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<NAME>Taryn Hakala</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>A Confutation of Athei&s;m From the Structure and Origin of Human Bodies.</P>
<P>PART I.</P>
<P>A SERMON Preached at <HI>Saint</HI> Martin's in the Fields, <HI>May</HI> 2. 1692.</P>
<P>Being the <HI>Third</HI> of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable <HI>ROBERT BOYLE,</HI> E&s;quire.</P>
<P>By <HI>RICHARD BENTLEY,</HI> M. A. Chaplain to the Right Reverend Father in God, <HI>EDWARD,</HI> Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Worce&s;ter.</HI></P>
<P>The Third Edition.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. H.</HI> for <HI>H. Mortlock</HI> at the <HI>Phoenix</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. 1693.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
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<P>Imprimatur.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Geo. Roy&s;e,</HI> R. R^m^o in Chri&s;to Patri ac D^n^o D^n^o <HI>Johanni</HI> Archiep <HI>Can|tuar.</HI> &agrave; Sacris Dome&s;t.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>May</HI> 7. 1692.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
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<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
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<HEAD><HI>ACTS XVII. 27.</HI> That they &s;hould &s;eek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him: though he be not far from every one of us; for in him we Live, and Move, and have our Being.</HEAD>
<P>I Have &s;aid enough in my la&s;t, to &s;hew the fit|ne&s;s and pertinency of the Apo&s;tle's Di&s;cour&s;e to the Per&s;ons he addre&s;s'd to: whereby it &s;ufficiently appears that he was no <HI>Babler,</HI> as &s;ome of the <HI>Athenian</HI> Rabble reproached him; not a <GAP DESC="foreign">, a bu&s;ie prating Fellow; as in another language they &s;ay <HI>Sermones &s;erere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Plautus. Virgil. Livius.</NOTE> and <HI>Rumores &s;e|rere</HI> in a like mode of Expre&s;&s;ion; that he did not talk at random, but was throughly acquainted with the &s;everal humors and opinions of his Auditors. And as <HI>Mo&s;es was learned in all the Wi&s;dom of the Ae|gyptians,</HI> &s;o it is manife&s;t from this Chapter alone, if nothing el&s;e had been now extant, that St. <HI>Paul</HI> was a great Ma&s;ter in all the Learning of the <HI>Greeks.</HI> One thing further I &s;hall ob&s;erve from the words of the Text, before I enter upon the Subject which I propo&s;ed; That it requires <HI>&s;ome</HI> Indu&s;try and Con&s;ideration to find out the Being of God; we mu&s;t <HI>&s;eek the Lord,</HI> and <HI>feel after him,</HI> before we can <HI>find</HI> him by the Light of Nature. The &s;earch indeed
<PB N="4" REF="3">is not very tedious, nor difficult; <HI>He not far from every one of us; or in him we live, and move, and have our Being.</HI> The Con&s;ideration of our Mind and Un|der&s;tanding, which is an incorporeal Sub&s;tance inde|pendent from Matter; and the contemplation of our own Bodies, which have all the &s;tamps and characters of excellent Contrivance; the&s;e alone, though we look upon nothing abroad, do very ea&s;ily and proxi|mately guide us to the wi&s;e Author of all things. But however, as we &s;ee from our Text, <HI>&s;ome</HI> Thoughts and Meditation are nece&s;&s;ary to it; and a man may po&s;&s;ibly be &s;o &s;tupid, or wilfully ignorant or per|ver&s;e, as not to have <HI>God in all his thoughts,</HI> or to <HI>&s;ay in his heart, There is none.</HI> And this being ob&s;erved, we have an effectual an&s;wer to that Cavil of the Athei&s;ts; who make it an objection again&s;t the Being of God, that they do not di&s;cover him without any Appli|cation, in &s;pite of their corrupt Wills and debauch'd Under&s;tandings. If, &s;ay they, &s;uch a God as we are told of, had created and formed us, &s;urely he would have left upon our Minds a native and indeleble In|&s;cription of Him&s;elf, whereby we mu&s;t needs have <HI>felt</HI> him, even without <HI>&s;eeking,</HI> and believed in him whether we would or no. So that the&s;e Athei&s;ts being con&s;cious to them&s;elves, that they are void of &s;uch Belief, which (they &s;ay) if God was, would actually and nece&s;&s;arily be in them, do bring their own wic|ked
<PB N="5" REF="3">Doubting and Denying of God, as Evidence again&s;t His Exi&s;tence, and make their very Infidelity an argument for it &s;elf. To which we reply, That God hath endu'd Mankind with Powers and Abili|ties, which we call Natural Light, and Rea&s;on, and Common Sen&s;e; by the due u&s;e of which we cannot mi&s;s of the Di&s;covery of his Being; and this is &s;uffi|cient. But as to any other original Notion and Pro|po&s;ition, that <HI>God is,</HI> actually imprinted on us, ante|cedently to all u&s;e of our Faculties, we may affirm again&s;t the Athei&s;ts, that the ab&s;ence of &s;uch a Notion doth not give the lea&s;t pre&s;umption again&s;t the truth of Religion; becau&s;e, though God be &s;uppos'd to be, yet that Notion di&s;tinct from our Faculties would not be requi&s;ite; nor is it pretended to by Religion. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> it would not be requi&s;ite; becau&s;e, without any &s;uch primitive Impre&s;&s;ion, we can ea&s;ily attain to the knowledge of the Deity by the &s;ole u&s;e of our Na|tural Rea&s;on. And again, &s;uch an Impre&s;&s;ion would have render'd the Belief of a God irre&s;i&s;tible and ne|ce&s;&s;ary, and thereby have bereaved it of all that is good and acceptable in it. For as by taking away the Freedom of Human Will, and making us meer Machins under fatal Ties and Impul&s;es, it would de|&s;troy the very nature of Moral Vertue; &s;o likewi&s;e as to Faith, there would be nothing worthy of prai&s;e and recompence in it, if there were left no po&s;&s;ibility
<PB N="6" REF="4">of Doubting or Denying. And <HI>&s;econdly,</HI> &s;uch a ra|dical Truth, that <HI>God is,</HI> &s;pringing up together with the E&s;&s;ence of the Soul, and previous to all other Thoughts, is not pretended to by Religion. No &s;uch thing, that I know of, is affirmed or &s;ugge&s;ted by the Scriptures. There are &s;everal Topics there u&s;ed again&s;t the Athei&s;m and Idolatry of the Heathens; &s;uch as the vi&s;ible marks of Divine Wi&s;dom and Goodne&s;s in the Works of the Creation, the vital U|nion of Souls with Matter, and the admirable Stru|cture of animate Bodies, and the like. But if our A|po&s;tle had a&s;&s;erted &s;uch an anticipating Principle engraven upon our Souls before all Exerci&s;e of Rea|&s;on; what did he talk of <HI>&s;eeking the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him:</HI> &s;eeing that if the knowledge of him was in that manner innate and perpetual, there would be no occa&s;ion of <HI>&s;eeking,</HI> nor any <HI>hap</HI> or hazard in the finding. Such an In&s;crip|tion would be &s;elf-evident without any Ratiocinati|on or Study, and could not fail con&s;tantly to exert its Energy in their Minds. What did he talk of the <HI>Un|known God,</HI> and <HI>ignorantly wor&s;hipping;</HI> when if &s;uch an Original Signature were always inherent in their hearts; God could not be unknown to, or ignorant|ly wor&s;hipp'd by any? That primary Propo&s;ition would have been clear, and di&s;tinct, and efficacious, and univer&s;al in the minds of Men. S. <HI>Paul</HI> therefore,
<PB N="7" REF="4">it appears, had no apprehen&s;ion of &s;uch a Fir&s;t No|tion; nor made u&s;e of it for an argument; which (&s;eeing that who&s;oever hath it, mu&s;t needs know that he hath it) if it be not believed before by the Adver&s;ary, is fal&s;e; and if it be believed, is &s;uper|fluous; and is of &s;o frail and brittle a texture, that whereas other arguments are not an&s;wered by bare denying without contrary Proof, the meer doubting and disbelieving of this mu&s;t be granted to be <HI>ip&s;o facto</HI> the breaking and confuting of it. Thus much therefore we have proved again&s;t the Athei&s;t; that &s;uch an original irre&s;i&s;tible Notion is neither requi|&s;ite upon, &s;uppo&s;ition of a Deity, nor is pretended to by Religion; &s;o that neither the Ab&s;ence of it is any Argument again&s;t the Being of God, nor a &s;uppo&s;ed fal&s;e A&s;&s;ertion of it an objection again&s;t the Scripture. 'Tis enough that all are furni&s;h'd with &s;uch Natural Powers and Capacities; that if they &s;eriou&s;ly reflect, if they <HI>&s;eek the Lord</HI> with meditation and &s;tudy, they cannot fail of <HI>finding</HI> and di&s;covering him: whereby God is not <HI>left without witne&s;s,</HI> but the Athei&s;t <HI>without excu&s;e.</HI> And now I ha&s;te to the Second Propo&s;ition deduced from the Text, and the Argument of my pre&s;ent Di&s;cour&s;e, That the organical Structure of humane Bodies, whereby they are fitted to live, and move, and be vitally informed by the Soul, is un|que&s;tionably the workman&s;hip of a mo&s;t wi&s;e, and powerfull, and beneficent Maker.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="5">
<P> Fir&s;t, 'Tis allowed and acknowledged by all parties, that the Bodies of Men and other Animals are excellently well fitted for Life, and Motion, and Sen&s;ation; and the &s;everal Parts of them well adapted and accommodated to their particular Functions. The Eye is very proper and meet for &s;eeing, the Tongue for ta&s;ting and &s;peaking, the Hand for holding and lifting, and ten thou&s;and Ope|rations be&s;ide: and &s;o for the inward Parts; the Lungs are &s;uitable for Re&s;piration, the Stomach for Concoction, the Lacteous Ve&s;&s;els for the Reception of the Chyle, the Heart for the Di&s;tribution of the Blood to all the parts of the Body. This is matter of Fact, and beyond all di&s;pute; and in effect is no more than to &s;ay, that <HI>Animals are Animals;</HI> for if they were depriv'd of the&s;e Qualifications, they could not be &s;o. This therefore is not the matter in Que&s;tion between us and the Athei&s;ts: But the Con|trover&s;ie is here. We, when we con&s;ider &s;o many con&s;tituent parts in the Bodies of Men, all admira|bly compacted into &s;o noble an Engine; in each of the very Fingers, for example, there are Bones, and Gri&s;tles, and Ligaments, and Membranes, and Mu&s;cles, and Tendons, and Nerves, and Arteries, and Veins, and Skin, and Cuticle, and Nail; toge|ther with Marrow, and Fat, and Blood, and other Nutritious Juices; and all tho&s;e &s;olid Parts of a
<PB N="9" REF="5">determinate Size, and Figure, and Texture, and Situ|ation; and each of them made up of Myriads of little Fibres and Filaments, not di&s;coverable by the naked Eye: I &s;ay, when we con&s;ider how innumera|ble parts mu&s;t con&s;titute &s;o &s;mall a member, as the Finger, we cannot look upon <HI>it</HI> or the whole Body, wherein appears &s;o much Fitne&s;s and U&s;e, and Sub|&s;erviency to infinite Functions, any otherwi&s;e than as the effect of Contrivance and Skill, and con&s;e|quently the Workman&s;hip of a mo&s;t Intelligent and Beneficent Being. And though now the Propagation of Mankind is in a &s;ettled method of Nature, the in|&s;trument of God: yet we affirm that its fir&s;t Produ|ction was by the immediate Power of the Almighty Author of Nature: and that all &s;ucceeding Genera|tions of Men are the Progeny of one primitive Cou|ple. This is a Religious Man's account of the Frame and Origination of him&s;elf. Now the Athei&s;ts agree with us, as to the Fitne&s;s of Man's Body and its &s;e|veral Parts to their various Operations and Functi|ons (for that is vi&s;ible and pa&s;t all contradiction) but they vehemently impugn, and horribly dread the Thought, That this U&s;efulne&s;s of the Parts and the Whole &s;hould fir&s;t ari&s;e from Wi&s;dom and De&s;ign. So that here will be the point in debate, and the &s;ubject of our pre&s;ent Undertaking; Whether this acknowledged Fitne&s;s of Human Bodies mu&s;t be
<PB N="10" REF="6">attributed, as we &s;ay, to a wi&s;e and good God; or, as the Athei&s;ts averr, to dead, &s;en&s;le&s;s Matter. They have contrived &s;everal tricks and <HI>methods of Deceit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. Eph. 4.14.</NOTE> one repugnant to another, to evade (if po&s;&s;ible) this mo&s;t cogent Proof of a Deity; All which I will pro|po&s;e and refute: and I hope to make it appear, that here, as indeed every where, but here certainly, in the great Dramatick Poem of Nature, is <HI>dignus Deo vindice Nodus,</HI> a nece&s;&s;ity of introducing a God.</P>
<P>And fir&s;t, I will an&s;wer what Exceptions they can have again&s;t Our account: and &s;econdly, I will confute all the Rea&s;ons and Explications they can give of their Own.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> I will an&s;wer what Exceptions they can have again&s;t Our account of the Production of Mankind. And they may object, That the Body it &s;elf, though pretty good in its Kind and upon Their <HI>Hypothe&s;is,</HI> neverthele&s;s doth not look like the Work|man&s;hip of &s;o great a Ma&s;ter, as is pretended by Us; that infinite Wi&s;dom, and Goodne&s;s, and Power, would have be&s;towed upon us more Sen&s;es than five, or at lea&s;t the&s;e five in a much higher Perfe|ction; that we could never have come out of the Hands of the Almighty, &s;o &s;ubject to numerous Di&s;|ea&s;es, &s;o obnoxious to violent Deaths; and, at be&s;t, of &s;uch a &s;hort and tran&s;itory Life. They can no more a&s;cribe &s;o &s;orry an Effect to an Omni&s;cient
<PB N="11" REF="6">Cau&s;e, than &s;ome ordinary piece of Clock-work with a very few motions and u&s;es, and tho&s;e conti|nually out of order, and quickly at an end, to the be&s;t Arti&s;t of the Age. But to this we reply: <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> as to the five Sen&s;es, it would be ra&s;h indeed to af|firm, That God, though he had plea&s;ed, could not have endued us with more. But thus much we may averr, That though the Power of God be infinite and perfect, yet the Capacities of Matter are within limits and bounds. Why then doth the Athei&s;t &s;u|&s;pect that there may po&s;&s;ibly be any more ways of Sen&s;ation than what we have already? Hath he an Idea, or Notion, or Di&s;covery of any more? So far from that, that he cannot make any addition or progre&s;s in tho&s;e very Sen&s;es he hath, further than they them&s;elves have informed him. He cannot ima|gine one new Colour, or Ta&s;te, or Smell, be&s;ide tho&s;e that have actually fallen under his re&s;pective Sen&s;es. Much le&s;s can he that is de&s;titute of an entire Sen&s;e, have any Idea or Repre&s;entation of it; as one that is born Deaf hath no Notion of Sounds; or Blind, of Colours and Light. If then the Athei&s;t can have no Imagination of more Sen&s;es than five, why doth he &s;uppo&s;e that a Body is capable of more? If we had double or triple as many, there might &s;till be the &s;ame &s;u&s;picion for a greater number without end; and therefore in both ca&s;es 'tis equally unrea|&s;onable
<PB N="12" REF="7">and groundle&s;s. <HI>Secondly,</HI> we affirm, that our Sen&s;es have that degree of Perfection which is mo&s;t fit and &s;uitable to our E&s;tate and Condition. If the <HI>Eye</HI> were &s;o piercing, as to de&s;cry even opake and little Objects a hundred Leagues off, it would do us little &s;ervice; it would be terminated by neighbou|ring Hills and Woods, or in the large&s;t and evene&s;t plain by the very Convexity of the Earth, unle&s;s we could always inhabit the tops of Mountains and Cliffs, or had Wings too to fly aloft, when we had a mind to take a Pro&s;pect. And if mankind had had Wings (as perhaps &s;ome extravagant Athei&s;t may think us deficient in that) all the World mu&s;t have con&s;ented to clip them; or el&s;e Human Race had been extinct before this time, nothing upon that &s;uppo&s;ition being &s;afe from Murder and Rapine. Or if the <HI>Eye</HI> were &s;o acute, as to rival the fine&s;t Mi|cro&s;copes, and to di&s;cern the &s;malle&s;t Hair upon the leg of a Gnat, it would be a cur&s;e and not a ble&s;&s;ing to us; it would make all things appear rugged and deformed; the mo&s;t finely poli&s;h'd Chry&s;tal would be uneven and rough: The &s;ight of our own &s;elves would affright us: The &s;moothe&s;t Skin would be be&s;et all over with ragged Scales, and bri&s;tly Hairs. And be&s;ide, we could not &s;ee at one view above what is now the &s;pace of an Inch, and it would take a con&s;iderable time to &s;urvey the then mountainous
<PB N="13" REF="7">bulk of our own Bodies. Such a Faculty of &s;ight &s;o di&s;proportion'd to our other Sen&s;es and to the Ob|jects about us would be very little better than Blind|ne&s;s it &s;elf. And again, God hath furni&s;hed us with Invention and Indu&s;try, &s;o that by optical Ga&s;|&s;es we can more than &s;upply that imaginary defect of our own Eyes, and di&s;cover more remote and minute Bodies with that a&s;&s;i&s;tance than perhaps the mo&s;t whim&s;ical Athei&s;t would de&s;ire to do without it. So likewi&s;e if our Sence of <HI>Hearing</HI> were exalted proportionably to the former, what a mi&s;erable con|dition would Mankind be in? What whi&s;per could be low enough, but many would over-hear it? What Affairs, that mo&s;t require it, could be tran&s;acted with &s;ecrecy? and whither could we retire from per|petual humming and buzzing? every breath of Wind would incommode and di&s;turb us: we &s;hould have no quiet or &s;leep in the &s;ilente&s;t nights and mo&s;t &s;olitary places; and we mu&s;t inevitably be &s;tricken Deaf or Dead with the noi&s;e of a clap of Thunder. And the like inconveniences would follow, if the Sen&s;e of <HI>Feeling</HI> was advanced to &s;uch a degree, as the Athei&s;t requires. How could we &s;u&s;tain the pre&s;|&s;ure of our very Cloaths in &s;uch a condition; much le&s;s carry burthens and provide for conveniences of Life? We could not bear the a&s;&s;ault of an In&s;ect, or a Feather, or a puff of Air without pain. There
<PB N="14" REF="8">are examples now of wounded per&s;ons, that have roared for angui&s;h and torment at the di&s;charge of Ordnance, though at a very great di&s;tance; what in&s;upportable torture then &s;hould we be under upon a like concu&s;&s;ion in the Air, when all the whole Body would have the tenderne&s;s of a Wound? In a word, all the Changes and Emendations that the Athei&s;ts would make in our Sen&s;es, are &s;o far from being Improvements, that they would prove the ut|ter Ruin and Extirpation of Mankind.</P>
<P>But perhaps they may have better &s;ucce&s;s in their complaints about the Di&s;tempers of the Body and the Shortne&s;s of Life. We do not wonder indeed, that the Athei&s;t &s;hould lay a mighty &s;tre&s;s upon this Objection. For to a man that places all his Hap|pine&s;s in the Indolency and Plea&s;ure of the Body, what can be more terrible than Pain or a Fit of Sick|ne&s;s nothing but <HI>Death</HI> alone, the mo&s;t dreadfull thing in the world. When an Athei&s;t reflects upon Death, his very Hope is De&s;pair; and 'tis the crown and top of his Wi&s;hes, that it may prove his utter Di&s;&s;olution and De&s;truction. No que&s;tion if an Athei&s;t had had the making of him&s;elf, he would have framed a Con&s;titution that could have kept pace with his in&s;atiable Lu&s;t, been invincible by Gluttony and Intemperance, and have held out vigorous a thou&s;and years in a perpetual Debauch.
<PB N="15" REF="8">But we an&s;wer; <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> in the words of St. <HI>Paul: Nay but, O Man, who art thou,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9.20.</NOTE> <HI>that replie&s;t again&s;t God? &s;hall the thing formed &s;ay to him that formed it, Why ha&s;t thou made me thus?</HI> We adore and magni|fie his mo&s;t holy Name for his unde&s;erved Mercy towards us, that he made us the Chief of the vi&s;ible Creation; and freely acquit his Goodne&s;s from a|ny imputation of Unkindne&s;s, that he has placed us no Higher. <HI>Secondly,</HI> Religion gives us a very good account of the pre&s;ent Infirmity of our Bodies. Man at his fir&s;t Origin was a Ve&s;&s;el of Honour, when he came fir&s;t out of the Hands of the Potter: endued with all imaginable Perfections of the Ani|mal Nature; till by Di&s;obedience and Sin, Di&s;ea|&s;es and Death came fir&s;t into the World. <HI>Thirdly,</HI> The Di&s;tempers of the Body are not &s;o formidable to a Religious Man, as they are to an Athei&s;t: He hath a quite different judgment and apprehen&s;ion about them: he is willing to believe, that our pre|&s;ent condition is better for us in the I&s;&s;ue, than that uninterrupted Health and Security, that the Athei&s;t de&s;ires; which would &s;trongly tempt us to forget God and the concerns of a better Life. Whereas now he receives a Fit of Sickne&s;s, as the <GAP DESC="foreign">, the kind Cha&s;ti&s;ement and Di&s;cipline of his Hea|venly Father, to wean his Affections from the World, where he is but as on a Journey; and to
<PB N="16" REF="9">fix his thoughts and de&s;ires on things above, where his Country and his Dwelling is: that where he hath placed his <HI>Trea&s;ure</HI> and Concerns, <HI>there his heart may be al&s;o. Fourthly,</HI> Mo&s;t of the Di&s;tempers that are incident to us are of our own making, the ef|fects of abu&s;ed Plenty, and Luxury, and mu&s;t not be charged upon our Maker; who notwith&s;tand|ing out of the Riches of his Compa&s;&s;ion hath pro|vided for us &s;tore of excellent Medicines, to allevi|ate in a great mea&s;ure tho&s;e very Evils which we bring upon our &s;elves. And now we are come to the la&s;t objection of the Athei&s;t, That Life is too &s;hort. Alas for him, what pity 'tis that he cannot wallow immortally in his &s;en&s;ual Plea&s;ures! If his Life were many whole Ages longer than it is, he would &s;till make the &s;ame Complaint, <HI>Brevis e&s;t hic fructus homullis.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lucret. <HI>l.</HI> 3.</NOTE> For Eternity, and that's the thing he trembles at, is every whit as long after a thou&s;and years as after fifty. But Religion gives us a better pro&s;pect and makes us look beyond the gloomy Regions of Death with Comfort and De|light: <HI>When this corruptible &s;hall put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.</HI> We are &s;o far from repining at God, that he hath not extended the period of our Lives to the Longaevity of the Antediluvians; that we give him thanks for con|tracting the Days of our Trial, and receiving us
<PB N="17" REF="9">more maturely into tho&s;e Everla&s;ting Habitations above, that he hath prepared for us.</P>
<P>And now that I have an&s;wer'd all the Athei&s;t's Exceptions again&s;t Our account of the Production of Mankind, I come in the next place to examine all the Rea&s;ons and Explications they can give of their own.</P>
<P>The Athei&s;ts upon this occa&s;ion are divided into Sects, and (which is the mark and character of Er|ror) are at variance and repugnancy with each o|ther and with them&s;elves. <HI>Some</HI> of them will have Mankind to have been thus from all Eternity. But the re&s;t do no<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> approve of any infinite Succe&s;&s;ions, but are po&s;itive for a beginning; and they al&s;o are &s;ubdivided into three Parties: the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> a&s;cribe the Origin of Men to the Influence of the Stars upon &s;ome extraordinary Conjunction or A&s;pect: Others again reject all A&s;trology; and <HI>&s;ome</HI> of the&s;e me|chanically produce Mankind at the very fir&s;t Ex|periment by the action of the Sun upon duly pre|pared Matter: but <HI>others</HI> are rather of opinion, that after infinite blundering and mi&s;carrying our Bo|dies at la&s;t happen'd and jump'd into this Figure by meer Chance and Accident. There's no Athe|i&s;t in the World, that rea&s;ons about his Infidelity (which God knows mo&s;t of them never do) but he takes one of the&s;e <HI>four</HI> Methods. I will refute
<PB N="18" REF="10">them every one in the &s;ame order that I have na|med them: the two former in the pre&s;ent Di&s;cour&s;e, re&s;erving the others for another occa&s;ion.</P>
<P N="1">1. And <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> the Opinion of tho&s;e Athei&s;ts that will have Mankind and other Animals to have &s;ub|&s;i&s;ted thus eternally in infinite Generations already pa&s;t, will be found to be flat Non&s;ence and Con|tradiction to it &s;elf, and repugnant al&s;o to mat|ter of Fact. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> it is contradiction to its &s;elf. Infinite Generations of Men (they &s;ay) are already pa&s;t and gone: but what&s;oever is now pa&s;t, was once actually pre&s;ent; &s;o that each of tho&s;e Infinite Generations was once in its turn actually pre&s;ent: therefore all except One Generation were once fu|ture and not in being, which de&s;troys the very &s;up|po&s;ition: For either that One Generation mu&s;t it &s;elf have been Infinite, which is Non&s;ence; or it was the Finite Beginning of Infinite Generati|ons between it &s;elf and us, which is Infinity ter|minated at both ends, which is non&s;ence as before. <HI>Again,</HI> Infinite pa&s;t Generations of Men have been once actually pre&s;ent: therefore there may be &s;ome one Man of them given, that was at infinite di&s;tance from <HI>us</HI> now: therefore that man's Son likewi&s;e, &s;uppo&s;e forty years younger than his Father, was either at infinite di&s;tance from us or at finite: if that Son too was at infinite di&s;tance from us, then one
<PB N="19" REF="10">Infinite is longer by forty years than another; which is ab&s;urd: if at finite, then forty years added to fi|nite makes it infinite, which is as ab&s;urd as the o|ther. And <HI>again,</HI> The number of Men that are already dead and gone is infinite, as they &s;ay: but the number of the Eyes of tho&s;e men mu&s;t nece&s;|&s;arily be twice as much as that of the men them|&s;elves, and that of the Fingers ten times as much, and that of the Hairs of their Heads thou&s;ands of times. So that we have here one Infinite number twice, ten times, and thou&s;ands of times as great as another, which is contradiction again. Thus we &s;ee it is impo&s;&s;ible in it &s;elf, that any &s;ucce&s;&s;ive duration &s;hould be actually and po&s;itively infinite, or have infinite &s;ucce&s;&s;ions already gone and pa&s;t. Neither can the&s;e Difficulties be applied to the Eter|nal Duration of God Almighty. For thou we cannot comprehend Eternity and Infinity; yet we under&s;tand what they are <HI>not.</HI> And &s;omething, we are &s;ure, mu&s;t have Exi&s;ted from all Eternity; becau&s;e all things could not emerge and &s;tart out of Nothing. So that if this prae-exi&s;tent Eternity is not compatible with a &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Duration, as we clearly and di&s;tinctly perceive that it is not; then it remains, that &s;ome Being, though infinitely above our finite comprehen&s;ions, mu&s;t have had an iden|tical, invariable Continuance from all Eternity;
<PB N="20" REF="11">which Being is no other than God. For as his Na|ture is perfect and immutable without the <HI>lea&s;t &s;hadow of change;</HI> &s;o his Eternal Duration is per|manent and indivi&s;ible, not mea&s;urable by Time and Motion, nor to be computed by number of &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Moments. <HI>One day with the Lord is as a thou&s;and years, and a thou&s;and years as one day.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>Secondly,</HI> this Opinion of infinite Generati|ons is repugnant likewi&s;e to matter of Fact. Tis a Truth beyond oppo&s;ition, that the univer&s;al Spe|cies of Mankind hath had a gradual increa&s;e, not|with&s;tanding what War, and Famine, and Pe&s;ti|lence, and Floods, and Conflagrations, and the Religious Profe&s;&s;ion of Celibracy, and other Cau&s;es, may at certain periods of time have interrupted and retarded it. This is manife&s;t from the Hi&s;tory of the Jewi&s;h Nation,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vide</HI> Ob|&s;ervations upon the Bills of Mortality.</NOTE> from the account of the Roman <HI>Cen&s;us,</HI> and Regi&s;ters of our Own Country, where the proportion of Births to Burials is found upon ob&s;ervation to be yearly as Fifty to Forty. Now if Mankind do increa&s;e, though never &s;o &s;lowly, but one Couple &s;uppo&s;e in an Age; 'tis enough to evince the fal&s;hood of Infinite Generations already expired. For though an Athei&s;t &s;hould contend, that there were ten thou&s;and million couple of Man|kind now in being, (that we may allow him mul|titude enough) 'tis but going back &s;o many Ages,
<PB N="21" REF="11">and we de&s;cend to a &s;ingle Original Pair. And 'tis all one in re&s;pect of Eternal Duration yet behind, whether we begin the world &s;o many millions of Ages ago, or date it from the late <HI>Aera</HI> of about Six Thou&s;and years. And moreover this recent beginning of the World is further e&s;tabli&s;hed from the known Original of Empires and Kingdoms, and the Invention of Arts and Sciences: whereas if infinite Ages of Mankind had already preceded, there could nothing have been left to be invented or improved by the &s;ucce&s;sfull indu&s;try and curio|&s;ity of our own. The Circulation of the Blood, and the Weight and Spring of the Air (which is as it were the Vital Pul&s;e and the great Circulation of Nature, and of more importance in all Phy&s;iology, than any one Invention &s;ince the beginning of Sci|ence) had never lain hidden &s;o many myriads of Generations, and been re&s;erved for a late happy Di&s;covery by two great Luminaries of this I&s;land. I know the Athei&s;t may endeavour to evade this by &s;uppo&s;ing, That though Mankind have been from everla&s;ting, and have perpetually encreas'd by ge|neration; yet at certain great periods there may be univer&s;al Deluges, which may <HI>not</HI> wholly ex|tingui&s;h Mankind (for, they'll &s;ay, there is not Wa|ter enough in Nature for that) but may cover the Earth to &s;uch a Height, that none but a few Moun|tainers
<PB N="22" REF="12">may e&s;cape, enough to continue Humane Race; and yet being illiterate Ru&s;ticks (as Moun|tainers always are) they can pre&s;erve no Memoirs of former times, nor propagate any Sciences or Arts; and &s;o the world mu&s;t needs be thought by Po&s;terity to have begun at &s;uch periods. But to this I an&s;wer, <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> That upon this &s;uppo&s;ition there mu&s;t have been infinite Deluges already pa&s;t: for if ever this Athei&s;t admits of a fir&s;t Deluge, he is in the &s;ame noo&s;e that he was. For then he mu&s;t a&s;&s;ert, That there were infinite generations and an infinite increa&s;e of mankind before that fir&s;t De|luge; and then the Earth could not receive them, but the infinite Bodies of Men mu&s;t occupy an in|finite Space, and then all the Matter of the Univer&s;e mu&s;t be humane Body, and other ab&s;urdities that follow it, which are infinite too. But if he &s;ays, That there have been infinite Deluges heretofore, this is impo&s;&s;ibility again; for all that I &s;aid before again&s;t the Notion of infinite pa&s;t Generations, is alike applicable to this. <HI>Secondly,</HI> Such Univer&s;al Deluges (&s;eeing the Deity is now excluded) mu&s;t be produced in a natural way: and therefore gra|dually, and not in an in&s;tant: and therefore (be|cau&s;e the tops of Mountains, they &s;ay, are never overflown) the civilized people may e&s;cape thither out of Villages and Cities; and con&s;equently, a|gain&s;t
<PB N="23" REF="12">the Athei&s;t, Arts, and Sciences, and Hi&s;tories, may be pre&s;erved, and derived to the &s;ucceeding World. <HI>Thirdly,</HI> Let us imagin the whole Terra|queous Globe with its Atmo&s;phere about it; What is there here, that can naturally effect an Univer|&s;al Deluge? If you would drown one Country or Continent with Rains and Inundations, you mu&s;t borrow your Vapor and Water from &s;ome other part of the Globe. You can never overflow all at a time. If the Atmo&s;phere it &s;elf was reduced into Water, (as &s;ome think it po&s;&s;ible) it would not make an O<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">b above 32 foot deep, which would &s;oon be &s;wallowed up by the cavity of the Sea, and the depre&s;&s;ed parts of the Earth, and be a very feeble attempt towards an Univer&s;al Deluge. But then what immen&s;e Weight is there above, that mu&s;t overcome the expan&s;ive force of the Air, and com|pre&s;s it into near the thou&s;andth part of the room that it now takes up? <HI>We,</HI> that acknowledge a God Almighty, can give an account of one Deluge, by &s;aying it was miraculous; but it would be a little &s;trange to &s;ee an Athei&s;t have recour&s;e to a Mira|cle; and that not once only, but upon infinite oc|ca&s;ions. But perhaps they may endeavour to prove the po&s;&s;ibility of &s;uch a natural Deluge, by bor|rowing an ingenious Notion, and pretending, That the face of Nature may be now quite changed
<PB N="24" REF="13">from what it was; and that formerly the whole Collection of Waters might be an orbicular Aby&s;s, arched over with an exterior Cru&s;t or Shell of Earth; and that the breaking and fall of this Cru&s;t might naturally make a Deluge. I'll allow the Athei&s;t all the fair play in the world. Let us &s;uppo&s;e the Fall of this imaginary Cru&s;t. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> It &s;eems to be im|po&s;&s;ible, but that all the Inhabitants of this Cru&s;t mu&s;t be da&s;h'd to pieces in its Ruins. So that this very Notion brings us to the nece&s;&s;ity of a new pro|duction of Men; to evade which it is introduced by the Athei&s;t. <HI>Again,</HI> If &s;uch a Cru&s;t naturally fell, then it had in its own con&s;titution a tendency towards a Fall; that is, it was more likely and in|clinable to fall this thou&s;and years, &s;uppo&s;e, than the la&s;t. But if the Cru&s;t was always gradually nearer and nearer to falling; that plainly evinces, that it had not endured eternally before its Fall. For let them a&s;&s;ign any imaginable period for its falling, how could it have held out till then (ac|cording to the &s;uppo&s;ition) the unmea&s;urable du|ration of infinite Ages before? And <HI>again,</HI> &s;uch a Cru&s;t could fall but once; for what Architect can an Athei&s;t &s;uppo&s;e, to rebuild a new Arch out of the ruins of the other? But I have &s;hewn before, that this Athei&s;t hath need of infinite Deluges to ef|fect his de&s;ign; and therefore I'll leave him to con|trive
<PB N="25" REF="13">how to make infinite Cru&s;ts one upon the back of another; and now proceed to examine in the &s;econd place, The A&s;trological Explication of the Origin of Men.</P>
<P N="2">2. If you ask one of this Party, what Evidence he is able to produce for the truth of his Art, he may perhaps offer &s;ome Phy&s;ical Rea&s;ons for a ge|neral influence of the Stars upon terre&s;trial bodies: but as A&s;trology is con&s;ider'd as a Sy&s;tem of Rules and Propo&s;itions, he will not pretend to give any rea&s;on of it <HI>&agrave; priori;</HI> but re&s;olves all that into Tra|dition from the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Aegyptians,</HI> who fir&s;t learnt it by long ob&s;ervation, and tran&s;mitted it down to Po&s;terity; and that now it is daily con|firmed by Events, which are experienced to an&s;wer the Predictions. This is all that can be &s;aid for A&s;trology as an Art. So that the whole Credibility of this Planetary production of Mankind mu&s;t de|pend upon Ob&s;ervation. But are they able to &s;hew among all the Remains of the <HI>Chaldaick</HI> Ob&s;ervati|ons for Four hundred and &s;eventy thou&s;and years (as they pretended) any Tradition of &s;uch a Pro|duction? So far from that, that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> be|lieved the world and mankind to have been from everla&s;ting, which opinion I have refuted before. Neither can the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> Wizards with their long Catalogue of Dyna&s;ties, and Ob&s;ervations for in|numerable Years, &s;upply the Athei&s;ts with one in|&s;tance
<PB N="26" REF="14">of &s;uch a Creation. Where are the fragments of <HI>Peto&s;iris</HI> and <HI>Necep&s;o,</HI> that may countenance this A&s;&s;ertion? I believe if they had had any example of men born out of the Soil, they would rather have a&s;cribed it to the fruitfull Mud of the <HI>Nile</HI> (as they did the breed|ing of Frogs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">So <HI>Diodorus Siculus,</HI> lib. 1. c. 2. <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c.</NOTE> and Mice, and Mon|&s;ters) than to the efficacy of Stars. But with the leave of the&s;e Fortune|tellers did the Stars do this feat once only, which gave beginning to Human Race? or have they frequently done &s;o, and may do it again? If fre|quently, why is not this Rule deliver'd in <HI>Ptolemy</HI> and <HI>Albuma&s;ar?</HI> If once only at the beginning, then how came it to be di&s;cover'd? Who were there then in the world, to ob&s;erve the Births of tho&s;e Fir&s;t Men, and calculate their Nativities, as they &s;prawl'd out of Ditches? Tho&s;e Sons of Earth were very wi&s;e Children if they them&s;elves knew, that the Stars were their Fathers. Unle&s;s we are to imagine, that they under&s;tood the Planets and the Zodiack by in&s;tinct, and fell to drawing Schemes of their own Horo&s;copes, in the &s;ame Du&s;t they &s;prung out of? For my part I can have no great veneration for <HI>Chalda|ick</HI> Antiquity;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vitruvius,</HI> lib. <HI>9.</HI> c. <HI>4. Lucret.</HI> lib. <HI>5.</HI> &V;t Babylonica Chaldaeum doctrina, &amp;c. <HI>Apuleius</HI> de Deo <HI>Socratis:</HI> Seu illa (Luna) proprio &amp; perpeti fulgore, ut <HI>Chaldaei</HI> arbitrantur, parte luminis com|pos, parte altera ca&s;&s;a fulgoris.</NOTE> when I &s;ee they could not di&s;cover in &s;o many thou&s;and years, that the Moon was an opake
<PB N="27" REF="14">Body, and received her Light from the Sun. But &s;uppo&s;e their Ob&s;ervations had been never &s;o ac|curate, it could add no Authority to modern A&s;tro|logy, which is borrowed from the <HI>Greeks.</HI> 'Tis well known that <HI>Bero&s;us,</HI> or his Scholars, new mo|delled and adapted the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Doctrines to the <HI>Grecian</HI> Mythology. The &s;uppo&s;ed Influences of <HI>Aries</HI> and <HI>Taurus</HI> for example, have a manife&s;t rela|tion to the <HI>Grecian</HI> Stories of the Ram that carried <HI>Phrixus,</HI> and the Bull that carried <HI>Europa.</HI> Now which of the&s;e is the Copy, and which the Origi|nal? Were the Fables taken from the Influences, or the Influences from the Fables? the Poetical Fa|bles, more ancient than all Records of Hi&s;tory; or the A&s;trological Influences, that were not known to the <HI>Greeks</HI> till after <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great? But without que&s;tion tho&s;e Fabulous Tales had been many a time told and &s;ung to lull children a&s;leep, before ever <HI>Bero&s;us</HI> &s;et up his Intelligence-Office at <HI>Coos.</HI> And the &s;ame may be &s;aid of all the other Con&s;tellations. Fir&s;t, Poetry had filled the Skies with A&s;teri&s;ms and Hi&s;tories belong to them; and then A&s;trology devi&s;es the feigned Virtues and Influences of each, from &s;ome property of the Image, or allu&s;ion to the Story. And the &s;ame tri|fling futility appears in their XII Signs of the <HI>Zodi|ack,</HI> and their mutual Relations and A&s;pects. Why no more A&s;pects than diametrically oppo&s;ite, and
<PB N="28" REF="15">&s;uch as make aequlateral figures? Why are the Ma&s;culine and Feminine, the Fiery and Airy, and Watry and Earthly Signs all placed at &s;uch regu|lar di&s;tances? Were the Virtues of the Stars di&s;po|&s;ed in that order and rank, on purpo&s;e only to make a pretty Diagram upon Paper? But the A|thei&s;tical A&s;trologer is doubly pre&s;&s;ed with this ab|&s;urdity. For if there was no Coun&s;el at the making of the world, how came the A&s;teri&s;ms of the &s;ame nature and energies to be &s;o harmoniou&s;ly placed at regular intervals? And how could all the Stars of one A&s;teri&s;m agree and con&s;pire together to con|&s;titute an Univer&s;al? Why does not every &s;ingle Star &s;hed a &s;eparate influence; and have A&s;pects with other Stars of their own Con&s;tellation? But what need there many words? As if the late Di&s;|coveries of the Cele&s;tial Bodies had not plainly detected the impo&s;ture of A&s;trology? The Planet <HI>Saturn</HI> is found to have a great Ring that encircles him, and three le&s;&s;er Planets that move about him, as the Moon doth about the Earth: and <HI>Jupiter</HI> hath four <HI>Satellites,</HI> which by their Interpo&s;ition between him and us make &s;ome hundreds of E|clip&s;es every year. Now the whole Tribe of A&s;tro|logers, that never dream'd of the&s;e Planets have always declared, that when <HI>Jupiter</HI> and <HI>Saturn</HI> come about again to any given Point, they exert (con|&s;ider'd &s;ingly by them&s;elves) the &s;ame Influence
<PB N="29" REF="15">as before. But 'tis now manife&s;t, that when either of them return to the &s;ame point; the Planets a|bout them, that mu&s;t make up an united Influ|ence with them, have a different &s;ituation in re&s;pect of us and each other, from what they had the time before: and con&s;equently the joint Influence mu&s;t be perpetually varied, and never be reducible to any Rules and Ob&s;ervations. Or if the Influences be conveyed hither di&s;tinct, yet &s;ometimes &s;ome of the Little Planets will eclip&s;e the Great one at any given point; and therefore intercept and ob|&s;truct the Influence. I cannot now in&s;i&s;t on many other Arguments deducible from the late Improve|ments of A&s;tronomy; For if the Earth be not the Centre of the Planetary Motions, what mu&s;t be|come then of the pre&s;ent A&s;trology, which is whol|ly adapted to that vulgar <HI>Hypothe&s;is?</HI> And yet ne|verthele&s;s, when they lay under &s;uch wretched mi|&s;takes for many Myriads of Years, if we are wil|ling to believe them; they would all along, as now, appeal to Experience and Event for the con|firmation of their Doctrins. That's the invincible Demon&s;tration &s;o the Verity of the Science: And indeed as to their Predictions, I think our A&s;trolo|gers may a&s;&s;ume to them&s;elves that infallible Ora|cle of <HI>Tire&s;ias,</HI></P>
<Q>O Laertiade, quicquid dico, aut erit, aut non.</Q>
<PB N="30" REF="16">
<P> There's but a true and a fal&s;e in any telling of Fortune; and a man that never hits on the right &s;ide, cannot be called a bad Gue&s;&s;er, but mu&s;t mi&s;s out of de&s;ign, and be notably skilfull at light|ing on the wrong. And were there not formerly as great preten&s;ions to it from the &s;uper&s;titious ob|&s;ervation of the Entrails of Cows, of the flying of Vulturs, and the pecking of Chickens? Nay, the old <HI>Augurs</HI> and <HI>South&s;ayers</HI> had better rea&s;on to profe&s;s the Art of Divining, than the modern A&s;trological Athei&s;t: for They &s;uppo&s;ed there were &s;ome <HI>Daemons,</HI> that directed the Indications. So likewi&s;e the <HI>Chaldean</HI> and <HI>Aegyptian</HI> A&s;trologers were much more excu&s;able than He. It was the Religion of their Countries to wor&s;hip the Stars, as we know from unque&s;tionable Authority. They believed them Ingelligent Beings, and no other than very Gods;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Maimonides More Nevochim <HI>De Zabiis &amp; Chaldaeis.</HI> Plato <HI>in</HI> Cratylo. Diodorus, <HI>lib.</HI> 1. <HI>c.</HI> 2. Eu&s;ebius <HI>Demon&s;t. Evangel. lib.</HI> 1. <HI>c.</HI> 6. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> and therefore had &s;ome Rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect, that they might govern Human Af|fairs. The Influence of the Stars was in their apprehen&s;ions no le&s;s than Divine Power. But an Athei&s;t, that believes the Planets to be dark, &s;olid and &s;en&s;le&s;s Bodies, like the brute Earth he treads on; and the Fixt Stars and the Sun to be inanimate Balls of Fire; what Rea&s;ons can He advance for the credit of &s;uch Influences? He acknowledgeth nothing be|&s;ides
<PB N="31" REF="16">Matter and Motion; &s;o that all that he can conceive to be tran&s;mitted hither from the Stars, mu&s;t needs be perform'd either by Mechani&s;m or Accident: either of which is wholly unaccount|able, and the latter irreconcilable to any Art or Sy&s;tem of Science. But if both were allowed the Athei&s;t; yet as to any production of Mankind, they will be again refuted in my following Di&s;|cour&s;e. I can pre&s;erve a due e&s;teem for &s;ome great Men of the la&s;t Age, before the Mechanical Philo&s;ophy was revived, though they were too much addicted to this nugatory Art. When Oc|cult Quality, and Sympathy and Antipathy were admitted for &s;atisfactory Explications of things, even wi&s;e and vertuous Men might &s;wallow down any Opinion that was countenanced by Antiquity. But at this time of day, when all the general powers and capacities of Matter are &s;o clearly under&s;tood; he mu&s;t be very ridiculous him&s;elf, that doth not deride and explode the antiquated Folly. But we may &s;ee the mi&s;erable Shifts that &s;ome men are put to; when that which was fir&s;t founded upon, and afterward &s;upported by <HI>Idola|try,</HI> is now become the tottering Sanctuary of <HI>Athei&s;m.</HI> If the Stars be no Deities, A&s;trology is groundle&s;s: and if the Stars be Deities, why is the A&s;trologer an Athei&s;t? He may ea&s;ily be no Chri&s;tian; and 'tis difficult indeed to be both at
<PB N="32" REF="17">once: becau&s;e, as I have &s;aid before, Idolatry is at the bottom; and by &s;ubmitting Human Acti|ons and Inclinations to the Influence of the Stars, they de&s;troy the very E&s;&s;ence of Moral Vertue and the Efficacy of Divine Grace:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Concil. La|od. <HI>Can.</HI> 36. Conc. 6. in Trullo. <HI>Can.</HI> 61. Cod. Ju&s;t. <HI>lib.</HI> 9. <HI>tit.</HI> 18. Cod. Theodo&s;. <HI>l</HI> 9. <HI>tit.</HI> 16. <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>lib.</HI> 60. <HI>tit.</HI> 39.</NOTE> and therefore A&s;trology was ju&s;tly condemn'd by the Ancient Fathers and Chri&s;tian Emperours. An A&s;trolo|ger, I &s;ay, may very ea&s;ily be no Chri&s;tian; he may be an Idolater or a Pagan: but I could hardly think A&s;trology to be compatible with rank Athei&s;m; if I could &s;uppo&s;e any great gifts of Nature to be, where either do re&s;ide. But let him be what he will, he is not able to do much hurt by his Rea&s;ons and Example. For Religion it &s;elf, according to his Principles, is derived from the Stars. And he owns, 'tis not any ju&s;t Excep|tions he hath taken again&s;t Chri&s;tianity, but 'tis his De&s;tiny and Fate; 'tis <HI>Saturn</HI> in the Ninth Hou&s;e, and not Judgment and Deliberation, that made him an Athei&s;t.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="17">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
