Triâ—megist If Idolaters be charged with brutishness that worshipped false gods Jer. 10. 14 18. how much more the Atheist that denies a God And if the Apostle saith of them that their foolish heart was darkened when they debased him in their vain Rites and Modes of Worship Rom. 1. 18. how much more are such dark'ned with folly that deny his Being Though Hell be the Seat of perfect Wickedness yet this Speculative Atheism is not to be found there The Devils themselves believe and tremble And what a monstrous thing then is it that it should be found upon Earth And especially in that part of the Earth where Men have not only the Book of Nature but the written Word of the God of Nature as a Comment upon the works of it for men to think it an height of Wit to be able to dispute against a Deity and a piece of Gallantry to live above the fear of it Men that are rational enough in other things yet in this their Reasons are strangely blinded which shews the strange degeneracy of their Souls in things that concern another World while they are ripe and pregnant enough in things that concern this World For did Men exert their Reason in those things as they can and do in these it would conclude nothing more strongly than that God is It is the proper Office of Reason to argue from the Effect to the Cause why should it not then argue when it beholds the wonderful Works of this Creation these must needs proceed from some Infinite Cause and thereby be led up to the Being of God As when a man seeth a Tree that is extended into Boughs and Branches his thoughts are naturally led to some Root out of which it springs and so when he seeeth a River his thoughts will lead him to some Spring out of which it ariseth why then should we not when we see this visible World have our thoughts as it were naturally led up to a first Being God hath sufficiently by his Works of Creation evidenced to Mankind his Being that they might seek after him And therefore there will be no room left for any such plea in the day of Judgment for any people whatsoever in any part of the world If we had known there had been a God we would have sought him served and worshipped him Doth Man plead I never saw his Being Will we believe nothing but what our eyes see We never saw those Souls that dwell within us shall we therefore not believe we have Souls do not their operations sufficiently evidence their Being in us Nay we do not see the Air in which we breath and yet no Man denies but there is Air. And doth not the Text tell us of the invisible things of God and therefore not to be seen Or will Man plead he was not present when God made this World how shall he then know that he made it If we see an House erected according to the Rules of Art shall we not believe it is the work of some skilful Artificer though we did not stand by and see him build it But of these profest Atheists we have not many instances we read in Ancient Writers of such as Protagoras Diagoras Theodorus c. who denyed or disputed all Deity whom I find quoted and confuted by learned Bradwardine as they were before condemned by the Athenians Brad. lib. 1. Coral 1. pars secund and indeed such were exploded by the Heathen And those that were so yet were not constantly so as to maintain this Opinion to the end In mens serious and retired thoughts especially if they be under some smart affliction the Belief and Sence of a Deity returns upon them Nullus eorum in hac Opinione quod Dii non sunt ab adolescentiâ ad senectutem perseveravit Plato 1. 10. de legibus As a motion that is against Nature will some time or other recur And therefore the Philosopher said that no Man persevered in this Opinion from Youth to Old Age. Nature cannot utterly forget her first and fundamental Lesson that God is and that first Verity that is so deeply rooted in Nature that it cannot be totally blotted out Licet enim noster animus multis inquinamentis abducatur à suo naturali proposito frequens tamen illud recurrit ut exprimat innatos veritatis igniculos Pamel Adnot in Tertul. C. 17. Apo. As that Renowned Carver did grave his own Image into the Buckler of Pallas with such singular Art and Cunning that it could not be removed without defacing the whole Work For the Soul being from Divine Inspiration God hath put the Character of himself upon it which cannot be utterly defaced while its Being continues And therefore the Opinion that denies a Deity is rather a Frolick a Fancy a Dream than a grounded Opinion And when the Soul of Man is itself and converseth with it self and beholdeth the Legible Characters of God's Being written upon this whole Creation such Opinion vanisheth away But yet we find many have this sence of a Deity very weak and the Notion of it very dark in their Souls and many staggerings in their minds about it And not only amongst Heathens but even amongst themselves where the Gospel is profest and preached Yea we find in many that live under the Gospel less sence of a Deity upon their hearts than amongst the most barbarous Nations of the World But of all others these are the most monstrous who study to make themselves Atheists who set their wits on work to frame Arguments against a Deity And they do it to deliver themselves from Service and from Fear 1. From Service that they might be free from the Yoke of serving God for if they own a Deity their Reason tells them they ought to give him Worship and Service and this they account a Yoke and Burthen As those said in Malachi 1. ver 13. Behold what a weariness is it and ye have snuffed at it They think they cannot be perfect free men till they have freed themselves from all Belief and Sence of a Deity Aug. de verâ Relig C. 36. To. 1. As Austin to this purpose Quidam propterea putant nihil colendum esse ne serviant Some think no Deity is to be worshipped that they might not serve And Lucretius boasts of Epicurus that he was the first that delivered the World from the burden of Religion Humana ante oculos foedè cum vita jaceret In terris oppressa gravi sub Religione Primum Graius homo mortales tollere contra Est oculos ausus c. But are not these Men much mistaken when they have cast off the Service of God Deo parere libertas est Sen. de vita beata which is the true Liberty of Man are they not given up to the Service of base Lusts which is true Bondage And made Drudges to the God of this World who will not be the servants of the true God
Though the Orator define Liberty to be this Libertas est facultas vivendi ut velis Cicero Liberty is a power of living as a Man will Yet to be obedient to a corrupt Will is Bondage not Liberty True Liberty is not as one well speaks Sibi servire sed sibi imperare Not to serve a Mans self â—otherby Atheomasâ—ix p. 118. but to rule over himself So that in this they miss their end 2. They design to deliver themselves from fear But they are not able to accomplish this end neither For though in their Cups and Caresses they can discharge their fear Non quenquam vidi qui magis ea quae timenda non esse dixit magis timeret mortem dico Deos. yet let them fall under some sharp affliction or draw near the King of Terrours and their fears of God and Judgment will be ready to return upon 〈…〉 As Tully observed of Epicurus though he disputed against the Being of God and that Death ought not to be feared yet saith he I never observed any Man to fear more those very things which he said ought not to be feared namely Death and the Godds Now the Causes that Men are led into Atheism by are such as these 1. Is the Course and Efficacy of second Causes They observe how all things come to pass by some visible Causes which are either Natural or Voluntary In Natural Causes if the Cause be sufficient the Effect follows if not the Effect miscarries So that it is not a God say they that governs the Events of Nature but the Natural Cause doth all So in Voluntary Causes that depend upon the will of Man If it be a good thing that is designed and endeavoured yet it falls short if the Cause be not sufficient if it be a bad thing it comes to pass if there be sufficient means prepared for it But let me answer as I go along 1. Is it an Argument against the Being of God because there are second Causes Because inferiour Ministers are made use of in the Affairs of Government doth this prove thar there is no Supreme Governour May there not be second Causes and yet the concurrence of a first Cause also that doth steer and influence them in their Operations 2. And it is not alwayes that these second Causes how sufficient soever they may seem that they produce their end Sometimes Nature miscarries in her Productions and none can give a reason for it And so in Voluntary Causes The Race is not always to the swift nor the Battel to the strong nor Riches to Men of understanding as Solomon observes Though for the most part the second Cause doth accomplish the Effect according to to the Law and Ordinance God hath setled in the World yet sometimes it miscarries and fails that Men might not place their confidence there 3. Where the Effect miscarries through the Deficiency of second Causes those Deficiences are ordered and regulated by God as well as the Efficacy of Causes When God intends an Effect he will Order and Influence the second Cause so as to produce it where he intends otherwise he will so suspend or divert it that the Effect shall not succeed And under this Head I may take notice that the long cessation of Miracles may be some occasion of Atheism For Miracles are wrought above or against the course of second Causes and when Men see them they are then even forced to say as Pharaoh's Magicians Hic Digitus Dei Here is the Finger of God But when men for a long time together have observed that Nature keeps its course and things come to pass by the use of means they grow into an Opinion that all things are by Nature and that there is no Providence and so no God Object But why doth not God then in every Age work Miracles to convince the World of his Being Answ Because the ordinary course of Nature is sufficient to it if men did not shut up their eyes and refuse to see And God thinks it not meet to put Nature out of its ordinary course that he setled at the beginning unless on some extraordinary occasions and for some extraordinary end But is it not as wonderful in it self to see the Sun move in a constant Line from one end of the year to the other as to see it stand still And to see a watery Sap rising out of the Earth to be turned into Wine as to see Water in a Vessel turn'd into Wine as it was in the Miracle of Christ wrought at Cana John 2. 3. Or to see Bread brought of the Earth as to have it rained down from Heaven as it was upon Israel in the Wilderness 2. Another cause is Guilt in the Conscience Though it is not an immediate yet it is a remote cause of Atheism For Guilt working in the Conscience is an immediate proof of a Deity and Judgment to come but it proves a remote cause of Atheism For it makes men wish there was no God and so are thereby the more disposed to believe there is none For the old Proverb is Quod valdè volumus facilè credimus What a Man earnestly desires might not be he is inclinable to believe it not to be And hereupon are ready to extinguish those innate Notions of a Deity that are within themselves or such as may be gathered from without and to comply with any suggestions to that end that may be administred either by Satan their own corrupt Hearts or prophane Men. Guilt begets Fear Fear begets Torment this Torment doth disquiet Mens Peace and much allayes the pleasure of Sin That they may therefore provide a Remedy for themselves they are willing enough to believe there is no God As Moralists tells us of an Ignorance that is Ignorantia pravae Dispositionis of a wicked Disposition Such is that when men seek to darken that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which they may be Nature know of God that they may sin with the greater freedom and peace But this is just as if a Man to prevent a Danger should hood-wink himself that he might not see it It 's true if there was no Remedy provided Man of God against this Guilt and fear arising out of it this might seem to be a rational course but seeing there is a Remedy provided it is Man's Wisdom to seek after it whereby to have his fear and his Danger also removed together 3. A third Cause is The strange administration of things in the World Men cannot see Justice Goodness or Wisdom manifested therein But it often falls out to the Wicked according to the Work of the Righteous and to the Righteous according to the Work of the Wicked as Solomon speaks Hence Men conclude there is no Government of the World and if so then no God Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet Cato parvo Pompeius nullo Quis putet esse Deos As those said that were of Pompey's Faction in Rome Base Licinus
Infinite from Visible to that which is Invisible from Corporeal to that which is Incorporeal from Temporal to that which is Eternal And by the next words the things that are made in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we may understand the Works of Creation as they were formed out of the first Chaos which was the proper Object of Creation So that we may distinguish in the Text between the Creation of the World and the Things which are made taking the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Creation as expressing the first Matter of all Things and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things made the several Creatures both Animate and Inanimate that were educed out of that first Matter Or A work curiously wrought is either properly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if we derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some do or else 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so words and syllables set together in meeter are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Poem or the producing of any work secundum praecepta artis according either to the Precepts of Rhetorick Musick Architecture c. as Criticks tell us as the former word doth properly express the producing of all things out of nothing so the latter word the curious frame and order wherein all things were made As when the Apostle speaketh of the New Creation which Believers have in Christ he maketh use of both these words of the Text Eph. 2. 10. We are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works To shew the excellent frame of this spiritual Work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Workmanship of God And to shew the Power of God manifested therein it is said to be Created Quest But why doth the Apostle only mention God's Eternal Power Are not other Attributes of his Being to be seen in the Works of Creation as his Wisdom and Goodness as well as his Eternity and Power Answ The Apostle mentioneth the Power of God because of all God's Attributes that seemeth to be most eminent and conspicuous in the Work of Creation For it was properly an Act of Power to make all things out of Nothing though his Wisdom was seen in the guiding of his Power and his Goodness in making all things good And the Apostle mentions God's Eternity in the Text which is another Attribute when he calls his Power Eternal And by this he shews that as the World had its being in Time so that God who made it was before it or else he could not have made it as the Cause must needs be before the Effect And what is before the Creation of the World and every thing that is made must needs be before all Time which came in with the Creature as the measure of its duration and so be Eternal But yet though only God's Power and Eternity be here mentioned yet as a Learned Expositor Observes Estius in Loc. his other Attributes are included in the Word God-head As if the Apostle should have said In the Creation of the World are seen God's Power and God's Eternity But what need I particularly mention any more Attributes of his Being when his Godhead it self which comprehends them all is manifested therein The last particular to be explained is How the Gentiles are hereupon said to be without excuse A man may be said to be without excuse when he hath no Apology to make for himself as the word in the Text signifies and that either with respect to malum culpae the fault committed by him Or malum poenae the punishment inflicted upon him In both the Gentiles were without excuse 1. As to the malum culpae or the evil of sin they were guilty of For they had such means of knowledg ministred to them by the Light and Law of Nature that might have led them to more venerable thoughts of God and a more honourable worship of him than was practised by them And also to a more righteous and blameless conversation amongst men So that thereupon they were without excuse 2. And then as to the evil of Punishment inflicted for their sin God would be justified therein and they left without excuse when he should proceed to Judgment For God doth and will manage his Judgments in such Righteousness towards all men with respect to their several capacities and conditions in this World that every man may be found without excuse that falls under them How far the Light and Law of Nature may lead a man towards his Salvation I shall not here dispute All that the Apostle asserteth here concerning the Gentiles is That they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or without excuse thereby And the Apostle Paul deals with the Gentiles thus particularly because the Ministry of the Uncircumcision was more peculiarly committed to him than the other Apostles And he doth it rather in this Epistle to the Romans than in any other because Rome was the chief Seat of the Gentiles Empire in the Apostles time and where Idolatry and moral Wickedness also did most abound as it usually doth in such great Cities and as their own Historians do abundantly declare concerning it CHAP. II. The two Doctrines that result from the Text. The two wayes of Demonstration The Being of God three wayes made known Several Arguments to prove God's Being from the Works of Creation THus having explained the parts of the Text I shall raise out of them these two general Doctrines DOCT. I. 1. That the Being of God and several Attributes of his Being may be seen and understood from the Creation of the World and the things that are made DOCT. II. 2. That to fall short in knowledg or practice of what the Light and Law of Nature may lead men up to will render them inexcusable though they have not the written Word I shall first speak of the former and first shew how the Being of God and then the Attributes of his Being may be demonstrated therefrom Now there are two sorts of Demonstrations one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priori when Effects are demonstrated from their Cause Now the Being of God cannot be thus demonstrated no man can demonstrate the necessity of such a Being from any Antecedent Cause And the other is a posteriori 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Causes are demonstrated from their Effects And so the Works of Creation do demonstrate God's Being When a Man shall seriously consider this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth his mind may thence gather the Being of God There is enough written in the Book of God's Creation to declare his Being to us though there was nothing written of it in the Book of the Scriptures The Being of God is three wayes made known to men 1. By the Light of Natural Conscience There are some Characters and Impressions of his Being within all men for Man being made for God he hath put a peculiar impression of his Being upon his
learned Knight in his Book against Atheism Sir Char. Wolsely There were some other Philosophers that said All things did arise out of Number as the Pythagoreans But it is supposed they meant all things did arise out of Unity that is from one first Being from that Unity which is Unitatis omnis effectrix as one speaks that hath produced all creatures in the several Unities of their individual Beings Others of them thought that all things did at first spring out of Contraries It 's true All compound Bodies are made up of contrary Elements Frigida pugnabant calidis humentia siccis Ovid. Met. l. 1. p. 2. And the opposition of two Contraries in Nature may produce some third thing different from them both But these Contraries must have an existence in their distinct natures before any compound can result from them And so though they be the material or formal cause of any effects in Nature yet they themselves could not have existence without some efficient cause and this doth necessarily lead us up to God who is the first Cause Or could we conjecture with Pliny for it was but his conjecture that the World itself is an Eternal Deity Plin. Nat. Phil. Lib. 1. c. 7. For so he speaks God whosoever he be if happily there be any other but the very world he is all Sight all Hearing all Life all Soul all of Himself But he speaks more positively concerning the Sun Verily saith he it is the Life and Soul of the World the principal Governour of Nature Lib. 1. cap. 6. and no less than a God or Divine Power considering his work and operation Or can we say with Aristotle That the World is eternal which Opinion he grounded upon this Principle Ex nihilo nil fit Out of nothing nothing is made Which is true if we speak of nothing as it imports matter out of which things are made But if we mean by nothing only the term from whence Creation began so it is not true For all things did so arise from nothing as their term It is also true in Philosophy that nothing can bring forth nothing in a natural course but it is not so in Divinity that treats of God and his Infiniteness For He can produce being out of non-being as He hath done in the Worlds Creation And as we read in Genesis 1. 1. But it is as well against Reason as against Scripture to assert the World to be Eternal For as there could be no Progress in Number if there was no unit out of which all Number springs For Number is greater or lesser as it is nearer to or farther off from Unity So there could be no computation of time if there was not some first moment For Time is nothing else but a succession or flux of moments as one gives this description of it it is Nunc fluens So that all time must be computed according to its nearness to or remoteness from the beginning of time If there was no beginning of time there could be no Prius posterius We could not reckon Ancient and Modern And there could properly be no such thing as Antiquity For this present moment would be as antient with respect to Eternity as a thousand years ago And therefore seeing there is prius posterius sooner and later in time there must of necessity be some beginning of time And if there be a beginning of Time there must be a beginning of the World For Time and the World were alwaies together Arg. 2. We see in Nature every thing is serving a rational End As the Sun enlightens the World which else would be but one great Dungeon and unfit for habitation The Clouds and Rain serve an end which is to cool and moâ—sten the Earth which else would be dry and barren The Winds do serve an end which is to purge and purifie the Air that for want of motion it might not corrupt and putrifie And the Earth is endued with a Seminal vertue to bring forth Herbs and Fruits of several kind for the use of Man and Beast And as all things in Nature serve an End so they are wonderfully fitted to their several Ends. Now whence is this but from some wise Agent that fitted things thus to their end As Philosophers tell us of four sorts of Causes in Nature the Efficient Formal Material and Final and the one hath dependance upon the other If there was no efficient there could be no matter if no matter no form if no form no end for the form is given with respect to the end But where we see matter and that matter invested with form and that form serving an end we may then conclude this could not be without an efficient As when we see a Clock or Watch and see how every Wheel yea every Pin therein doth serve an end and these fitted to that end we conclude this was not by chance but by the workmanship of some skilful Artist Or had we seen Archimedes his Sphere artificially framed to represent the several Motions of the Heavenly Orbes we should conclude this was not thus framed of it self So when we see all things in Nature in motion and every wheel of Nature moving to a rational end we may conclude this was done by some Infinite Intelligence Which the Heathen Philosophers did acknowledg when they called God or the Maker of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind and Reason as we read in Plato Anaxagoras so freqâ—ently called God Mens that in derision they gave him the name of Mens And as Virgil as I remember speaks Totáque infusa per artus Mens agitet molem c. A Mind this Heap doth actuate And through its joints doth penetrate By which we may perceive that they apprehended the World had a Maker and that He that made all things was an Intelligent Being Lactantius quoting the several descriptions the Heathen Philosophers made of God Lib. 1. cap. 5. among the rest quotes Chrysippus describing him to be Naturalem vim divinâ Ratione praeditam A natural Power endued with Divine Reason For they evidently saw a Divine Wisdom join'd with Power in all the works of Creation Argum. 3. We see in the Creation the excellent proportion and usefulness of one part to another for the preservation of the whole and the suitableness of the whole to Man that is made the Lord of it The Life of Man or Beast cannot be preserved without Food Food they cannot have unless the Earth bring it forth bring it forth it cannot unless it be watered with Showers from Heaven Showers there cannot be without Clouds Clouds cannot be without Vapours Vapours there cannot be unless they are exhaled by the Sun from the Waters and for this end the Sun-beams do not only bring down Light and Heat to the Earth but attract Vapours from it towards Heaven and all for the service of the Earth Wherein we see the Heavens hearing the Earth and the Earth
hath a pompous Tomb of gaudy Marble Stone Wise Cato but a little One the mighty Pompey none Yet all this while we dream of Godds and dream we do I wis For Godds are none or if there be how can they suffer this Men cannot see a righteous and equal distribution of Rewards and Punishments Whereupon are ready to say with the Atheist whom Tully mentions Cic. de naturâ Deorum p. 196. Vitam regit Fortuna non Sapientia It is Fortune not Wisdom governs the Life of Man And as Ovid speaks as some think moved by the indignity of Tully's untimely death Dum rapiunt mala fata bonos ignoscite fesso Sollicitor nullos esse putare Deos. What are the Godds that bear the sway When bad Fates take good Men away And another of the Heathen Poets speaks of such in his Time who thought there was no Divine Providence but all things came to pass by Fortuitous Causes Sunt qui in Fortunae jam casibus omnio ponunt Juvenal Et Mundum nullo credunt rectore moveri Naturâ volvente vices lucis anni Atque adeò intrepidi quaecunque altaria jurant Some now there be that deem the World by slippery chance doth slide That Dayes and Years do run their round without or Rule or Guide Save Nature and Dame Fortunes Wheeel and hence sans shame or fear Of God or Man by Altars all they desperately do swear Men deny Providence and so thence step into Atheism But because Men cannot wade into the depths of God's Providence shall they therefore conclude there is no Providence and no God Was it not better for Man when he sees he cannot with the short line of his Reason reach the bottom of God's Works cry out with the Apostle Rom. 11. 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the Depth But let Men with David enter God's Sanctuary and take a view of things in the Light of Faith and the Scriptures and then they shall see the Reason of those things that at present they are offended and stumble at There they may see Reasons why the Wicked for a while go unpunished and why the Righteous meet with afflictions in the World there they may see the Compass that Providence hath taken about before it finisht its Work there they may see how Providence hath brought one contrary out of another and made the Saints afflictions to usher in their mercies and the prosperity of the Wicked to be the fore-runner of their greater fall There they may also learn the wise End that God hath in the chastisements of his People and suffering the wicked to prosper and to triumph a while over the Church and the Cause of Truth and Holiness in the World 4. Again Atheism ariseth in the hearts of men from the diversity of Opinions that have been and still are in the World about Religion As Polutheism of old was an occasion of Atheism For when men set up many ridiculous Godds to be worshipped no wonder though they caused many to deride them and to cast off all sense of Religion So many now observing diversity of Opinions about Religion are hereby led to think there is no Religion and if no Religion then there is no God at least there is little sense of a Deity upon his Heart that hath no Religion As it fared in Philosophy the many differences of Opinions therein made some at last turn Scepticks and doubt of every thing And so in Divinity according to that known and true Apothegm Theologia Sceptica tandem exit in Atheismo Sceptical Divinity ends in Atheism And men by seeing the various Judgments that are about Religion begin to question every thing and fix in nothing till at last they settle in Atheism But ought not men rather argue seeing that all do embrace some Religion or other therefore certainly there is a true Religion though many mistake it And Religion is embraced by all with respect to a Deity Will men say there is no such thing as Pleasure because one Man affects one kind of Pleasure and another another kind and there is no such thing as Government because some people affect one kind and others another kind and no such Being as the Soul because Philosophers differed about its Definition It rather proves the contrary The variety of Sentiments about Religion should make men to search out the true rather than to cast off all and when they have found it to hold it fast and observe it with all honourable respect to that God that is the Object of it and say with the Church in Mich. 4. 5. All Nations will walk in the Name of their God and we will walk in the Name of the Lord our God for ever and for ever 5. It ariseth in some from pride of heart as the Psalmist speaks Psal 10. 4. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts or as the Margent reads it All his thoughts are there is no God A proud Man doth secretly affect a Deity would be a God to himself and therefore desires not to own a Deity because he hath no heart to stoop to him It was Pharaoh's Pride as well as his Ignorance that made him to disown the true God the God of Israel and say Who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice Exod. 5. 2. And that pride of Senacherib that made him think himself superior to all the Godds of the Nations that he had conquered and to the God of Israel also would easily lead him to cast off the sense and acknowledgment of any Deity at all As you read the Story of him Isa 36. 19 20. And those that we read of Psal 12. 3 4. Whose tongue speaketh proud things saying with our tongue we will prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us discovered herein the prevalency of Pride and Atheism in their hearts As Pride did first lead the Humane Nature to affect a Being like God so it is that also that leads men to disacknowledg him and set up themselves in his room It was this Pride in the Prince of Tyrus that made him say I am a God and do sit in the Seat of God Ezek. 28. 2. It was Pride in Herod that made him take Divine Honour to himself upon the acclamations of the people to his Oration It is the Voice of a God not of a Man Acts 12. 22. And what was it but Pride in Alexander Caligula Claudius Domitian and others who would be accounted Godds when here upon Earth And he that deifies himself will soon deny the true God 6. Atheism springs from inconsideration Mens minds are so alienated from God and Divine Things and so immerst in the Affairs of the World that they can find no time to sit down and consider what even Reason it self might suggest to them concerning the necessary existence of a Deity Though Reason cannot lead men to the knowledg of Christ's
Mediatorship and the Mysteries of the Gospel the notice whereof we have from Divine Revelation yet if stirred up and improved it might lead men to the knowledg of a Creator and a first Being The Creation of the World carries in it a rational evidence of a Deity to the Reasonable Creature As God calls upon Idolaters that worship the Work of mens hands An Image that they bore upon their Shoulders and set him in his place to shew themselves men Isa 46. 6 7 8. Had they but considered and consulted with their reason as men they would never have worshipt a dumb Idol And so God tells them Isa 44. 19. None considereth in his Heart neither is there knowledg and understanding to say I have burnt part of it in the fire yea I have baked Bread upon the Coals thereof c. and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination shall I fall down to the stock of a Tree So it is in the present case Did men consider the Creation of the World and the Characters of a Deity that are written upon it and did they use their rational faculty and argue as men and as they can do in other things they would not run into Atheism 7. It ariseth also from that little regard that men see is had to God in the World When men observe how little the generality of Man-kind do take notice of him so as to fear him to honour him to ingage him with them in their Affairs they are tempted to think thereby there is no such Being And though men with their tongues say they believe his Being yet mens actions speak otherwise and actions carry more evidence to the World than words and so Atheism is propagated by Example And the innate notions of a Deity in the hearts of men are much corrupted and stifled by the general contempt of God in the World When Children observe that their Parents take little notice of God and Subjects observe the same in their Prince and Tenants in their Landlords and the Unlearned observe the same in many that are Learned Yea when People shall observe their Ministers debaucht and regardless of God how strangely is Atheism propagated hereby But if men well considered how all Man-kind fell from God in the first Adam and how the minds of all men are now by Nature darkned and alienated from him and the dominion that sin hath got in the hearts of men they need not hence haesitate in their minds about the Being of God because the generality of men have so little respect unto him For till the Grace of God renews Man's Nature he will by a course of sin grow up into that hardness and security as to live as it were without God in the World especially if men live at ease and enjoy outward prosperity For the Sense of a Deity is much excited in men by trouble and affliction As in Jonah's Ship when the Mariners were in a Storm Jonah 2. 14 16. every one then was calling upon his God offered Sacrifice and made Vows And the like account we have in the Psalmist Psal 107. where men are in a stormy Sea reel to and fro like a drunken Man and are at their wits end then they cry to the Lord in their distresses But in prosperity men think they have no need of God and so cast off all respect to him And David himself who in his prosperity said My Mountain standeth strong I shall never he moved when God hid his Face and he troubled then saith he I cryed unto the Lord and to the Lord I made supplication Psal 30. 6 7 8. 8. Again it arises from the Hypocrisy and Apostacy of some that have made high pretensions to the wayes of God and Communion with him When it shall appear to the World that these have made use of the Name of God only to serve a Carnal Design and their Profession hath been nothing else but Policy to advance some selfish Interest Many are ready hence to conclude that all that is talked about a Deity and Religion in the World is but Pretene or Fancy and that Grace it self is but Nomen inane as one said of Vertue a vain Name For it is presumed if any have found out God and the good of Religion it is such as these and if they had found them and enjoyed them they would never have forsaken them Now this Apostacy is either General from all Religion when Men run into down-right Profaneness and Debauchery Or particular when men forsake their particular Professions and Principles that they have shewed Zeal in and do it for Carnal Ends many are apt to be shaken hereupon not only with respect to the Truth of the particular perswasions of such Men but as to the Truth of all Religion and all Deity For what sense any Man hath of a Deity will be manifested in that particular Way of Religion that he is ingaged in And he that forsakes that particular Way whether in it self it be true or false for some corrupt end as he will himself be in danger of running into Atheism so it will have a bad influence to draw others to it also Again this Apostasie is either through a Man 's own Corrupt Inclinations or else occasioned by some External Coaction As when a Man to avoid Fines Penalties or other Persecutions shall practise contrary to the Dictates of his Conscience And a Three fold evil ariseth hence one is To them that thus practise against Conscience Another to them that urge them to it And a third to them that shall be scandalized and hereupon prejudiced against Religion it self and so are upon the very Threshold of Atheism But may it not be replyed Shall all be judged by some If some have been false in their Profession have not others been faithful Are there not Instances of thousands that have forsaken all and laid down their Lives upon the Cause and Conscience of their Religion and confidence of this Principle that God is Which should more confirm our belief thereof than the Hypocrisie or Apostasie of others shake it and weaken it I know this Apostasie is a great scandal to the World and in all Ages it hath been a Stumbling-Block and never greater than at this day And wo to the World because of such Offences And they must needs come as Christ speaks Mat. 18. 7. And as Heresies must come to make manifest mens Integrity and Soundness in the Faith 1 Cor. 11. 19. so these Apostasies come to try mens stability in the grand Foundations of Religion 9. Many are so drown'd in the Life of Sense that they cannot believe the Existence of Invisible Things They can believe the Existence of the Works of Nature because they are visible to Sense but the Invisible Things of God out of which these Works spring they cannot believe A Sensualist his Language is Tell not me of a God whom I never saw of Heaven and Invisible Powers and the Pleasures I
never felt give me Houses and Lands Corn and Wine and these good Things that mine Eye can see my Mouth can taste and my Hands can feel These Invisible Things the Syriack Version renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Recondita Dei The Hidden Things of God and being hidden out of mens sight they regard them not they believe them not But what O Man wilt thou believe nothing but what thine Eyes can see Are there not Spiritual Beings in the Creation as wel as Corporeal Shal we with the Sadduces deny Angels and Spirits And are not Spiritual Beings out of the reach of corporeal Sight or Sense And are not these Spiritual Beings the most perfect and excellent and therefore God being the most excellent Being he must needs be the purest Spirit and so must be thereby invisible to Sense Do we not read of Moses Heb. 11. He endured as seeing him that is invisible And of Paul 2 Cor. 4. Whilst we look not at things that are seen but at things that are not seen And of those Believers 1 Pet. 1. Whom having not seen you love And had men Faith it would be to them an evidence of Things not seen it would lead them up to that which is Invisible but being immerst in the Life of Sense they cannot reach so high and so God is to them as if he was not 10. Philosophy and State-Policy have been great Causes of Atheism I put them together that I might not multiply Particulars 1. Philosophy Though in it self it is a good Hand-maid to Divinity yet the Mistress hath been wronged by her Maid The courting of Nature hath kept many from espousing true Divinity So long as they can find a natural cause of things they will not at least heartily own a Deity And therefore it is observed that Atheism first began where Philosophy was in its highest improvement namely among the Grecians But I touched upon this before As it is said of Pliny he being inquisitive to find out the Reason of the Smoaking of Mount Vesuvius went so near to it that he was choaked in the Smoak So many by their curious enquiries into Natural Causes have choaked the Innate Notices of a Deity within their Hearts He that wrote a Discourse called Philosophia Theologiae Ancillans Baron Philosophy ministring to Divinity set Philosophy in its right place and to make the Encrease of the one the Decrease of the other is the highest abuse of it 2. State Policy The Politician seeth he shall never accomplish his Designs if he be over-awed by Conscience and Sense of a Deity He must not be a slave to his Promises or stand in fear either of making or breaking an Oath He must not be confined within the narrow Rules of Religion or Righteousness He may see it his interest sometimes to seem Religious but to be so indeed is not for his turn which is according to the advice of Machiavel to the young Prince And hence ariseth Atheism 11. It ariseth from a forgetfulness of God As the Psalmist speaks of such Psal 51. 22. Consider this ye that forget God Men do not exercise their Minds in thoughts of God and so forget him And a Person or Thing that are not in our Thoughts are forgotten and being forgotten are as if they were not Though men have additional knowledge to the Natural Notions of a Deity yet if this Knowledge be not stirred up and exercised it will not prevent the growth of Atheism in ther Hearts When men set not God in the view of their Minds look not on him either in Mercies or Afflictions and carry on their Affairs from day to day without respect to him this is forgetting him whereby they are indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without God in the World As we know Fire if it be not stirred or blown up will be ready to go out So will the Notices of the Being of God in the Soul if they be not daily excited in us and there is nothing Man is more apt to forget than God Whiles he remembers every thing else that concerns him he is most prone to a forgetfulness of him whom he should most of all remember Let Man but follow the natural bent of his own Heart and he will seldom have God in his Thoughts and have little or no respect to him in the Actions of his Life And so God is forgotten and is as if he was not And the great Adversary of God in the World the Devil will be sure to assist with his Temptations that mens thoughts may be diverted and alienated from the true God that he himself might reign as God in the World He is said to be the Ruler of the darkness of this World and therefore seeks to propagate darkness not only by hindring the Light of the Gospel from shining into mens hearts but by extinguishing the very Light of Natural Conscience and so to propagate his own Rule and Government Lastly Atheism ariseth from detaining the Truth of God in Unrighteousness the sin that is charged upon the Heathen Men sin against the Innate Notion of a Deity in their Hearts till at last the force of it is quite lost by giving way to fleshly Lusts against the Dictates of their Natural Light they smother it And it is at best but as a Spark covered in an heap of Ashes that doth neither give Light or Heat When men to gratifie their Lusts will debauch their Conscience they will hereby by degrees sear it For Nemo repentè fit Turpissimus And men grow up to a profligacy in sin as they by sinning against their Conscience do by degrees benum and stupifie it As it is said of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 18. they first detained the Truth that was naturally in their Hearts and then God gave them up to vile affections c. vers 24. And not following the Light of Nature were given up to sins against Nature vers 27. And Ephes 4. 18. the Apostle speaks of the Gentiles they walked first in vanity of Mind and then came to be past feeling there the Sense of a Deity is gone and then they gave up themselves to all uncleanness with greediness vers 19. Thus I have shewn some of those Causes out of which Atheism grows and is cherisht in the hearts of men And was it only found in the dark parts of the World where the Gospel shines not it was the less to be wondred at but it is found even amongst our selves and is become a spreading Leprosie in the Heads but especially the Hearts of multitudes at this day And I verily believe there is to be found less sence of a Deity upon many Christians so call'd that live in the mid'st of Gospel-Light than in any part of the World For if we look to the Heathens they all acknowledge some Deity or other so they have a Religious respect to it and have some awful impressions upon their Hearts towards it will lavish Gold out of the Bag and
little Souls So that this acquaintance with the great God will greaten the Soul towards God but will diminish and lessen it towards a mans self and the World in our estimation thereof 2. We ought from hence also be led to a dependance upon him for he that made Heaven and Earth must needs be sufficient to help us in all cases whatsoever The Heathens are said to trust in a God that could not save Isa 45. 20. And the Reason is given because their gods did not make Heaven and Earth as we read vers 18. He that brought all things out of the Abyss of non-entity into Being can raise us out of the lowest depth of affliction and misery He that said Let there be Light and made the Darkness vanish before it is able to bring us out of the greatest darkness of trouble He that made the Waters retreat from covering the Earth can discharge us of the Waters of Sorrow and Affliction wherewith we sometimes seem to be covered or overwhelmed The Church of Israel comforts her self in such a prospect of God Psal 124. 8. Our help is in the Name of the Lord who made Heaven and Earth That is to say Our help is in one that is All-sufficient and upon whom we may safely depend One great cause of the Saints distrustful heart-fainting fears is the not considering this Hast thou not known Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the Earth fainteth not Isa 40. 28. Why then doth Jacob faint in his distress And when we are afraid of Man it is because we forget the Lord our Maker that stretched forth the Heavens and laid the Foundations of the Earth Isa 51. 13. Did we well remember this it would strengthen our Faith and vanquish our Fears and make us able under the greatest Difficulties and Dangers and Deaths to commit our Souls to him as a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4. 19. For as in the Works of Creation we behold him a powerful Creator so in Christ Jesus and the Covenant made with us in him we may behold him also a faithful Creator and so be encouraged to depend upon him and commit our selves to him 3. Hereupon we ought to have an holy awe and fear of him As the considering God the Creatour of the World should dispel distrustful fear so it ought to beget an awful fear of him All appearances of God are tremendous to the Creature As when he appeared in Transient Visions to the Prophets it struck them with dread as we read of Daniel Chap. 10. And those Beams of Glory that shone forth in Christ's Transfiguration made the Disciples fear Matth. 17. 6. So verily his appearances in in the Works of Creation are wonderful and dreadful Aquin. 1. 2. q. 41. Art 4. Here we may first wonder and then fear as the Schoolmen have made Admiration one of the kinds of Fear Greatness and Majesty are apt to strike this Heart with Fear and both these are visibly written upon God's Creation What cannot he do either for a Man or against him that is the Maker of the World what is exceeding high hath a dread in it As in Ezekiels Vision of the Wheels it 's said Chap. 1. 18. As for their Rings they were so high that they were dreadful In the Creation of the World we behold the sublimity of God's Majesty and his Wisdom and Greatness in a Stupendious Elevation As Bildad tells Job Job 25. 2. speaking of God Dominion and Fear are with him These are joyned together as Cause and Effect And he shews Job this Dominion of God in the Works of his Creation He maketh peace in his high places All the Creatures of the upper World quietly subject to the Creator's Law And vers 3. Is there any number of his Armies c. which are the Hosts in Heaven and Earth as the Creatures are called Gen. 2. 1. Here is God's Dominion which should strike us with an holy awe of him The Heathen beholding these glorious Works of the Creation had thereby a fear of a Deity imprest upon their hearts which was the occasion of that Atheistical Speech of the Poet Primus in Orbe Deos fecit timor Fear â—irst made gods upon the Earth Yet this is a Truth the Works of God's Creation should strike our Hearts with a reverend Fear of the Creatour which the Psalmist exhorts men to Let all the Earth fear the Lord let all the Inhabitants of the World stand in awe of him For he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Oh how should the whole World stand in awe of such a Being Our very praises are to be mixt with fear He is therefore said to be fearful in praises Exod. 15. 11. For those Excellencies of his Works for which we praise him have such Impressions of his Glory and Power upon them that may make men fear while they are praising of them But because I would still make my Discourse to serve the Design of true Christianity I therefore add That this Fear ought not to be afrighting or meerly astonishing to enslave the Soul or drive Man into fond superstition as it did the Heathen but such as may suit a state of Sonship and may be proper to him that is not only our Creator but our Redeemer and Father in Christ Jesus And by that Principle of Grace we have received of him as our Redeemer to fear him as our Creatour Upon this account also we owe him Praise and Admiration 1. Praise It is the ultimate end of these Works of Creation that the Creator may be praised in them and it is the ultimate end of Man to give Glory and Praise to him After God had made and finished the rest of his Works he lastly made Man that he might have a Creature to contemplate the Works of his hands and praise him in them all and by him reduce all his Works back again to himself And without question Adam as soon as he had a Being and was placed in the Theatre of this World he saw the Creator in his Works and found in himself a Principle that naturally led him to adore and magnifie him And as this Principle is renewed in any Man and the Image of God restored to him so is he disposed to the performance of it How often do we find David's heart in a rapture of praise upon the contemplation of God's Workmanship in the Worlds Creation as we may find in Psal 8. 1. Psal 33. 6 7. Psal 104. 24. And when he calls upon irrational Creatures to praise their Creator as in Psal 148. Praise him Sun and Moon praise him all ye Stars of Light Praise him ye Heavens of Heavens and ye Waters that are above the Heavens And thence he comes down to this lower World vers 7. Praise the Lord from the Earth ye Dragons and all Deeps c. All this is but to quicken up his own heart to that Duty which was