Property and is the very Life and Soul of the explicatory part of the Doctrine of the Deity is peremptorily pronounced by them to be a Contradiction It is well known Socinus and Crellius and others of this Party deny God's Immensity i. e. his being present every where as to his Essence and Nature All of them agree that he hath not a Knowledge and Foresight of every thing that happens in the World for future Contingencies are hid from him Particularly Socinus largely argues against this Praescience and tells us that he is to be laugh'd at that asserts the contrary Nay it is farther observable that this great Patriarch of the present Cause disowns the Immaterial or Spiritual Nature of God as may be undeniably gather'd from his Exposition of Iohn 4. 24. and other Passages in his Writings And he is followed by Crellius as is manifest from that Account which this latter gives of a Spirit when he speaks of the Nature of God He doth not make it to be any thing above a refined body a substance void of all gross matter such as the Air or Aether is So that when these men call God a Spirit their meaning is that he is a Fine and Tenuious sort of Matter not that he is wholly Incorporeal and altogether free from Matter This is the same with Mr. Hobbs's Corporeal God Thus four of the Chief Attributes of the Deity viz. Self-Existence Omnipresence Omniscience and Spirituality are either in whole or in part rejected Whereupon I ask this Question Whether these things do not discover a Tendency to say no more in the Anti-Trinitarians to that which I am charging them with For to assert a God and yet to deny some of his Choicest Properties whereby we know him to be God is in effect the same with denying a Deity If they distinguish between the English and Foreign Socinians as I perceive they do and tell us that the former do not assert the things before mention'd I answer the very English Prints avouch the first of those Particulars and as for the rest they being the Doctrine of the Chief Patrons of the Socinian Cause yea and of the Most of them the English Unitarians are involved in them because those Foreigners are the greatest and most substantial part of that Body of men call'd Socinians Thus the Trinitarian Scheme of Religion drawn up by some English Socinians of late is thought by them to touch all the Trinitarians else it could not be stiled the Trinitarian Scheme though every individual Trinitarian doth not hold all those things mentioned there Let them apply this and they will have nothing to object And further I would argue from their own avowed Principle which is that they are to admit of nothing but what is exactly adjusted to Nature's and Reason's Light nothing but what is entirely clear and evident for though it is true some Socinian Writers of late have laid aside this Notion and truly we may observe that they are shifting every day their Arguments and so we know not where to have them yet he that is acquainted with the Writings that make up the main Body of Socinianism knows full well that this is a Principle constantly asserted and maintain'd by the generality of them and upon all occasions insisted upon This hath been the Stanch Notion of the Great Dons of the Party and of the famous Socinus himself And Slicktingius though he seems indeed sometimes to be otherwise perswaded yet comes to this at last that the Trinity is a Doctrine that can't be borne because it can't be understood And why do Crellius and others argue from Reason and Logical Arguments against the Trinity if they do not refuse the Doctrine upon the account of Reason And it is certain they would not do this if they were not perswaded that these things in Religion must be adjusted to Natural Reason and that they are displeased with the Doctrine of the Trinity and Incarnation c. because these are not exactly squared to their Natural Notions You see then what is the sentiment of the Greatest Rabbies of this way and therefore we must make our estimate of the Socinian or Antitrinitarian Doctrine from these and not from one or two Modern Writers This I think will be granted by all men of reason But what if it doth appear that even the very English and Modern Socinians though they seem to wave this Principle do yet retain it and govern themselves by it Else why do they complain that they have no conception of the Trinity as the Trinitarians represent it to them they cannot form an idea of it it is a notion that excites no idea's in their minds it is against Reason and Natural Light We are advised by the Modern Pen-men to consult our Reason about the thing in question and if we do so we shall find an absolute impossibility in the Trinitarian Doctrine our Reason will assure us that an Almighty Father and an Almighty Son are most certainly two Gods and that two Creators can be no other than two Gods Therefore we may and we must infer that the explication of the first Verses of St. John 's Gospel which advance such a Doctrine is certainly false Again the English Socinians tell us that the Doctrine of the Trinity clashing altogether with our natural idea's can be no matter of Revelation and therefore ought not to be believ'd And hear their Final and Resolute Determination which fully speaks their absolute adherence to this Principle We abide by this Argument here we fix our foot never to be removed that the inconsistence of the Trinity as well as the Incarnation with Reason and Natural Knowledge being undeniably evident therefore this Doctrine can have no real foundation in Divine Revelation that is to say in Holy Scripture And we find that our English Unitarians argue from Reason in this Point and they declare that they cannot believe it because Reason doth not teach it Thus we find that the bottom of all is the Trinity and such like Doctrines are above their Reason and Natural Idea's and therefore they are no matter of their Faith This is it which the Reverend Person before named charges these men with in a great part of his Sermon and certainly he would not have done it if there were no such persons in being It is too plain that there are such and I think I have proved it from their own mouths The sum of their Opinion and resolution if this that there is nothing difficult and abstruse in Religion and that they will not believe any thing in Christianity but what they can make out by Reason otherwise it must be discarded presently Now to apply this Principle of the Antitrinitarians we are assured that we cannot by searching find out God Job 11. 7. his Infinite Nature and Immense Essence are not commensurate to our Conceptions are not adjusted to our Idea's but are far
their Affairs to think of a God but in others of a higher Rank and Quality for by Ignorance I mean a wilful and sottish stifling of natural Notions and Impressions And this sometimes prevails in Men of great Parts and Knowledge Think it not strange that I reckon such Persons in the number of the Ignorant for to speak impartially they are so and this was the Sense of the wisest Pagans long since For to have no Knowledge and to stifle it is the same thing which is the Case of these Men they make it their business to choak the innate Principles of their Minds and to disregard those Notices which their Natures suggest to them Thus these Persons are stubbornly and obstinately Ignorant Whatever their Pretences and Boastings be their Atheism proceeds from want of Learning and Wit For 't is not the part of a Learned and Ingenious Man to destroy the Notions of Mankind and pull down what hath been built by the universal Suffrage of the World and in its place to erect a Conceit of his own Some may take such for Brainish and Scholar-like sort of Men but then these are so without Thinking for it is the want of this that makes them what they are Or to say the best of this kind of Men and Atheist is but a half-witted Person He hath perhaps made some Attempts in Science but to little purpose He hath attain'd to some slight and trivial Notions but hath not penetrated into the heart of Things and thence it comes to pass that he is full of Doubts and Cavils which he is able to raise but he hath not Skill and Ability enough to answer them Wherefore it was excellently said of my Lord Bacon A little Philosophy inclines mens minds to Atheism but depth in Philosophy brings mens minds about to Religion and a Deity Thus though this mis-shapen Monster would be thought to be the genuine issue of True Wisdom and Sound Knowledge yet it is really the daughter of an Affected Ignorance Wherefore to secure your selves against Atheism be careful that you blind not your minds willingly receive the rays of light into your souls cherish all sound notions and conceptions and by all proper methods bring your selves to a right understanding and steady embracing of all the Fundamental Principles of your Religion II. There is great Disingenuity and unhandsome Dealing in the case else we should not have so much Atheism Here I will prove that they do not act fairly but that they are Ungenteel which perhaps will affect these Persons more than any thing that I can say What they are willing and forward to grant in other matters and on other occasions they refuse to grant here yea they utterly deny it though there be the same reason for one as the other This plainly appears by their Objections As first they tell us they have no Sensible Notices of a God and therefore they can't admit of it for all the knowledge say they which we have of things is deriv'd to us from Sense But here we see that these Men are Partial and Disingenuous for they will not deny that there are many things which they judge not of by Sense they grant that the swiftness of Motion oftentimes out-runs the nimblest Sense and the Observation of the quickest eye yet they do not deny the Motion it self The Element of Air in which the daily converse is not seen nor is it heard or felt unless when 't is extraordinarily moved and disturbed which is but seldom nor will they say they taste it and 't is as certain that they cannot smell it for this is only the Vehicle of Smells but is not it self the object of that sense and yet these nice Gentlemen do not deny the Existence of the Air. They can by none of their Senses discern the Motion of the Sun Moon and Stars or as perhaps they think it most proper to say the Earth and yet there is not a man of them that denies that they move It can't be determin'd by Sense whether the Sun be bigger than it appears to be and therefore Epicurus who was a great Man for Sense held it was of no greater dimension than it seems to the Eye to be yea of no greater heat in it self than it seems to the Feeling to be here on Earth And the Atheistical Poet who borrow'd his Notions from him was of the same mind Nec nimio solis major rota nec minor ardor Esse potest nostris quà m sensibus esse videtur Lucret. lib. 5. This is certain that the things that are least discernible act most The Animal Spirits which do all the great things in our bodies are themselves Imperceptible They are the Insensible and Invisible Parts as Spirits Wind Subtile matter Exhalations which being agitated do the chiefest Exploits in Nature There are Fine Particles and Atoms diffused through all bodies whatsoever and these are the cause of Sense and Motion in Animals by help of these Minerals Plants and all Vegetables are brought to perfection These Invisible Agents effect strange things and act most wonderfully in the World The Nutritious Iuyce in the Nerves if we may credit the famous Glisson is of mighty use and influence yet as he confesses himself there are no Cavities to be seen to convey it and none of this Succus is ever discern'd in the dissecting of Animals Notwithstanding this some Physicians of the most piercing Judgment have granted whatever they do now the real being of it And in other Instances it might be shewed that Sense is not always made a Judge even in sensible Objects but we gather the being and operation of them from Reason and Discourse This the persons whom we are now dealing with do not deny but even practise it themselves and are willing to allow of it Why therefore are they so void of Ingenuity and fair-dealing as not to admit of the same in the case that is before us Why do they most irrationally deny a God because they do not apprehend him by Bodily sense whenas they judge not of some other things by Sense nay though they be proper objects of it This is a plain proof of these mens wilful Prejudice and Partiality especially if I add that God is infinitely farther removed from our most exalted Apprehensions than the Sun of which we spoke before is from this Earth This Glorious Sun dwelleth in that light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath see or can see Secondly they tell us that there are Great Difficulties in conceiving a God and they are loth to swallow these down and more especially the notion of a Spirit i. e. a Being that is void of Matter and Body is too hard to be conceiv'd by them and therefore seeing we hold God to be a Spirit they can form no conception of him I will reply to both the parts of this Objection distinctly and first as to the General Cavil That this notion is
be from a kind of Magnetism in some parts of the Earth as hath been imagin'd by some or from the reflected Particles of the Celestial Matter driving down into their places the earthy bodies they find above them or as they at other times are pleased to speak from the pressure of the Atmosphere which moves all Bodies continually downwards because it doth it self press always towards the Earth or whether it be as the Learned Isaac Vossius holds from the Diurnal Motion of the Earth whereby all heavy Bodies which move with greater difficulty than light ones tend to the middle or Center and light Bodies are expelled towards the Superficies or from the Center But a man that would be very serious in Philosophizing can hardly acquiesce in any of these Solutions He is not hereby satisfied how Non-gravitation can be and not be in a thing at the same time as in Water in the Sea or in a River for it is heavy and presses down and yet the parts do not gravitate for 't is known that those that dive and are under so great a heap of Waters yet feel it not upon them Here must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there must be acknowledged an other Cause besides those before mention'd if they may be said to be Causes at all And accordingly I find that some of the most Judicious Philosophers of our own Nation have averr'd that a God a Divine Incorporeal Substance may be evinced from the Phoenomena of Gravity This is made good by strong and nervous Arguments in an Undertaking of the Learned Dr. More Another Ripe-witted Naturalist positively determines that the common Phoenomenon of Gravity is impossible to be explain'd by any natural operation of Matter or any other law of Motion but the positive Will of a Superiour Being so ordering it And there is lately risen in our Horizon another Bright Philosophick Luminary from whom we may expect Great Discoveries it is his frank Acknowledgment that this wonderful Property of Bodies whereby the World is tied and link'd together and all things in it are kept from running back into their First Chaos and Confusion and which consequently is necessary for the welfare yea the very subsistence of the Universe is supernatural No power saith he of mere Nature can produce it it surpasses all the Mechanism of Matter And in several other Instances which might be offer'd there may be seen a despair of resolving the nature of them by material Causes wholly No meaner a Person than Doctor Lower who was voted by all the Faculty to be one of the most Accomplish'd Anatomists of this Age imputes the wonderful Motion of the Heart and the Circulation of the Blood to a Divine and Supernatural Cause He who was as well skill'd as any man in the Fabrick of the Parts and Vessels of the Body and knew all the Springs of their Actions and Operations was of opinion that these could not be solv'd by any ordinary Principle I mention this only to let the Reader see that some of the Bravest and Wisest Philosophers are forward to own a Divine Hand even in the Common Works of Nature They do not think it below a Man of Philosophy to resolve some things into an Immaterial Principle For a Pious and Christian Philosopher may plainly discern that there are some things above the Efforts of Matter and Motion It cannot be denied whatever some are pleas'd to say to the contrary that we live in as Learned Times as ever have been extant All Arts and Sciences are improved even to a Prodigy and particularly the Accessions which are made to Philosophy are very great and astonishing But yet I must needs concur with that very Thoughtful and Ingenious Gentleman before cited who hath most truly told the World that without the notion and allowance of Spirits our Philosophy will be lame and defective in one main part of it when it leaves out the Contemplation of the most Excellent and Powerful part of the Creation viz. those Immaterial Beings And herein he follows all the Great and Renowned Philosophers of our Age especially those of our own Country as Dr. More Sir Matthew Hale Dr. Willis Mr. Boyle Mr. Ray c. who pretend not to solve all things in Philosophy by mere Natural Causes who look not upon Man as a piece of Clockwork but have frequent recourse to those Springs and Causes which are Spiritual and Incorporeal and sometimes to the immediate hand of the Almighty Himself To conclude then let not the inestimable Blessing of Knowledge and Learning which is so peculiar to this Age make us forgetful of the Grand Source and Spring of all operations and effects in Nature Let us beware of those men who ascribe all the Phaenomena in the world to the power of the modified matter and will leave nothing for God to do himself Neither let us think that to Philosophize is to jar with the Sacred Writings and to deny the very Natural History of it The Scoffers at a Deity never had a more hopeful Harvest then since these Notions have prevail'd By this means it comes to pass that Philosophy which is the Study of Wisdom affronts the Truest and Highest Wisdom and even Natural Philosophy which is one of the Choicest Accomplishments of humane minds leads men even to the denial of the Author of Nature No wise man will disapprove of a Latitude either in Philosophy or in the dubious and controverted Points of Theology but then here he must be upon his guard for there are those that under the pretence of throwing off some precarious things in the Old Philosophy and discarding the empty Speculations of the Schools cast off those Principles which are useful and sound under the notion of the Advancements of Arts and Sciences and the Improvement of the belles lettres and carrying Learning up to a greater heighth they in the mean time help to pull these down Especially in Religion under the colour of searching further than others have done into Divine matters they abandon some of the choicest Principles under the pretext of Reason and Good Sense they obtrude any New Conceit upon the world and regard not the suffrage of the Holy Scriptures or of the Primitive Church This they call a Rational Religion and if you offer any thing against it they cry it down as a Dream a Romance a Fable a Phantom an Hobgoblin and which is a word which they think comprehends all the rest Priest-craft And here I might observe that among the Opinions which lead to Atheism the denial of Daemons and Witches which of late hath so much prevail'd is none of the least For besides that this is an open defiance to unquestionable History Experience and matter of Fact and so introduces the worst sort of Scepticism which is the high-way to Atheism it is evident that this supplants the belief of Spiritual Beings or Substances for Witchcraft and all Diabolick Transactions are