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
Bullocks Lambs Sheep Goats Swine and in some cases Men and Children as their own Poets Virgil and Plautus c. and so Plutarch and others of their Moral Writers affirm and these they offered up to appease their gods when any Calamities fell upon them Illius aras Saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet Agnus Haedum Neptuno Taurum tibi Pulcher Apollo Virgil. And of their Humane Sacrifices see Lact. lib. 1. p. 81 82 83. and Dr. Owen's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 307. They offered Placatory Sacrifices to such gods of whom they feared harm and Propitiatory to such of whom they expected good as Dr. Jackson Observes But these they used not with any respect to Christ who was the end of the Institution of all the Expiatory or Propitiatory Sacrifices and gave them their Vertue and Efficacy and so they could not avail them to what they designed as the very use of them they borrowed either from the Sacrifice of Noah conveighed in the notice of it down to his Posterity or from some acquaintance they might have with the Jewish Laws rather than from any Dictates of Natural Light howsoever improved by them For what-ever may be said concerning Sacrifices called Gratulatory offered by way of Thanksgiving that a principle of Natural Gratitude might lead them to their use by giving part of the whole to acknowledg the whole from God yet who can imagine it concerning Expiatory Sacrifices that ever the Light of Nature could lead them to think that the slaying of a Bruit Creature as a Sheep or a Lamb or a Goat c. should be able to reconcile God to Man or be a meet Satisfaction to the offended Deity for his sin or indeed be pleasing to God at all And though this was the practice of the Jews yet they were led to it by God's Institution and not by the Light of Nature And though some have said that the continuance of Nature in its course and the benefits that are thereby daily conveighed from God to the World do declare to all Men that he is some-way reconciled else Man's sin would either have dissolved or at least interrupted this beneficial course of Nature yet this cannot lead Man to the true Propitiatory nor to the way of enjoying the benefit thereof By these common benefits of Nature God left not himself without witness to the Gentiles and for which they ought to have been thankful but by these they could not understand that they had favour with God were not under God's displeasure for their sin seeing the worst of men partaked of them as well as others and the Beasts as well as Men. It 's true something may hence be gathered of the benignity and goodness of the Nature of God his long-suffering and patience whereby they might be encouraged to go to him for Mercy and Pardon but the way wherein God hath appointed to bestow this pardoning Mercy they could not know by any natural Light And what respect God may have to some among the Gentiles that best improved that Light and had recourse to his general Mercy without the distinct knowledg of a Saviour which they had not means to attain I shall rather leave it amongst the Secrets of God's Counsel than make determination therein But we that have the Scriptures know that all Man's Reconciliation is by the death of the Son of God And that pardon of sin is by Faith in his Blood which things the Light of Nature is a meer stranger too 3. As to the true knowledg of sin the Scriptures give a more distinct account than any that can be known by Nature Some grosser sins may be known by it but the secret Obliquities of the Heart and Life are not detected but by a straiter Rule than the Light or Law of Nature The Apostle Rom. 7. professeth he had not known Lust to be sin except the Law of God had said Thou shalt not covet It is the Commandment of God that David saith is exceeding broad can only discover sin in the full latitude of it And which made the Apostle say By the Law is the knowledg of sin And therefore the Law was first briefly published upon Mount Sinai and afterwards explained and urged upon the People by Moses as appears in the Book of Deuteronomy that they might being under the conviction of sin look towards the Messiah for Salvation who was yet to come which needed not have been could the Law of Nature have given a perfect Knowledg and Conviction Of it the Scriptures resolve that great Question unde malum discoursing of it in the first original of it as also in the due merit of it and the punishment it leadeth to As for sins that are more strictly Evangelical as Unbelief in Christ c. As the Light of Nature doth not discover the Gospel so neither can it do sins against it For this we must have recourse to the Word of Christ and to his Spirit Whom he promised to send to convince the World of sin because they believed not on him for the Light of Nature could not evidence it to be sin 4. If we speak also of the satisfaction of the Soul in possessing the chief Good Here also Scripture-Light excels that of Nature There was nothing did more exercise the Minds of the wiser Heathens than this to find out and enjoy this Good and nothing were they more divided in their Judgments about But the Reason was because they wanted the true knowledg of God and knew not the way to the fruition of him who alone is this chief Good of Man But here the Scriptures again supply the defect of Nature's Light which reveal to us not only that God is and what he is but that Everlasting Covenant of his Grace made in Jesus Christ wherein and whereby he offers himself to Men to become their God and to take them for his People And there we find this summum Bonum this chief good The Philosophers of old Yea all Men are as Merchants seeking this godly Pearl but they find it not until they are by Scripture-Light led to it And we may say of it as Job speaks of Wisdom The Depth saith It is not in me and the Sea saith It is not with me It cannot be gotten for Gold neither shall Silver be weighed for the price thereof c. and therefore is not found in Silver or Gold Destruction and Death say We have heard the same thereof with our Ears Those that are in the Grave or Hell may have heard of it but where there is no Good there cannot be found this chief Good But the Word of God tells the Living of it shews it to them and invites them to the possessing of it 5. With respect to the Worship of God The Light of Nature doth dictate that God ought to be worshipt but Scripture-Revelation is requisite to guide us unto the right way of Worship I know there is Natural Worship founded upon the Right of
us the rule of our Worship As not to Worship him is Contempt so to Worship otherwise then he hath appointed is Idolatry or Superstition yea it is a bold usurpation of the Creature upon the Creator The Apostle calls it Will worship 2. Col. because it is founded in Man's will and not God's And what though the worship God hath instituted hath an outside meanness and no external splendor in it to affect the sense yet we are to perform it out of meer obedience And obedience hath a Comeliness and Beauty in it though it be in the least matters And in such matters wherein we can see no Reason for them but the will of God as in Abraham's Offering up his Son and Naaman his washing seven times in Jordan c. And in these especially is Man's obedience tryed All moral duties carry such equity and goodness in the Nature of them that right Reason doth persuade obedience to them but these that are duties only by Institution are to be obeyed though meerly to comply with the Creatours will And that God might have this obedience from Adam as well as the former he forbad him to Eat of one Tree of the Garden And why one and not two why that and not another only depended upon God's Sovereign will And such Institutions we have still in God's written Word to which we are to give obedience as they bear the stamp of God's Authority though we should see no other Reason for it This is the third Inference Infer IV. Hence we may take notice in the next place that Man's safest and happiest consistance is in God he being Man's Creator and the Fountain of his Being As we see every thing in Nature hath its best existence in the principle out of which it is derived and the Original out of which it springs As a Branch hath its best existence in the Tree Rivers in the Sea Fire in its Element Earthly matter in the Earth So hath Man in God Here is his most proper dwelling and resting place As every thing in Nature hath its home and centre But God himself is these to Man And therefore hither ought his motions tend as every thing in Nature is tending thither where it hath its best abode Sin hath separated Man from the principle of his Being and cut of his Communion with his Creator and now no wonder though he finds no resting place being out of his Centre and that his Soul is withering being cut off from the root of its life Though it is true Man's natural Being is still upheld by the Power and providence of God yet as to his moral Well-being sin hath made an intercision betwixt God and him But let him not continue thus But as the Child that is carried from home cries to return back again and taken from the Armes of its Parents reacheth to come to them again so let Man do let him be crying after God to return to him as his true home and the great Parent of his Being Go to him and tell him thou art his Creature and he thy Creator if thou canst not yet call him Father pray him to have pity on thee as thou art the work of his Hand To receive thee and pardon thee and to deliver thee from that sin which is none of God's work yet hath marred his work in thee and leads the Creature from his Creator though it self be none of his Creatures And we that live under the Gospel have both direction and encouragement herein The Gospel tells us the way whereby we may come back to God again which is Jesus Christ When as those that live without it feel after him only as Men in the dark as the Apostle speaks of the Gentiles 17. Act. wanting a guide to lead them to him It also doth give great Encouragement to Men by declaring God's infinite readiness to receive his returning Creature It tells us that Christ came from Heaven to declare this readiness and so he did it all along when here upon Earth especially in the three Parables of the lost Sheep the lost Drachme and the lost Son 15. Luk. But his suffering Death to make way for our return and to bring us to God doth above all abundantly declare it as the Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 3. 18. Christ hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Infer V. Hence it follows that if God is our Maker Man hath no Reason to Glory in himself For he hath derived his Being his Self from God Hast thou Beauty Strength Parts and Endowments of Mind but why shouldst thou Glory art thou not God's Creature hast thou any thing but what thou hast received It is of him that thou art what thou art in every thing except thy sin And wilt thou Glory in that in that which is thy shame in that wilt thou Glory which hath stript Man of his Glory Hath he formed thee out of the Clay raised thee out of the Dust clothed thee with Skin and Flesh breathed into thee the breath of Life yea brought thee out of the Abyss of nothing into being As David speaks of his substance and members formed by God when once there was none of them 139. Psal 16. and wilt thou Glory in thy self Especially wilt thou Glory in thy self against God and say who is the Lord I have Strength Wit Wisdom of mine own and why should I be subject to him or what need I depend upon him Thus Man comes to disown his Creator and sets up himself as God and above him that made him And as if he had his Being of himself in the pride of his Heart saith with the Prince of Tyrus I AM when as God's Name alone is I AM as God told Moses Exod. 3. 14. And as the Greek word EI was writ upon the gates of Apollo's Temple which signifies Thou art which intimates what Notion the very Heathen had of God that he was Being it self and of himself so that all other Beings must be of him But Man forgets this and thinks he is of himself and therefore is apt to lay aside all respect to God and exalt himself into his room And as Man was once nothing Negatively till God gave him Being and made him something so he would soon return to nothing again privatively if he was not continually preserved by an Influx of Being from the first Being So that as a late Learned Writer speaks if God should say to him or to any Angel in Heaven Accipe quod tuum est abi Take that which is thine one and be gone they must depart into their first nothing What hath Man then left him to Glory in Infer VI. Lastly The Saints may hence draw several Arguments to plead with God by and strengthen their Faith therein Especially in these Cases 1. To make provision for them Hath he given me Being and will he not take care of that Being he hath given me Hath he given