans, Babylonians, A&s;&s;yrians,</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians, Syrians, Phaenicians, Aegr|ptians</HI>) or barbarous, (as the <HI>Scythians, A|fricans,</HI> and infinite others) that hath not had, and profe&s;&s;ed &s;ome Religion; it's evi|dent, that all have with one con&s;ent acknow|ledged a Divine Providence.</P>
<P>As to the &s;trength and validity of this Ar|gument, it is (as hath been &s;aid) not to be doubted of, e&s;pecially, if it may be &s;hown, that there is no ju&s;t Cau&s;e or Rea&s;on to doubt of this Te&s;timony. Let's then &s;ee, whether any may ju&s;tly doubt of it. One may be indu|ced to believe a fal&s;e opinion three manner of waies:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By affection, and de&s;ire, that we have it &s;hould be &s;o.</P>
<P>Secondly, By Authority.</P>
<P>Thirdly, By &s;pecious and deceiving Argu|ments. But none of the&s;e waies can agree with that, which is now in que&s;tion.</P>
<P>As to the fir&s;t, There is &s;uch a Connexion between the Intellect and the Will, that as the Will alwaies follows the Dictates of the Under&s;tanding, &s;o it doth de&s;ire that which the Intellect judges to be good. So al&s;o we ea&s;ily per&s;wade our &s;elves that, which we de&s;ire with Pa&s;&s;ion: man being inclined by this de&s;ire to &s;eek all the Rea&s;ons that may be to per&s;wade
<PB N="120" REF="69">him&s;elfe of the truth and goodne&s;s of that which he de&s;ireth, and giving weight unto them by this &s;trong and vehement affection.</P>
<P>But here it cannot be &s;aid, that men per|&s;wade them&s;elves that there is a God, becau&s;e they do de&s;ire it; but contrariwi&s;e the mo&s;t part of men would, that there were none, becau&s;e they fear him as a Judge. There is therefore much more Rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect, that the opinion of the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> is fal&s;e, and ju&s;tly to object again&s;t them, that they per&s;wade them&s;elves there is none, becau&s;e they &s;o ardently wi&s;h that it were &s;o; and that this their &s;o vehement de&s;ire makes them to receive the mo&s;t weak Rea&s;ons for good and &s;olid de|mon&s;trations.</P>
<P>As to Authority, one &s;ometimes may be|lieve a thing upon the meer Re&s;pect, that he hath to the per&s;ons that &s;ay it, and that, either becau&s;e &s;uch per&s;ons are &s;ufficient and able, and that he believes them to be &s;o, or becau&s;e of that eminent power and Authority in which they are, which hath only place in tho&s;e things, which one cares not much whether they be true or not, and where he &s;ees no Rea&s;ons to the contrary.</P>
<P>It cannot be &s;aid, that men have been in|duced to believe a Deity and Providence by the bare Authority and Re&s;pect that &s;ome per|&s;ons had, which had no ground or Rea&s;on for
<PB N="121" REF="69">what they &s;aid For who is he, that hath&s;o uni|ver&s;ally been known to be of &s;uch Sufficiency, Knowledge, and Ability, as to per&s;wade men, only by the bare Re&s;pect they had of him, to believe a thing &s;o great, and that doth &s;o much concern them? For, be&s;ides that <HI>Ari|&s;totle,</HI> or <HI>Plato,</HI> who is acknowledged to have been the greate&s;t and learned&s;t Philo&s;o|pher that ever was, is not &s;o much as known by name to the thou&s;and&s;t part of the World, it is certain, that none that believes there is a Deity will confe&s;s, that he be|lieves it, becau&s;e &s;uch a one &s;aid it; but only becau&s;e he hath an inward per&s;wa&s;ion of this Truth by &s;ome Rea&s;ons, which he knowes and under&s;tands well him&s;elfe; al|though very often times he cannot expre&s;s them.</P>
<P>And as for Eminency and Dignity, there was never yet any, that hath ruled over all the World, and who might have had the power to command or per&s;wade men to believe a Deity. Be&s;ides, that the Belief, which proceeds this way, ought to be of things, which we care not much, whether they be true or not; which cannot be &s;aid of the Deity and Providence, there being nothing more important, or that doth more highly concern men.</P>
<P>But perhaps it may be objected, That this
<PB N="122" REF="70">opinion hath &s;pread it &s;elf by Tradition from Fathers to Children, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;o is come to us. Now it's very true, that the fir&s;t man, <HI>A|dam,</HI> hath taught this truth to his Children, and they to theirs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and by the&s;e means this Truth hath been believ'd over all the World.</P>
<P>But fir&s;t, although he hath &s;o taught his po&s;terity, we may not therefore conclude, that all have believed him: for there have al|waies been wicked ones, that have not cared for their Fathers admonitions, and tho&s;e al&s;o have not taken pains to make their Children to believe it; &s;o that this pretended Tradition hath been in many places interrupted, and neg|lected. So that we mu&s;t confe&s;s, that this uni|ver&s;al belief of a Deity hath another cau&s;e then Tradition, or meer In&s;titution. Add to it, that this thing is of too much concernment to be believed upon the bare word of our Fathers: which indeed may give an occa&s;ion to &s;eek af|ter this truth, and incline our minds to believe it; but cannot be the only true ground of &s;o firmly-inherent a belief.</P>
<P>Secondly, As to tho&s;e, again&s;t whom we di&s;pute, which hold the Eternity of the world; how can they, (keeping &s;till to this propo&s;i|tion, <HI>viz, That the world is Eternal</HI>) Object, That this opinion hath its Ri&s;e from meer Tra|dition. For I will ask them, Whether they think
<PB N="123" REF="70">that this Opinion is Eternal, as well as the world? or whether it hath had &s;ome beginning again? If this opinion is Eternal, I will ask, Whether it was generally received among all men, or received of &s;ome only? If they &s;ay, That it hath alwaies been Univer&s;al, it follows, that it is natural, and therefore a true opi|nion, and theirs con&s;equently fal&s;e. If this Opinion hath not been Univer&s;al, but yet was from all Eternity received among &s;ome, it follows that it is at lea&s;t as true an opinion as theirs is; &s;ince it hath had followers, and hath been received from all Eternity as well as theirs.</P>
<P>But the&s;e two Opinions being contrary one to another, they cannot both be equal|ly true, nor con&s;equently equally Eternal: and &s;o nece&s;&s;arily the one is true, and the other fal&s;e; the one <HI>Prior,</HI> the other <HI>Po&s;terior:</HI> truth being alwaies before fal&s;hood, which is a di&s;gui&s;ing of Truth and an aberration from it.</P>
<P>Here then will they &s;ay, that their Opi|nion is the fir&s;t, and Eternal, the other ha|ving followed long time after. If this is true, then it follows, that all men Univer&s;ally, in an infinite number of Ages, have con|&s;tantly held this opinion, <HI>That there is no God:</HI> how then is it come into the minds of men to hold the contrary to that, which they had alwaies held and believed? And how could any
<PB N="124" REF="71">one imagine that he could per&s;wade this to a|ny one? Yea, how is it po&s;&s;ible, that men &s;hould now hold a contrary opinion, but that they have acknowledged by &s;trong Rea&s;ons, that the other opinion was fal&s;e?</P>
<P>So then we cannot conclude, neither accor|ding to their <HI>Hypothe&s;is,</HI> nor accoding to ours, that this univer&s;al belief of the Deity is a meer Tradition and proceeds from In&s;titution; but it mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be concluded, that it proceeds from that men have unan&s;werable Arguments for it, upon which both it and its evidence is grounded.</P>
<P>But the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> would willingly reply, that tho&s;e arguments are but captious and weak, &amp; have no &s;olidity in them. But there is no rea&s;on to think &s;o. For, how is it po&s;&s;ible, that a meer Phanta&s;m or &s;hadow, without any real &s;oli|dity, &s;hould have deceived all the men in the whole world: and that &s;o con&s;tantly, &s;ince &s;o many ages; that there hath been none found among &s;o many men, that hath demon&s;trated as yet the pretended vanity and weakne&s;s of the&s;e Arguments?</P>
<P>Is it po&s;&s;ible, that none hath been found among &s;o many wonderfully-learned men, of which Hi&s;tory makes mention; that hath evi|denced the pretended fal&s;hood of this opinion, and demon&s;trated how weak and vain tho&s;e Arguments are, on which this our opinion is
<PB N="125" REF="71">grounded; and by the&s;e meanes free the World from the checks and terrours, which the con|&s;cience of their crimes cau&s;es in them, when they con&s;ider and perceive that there is a Divine Providence? This doubtle&s;s would have found place enough in the belief of men.</P>
<P>But, it may be, it will be &s;aid, that <HI>Epicu|rus,</HI> and his followers, and &s;ome others afore him, have done this, teaching <HI>Athei&s;m,</HI> and the Rea&s;ons that may per&s;wade to it.</P>
<P>Now, tho&s;e Per&s;ons have indeed had wit e|nough, and very good Rea&s;ons, to jear at all the vain &s;uper&s;titions, fooli&s;h and extravagant opi|nions of the Religion of the Heathen, at the im|pertinent and fabulous Stories, that they made of their Gods, of the multitude of them, and at the fal&s;e imagination they had of the &s;tate of the dead in Hell, or in the <HI>Ely&s;ian</HI> fields.</P>
<P>But it will not be found, nor confe&s;&s;ed, that they have &s;trong and &s;olid Rea&s;ons, to prove, that there is no Providence. And tho&s;e prophane ones of our dayes, who think they have refined <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> to the height, will be found as &s;hort in their Arguments, if they are examined by the rules of right Rea&s;on: and it will be found, that the Rea&s;on, why they are e&s;tecmed and counted excellent Wits, is not &s;o much becau&s;e of the &s;trength of their
<PB N="126" REF="72">Arguments, as becau&s;e nothing is either too hot or too cold for them, and that there is no ab&s;urdity, though it be never &s;o great, which they do not ea&s;ily &s;wallow, like to the &s;trong &s;tomachs of <HI>O&s;triches,</HI> which do dige&s;t any thing that is given them.</P>
<P>And here we &s;hould enter upon the exami|nation of their pretended Rea&s;ons, and com|pare theirs and ours, which we have brought again&s;t them; that there might be a Judgement given, which are the mo&s;t &s;olid and firm: but this would engage us to another Treati&s;e, whereupon we have not now a de&s;ign to enter; but will examine &s;ome of them towards the end of this book. That, which hath been &s;aid hi|therto again&s;t them, being well weighed and con&s;idered, will be found &s;o agreeable to right Rea&s;on, that, if their opinion is true, they mu&s;t di&s;pute otherwi&s;e then by Rea&s;on, and mu&s;t be farr above it, and &s;o con&s;equently mu&s;t be much more then men.</P>
<P>But, albeit their Rea&s;ons were of equal weight with ours, (which is not &s;o) yet have we much advantage on our &s;ide.</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e, be&s;ides the&s;e Rea&s;ons, we have this univer&s;al con&s;ent, which they have not.</P>
<P N="2">2. Becau&s;e, though there were no God, yet there is no danger, and little or no lo&s;s to be|lieve and &s;erve one: but, if there is one, the <HI>A|thei&s;ts,</HI>
<PB N="127" REF="72">for not believing and &s;erving him, are in great danger to have Hell for their portion.</P>
<P>One thing may be objected again&s;t this Uni|ver&s;al Con&s;ent of all Nations, <HI>viz.</HI> That there are errours and fal&s;e opinions, which yet ne|verthele&s;s have been believed, and received by mo&s;t, or all the Nations of the Earth: as for example; Idolatry, Multiplicity of the Gods of the Heathen, and in the mo&s;t civiliz'd Nations, and People, (as among the <HI>Graecians</HI> and <HI>Ro|mans,</HI>) Whoredom, and the &s;in again&s;t Nature, have &s;carce been accounted vices; &amp; there have been whole Nations, and People, where Rob|bery, and Theft, e&s;pecially if it was committed upon tho&s;e of another Nation, was not looked upon as crime or &s;in.</P>
<P>But, The an&s;wer to this is not difficult:</P>
<P>For Fir&s;t, the&s;e errours, though very general, have not been &s;o con&s;tant and univer&s;al, as the belief of a Deity. For <HI>Chri&s;tiani&s;m</HI> hath aboli&s;h|ed the <HI>Pagani&s;m</HI> in a very con&s;iderable part of the World, and was once more univer&s;al then it is now. And the <HI>Mahometan, Jeni&s;h</HI> and <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> Religions, all of which hold, there is one only God, compared with the re&s;t of the World, which yet remains plunged in Hea|theni&s;h Idolatry, do almo&s;t, or, it may be, altogether comprehend the half of tho&s;e men, which are upon the face of the Earth. Now, the opinion of one only God, &s;o as the <HI>Chri|&s;tians,
<PB N="128" REF="73">Mahometans,</HI> and <HI>Jews</HI> do hold, it is farr more contrary to <HI>Athei&s;m,</HI> then the <HI>Pa|gan</HI> Idolatry. How is it then, if <HI>Athei&s;tical</HI> opinions be true, that the opinion of the <HI>Jews, Chri&s;tians,</HI> and <HI>Mahometans,</HI> hath &s;o much prevailed over that of the Heathen, which comes much nearer to <HI>Athei&s;m?</HI> E&s;pecially, &s;ince the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion, which hath pre|ceded that of the <HI>Mahometans,</HI> was propaga|ted only by the patience and &s;ufferings of the Profe&s;&s;ours of it, which every where have been expo&s;ed and abandoned to the rage, fury, and per&s;ecution of the Heathen.</P>
<P>The Heatheni&s;h Idolatry, and Super&s;tition, is an opinion much more &s;uitable to our car|nal &s;en&s;e, and which corrupted man doth love, and cheri&s;h much more, then the apprehen&s;i|on, which the <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> and <HI>Mahometans</HI> have of one God. Therefore (as we have noted heretofore) its no wonder, that this er|rour had &s;pread it &s;elf very much: &s;ince we per|&s;wade our &s;elves very willingly and ea&s;ily of tho&s;e things, which we earne&s;tly de&s;ire, and wi&s;h for. But this &s;ame fle&s;h is wholly repu|gnant to the belief of a Deity, that judgeth and Governeth the World, and renders to every man according to what he had done. How comes it then to pa&s;s, that the opinion, which we have of one only God, hath prevailed a|gain&s;t the Heatheni&s;h Idolatry and Super&s;titi|on,
<PB N="129" REF="73">and doth yet maintain it &s;elf again&s;t &s;o many <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> as are at this day: &s;ince that we arm and defend our &s;elves, as much as we can, again&s;t tho&s;e things, which we fear and dread?</P>
<P>Thirdly, The Heatheni&s;h Idolatry, and Su|per&s;tition, is an alteration and corruption of the opinion of a Deity, and doth ne|ce&s;&s;arily pre&s;uppo&s;e it, as its ground, and <HI>ba&s;is.</HI> And this alteration (as I &s;aid ju&s;t now) is wonderfully more accommodated to our fle&s;hly and &s;en&s;ual corruptions, then the belief of an only God. It is therefore no wonder, if the opinion of a Deity, being &s;o univer&s;ally received, and &s;o deeply root|ed in the heart of man, the Heatheni&s;h I|dolatry, and Super&s;tition (which plea&s;eth the fle&s;h) hath &s;pread it &s;elf al&s;o &s;o much as it hath. But the opinion of a Deity is not a corruption, or alteration of <HI>Athei&s;m.</HI> It is quite contrary. And this belief of a Deity doth not plea&s;e the fle&s;h, as <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> doth. Therefore the belief of a Deity could not have &s;o univer&s;ally won the &s;pirits of men, but by its own proper &s;trength and virtue, which con&s;i&s;teth in Truth, which is &s;tronger then all things. And it's much to be wondered at, (and the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">l never give a pertinent Rea&s;on of it) why, if <HI>A|thei&s;m</HI> be true, it hath not been &s;o univer|&s;ally
<PB N="130" REF="74">received, as its contrary; but contra|riwi&s;e, and almo&s;t every where, even a|mong the Heathen, it hath been abhorred, and dete&s;ted of all. As to tho&s;e other e|normities, of Whoredom, Thefts, and the &s;in again&s;t Nature, and the like; be&s;ides, that the mo&s;t hone&s;t per&s;ons, in every Nation, have acknowledged in the&s;e actions a great deal of filthine&s;s, and inju&s;tice, when they have &s;poken of them in good earne&s;t (though the corrupted and ba&s;e plea&s;ures of the fle&s;h, and the depraved &s;en&s;e of their lu&s;ts, had &s;o blinded their under&s;tanding, that they let them&s;elves loo&s;e to all the&s;e vices, without any great remor&s;e) it is not of the&s;e errours, as of the belief of a Deity: for the&s;e vices plea&s;e, and intice &s;en&s;uality, and therefore men are ea&s;ily per&s;waded to them; but the belief of a Deity is wholy repugnant to &s;en|&s;uality, which would per&s;wade it &s;elf the contrary if it could: and neverthele&s;&s;e this opinion hath forced mens under&s;tand|ings to a&s;&s;ent to it; which could not be done, but by the meer &s;trength of truth it &s;elf.</P>
<P>From what hath been &s;aid before, it is plain and evident, that this &s;o univer&s;al, and con&s;tant con&s;ent of all men, (who hold, and believe, even in &s;pight of them&s;elves, that there is a God, and a Providence) is
<PB N="131" REF="74">an indubitable Argument of this truth, and an evidence of the deprivation of man, by which he is fallen from his fir&s;t Nature, and Prin|ciples, by which he was joyned and united to God; unto whom he was conformable in Truth, Ju&s;tice, and Holine&s;s, as one cre|ated to his own Image: and from which he is now &s;eparated, and alienated, through his Inju&s;tice, Pollution, and Perver&s;ene&s;s, which doth incline him to deny this Provi|dence, which he feareth as his Judg.</P>
<P>And in this Infidelity of Man, God would not leave him&s;elfe without a Wit|ne&s;&s;e; but hath lively engraved, and im|printed him&s;elfe in his Works: &s;o that man, maugre him&s;elfe, is forced in tho&s;e things to acknowledge this Deity.</P>
<P>And this is to convince man of his errour, and to make good the Ju&s;tice of his pro|ceedings, and the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of his Judg|ments again&s;t their impiety.</P>
<P>And, from what hath been &s;aid, appears the &s;trength of this Te&s;timony, again&s;t which nothing, which is con&s;iderable, can be ob|jected: as being a Te&s;timony, not only Hu|mane, or proceeding from the fancy, or will of man; but in effect a Divine one, as being the meer motion of Nature, and the dictate of Rea&s;on, and wherein this Proverb is verified; <HI>Vox Populi, Vox Dei.</HI></P>
<PB N="132" REF="75">
<P>But let us pa&s;s from this <HI>Humane</HI> Te&s;ti|mony to that which is directly <HI>Divine.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. XIII.</HI> The la&s;t <HI>Argument,</HI> Drawn from the Te&s;timony of the Holy Scriptures; the Divinity of which is proved a|gain&s;t the <HI>Athei&s;ts.</HI></HEAD>
<P>ABove all the&s;e Proofs and Rea&s;ons, which have been brought heretofore again&s;t <HI>A|thei&s;m,</HI> is that, which is drawn from the Te&s;ti|mony of the Holy Scriptures, contained in the Books of the Old and New Te&s;taments; which teach and inculcate to us nothing el&s;e, then an only true God, maker of Heaven and Earth, what he is, his Virtues, his Perfections, his Pro|prieties and Attributes, his Works, as well of the Creation of the World, and his Governing of it, as al&s;o tho&s;e of mans Redemption, his Coun|&s;els, De&s;igns, the Decrees of his Will concern|ing Humane kind, the Salvation of the one, the Condemnation of the others; al&s;o the Honour, Re&s;pect, Service, and Adoration, which we are bound to pay unto him, and which he doth al&s;o
<PB N="133" REF="75">require of us, what we ought to fear, or to ex|pect, and hope from him: in &s;umm the true and only means to be perfectly and eternally happy; which is that which all men do natu|rally de&s;ire, and wi&s;h for, and at which all their actions do aim.</P>
<P>So that, if the&s;e Sacred Books are true, and not forged, and invented by the Artifice or ma|lice of wily and deceitfull men, it's evident and not to be doubted, that there is a God, and that he is &s;uch an one as is there de&s;cribed to us.</P>
<P>To which the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> reply nothing, but this. Who, &s;ay they, will warrant us, that what tho&s;e Writers &s;ay is true, and that their de&s;ign hath not been to impo&s;e upon our be|liefs, and deceive us? <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ay they, &s;ays very much, but proves nothing; intimating that he is a Tale-teller; and that he will be be|lieved upon his bare word. And one of them hath &s;aid, That our Lord <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> to give the more weight to his Doctrine, hath called him&s;elf (but fal&s;ly) the <HI>Son of God,</HI> yea <HI>God him&s;elf.</HI> Tho&s;e per&s;ons imagine, and will have the World believe, that the&s;e Divine wri|ters are &s;uch as <HI>Numa Pompilius,</HI> who did attribute his <HI>Books</HI> and <HI>Laws</HI> to the Deity of the <HI>Nymph Aegeria,</HI> with whom he pretended to have familiar Conver&s;ation; or as <HI>Mahc|meth,</HI> who &s;aith, that he received his <HI>Alcoran</HI> from the Angel <HI>Gabriel.</HI></P>
<PB N="134" REF="76">
<P>It's not my de&s;ign to proceed very far in this point &amp; to prove at large again&s;t &s;uch per&s;ons the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures. 'Tis too large a &s;ubject for the narrow bounds of this &s;mall treatr&s;e, be&s;ides, it would be <HI>Actum agere,</HI> &s;ince that all tho&s;e of the Holy Fathers of the Church; or Learned Divines, which have lived &s;ince the&s;e 200 years, which have demon&s;tra|ted the truth of <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion again&s;t the Heatheni&s;h, and other Sects which have been rai&s;ed &s;ince, have ever begun this way; this being the very <HI>Ba&s;is,</HI> Hinge, and Foun|dation of true Religion, which is, (whe|ther on purpo&s;e, or not I know not) ba&s;ely betrayed to the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> by tho&s;e; who pre|tend that the Scripture hath no authority over us, but only as tho&s;e, who call them&s;elves the Church, give it that power and validity. For, &s;etting a&s;ide the Scripture, the&s;e per&s;ons, who call them&s;elves the Church, cannot demon|&s;trate their pretended infallibility, nor prove, and per&s;wade the world, that they ought to be beleived upon their bare word whatever they &s;ay: as the Divinity of the Scriptures may be demon&s;trated to profane per&s;ons upon their own Authority, and by them&s;elves.</P>
<P>I will only, for the ending of this &s;mall Trea|ti&s;e, bring &s;ome general Con&s;iderations, by which one may &s;ee the fooli&s;hne&s;s and vanity of this frivolous exception of the <HI>Atheists,</HI> and
<PB N="135" REF="76">of their fal&s;e accu&s;ations, in &s;aying that the Ho|ly Scripture is nothing but a dream and inven|tion of men, without certain ground of Truth.</P>
<P>There are then 4 principal things, which &s;hew the impertinency of this exception. 1. The qua|lity and condition. 2. The number and diver&s;i|ty. 3. The Scope &amp; end of the&s;e Sacred Writers. And finally, The Nature and quality of the things they write. The&s;e things being well con|&s;idered, it will appear, that tho&s;e things, which tho&s;e men have writ, are not Tales and De|ceits, and things, which they have feigned to make the world beleive them. I will &s;peak of the&s;e four things very briefly, leaving tho&s;e things for any man to amplifie upon.</P>
<P>As to the fir&s;t, Tho&s;e that make it their bu|&s;ine&s;s to deceive, and make Fables and Forge|ries, are, for the mo&s;t part, &s;ubtile, cunning, wary, and knavi&s;h per&s;ons, and withall, of a low, or mean Condition: But great and high &s;pirits, magnanimous and Heroical Souls, Kings, great Princes, and Monarchs, Per|&s;ons of rare and exqui&s;ite Learning, and of &s;ub|lime wi&s;dom, never &s;toop to &s;o low and unwor|thy an imployment, as that of Juglers &amp; decei|vers. And tho&s;e, that are rude, ignorant, &amp; illi|terate, and of too low and abject condition, are not fit or able to invent &s;uch things, and to give &s;o much colour to their forgeries, as to make them to be believed and received for currant.
<PB N="136" REF="77">Now among the Sacred writers there are &s;ome of the&s;e two &s;orts. There are Kings and Princes, great Captains and Conquerours, and emment Per&s;ons in Dignity and Autho|rity, in Learning and incomparable Wi&s;|dom.</P>
<P>You have there a <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> one of the grea|te&s;t and mo&s;t eminent Captains and Conque|rours that ever was. You have there <HI>David,</HI> one of the brave&s;t, mo&s;t generous, and glo|rious Kings; and mo&s;t eminent for his Valour, Battells, Feats of Arms, and Victories, that ever was &s;een. You have there <HI>Solomon,</HI> the mo&s;t Rich, Magnificent, Illu&s;trious, and Wi&s;e&s;t King that ever was in the World. You have <HI>Daniel,</HI> the fir&s;t and chiefe&s;t Officer in the Court of the greate&s;t Monarchy in the World; in whom there was found more of true, high, and &s;ublime Wi&s;dome, then in all tho&s;e Wi&s;e men of that Nation, and Mo|narchy, in which he was an Officer. You have <HI>Mordecai,</HI> and <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> great and mighty Per&s;ons, and of the chiefe&s;t in the Court of the Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> which relate unto us their own Hi&s;tory. You have <HI>Job,</HI> a great, rich, and mighty Per&s;on in his time; yet greater in in Goodne&s;s, Patience, and incomparable Fortitude: who relates to us his own Hi&s;tory, and tho&s;e incomparable Di&s;cour&s;es held be|tween
<PB N="137" REF="77">him and his Friends, upon the occa&s;ion of his Afflictions. Briefly, you have <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> the mo&s;t ancient of all the&s;e Writers, bred in the King of <HI>Egypt's</HI> Court, learned in all the Wi&s;dom of the <HI>Egyptians:</HI> who were accoun|ted for their Wi&s;dom above all the other Na|tions of the Earth; but &s;ince, you have him endowed and filled with an higher and more admirable Wi&s;dom, which appears every where in his Writings: Who being compar'd with the greate&s;t, wi&s;e&s;t, and mo&s;t renowned Le|gi&s;latours of the Heathen, they are le&s;s then Children to him, albeit they have learnt in his Schole what they have be&s;t and more glo|rious.</P>
<P>Can per&s;ons of this Nature and Temper, of that Quality and Condition, of &s;o great and eminent Courage, &s;o noble and &s;o glo|rious, &s;o wi&s;e and prudent; can they (I &s;ay) deba&s;e them&s;elves &s;o much, as to bu&s;ie them|&s;elves in writing Forgeries? Or, is it pro|bable; that they would follow, and confirm, and entertain other mens Impo&s;tures? Have <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> and <HI>Alexander, Scipio</HI> and <HI>Cato, A|ri&s;totle</HI> and <HI>Plato,</HI> and other like Per&s;ons, eminent for Learning, Wi&s;dome, Virtue, Greatne&s;s, Riches, and Worldly Power a|mong&s;t the Heathens, imployed them&s;elves in this vile Trade of impo&s;ing on mens be|liefs, and writing of Tales?</P>
<PB N="138" REF="78">
<P>On the other &s;ide, you have among the Au|thours and Pen-men of the New Te&s;tament, our Lord <HI>Je&s;ut Chri&s;t,</HI> the fir&s;t of all, and from whom all the re&s;t have learn't, who (unle&s;s he were in effect that, which he him&s;elf &s;ayes to be, <HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>Son of God</HI>) was but the Son of a poor, and of a very mean woman, of the low|e&s;t rank of the people. His Di&s;ciples and Apo|&s;tles were, mo&s;tof them, poor Fi&s;hermen; &s;im|ple, rude, illiterate, and ignorant per&s;ons, (as &s;uch kind of people u&s;e to be, and as it appears by their own Hi&s;tory in the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI>) before they were endowed with that Wi&s;dom from above, which came from Heaven. Are &s;uch kind of per|&s;ons fit to &s;educe and deceive all the World by their pretended Impo&s;tures, and that in &s;pight of the mo&s;t &s;trong and violent Re&s;i&s;tance, that all the powers of the Earth have made again&s;t it, by the mo&s;t bloody and horri|ble Per&s;ecutions, and by the Learning and &s;ubtility of the greate&s;t Philo&s;ophers, who have hindered the Propagation of <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> Religion as much, as they po&s;&s;ibly could?</P>
<P>What great Cunning and Subtility, what &s;trong Rea&s;ons and powerfull Per&s;wa&s;ions, could proceed from Spirits &s;o dejected, from &s;o vile and abject per&s;ons, from men &s;o much de&s;pi&s;ed? And how have they been able to over-reach, and abu&s;e all the
<PB N="139" REF="78">World, and to captivate all Imaginations of men of what&s;oever Age, Sex, Quality, and Condition to the Obedience of <HI>Chri&s;t?</HI> And how could &s;uch men beat down and wholy &s;ubvert <HI>Pagani&s;m,</HI> which was &s;o deeply roo|ted in the Hearts of men, and upheld by the Authority of all the Supream Powers of the Earth? And, more then this, to per&s;wade men to re&s;olve with joy to loo&s;e their Goods, Honours, E&s;tates, E&s;teem, and Reputa|tion; yea, to loo&s;e their Life it &s;elfe; and all that they had deare&s;t here below, yea, even to endure the mo&s;t Horrible, and Exqui&s;ite Torments of the Body, (as we &s;ee in the Examples of <HI>Martyrs</HI> of all A|ges, Sexes, and Conditions, of all Nations, and People, in all places through the world, and that for a long time) for maintaining of a Ridiculous and Ab&s;urd Story (if we believe the <HI>Atheists</HI>) upon the hopes of a pretended Imaginary Felicity after this Life; of which Happine&s;s they give no other Cau|tion, then the promi&s;es of this pretended Son of a Carpentar?</P>
<P>How is it po&s;&s;ible, that &s;uch per&s;ons &s;hould imagine, that they could per&s;wade, and draw the VVorld to their Opinions, and delude them with their Dreams.</P>
<P>VVe mu&s;t then acknowledge in this the invincible &s;trength of Truth, and the fin|ger
<PB N="140" REF="79">and might of God, which hath acted, and &s;tretched forth its &s;elf in this &s;o wonderful a work. The quality then, and the conditi|on of the&s;e Holy Pen-men, doth not argue; that they be Fables contained in their Wri|tings, and that they are Impo&s;tours, and Delu|ders. And &s;o much for the fir&s;t point, which might be much more enlarged.</P>
<P>As to the &s;econd, Which is the number and diver&s;ity of the&s;e Writers, it &s;eldome, or never at all, happens, that many men, without any Communication, one with another, do con&s;pire, and agree to maintain, and uphold one and the &s;ame fal&s;hood. For the mind of man, through the unlimited Love, that it hath towards it &s;elf, is wonderfully various, and doth not agree with the Thoughts, Inventi|ons, and Imaginations of others, every one being willing to flatter him&s;elf, and to be thought as good and indu&s;trious in his Inven|tions as another. Whence tho&s;e Compilers of <HI>Romances</HI> in our daies have all their &s;everal Inventions; and there is &s;carce any, that pro|&s;ecutes the Invention and De&s;ign of another. But the Sacred Writers are many in num|ber, very much different as to time, and place. Since <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to the Apo&s;tles times, there are almo&s;t two thou&s;and years: during which &s;pace of time, &s;ometimes in one age, &s;ometimes in another, and in divers places, and per&s;ons of
<PB N="141" REF="79">different degrees, conditions, and qualities, Kings, Princes, Lords, Captains, Courtiers, Do|ctours, &s;imple and ignorant people, Fi&s;hermen, Arti&s;ts, Publicans, all agree in maintaining, and defending that pretended fal&s;hood, that there is an only God, maker of Heaven and Earth, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and give us the Hi&s;tory of a &s;mall, but mo&s;t wonderful, and illu&s;trious Nation, (which doth yet &s;ub&s;i&s;t, di&s;per&s;ed all over the world with &s;o exact a connexion, &s;ince its fir&s;t beginning, for the &s;pace of two thou&s;and years. And the&s;e ac|counts which they give us, are &s;o con&s;tant, and uniform, and &s;o agreeable one to the other, that nothing in them is contradictory, or belies the other.</P>
<P>Now, &s;o admirable, and con&s;tant an agree|ment, in &s;o many heads, and per&s;ons &s;o diffe|rent, and &s;eparated by times, ages, places; in &s;o many and &s;o &s;trange things, farr above the reach of Humane Rea&s;on, cannot be the effect or product of a fal&s;e and lying Spirit, which commonly betrays him&s;elf, and his own in|ventions and lies. How much more is it im|po&s;&s;ible, that &s;o many per&s;ons &s;hould agree &s;o well in the&s;e things, if they are Inventions and Fables? Be&s;ides, the end and &s;cope of the&s;e Scriptures doth plainly evidence the fal&s;hood of this imputation, <HI>viz.</HI> That the&s;e Writers &s;ayings are but Fables.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e, that go about to deceive the World,
<PB N="142" REF="80">and to promulgate their ab&s;urd Dreams and Inventions, do it commonly, or altogether, for one of the&s;e ends; either to get ho|nour, plea&s;ure, profit, or riches, for them&s;elves, or for theirs; as are all Juglers, and cunning fellows: or to make &s;ome &s;port, and to have the name and reputation of eloquent per&s;ons, and brave wits; as Je&s;ters, tho&s;e that compile <HI>Romances,</HI> and the like pieces. Others, through vanity, and &s;elf-conceitedne&s;s, that they may get admiration, prai&s;e, and e&s;teem from men, do maintain &s;ome Paradoxes, and new, &s;trange, and mon&s;trous opinions; as many did among the Heathen Philo&s;ophers, and as the Here|ticks among&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> have done, which ne|ver intended their inventions, and ab&s;urdities to any good end, as the Publick good, or the concernment of humane kind, or to induce men to follow virtue, and &s;hew them the way to true happine&s;s.</P>
<P>I believe, that no man in his wits will &s;ay, that the Sacred Hi&s;tories of the Old and New Te&s;tament are <HI>Romances,</HI> invented to delight men, and to gain the Writers the credit of worldly-eloquent per&s;ons, and of that po|litene&s;&s;e of Wit, which is accounted &s;o a|mong men. The &s;tile, and manner of wri|ting the&s;e Books, is farr different from that of the <HI>Romances;</HI> and all the circum&s;tances of time, places, and per&s;ons, are &s;o punctually
<PB N="143" REF="80">ob&s;erved, and every where &s;o agreeing, that one mu&s;t be barbarous, and wilde, or altoge|ther &s;tupid, and be&s;otted, that doth not per|ceive the wonderfull, and infinite difference there is betwixt the&s;e Sacred Hi&s;tories and the fabulous <HI>Romances.</HI> Be&s;ides, that tho&s;e, who make <HI>Romances,</HI> compile them &s;o (if they are able men) as that there is &s;ome likelihood in what they relate, and &s;hun (as much as they can) the prodigious Fictions of <HI>Amadis.</HI> Ne|verthele&s;s, they clearly evidence, that they do not de&s;ire to be believed in tho&s;e things, which they relate; but that their de&s;ign is to charm (by the elegancy of the &s;tile, their ingenious inventions, and the likelihood of tho&s;e things) the eyes of the minde, and to make it &s;ee tho&s;e things, which really are not, and to delight their Readers by this plea&s;ant cheat. But the Pen-men of the Sa|cred Hi&s;tories do propo&s;e them, as things certain, true, and indubitable, and de&s;ire that they may be believed for &s;uch. Which would be a gro&s;&s;e folly in them, and a thing unworthy men of parts; if they were <HI>Ro|mances,</HI> forged and invented on purpo&s;e. Be|&s;ides, that the &s;tile of the&s;e Writings is very mean, and popular, and far from the way of wri|ting of tho&s;e, who&s;e de&s;ign it is to abu&s;e, and deceive the World. Neither will it be proved, that the Authours of the&s;e Sacred
<PB N="144" REF="81">Books have endeavoured to entrap and deceive men by their fictions, and inventions of honors, plea&s;ures, e&s;tates, or riches.</P>
<P>Neither <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> or <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> have endeavoured to leave the conduct of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Common-Wealth to their children. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had no need to leave <HI>Pharaoh's</HI> Court, to enjoy Honour and Riches; &s;ince, if he had &s;taid there, he might have been reputed the Son of the Daughter of <HI>Pharach.</HI></P>
<P><HI>David</HI> hath not, by his <HI>Writings</HI> and <HI>P&s;alms,</HI> acquired that glory and power, which he had: but hath got it by his Valour, by the Wars which he made, and the favour, and ble&s;&s;ing of God, who hath protected and directed him. What needed he, being a great and mighty King, to bu&s;ie him&s;elf in compo&s;ing of tho&s;e <HI>P&s;alms;</HI> if they be but meer empty inventions? What humane end could he propo&s;e to him&s;elf in this.</P>
<P><HI>Solomon,</HI> his &s;on, hath not acquired, nor &s;ought after that Honour, Glory, and Riches, (which he hath po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed in greater mea&s;ure, then all the re&s;t of the Kings of the Earth, Jin the compo&s;ition of the <HI>Proverbs, Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> and <HI>Canticles.</HI> He enjoyed all the&s;e things, afore he writ any thing of the&s;e Books: and, in his <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> he &s;hews plainly enough the little, or no e&s;teem he had of them.</P>
<P>Have <HI>I&s;aiah, Jeremiah, Ezechiel,</HI> and the
<PB N="145" REF="81">twelve &s;mall Prophets, &s;ought by their Wri|tings the goods, honours, and plea&s;ures of this World? They, who have been for this thing hated, derided, per&s;ecuted, and put to death: and this not contrary to their de&s;ign and ex|pectation, and again&s;t their will; for they &s;ub|mitted willingly, and have undergone all tho&s;e evils in obedience to this God, who &s;ent them.</P>
<P>Did our Lord <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and his Apo&s;tles, follow and endeavour after the&s;e things? No, but quite contrariwi&s;e they do exhort and per&s;wade their Di&s;ciples and followers, not to love or &s;eek them: and rather to expect the cro&s;&s;es, tribulations, and per&s;ecutions of the World, for the Profe&s;&s;ion of that Do|ctrine they taught them.</P>
<P>Shall we &s;ay, that vanity, and de&s;ire of glo|ry have led the&s;e Per&s;ons to this, that they might gain the reputation of men of Parts, and of &s;ubtile Per&s;ons. Nothing le&s;&s;e. Could the Apo&s;tles, who were poor fi&s;hermen, rude, illiterate, and ignorant per&s;ons, a&s;pire to this Glory, and could they expect this credit from the men of their times, or from po&s;terity? Be&s;ides, that their Writings are full of the contempt they had, and would every one of their Di&s;ciples to have, of &s;uch a glory.</P>
<P><HI>Solomon</HI> hath not &s;ought for this by his Writings: afore he writ he had that great
<PB N="146" REF="82">Wi&s;dom, which hath gained him the reputati|on of the mo&s;t Learned, and Wi&s;e of all the men that went before him. And he hath had this credit and reputation; not by holding, or put|ting forth <HI>Paradoxes,</HI> and extravagant Opini|ons, invented by him, again&s;t the common Tenents of other men: but by a true and right Wi&s;dom, and an admirable Knowledge, which in effect he had of the Nature of all things. <HI>David</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> had acquired Glory and Cre|dit enough by their Archievements, without affecting this by their Writings, and main|taining Fanta&s;tical Opinions. If <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would have &s;ought after worldly glory, he would rather have acquired it by the VVi&s;dom of the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> in which he had been in&s;tructed, and which was then in great repute in the World; then by inventing new Opinions, &amp; Doctrines. <HI>Daniel</HI> had enough of the Learning of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> which he knew well, to gain e&s;teem and reputation among&s;t men, without broach|ing a new, unheard-of, and &s;trange Do|ctrine.</P>
<P>So then, it is evident, that the de&s;ire of vain|glory hath not induced the&s;e Holy VVriters to tell us Dreams, and Phanta&s;ms of their brain. VVhat then is it? Is it the affection to the Publique good, and their de&s;ire they had to profit men, that hath moved them to tell us their new inventions, and &s;tories of their
<PB N="147" REF="82">own making? Sometimes indeed <HI>Fictions</HI> are u&s;ed in Moral and Politick documents. <HI>Ae&s;op's Fables</HI> are all of this nature. And many times Oratours do u&s;e &s;uch <HI>Fictions</HI> in their Orations; as that of <HI>Menenius Agrippa,</HI> of the di&s;&s;en&s;ion there was between the belly and the other parts of the body. And the Scri|pture it &s;elf u&s;es the&s;e &s;ometimes; as that of the Son of <HI>Geaeon,</HI> of the Trees that cho&s;e them&s;elves a King. <HI>Parables</HI> al&s;o are a kind of in&s;tructing, Moral Fiction; as that of <HI>Gad</HI> to <HI>David,</HI> of the Poor man and his Sheep. And of &s;uch Parables are the <HI>Go&s;pels</HI> full; and in the Di&s;cour&s;es of our Lord <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> they are very frequent. But the&s;e things have no|thing common, nor do not relate to that, of which we treat now. The que&s;tion is, Whether the Hi&s;tories of the Old and New Te&s;tament are Tales, and Fables; or whe|ther they be Relations of things, that have really and truely came to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e, who do write <HI>Apologues, Para|bles,</HI> &amp;c. do not write them for true Hi&s;to|ries: they &s;hew plainly enough, that they &s;peak &s;uch things meerly to in&s;truct, and not for things, that have really happened. But the Sacred Writers do give us their Hi&s;tories for the true Narrations of things, which really came to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>And this is evident, becau&s;e they do note all the
<PB N="148" REF="83">crcum&s;tances, and particularities, which are ob&s;erved in true Hi&s;tories, and by which we are wont to di&s;cern <HI>Romances,</HI> and Poetical Fictions from true Narrations.</P>
<P>They would have us to hold, and believe tho&s;e Narrations for very truths, and things, which have really and certainly happened. To what end &s;hould this be if their Narrations are but Dreams? Do tho&s;e good VVriters, that will in&s;truct and profit, u&s;e &s;uch means? In no wi&s;e. And although one would write &s;ome Moraliz'd <HI>Romance,</HI> to in&s;truct men; yet would not he publi&s;h it for a true Hi&s;to|ry. Be&s;ides, that we have noted before, that the&s;e Sacred Hi&s;tories have none of the &s;tile and garb of <HI>Romances.</HI></P>
<P>And as to the Doctrines, Sayings, and Sentences, of which the Sacred Books are full, will the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> &s;ay, that they are <HI>Pa|radoxes,</HI> wild and extravagant opinions? If it is &s;o, I will ask them, To what good end could &s;uch things have been forged and invented? For we have &s;hewed here|tofore, that they could not be invented to any ill intent, or pernicious de&s;ign. If they are meer Inventions, and that there is no reality in them, to what good end can they have been invented?</P>
<P>Moreover, the&s;e Sacred Authours do pro|po&s;e the&s;e Doctrines, that men may &s;tedfa&s;t|ly
<PB N="149" REF="83">believe them, and that they may be held for undoubted truths; can there be any good or rea&s;onable end in this, if the&s;e things are in effect but Extravagancies?</P>
<P>VVill they &s;ay, that the&s;e Per&s;ons, be|ing willing to win men to the exerci&s;e of Virtue, Ju&s;tice, Temperance, Fortitude, Truth, Faithfullne&s;s, Friend&s;hip, Charity, Patience, Honour, Re&s;pect, Obedience, Ob&s;ervation of the Laws of Humane Socie|ty, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> did think that the per&s;wa&s;ion (though a fal&s;e one) of a God, Creatour, and Go|vernour of this Univer&s;e, Judge, Avenger, and Remuneratour of the good and evill; and that the examples (though but fictitious and fal&s;e) of Vices and Virtues, which are rewarded, or puni&s;hed by a Providence, would be a Powerfull motive to induce men to attain this end? And that this is it, which hath made them to invent this opinion of a Providence, with all the con&s;equences of it, and to compile all the&s;e Stories to Patro|nize Vices and Virtues? Almo&s;t as <HI>Horace</HI> doth pretend (in that Epi&s;tle which begins, <HI>Trojani belli Scriptorem, Maxime L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">lli,</HI>) that <HI>Homer,</HI> in his <HI>Iliad</HI> and <HI>Ody&s;&s;ea,</HI> doth tell us all the&s;e fine Tales, and Stories, to &s;erve as Morall documents unto all men. It is very true, that the beliefe of a God, &s;uch as he is repre&s;ented to us in the Sacred
<PB N="150" REF="84">Writings, is the true, and only meanes, and the mo&s;t &s;trong and efficacious motive, to induce men to true Virtue, as it appears by the Examples of the Lives of the truely-faithfull under both the Te&s;taments: in com|pari&s;on of which the mo&s;t &s;plendid Virtue of the Heathen is but dro&s;s and dung; As an exact compari&s;on of them would ea&s;ily verifie. And the fir&s;t <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Fathers, that have writ again&s;t the vanity of the Heathen, &s;hewed this evidently; as <HI>Tertullian, Mi|nutius Felix,</HI> and others. But it is al&s;o ve|ry true, that, if this per&s;wa&s;ion of a Deity and Providence, &s;uch as it is repre&s;ented to us by the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion, was fal&s;e and imaginary, it could not produce &s;uch an ef|fect, as to induce men to exerci&s;e the true Virtue.</P>
<P>And we may not Object, that an opinion, though fal&s;e, if it be believed for true and certain, doth produce the &s;ame effect, as if it were really true; as many Examples do te&s;tifie.</P>
<P>For tho&s;e fal&s;e impre&s;&s;ions, which the mind receives, do la&s;t but for a little while. They deceive only for a &s;mall time. It is as paint upon a face, which for a time doth give &s;ome lu&s;tre; but abideth not. But this belief of a Deity, and Providence, is &s;table, and as con&s;tant, and unalterable, as the Heavens.
<PB N="151" REF="84">And it is not a Fiction of the Holy Wri|ters: For tho&s;e, that never heard of them. or &s;aw their Writings, have had, and yet have, this per&s;wa&s;ion; for we have &s;hewed heretofore, that all men in all ages were per&s;waded, there was a Deity, and a Pro|vidence.</P>
<P>There is al&s;o too manife&s;t, and palpable a difference, between the Fables and Poetical Fictions of <HI>Homer,</HI> and the Narrations of Holy Writ. It was not <HI>Homer's</HI> intention, (if his de&s;ign was &s;uch, as <HI>Horace</HI> tells us it was, <HI>viz.</HI> to in&s;truct, and plea&s;e men by his Fables) that we &s;hould take his Fables for Truths: Nor hath he divulged the&s;e Ficti|ons for true Hi&s;tories; but compo&s;ed only a fine Moraliz'd <HI>Romance.</HI></P>
<P>But (as we have &s;aid) the Sacred Writers do tell us their Hi&s;tories, as certain, and in|dubitable things. And as to the fal&s;e Dei|ties of <HI>Homer,</HI> and to all tho&s;e things he tells of them, I think, that there is none of the &s;trong Wits at this day dares maintaine without blu&s;hing, but that, which the <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> Religion doth teach of a God, Crea|tour, Pre&s;erver, Judge and Governour of all this Univer&s;e; of his Cult and Service; and of the meanes to attain to true happine&s;s by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> alone, is farr more agree|able
<PB N="152" REF="85">to the Deity, (if there is any) and al&s;o more conformable to right Rea&s;on, then all the fabu|lous Tales of the fal&s;e Gods of <HI>Homer;</HI> yea, then what he hath be&s;t, and more refined concern|ing the Deity.</P>
<P>So then, it is unrea&s;onable to &s;ay of the Sa|cred VVriters of the Old and New Te&s;tament, that they have invented, or got from &s;ome o|thers, that preceded them, the things, that they reach us in their VVritings. All manner of rea&s;on is again&s;t this. To the&s;e I will add &s;ome few remarks, which may &s;erve as a Modell for any one, who will treat of this matter more at large, as well it may be done.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="153" REF="85">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. XIV.</HI> Wherein there follow &s;ome more Proofs of the Divinity of the Holy <HI>Scri|ptures.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THo&s;e things, which are contained in Scri|pture, are two-fold, <HI>viz.</HI> Doctrines, and Hi&s;tories. Neither of the&s;e can proceed from man's or Devils inventions. The Doctrines al&s;o are two fold: 1. <HI>Dogmata;</HI> &s;o properly called, becau&s;e they are delivered, as the ob|jects of our faith and knowledge: as that there is a God, a <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> Son of God, Saviour and Redeemer of the VVorld. 2. <HI>Moral Doctrines;</HI> which are conver&s;ant in the regu|lating of life, and exerci&s;e of Virtue.</P>
<P>The&s;e Doctrines, which re&s;pect Faith and Knowledge, are &s;o high, &s;o &s;ublime, &s;o excel|lent, &s;o admirable, &s;o profound and ab&s;tru&s;e, e|&s;pecially tho&s;e My&s;teries of the Trinity, Incar|nation, and Redemption; that the Soul of man is not at all capable to comprehend them, &s;o as to have invented, or divined &s;uch things:
<PB N="154" REF="86">and they are &s;o contrary to the humour, nature, and Genius of the Devil; that he could not, nor would not, have thought or invented a|ny &s;uch things, much le&s;s would he have taught them unto men. And if the&s;e things are fal&s;e, good Angels would not have invented them; &s;uch a Fiction, being wholy repu|gnant to their integrity.</P>
<P>And as to the Moral Precepts, they contain &s;o exact, perfect, and incomparable a form of holi|ne&s;s (to which all the Virtues of the mo&s;t noted Heathen Philo&s;ophers comes nothing near) that &s;inful and corrupted man, as he is natu|rally inclined to evil, could not have invented &s;o perfect a Rule to live by, as that which is &s;hewed unto us there. Much le&s;s is the Devil Authour of che&s;e things who is &s;o great an ene|my to all Virtue and Holine&s;s, that he would not have recommended -or taught it unto men.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, if <HI>Damons</HI> are granted to be, it mu&s;t be con&s;equently acknowledged, That there is a God; as hath been &s;hewed before. Whence it appears that the&s;e things proceed nece&s;&s;arily from Divine Revelation.</P>
<P>As to the Narrations and Hi&s;tories, they are &s;o tyed and connexed unto the Doctrines, that they cannot be &s;eparated one from ano|ther. So that, if the Hi&s;tories are true, and no forged things; the Doctrines, which are
<PB N="155" REF="86">annexed to them, mu&s;t needs al&s;o be true. For in every part of them you have a God, Crea|tour, and Governour of Heaven and Earth, repre&s;ented to you, who doth &s;ee, conduct, and order all things; a Judge of men, who pu|ni&s;heth and cha&s;ti&s;eth the one, and doth re|ward and recompen&s;e the others; who work|eth wonders above and beyond all Natures Power; who &s;tiles, and in effect &s;hews him&s;elf to be &s;uch, as he is there de&s;cribed, <HI>viz.</HI> Eter|nal, Infinite, Immortal, Invi&s;ible, Incompre|hen&s;ible, Almighty, VVi&s;e, Good, Ju&s;t, and Mercifull <HI>&amp;c.</HI> VVe &s;ee in the New Te&s;tament a man (<HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> our Lord) &s;tiling him|&s;elf <HI>The Son of God,</HI> and <HI>The Saviour of the World,</HI> &s;hewing and evidencing by his Miracles, that he was indeed &s;uch a one; dying for mens &s;alvation, ari&s;ing again, a&s;cending into Hea|ven, and there &s;itting at the right hand of God his Father, and &s;ending from thence the Holy Spirit upon his Apo&s;tles. There he is &s;een mini&s;tred to by Angels, preached to the Gen|tiles, believed in the World, and by the &s;trength of his Spirit bearing down all Heatheni&s;h I|dolatry, and Super&s;tition, demoli&s;hing the empire of the Devil, and triumphing gloriou&s;ly over <HI>Sathan,</HI> and over all his Power.</P>
<P>The&s;e Narrations are not Fables artificially invented, as tho&s;e of <HI>Homer,</HI> and tho&s;e of the Old and New <HI>Romanc&egrave;s</HI> of all &s;orts;
<PB N="156" REF="87">but are true Hi&s;tories, and genuine Relations of things, which have really and certainly came to pa&s;s, &s;o as they are there related to us.</P>
<P>Which appears, Fir&s;t by the Connexion, and admirable contexture of the&s;e Relations, which do &s;trengthen, follow, and maintain one another with &s;o exact and ju&s;t an agree|ment, that there is nothing there unjoynted, or that doth bely any other matter therein contained. Which in &s;o great a multitude, and variety of Narrations, &s;o well continued with all their Circum&s;tances of Times, Places, and Per&s;ons, (and of which we do &s;ee many Traces, and Foot&s;teps, in the mo&s;t authenti|cal and certain Monuments of Antiquity) and &s;o well continued by &s;o many Ages from the Beginning of the World to our Lord <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> for the &s;pace of four thou&s;and years (add to this the connexion and coherence there is be|tween the Relations and Doctrines of the New Te&s;tament with tho&s;e of the Old) can|not have been compiled, nor &s;o admirably invented by any humane Indu&s;try, though &s;uch a Writer had been as &s;ubtile, and inge|nious as it may be; although one man alone (which is not true) had undertaken to write and continue &s;uch a de&s;ign, which he had be|fore invented out of his own brain. Much le&s;s could it be, that &s;o many, and &s;o different Writers, as to Time, and Place; &s;ome in the
<PB N="157" REF="87">De&s;art, others in <HI>Judea,</HI> others in <HI>Babylon,</HI> others in <HI>Samaria;</HI> (two Kingdomes &s;o con|trary, and Enemies one to the other) &s;ome <HI>Jews,</HI> other <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> (two people &s;o diffe|rent) in &s;uch a wonderfull variety of matters, and &s;o differing arguments of their Writings; as are Hi&s;tories, Laws, Political and Eccle|&s;ia&s;tical Ordinances, Moral Precepts, Pro|phe&s;ies of many kinds, Epi&s;tles, Di&s;cour&s;es, Di&s;putes, of &s;o differing &s;tiles, the one low, genuine, and popular; the other figurate, and &s;ublime, (to which all humane Eloquence cannot attain) the one ter&s;e and poli&s;hed, the other har&s;h and unplea&s;ing: it is (I &s;ay) impo&s;&s;ible, that &s;o many, and &s;o different heads, which have neither &s;een, known, nor combined together, &s;hould have &s;o well a|greed in all points to divulge, and put forth, and give credit to a Fable &s;o well continued, and to &s;uit &s;o wonderfully all the Narrations, Doctrines, and Precepts, which they lay there before us.</P>
<P>Secondly it appears, That the&s;e are not &s;abulous Narrations and Tales, made to de|ceive the VVorld; becau&s;e the Nation of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the Origin and Hi&s;tory of which is held forth to us in the Old Te&s;tament, and is con|tinued for the &s;pace of two thou&s;and years, and which is almo&s;t all the &s;ubject matter of all the Books of the Old Te&s;tament, and makes a
<PB N="158" REF="88">good part of the Books of the New Te&s;tament, is, and doth &s;ub&s;i&s;t yet at this day &s;cattered up|on the face of the Earth, even &s;o, as their own Prophets had fore-told them. Their Sanctions, Cu&s;tomes, Ceremonies, and Religion, the very &s;ame, as was pre&s;cribed to them by their Law|giver <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and by the <HI>Prophets.</HI> It cannot be denied, that <HI>Je&s;us Christ,</HI> and his <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> have been, and have Preached in the World; &s;ince that their Doctrine and their Writings are re|ceived, and held by &s;o many millions of <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans,</HI> which have been for the&s;e 1600. years up|on the Earth, known, and noted among men. But, it may be it wil be objected, that the ground and <HI>ba&s;is</HI> of the&s;e Hi&s;tories is true; and hath &s;ome reality in it; that there have been a <HI>Mo&s;es, Jo|&s;hua, Judges,</HI> and <HI>Kings</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> a <HI>David,</HI> a <HI>So|lomon,</HI> &amp;c. but that the&s;e Hi&s;tories have been &s;luffed, and garni&s;hed with Fictitious Tales; as <HI>Homer's Iliad,</HI> and <HI>Ody&s;sea:</HI> the Foundation of which is Hi&s;torical, &s;ince that once <HI>Troy, Priam, Hector, Achilles,</HI> had a real being; but they have not done all that <HI>Homer</HI> tells and writes of them: and as the <HI>Romances</HI> of <HI>Roland</HI> and <HI>Re|gnault,</HI> who once were, but never did that which the <HI>Romances,</HI> written of them, tell us. So the Miracles and Wonders of <HI>Egypt,</HI> of the <HI>De&s;art,</HI> of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> of the <HI>Judges,</HI> of the <HI>Kings,</HI> of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and his <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> are Ornaments invent|ed
<PB N="159" REF="88">by the&s;e Writers, to &s;et an higher value on what they pre&s;ent there to us.</P>
<P>Let us &s;ee, whether there is any ground of Rea&s;on in this.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> writes him&s;elf his own Hi&s;tory, and that of the people of the <HI>Jews,</HI> which he had drawn from <HI>Egypt,</HI> and led through the <HI>De&s;art</HI> for the &s;pace of fourty years, with &s;o in|comparable an ingenuity, and &s;o far from &s;u&s;pi|cion of fraud or deceit; that he notes there his own defects and faults, and doth not be&s;tow the mo&s;t Honourable charges of this People, the <HI>Prie&s;thood,</HI> or <HI>Royalty,</HI> upon any of his Po&s;terity. And, a little before his death, he makes a long Sermon to them (which is all the Book of <HI>Deu|teronomy</HI>) where he repre&s;ents to them all things, that had befallen them in the <HI>De&s;art,</HI> and a little before their going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> ju&s;t in the &s;ame manner, as he relates it in the Books of <HI>Exodus, Leviticus,</HI> and <HI>Numbers.</HI></P>
<P>Was it then any time, place, and likelihood, that they could be made to believe forged Tales? and could he take them to witne&s;s tho&s;e things, which they never &s;aw, nor knew?</P>
<P>Will it be &s;aid, That he never made this Sermon? That we only &s;uppo&s;e it to be &s;o? That he hath not writ the&s;e Books? Or, That the&s;e Writings, &s;o repleni&s;hed of Fabu|lous Stories, have been hid for a long time, and have not been publi&s;hed of a
<PB N="160" REF="89">great while after he was dead; when the Me|mory of tho&s;e things, which happened at the going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and in the De&s;art, was pa&s;t and aboli&s;h'd in this people, which was ve|ry glad, and content to receive, and believe the&s;e fine Tales, as tending to the Honour of their Nation? Or, el&s;e will it be objected, That &s;ome body after his death hath fra|med, and publi&s;hed the&s;e Books under his Name.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This is objected, without the lea&s;t Colour, Appearance, or Ground in Rea|&s;on.</P>
<P>Secondly, This is again&s;t the Te&s;timony of the mo&s;t ancient Monuments of Hi&s;tory, which father the&s;e Books upon none other then <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and accu&s;e no body of having compiled them for him. <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> writeth, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> gave the <HI>Jews</HI> their Laws, and that he received them from the God called <HI>Jaoh,</HI> which is the proper Name of God, <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>Thirdly, The Authour of tho&s;e Books doth not flatter that Nation; but repre&s;ent it to us, as the mo&s;t perver&s;e and &s;tiff-necked in the World.</P>
<P>Fourthly, How could the&s;e pretended im|po&s;tures have &s;o univer&s;ally, in &s;o many Ages, taken &s;o deep a rooting in the &s;pirit of this Nation?</P>
<PB N="161" REF="89">
<P>Fifthly, The be&s;t part of their Laws, and Political and Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Con&s;titutions, are grounded, and have their Foundation upon the&s;e Narrations, which the&s;e men do pre|tend to be fabulous: The&s;e, I &s;ay, are wholy built upon them; as the Pa&s;s-over, the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles, the Jubilee, the year of Re|lea&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Again, The Tabernacle, &s;o &s;plendid, &s;o ingeniou&s;ly and artificially erected, &s;o divine and admirable, (by who&s;e Model, and Pattern, <HI>Solomon,</HI> that glorious and magnificent King, hath afterwards builded his Temple) that &s;tupendious and wonderfull piece of workman|&s;hip, (to which the mo&s;t &s;umptuous Buildings, which the Vanity, Power, and Riches of the mo&s;t potent Monarchs have erected, is nothing comparable) with all its Services, and the Order of its Ceremonies, which is &s;o admira|ble; where all the My&s;teries of Chri&s;tian Faith, and Religion, are &s;een pourtraied, and, as it were, drawn to the Life: (as we know it by the Relation, which the Sacred Writers of the New Te&s;tament do make, and, in their imitation, the Fathers and Doctours of the Church) could this be an Invention and <HI>Chi|mara</HI> of <HI>Mo&s;es's</HI> own fancying, or of &s;ome bo|dy el&s;e after him? Could he have divined &s;o ma|ny Ages before all that our Lord <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> &s;hould do, teach, and &s;uffer for the Salvation
<PB N="162" REF="90">of men, and accordingly erect this Tabernacle with all its Ceremonies, and Appertenances, which were &s;o perfect and accompli&s;hed a Mo|del of the&s;e things?</P>
<P>Now, &s;ince there is no ground to doubt, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> hath invented the&s;e things, which he writeth of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael's</HI> delive|rance, of their going out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> or their going through the <HI>Red Sea,</HI> of their Ad|ventures through the <HI>De&s;art</HI> for the &s;pace of fourty years; &s;ince he relates the&s;e things, him&s;elf, to a multitude of &s;ix hundred thou&s;and men, which could have given him the lye, if he had forged the&s;e things: Why &s;hould not he be believed in all tho&s;e things, which he recites to us, in the Hi&s;tories of <HI>Abra|ham, I&s;aac, Jacob,</HI> and his Children, of the Deluge, of the Tower of <HI>Babel,</HI> of <HI>So|dom,</HI> and (to go yet higher) of the Crea|tion of the World? What is in all this more incredible, then the Hi&s;tory of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in <HI>Egypt,</HI> and in the <HI>De&s;art?</HI> The &s;ame may be &s;aid of all that, which is recited to us in the Books of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> of the <HI>Judges,</HI> and of the <HI>Kings:</HI> for all this is not more incredible, then this Hi&s;tory of <HI>Egypt.</HI> and of the <HI>De&s;art;</HI> and it hath an indi&s;&s;oluble con|nexion with all the Narrations of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI> And why &s;hall we e&s;teem them pa&s;t belief, &s;ince they are repre&s;ented to us, as the Works
<PB N="163" REF="90">and Effects of a God, which is Eternal, In|finite, Almighty, All-good, All-wi&s;e, In|finitely-exalted above Nature; &s;eeing it is he, who hath given its being to Nature? And that we have &s;hewed by &s;o many preceding Argu|ments, that above this Nature there ought to be &s;uch a Deity, the Cau&s;e and Ri&s;e of it.</P>
<P>Again, It cannot be denyed, but that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Prophets, have promi&s;ed, and fore-told, that the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> &s;hould come: and he came. The <HI>Jews</HI> expected him; they thinking that his time was come, or near at hand. For to this very day they are forced to confe&s;s, that that time is pa&s;t by above fifteen hundred years. And when they are urged upon this Confe&s;&s;ion, they have pre&s;ently recour&s;e to a pitifull, and impertinent eva|&s;ion; to wit, that this time hath been pro|longed, becau&s;e of their &s;ins, and that the coming of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> hath been retarded up|on this account: although they are not able to &s;hew what great &s;in they have committed, that may have been the cau&s;e of this delay, and of &s;o &s;ignal a De&s;olation in their Nation. And the Apo&s;tles, and <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> do evident|ly prove, that this promi&s;ed <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> is come in the time prefixed by their Prophets; and that this is <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> whom they have rejected upon no other account, but that they fal&s;ly imagined to them&s;elves, that the
<PB N="164" REF="91"><HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> was to be a Great and Potent Mo|narch, who was to free them from the &s;la|very they &s;uffered under the <HI>Romanes,</HI> and give them Domination over all other Peo|ple of the Earth; An imagination quite contra|ry to the intention of the Spirit of God, which the Prophets were in&s;pired withall.</P>
<P>Neither can it be denyed, but that <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the Prophets, and <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and his Apo&s;tles after them, have fore-told the de&s;tru|ction of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and of the Temple by the <HI>Romanes,</HI> and that mi&s;erable Di&s;per&s;ion of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Nation, wherein they have been for &s;o many Ages; their Rejection; their Exclu&s;ion from the Covenants of God; and the Vocation of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> in their &s;tead, and their being brought to the Service of the God of <HI>Abra|bam, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> who is Creatour of Heaven and Earth; with the utter aboli&s;hing of all the Heatheni&s;h Superftition. All which hath came to pa&s;s &s;ince the&s;e &s;ixteen hundred years, as it was fore-told by them: which is an invincible Argument, that the&s;e Predicti|ons were not made at adventure; neither can they be any product of Humane Wit, which cannot dive &s;o far into Future Events, nor fore|tell &s;o certainly and con&s;tantly, by &s;o many dif|ferent per&s;on, tho&s;e wonderfull Effects, which &s;o many Ages &s;ince have came to pa&s;s.</P>
<P>To the&s;e we might add the Miracles of <HI>Je&s;us
<PB N="165" REF="91">Chri&s;t,</HI> and of his Apo&s;tles, which the <HI>Jews</HI> them&s;elvs, though they be their &s;worn enemies, do not deny: although they fal&s;ly and foo|li&s;hly impute them to I know not what ima|ginary Virtue of the Name of God, <GAP DESC="foreign">, which they &s;ay was di&s;covered by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and &s;tolen by him out of their Temple; and partly to the Efficacy and Illu&s;ion of <HI>Daemons,</HI> and Magical Arts, of which they &s;ay they had knowledge: which is the fooli&s;h and ridicu|lous Exception of the&s;e de&s;perate per&s;ons, which choo&s;e rather to &s;peak all manner of Impertinencies, then to confe&s;s the Truth.</P>
<P>The admirable Virtue and Efficacy of the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel, which, by &s;o weak In&s;truments as were the Apo&s;tles, and their fir&s;t Succe&s;&s;ours, notwith&s;tanding all the Contradiction, Oppo&s;ition, and Per&s;ecu|tion of the World, hath been received in the World, and hath aboli&s;hed all the Heathen|i&s;h Idolatry, and Super&s;tition; which hath produced &s;o wonderfull, and exemplary Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Uprightne&s;s, Integrity, and Holine&s;s of Life in the Primitive <HI>Chri&s;tians;</HI> which hath ravi&s;hed into Admiration their Per&s;ecutours them&s;elves; and which hath made men to re&s;olve to lo&s;e voluntarily all that is &s;weet, plea&s;ing, agreeable, and mo&s;t charming the fle&s;h in this Life, and to &s;uffer all that, which is mo&s;t har&s;h, and horrible, for
<PB N="166" REF="92">the hope of another Life after this: This Power, I &s;ay, and this &s;o wonderfull Effica|cy of the <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Doctrine in the Profe&s;|&s;ours of it, is a Proof, and an invincible Ar|gument of the Divinity of it, and that it can|not be a Fiction, or Invention of man's brain. And &s;o con&s;equently, that &s;ince this Doctrine is no where el&s;e Originally to be found, then in the Writings of the Old and New Tefta|ment, it mu&s;t needs be, that the&s;e fir&s;t Pen|men have received it from God, who hath revealed it to men, to teach and publi&s;h it to other men; that it might induce them to that Holine&s;s, Uprightne&s;s, and Integrity of Life, to that Patience, and Forbearance, Hu|mility, and incomparable Goodne&s;s, which it hath cau&s;ed in tho&s;e men, who have recei|ved it: and thereby bring them to the fruition of that Eternal Life, and Felicity, which it pro|mi&s;eth.</P>
<P>And, if it hath not alwaies, and at all times, and mo&s;t e&s;pecially at this day, pro|duced the&s;e &s;o admirable Effects, in all tho&s;e that make Profe&s;&s;ion of it, it is not for any defect, that is in the Doctrine: but it is the fault of tho&s;e, that make Profe&s;&s;ion of it, who have not that true Faith and Per&s;wa&s;ion, which they profe&s;s to have. But neverthe|le&s;s there will alwaies be found among&s;t true <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> more Holine&s;s, Ju&s;tice, Upright|ne&s;s,
<PB N="167" REF="92">Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Integrity of Life, more Humility, Patience, Courage, Virtue, and Con&s;tancy, more true Piety, and Chari|ty, then in any other Religion in the World, and then can ever be found among&s;t tho&s;e, that teach and follow <HI>Athei&s;m,</HI> which we oppo&s;e: who&s;e Profe&s;&s;ion is quite contrary to this, and hath no other end, then to carry men to all kinds of Vice, Filthine&s;s, Di&s;&s;olu|tion, and Inju&s;tice.</P>
<P>The&s;e Proofs and Arguments of the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures might be enlarged, and amplified, many others might be here added, &amp; great Volumes might be writ on this Subject, and it may be, that &s;ome after us will undertake this task: But this &s;ufficeth for our purpo&s;e, and it is enough to &s;hut the mouth of the Pro|fane; that is, to reduce them to &s;ay nought, but fooleries, and impertinencies, and to &s;hew them&s;elves altogether ridiculous, and ab&s;urd in di&s;puting again&s;t &s;o many invincible Arguments of the Divinity of the Holy Scri|ptures.</P>
<P>Now, as to tho&s;e that call them&s;elves the <HI>Church,</HI> and who, upon this account, do pretend, that we cannot, nor ought not, to give credit to the Scripture; but becau&s;e they give it this Te&s;timony, That it is Divine: If they will be believed, they mu&s;t nece&s;&s;a|rily do two things.</P>
<PB N="168" REF="93">
<P>Fir&s;t, They mu&s;t &s;hew, that all the fore-go|ing Arguments are invalid, and of no moment, and are in no wi&s;e capable to per&s;wade to any man the Divinity of the Scriptures: yea, they mu&s;t even &s;ay, That there is nothing at all in the Scriptures, which is able to make us to di&s;cern the Divinity and Truth of them.</P>
<P>Secondly, They mu&s;t &s;hew, that, as for their part, they have in them&s;elves Rea&s;ons, Proofs, and Arguments, much &s;tronger, clearer, and evident, more demon&s;trative, and uncontroulable, to evince, that they are more Divine and Infallible then the Scri|ptures: and that therefore they ought rather to be believed in what&s;oever they &s;ay, then any thing, that is taught in the&s;e Books; as be|ing in them&s;elves incomparably more Infalli|ble and Divine, then this Volume of Holy Writ, which is contained in the Books of the Old and New Te&s;tament.</P>
<P>Now I &s;uppo&s;e, that they would not under|take to demon&s;trate the&s;e two things: and if they would come to the triall of it, they &s;hould finde them&s;elves very bu&s;ie, and their Proofs would be found invalid, their Argu|ments and Rea&s;onings very weak, yea none at all. For, although they had confuted the&s;e Rea&s;ons, which we have here mentioned: where will they finde any &s;tronger, or more invinci|ble to prove, that they are more Divine, then
<PB N="169" REF="93">the Holy Scriptures? For, for them to force men to believe them upon their bare word, without any rea&s;on &s;hew'd why we &s;hould be|lieve them, that they are Infallible, it is to deal too inju&s;tly, and too unworthily to a|bu&s;e the patience and credulity of men. And to &s;ay, as they do, That we ought to believe them to be Infallible; becau&s;e our Lord hath &s;aid to St. <HI>Peter, I prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:</HI> and, <HI>I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven;</HI> grant even this, (which we deny them) that the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e words was &s;uch, as they would have it to be; yet it is alwaies to acknowledge by this, that we are per&s;waded of the Divinity of the <HI>Scriptures,</HI> where the&s;e words are found, before we can ever be certain of the Infallibility of tho&s;e, to whom they pretend the&s;e words are directed. And therefore the belief, which we have of the Divinity of the Scriptures, is not grounded up|on the Te&s;timony of tho&s;e, to whom they would have us believe the Scripture renders, in the fore-cited words, &s;o clear and &s;olemn te&s;ti|mony of Infallibility. It is therefore an ill-grounded and vain pre&s;umption in them to &s;ay, <HI>That the Scripture can have no more credit with us then</HI> Ae&s;op's Fables, <HI>or</HI> Mahomet's Alcoran, <HI>if it were not for the Te&s;timony they give, that it is Divine:</HI> &s;ince that they them&s;elves draw from it, and from its Te&s;timony (as they do pretend)
<PB N="170" REF="94">all the Infallibility they &s;o much boa&s;t of.</P>
<P>But let this be &s;aid onely by the by, for the maintaining more &s;trongly the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures again&s;t the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> which tho&s;e men, by &s;uch an A&s;&s;ertion, do wholly &s;ub|vert, and thereby expo&s;e, at unawares, the <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> Religion to the profane mockings of the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> who will ask the&s;e Gentlemen, with rea&s;on enough, that they demon&s;trate to them, by good and &s;olid Rea&s;ons, and conclu|ding Arguments, their pretended Infallibility, which ought to oblige all the World to believe the Te&s;timony they render to the Scripture, That it is Divine; and that therefore all, that is therein contained and taught, ought to be cer|tainly believed, as a mo&s;t firm Truth. And let them, that give them &s;o much credit, as to build their Faith upon their bare word, acknowledge, that this is no better then to bring them&s;elves in&s;en&s;ibly to direct <HI>Athei&s;m.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD><HI>CHAP. XV.</HI> Wherein is contained a Confutation of the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> Arguments.</HEAD>
<P>WE mu&s;t now examine the Rea&s;ons of the&s;e per&s;ons, to &s;ee whether they can out-ballance tho&s;e, which we have alleadged a|gain&s;t
<PB N="171" REF="94">them. And in this we are forced to be brief. For, &s;eeing that we are not (God be thanked) bred in the Schole of &s;uch people, and having no conver&s;e with them, and they not putting to light their Arguments in their defence; either for &s;hame, or for fear, or cowardline&s;s; (un|worthy that greatne&s;s of Wit and Parts, which they boa&s;t to have above all men, whom they count in this point wor&s;e then children) or rather, becau&s;e they are con&s;cious of their own weakne&s;s: I cannot divine their thoughts, nor what the&s;e pretended &s;trong Rea&s;ons &s;hould be, upon which they ground them|&s;elves. And I am forced to mention onely three, which &s;ome may u&s;e in their own defence, and which may come in many mens thoughts.</P>
<P>The Fir&s;t is taken from the Eternity of the World, which they think mu&s;t needs have ex|i&s;ted from everla&s;ting; becau&s;e there is not any thing, that can be produced out of No|thing, and cannot (as they think) return into Nothing; according to the &s;aying of &s;ome one of their Ma&s;ters, <HI>Ex nihilo nihil, in nihi|lum nil po&s;&s;e redire.</HI></P>
<P>The Second, That there are &s;o many Ex|orbitances in Nature; as the Mon&s;ters: &s;o ma|ny Di&s;orders in it, &s;o many things of no U&s;e, and again&s;t Rea&s;on; either in the Con&s;tituti|ons of the Bodies of Plants and Animals, or in the di&s;po&s;ition of the World, and of the
<PB N="172" REF="95">Earth; as great Rocks in a fair Meadow, or in a fertile Field, or the Rain falling unprofi|tably upon the Sea, upon the Sands of <HI>Lybia,</HI> and upon the Rocks; and a thou&s;and like things. So, that it &s;eems, that the&s;e things do not proceed from &s;ome wi&s;e Providence, that hath &s;o di&s;po&s;ed of them; but from the Fate and Hazard, that hath ordered them &s;o at an adventure. There are &s;o many E|vils, Di&s;a&s;ters, Mi&s;haps, which befall tho&s;e, that do le&s;s de&s;erve it; &s;o much Good and Pro|&s;perity, which happeneth to tho&s;e, that do bet|ter de&s;erve all manner of &s;upplices; &s;o much VVickedne&s;s, which remains unpuni&s;hed: All which could not come to pa&s;s, if the VVorld was guided by a Providence.</P>
<P>And Finally, That there are in all the Religi|ons of the World &s;o many &s;trange and ab&s;urd Opinions and practi&s;es, &s;o contrary to right Rea&s;on, and to true VVi&s;dom, that we mu&s;t acknowledge, they are not grounded in the truth. Of all which ab&s;urdities the <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> (as they &s;ay) is free.</P>
<P>As to the Fir&s;t of the&s;e Arguments, which is the chiefe&s;t they have; If the Deity had a limited power, &s;trength, and power, as the &s;trength and power of Nature is, then they would have rea&s;on to &s;ay, that there is not any thing, which can be made of Nothing; there being an infinite di&s;tance between meer
<PB N="173" REF="95">Nothing, and that which Is. And therefore Naturally Nothing can be produced out of Nothing; and &s;o it is, that in all the pro|ductions of Nature there is alway &s;ome cer|tain matter, which is the Subject of it, and from the power of which all tho&s;e Forms, which we &s;ee to &s;ucceed one to the other, are educed. But God, being nece&s;&s;arily Infi|nite, is it any waies again&s;t Rea&s;on, (yea, is not it very agreeable to Rea&s;on?) that by his Virtue and Power, which is Infinite, and without any limits, he &s;hould create out of Nothing Something, that may reple|ni&s;h this <HI>Vacuum,</HI> or Infinite di&s;tance, which is between being Something and Nothing?</P>
<P>The Effect of a Finite Power ought to be Finite; but that of an Infinite one may, and ought to be Infinite al&s;o. Now the Producti|on of the World is extracted out of Nothing, by the Infinite Power of God; I &s;ay, that it is an Infinite Effect, not in re&s;pect of its Sub|ject, which is Finite; (there being no body which can be actually Infinite) but in regard of its Production, and the means of it, as it is a product from a meer Nothing, which hath no Intrin&s;ecal Cau&s;e, or Virtue, there being none &s;uch in Nothing; but by an Ex|trin&s;ecal virtue, which is unlimited; and &s;uch nece&s;&s;arily is God.</P>
<P>For God, being without any beginning or
<PB N="174" REF="96">ending, (otherwi&s;e he could not be God) it mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity follow, that to &s;ub&s;i&s;t of him&s;elf from all Eternity to all Eternity, by an infinite &s;pace of time, (&s;o as we can comprehend Eternity) he hath in him&s;elfe a Virtue, and Power, altogether Infinite, and unlimited; by which Power he hath been able to Create, and in effect hath Created out of Nothing this World: which although it is very great, and in a manner infinite in re&s;pect of us, is neverthele&s;s very &s;mall, and le&s;s then a point in re&s;pect of God: who in re&s;pect of the extent of Places, and Spaces, is al&s;o Infinite; as he is in re&s;pect of Time, and Duration. Not, that there can be at|tributed to God (to &s;peak properly) any Time, or Place; for in Time and Place there is <HI>pars extra partem,</HI> and <HI>prius &amp; po&s;terius;</HI> where|as in the Eternity of God there is no <HI>prius &amp; po&s;terius.</HI> Neither in his Immen&s;ity is there <HI>pars extra partem:</HI> for he hath no Exten&s;i|on, as Bodies have; for there is no Quan|tity in God. But becau&s;e we are corporeal, and do rea&s;on by the help of corporeal &s;en&s;es, we do conceive the Eternity and Immen&s;ity of God under that, which we call Time and Place; as if Eternity was an Infinite Time, and Immen&s;ity a Place and Space Infinite; though Rea&s;on in effect doth judge, that there cannot be any Place, or Time actually Infinite.</P>
<PB N="175" REF="96">
<P>God then, being of nece&s;&s;ity actually Infi|nite, and his Power al&s;o Infinite, and &s;ince the World cannot have exi&s;ted from all E|ternity, as we have heretofore demon&s;tra|ted, it mu&s;t needs follow; That it hath been Created by him out of Nothing: and there is no Rea&s;on to wonder at this, &s;ince his Power is Infinite. So we have laid their &s;tout <HI>Achilles</HI> down.</P>
<P>There are &s;ome <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Philo&s;ophers, that dare not &s;ay, That the World is from all Eternity; becau&s;e the Scripture doth ex|pre&s;ly &s;ignifie to us its Beginning and Cre|ation: but they hold neverthele&s;s, that the World could have been created by God from all Eternity, if it had plea&s;ed him &s;o to do: becau&s;e an Effect may be of the &s;ame &s;tanding with its Cau&s;e; as the Light is as ancient as the Sun, and the print of ones foot on the &s;and may be as old as the foot, which &s;tamped it. But the Arguments, by which we have evidenced, That the World is not Eternal, do ab&s;olutely con|vince us of this Truth; and con&s;equently that it was not Created <HI>ab aterno.</HI></P>
<P>And the Rea&s;on, Why God cannot have created the World <HI>ab aeterno,</HI> is, not for any want of Power to do this; but becau&s;e &s;uch an Effect cannot be, nor cannot have had anex|i&s;tence without a Beginning. And God, being (as he is) Infinitely-wi&s;e, will not do that which
<PB N="176" REF="97">implies a Contradiction. And it doth not in any wayes avail to object, That his Son was genera|ted from everla&s;ting. For the Son of God is a true God, of the &s;ame E&s;&s;ence and Nature with his Father, Coeternal, and Infinite as God is, in whom there is no <HI>prius &amp; po&s;terius:</HI> but the World is finite, and cannot be otherwi&s;e then finite; becau&s;e it is corporeal, and cannot be ab&s;olutely eternal.</P>
<P>And, if it is asked, Why the World hath been Created but five or &s;ix thou&s;and years ago, I an&s;wer, that it is, Becau&s;e God would have it &s;o, who knows by his Wi&s;dome the Rea&s;ons of it, which it doth not belong to us to &s;eek after, neither ought we to fathom this Aby&s;s. And al|though it had been Created fifty thou&s;and, yea, five hundred thou&s;and millions of years before; yet hath it had a Beginning. And if this were granted, yet it can no ways further the cau&s;e of the <HI>Athei&s;ts,</HI> who would have the World to be without a Beginning, and who prevail not, un|le&s;s the World is really exi&s;tent from all Eter|nity. And we may not que&s;tion whence pro|ceeded this will in God to Create the World: for it is not any will, which he had in any time. He hath willed and decreed from all Eternity to Create the World then, and in that moment of time, (that we may &s;o &s;ay) which &s;eemed good unto him, and when that time is come, he hath executed this his will. When I &s;ay, <HI>In
<PB N="177" REF="97">that point and moment of time, which plea&s;ed him;</HI> that mu&s;t be under&s;tood in regard of the Eterni|ty, which hath preceded the VVorld; for in Eter|nity there is not (to &s;peak properly) any points or moments of Time, there being in it no <HI>prius &amp; po&s;terius:</HI> But this ought to be under&s;tood in re&s;pect of the Exi&s;tency of the VVorld, which ought nece&s;&s;arily to have had a Beginning: &s;ince it cannot be from all Eternity; as it hath been de|mon&s;trated. And it is to no purpo&s;e to Object, That if this was &s;o, then there would be &s;ome change in God, who &s;hould have at that time, and no &s;ooner Created the VVorld. For the VVorld is not in God, but out of him; and is not an Ex|tract or Product of his E&s;&s;ence, but of Nothing; and &s;o the change is not in God, but out of God: becau&s;e the VVorld, which was not before, hath began to exi&s;t in a certain Time which time (as I have &s;aid) we ought to con&s;ider in the exi&s;tency of the VVorld, and hath begun with it: for in E|ternity there is no Time properly &s;o called. And &s;o much for the fir&s;t Argument.</P>
<P>For the Second, We have heretofore &s;hewed, That the&s;e pretended di&s;orders &amp; exorbitancies, which are &s;een in Nature, and in Humane actions, and events, do in no wi&s;e favour the cau&s;e of the <HI>Atheists:</HI> yea, we have from this drawn an Ar|gument again&s;t them, becau&s;e we mu&s;t ac|knowledge in this not a blind Fate, and Fortune; but a wi&s;e, and &s;uperiour Cau&s;e, which doth regu|late the&s;e di&s;orders, and limits them; otherwi&s;e all
<PB N="178" REF="98">things would return in an horrible and mon&s;trous confu&s;ion. And, although we cannot always per|ceive the rea&s;on of this di&s;order, &s;o wonderfully guided, we may not therefore conclude, That it is not guided. A common Souldier doth not alway under&s;tand the rea&s;on of his Generals Orders and Commands; which yet if he &s;hould be &s;o bold as to cen&s;ure, or to accu&s;e his General of in&s;uffici|ency, he &s;hould render him&s;elf criminal, and would betray his ignorance: &s;uch are the&s;e people, who do cen&s;ure the works of God, and do attribute them to a blind Fate, becau&s;e they cannot &s;ee into the coun&s;els of him, who hath &s;o determined of the&s;e things. The Pro&s;perity of the VVicked, and the Afflictions of the Righteous and Good men, was not an Argument even to the Heathen them|&s;elves, That all things were guided by a blind Fate and hazard: they them&s;elves in this have acknow|ledged and demon&s;trated, That there is a Provi|dence, which doth &s;o di&s;po&s;e of the&s;e things. And God in his word doth yet more clearly, evident|ly, and di&s;tinctly, then they, give us the Rea&s;ons of his Ju&s;tice, Wi&s;dom, and Bounty in this his conduct, again&s;t which all the Rea&s;onings of the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> break them&s;elves, as a Wave again&s;t a Rock: and therefore there is no need to enlarge upon this &s;ubject; &s;ince the be&s;t Philo&s;ophy, &amp; the evidences of Revelation, teach us in this point, that from this conduct we ought rather to con|clude, That there is another life after this, then to deny the Providence, and Deity.</P>
<PB N="179" REF="98">
<P>So now we come to the Third Argument. It is certain, that the ab&s;urd and extravagant Opinions of the Heathen, concerning the Multitude and Diver&s;ity of their fal&s;e Gods, the Service they did to them, the Fabulous Stories, which they made of them, and upon which all their Religion was grounded, have given to <HI>Epicurus,</HI> and &s;ome o|thers with him, matter enough of laughter, and to jear their Impertinencies, to deride their vain Super&s;titions, and de&s;pi&s;e all their Religion. Yea, it hath been a &s;tumbling-block to them, and hath given them occa&s;ion to become <HI>Athei&s;ts;</HI> being de&s;titute of the Divine Revelation, which affords to us the right knowledge, which we ought to have of the Deity. In which they are not there|fore excu&s;able, &s;eeing that they could by the u&s;e of right Rea&s;on (as well as other Philo&s;ophers, wi&s;er then them&s;elves) acknowledge and confe&s;s one onely God, and that the Cult, which is due to him, ought to have been &s;omewhat el&s;e, then the Hea|theni&s;h Super&s;titions. And we do not deny, but that in other fal&s;e Religions, yea, even in the Sects and Here&s;ies which are among <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> there are very extravagant, and ab&s;urd, and wild Opi|nions and Practi&s;es in the matter of Religion: and it may be, that the&s;e extravagancies, wild practi|&s;es and opinions, in the&s;e la&s;t days of the <HI>Chri&s;ti|an</HI> Church, have given an occa&s;ion to <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> to diffu&s;e it &s;elf, and to multiply among&s;t <HI>Chri|&s;tians.</HI> And &s;uch ab&s;urdities do &s;erve to foment, and encrea&s;e it; as the Authour of the <HI>Relation
<PB N="180" REF="99">of the Religion of the We&s;tern World</HI> hath very well and judiciou&s;ly remarked, &s;peaking of the common and ordinary Profane&s;s of the <HI>Italians.</HI></P>
<P>But to this objection I an&s;wer two things. Fir&s;t, That true <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> hath no &s;uch Extravagan|cies, as can &s;tartle tho&s;e, who make a right u&s;e of their Rea&s;on. Secondly, That <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> is in|comparably more irrational, and more to be de|te&s;ted then any of tho&s;e Extravagancies, which they with Rea&s;on do reject. There is nothing in the true and pure <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Religion, which the word of God onely hath taught us, which can, or ought to offend any per&s;on of good &s;en&s;e and judgement. Onely the My&s;tery of the Trinity, and that of the Incarnation, is indeed above our apprehen&s;ion, and carnal &s;en&s;e, which cannot comprehend the <HI>Quomodo</HI> of it; but yet, as both the&s;e are &s;imply propo&s;ed, and laid open to us, and as we may gather them from the Revelation, which God hath made to us of them in his word, they are &s;uch, as that they are not again&s;t pure and right Rea&s;on, enlightned by this Revelation; though it cannot fathom the depth of them. And what wonder is it, if our Rea&s;on, which is &s;hort, weak, and blind, even about Natural things, (that the greate&s;t of Philo&s;ophers hath compar'd it to the &s;ight of Owls at mid-day) cannot reach &s;o far, as perfectly to apprehend, and under&s;tand &s;o high a My&s;tery, which is all that is mo&s;t &s;ub|lime in the Divine Nature, which of it &s;elf is Spiritual, Immaterial, Infinite, Eternal, In|vi&s;ible,
<PB N="181" REF="99">and Incomprehen&s;ible? It is farr a greater wonder, if the Opinion of the <HI>Athe|i&s;ts</HI> is true, who acknowledge neither God, nor Angel, nor Spirit; that &s;o high, &s;o wonderfull and &s;ublime a thought, &s;hould have entered into the &s;pirit of man, wallowing in the mud, and who can|not, nor ought not, (according to their Opinion) to rai&s;e him&s;elf above corporeal &s;en&s;es; being (as they think) altogether corporeal and &s;en&s;ual. How comes it to pa&s;s, that &s;o wonderfull Wi&s;dom, which &s;hineth in all the Dogmes of <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Re|ligion, and particularly appears in the&s;e two My|&s;teries, which are &s;o wonderfully linked with the re&s;t of the Doctrine; how is it (I &s;ay) that this can be the product of &s;uch a vile, and low &s;oul, as they would have the &s;oul of man to be; which is (as they think) compo&s;ed of little <HI>Atoms,</HI> and Indivi&s;ible Bodies, or which is nothing but a little refined Air, which by Death vani&s;heth into nothing?</P>
<P>As to <HI>Athei&s;m,</HI> it is &s;o far from being free from Extravagancies and Ab&s;urdities, that it is altoge|ther full of them; as it appears evidently by what we have &s;aid before: wherein we have convinced by many Arguments this mon&s;trous Opinion. A|gain&s;t which Arguments nothing but Extravagan|cies, Ab&s;urdities, and Impertinencies, can be ex|cepted.</P>
<P>What Madne&s;s, and Extravagancy, is it to ima|gine with <HI>Epicurus,</HI> that this VVorld is framed, and compo&s;ed, by the fortuitous concour&s;e of <HI>A|toms,</HI> or &s;mall Indivi&s;ible Bodies? Or, with &s;ome o|thers,
<PB N="182" REF="100">to imagine, that it is without any beginning or ending, the &s;ame at this day, as it was 600000. millions of years before: which Opinion draws af|ter it all the imaginable Ab&s;urdities, and Contra|dictions, that may be; as it hath been &s;hewed be|fore? And what an Impertinency is it, to attribute the Government of this admirable work, and the Conduct of this VVorld, and of the Affairs of all Humane kind, to two blind and oppo&s;ite Gover|nours, <HI>viz.</HI> the in&s;en&s;ible Fate and the temerary Hazard, &amp; incon&s;iderate Fortune, in which there is not a whit of Under&s;tanding, Prudence, or Know|ledg? What Ab&s;urdity, &amp; Impertinency, is it to at|tribute more &s;en&s;e, and under&s;tanding, to the mo&s;t &s;tupid of men, &amp; to the lea&s;t of all Animals, then to that, which doth move and conduct all this great Fabrick? For what is Fate in it &s;elf, but a <HI>Chimaera,</HI> wanting all true exi&s;tence? And what is the pre|tended &s;atal order of Nature, but a bruti&s;h thing, <HI>&amp; &s;ui ne&s;cia?</HI></P>
<P>There are not, to &s;ay truth, in the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> Pro|fe&s;&s;ion any of the&s;e ridiculous, ab&s;urd, impertinent and wild extravagancies, practi&s;es, and u&s;es, which the ignorance, temerity, and &s;uper&s;tition of men hath introduced in mo&s;t of the fal&s;e Religions; but that, which is more wild, &amp; mon&s;trous in them is, that they (as much as in them lies,) aboli&s;h and ex|tingui&s;h out of the world, all true Religion and pi|ety, and drown men in impiety, profane&s;s, &amp; irreli|gion, which comprehends in it all &s;orts of imagina|ble Mon&s;tro&s;ities. For what is a man, that hath no
<PB N="183" REF="100">&s;en&s;e, knowledge, nor fear, reverence, nor love, nor re&s;pect for the Deity, but the mo&s;t abomina|ble mon&s;ter, that can be imagin'd? What hone&s;ty, good, what virtue, or civility, can be hoped for, or expected from a man, that thinks, that all the difference there is between good and evil, vice &amp; virtue, is nought el&s;e, but an imagination, and de|pends meerly from mans fancy, which would have it &s;o, and not from the mo&s;t perfect, immutable, &amp; eternal pattern of the Deity, the only model of all perfection, as well moral as Phy&s;ical? Is not it evi|dent, that this <HI>Maxim,</HI> and opinion of the <HI>Athei&s;ts</HI> leads men directly to all kind of vice, pollution, e|vil, and Inju&s;tice, to which their concupi&s;cence, &amp; the plea&s;ure of their carnal &s;en&s;e, may carry them, without any remor&s;e of con&s;cience, or fear of a|ny other puni&s;hment, then that which may be in|flicted on them by men; which if any one of them &s;hall hope, or think, to e&s;cape, he will let him&s;elf loo&s;e to what&s;oever his &s;en&s;e &s;hall dictate to him? For, according to their Principles, Rea&s;on, which dictates this to be good, and that to be evil, (&s;et|ting a&s;ide the con&s;ideration of the Deity, which is the pattern of Good) is nothing el&s;e according to their opinion, but a meer phanta&s;ie, which may be chang'd, and which obligeth none, but to what they plea&s;e to do. And doth not this lead directly to the overthrowing of all humane &s;ociety, and to the &s;ubver&s;ion of all e&s;tates, bodies, &amp; commonal|ties in the whole world &amp; &s;o to the confu&s;ion and ruine of all humane kind, and to the mo&s;t horrible
<PB N="184" REF="101"><HI>Chaos,</HI> that ever was feigned or imagined?</P>
<P><HI>That God, who is Gracious and Ju&s;t, who re&s;ideth in the highe&s;t Heaven, grant in his great Compa&s;&s;i|ons, that tho&s;e, who fear and reverence him, may be kept from this abominable precipice. Let him open the eyes of tho&s;e, who are led blind-fold by their &s;en|&s;uality, and the vanity of their corrupted Rea&s;on in this dangerous Aby&s;s, that they may &s;ee, and know, how terrible this Precipice is. Let him give Repen|tance &amp; Acknowledgment of their errour to the one, and Wi&s;dom to the other, that &s;o they may never fall into it; and to overy one the right knowledge, fear, and reverence of his Holy Name, that he may be prai&s;ed, &s;erved, and glorified by all, as Honour, Fear, and Reverence, is mo&s;t due unto him by all men eternally.</HI> Amen.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
