THE Atheistical Objections AGAINST THE BEING of a GOD And His ATTRIBUTES Fairly Considered and Fully Refuted IN Eight Sermons Preach'd in the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul London 1698. Being the Seventh Year of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esq By JOHN HARRIS M. A. and Fellow of the ROYAL-SOCIETY LONDON Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin at the King's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber Immorality and Pride The Great Causes of ATHEISM A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul January the 3 d. 1697 8. BEING The First of the LECTURE for that Year Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By JOHN HARRIS M. A. and Fellow of the ROYAL-SOCIETY LONDON Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin at the King's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698. TO THE Most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Sir HENRY ASHURST Baronet Sir JOHN ROTHERAM Serjeant at Law JOHN EVELYN Senior Esquire Trustees appointed by the Will of the Honorable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire Most Reverend and Honoured AS I had the Honour to Preach this Sermon by your Kind and Generous Appointment so I now Publish it in Obedience to your Commands and humbly offer it as also my ensuing Discourses to your Candid Patronage and Acceptance I have in pursuance of Your Grace's direction studied to be as Plain and Intelligible as possibly I could and shall by the Divine Assistance prosecute my whole Design after the same manner which Method of Treating this Subject appears very Suitable to the Pious and Excellent Design of Our Noble and Honourable Founder I humbly desire your Prayers to Almighty God that He will vouchsafe to render my weak Endeavours effectual to shew the Groundlessness and Inconclusiveness of those Objections which Atheistical Men usually bring against the great and Important Truths of Religion which is the End they are sincerely directed to by Most Reverend and Honoured Your most obliged humble Servant J. HARRIS PSALM X. 4 The Wicked through the Pride of his Countenance will not seek after God Neither is God in all his Thoughts IN this Psalm is Contained a very lively Description of the Insolence of Atheistical and Wicked Men when once they grow Powerful and Numerous for then as we read at the Third Verse they will proceed so far as openly to boast of and glory in their Impiety They will boldly defie and contemn the great God of Heaven and Earth v. 13. They will deny his Providence v. 11 and despise his Vengeance And as we are told in these words of my Text They will grow so Proud and high as to scorn to pay him any Honour or Worship to Pray to him or Call upon him but will endeavour to banish the very Thoughts of his Being out of their Minds The Wicked through the Pride of his c. In which words we have an Account more particularly by what Methods and Steps Men advance to such an Exorbitant height of Wickedness as to set up for Atheism and to deny the Existence of a God for there are in them these Three Particulars which I shall consider in their Order I. Here is the general Character or Qualifications of the Person the Psalmist speaks of which is That he is a Wicked Man The Wicked through the Pride c. II. The particular kind of Wickedness or the Origin from whence the Spirit of Atheism and Irreligion doth chiefly proceed And That is Pride The Wicked through the Pride of his Countenance c. And III. Here is the great Charge that is brought against this Wicked and Proud Man viz. Wilful Atheism and Infidelity He will not seek after God Neither is God in all his Thoughts Or as it is in the Margin of our Bibles with good Warrant from the Hebr. All his Thoughts are there is no God In discoursing on the two First of these Heads I shall endeavour to shew that Immorality and Pride are the great Causes of the Growth of Atheism amongst us And on the Third I shall consider the Objections that Atheistical Men usually bring against the being of a Deity and shew how very weak and invalid they are And first I think it very Necessary to say something of the Causes of Infidelity and Atheism and to shew how it comes to pass that Men can possibly arrive to so great a height of Impiety This my Text naturally leads me to before I can come to the great Subject I design to Discourse upon and I hope it may be of very good use to discover the Grounds of this heinous Sin and the Methods and Steps by which Men advance to it that so those who are not yet hardened in it nor quite given up to a Reprobate Mind may by the Blessing of God take heed and avoid being engaged in such Courses as do naturally lead into it I. Therefore let us consider the general Character or Qualifications of the Person here spoken of in my Text And that is that he is a Wicked Man The wicked through the Pride c. And this is every where the Language of the Sacred Scripture when it speaks of Atheistical Men. David tells us Psal. 14.1 and 51.1 that 't is the Fool i. e. the Wicked Man for so the word Nabal often signifies and is so here to be understood 'T is he that hath said in his heart there is no God 'T is such an one as is a Fool by his own fault one stupified and dull'd by Vice and Lust as he sufficiently explains it afterwards one that is corrupt and become filthy and that hath done abominable works So the Apostle St. Paul supposes that those Men will have in them an evil heart of unbelief who do depart from the living God and live without him in the world And indeed it is very Natural to conclude That those which are once debauched in their Practices may easily grow so in their Principles For when once 't is a Man's Interest that there should be no God he will readily enough disbelieve his Existence We always give our assent very precipitantly to what we wish for and would have to be true A Man oppressed with a Load of Guilt and conscious to himself that he is daily obnoxious to the Divine Vengeance will be often very uneasie restless and dissatisfied with himself and his Mind must be filled with Dismal and Ill-boding Thoughts He is unwilling to leave his Sins and to forego the present Advantage of Sensual Pleasure and yet he cannot but be fearful too of the Punishments of a Future State and vehemently disturbed now and then about the account that he must one day give of his Actions Now 't is very Natural for a Man under such Circumstances to catch at any thing that doth but seem to offer him a little Ease and Quiet and that can help him to shake off his melancholy Apprehension of impending Punishment and Misery Some therefore bear down all Thought and Consideration of their
most Material and Essential Points and indeed hath left us no possible way of knowing the Truth of any thing whatsoever For If when as I have shewn above God hath not only fixed in our Natures a Desire of Happiness but also disposed them so that every Power Faculty and Capacity of them convinces us that the Exercise of Moral Virtue is the Way and indeed the only Way to make us entirely happy If I say after all this there be no such things as Moral Virtue and Goodness but that all Things and Actions both in us and the Deity are purely and in their own Natures Indifferent 't is plain Reason is the most ridiculous thing in the World a Guide that serves to no manner of Purpose but to bewilder us in the Infinite Mazes of Errour and to expose us to Roam and Float about in the boundless Ocean of Scepticism where we can never find our Way certainly to any Place nor direct our Course to the Discovery of any Truth whatsoever But this not being to be supposed of the Deity who contains in himself all Possible Excellence and Perfection it must needs be that our Reason will direct us to conclude the Deity also guided and directed in all his Proceedings by the Eternal Rules of Right Reason and Truth and consequently that He will and doth always exercise loving Kindness Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth as the Prophet here speaks And indeed the Hobbian Notion of a Deity guided only by Arbitrary Will Omnipotent without any regard to Reason Goodness Justice and Wisdom is so far from attributing any Perfection to God or as they pretend being the Liberty and Sovereignty of the Deity that it really introduces the greatest Weakness and Folly and the most Brutish Madness that can be for what else can be supposed to be the Result of Irresistible and Extravagant Will pursuing the most fortuitous Caprichio's of Humour without any Wisdom Ends or Designs to Regulate its Motions by And of this the Ancient Heathens were so sensible that they always connected Goodness with the Idea that they had of an Omnipotent Mind's being Supream Lord over all things in the Universe for Mind not guided and directed by Goodness was according to them not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mere Folly and Madness and consequently no true Deity There is a Remarkable Passage of Celsus's to this purpose which though introduced upon another Design yet very clearly shews the Idea that the Heathens had of the Goodness and Wisdom of the Deity God saith he can't do evil things nor will any thing contrary to Nature or Reason for God is not the President or Governour of Irregular or Inordinate Desires nor of erroneous Disorder and Confusion but of a Nature truly Just and Righteous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. contr Cels. lib. 5. p. 240. Cantabr Excellently to the same Purpose is that Saying of Plotinus The Deity doth always act according to his Nature or Essence and that Nature or Essence discovereth Goodness and Justice in all its Operations for indeed if these things should not be there i. e. in God where can they else be found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 265. Ficin And 't is plain that the Heathens had a true Notion that the Deity must be a Good Just and Righteous Being because several of the old Atheists as Protagoras c. argued against the Existence of a Deity from the Worlds being so ill Made and Ordered as it is and from there being so much Evil and Misery among Mankind as they pretended to find in the World but now there had been no manner of force in this Argument and it had been ridiculous to bring it if both the Atheistical Proposers of it and their Antagonists had not had a clear Notion that Goodness Justice and Righteousness are naturally included in the Idea of a God Accordingly Vaninus tells us That Protagoras used to say Si Deus non est unde igitur Bona si autem est unde Mala Amph. Aetern Provid p. 90. And the same thing Tully tells us also Lib. De Nat. Deorum that Diagoras used to object against a Deity All which sufficiently proves that they were all Agreed that there was some common Standard of Good and Evil and that the Notion of a Deity had always these Attributes of Goodness and Justice connected with it And if this be so as undoubtedly it is we shall gain one more good Argument for this Natural and Eternal Distinction between Good and Evil and a yet much Nobler Foundation for Morality For we cannot but think that a God who hath Perfect Goodness Justice and Mercy Essential to his Nature and who hath Created several Orders of Being in the World to make them Happy and in order to display his own Glory by his Just Kind and Gracious Dealing with them we cannot but think I say that God will give to those of his Creatures whom he hath endowed with Reason and a Power of Liberty and Choice such a Method of knowing his Will the Way that leads to their own Happiness as that they shall never be Mistaken about it but by their own gross Fault and Neglect And also that he will make the difference between Good and Evil and between Virtue and Vice so plain and conspicuous that no one can miss of the Knowledge of his Duty but by a wilful Violation of those Powers and Faculties God hath graciously implanted in his Nature And all this we see God hath Actually done and indeed much more having over and above connected very great Rewards with the Practice of Virtue and Morality And hath either naturally planted in the Minds of Men a Notion of some future State or else hath given our Nature such a Power as that we may attain to such a Notion for we find a very plain Belief and Expectation of such a State among many of the Ancient and Modern Heathens And over and above all this he hath also given us a clear Revelation of his Will in the Holy Scripture that sure Word of Prophecy and Instruction whereby we may if we will gain a yet plainer Knowledge of our Duty be more perfectly Instructed in the Method of Eternal Salvation and find also much higher Encouragements and much greater Helps and Assistances than we had before in the State of Nature And all this is vouchsafed us to enforce the more effectually the Practice of Moral Virtue and to enable us more perfectly to perform those Things which the Universal Reason of Mankind approves as Good Lovely and Advantageous to Human Nature FINIS Books Printed for Richard Wilkin at the King's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard REmarks upon some late Papers relating to the Universal Deluge and to the Natural History of the Earth In Octavo And Immorality and Pride the great Causes of Atheism The Atheist's Objection that we can have no Idea of God Refuted The Notion of a
can please himself at last with saying That he hath not Erred like a Fool but Secundum Verbum Vid. Oracles of Reason p. 92. When Men have a while enured themselves to talk at this rate and to blow themselves up with such lofty Conceits and Fancies they grow by degrees more and more opinionated and do dote more and more on their own dear Notions and finding by this means quiet and ease in the Practice of their Sins they at last degenerate so far as firmly to believe the Truth of what they perhaps at first advanced and talk'd only from a Spirit of Contradiction and become so stupid and blind as like great Liars to believe their own Figments and Inventions To such any Extravagant and Inconsistent Hypothesis so it do but clash with Sacred Scripture shall be no less than a real Demonstration a Bold and daring Falsity shall pass for undoubted Truth and a Prophane Jest or a Scurrilous Reflection on the Character or Person of one in Holy Orders shall be a sufficient Refutation of the plainest Demonstration he can bring against their Principles and Practices For it is most certain that though a Proud Man always think himself in the right and arrogate to himself an Exemption from the common Frailties and Errours of Mankind yet there is no body so frequently deceived and mistaken as he for he doth so over-estimate all his Faculties and Endowments and is so much enamoured of and Trusts so much to his own Quickness and Penetration that he usually Imagines his Great Genius able to Master any thing without the servile fatigue of Pains and Study and therefore he will never give himself Time seriously to examine into things he scorns and hates the Drudgery of deeply revolving and comparing the Idaeas of things in his Mind but rashly proceeds to Judgment and Determination on a very Transient and Superficial View And there will he stick be the Resolution he is come to never so absurd and Unaccountable for he is as much above confessing an Errour in Judgment as he is of Repenting of a Fault in Practice And indeed as the absurd and ridiculous Paradoxes which Atheistical Writers maintain shew their shallow insight into things and their Precipitancy in forming a Determination about them so the Pride and Haughtiness with which they deliver them abundantly demonstrates the True Spirit of such Authors and the Real Ground both of their Embracing and Maintaining their Opinions Plato describes the Atheists of his Age to be a Proud Insolent and Haughty sort of Men the Ground of whose Opinion was he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in reality a very mischievous Ignorance though to the conceited Venders and Embracers of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It appeared to be the greatest Wisdom and the Wisest of all Opinions Lactantius tells us in his Discourse De Ira Dei p. 729. Oxon. that the true Reason why Diagoras Melius and Theodorus two of the Ancient Atheists denied a Deity was That they might gain the Glory of being the Authors of some new Opinion contradictory to the common Notions of Mankind And of the former of these Diagoras Sextus Empiricus acquaints us That because a certain perjured Person who had wrong'd him lived unpunished by the Gods he was so enraged at it that he undertook to maintain there were no Gods at all Lib. Adr. Mathem Edit Genev. 1621. The like Pride and Arrogance Lactantius tells us he found in the two great Writers that appeared against Christianity in his time in Bithynia The former of these who 't is probable was the famous Porphyry called himself Antistes Philosophiae the Chief or Prince of Philosophers and saith Lactantius Nescio utrum Superbius an Importunius pretended to correct the blind Errors of Mankind and to guide Men into the True Way He could not bear that Unskilful and Innocent Persons should be enslaved by the Cheats of and become a Prey to Crafty and Designing Men. Lib. de Justit p. 420 421. Oxon. With the like Assurance do the Modern Writers of this kind express themselves And though they have in reality very little or nothing New but only the Arguments of the Ancients a little varied and embelished as I shall have occasion to observe hereafter more at large yet they all set up for new Lights and mighty Discoverers of the Secrets of Nature and Philosophy and all of them assume the Glory of first leading Men into the way of Truth and delivering them out of the dark mazes of Vulgar Errors This was the pretence of Vanini who was burnt for Atheism at Tholouse A. D. 1619. whose Mind he says grew more and more strong healthful and robust as he exercised it in searching out the Secrets of that Supreme Philosophy which is wholly unknown to the common and ordinary Rank of Philosophers And this he saith will soon be discovered by the perusal of his Physico-Magicum which was now to see the Light Vid. Vanini Amphitheatr in Epist. Dedicat. After the same manner do Machiavel Spinoza Hobbs Blount and all the late Atheistical Writers deliver themselves Instances of which I think I need not stay to give since 't is conspicuous through the whole course of their Writings and no doubt taken notice of by every Reader only of the first of these viz. Machiavel I cannot but take notice that Vanini himself saith that 't was his Pride and Covetousness that made him deny the Truth of the Miracles recorded in Sacred Scripture Amphitheatr p. 51. Edit Lugduni 1615. And as the Writings so the Discourses of these Gentlemen do equally discover this Pride and Vanity for they do usually deliver themselves with such a scornful and contemptuous Air when they either endeavour to establish their own or to overthrow their Adversaries Arguments as sufficiently shews the Propriety and Truth of the Psalmist's Observation here that 't is through the pride of his countenance that the wicked will not seek after God The LXXII indeed render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Through the abundance of his wrath and therein they are followed by the vulgar Latin As if the Wicked were angry against God and enraged at his Presidency over Humane Affairs as if they fretted under and quarelled at the Severity of his Laws and Government and scorned to apply themselves to him by Prayer and to submit to him by Obedience But though this may be a good sence of the words and though I doubt not a stubborn Frowardness and Perverseness of our Wills against the Will of God may be a frequent cause and ground of Infidelity yet our English Translation appears to me to be much better warranted from the Hebrew for there it is properly through the Elevation of his Nose or Face Which truly is very emphatical and expresses such a proud and scornful gesture of Face as is the natural Indication of the Internal Haughtiness of a Man's Mind or as the Targum on this place render it of the arrogance of his
of Success give them thanks making the Creatures of their own fancy Gods This is the Natural Seed of Religion which Men taking notice of have formed into Laws c. And he tells us in another place That Fear of Power invisible feigned by the Mind or imagined from Tales publickly allowed is Religion not allowed is Superstition So that according to Mr. Hobbs Religion and Superstition differ only in this that the latter is a Lye and a Cheat standing only on the Authority of Private Men whereas the former is supported by the Power of the Government In these Four Things saith he elsewhere consists the Natural Seed of Religion viz. Ignorance of Second Causes Opinion of Ghosts Devotion toward what Men Fear and taking things casual for Prognosticks These are the Accounts which our Modern Atheistical Writers give of the Origin of Religion and the Notion of a God among Men. And this they with great assurance put off as their own new Invention without being so just as to mention any of the Ancients from whom they have borrowed every Article of it That trite Passage every Body knows Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor and Lucretius mentions Fear and the Ignorance of Second Causes as that which gave the first rise to the Notion of a God For saith he When Men with fearful Minds behold the things in the Earth and Heavens they become abject and depressed under the fear of the Gods whose Empire Ignorance of Causes sets up in the World for when Men cannot see any natural Reason for any Effect they strait fansie 't is the Product of some Divine Power The very same thing he saith also in another place where he attributes likewise the Notion of Ghosts and consequently of the Gods interfering with the Affairs of the World to Mens not being able to distinguish Dreams from Real Appearances Tully tells us That there were some in his time and no doubt long before who attributed the Opinion and Belief of the Gods to have been feigned by Wise Men for the good of the Commonwealth And Plato acquaints us That the ancient Atheists did affirm that the Gods were not by Nature but by Art and Laws only and so were different in different places according as the different humour of the Law givers chanced to determine the Matter Sextus Empiricus saith That there were at first some Intelligent and Prudent Men who consider'd what would be beneficial to Humane Life and these first feigned the fabulous Notion of Gods and caused that Suspicion that there is in Mens Minds about them Afterwards he saith That heretofore Men lived wild and savage and preyed upon one another like wild Beasts till some Men being willing to prevent and repress Injuries and Rapine invented Laws to punish those that did amiss And then they feigned that there were Gods also who took cognizance of all Mens Actions whether good or bad that so no one might dare to commit any secret Wickedness when he was by this means persuaded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Gods tho' unseen by Men did yet inspect into all Humane Actions and take notice who did well and who the contrary Sextus also attributes the Rise of Mens Belief of a God to their ignorance of Second Causes as I shewed you before that Lucretius doth for he makes Democritus speak thus When Men of old saw strange and frightful things in the Air or Heavens such as Thunder Lightning Thunderbolts Eclipses of the Sun and Moon c. not knowing the Natural Causes of them but being terrified by them they strait imagined the Gods to be the Authors of them This therefore being proved to be the true sence of the Ancient Atheistical Writers and from them copied by the Moderns viz. That Fear Ignorance and Cunning were the first Originals or Causes of the Notion and Belief of a God Let us now fairly examine the Case and see what ground there is for such an Assertion and whether this can account for that Universal Notion of a Divine and Omnipotent Being which we find every where in the World And 1. I say That the Notion of a GOD could not come from Fear for if it did either this Fear must be universally inherent in all Mankind or else peculiar only to some Dastardly and Low-spirited Mortals If the former be asserted 't is a very convincing Argument that there is a just ground for such a Fear and that it hath something that is Real for its Object that can thus affect all Men after the same manner And if it be so that all Men are naturally subject to this Fear of a Deity how could any one ever discover that there was no real ground for this in the nature of the thing how came he himself exempted from this poorness of Spirit And if he were not exempted from this terrible Passion how came he to discover that the Object of this Fear is all a Cheat and nothing but a meer Mormo and Bugbear 'T was very lucky for him that the rambling Atoms of his Constitution jumpt by chance into such a couragious and noble Frame and Temper But pray who was this mighty Man when and where did he live what Ancient History gives us any Account of this happy Person that laughed at that which all the World besides were afraid of Let the Atheists give us but any Relation of him that is Authentick and it shall be allowed as the greatest thing they have ever yet advanced But I suppose they will not say that this Fear is Universal but that it only possesseth mean and abject Spirits and never invades the Great and Brave Soul Let us see whether this will do them any service Now by Brave and Great Souls who do they mean Do they intend by them such as have Power Command and Empire over others Nothing is more certain than that Kings and Princes have been equally subject to these Fears of a God and of Divine Punishment with the meanest and most contemptible of their Subjects And this Lucretius himself owns as also that this Fear of a Deity is Universal and we have Examples of it in the Histories of all Ages and Parts of the World But they will say 't is like that by Brave and Great Souls they don't mean Kings and Princes but the Wise Knowing and Learned part of Mankind These were they that first discovered this Cheat and who finding its Advantage to Mankind have ever since continued it and carried it on for the Publick Good These Cunning Men finding the Vulgar generally subject to dismal Apprehensions and Fears of they knew not what kind of Invisible Powers took advantage from thence to tell them of a God and to form the product of their Fears into the Notion of a Deity Now to this I say That if these cunning Politicians found that there was a Fear Dread and Apprehension of some
For a Deity without the Attributes of Understanding and Wisdom without Ends or Design none of which Mr. Hobbs asserts expresly can be in God is a Ridiculous stupid Being an Idol that every rational Agent must needs despise and which can never be the Object of any one's Adoration Love or Obedience To assert therefore that the Attributes of God are not discoverable by Reason nor agreeable to Philosophical Truth but may be declared to be any thing which the Soveraign Power pleases to make them this is designedly to expose the Belief and Notion of a Deity and to render it so Precarious that it can be the Object of no Rational Man's Faith And this last named Writer Treats the Deity after the same manner in most other Places of his Works He saith we must not say of Him that he is Finite that he hath figure Parts or Totality that he is here or there that he moveth or resteth or that we can conceive or know any thing of him for all this is to dishonour him And yet to say that he is an Immaterial Substance that he is an Infinite and Eternal Spirit is he saith Nonsense and what destroys and contradicts it self However he is willing to allow the word Immaterial or Spirit to be used towards God as a Mark of Honour and Respect That is we may attribute to God what we know to be Nonsense and Contradiction and this is the Way to Honour him and to speak of him any other way is to Dishonour Him Who doth not perceive that it was plainly the Design of this Writer to treat of the Deity after such a manner as should deprive Him of all Knowledge and Care of Humane Affairs and consequently effectually Banish out of Mens Minds a just Veneration for Him and Adoration of Him Such Men are the most Dangerous and Mischievous of all others Profess'd Atheists can do no great Harm for all Persons are aware of them and will justly abhor the Writings and Conversation of Men that say boldly there is no God But there are but few such they have found a way to pass undiscovered under a fairer Dress and a softer Name They pretend to be true Deists and sincere Cultivators of Natural Religion and to have a most Profound Respect for the Supream and Almighty Being But when this Profound Respect comes to be throughly examined and duly understood it will appear to be the most abominable Abuse that can be and a most wicked and Blasphemous Idea of the Deity For they make him either nothing but the Soul of the World Universal Matter or Natura Naturata a God that is an absolutely necessary Agent without any Rectitude in his Will without any Knowledge Wisdom Goodness Justice Mercy or Providence over his Works But let such Persons take what Names they please upon themselves a little consideration will soon discover what they are in reality and I hope give Men a just abhorrence of such Notions tho' never so speciously put forth But let us now proceed to examine what Ground there is from the Nature of the Thing for Men to advance such wicked Opinions and to shew the weakness and precariousness of them And here it must be premised and taken for granted that there is a God This is what the Persons I am now concerned with pretend to own and to acknowledge Which being supposed It appears very plain that we may have if we will and some Persons as I have shew'd have always had a very clear Notion or Idea of the Attributes and Perfections of such a Being as also that they are fixed and immutable Properties in the Divine Nature For by professing to believe a God they must mean if they mean any thing The first Cause and Author of all Things and the Governour and Disposer of them A Divine Being containing in himself all possible Perfections without being subject to any manner of Defect This I have already hinted at in another place and shall now more largely prove So far is it from being true that we cannot reason of the Nature of God from his Attributes nor Discourse of those Attributes from our Reason That this seems to be the only proper Way of enquiring into the wonderful Depth of the Divine Perfections I mean the only Way we have without Revelation for I am not now considering what God hath farther discovered of Himself to us by his Word For tho' the Deity doth abound with Infinite Excellencies and Perfections yet by the Light of Nature we can discover those only of which he hath given us some Impression on our own Natures and these are the Scales and Proportions by which our Reason must measure the Divine Attributes and Perfections For in order to gain good and true Notions of these we ought to take our Rise from those Perfections and Excellencies which we find in the Creatures and especially in our selves There can be but two Ways of coming to the Knowledge of any thing by its Cause and by its Effects 'T is impossible for us to make use of the former of these in Reference to the Deity For He being himself without Cause and the First Cause and Original of all Things cannot be known to us this Way But by the second Way he very properly may be the Object of our Knowledge and we ought to apply our selves to this Method in order to understand the Attributes of God For whatever Excellency or Perfection we can any way discover in the Effects of God in the World i. e. in the Works of the whole Creation the same we cannot but suppose must be in Him in the highest and most noble Proportion and Degree since they are all owing to and derived from Him And if we take a serious and considerate View of the Excellencies and Perfections that are to be found in the Creatures or the Works of God in the World we shall find that they may be reducible to these Four general Heads Being or Substance Life Sensibility and Reason All which we find to be in our selves and therefore they are at hand and ready to assist our Meditations and these will if duly considered lead us into a good Way of discovering the Attributes and Perfections of the Divine Nature And I doubt not but a great Reason why Men have had and advanced wrong Notions of God hath been because they have had such of themselves and of those Perfections that are in our own Natures Men that do not understand that the true Perfection of Humane Nature consists in Moral Goodness or in an Universal agreeableness of our Will to the Eternal Laws of Right Reason cannot conceive aright of the Attributes and Perfections of God For they will be for making him like themselves guided by vehement Self-love and inordinate Will or whatever predominant Passions possess them 'T were easie to Trace this in the Epicurean Notion of a God dissolved in Ease and Sloth and who neglects the Government of the