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A28672 The arraignment and conviction of atheism, or, An exact and clear demonstration by natural arguments that there is a God presented to the view of all, but especially the learned / by Joshua Bonhome. Bonhome, Joshua. 1679 (1679) Wing B3593; ESTC R24212 68,915 170

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little wanting to the Eternity of the Night seeing the Night is few hours after the Day which is said to be Eternal by Atheists Therefore I conclude that the Day hath not been from all Eternity nor consequently the Sun which never was without the Day Finally Two Eternal Things cannot be but together and consequently one cannot be after another there being nothing before that which is Eternal But the Day and the Night cannot be together therefore the Day and the Night are not Eternal Things 6. By the like reason one may prove that the Moon hath not been from all Eternity thus If the Moon hath been from all Eternity either it hath been from all Eternity onely Full or onely New or both If it hath been from all Eternity onely Full it follows it hath not been New from all Eternity though notwithstanding there have been but few days wanting seeing the New Moon is few days after the Full Moon And so if the Moon hath been from all Eternity onely New it follows it hath not been Full from all Eternity though notwithstanding there have been but few days wanting seeing that the Full Moon is few days after the New Moon And if it hath been both New and Full from all Eternity it were either at once which is repugnant to common sense and experience or one after another which is opposite to Eternity for that which is Eternal cannot be after another as above I said Therefore the Moon having never been without being either Full or New or wanting but very little and having been neither Full nor New from all Eternity it is evident it hath not been from all Eternity for two Eternal Things cannot be but together as above I have proved Now the Full Moon and the New Moon cannot be together therefore the Full Moon nor the New Moon can be Eternal 7. The same way of arguing may be used against the Eternity of the Sea If the Sea hath been from all Eternity either it hath been from all Eternity with the Flowing onely or with the Ebbing onely or with both If it hath been from all Eternity with the Flowing onely it follows that it hath not been from all Eternity with the Ebbing though there have been but very few hours wanting seeing the Ebbing of the Sea is six hours or well near after it hath began Flowing So if it hath been from all Eternity with the Ebbing onely it follows it hath not been from all Eternity with the Flowing though there have been but very few hours wanting seeing the Sea hath its Flowing six hours or thereabouts after the beginning of its Ebbing And if it hath been from all Eternity with its Flowing and Ebbing it must be all at once which is impossible seeing it cannot go backwards and forwards Flow and Ebbe at the same time or one after another which is opposite to Eternity for as I have said above two things Eternal cannot be but together and consequently cannot be one after another there being nothing before that which is Eternal But the Flowing and Ebbing cannot be together therefore not Eternal And so seeing the Sea never was without Flowing or Ebbing and that neither the Flowing nor Ebbing have been from all Eternity it is evident that the Sea is not from all Eternity As for the Eternal Collection of all Flowings and Ebbings or the Eternal Succession of the same it will be confuted hereafter 8. Now let us come to the Consideration of other Creatures and let us shew that Men have not been from all Eternity and that they never succeeded one another by an Eternal Generation my reason is this If Men had been from all Eternity and had been one after another by an Eternal Succession of Generations it would follow that the number of those Men which have been in time past till now should be infinite for it is evident that if the number of them were finite and determined in it self there would have have been some first and some second c. and at this day some last and where some may be said to be first there is a beginning and consequently no Eternity but the number of Men which have been in time past till now is not infinite therefore Men have not been from all Eternity The second Proposition is proved thus An infinite number admits no greater number but a greater number then that of Men which have been in times past till now can be given seeing there have been more Hands more Fingers more Hairs and more Beasts than Men therefore the number of Men which have been in times past till now is not infinite The first Proposition of this last Syllogisme to wit that an infinite number admits no greater number is made good thus If the infinite number could admit a greater number or a greater number than the infinite could be given it would follow that an infinite number should be exceeded by a greater number seeing that of two numbers the greater exceeds the other But the infinite number cannot be exceeded seeing that which is exceeded is finite or termined where it is exceeded and the infinite cannot be finite therefore the infinite number cannot admit a greater number 9. Moreover Either there hath been some Man from all Eternity or not if not it is evident that Men have not been from all Eternity if any was from all Eternity it follows that he shall not have been made or begotten by another seeing that which is made or begotten of another is after another But that which is Eternal is not after another there being nothing before that which is Eternal 10. Again Men which are said falsely to have Lived from all Eternity did not yet Live an Eternity else they had Lived longer than a thousand times one hundred millions of thousands of years which is against the common sense and therefore they have Lived but a finite time that is on hundred or a thousand years onely from whence I reason thus Betwixt that which is from all Eternity and that which is not from all Eternity there is a greater distance than of some few years but betwixt the Life of Men which are falsely said to have Lived from all Eternity and their Death which is not from all Eternity there is but a few years distance therefore their Death not being from all Eternity it is impossible their Life should have been from all Eternity 11. Besides The Men which have Lived in time past till now are distant one from another with an infinite distance of time onely or with a finite distance onely or some are distant with a finite distance and others with an infinite distance If they are all distant with an infinite distance of time it will follow that betwixt Jesus Christ as Man and we that Live at present there will be an infinite distance and consequently an infinite space of time which is false seeing there is but one thousand six hundred seventy seven years according to
all young men taken together which have been in time past have not been from all Eternity seeing their Young age is after their Infancy and one may prove also that all Children taken together which have been in time past have not been from all Eternity Seeing their Infancy is after their Birth and Conception But if the Collection of all Children that have been the Collection of all Young men that have been and the Collection of all Old men that have been If I say all these Collections have not been from all Eternity it is evident that the Collection of all men which have been in time past is not from all Eternity since it comprises only the Collection of Children of Young and Old Men that have been 5. Again either all men which have been dead in time past being taken together have been dead from all Eternity or not If they have been dead from all Eternity it follows that their death is Eternal which is impossible seeing that which is Eternal is not after another there being nothing before that which is Eternal and without beginning but their death is after another viz. their life seeing the death and life of the same men cannot be together but their death ought to be necessarily after their life therefore their death is not Eternal If all men which have been dead taken together have not been dead from all Eternity it will follow that men have been from all Eternity without having any dead men which is denied by Atheists who affirm That the World hath been from all Eternity in the same state it is now and consequently with dead men And moreover either men have been from all Eternity without dead men during a finite time or during an infinite time If during a finite time it will follow that betwixt that which is not from all Eternity to wit dead men and that which is from all Eternity viz. the living Men taken together there is but a finite and limited time and that the finite time that is to say the time since the which there have been dead men added to the finite time such as is the duration of living men only will make up an infinite time such as is the pretended Eternity of men which is contradictory If during an infinite time it will follow that men will have been above an hundred thousand millions of thousands of years without dying which is ridiculous and denied by Atheists themselves 6. To this may be added this Argumen That which is begotten is begotten of another seeing nothing begets or produces it self But all men which have been in time past taken together have been begotten seeing that according to the opinion of Atheists in the Collection of all men which have been in time past there is never a man not begotten Therefore all men which have been in time past taken together have been begotten of another From this Argument I form another thus Whatsoever is begotten of another is after that other seeing that a man who begets another man did exist before he begat him But all men taken together have been begotten of another as I have proved Therefore all men taken together have been after another From this last Syllogisme I will also form this That which hath been from all Eternity hath not been after another seeing there is nothing before that which is Eternal But all men taken together have been after another as I have proved Therefore all men taken together have not been from all Eternity 7. Lastly The serious consideration of the very terms of this distinction of Oviedo will cause any rational men to reject it as ridiculous Men saith he have been from all Eternity but no man hath been from all Eternity the collection of men which have been in time past is from all Eternity but there is never a a man in all this Collection from all Eternity The Collection of Dayes is without beginning but there is never a Day in all this Collection without beginning as if one should say the Kings Successors of William the Conqueror have been ever since the year One thousand fourscore and seven but there was never a King in that year CHAP. III. 1. The second Answer of Atheists viz. that as in the After-Eternity that is to say in the future there will be no last or farthermost so in the Fore-Eternity that is to say in time past there hath been no first or formost 2. That Atheists compare unlike things and the disparity explained 3. That reascending towards the time past one may run through it and so 't is not infinite 4. That the Succession of Things cannot be Eternal and why 1. BEfore I proceed any farther one must take notice that for the right understanding of these unusal words the Fore-Eternity and the After-Eternity one must conceive that this day is the tie that knits and joyns them both together so that the Fore-Eternity is a duration from this day reascending upwards or through the time past even to the infinite and the After-Eternity is a duration from this day toward the future even to the infinite This kind of Riddle being now clear let us come to their Answer As in the After-Eternity say they the Day shall Eternally be after the Night and the Night after the Day so that there shall never be a later Day nor a later Night our Hemisphere will be Eternally lightned after that of our Antipodes and the Hemisphere of our Antipodes after ours so that there shall never be a later illumination The Flowing of t●● Sea will be Eternally after the Ebbing and the Ebbing after the Flowing so that there will never be a later Flowing or Ebbing The New Moon will be Eternally after the Full Moon and the Full Moon after the New Moon without ever being a later New Moon or a later Full Moon one part of Time or Motion will be Eternally after the other without ever being a later part of Time and Motion c. So in the Fore-Eternity the Day hath been Eternally before the Night and the Night before the Day so that there was never a first Day or a first Night and consequently the Day and the Night have been from all Eternity one before another as they will be Eternally one after another Likewise our Hemisphere hath been Enlightened Eternally before the Hemisphere of our Antipodes and that of our Antipodes before ours without ever having been a first illumination and consequently illumination is Eternal successively and the two Hemispheres have been Enlightened from all Eternity one before the other as they shall be Enlightened Eternally one after another So the New Moon hath been Eternally before the Full Moon and the Full Moon be●●re the New Moon without ever having been a first New or Full Moon and consequently the Full and the New Moon have been from all Eternity one before the other as they shall be Eternally one after another Item The Flowing of the Sea