for expressing Truth than the Spirit of Truth or they who are inspired by it They who recede from the Phrases of any Author do also generally differ from his Sentiments and give others occasion to mistake them For the peculiar and repeated Phrases which one has used constantly do give the greatest Light to the Discovery of his Thoughts For if he had not perceived or fansied some Propriety in those Phrases for representing what he would be at he would not have been so fond of them nor would he so constantly have used them even as an exact and skilful Painter observeth carefully both the Strokes and Mixtures which are fittest to shadow out the Colours and Figures he would represent But even abstracting from the Divine Authority of Scripture and the peculiar Inspiration of the Pen-men it is very great Immodesty to offer to correct and amend their Expressions as if any now a-days could express their Thoughts Notions and Sentiments better than they themselves were capable to do especially on Subjects with which they were well acquainted and which they knew better than other Men by reason of their Profound Meditation the Purity of their Minds and the Integrity of their Lives These very things if divine and immediate Inspiration will not be allowed them could qualifie them to teach the Nature and Acts of a Holy Life or true Righteousness far better than others All the Heathen Philosophers came short of their Perfection and therefore are not so good Masters of Morality for Moral Truths are not like Mathematical ones to be learned by Reading and Study The Knowledge of those comes best nay can only be had by serious and continued Practice A good Man Unlearned has a deeper sense of Christian Morality and can discourse more lively and reasonably of it than the greatest Scholar who has only the Theory And there be some Expressions which seem mean and silly to the last which the other feels to be just and Emphatick as what that Man esteems lofty and Sublime this Man Undervalues for the one knows and thoroughly understands the Subject he speaks of which the other does not To return all the Disciples of any Sect reverence the Authors and Founders of them and love to speak in their Language and according to their Dialect An Aristotelian will huff and grow very angry if the Cant of his Schools be mocked and the well-bred Cartesian will not be much more calm and easie when the Terms and Principles of his Philosophy are played upon Now ought not Christians to be much more tender of the Divine Phrases which the Prophets and Apostles have used to set forth the Secret and Sublime Principles of that Life which renders us acceptable to God and makes us to be reputed Righteous in his sight Which Phrases were neither blindly hit upon nor affected to amuse but wisely chosen as most proper because both clear and comprehensive Therefore to mock Faith and to turn Believing into Ridicule to explode the Phrase and pretend to give better is insufferable Insolence and a high Affront to the Apostles and Prophets and that Spirit which did inspire them Christians ought to resent this to bear with it is not Meekness but want of Zeal and Courage it is a lazy treachery as when one beholds the Rights of his Country or Society invaded and betrayed and yet holds his Peace It does not become the Children of the Family to assume the Liberty or rather licentiousness of Enemies and Aliens and if the Wantonness of their Humour prompt them to it it is their Duty who have the Charge of the Family to Chastise them into better Manners ESSAY II. Of Faith as Opposed to Doubting 1. WHatever regard be due to Words and Phrases there is a greater due to the sense and meaning of them Men are no better than Parrots if they utter words and do not understand them The next thing therefore to be considered is what is this Faith which the Just should live by which is so much magnified and spoken of in Scripture which is now and which is said always to have been the Principle of a holy and spiritual Life 2. In order to this I resolve not either to consider the Definitions of others or to give a New one of my own the common Definitions of Faith would hamper me too much If I were tied to them I could not have the freedom of my design which is to make a clear full and ample Description of Faith This is not to cast a slight upon any of the received Definitions which as they are placed in the common Catechisms do serve well enough to point out some of the special and chief Acts of Faith but which yet are not sufficient to give a full or clear Idea of it Nor will I attempt to amend them or to establish a better one for it is not easie to make a good Definition of such a very comprehensive thing as Faith is nor is such a thing well understood by any Definition as by taking a particular and separate view of those things which it comprehends It is but a very confused Notion of Grammer Logick or any other Science which Youth have by the Definitions which are first taught them they then only rightly understand the Nature and Use of these Sciences when they have gone through them And as I am not to trouble my self with the common Definitions so neither will I intangle my self or the Reader with the ordinary Distinctions of Faith such as Temporary Faith an Historical Faith a Faith of Miracles c. For tho' there be something in Scripture which gives occasion to these Names and Distinctions yet the consideration of them would give little light to our Enquiry for they suppose the Knowledge of Faith which we enquire after and are designed to mark out some certain degrees of Faith rather than to instruct the Nature of it which we mainly aim at For my purpose is by the light and guidance of Scripture alone to search out this Faith which is necessary to entitle one to be Just and Righteous before God and upon which account it must be that St. Paul saith without Faith it is impossible to please him Heb. ii 6. And to prevent all dangerous Errour that we may not mistake one sort of Faith for another a Faith which cannot or doth not render Just for one that doth we shall have still in our Eye this necessary Relation betwixt Faith and Righteousness 3. To proceed then In the first place I find Faith taken in opposition to Doubting So it is taken Rom. 14. and in several other places And in this sense Faith is much the same with Conscience and is an inward Conviction or Perswasion of Mind concerning what is true or false good and evil lawful and unlawful Which Perswasion or inward Conviction is the first Rule or Standard by which one 's Integrity and Uprightness is to be measured and therefore it is as necessary for
AN ENQUIRY INTO THE Nature Necessity and Evidence OF Christian Faith In Several ESSAYS PART I. Of Faith in General and of the Belief of a Deity By I. C. D. D. Vigilo Credo Clamo Loquor LONDON Printed for William Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDC XCVI The CONTENTS of this First Part. INtroduction shewing the Occasion and Design of the following Essays p. 1. Essay I. Faith is and hath been the perpetual Standard of Righteousness from the Beginning of the World p. 6. 1. Faith proper to Scripture and required under the Dispensation of both Testaments ibid. 2. What to live by Faith p. 7. 3. All the righteous upwards to Adam lived by Faith p. 8. 4. It is great Insolence to find Fault with the Terms and Phrases by which the Principles of Scripture are set forth p. 9. Essay II. Of Faith as opposed to Doubting p. 11. 1. The Meaning of Faith ought to be enquired after ibid. 2. Common Definitions and Distinctions of Faith not considered nor any new Definition offered ibid. 3. Faith first opposed to Doubting implies a firm Perswasion of Good and Evil which is essential to a just Man p. 13. 4. Of the Influence which this Faith has upon Actions as to the rendring them Good or Evil p. 14. 5. This Faith no light Perswasion but the Effect of serious Enquiry and Deliberation ib. 6. It is the first Principle of a good Life p. 16. Essay III. Of Faith as opposed to Atheism and how a Belief of the Existence of God is necessary to determine the certain Rule of Moral Actions p. 17. 1. Faith is a Belief of God and his Attributes ibid. 2. The Necessity of this Belief for knowing the first and great Rule of Moral Actions ibid. 3. Righteousness according to Scripture is to act with a continual regard to God p. 18. 4. These Divines are very censurable who recommend Morality upon other Principles more and oftner than this p. 19. Essay IV. The Existence of God is most evident p. 21. 1. It doth not require Learning or great Travel to know that there is a God p. 22. 2. Some Truths more obvious than Mathematical Demonstrations and it may be said That the Existence of a Deity is more evident than the Propositions of Euclid p. 23. 3. Whether there be real Atheists The Causes of Atheism considered p. 24. First Cause of Atheism Vitiousness p. 25. A Second Cause of Atheism the being rebuted by Difficulties ibid. A Third Cause of Atheism want of Consideration p. 26. Essay V. Evidences of a Deity in Man p. 27. 1. The Outward Figure of Man's Body considered ibid. 2. The Inward Frame p. 28. 3. Life and Sense with the Organs of them ibid. 4. The Internal and Intellectual Faculties p. 32. 5. The Method of nourishing the Body p. 33. 6. The Manner of its Generation p. 34. 7. Of the useful Dependance of some outward Members upon our Will and how readily they answer our thoughts p. 38. Essay VI. Evidences of a Deity in other Parts of the World p. 37. 1. All other things as well as Man prove that there is a God It is evident That Man and all other things had one Author or Cause ibid. 2. Contrivance and Design in in every thing in the Celestial Orbs p. 38. 3. In Vegetables and Animals p. 39. 4. Locusts and Caterpillars considered p. 40. 5. The Disorders and Irregularities occasioned by Man no Reproach to the Wisdom of God p. 41. 6. It is unreasonable to ask more Evidence for the Existence of God than what we have p. 43. 7. God's Eternity obvious His Omnipotency appears in the Immensity of the World p. 44. 8. His Wisdom and Power in the very Disposal of meer Matter or the several kinds of Earth p. 45. 9. In the Variety and Virtue of Plants p. 46. 10. In the Diversity of Animals p. 50. 11. It is impossible to convince them who resist these Evidences p. 52. Essay VII Of the Absurdity of Atheism p. 53. 1. Two sorts of Demonstration A Deity demonstrable by both of them ibid. 2. The Existence of God proved by the First ibid. 3. The Objections of Atheists do strengthen the Belief of a God The First Objection stated p. 54. 4. The Answer to it p. 55. 5. A Second Objection p. 59. 6. The Answer p. 60. 7 A Third Objection p. 62. 8. The Answer p. 63. 9. A Fourth Objection with the Answer p. 64. 10. A Deity proved by the other kind of Demonstration ex absurdo p. 65. The Conclusion p. 68. AN ENQUIRY INTO THE Nature Necessity and Evidence OF Christian Faith INTRODUCTION Shewing the Occasion and Design of the following Essays AS certainly the Christian Religion has the fairest appearance of any and comes to us with all the marks of Truth being stampt with Characters truly Divine and carrying along with it Authentick Testimonies both from Heaven and Earth so they who had the keeping of it have for near these 1700 Years taught that Faith was a very considerable part of it and absolutely Necessary to the obtaining all those Advantages which are promised by it But now there are a Set of Men who pretend new Discoveries They decry Faith as much as it was formerly magnified and turn the things proposed to be believed into ridicule Some of them run down Faith by exposing the Clergy who require it as ignorant and Foolish a sort of Men who are easily imposed upon or who to keep up their Trade study to impose on others amusing them with mysterious Nonsense Others essay to prove That Faith is impossible where Reason rules and is used and therefore that Believing proceeds from a Defect of Reason and consequently unworthy of those who own themselves to be Men that is reasonable Creatures A Third sort examine the several Points of Faith as they are set forth in Systems and Confessions and do either dwindle them away into nothing or render them very absurd that is impossible or no ways worthy to be believed This Controversie is of the highest Importance all ought to be inquisitive into it and earnest to know on what Side Truth lies not to satisfie an idle Curiosity but to discover the certain and solid foundation if there be any such thing on which they may build their Peace and Comfort with respect to the present life and joyful hopes in reference to that which may be hereafter Upon this account I resolved on this Enquiry and to proceed in it with all the care that becomes a Lover of Truth in matters of so very great moment who ought not to suffer himself to be byass'd by his former Sentiments nor to be carried off by the Censures of the World nor to be possessed with a fondness for Opinions meerly because they are New or Old Singular or Common My first aim was to satisfie my self and now I propose the giving true information to others and for that end shall lay all things candidly before them
also satisfie mens Minds in some measure about the Strange and Wonderful Dispensations of it which not being commonly handled we have the more largely insisted on In the Third and last Part shall be considered that Faith which is founded upon Revelation which also we shall indeavour to set in its true Light Both these Parts shall follow very soon if it please God to assist us and I heartily wish that all of them may prove Useful to the design proposed by helping to clear those Truths which are of the greatest Importance ESSAY I. Faith is and hath been the Perpetual Standard of Righteousness from the beginning of the World 1. AS all Authors whether Historians or Philosophers have their peculiar Phrases and way of Speaking so Faith is a word and term proper to Sacred Scripture It never occurs to us in the reading of any of the Heathen Moralists in that sense in which we meet with it almost in every leaf of the Holy Bible St. Paul as agreeable to the other Apostles he discourses often and very much of Faith so in three several Epistles he asserts that the Iust shall live by Faith and in one of them he Prefaces it with an as it is written testifying by this that it was no New Doctrine of the Gospel but what was taught by the Law and the Prophets And accordingly we find the same very words in the Prophet Habakkuk Chap. 2. 4. whence we may conclude that this is a Scripture Maxim of certain and perpetual Verity under every Dispensation as well the former as the present 2. By the Iust is to be understood the Good Holy and Righteous in opposition to the Wicked and Ungodly And to live comprehends and must be extended to the whole tract and course of their Life and Conversation for to restrain it to any single or individual act which hath not an Universal Influence upon the whole Man and all its Motions is to make the Scripture and Inspirer of it speak very improperly He is not said to Live in a place who Lodgeth there a Night or two but who has his constant Residence and Abode in it Nor can he be said properly to live by any Art or Science who now and then perhaps diverteth himself with it but only he who makes it his profession aim and study who constantly exerciseth it and subsisteth by it So when it is said that the Iust live by Faith the meaning is and must be that they always walk by Faith they order and frame their whole Life and Conversation according to it It is the Principle by which they are actuated and which produceth all that they do As the Soul and Spirit give Life to the Body excite direct and determine the Actions of the whole Man so Faith is the Soul Life and Spirit of a Just or Righteous Man the first and great Principles of his Motions the chief Rule and Director of his Actions that which quickens his Hopes awakens his Fears excites and curbs his Passion and which pusheth him forward to all that is suitable to his Rank Quality and other Circumstances in which he stands In a word to live by Faith must be to think speak and act by it for Life comprehends all this And he who doth thus live by Faith is truly Just Good Holy and Righteous For if it be true that the Iust do live by Faith it is also true that they who live by Faith are Iust. As Knowledge and Wisdom render a Man learned and wise so Faith makes one Iust and Righteous and this Righteousness encreaseth according to the proportion of our Faith for there are degrees of Faith as of Life there are weaker and stronger imperfect and perfect in both 3. Now that it is not peculiar to the state of the Gospel for the Iust to live by Faith but that they did so under the Law and before it doth further appear from what the Apostle writes in the Eleventh Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews where by a long enumeration of particular instances he proves that all the Righteous even up to Abel that is ever since the Fall did walk by Faith and that Faith was the source and spring of both their Common and Extraordinary Actions And he might have ascended higher and shewed that even in the state of Innocence Faith was appointed the Life and Soul of Righteousness for that Command which was given to our first Parents about the Tree of Knowledge in the midst of the Garden was to exercise their Faith as their Transgression was a failure of Faith as well as of Obedience St. Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians and in the first Part of that to the Romans pursues the same Truth against the Bigotted Jews and Judaizing Christians For to convince them of their Error in expecting to be Iustified by the Law of Moses He shews clearly that before the Law was in being Men were accounted Iust and Righteous before God by reason of their Faith and therefore that Faith was the permanent and perpetual Standard or Rule both for measuring Mens Righteousness and for obtaining their Iustification Because Abraham was an eminent Example of Faith therefore he was not only reputed Righteous but had the peculiar honour to be called the Friend of God and the Father of the Faithful in all succeeding Generations And all who believe and live by Faith are stiled the Children of Abraham and Heirs of his Honour and Privileges Upon which account they are also named the Children of God the holy Seed the righteous Generation in opposition to the Sons of Belial the Wicked and Reprobate who are branded with the Character of Vnbelievers Children of Vnbelief Persons without Faith as the Original bears which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Much more might be said on this Head but it sufficiently appears from what hath been said that according to the peculiar Dialect both of the Old and New Testament Faith and Holiness Believing and to be Iust or to live righteously are used indifferently as reciprocal Phrases which import or inferr one another And the reason of this Dialect is because according to the Philosophy of the Scripture that which goes under the Name of Faith is the first Principle which actuates a a good or just Man and that the Goodness or Righteousness which is acceptable to God is only the Effects or Expressions of that Faith which naturally and inseparably follow it as the Light doth the Sun Now before I proceed further it is fit to make a little Pause and it may be convenient to represent here the Obligation which lieth upon all who own the Authority of Scripture to entertain those Phrases and Expressions with respect and reverence 4. They ought to esteem them not only Sacred but Exact and Just and the fittest to convey true Notions into our Minds A Wise Man can express his own Thoughts best And sure none can be supposed more qualified to know the most apposite words
said to execute his office with ingenuity who did not represent them purely according to their Authors but who did blend them with other Principles A righteousness built on the Principles of Self-love Honour Conveniency Pleasure and such other Motives is a Righteousness built on a Heathen Foundation which cannot please God no more than we do think our selves obliged by Acts and Deeds which had no regard to us I would not be thought by this to exclude all respect to our Private and Personal Interest nor yet to disprove a humble and modest Enquiry into the reasonableness or excellency of the Divine Laws But as the surest Proof the clearest and shortest Demonstration of this is drawn from the Existence Nature Will and Authority of God Just as we best understand the Wisdom and Reasons of a Government by considering what the King is and what he proposes to himself So the only design of this Enquiry should be to encourage our Obedience to render it more ready and chearful by convincing us that he who has the Authority over us employs it most for our Advantage that so the Servitude which we owe by Nature may become voluntary that we may be incapable of revolting and tho' we could be free yet we may chuse rather to be Servants for ever like that Servant under the Law who gave his Ear to be bored thorow preferring out of love to his Master perpetual Bondage to his Freedom I know not whether it should move Indignation or Pity most to see how pleasantly Men delude themselves with Suppositions of Mankind their starting up free without all obligation except to consult their own Pleasure and Convenience Some who make these Suppositions deny a Deity and proceed without any Consideration of God Others own a Deity but they found our Obligation to him only on his possessing Wisdom Reason and Knowledge in greater measure But this state of Nature is a Dream and meer Romance and all their Suppositions are wild extravagant against Reason and Nature if Mankind had another beginning if we all owe our being to another for then we are not free our Creation subjects us to him We ought in the first place to regard his Will which is a Law of indispensible Obligation not by vertue only of the reasonableness of it or the conveniency it brings with it but by vertue of the Authority enjoining it He is an open Rebel who has no regard to this Authority at all and he who preferrs any thing to it or has any other thing in greater consideration has broke the first and greatest chain of Justice he is not truly Loyal but waits an opportunity to revolt Tho' Rewards and Punishments be proposed yet they are not intended for weakening the Authority of the Supream Lord but to preserve it from contempt and to heighten our regard for it Which Rewards we ought to consider and have always before us both that we may know the Nature and Importance of those things to which they are annexed and also that by them we may be the more capable to serve and glorifie God to whom we owe infinite Service if it were in our Power ESSAY IV. The Existence of God is most Evident FRom what hath been said it necessarily follows that the first Principle of true Righteousness the Foundation of all Morality and Religion is this Faith by which we firmly believe that God is and that we derive our Life and Being from him that he Rules and Governs the World and that he is a Rewarder of them who diligently seek him This comprehends all and all other things are but Deductions from this Shake this and all falls to the Ground the whole Fabrick of Religion and Morality shivers into pieces But then this cannot be shaken It stands like a Rock immoveable notwithstanding of all the furious blasts of insolent Men in the several Ages of the World and perhaps never any of the former made so many or so violent attacks as this present This Foundation is surer than that of the World it self for when the Foundation of the World shall be overturned this shall stand sure to all Eternity as it was before the Foundation of the World it self was laid 1. And as it is sure and certain so it is clear and evident This is not a Truth which lies hid or mysteriously wrap'd up which requires depth of Judgment vast Learning assiduous Study and great Pains to the digging it up We may come at this without undertaking long and dangerous Voyages without the wearisome Study of Languages without turning over many Volumes without the trouble of consulting all the Wise and Learned and collecting their Sentiments This lies open to every Man of common Sense and Judgment because it is what every Man should know believe and understand The Necessaries of Life are common every where and may be had in every Country by a reasonable Industry which is no ways uneasie What must be fetch'd from afar with much expence and labour doth rather please Fansie than serve Nature So they are only Indian Trifles for amusing and sustaining a vain Curiosity which for the most part are returned to us by the Laborious Travels of Learned Men. And tho' they produce also things Substantial to give solid Delight and Satisfaction yet even of these it must be said that they are not absolutely necessary to give us Wisdom and Knowledge to establish this Faith which is the Ground-work and Foundation of all What is necessary and sufficient for this is obvious and at hand that all may be without excuse for which cause I may apply these words of Moses This is not hidden from thee neither is it far off It is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say who shall go for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it but this word of Faith is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayst do it Deut. 30. 12. That is the Evidence of this Faith depends not on the knowledge of what is transacted in these upper Regions nor on what passeth in the remote Parts of the World but the Evidence of it lies in every Man 's own Bosom His own Mind if he hearken to it can make him conscious of this Truth That thing within him whatever it be which makes him sensible of other things can convince him of this 2. Because I intend to speak intelligibly to all what the meanest Capacity may comprehend I will not run into the Philosophical Debate about innate Ideas I will not enquire whether all be born with an Idea of God nor of what force that is to demonstrate his Existence but whether the Mind of Man come to the World void of all Notions or prepossessed with Principles by which it is to
Sea should have been too much emptied which would have been very inconvenient both for those Creatures who live in it and also for the Ships that sail upon it The Libyan Sands and barren Desarts of Arabia c. cast no Reflection upon the wise Contrivance of the Earth for it is not reasonable to think that all Parts should be alike good and excellent Diversity is both useful and pleasant What is wanting in these barren Places is supplied by the Richness of others which are also rendred more delightful by the Contemplation of such frightful Desolateness even as Shadows contribute to the Beauty of a Picture and the Brightness of the other Colours Besides other Uses which we yet know not they may be designed also to make us sensible how much we owe to the Bounty of the wise Author of all things who hath made so much of the Earth a convenient Habitation for the Children of Men. Lastly The same may be said in Reference to the Countries about the Two Poles which are not very considerable if we compare them with the rest of the habitable World And besides they show the wise Contrivance of the Spheroidical Figure of the Earth and of making the Axis so much shorter than the Diameter of the Equator for if it had been otherwise the frigid Zones should have been much more large and much less habitable There is no way to Remedy that Inconvenience of the Country about the Poles at least in our Conception except there were Two Suns or that this Sun was made to move without and beyond the Tropicks neither of which would be so convenient as the present Contrivance 7. 3 dly It is said That the World and all things in it were eternal which if true in their Opinion will cut off all Pretext of Contrivance and Design For if nothing was ever made then nothing also was ever contrived there being no Occasion for contriving what was already existent 8. But this Opinion of the Eternity of the World is taken up without any Shadow of Reason or Probability It is a precarious Assertion which being denied can never be proved 2. It contradicts the Universal Tradition of Mankind which hath always attested that the World had a Beginning 3. It is against the current Testimony of all History which traceth the Origin of Nations and People the Inventions of Arts and Sciences and which sheweth that all have happened within the Space of less than Six Thousand Years according to the most probable if not certain Calculation which could not be if the World and Man had been Eternal Therefore Lucretius reasoneth very well in his Fifth Book But grant the World Eternal grant it knew No Infancy and grant it never New Why then no Wars our Poets Songs imploy Beyond the Siege of Thebes or that of Troy Why former Heroes fell without a Name Why not their Battles told by lasting Fame But 't is as I declare and thoughtful Man Not long ago and all the World began And therefore Arts that lay but rude before Are publish'd now we now Increase the Store We perfect all the Old and find out more Shippings improv'd we add New Oars and Wings And Musick now is found and speaking Strings These Truths this Rise of things we lately know 4 thly Tho' we may fansie that these greater and permanent Bodies of the Planets and Stars may have been Eternal because they have lasted so many Thousand Years without any visible Change as is acknowledged by all yet we cannot bring our Imagination to conceive the Eternity of successive Beings possible for a great many Contradictions and Absurdities do follow it If Mankind had never any other Production than what is now then there was never any Man who had not a Beginning And if all had a Beginning then Mankind cannot be Eternal therefore we must of Necessity acknowledge the Production of some one or more from whom the rest have descended in a manner different from the present And there is no Account of the first Production of Mankind so reasonable or so probable not to say now certain as that which declares the immediate Creation of one Man and one Woman by the Hand of God The like may be said of all other succesive Beings But 5 thly and Lastly Tho' we should force our selves to grant the Eternity of the World and all particular Beings yet it could not be reasonably inferred from thence that there is no God for they who desire this large Concession must grant to us too which cannot possibly be denied that there have been from all Eternity Instances of great Power and Wisdom from which it necessarily follows that there is an Eternal Wise and Mighty Being for Power and Wisdom must proceed from something that is wise and powerful Therefore the Old Philosophers who did hold the Eternity of the World did believe it a necessary Emanation from the Being of God and thought not that it did or could subsist without him 9. It is 4 thly Objected against the Being of a God That if it was it would render the Being of other things impossible for if he was he would be infinite and if infinite there could be no Room for the Existence of other things But this Argument proceeds upon a mistaken Notion of the Infinite Nature of God as if he was some gross material Substance vastly extended whereas he is a Spirit that is a Substance altogether different from Matter or Body who hath not the Properties of it and consequently we cannot draw just or true Conclusions about him from what is observable in them God's Infinity is not infinite Extension and tho' his Omnipresence hath some Resemblance to it yet the Spirituality of his Nature makes his Ubiquity and Omnipresence in no wise incompatible with the Existence of Material Beings of Corporeal Substances Nay they are only sustained by the Infinity of his Essence and therefore the Existence of so many finite things which have no Self-Sufficiency to exist of themselves doth evidently demonstrate the Existence of an Infinite Essence as the Cause and Upholder of them It would be tedious to consider all the little Cavils and Objections of Atheists against a Deity The most material are reducible to those we have now proposed and may be refuted by the Answers which we have now given for they proceed either from wrong Apprehensions of the Nature and Attributes of God or from Ignorance of the Nature and Relation of other things or from an obstinate Resistance of what is de facto evident and all of them demonstrate their Unreasonableness and Absurdity which doth further appear by the absurd and unreasonable Consequences of not acknowledging a Deity which is a second Way of proving it 10. For if there be no God then it necessarily follows That either every thing made it self or that all things came from nothing and that there are Effects which have no Cause for there is Life Sense and Reason without any
being capable to produce them And there are artificial Contrivances regular Proceedings and wise Adaptation of things to Ends and Purposes far above the Power and Capacity of any thing which is existent These and many such things follow the Denial of a God which are not only great Difficulties but such gross and senseless Absurdities as no thinking Person can either swallow or digest As therefore Deformity sheweth Shape and Proportion beautiful so the Belief of a Deity appears more reasonable by the Absurdity and Unreasonableness of Atheism which contradicts common Sense overturns the agreed Principles of Knowledge and Reason confound Chance and Contrivance Accident and Design and which has its Recourse to Wild Romantick and most precarious Hypotheses for they cannot shun the owning an Infinity and the Existence of something from Eternity and they are forced to acknowledge that things are framed according to the Rules of Art and Proportion Now is it not more reasonable to ascribe the constant Observance of these Rules to an Intelligent Being than to Chance or no Cause For there is no middle thing betwixt them to be fixed on either the one or the other must take place Nature which they talk so much of is an Obscure Word for concealing their Thoughts and Sentiments If by this they mean something distinct from Matter which moves and directs it their Nature is God in Disguise and if they must flee to this for a rational Account of the Production of things why do they quarrel at the Word God which carries a clearer Idea and in the Sense of which all the World is agreed Tho' this Nature of theirs be equivalent yet it is more mysterious and therefore it smells of some designed Perverseness as if by the Use of this Word and the Disuse of the other they would turn Peoples Thoughts from God and God from the Honour of being the Creator of all things But if by Nature they only understand certain Laws and I know not what Ordinances by which things must move is this sufficient to explain the first Productions of things For tho' it should be true that Matter cannot move but according to these Laws and that moving by them in process of Time the Work could have been produced as it is at present after that Romantick Manner of Cartesius yet there was no Necessity that Matter should move at all nor could it move of it self Wherefore whether they will or not they must own the Existence of something prior to Matter it self or the Motion of it which Cartesius was sensible of and therefore he could not build his airy and fanciful System without supposing the Existence of a Deity And if he had kept his Eye upon this infinitely perfect Being and considered the World and all particular things as his Work if instead of a vain curious Enquiry how things should have been if Matter once moved had been left to it self he had shewed how things are and explained the admirable Contrivance of them if he had given us a History of Nature and described the Wisdom of God in the Make Order Place and Relation of particular things I say If Cartesius had done this as he seems to have been able for it the World would have been more obliged to him his Philosophy should have been more rational and satisfactory more useful to others and of more lasting Fame to himself Whereas now by turning his Thoughts from the Ends and Uses of things and the Wisdom of the Author and Contriver he has turn'd his Back upon the only true Light that was to have guided him he has grop'd in the Dark and produced nothing but useless Conjectures and the extravagant Ravings of his Brain which tickled Men at first as all Novelties use to do but which wise inquisitive and thinking Men will and must disgust because there wants Solidity As God is the first Cause and Author of all things so the Belief of a Deity is the Foundation of all solid Reason what is not built on this is Nonsense and Absurdity I know the Atheists arrogate to themselves Wit and Judgment and Knowledge above others and do think that it is the Ignorance and Credulity of the Bulk of Mankind as one lately Words it which make them to be of another Belief But I pray you must they carry away Sense and Understanding from others because they are so vain as to think it Do not those in Bedlam think themselves wiser than others All the rest of the World are Fools in their Eyes and those who keep them there not only Fools but Oppressors and most unjust And yet Atheism is a more extravagant and pernicious Madness which it is the Interest of Mankind to keep from spreading But alas it has been suffered to take Root and spread nay it is cherished and encouraged Men walk the Streets and publickly act this Madness In every Corner they throw their Squibbs of Scoffs and Drollery against the Almighty Author of their Being They meet in Companies to concert how they may most wittily expose him and what is the readiest way to render him ridiculous in the Eyes of others A Clinch or Jest or puny Witticism is received and entertained as an useful Discovery and carried about with all Diligence Tho' there be no Reason why the Atheist should be a Zealot there being no Obligation on him to propagate his Opinions and because the less they are entertained by others he is the more secure yet no Sect is become more zealous of late than Atheists and their Fraternity who maintain their Cause by an affronted Impudence by the Exercise of a froathy Wit more than Reason and by Jesting and Drollery rather than serious Argument And is this a reasonable or commendable way of handling a Matter so serious and important Should Impudence run down Evidence Should a Jest or a Witticism be of more Weight than the Dictates of common Sense and sober Reason If these Men were capable of Counsel I would ask them whether they are absolutely sure that they are in the right Are they able to demonstrate that there is no God This is more than any ever yet pretended to and if they cannot pretend to this ought they not to walk very cautiously If there be a God as there may for any Assurance they have to the contrary what then have they to expect for these bold Insults and that wicked Opposition to him A modest Enquiry into Truth even into the Existence of God himself is reasonable and cannot offend either God or Man But Spite and Insolency cannot by any Means be justified It shews a Desire that there should be no God more than Doubts and Scruples about his Existence which must needs provoke the most hight God and draw down his Judgments both on those who are guilty and on the Land which cherisheth them The CONCLUSION THO' the Existence of God be most evident yet I thought my self obliged to insist the longer upon proving it because it is of such Importance for it is the Foundation of all Knowledge and Certainty as well as of all Morality and Religion The Belief of a Deity is the first Article of the Christian Creed upon which the Truth and Certainty of the rest depend And therefore 't was necessary to shew that this is no vain Hypothesis or imaginary Supposition but a Truth loudly proclaimed and strongly confirmed not only by Reason but every part of the World So that whatever the Atheist may arrogate to himself and whatever Esteem may be paid to him unjustly in this corrupt Age yet he is so far from being wiser than others that by the universal Voice of Nature as well as Scripture he will be declared a Fool who saith that there is no God When I have proved that this God doth rule the World which is also included in this first Faith I shall then consider what it is to live by it and shall shew how necessary it is to the being just and righteous And I hope that there is such Satisfaction given in these Essays that who shall read them will be desirous of the other that are promised ERRATA PAge 1. line 2. read is p. 3. l. 7. r. Scripture p. 7. l. 29. r. Principle p. 12. l. 12. r. so well p. 13. l. 17. for touchos r. touch p. 19. l. 8. f. Squares r. Square p. 23. l. ult for is r. are p. 40 l. 31. r. as well ibid. l. 33 r. a part p. 42 l. 25. r. the f. their p. 43. l. 22. r. exceedingly p. 45. l. 13. f. be r. is p. 46. l. 21. f. should r. would p. 47. l. 14. r. conjoined p. 57. l. 20. r. there FINIS * By the latest and exactest Calculation of the Modern Mathematicians there goes 69 Miles and a Tenth Part to a Degree so that the Periphery or Circumference of the Earth is 24876 English Miles It s Diameter is 7915 and the whole Solidity may be reckoned Two Hundred Fifty Nine Thousand Five Hundred Seventy and Eight Million Nine Hundred Thrity Three Thousand Four Hundred and Five Cubical Miles The Earth is greater than Mercury or Mars for the First bears only the Proportion to it which an 100 hath to 347 and the other of an 100 to 334 That is the Earth is more than three times greater than any of these But then it is much less than the rest of the Planets for in respect of Venus the Earth has only the Proportion of 43 to an 100 to Jupiter as 121 to 10000 to Saturn as 296 to 10000 and to the Sun as 1 to 1367631. The Magnitude of the fixed Stars cannot be conjectured but there are Demonstrations offered to prove them greater than any of the Planets seeing they shine so bright at amost stupendius Distance For a Telescope which multiplieth 200 times doth not shew them bigger than they appear to the naked Eye but rather less Whence it follows That this planetary Orb is but as a Point in respect of the Distance of the fixed Stars and consequently That the Vniverse which comprehends the Planets and all the Stars visible and invisible each of which has a particular Orb must be Immense beyond all Imagination and Apprehension