that which we most converse with and with whose Consent and Agreement in any matters we are best acquainted is that of Men and therefore if among Men we can discover such an Universal Agreement concerning the Goodness of these Rules as will warrant us to conclude all other Rational Beings to be consenting with them this will be a sufficient Demonstration of the Truth of the Proposition These two things therefore I shall endeavour to make out 1. That the Reason of Men is Vniversally consenting in this matter viz. That there is an immutable Goodness in these Rules of Morality 2. That this Universal Consent of Mens Reason in this matter is a sufficient Demonstration that all other reasonable Beings are consenting with them First THEREFORE there is nothing more evident than that Men are Universally agreed in this matter that to Worship God to Honour their Parents and Superiours to be temperate in their Passions and Appetites and just and charitable towards one another are things in their own nature immutably good that this is not an Opinion peculiar to such an Age or to such a Nation or to such a Sect of Religion but the Vniversal Judgment of all Mankind of whatsoever Age Nation or Religion For 't is upon this judgment that all that Conscience is founded which approves of or condemns mens actions which Conscience is nothing else but a Sense or Feeling of Moral Good and Evil and is every whit as natural to Mens minds as the Sense of pleasant or painful touches to their Bodies Since therefore general Effects must spring from general Causes it necessarily follows that the Pain and Pleasure which Mens minds generally feel upon the Commission of bad and good Actions must be resolved into some general Cause and what else can that be but the general Consent of their Reason concerning the immutable Evil of the one and Good of the other I know 't is pretended by some of our Modern Navigators that there are a sort of People in the World who have not the least sense of Good and Evil and do own neither God nor Religion nor Morality But considering the short Converse and imperfect Intercourse which these our new Discoverers have had with those Barbarous Countries it is fairly supposeable that the Inhabitants may have Notions both Religious and Moral of which Strangers who understand not their Language and Customs and Manners can make little or no Discovery But suppose that what they report were true yet by their own confession these wretched Barbarians are in all other things so extreamly Brutish that they discover no other token of their Humanity but their Shape For they live altogether regardless of themselves of the Conveniences of their Lives and of the Dignity of their Natures without making any Reflections on their own minds or any Observations from their own experience Since therefore all Knowledge is acquired by Attention it is not at all impossible for Creatures so utterly supine and negligent to be ignorant of the most common Notions But for any man to question the truth of this general Rule because there are a few Exceptions from it is every whit as absurd as if he should question whether Men are generally two-legg'd Animals because there have been some Monsters with three And what if among men there are some Monsters in respect of their Minds as well as others in respect of their Bodies This is no more a prejudice to the standing Laws of Humane Nature than Prodigies are to the Regularity of the constant course of Vniversal Nature Specimen naturae cujuslibet saith Tully à natura optima sumendum est i. e. The true sample of every Nature is to be taken from the best Natures of the kind Since therefore the men of all Nations and Ages and Religions who have in any measure attended to the Nature of things and made but any tolerable use of their Reasons are and always have been universally agreed that there is an immutable Good in Vertue and Evil in Vice it is no Argument at all that this is not the general Sense of Mankind supposing it true which is very questionable that there are some few such inhumane Barbarians in the World as make no distinction at all between ' em But then Secondly THIS Universal Consent of Mens Reason in this matter is a sufficient Demonstration that all other Reasonable Beings are consenting with them For it shews that God himself is of this mind and if He be we may be sure that all other Reasonable Beings are For if we believe that God made us we must believe that he made us for some End and if he made us for any End he must esteem those Actions good which promote it and those evil which obstruct and hinder it And what other End can an infinitely happy and blessed Being have in making other Beings but only to do 'em good and according to their several Capacities to make them partakers of his own Happiness And if this be the end for which God made us to be sure those Actions must be good in his esteem that are beneficial and those evil that are hurtful and mischievous to our Nature And therefore since he hath implanted in us not only a natural Desire of Happiness but also a rational Faculty to discern what Actions make for our Happiness and what not we may be sure that whatsoever this Faculty doth Vniversally determine to be good or evil for us is good or evil in the Judgment of God 'T is true when the Reason that is in one man judges contrary to the Reason that is in another there must be a Disagreement on one side or the other from the Reason and Judgment of God but when all mens Reason is agreed that this is good and that evil it is plain that this is is the Judgment of the Rational Faculty which naturally makes such a Distinction of things For there is no man that uses his Reason can possibly think that Truth and Falshood Justice and Injustice Mercy and Cruelty are equally good in themselves his Rational Faculty being so framed as that at the first glance and reflection it naturally distinguishes 'em into Good and Evil. When therefore God hath created us with such a Faculty as naturally makes such a Judgment of Good and Evil that Judgment must be Gods as well as the Faculty which made it That therefore which is the unanimous Judgment of all Men must be the Natural Language of the Rational Faculty and that which is the natural Language of the Rational Faculty must be the Language of the God of Nature For he who created me with such a Faculty as naturally judges this Good and that Evil must either have the same Judgment himself or create in me a Contradiction to his own Judgment and that Judgment which he hath created in me he must be supposed to create in all other Beings that are capable of Judging otherwise he would be the author
that upon Examination have been found repugnant to the Nature of things and when all is done if both were true yet are they altogether insufficient to solve a thousand Phainomena in Nature So that the utmost that the most learned and inquisitive Atheist could ever pretend to was to advance Atheism to a Grand perhaps and by endeavouring to demonstrate how things might possibly be as they are without a God to prove that 't is possible there is none and yet when all is done their most ingenious Endeavours are only a Demonstration that the most acute and witty Men may be mistaken For what a hopeless kind of Task is it to shew how that may be the Effect of a blind Chance or Necessity which hath all the Characters of a wise Design and Contrivance fairly imprinted on it How is it possible for an undesigning Chance to fit Means to Ends or Ends to Natures or so to proportion Parts to one another as to make a comely Symmetry in the whole and this in ten thousand Instances and not fail in one How often as the above named Author from Tully discourses might a Man after he hath shaken together a Sett of Letters in a Bag fling them out upon the Ground before they would fall into an exact Poem or make a good Discourse in Prose And may not a little Book be as easily made by Chance as the great Volume of the World in which there is such an inexhaustible Treasure of rich Sense and Contrivance Or how long might a Man be in sprinkling Colours upon a Canvas with a careless Hand before they would happen to fall into the exact Picture of a Man And is a Man easier made by Chance than his Picture Why may we not as well conceive the most regular Building in the World to be framed by a casual Concourse of Stone and Iron and Timber as that these blind and rambling Parts of Matter should chance to place themselves so orderly in the World and to observe such an exact Harmony and Decorum as if they kept Time with the Musical Laws of some almighty Mind that composed their Measures and regulated their Motions up and down in the Universe BUT granting the Atheist what he so eagerly tho unsuccessfully contends for that it is possible all this might happen by mere Chance and consequently that there may be no God in the World would any Man in his Wits found his Faith upon a mere Possibility when 't will be as much as his Soul is worth if he should happen to be mistaken It is possible that should he throw himself from the Top of a high Steeple the Air between may be so condensed as to bear him up and preserve him from being dasht in pieces by his Fall but would you not think the Man slark mad that should venture his Neck upon that Possibility And yet it is a far more desperate Venture that the Atheist makes by thus hazarding his Soul to everlasting Destruction upon a bare possibility that there may be no God to destroy him III. THE Atheist concludes against the best evidence that the Contrary will admit For that there is a God we have as full Evidence as the Matter could bear if there were one and to require more is absurd and unreasonable For let us at present suppose but for Argument-sake that there were such an infinite Spirit in the World a Spirit that were as wise and as good and as powerful as he whom we call God is supposed to be supposing I say there were such a Spirit actually existing we could not have greater Evidence of it than we have already that he actually exists For we could not see him with our Eyes because we suppose him to be a Spirit we could not demonstrate his Existence à priori or from any Cause because being the first Cause he must be un caused or Self-Originated It remains therefore that the only Demonstration we could give of his Being is that which we call à posteriori or from such sensible Effects as can only be ascribed to the Power and Wisdom and Goodness of such a Being and of such Effects as these we have infinite Instances before us For in sum we have all this visible World about us whose changeable Nature demonstrates it to be the Effect of some superior Cause and whose unspeakable Vastness Beauty and Contrivance argues it to be the Effect of some most wise and good and powerful Cause For as to the first whatsoever is changeable cannot self-exist but must necessarily proceed from some superior Cause because whatsoever Self-exists is necessarily and whatsoever is necessarily is always the same that which is without any Cause cannot but be and that which is thus or thus without any Cause cannot but be so or so for ever and consequently if the World were of it self without any Cause it would not only be necessarily but also be such as it is necessarily and unchangeably but contrariwise we plainly perceive that it runs a perpetual Course of Change and Alteration that its Parts are continually altering their Figure and shifting their Places with one another whereas if this Part were of it self necessarily as it must be if the Whole be so it would necessarily be where it is and what it is eternally AND since the Mutability of this World argues it to be the Effect of some superior Cause I would fain know whether considering the Vastness and Beauty and Contrivance of it it be not most reasonable to attribute it to such an all-all-good all-wise and Almighty Cause as we suppose God to be For what less than an infinite Power can bear a due Proportion to such a vast and immense World Should you enter into a vast and magnificent Palace and find no Creature in it but a company of Mice or Weasels could you possibly believe that these impotent Vermin built it And yet the building of the most Royal Palace doth not so much exceed the Power of these weak Animals as the building of this World doth the Power of any Cause but a God But then if we consider the infinite Number of Beings in the World that are capable of Happiness and the vast Provisions that are made to entertain them according to their several Capacities we cannot but thence conclude that the Power which made them was acted by an infinite Goodness Lastly if we consider the rare and admirable Contrivance of the several Parts of the World how perfect each one is in its Kind how exactly fitted to each other and what a lovely Symmetry and Proportion they all make in the whole how can we otherwise imagine but that that Power and Goodness which caused it was directed by an infinite Wisdom So that the World is such an Effect as openly proclaims its Cause to be a God and if this Evidence of Gods Existence will not convince Men they are impregnably fortified against all Conviction and if God should carry them into those
Actions and out of an high Complacency in the one and Abhorrence of the other treasures up both in everlasting Remembrance we cannot but discern our selves obliged by all the Reason in the World to choose what is good and eschew what is evil For what an infinite Encouragement is it to do good to consider that while we are doing it Gods Eye is upon us regarding us with high Applause and Approbation and entering it with all its acceptable Circumstances into the eternal Record of his own Mind from whence it shall be produced in the last Day and proclaimed before Men and Angels to our everlasting Honour and Glory So that when our Memory is lost upon Earth and all that we did is swallowed up in the deep Abyss of Oblivion all our Pieties and Virtues shall be famed in the Records of Heaven and have everlasting Memorials in the Mind of God As on the contrary what an infinite Discouragement is it from sinning to consider that the Eye of that God to whom Vengeance belongs is intent upon us following us through all our Retreats and Concealments and Recording every ill Deed with all its foul Aggravations in the eternal Volumes of his own Remembrance which he will one Day most certainly open and read out before all the World to our everlasting Shame and Confusion So that when the pleasure of our Sin is gone and all that rendred it tempting or desirable for ever vanisht and forgotten the Shame and Infamy of it shall stand upon Record and be transmitted down to eternal Ages VII and Lastly To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that God will reward and punish us according to our doings that he is neither an idle nor an impotent Spectator of our Actions that merely pleases and vexes himself with the Contemplation of them but that all the Notice he takes of them is in order to his rewarding and punishing them which he will one day most certainly do to our everlasting Joy or Confusion But because this Argument will be the Subject of the ensuing Chapter I shall insist no farther on it here SECT II. Of the Proofs and Evidences which there are to create in us a Belief of the divine Providence HAVING in the foregoing Section given an account of those Parts or Branches of the Divine Providence which are necessary to be believed in order to the founding the Obligations of Religion I shall proceed in the next place to shew what Evidences there are to create this Belief in us and because this is the great Fundamental of all Religion upon the Belief of which it all immediately depends I shall endeavour to demonstrate the Truth of it 1. A priori by Arguments drawn from God himself 2. A posteriori by Arguments drawn from sensible Effects of God in the World I. I shall endeavour to assert the Truth of a divine Providence by Arguments drawn from God himself For supposing that there is a God that is to say an infinitely wise and good and powerful Cause of all things which I doubt not to make appear when I come to discourse of the sensible Effects of God in the World it will from thence necessarily follow that he upholds disposes and governs all things by an over-ruling Providence For 1. If there be such a God he must necessarily be and exist of himself without any dependence upon any superior Cause 2. He must necessarily be the Cause of all other things that are and do exist 3. He must necessarily be present with all things 4. Where ever he is so active are his Perfections that he cannot but operate wheresoever he finds Objects to work upon From all which I shall make appear it will necessarily follow that he continually exercises an over-ruling Providence over the World I. IF there be a God he must necessalily exist or be of himself without Dependence on any superiour Cause For when we speak of God we mean by him a Being that is as perfect as it is possible that hath nothing before him nothing superior to him nothing greater than himself which cannot be meant of any derived Being because all Effects are after their Causes and in some respect inferiour to them as deriving their Beings and all their Excellencies and Perfections from them But to say of God that he is after or any way inferiour to any Cause is a palpable Contradiction to the very Notion of him 't is to say that there is something before the eternal Something superior to the Supreme Something more perfect than infinite Perfection So that either there can be no such Being as a God in the World or he must be of himself or from his own Essence in which there must be such an infinite Fulness of Being as that from all Eternity past to all Eternity to come it is infinitely removed from not Being and so by a Necessity of Nature must from ever have been and for ever be And such a Being we must admit of whether we will admit of a God or no for either we must allow that this World or at least the Matter of it exists of it self by its own never failing Fulness of Being without ever needing any Cause to produce it which as I shall shew you by and by is impossible or that all things in it derive their Being from some first Cause who having no Cause in being before him must necessarily be uncaused and unproduced and if God exists of himself as he must do supposing he is he must be superiour to all things for that which is of it self cannot but be and that which cannot but be can have no Power above it because if it hath that Power might have either hindered or extinguished its Being and so it might not have been So that Gods Self-existence necessarily supposes him exalted above all Power and Superiority and consequently to be the supreme and sovereign Power over all things but to suppose him to be supreme and Sovereign without exercising Rule and Domion is ridiculous for without the Exercise of Dominion supreme Power is but a useless and insignificant Cypher-flourish with a glorious Name Rule and Dominion being the only proper Sphere for supreme Power as such to move and act in So that unless God rules and governs he is supreme to no Purpose and his sovereign Power is useless and in vain for if he exert his sovereign Power at all it must be in Rule and Dominion which is its only natural Province but if he doth not his Sovereignty is only a Majestick Sloth that sits sleeping in an awful Throne with its Hands in its Bosom without ever doing any thing that is Sovereign and of what Use is that sovereign Power that never exercises any act of Sovereignty Since therefore Gods Self-Existence necessarily supposes his sovereign Power over all things we must either grant that he continually exercises this Power in ruling and governing the World or assert that it is
that is by the works of his Creation that lie before us and are within the prospect of our understandings in the which all that is excellent and good is an illustrious Comment and Paraphrase upon God NOW the effects of God are all reducible to these four generals Substance or Essence Life Sense and Reason all which are in man who is the Epitome of the World and a compleat Model of all the Works of God and therefore not only all these but all the proper excellencies and perfections of these must be supposed to be in God from whom they are derived THE first effect of God is substance Now the proper perfections of substance are Amplitude and Fulness of Being By the Amplitude of substance I mean its greatness or largeness as to the diffusion or extent of it in opposition to littleness or which is the same thing to being defined to or circumscribed within a small and inconsiderable space by the Fulness of substance I mean its having more of Essence or Being by which it is more removed from not being in opposition to things that have but little being in them that are of so fleeting and transitory a nature as that they are next to nothing Wherefore in conceiving of God we must ascribe to him these perfections of substance even to their utmost possibility that is we must conceive him to be a Being of infinite Amplitude that is neither defined nor circumscribed within any certain space but coexists with and penetrates and passes through all things and by thus conceiving of him we attribute to him Immensity which consists in being unconfined by any bounds of space in the out-spreading of himself to all places that we can see or imagine and infinitely beyond them And then in conceiving of him we must also ascribe to him infinite Fulness of Being by which he is so infinitely removed from not being as that he cannot but be and by thus conceiving of him we attribute to him necessary existence which consists in being out of all Possibility of not being BUT then secondly another of those works of God from which we are to take our rise in conceiving of his Perfections is Life For he is the cause and fountain of all that life that is in the world and therefore must not only have life in himself but the utmost perfection of it also that is possible Now the Perfections of life are Activity and Duration by Activity I mean a vigorous power and ability to act in opposition to weakness and impotence which must needs be a great perfection of life which is the spring and principle of Action by Duration I mean a long continuance of life in opposition to that which is short and momentary for the more lasting the life is the more perfect it is and the more there is of it Wherefore in conceiving of God we must ascribe to him the utmost perfection of life that is possible that is we must conceive him to be infinitely active and powerful that doth what he pleases in Heaven and on Earth and can effect whatsoever is possible in it self and not repugnant to the other perfections of his Nature and in thus conceiving of him we attribute Omnipotence to him which consists in an ability to do every thing that doth not imply a contradiction either to the nature of the things themselves or to the nature and perfections of the doer and then in conceiving of him we must also ascribe to him an infinite duration of life that is a life that is not bounded either by a beginning or an end but is from everlasting to everlasting and coexists and runs Parallel with all Duration past and present and to come and by thus conceiving of him we attribute Eternity to him which consists in a boundless duration of life without any term of beginning or end BUT then thirdly another of these effects of God from which we are to take our rise in conceiving of the Perfections of God is Sense by which I do not understand carnal or material sense only which consists in perceiving the strokes and impressions of material Objects on our sensories but sense in the general whether it be of material or spiritual Beings For that spiritual Beings have as exquisite a sense of spiritual Objects as corporal of corporeal ones there is no doubt to be made because otherwise we must suppose them insensible both of pleasure and pain Now the perfection of sense is Quickness and Sagacity of Perception whether it be of painful or of pleasant grateful or ungrateful Objects and this is to be found not only in Beasts and Men but also in separated spirits in Angels and in God himself For though none of these have any corporeal sense to feel and perceive the impressions of corporeal Objects yet that both Angels and separated Spirits have a spiritual sense of spiritual impressions by which they are subjected to pain and pleasure cannot be denied and though God by the infinite perfection of his Nature is exempt from all sense of pain yet it cannot be supposed that he who is the fountain from whence all sense is derived should himself be insensible and if he be not we ought to suppose him as sensible of all that is truly pleasant and good as it is possible to be and where there is an infinite good as there is in the nature of God it is possible to be infinitely sensible of it and in thus conceiving we attribute to him infinite Happiness For what else is an infinite sense of good but infinite pleasure and happiness and this is the happiness of God that he is infinitely perfect in himself and infinitely sensible of his own perfections and therein infinitely pleased and delighted FOURTHLY and lastly Another of those Works of God from whence we are to take our rise in conceiving of his perfections is Reason For all that light of reason which shineth in humane and Angelical minds being rayed forth and derived from him he must be supposed not only to have reason in himself but to have it in its utmost possible perfection Now the perfection of reason consists in Knowledg and Wisdom in the Vnderstanding and Rectitude or Righteousness in the Will By Knowledg I mean considering and understanding things absolutely as they are in their own Natures in their Powers and Properties Differences and Circumstances by Wisdom I understand a through consideration of things as they are related to one another under the Notion of means and ends and of their fitness or unfitness to the ends and purposes they are designed for Wherefore in conceiving of God we must ascribe to him all possible Knowledg and Wisdom that is a perfect comprehension of all things that either are or have been or shall be or can be in short a knowledg infinitely extensive as comprehending all knowable Objects and infinitely intensive as seeing every single Object in all its relations dependances and circumstances with a
proposed by God to perswade us to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God 2. Cor. 7.1 So also the Doctrine of our future Punishment is levell'd against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men Rom. 1.18 And as for those Doctrines which concern the Transactions of our Saviour they are all proposed to us as Arguments to perswade us to Piety and Vertue For 't was for this cause that Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the Devil 1 John 3.8 't was for this purpose that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live to Righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 't was for this end that he rose from the dead that thereby he might prevail with us to walk in newness of life Rom. 6.4 and 't is for this end that he intercedes for us at the right hand of God that thereby he might encourage us to come to God by him Heb. 7.2 and in a word for this cause he hath told us he will come to Judgment to reward every man according to his works that thereby he might stir us up to Sobriety and Vigilance and to all holy conversation and Godliness Mat. 24.42 compared with 2 Pet. 3. verse 11. Thus you see all the Doctrines of Religion are only so many Topics of divine Perswasion whereby God addresses himself to our Hope and Fear and every other Affection in us that is capable of Perswasion to excite us to comply with the eternal Obligations of Morality and there is no one Article in all our Religion that is matter of mere Speculation or that entertains our Minds with dry and empty Notions that have no Influence on our Wills and Affections For since the Design of Religion in General is to bind and fasten our Souls to God we may be sure that there is no Part of it but what doth in some measure contribute hereunto Since therefore 't is moral Goodness that God chiefly recommends to us by the Perswasions of Religion we may be sure that what his Arguments do chiefly perswade us to that his Commands do chiefly oblige us to II. FROM Scripture it is also evident that the main Drift and Scope of all the positive Duties of Religion is to improve and perfect men in moral Goodness We find the Jewish Religion exceedingly abounded with positive Precepts for such were all those sacred Rites and Solemnities of which the Bark and Outside of that Religion consisted of all which 't is true what the Psalmist saith of Sacrifices in particular thou desirest not Sacrifices thou delightest not in burnt Offerings Psal. 51.16 that is thou takest no delight in them upon the score of any internal Goodness that is in them but desirest them merely as they are instituted means and Instruments of Moral Goodness For so many of the Rites of the Mosaic Law were instituted in opposition to the Magical Vnclean and Idolatrous Rites of the Eastern Heathen As particularly that Prohibition of sowing their Fields with mingled Seed Lev. 19.19 in Opposition to that Magical Rite which the Heathens used as a Charm for Fructification So also that Command of sprinkling the Blood of their Sacrifices upon the Ground like Water and covering it with Dust in Opposition to that Idolatrous Rite of gathering the Blood into a Trench or Vessel and then sitting round it in a Circle whilst they imagined their gods to be licking it up And to name no more of this kind the Prohibition of seething a Kid in his Mothers Milk Exod. 23.19 was in Opposition to a Custom of the Ancient Heathen who at the Ingathering of their Fruits were wont to take a Kid and seeth it in the milk of its Dam and then in a Magical Procession to sprinkle all their Trees and Fields and Gardens with it thereby to render them more fruitful the following Year Besides all which you may find a World of other Instances in Maimonides More-Nevoch lib. 3. who tells us that the Knowledg of the Opinions and Customs of these Eastern Heathens was porta magna ad reddendas praeceptorum causas the great Rationale of the Mosaic Precepts and that multarum legum rationes causae mihi innotuerint ex cognitione fidei rituum Cultus Zabiorum i. e. that by being acquainted with the opinions and customs of those Eastern Heathens he understood the grounds and reasons of many of the Laws of Moses More-Nevoch lib. 3. cap. 29. So that tho these Precepts were not Moral yet were they set up as so many Fences by God to keep his People from stragling into those Heathen Immoralities AGAIN there are other Rites of their Religion which were instituted to shadow out the Holy Mysteries of the Gospel the great Design of which Mysteries was to invite and perswade men to comply with the eternal Laws of Morality Thus their Laws of Sacrifice were instituted to represent to them the great Transactions of their future Messias his Incarnation and immaculate Life his Death and Resurrection Ascension and Intercession at the right hand of God So also their Festival Laws and particularly their Laws of Jubilee were made to shadow out the Doctrines of our Redemption and eternal Life and their powring out Water in their Sacrifices and their Ritual Purgations from uncleanness were intended for obscure Intimations of the Effusion of the holy Spirit and the Doctrine of Remission of Sins all which Doctrines carry with them the most pregnant Invitations to Piety and Vertue Lastly THERE are other Rites of that Law which were appointed to instruct them in Moral Duties For God finding them not only a perverse but a dull and sottish People as those generally are that have been born and bred in Slavery apprehended that the most effectual way to instruct them would be by Signs and material Representations even as Parents do their Children by Pictures And accordingly in Isaiah 28.10 he tells us that he gave them line upon line and precept upon precept here a little and there a little with a stammering tongue i. e. he look'd upon them as Children and so condescended to their Weakness and spake to them in their own Dialect And this way of instructing them by outward and visible Signs being much in use in the Eastern Countries and more especially in Egypt whose manners they were infinitely fond of was of all others the most probable and taking And accordingly a great part of the Jewish Rites consisted of Hieroglyphics or visible Signs by which their minds were instructed in the Precepts of Morality Thus by Circumcision God signified to them the necessity of mortifying their unchast Desires by their Legal Washings he intimated to them their Obligation to cleanse themselves from all Impurities of Flesh and Spirit yea this as St. Barnabas in his Epistle tells us was the Intent of all that Difference of Meats in the Jewish Law which pronounced Swines flesh unclean to instruct them
so valuable as the Benefits which acrue to us from being formed and united into regular Corporations If not how apparently do we engage against our own Interest when we espouse the Cause of Irreligion III. THE Atheist concludes against that which is the main Support and Comfort of Humane Life For while we are in this World our best and securest Condition is exposed to a world of sad and uncomfortable Accidents which we have neither the Wisdom to foresee nor the Power to prevent So far are we from being self-sufficient as to our worldly Happiness that there are a thousand Causes upon which we depend for it that are not in our Power to dispose of and in such a State of uncertainty wherein we are continally bandyed to and fro and made the Game of inconstant Fortune what Quiet or Security can we enjoy within our selves without believing that there is a God at the Helm that steddily over-rules all events that concern us and steers and directs them by the invariable Compass of his own infinite Wisdom and Goodness For considering how poor and indigent our Nature is how we are fain to seek abroad and to go a begging from Door to Door for our Happiness how we depend upon Chance and are secure of nothing we possess or desire or hope for how prone we are to be alarmed with the Prospect of a sad Futurity and to magnifie distant Evils in our own Aprehensions how apt we are to aggravate our Miseries by our Impatience and Despair and to pall our Enjoyments by expecting more from them than their Natures will afford considering these things I say which way can we turn our selves without a God or where can we repose our restless Thoughts but in his Providence Verily could I be tempted to believe that there is no God I should look upon Humane Nature in its present Circumstances as the most forlorn and abandoned part of the Creation and wish that I had had the Luck to be of any other Species than that of a Rational Animal For in the State I am I find my self liable to a thousand Dangers against which I have no Sanctuary and under which I have no Support if there be no God to govern the World and having such a dismal Prospect of things before me and a busie Mind within me that will be continually working on and aggravating the Evils of it what can I do with my self or how can I enjoy my self without a God to relie on Upon the supposal that he is and that he governs the World I can easily relieve my self under the most dismal Apprehensions I can fairly conclude and safely depend on it that if I take care by my submission to Gods Will to make him my Friend he will either prevent the Evils I apprehend or support me under them or convert them to my good either of which is sufficient to set my Heart at ease and instate me in a quiet Enjoyment of my self But now by giving up the Belief of a God I throw away all these Considerations and leave my self utterly destitute and supportless For what solid ground of Support can I have when I have no manner of Security either that the Evils I dread shall be prevented or that I shall have a Proportionable Strength to bear them or that I shall ever reap any good or advantage from them without which Considerations every Evil that threatens or befals me is pure unmingled Misery against which there is no Fence or Cordial in Reason or Philosophy For suppose I should argue with the ancient Moralists that every ill Accident that befalls me is fatal as being the Effect of some necessary Cause that is without my Power or Disposal and therefore 't is unreasonable for me to grieve at it this will be so far from any way mollifying the Anguish of my Mind that 't will rather inrage and inflame it For that my Calamity is fatal so that it is not in my Power to avoid or remove it is rather an Aggravation than a Diminution of it Or suppose I should reason as the same Moralists otherwhiles do Why should I grieve at the Evils that befal me when alas my Grief will be so far from lessening them that 't will rather encrease and multiply them contribute new Venome to their Stings and render them more pungent and dolorous What a faint Cordial would it be to my oppressed Mind to consider that my Grief will but augment my Load It is some Ease to a dejected Soul to vent its Griefs in Moans and Lamentations which while she seeks to smother in a sullen silence like imprisoned Wind will breed a Collick in her Bowels and is it not a sad thing that I must deny my self the only Solace of a miserable Man for fear of augmenting my Misery Again suppose I should reason thus with the same Authors that Afflictions are indifferent things and in themselves neither good nor evil but indifferently improvable into Mischiefs or Benefits this I confess were a good Argument supposing that the Affliction came from a good God who can extract Good out of all our Evils and render the rankest Poyson Medicinal but otherwise you will find 't is but a cold Comfort to call your Misery by another Name For if there be no God to temper our Evils and to ordain and direct them to wise and good Ends we shall find in the issue they will prove themselves Evils to us by what soft Name soever we may call them Again and to name no more Suppose I should reason thus as these Masters of Morality do that to bear Afflictions with an unconcerned Mind is brave and manly and generous that it is an Argument of a great and Heroick Mind that hath raised it self above the reach of Misfortunes I readily confess so it is supposing a Man hath good reason thus to bear his Afflictions which is the Question in debate for then it is the Triumph of Reason over Passion and an illustrious Instance of a well fortified Mind but if we have no reason for it all these glorious Words Generous Brave c. are nothing but empty Flash and mere Rodomontado For for a Man to be unconcerned with Evils without reason is so far from being generous and brave that 't is an Argument of his brutal Stupidity and Fool-hardiness But yet supposing that there is no God these are the main Arguments we have to support our selves under any Calamity But alas such real Griefs of ours are not to be redress'd with pretty Sayings and grave Sentences which tho they may look takingly at a Distance will when we come to apply and experience them force us to pronounce as Job did of his Friends miserable Comforters are ye all and Physicians of no value So that were we left destitute of God and a Providence and of all those blessed Supports we derive from thence we were of all Creatures the most miserable For in this state of things we
may God who contrived and produced all things by his own independent Wisdom and Power For our Wisdom and Power being Gods he hath a Sovereign Right to all the Effects of them but his Wisdom and Power are absolutely his own without Dependence on any superior Cause and therefore whatsoever are the Effects of them must necessarily be his by a most absolute and independent Propriety And accordingly he is stiled the possessor of Heaven and Earth Gen. 14.19 and Moses tells his People behold the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords the Earth also and all that is therein Deut. 10.14 and the Earth saith the Psalmist is the Lords and the fulness thereof the World and they that dwell therein for he hath founded it upon the Sea and prepared it upon the Floods Psal. 24.1 and 50.12 and the Heavens saith he again are thine the Earth also is thine as for the World and the fulness thereof thou hast founded them Psal. 89.11 GOD therefore being the Supreme Proprietor of the World there is nothing can be justly ours but by his Will and Grant and nothing can be ours by his Will but what is honestly and justly ours So that for us to seise upon any Part of the World by Fraud or Violence or Oppression is to trespass upon God and invade his Property and to tear his World from him against his Will Thus whatsoever we possess by Wrong we possess as Robbers and Invaders of God and whatsoever we enjoy by Right we enjoy as Tenants to the great Landlord of the World and without owning and acknowledging this we cannot be truly Religious For if the World be not his why should we pray to him for what we want of it or praise him for what we enjoy Why should we patiently submit to his Disposal when he deprives us of what we have Or thankfully acknowledg his Goodness when he supplies us with what we need Why should we employ our Possessions in his Service or think our selves obliged to return him any Part of them in pious or charitable Works In a word why should we be contented with a small share and abide by that unequal Division of things that is made in the World and not endeavour to increase our own poor Heap by pilfering from other Mens that are ten times bigger than ours Whence are these Obligations but from this Supposal that God is the supreme Proprietor and Possessor of all things which being denied there remains no solid Foundation of Reason for any of these great and necessary Duties of Religion III. To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that God is present with and inspects all things that his divine Substance is diffused through and circumfused about all things so as to penetrate them within as an universal Soul and contain them without as an universal Place For so the Jewish Doctors are wont to call God Hamakom that is to say the Place or Continent of all things because all things are incompassed by him and do live and move within his infinite Bosom For so in Scripture the divine Substance is described as spreading it self through and a round the World even to the utmost possibility of Extension Whither saith the Psalmist shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the Wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea even there shall thy Hand lead me and thy right Hand shall hold me Psal. 139.7 8 9 10. And Behold saith Solomon the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee 1 Kings 8.27 yea do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord himself Jer. 23.24 NOW tho Gods Omnipresence be strictly an Attribute of his Essence and not a part of his Providence yet 't is such an Attribute as includes his universal Providence and without supposing of which an universal Providence can hardly be conceived For if he co-exists and be present with all things he must be supposed to operate upon them because where ever he is his infinite Wisdom and Power and Goodness are which in their own Nature are such active Perfections as cannot be present where such a world of things are to be done and sit still and do nothing For how can we conceive that infinite Wisdom should be present where a world of things are to be ordered and yet order nothing That infinite Power should be present where a world of things are to be done and yet do nothing Or that infinite Goodness should be present where a world of good is to be done and do no good at all Such an idle restive Presence as this is utterly inconsistent with such active Perfections So that the Omnipresence of an infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness necessarily supposes an universal Providence and without such an Omnipresence an universal Providence can hardly be conceived For how can God be present by any Power or Virtue or Efficacy of his Nature in any Place from whence the real Substance of his Divinity is excluded How can he operate by his own immediate Efficiency where he is not Or extend his divine Power and Wisdom and Goodness over all things except his divine Substance in which these Attributes are be co-extended with them Every Agent must be where it acts because it acts from its Being and it is as possible for that which is not to operate as for that which is to operate where it is not and hence Socrates being asked how it was possible for one God to order all the Affairs of the World returns this Answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. God is so great and vast a Being as that he hears and sees all things together and is present every where and takes care of all things at the same time Thus Gods Omnipresence you see doth so include his universal Providence that with it 't is necessary and without it inconceivable AND then from his Presence with all things necessarily follows his Inspection of all things because where ever he is his infinite Knowledg is which is inseparable from his Being and were ever his infinite Knowledge is it must necessarily have a through Prospect of all things round about him so that nothing can be concealed from its Inspection For so the Scripture assures us that the Eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth 2 Chron. 16.9 and that the Eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and good Prov. 15.3 and in a word that all things are open and naked to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Heb. 4.13 BOTH which are Truths of vast Importance to Religion For while Men look upon God as a Being that dwells at a great Distance from them they will be ready enough to conclude Procul à Jove procul à Fulmine
utterly useless and in vain which as I shall shew by and by is as absurd as it is blasphemous II. If there be a God he must necessarily be the Cause of all other things that are and do exist For whatsoever might not have been or may not be must be derived from something which cannot but be If it might not have been how came it to be Not from it self to be sure for then it must always have necessarily been and therefore it must finally be resolved into some other Cause which is of it self and so cannot but always have been and always be Now that this World is not of it self but from some other Cause that is of it self is evident because whatsoever is of it self must necessarily have all the Being and all the Perfection of Being that is possible For that which is of it self is necessarily of it self and it is not only true that it cannot but be but also that it cannot but be of it self for if it might not have been of it self it might not have been at all because it self or its own Essence is the only Ground or Reason of its Being and therefore if that Reason might have failed it might never have been at all Now that which necessarily is of it self hath neither actual nor possible Cause of Being for if it hath an actual Cause it is not of it self if any possible one it is not necessarily of it self and if it hath no possible Cause of Being it is all that its possible to be that is it is so compleat and perfect that no possible Being or Perfection of Being can be added to it BESIDES that which is of it self includes Necessity of Being in its Essence and that which includes Necessity of Being must always actually be what it is and have nothing potential in its Nature and that which hath nothing potential must have all possible Being and Perfection For if there be any possible Perfection of Being which it hath not it must be in possibility of being what it is not and if so it is not necessarily what it is So that if the World be of it self it must include in the Nature of it a Necessity of Being and if so it must always actually be that is be always out of all Possibility either of not being or of being what it is not and if it be out of all Possibility of not Being it must have all Possible Being if out of all Possibility of being what it is not it must have all possible Perfection of Being that is all possible Power and Knowledge and Wisdom and Goodness which do all as necessarily result from Self-Being as any essential Property from any Essence Since therefore this material World hath none of these possible Perfections of Being in it it is impossible it should be of it self and if it be not of it self it must have a Cause of Being that is distinct from and before it self and what can this Cause be but God since that which caused the World must be before all Causes and that which is before all Causes must be uncaused and of it self and that which is of it self must have all possible Perfection and consequently be God SINCE therefore the World was made by God it will from hence necessarily follow that it is ruled and governed by him For if he made the World to be sure he made it for some End it being unconceivable that infinite Wisdom should frame a World that is capable of the most noble and excellent Ends without designing it to any End at all and if he designed it for any End to be sure he is concerned that that End whatever it be should be accomplished and if he be his own Concernment will lead him to the Exercise of a Providence which is nothing else but a constant and steady Guidance of those Beings which he hath made to those common and particular Ends for which he made them For if he made them for any End to be sure whatever it was he did not let it drop out of his Mind and Thoughts as soon as he had made them but still carries it along in his Eye and Intention and if he still intends that End there is no doubt but he still prosecutes it which he cannot do without a Providence for how can he drive things on to the Ends for whice he made them if he be withdrawn from the World and hath wholly sequestred himself from all the Affairs of it III. IF there be a God he must necessarily be present with all things because being of himself without any Cause he must be without any Bounds or Limits of Being For it is altogether unconceivable how any thing that is of it self should be restrained or limited by it self For tho we must allow something to be of it self whether we will admit of a God or no yet we cannot suppose that which is of it self to be the Cause of it self without a Contradiction because every Cause must be before its Effect and therefore to suppose that which is of it self to be the Cause of it self is to suppose it to be before it self that is to be when it is not or to be and not be together which is impossible When therefore we say that something is of it self our meaning can be no other that this that it hath such an immense Plenitude of Being in it self as that it neither needed nor required any Cause to produce it and how can that which is of it self without being the Cause of it self be any way restrained or limited by it self For that which limits Beings is only the Will or Power of their Causes which either would not or could not bestow any further Being or Perfection upon them and therefore only such things as are caused are limited because they being produced out of nothing are only so far and no farther brought into Being as their Cause was willing or able to bring them That therefore which exists of it self without any Cause of Being must exist of it self without any Limits of Being because it was neither limited by it self nor by any other Cause and that which hath nothing to limit it must necessarily be immense and boundless God therefore being this Self-existing Being must necessarily be of an unlimited Essence an Essence which no possible Space can either circumscribe or define but must necessarily be diffused all through circumfused all about and present with all things AND if he be present with all things how is it imaginable he should sit still among them and exercise no Providence over them For since he is a living Being he must be vitally present wheresoever he is and that he should be vitally and yet unactively present among a World of Beings that he should live in this wide Vniversity of things and in every Part of it and yet take no more Notice of have no more Influence upon it than if he were a dead and
order and harmony is still continued and preserved For it is altogether as impossible for matter of it self unguided by Wisdom and Art to pursue any constant course as to fall into any regular form it being as we see all torn and broken into little parts innumerably many and infinitely diverse in their size and figures and motions and thence onely fit in their several courses to cross and confound each other How then is it possible without vast Wisdom and answerable Power so to manage this wild and disordered swarm of Atomes as to determine them to their proper bounds continue them in their regular ranks and files and preserve them in the same tenure of action so as that in all those new productions of the individuals of every kind of Plants and Animals which are every day compounded out of them they should none of them ever extravagate in their motions so as to disturb and hinder one another and finally disorder and interrupt the natural course of Generation When therefore we consider how this great Machine of the World as the above-cited Author expresseth it whose parts are infinite for number and variety hath stood six thousand years together always one and the same unimpair'd in its beauty unworn in its parts unwearied and undisturbed in its motions through what an infinite series of generations and corruptions all its plants and animals have past and yet how after they have been corrupted over and over and their whole frames have been broke in pieces and all their parts divided and dispers'd they have still been generated anew and rallied into the same specifick natures which though they still consist of numberless parts are constantly drawn up into the same postures and figures and positions and with strange regularity digested into the same handsom order as if they all kept time with the musical Laws of some Almighty Mind as the stones of Thebes did with Amphion's Lute and thereby continually danc'd into their natural figures When I say we consider these strange and wondrous things what tolerable account can we give of the performance of them without an over-ruling Providence For how is it imaginable that in a six thousand years course of Generations and Corruptions these blind and undesigning parts of matter which by reason of their infinite diversity are so naturally apt to thwart and disturb one another should maintain such regular courses of motion as still to concenter in the same forms so as that through all this vast tract of time not so much as one kind of plants or animals should miscarry how I say could this have been had they not all along been conducted by a steady and unerring Providence V. ANOTHER Sensible evidence of a Divine Providence is the miraculous events that have hapned in the World By Miraculous Events I mean such as either for their matter or manner of production do exceed the Power of natural Causes or at least are produc'd by them out of their establish'd course and order Such as dividing the Sea stopping the Sun raising the Dead curing the sick and blind and lame with a touch or word of all which we have notorious instances both in the Old and New Testament and these attested with as full and convincing Evidence as ever any matters of Fact were that are recorded in History For as for the Miracles of the Old Testament besides that they were sundry of them perform'd in the publick view of Nations and were recorded in those very Ages wherein they were wrought and so could have been easily disproved by ten thousand living Witnesses had they not been true besides that they were attested by the most antient Heathen Poets and Historians in their Mythologies and Histories who to be sure would never have yielded the glory of such wondrous Effects to a Nation whom they hated and despised had they not been forced to it by undeniable Evidence In a word besides that they were confirm'd by the succeeding Prophets of that Nation who both by the Miracles they wrought and by the exact accomplishment of their Predictions have sufficiently evidenc'd themselves to be supernaturally inspired Besides all which I say the Miracles of the Old Testament are abundantly attested by the New the credit whereof is ratified and confirm'd by a world of new Miracles wrought by our Saviour himself and particularly by his Resurrection from the dead which are not only in part confessed by the Jews themselves his most mortal Enemies and by the Heathen Writers who were implacable Persecutors of his Religion but also by his own Disciples and Apostles who as I shall shew hereafter were Eye-witnesses of these Miracles and did not only attest them with their Mouths but also sealed their testimony with their blood and confirm'd it before all the World with infinite other Miracles which they wrought in his Name and which they continued to work for several Ages together as is evident not only from the wondrous success of their Ministry which without being attested with such miraculous Effects could never have propagated in so short a time such an hated Religion over all the World but also from the confident Appeals which the Christian Writers frequently make to their heathen Enemies in which they Subpoena them in as daily Spectators of their wondrous Works and for the truth of them challenge their own Eyes and Ears So then that there have been such miraculous Effects can no more be doubted than that there have been such Men as Pompey the Great or Julius Caesar the former being attested all things considered with much more Evidence than the latter AND if this attestation be true there must be a Providence for how is it possible that blind Nature which neither deliberates nor chooses should of it self ever vary or interrupt its course without rushing into utter confusion and disorder How should any part of it when 't is once moved either faster or slower than ordinary so restrain or quicken its own motion as to reduce it self back again to its establish'd Course For if it once move faster it must have some degree of motion super-added to it and till that is withdrawn it must move faster for ever if it move slower it must have some degree of motion withdrawn from it and 'till that be restored it must move slower for ever how then is it possible that Nature or any part of it which moves by a blind necessity should of its own accord either hasten and then slacken or slacken and then hasten the course of its motion as it must do in the production of miraculous Effects without being influenc'd by an Almighty Providence We have several miraculous Instances of the diverting natural Causes from their course and stopping them in it such as causing the Waters to divide and stand still and the Sun to move backward Now how is it conceivable that any natural Cause that hath no will of its own to move and determine it should either stop
So that now to believe and obey the sacred Dictates of Religion is generous and ingenuous and our Faith and Obedience is our virtue and Excellency because we believe and obey without Force and against Temptations and Difficulties AND as this unequal State of things is of absolute Necessity to try and exercise our Virtues so it is also very assistant thereunto For that Providence doth generally and not universally bless and prosper good Men is a great support to a wise and rational Belief For as a late excellent Author hath well observed if things were constantly managed one way without any variation we might be apt to conclude that the World was under the rigid Laws of a fatal Necessity if on the other side there were no Rule observed no Footsteps of Method in the Dispensations of Providence we might be tempted to believe that Chance rules the World but when we observe that in the management of things there is an Intermixture of these two viz. that there is a general Rule and that there are particular Exceptions from it we have just reason to conclude that all is under a free Almighty Agent that rules the World according to the Determinations of his own Will As this way of Providence viz. to interweave into good Mens Fortunes Adversity with Prosperity is in this respect very advantageous to their Faith so is it also to the whole State of their Virtue for as on the one hand a continued train of prosperous Events would be apt to bloat and elevate their Minds so on the other a continued series of Adversity would be apt to sink and depress their Spirits whilst this middle way of Interchange in their Condition balances them on both sides and keeps them in an even steddy and well-poized Temper Since therefore this Life is the state of our Trial it is evident that an exact Equality of things would be a much stronger Objection against the Wisdom of Providence than all these present Inequalities are against the Justice of it For Hardships and Difficulties are necessary to a state of Trial and were good Men always blest and bad Men always punished this Life instead of being a Probation to either would be the Heaven of the one and the Hell of the other and since some Afflictions are necessary to try good Men and some Prosperities to try bad it would be a strange oversight of Providence when it designs the Trial of both to fix them in such a Condition wherein no through Experment can be made of either So that for us to object against Providence for making such unequal Distributions in a state wherein it designs our Trial is in effect to object against Wisdom for acting most sutably to its own Designs IV. THAT all things here do happen alike to all is no Argument against Providence because the Goods and Evils that befal us here are not so truly to be estimated by themselves as by their Effects and Consequents For the divine Providence which runs through all things hath disposed and connected them into such a Series and Order that there is no single Event or Accident but what is purely miraculous but depends upon the whole System and hath innumerable Causes antecedent to it and innumerable Consequents attending it and what these Consequents will be whether good or bad is beyond our Skill to prognosticate so that though the Event be never so good or bad singly and apart by it self yet in Conjunction with all those Consequents that will most certainly attend it the best Event for all we know may prove most mischievous and the worst most beneficial to us So that for us boldly to pronounce concerning the Good or Evil of Events before we see the Train of Consequents that follow them is very rash and inconsiderate As for instance you see a good Man oppressed with Sorrows and Afflictions and a bad Man crowned with Pleasures and Prosperities and considering these things apart by themselves you conclude that the one fares very ill and the other very well but did you at the same time see the Consequents of the ones Adversity and the others Prosperity it is probable you would conclude the quite contrary viz. that the good Mans Adversity was a Blessing and the bad Mans Prosperity a Curse For I dare boldly affirm that good Men generally reap more substantial Benefit from their Afflictions than bad Men do from their Prosperities the one smarts indeed at present but what follows perhaps his Mind is cured by it of some Disease that is ten times worse to him than his outward Affliction of Avarice or Impatience of Envy or Discontent of Pride or vanity of Spirit his Riches are lessened but his Virtues are improved by it his Body is impaired but his Mind is grown sound and haile by it and what he hath lost in Health or Wealth or Pleasure or Honour he hath gained with vast advantage in Wisdom and Goodness in Tranquillity of Mind and Self-enjoyment And methinks no Man who believes he hath a Soul should grudg to suffer any tolerable Affliction for the bettering his Mind his Will and his Conscience On the other hand the bad Man triumphs and rejoyces at present but what follows his Prosperity either shrivles him into Miserableness or melts him into Luxury the former of which impoverishes and the latter diseases him for if the former be the Effect of his Prosperity it increases his Needs because before he needed only what he had not but now he needs both what he hath not and what he hath his covetous Desires treating him as the Faulkner doth his Hawk still luring him off from what he hath seized to fly at new Game and never permitting him to prey upon his own Quarry and if the latter be the Effect of his Prosperity that is if it melts him into Luxury it thereby wasts his Health to be sure and commonly his Estate too and so whereas it found him poor and well it leaves him poor and diseased and only took him up from the Plow and sets him down at the Hospital In general while he is possessed of it it only bloats and swells him makes him proud and insolent griping and oppressive pampers and inrages his Lust stretches out his Desires into an insatiable Bulimy sticks his Mind full of Cares and his Conscience of Guilts and by all these woful Effects it inflames his Reckoning with God and treasures up Wrath for him against the day of Wrath so that comparing the Consequents of the good Mans Adversity with those of the bad Mans Prosperity it is evident that the former fares well even in his worst Condition and the latter ill in his best It 's well for me saith good David that I was afflicted for before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept thy Commandments Psalm 119.67 But on the contrary when the Wicked spring as the Grass saith the same Author and when all the workers of Iniquity do
than he is in himself for that is impossible but to display and shew forth his own essential glory to all that are capable of admiring and imitating him that thereby he might invite them to transcribe that goodness of his into their natures of which his glory is the shine and lustre and thereby to glorifie them selves and what can more effectually display the glory of a Being who is infinitely wise and powerful and good than to contrive and effect the happiness of his Creatures and especially of his rational Creatures who of all others have the most ample capacity of happiness Doubtless the highest glory of an infinite power that is conducted by an infinite wisdom and goodness is to contrive and execute the most effectual methods of doing the greatest good and what greater good can such a power effect than the eternal happiness of reasonable Creatures So that Gods glory and our happiness are so inseparably conjoyned that we cannot aim right at either but we must hit both and whether we say that his end is his own glory or our happiness it is the same thing for his glory is our happiness and our happiness is his glory and when he hath perfected our Nature and advanced it to the highest happiness it is capable of it will shine back upon him even as all other glorious effects do on their causes and reflect everlasting honour on that infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness from whence it was derived Thus right apprehensions of the nature of God will naturally lead us to the great end which he proposes in all his transactions with us and thereby direct us what end we are to propose in our transactions with him For that which is Gods end ought to be ours and therefore since his end is his own Glory or which is the same thing our everlasting Happiness it ought to be ours also But now while we misapprehend the nature of God we shall be apt to set up false and indirect ends of serving him as for instance whilst we look upon him as a selfish being that centers wholly in himself and separates his interest from the interest of his Creatures doing every thing meerly for his own sake we shall think our selves obliged in all our addresses to him to set aside our own interest and happiness and to aim singly and separately at his honour and glory and yet this is the great Fundamental of the whole Scheme of some mens Divinity viz. That God aims wholly at himself and regards the good of his Creatures no farther than it serves his own interest that he made this World out of mere ostentation to boast and magnifie his own power and greatness and gives Laws to his Creatures and exacts their obedience for no other reason but because 't is for his honour to be served and worshipped that he created Hell only to shew the power of his wrath and prepare an everlasting Triumph for his vengeance and erected Heaven for a Theater to shew himself on that so having filled it with a vast Corona of Angelical and Saintly spectators he might display the glory of his Majesty before them and thereby provoke them to extol and praise and commend him for ever And while we thus conceive of God how can we hope that he will ever be pleased with us unless we aim at the same end that he doth i. e. unless laying aside all regard to our selves and our own happiness both here and hereafter we intirely direct all our worship and service to his glory and interest which being impossible for us to do whilst we have so much self-love and so much indigence together will either render our Religion wholly unpracticable or perplex us with eternal doubts of its truth and sincerity And supposing we could direct all our Religion to this end this instead of rendering it more acceptable to God would only render it more unworthy of him for then we should serve him under the notion of his Benefactors rather than of his Pensioners with a design to enrich him rather than to be enriched by him And what an unbeseeming presumption is it for such indigent Creatures as we to entertain the least thought of contributing to God or making any addition to his infinite store He is above all want being infinitely satisfied from the inexhaustible fountain of his own perfections and for us to imagine that he needs our Services and requires them to serve his own interest is to blaspheme his Alsufficiency and suppose him a poor and indigent being that for want of a perfect satisfaction within himself is forced to rome abroad and raise taxes upon his Creatures to enrich and supply himself For if we serve him for any end at all it must be either to do him good or our selves if it be to do him good we reproach and dishonour him by supposing that he hath need of us and our services which can do him no good unless he hath some need of them So that whatsoever some high-slown Enthusiasts may pretend that it is sordid and mercenary to serve God for our own good I am sure to serve him for his good is prophane and blasphemous and therefore either we must serve him for no good or serve him for our own and since he is so infinitely sufficient to himself that nothing we can do can benefit and advantage him to what better purpose can we worship and serve him than to receive benefit and advantage from him which instead of being base and mercenary is a purpose most becoming both God and our selves For to serve him with an intent not to give to but to receive from him is to acknowledg his fulness and our own want his Alsufficiency and our own Poverty whereas by serving him to the contrary purpose we do in effect set up our selves above him it being much greater to give than it is to receive and to make that the end of our worshipping God which doth in effect suppose him to be our inferiour is to make our selves Gods instead of Votaries What the true end therefore is of our serving God may be easily inferred from a right apprehension of his nature For do but consider him as a Being that is above all want that is infinitely satisfied in his own perfections and an unbounded Ocean of happiness to himself and then what other end can you propose in serving him but to derive perfection and happiness from him in the accomplishment of which he and you will be Glorified together IV. And lastly A right apprehension of God is also necessary to furnish us with proper motives and incouragements to serve him It is the nature of all reasonable Beings to be drawn forth into action by Motives and Arguments and the most powerful Arguments to move us Godward are drawn from the nature of God from his Majesty and Holiness his Truth and Justice his Mercy and Goodness none of which can have their just and full
been nothing had it not been for the cause that gave being to it and therefore that it is so far nothing still i. e. limited and defective is only to be attributed to its own primitive nothingness As for instance if I give a poor man an hundred pounds that he is worth so much money is wholly owing to me but that he is not worth a hundred more is owing only to his own poverty and just so that I have such and such perfections of being is wholly owing to God who produced me out of nothing but that I have such and such defects of being is only owing to that Non-entity out of which he produced me and therefore since our perfections are derived from God but not our defects 't is altogether as unreasonable to attribute the latter to to him as it is reasonable to attribute the former Now the defects of created perfection which we are to remove and abstract from God in our conceptions of him are of two sorts First of the thing Secondly of the mode of thing The defect of the thing is when the thing it self is such as that it wholly excludes something much better and more perfect thus matter for instance is defective in the thing because it excludes spiritual and immaterial substance which is much more excellent than it self The defect of the mode of the thing is when the thing is so excellent in it self as that it excludes nothing better but yet is deficient in degrees of perfection As for instance Wisdom and Goodness Reason and Vnderstanding are things so excellent in themselves as that they exclude nothing that is more excellent but yet as residing in created Beings want a great many possible degrees of perfection Now both these defects being natural are uncaused and so cannot proceed from the Author of Nature and not proceeding from him they cannot be supposed to be in him and therefore in our conceptions of him ought not to be attributed to him In respect therefore of these twofold defects in created perfections it is necessary we should conceive of God in the way of Remotion and Eminence as well as of Causality otherwise we shall injuriously attribute to him the Defects of his Creatures of which he is not the cause as well as their perfections of which he is If therefore we would do God right in our thoughts and conceptions of him we must in the first place remove from him all defect in the thing that is all matter and material perfections because they are defective in their very kind and nature as excluding such substance and perfections as are incomparably more excellent than themselves and this is to conceive of him in the way of Remotion which consists in removing all kind of matter and material affections from our thoughts and apprehensions of God And then in the second place we must abstract from him all defect in the mode of the thing i. e all the defect of degrees in those spiritual perfections of the Creature which we attribute to him and raise and exalt them in our own minds to their utmost height and eminence and this is to conceive of him in the way of Eminency which consists in ascribing to God the short and limited perfections of his Creatures abstracted from all defect and limitation These three ways therefore are all indispensably necessary to lead us to a true discovery of the Nature of God as will yet farther appear by the following Rules I shall lay down for the forming a right Notion and Apprehension of him First If we would think aright of God we must attribute all possible perfection to him Secondly in forming our Notions of his Perfections we must take our rise from the Perfections we behold in his Creatures Thirdly In ascribing to him the perfections of his Creatures we must abstract from them every thing that is defective and imperfect Fourthly In arguing from the perfections of the Creature to the perfections of God we must distinguish between the state and relations of God and Creature Fifthly Though in arguing from the perfections of the Creature to the perfections of God we are not to subject him to the Rules of a Creature yet we are always to suppose his Will and his Power to be in perfect subjection to the perfections of his Nature Sixthly In conceiving of his Perfections we must always suppose them to be exactly harmonious and consistent with each other I. To the forming a right apprehension of God it is necessary that we ascribe to him all possible perfection For he being the first and supreme cause from whence all the perfections of Being are derived must necessarily include all perfection in himself and be all those perfections which he hath communicated to others for how can he give that which he hath not It is true indeed free causes may give less to their effects than they have in themselves but it is impossible they should give more though they may withhold from their effects any perfection or degree of perfection which they have they cannot derive to them any which they have not Whatsoever therefore is a perfection of Being must necessarily be essential to that supreme cause from whence all Being is derived otherwise there would be more in his effects than there is in himself and consequently more than he could give or be the cause of which is a contradiction AND as all those perfections that are in created Beings must necessarily exist in the nature of God so must all those too that are possible in themselves For every perfection that is possible in it self must be possible to him who is the cause of all things but no perfection can be possible to him that is not actually in him for no cause can produce that perfection in another which it hath not in it self and therefore if there be any perfection that is not in him 't is impossible it should ever be produced by him and that which is impossible to God must be impossible in its own nature that which is not an object of omnipotent power is not an object of any power and that which is not an Object of any power is in it self impossible Since therefore every perfection that is possible in it self must be possible to God and since no perfection that is not in him can be possible to him it necessarily follows that all the perfections that are possible in themselves are actually existing in the Nature of God II. IN forming our Notions of Gods perfections we must take our rise from those perfections which we behold in his Creatures For our understanding being too short-sighted to penetrate immediately into the substance and essence of things hath no other way to know and apprehend them but either by their causes or by their effects but now God being the first and supreme fountain of all causes cannot be known by his cause because he hath none and therefore is knowable only by his effects
and so ought not to be admitted into our conception of God's which being infinite there is nothing can be difficult or uneasie to him For it is because of imperfection that labour and trouble do attend any Beings in their operations could they do what they do perfectly it would be no labour at all to them God therefore having an infinite power to effect what he pleases whatsoever he doth he doth it most perfectly and consequently without any toil or labour and since all things were derived from him and are dependent upon him they must all be perfectly subject to his power and where there is perfect subjection there can be no resistance and where there is no resistance there can be no labour And then as for Duration which is the other perfection of life in the Creature it is attended with dependence For there is no life but depends upon God to be shortened or prolonged according to his pleasure the lives of all Beings are maintained and supplied by his all-enlivening power and influence which if he withdraw from them but one moment they presently expire so that the duration of all created life is dependent and precarious and even those Beings that shall live for ever have no other tenure of life but Gods Will and pleasure who with the breath of his Nostrils can blow them out when he pleases But the duration of Gods life is altogether independent for he subsists of himself from that infinite fulness of Being that is in him and hath done so from all Eternity past when there was no other cause but himself in being and therefore can do so to all Eternity to come without the support or assistance of any other cause So that he is not at all beholding for his duration to the good will and pleasure of any other Being but derives from an inexhaustible spring of life within himself whence he also derives life to all other Beings AGAIN when we attribute to him the perfection of sense viz. quickness and exquisiteness of perception we must wholly abstract from it all that imperfection with which it is attended in the Creatures for in them it is attended with sundry affections which argue imperfection in their nature and happiness such as Fear Sorrow Repentance Desperation and the like all which argue a defect of Power or Wisdom and proceed from a quick sense of evil past or present or to come which is inconsistent with perfect happiness When therefore we attribute to God this perfection of sense we must abstract from it all those affections which proceed from the sense of evil or pain For he is so infinitely perfect both in nature and happiness that no evil can approach him to vex or disturb him or make any painful impressions on his nature and being so it is impossible that in propriety of speech he should either fear or grieve or repent or despair All these affections indeed are in Scripture attributed to him but then it is in an improper and Metaphorical sense not as if he did at any time feel these passions within himself but because he demeans himself towards us as if he did not as if the affections themselves had any place in his nature but because the natural effects of them appear in his actions and behaviour And though there is no doubt but he resents all those evils which good men suffer and bad men commit yet it is not from any painful impression that they make upon his nature for he neither feels the miseries he pities and relieves nor is vext at the sins he detests and abhors but all the resentment he hath both of the evil of our sufferings and sins is perfectly calm to himself and devoid of all passion and disturbance 'T is true his Will being perfectly reasonable must be differently affected towards different Objects and contrarily affected towards contrary Objects because they propose to it different and contrary Reasons and therefore as it must be affected with complacency towards good Objects so it must be affected with abhorrence towards bad but this abhorrence arises not either from any sense of hurt they do him or fear of hurt they can do him his Nature being wholly impassible but from the repugnancy they bear to his own infallible reason and his abhorrence being wholly founded in his Reason and not in any sense or feeling he hath of the evils he detests must upon this account be stript of all grief and vexation Wherefore in attributing to God the perfection of sense we must take care to abstract from it all those affections which spring out of the imperfection either of our nature or our happiness BUT then in the last place when we attribute to him the perfections of Reason viz. Knowledge and Rectitude of Will we must also abstract from them all those imperfections with which they are at tended in the Creatures As for instance Knowledge in the Creature is attended with reasoning and discoursing that is inferring one thing from another arguing Consequents from Principles and Effects from Causes which is a great imperfection of Knowledge and a plain indication that it is narrow and confined in it self and not to be improved without labour and study For that we are fain to infer one thing out of another is an evident token that we know but in part because in this way our knowledge must be successive and we must know one thing before we can know another we must know the Principles before we can know the Consequents and the Causes before the Effects else how can we deduce the one from the other And this deducing or inferring requires a great deal of study and labour Wherefore in attributing Knowledg to God we must abstract from it this imperfection of reasoning and discourse for his Knowledg being infinite or unconfined by the utmost extention and duration of things doth at one Intuition or simple view behold all things past and present and to come yea whensoever wheresoever or howsoever possible and beholding as he doth all Consequents in their Principles all Effects in their Causes he doth not know one thing after another but comprehends them all together in his infinite mind without any succession or improvement So that from all Eternity past he knew as much as he doth now and as much as he will do to all Eternity to come for his Knowledg was always infinite and what is infinite admits not either of more or less And then for that other perfection of reason which consists in Rectitude of Will in the Creature it is acquired even as that Knowledg and Wisdom is by which it is measured and regulated For Rectitude of Will consisting in chusing and refusing as right Reason directs must needs be acquired in the Creature because that Right Reason is so by which it chuses and refuses so that there is the same defect and imperfection in the Rectitude of our Wills as there is in our Reason and Knowledg
its Will Affections and Actions with those everlasting Laws of righteousness which right reason prescribes how many are there that look upon this as a very mean and carnal accomplishment and place all their perfection in things of a quite different nature viz. in the Ebbs and Flows of their sensitive passion and the extraordinary Fermentations of their bloud and spirits that is to say in unaccountable dejections and exaltations of mind in vehement impressions of fancy and Mechanical movements of affection in Raptures and Ecstacies and Hypocondriacal incomes and manifestations that have nothing of substantial Vertue or Piety in them nor commonly any other effect but to cause men to renounce that Righteousness which they never had and rely upon that which they have no Title to and to sooth and tickle their fancies and blow them up into glorious opinions of themselves and Triumphant assurances of their being the Darlings and Favourites of God whilst poor Moral men that make conscience of regulating their affections and actions by the eternal Laws of Righteousness are look'd upon by them with a scornful compassion and placed in the lowermost form of sinners at the greatest distance from the Kingdom of God Now when men take such false measures of their own perfection how is it possible they should conceive aright of the perfections of God which they have no other way to conceive of but only by arguing from their own Wherefore in order to the forming our Ideas of Gods perfections it is necessary we should first fix the true Notion of our own which is no hard matter for us to do For our Nature being reasonable to be sure its perfection must consist in willing affecting and acting reasonably or which is the same thing in Governing it self in all its relations and circumstances by those immutable Laws of goodness which right reason prescribes and which are exemplified to us in the holy Scripture and when we have fixt in our minds this Notion of our own perfection it will naturally conduct our thoughts to God's and let us see that his perfection consists not in a lawless and boundless Will that decrees without foresight resolves without reason and Wills because it will and then executes its own blind and unaccountable purposes by dint of irresistible power without any regard to right or wrong For if we rightly understand our own perfection we cannot but discern that such a Will as this is one of the most monstrous deformities in nature because it is the most Diametrically opposite to the true Idea of our own Perfection which while we attentively fix our eyes on we cannot but infer from it that the true perfection of God consists in the unvariable determination of his Will by the all-comprehending reason of his Mind or in chusing and refusing decreeing and executing upon such reasons as best becomes a God to will and act on i. e. upon such as are infinitely wise and good and just and merciful For if to Will and Act upon such reasons as these be the perfection of our nature we cannot but conclude that it is the perfection of Gods too but if we are ignorant of our own perfection we must necessarily think of God at Rovers without any certain aim or rule to square and direct our apprehensions II. ANOTHER cause of our misapprehension of God is our framing our Notions of him according to the Model of our own particular humour and temper For self-love being the most vehement affection of Humane Nature and that upon which all it s other affections are founded there is no one Vice to which we are more universally obnoxious than that of excessive fondness and partiality to our selves which makes us too often dote upon the deformities and even Idolize the Vices of our own temper So that whether our nature be stern sour and imperious or fond easie and indulgent we are apt to admire it as a great perfection merely because it is Ours without measuring it by those eternal reasons which are the Rules of Good and Evil Perfection and Imperfection and then whatever we look upon as a perfection in our selves we naturally attribute to God who is the cause and fountain of all perfection And hence it comes to pass that mens minds have been always tinctured with such false and repugnant opinions of God because they frame their judgments of him not so much by their reason as by their temper and humour and so their different humours being not only unreasonable in themselves but repugnant and contrary to one another produce in them not only false and unreasonable but contrary and repugnant opinions of God Thus for instance the Epicureans who were a soft and voluptuous Sect intirely addicted to ease and pleasure fancied God to be such a one as themselves a Being that was wholly sequestred from action and confined to an Extra-mundane Paradise where he lived in perfect ease and was entertained with infinite Luxuries without ever concerning his thoughts with any thing abroad for this they thought was the top of all perfection and therefore thus they would have chosen to live had they been Gods themselves Thus the Stoicks who were a sort of very morose and inflexible people copied their Notions of God from their own complexion supposing him to be an inflexible Being that was utterly incapable of being moved and affected by the reasons of things but was wholly governed by a stern and inexorable Fate And accordingly the Scythians and Thracians the Gaules and Carthaginians who were a people of a bloudy and Barbarous nature Pictured their Gods from their own temper imagining them to be of a bloud-thirsty nature that delighted to feed their hungry Nostrils with the Nidorous reeks and steams of humane gore Whereas on the contrary the Platonists who were generally of a very soft and amorous nature took their measure of God thereby and so framed an Idea of him that was as soft and amorous as their own complexion composed altogether of loves and smiles and indearments without the least intermixture of vengeance and severity how just soever in it self or necessary to the well-government of the World Thus as the Ethiopians pictured their Gods black because they were black themselves so generally men have been always prone to represent God in the colour of their own complexions which is the cause that they many times represent him so utterly unlike to himself because out of an unreasonable partiality to themselves they first mistake the deformities of their own natures for perfections and then Deifie them them into Divine Attributes Thou thoughtest saith God that I was altogether such a one as thy self Psal. 50.21 that is thou didst frame thy conceptions of me according to the Pattern of thy own ill-nature and so thoughtest basely and unworthily of me And hence I doubt not spring most of those misapprehensions of God which have been received among Christians For how is it possible for any man that is not of