in its highest Elevation and widest extent there was the least written and so there is the least account given of those times But to Conclude with respect to this Treatise now presented to this present Age If any say Other Pens have been Employed upon the same Subject with it I would answer It is not easie to pitch upon any Theme that hath never had an exercise upon it or to walk in any path wherein are not found the Traces of any Man's foot But this I can say I have not knowingly followed any Man that went before me And though there are some Learned discourses in the World about Atheisme yet I find them too abstruse for Common understanding and meddle little with the Practical Improvements which are to be made of that which is styled Natural Theology which I chiefly aimed at in this undertaking though I have performed it but in part in what is now Published Having in a Reserve by me in my Papers an account of those several Attributes of God that are Evidenceable from the Works of his Creation with Practical Inferences upon them for the advancement of true Gospel holiness But I cannot reach so far at present I have taken some spare hours to Transcribe these few Meditations for the Press wherein I have Inserted a few Quotations as they did occur to me for my Reading hath been but small Though it may be what I have Inserted may make what I have written not more acceptable to many Readers How ever Printed Books being exposed to the view of all let every one take the benefit as he can I have nothing farther to offer here but to begg of the Reader to pardon the Errata's both of the Author and the Printer and to pray that God would both pardon and amend the great Errata's of the Age That the Supreme Deity of Heaven and Earth and true Religion that is relative to him may find more Cordial and Practical respect from this present Age wherein is wrapt up Mens Eternal Interess and the present Interess of our own Nation And that any Essays to this end may be attended with a Divine Blessing and particularly this that is sincerely intended towards it how ever weakly managed by a poor unworthy Instrument Novemb. 17. 1673. Matthew Barker Natural Theology OR The Knowledge of God from the Works of Creation Accommodated and improved to the Service of Christianity ROM 1. 20. For the Invisible Things of Him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and God-head so that they are without excuse CHAP. I. The Scope of the Text. How the Gentiles though without the written Law yet are under Sin What the Law of Nature is How Adam had the knowledge of his Creator What meant by the Invisible Things of God Though Invisible yet how seen What meant by the Creation of the World What difference betwixt the Creation of the World and things made Why the Apostle only mentions God's eternal Power and God-head How the Gentiles are without excuse by the Light of Nature THe Scope of the Apostle in the first part of this Epistle is to assert and prove the great Doctrine of Justification by Faith and not by the Works of the Law And to make his way to it He first proveth all men to be under sin And all Man-kind being divided into Jew and Gentile he first proves the Gentile to be under sin in this first Chapter and the Jew in the Second And those that are under Sin cannot be justified by the Works of the Law and therefore must of necessity have recourse to the Righteousness of Faith being convicted of Sin by the Law Now lest it might be argued How could the Gentile be under sin not having the Written Law made known unto them Vnderstand it of Gentiles without the Church for it was the Jew to whom were committed the Oracles of God and where there is no Law there is no transgression The Apostle therefore in this Chapter tells us they had the Law of Nature which was God's Law which though it is not written in Ink and Paper yet it is written in the Hearts of all Men and in the visible Works of God's Creation and the Gentiles thereupon are convicted to be under Sin not following the Light and Conduct of that Universal Law For as a Law is Directive and Preceptive it ministreth Knowledge and commandeth Practice So was the Law of Nature to the Gentiles it had a Light in it whereby they might attain some knowledge of God and it had a force in it to urge them upon the performance of Duty and Service to Him answerable to that knowledg But because they darkned this Light in themselves as in vers 21. Their foolish heart was darkned and they did not follow the conduct of it but retained the Truth in unrighteousness hereupon they are convinced of Sin for they did neither take up those worthy Conceptions of God's Being which the Law of Nature might direct them to as the Apostle speaks in vers 21 22. neither did they manage their conversation towards men with that justice sobriety equity and charity as that Law did both direct and urge them to as the Apostle doth at large declare in the enumeration of those several Vices which they lived in the practice of in the last part of the Chapter Now this Law of Nature as written in the Hearts of Men he speaketh of in the Verse before the Text calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which may be known of God manifest in them And as written in the Works of Creation he speaks it of these words of the Text For the Invisible Things of Him from the Creation of the World are seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead And hence he infers they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without excuse And so I am come to the Text. I having already spoken from another Scripture at large of the Glory of God as manifested in Christ and of the Glory of Christ as manifested in the Gospel-Ministration my intention from this Text is to set forth the Glass of the World's Creation wherein we may behold and from whence we may evince both the Being of God or his Deity and many Attributes and Properties of his Being And whereas all Theology consisteth of two Parts either that which is called Natural or that which consisteth of Supernatural Revelation the former I shall here speak of By Natural Theology that all may understand I mean that knowledge of God and our duty to Him which the Light of Nature may lead Man up to and which is concreat with his Soul The Image of God upon Man in his first Creation consisted in Knowledge as well as Holiness and the knowledge Adam had of his Creator was partly by the Character of his Being engraven upon his Soul which is by some stiled verbum
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
Elijah Is it not because there is no God in Israel that thou sendest to ènquire of Baal-zebub 2 King 1. Yes there was a God of Israel but he was as if he was not unto Ahaziah Men cannot nullifie God's Being in it self but they may nullifie it to themselves As the Heathen Idols they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothings as the Apostle saith of them 1 Cor. 8. 4. yet when Men Worships them trusted in them and gave Divine Honour to them they made them Godds So on the other-hand they not honouring acknowledging reverencing and trusting in the true God do make him as nothing For it is only those that glorifie him as God that do truly own and believe his Being Yea those Duties that are more properly Evangelical and not so expresly contained in the Law of Nature yet the belief we gather to our selves of the Being of God from the Creation of the World may much influence us that live under the Gospel to the performance of and so Natural Divinity may be made subservient to Christianiry whereof I shall give account in the next Chapter CHAP. V. Evangelical Duties are promoted by a true belief of God's Being How the Light of Nature may further the belief of the Scriptures and Faith in Christ and Repentance Whence Repentance first springs what is it to take up Christ's Cross How helped therein from the belief of God's Being What influence the Light of Nature hath upon Obedience to Gospel-Institutions Inference from the whole 1. IT is an Evangelical Duty to believe the Scriptures To receive them as a Divine and certain Rule of Faith and Obedience Now we may fetch some help from the Light of Nature herein Though I deny not but the Scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hath such Characters within it self as may perswade the belief of it and the Testimony of the Spirit in a Man's Conscience is the surest bottom of Divine Faith yet some additional strength may be borrowed from the Light of Nature For that Light that declares to Man There is a God that made the World declares also a Providence that he governs the World If he governs the World he governs it in Wisdom Etenim si Deus est utique providens est ut Deus Nec aliter potest ei Divinitas attribui c. Lact. de ira Dei Cap. 9. if in Wisdom then every Creature is governed according to the respective Principles of their several Natures And therefore Man must be govern'd as a rational Creature And he cannot be so governed but by a Law and that Law enforced by Rewards on one hand and Punishments on the other Now either this Law thus enforced is found in the Scriptures or no where There is no Book can pretend to stand in competition with the Scripture exstant in the World fot the Turkish Alchoran that is but of late years and Man hath been under God's Government from the beginning And most know by what Impostures it obtained any credit and the several Absurdities contained in it and what a sensual happiness it proposeth to them that receive it How it hath been from the beginning enforced upon people by the Sword And never confirmed by those many undoubted Miracles which the Truths of the Scriptures have been But I need not enlarge on this Subject There having been so many Learned Pens already engaged herein especially that Hononred Knight whose worthy Book concerning the Reasonableness of receiving the Scriptures for the Word of God doth justly add new Honour to Himself and a great Confirmation to the Truth 2. The Gospel calls upon Men to come to Christ and to believe in him as the Saviour of the World Now the powerful Sence of a Deity upon the Heart will Excite and Influence Men thereunto And the want of this I look upon as one great Reason why Christ is preached so much in vain When Conscience is awakened then the Innate Notion of a Deity that was before as it were asleep begins to awake And then Men begin to fear and the Sence of Sin and Judgment to come makes them enquire after a way of Reconciliation and so Men are brought to Christ as the way according to the notice they have of him in the Gospel So that as he that cometh to God must first believe that God is as we read Heb. 11. So he that cometh to Christ must be brought to him by an operative Belief of the Being of God When Paul came to Athens to preach Christ to them he first instructed them concerning the true God Act. 17. whom he declares to them to be the Maker of the World ver 24. God that made the World and all things therein c. Here begins true Christianity Men are Christians but in Name till they come to Christ by true Faith and they come not to him till the Practical Belief of God's Being doth excite them to it As the dark Notions the Heathen had concerning God did lead them to offer Sacrifice to him when they feared he was offended So much more will the clearer knowledg of his Being and the fear of his Wrath send those that live under the Gospel to Jesus Christ the true Sacrifice and Propitiation So that whiles I have been demonstrating a Deity from the Works of Creation I hope I have collaterally been serving the great Design of the Gospel of bringing home sinners to Jesus Christ As a Learned Man speaks to this purpose Dr. Jackson Vol. 1. p. 874. The ingrafted Notion is the Matter or Subject out of which God's Spirit raiseth the entire and right frame of Faith as it did the frame and fashion of this visible World out of that Mass which was first without Form though created by him 3. So Repentance is hereby promoted also When men are throughly convinced that God is they then begin to bethink themselves of their wayes how they have carried it towards him how observant they have been of his Law how they have answered his end in their Creation And hence now Repentance doth take its first rise What saith the Sinner if there be a God as I now clearly find there is wo is me that I have thus sinned against him and have taken no more notice of him Alas I have lived without him in the World I have been concerning my self about the Creatures and have little thought of God my Creator and had as little belief of his Being Alas what shall I do How shall I possibly escape I cannot flee from him for he is God I will now judge and condemn my self I will mourn bitterly I will lament my Folly and Ignorance I will go to him and say Lord I have sinned against Heaven and before thee I am thy Creature and the Work of thine Hands yet have rebelled against thee As Balaam went on confidently tlll his eyes were opened and he saw the Angel with the drawn Sword but then saith the Text He bowed down his
Maker would soon take me away He that set me in a rank and station of Being would remove me or rather throw me out of it again He that made Man hath thereby Sovereign Power over him By this Sovereign Power he hath right to appoint Man a Law to govern him And if Man transgress this Law he violates God's Sovereignty And therefore it belongs to God either to pardon or punish the Transgression And upon the account of both God is to be feared As he hath Power to punish so we are to fear him and as he hath Power to pardon so we ought to fear him also Psal 130. 4. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared And as God's Sovereign Power over Man as his Creator gives him this Right so his essential or Creating Power gives him ability to destroy the Creature which it gave Being to The Prophet Jeremy therefore bids the people not to fear the Heathen Idols 10. Jer. 5. And why For they cannot do evil neither is it in them to do good But then speaking of the true God adds v. 7. Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee doth it appertain He can do Good and Evil he can save or destroy Man that made him and therefore fear appertains to him 3. Praise As the Psalmist calls upon the most inferior Beings to praise God as Beasts and all Cattle and creeping things how much more should Man praise God that hath so noble a Being David considering himself as God's Creature and Workmanship breaks forth into his praise 139. Psal I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made And then he speaks particularly how God drew out the Scheme of him in his Book and then how his members were fashioned and curiously wrought v. 15. 16. Now saith David I will praise thee Even as a curious piece of Work every one is ready to commend and praise The Philosopher could thank his God that he made him a Man and then for the advantages he afterwards conferred upon his humane Nature Ought we to praise God for our Food that preserves Life much more for Life it self that is better then Food Matth. 6. 25. 4. Submission Will he correct and chasten thee submit and give him reverence Do we so to the Fathers of our Flesh that are but instruments to give us our Flesh and shall we not much more do it to the Father of Spirits that is the Efficient and Creator of the Spirit As the Apostle argues 12. Heb. 9. Hath he made thee out of the clay as Job expresseth it Chap. 10. Hath he given thee Being and may he not dispose of it as he will Hath not the Potter power over the clay to make it and fashion it as he pleaseth He that built an House may alter it and change it yea and pull it down if he please God hath a twofold dominion over Man Dominium jurisdictionis proprietatis A Dominion of jurisdiction whereby to rule over us and a Dominion of property to dispose of us And both these are founded upon the highest and most Sovereign Right which is that of Creation 5. Dependance Thou hadst thy Being of him and thou hast it still in him As the Apostle puts both these together 17. Act. 28. We are his of-spring that is we have our Being of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and saith also We live move and Be in him Our preservation is but a continued Creation We subsist every moment in the first principle of our Being As the beams subsist in the Sun from whence they spring Thy Life depends more upon him then upon the Bread Man liveth not by Bread alone but by every word that commeth out of the mouth of God That word that first gave Man his life is that upon which it still principally depends And it is that which Job acknowledgeth Thou hast given me life and favour and thy visitation preserveth my spirit Job 10 9 10. Now this Natural dependance upon God should teach Man a Moral dependance upon him Man's state is passively a state of dependance and therefore his life should be actively a life of dependance Should we not then in all our ways acknowledge him And trust in him with all our Hearts and not leane to our own understanding 3. Pro. 5 6. what ever means thou usest for the welfare of thy Soul or Body yet depend not upon them but upon him that is the Creator of both Let that infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness out of which thy Being flowes be the objects of thy dependance for thy well being Especially seeing we have these ingaged to us if we are believers in an Everlasting Covenant to be exerted for our succor and supply in every time of need So that we may now depend upon him and commit our selves to him not only as a Wise Good and Powerful but as a Faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4. 19. Considering that the Soul and Body that were made by him are not under his care only by the common Laws of Creation and providence but by special Covenant 6. Obedience to his Law I mean his Written Law I know this Law comprehends in it all the foregoing duties which are in themselves Naturally moral and by vertue of God's Law are made Positively moral but yet this Law of God being of further extent I shall therefore speak of it under a distinct head God as Man's Creator hath right to appoint him the Law and Rule of his Life and Actions and so as his Creatures we owe him obedience All Creatures are passively under a Natural Law which the Creator did appoint to them and which is observed by them though many of them know it not But Man is under a Written Law which he is actively to obey He being a Reasonable Creature he is capable of knowing the rule and end of his being which the other Creatures are not And both these are laid down in the Scriptures Consider then 1. God is Man's Creator 2. He Created him for an End 3. He hath given him a Law and Rule to walk by in order to that End And hereupon Man lies under the highest obligation to Obedience it being the Law of him that made him And Man's obedience to God ought to be absolute Though it ought not to be so to Men because God's dominion over us is superior to that of all Men and so may supersede and over-rule it And if we think it our duty to obey Magistrates and Parents that have some inferior power over us how much more that God who hath a Supreme Power and that founded in the highest right which is that of Creation And let us particularly shew our obedience to his Law in our worship of him For as worship is due to God as our Creator as the Psalmist speaks 95. Psal Oh come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker so he hath right also thereby by to set