Selected quad for the lemma: world_n
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A26122
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The atheist unmasked, or, A confutation of such as deny the being of a supream deity that governs heaven and earth by unanswerable arguments deduc'd ... / by ---- a person of honour.
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Person of honour.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing A4108; ESTC R16362
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18,787
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24
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in the end to that madness as ridiculously to confess that himself was a God As for Epicurus he denyed not Gods essence but his Providence believing there was a God that did neither evil nor good as Tully affirms and so for I hericides Dionisius and the rest Laertius gives a full account of them accordingly but suppose all those few that have been branded for Atheists were absolute ones wholly denying a God is it not a great madness for the Atheists of our times to take up their impiety that has been exploded and hist off the Stage of the World in all Ages by the judgment and consent of the ablest Philosophers and Learnedst both of Heathens and Christians to whom they are infinitely short in number and as much in Learning But as pride was the Father of Atheisme amongst the Philosophers who gloried in opposing one another and being the Author of some new opinion so 't is to be feared too justly in that the wickedness and debauchery of our later times as the Apostle tells us there should come Mockers living after their own lusts has been the occasion of some Mens continuing that horrid impiety being abhorred of God and all good Men having no other way to give a seeming countenance to their impiety but to graft it upon the old dry stock of Atheisme and so by their jollities and profaneness make it their business to stifle their Consciences and hating the light least their evil deeds should be reproved But herein the Atheist is much disapointed of his great End being not to serve and not to fear as for serving surely there is not greater Slave in the World than he that is a Slave to his Lusts as every luxurious and debauched Person is endeavouring to cast off God and set up his Lusts to rule over him which he readily obeys it being most true which Cicero says omnes improbi servi all wicked Men are Slaves and therefore the Atheist is very far from that supposed liberty in choosing of his Atheisme he has promised to himself being thereby made a Servant not only of many Masters but also of most base and unworthy ones whilst virtue is wholly slighted by him accounting it mean and base whereas 't is the greatest honour to be vertuous and that there is nothing so mean and base as vice or so unworthy a Gentleman for nobilitas sola atque unica virtus 't was the resolution of Seneca that was an Heathen licet Deus nesciret nec homo puniret peccatum non tamen peccarem ob peccati vilitatem though God did not know nor Man would not punish Sin yet I would not commit sin for the baseness of it besides 't is far easier for Men to be virtuous than vitious And as to the servile fear the Atheist would free himself from he rather increases it for there is no Man that is afraid of God so much as they that would seem to fear him least none so basely fears him .. as those that seem most to contemn him and this slavish fear and terrour oft falls upon them in their health and greatest granduieur Suetonius tells us that Caligula that despised all Gods and would be a God himself and to that purpose had a Temple Altars and Priests yet if there happened any great Thunder clap would get under his Bed to save himself But this fear terrifies the Atheist most when he comesto dye not so much the fear of Death as what shall become of him after Death Laertius gives us an instance of Bion of Boristhenes one of the most obdurate Atheists that when in his sickness he perceived he must dye that he would rather have endured any Torment than have dyed fearing he should be committed by God whom he had denyed unto the Devil to be Tormented and therefore put out his hand to him hoping to Cajole him to be kind to him with this flattering Salutation Salve Pluto Salve welcome Devil welcome it seem's he did acknowledge there was a Devil and then probably that there was a God if not then he made the Devil whom he was afraid of his God and so dyed not an absolute Atheist And Cicero tells us of Epicurus that though no Man seemed more to contemn God and Death yet no Man more feared both the one and the other and we have a late instance of one of our own Nation the Lord R. a Man of a Luxuriant wit and bad life who prided himself in Atheism and took a delight in propagating of it who when he fell sick of the disease whereof he dyed how sadly he bewailed his Impiety seriously recanted it and made protestation if God would spare his life he would be as zealous in asserting the true God as ever he had been in denying him and would attest the reality of his Conversion by a pious Conversation Now this inward fear which the Atheist has of God and outwardly bewrayes on several occasions is no less an Argument that he believes there is a God then if he should plainly confess it in word and is indeed a far greater for that this is real and the other but verbal and this is the result of Conscience which God hath planted in every Man as his deputy to inform what is Good and what is Evil. I question whither there ever was or can be in the World an interrupted and internal denyal of the being of a God or that Men unless we can suppose Conscience utterly dead can arrive to such a degree of Impiety for before they can stifle such sentiments in them whatever they may Assert they must be utter strangers to the Common Conceptions of reason and despoil themselves of their own humanity he that dares deny a God with his lips sets up some thing or other as a God in his heart is it not Lamentable that this sacred truth consented to by all Nations which is the bond of civil societies and force of all order in the World should not only be denyed with a bare face and disputed against in Companies and the Glory of a wise Creator ascribed to an unintelligent nature or blind chance are not such worse than the Heathens they worshiped many Gods these none they preserved a Notion of God in the World under a disguise of Images these would Banish him both from Earth and Heaven and demolish the Statues of him in their own Consciences they degraded him these would destroy him they coupled Creatures with him these would make him worse than the Creature a meer nothing for that Earth is become hereby worse than Hell Hell that receives such persons in this point reformes them the Devil that rejoyces at their wickedness know's them to be in an error for he believes and Trembles this must needs be a forerunner of sore Judgment boldness in sin is a presage of vengeance especially when the honour of God is more Particularly concern'd therein it tends to the overturning of humane societies and God
THE ATHEIST Unmasked OR A Confutation of such as deny the Being of a SUPREAM DEITY that governs HEAVEN and EARTH BY Unanswerable Arguments deduc'd 1. From the receiv'd Principles of Natural Reason 2. The Consent of all Nations who own and Worship a God though some mistake the Right object 3. From the certainty of Scripture History the most Authentick Record in the World And 4. From divers Reasons drawn from other Topic's All design'd to prevent the growth of Atheism the worst of Heresies By A Person of Honour Psalm 14.1 The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God see Psal 10.4 53.1 London Printed for Langley Curtiss at Sir Edmondbury-Godfreys Head near Fleet-bridge 1685. An ERRATA SEveral gross Faults are COmitted by the neglect of the Press which the Reader is desired to Correct with his Pen as in P. 3. l. 4. for will read would P. 4. l. 6. for uncontemptible read contemptible Fishermen P. 6. l. 1. for hearts read hearers l. 13. for Jnjuries read Enemies P. 10. l. 3. for satisfactions read satisfactory idem P. l. 11. for Dumb read Dim'd idem P. l. 18. for several read even all idem P. l. 23. and 24. for Andragoras read Anaxagoras and for Eumerus read Euemerus P. 12. l. 18. for and then Incite read and Cite P. 13. l. 24. for elimate read eliminate P. 14. for Eumerus read Euemerus idem P. l. 17. for Antioche read Antiochenus P. 18. l. the Last for bewitched read bewildred P. 19. l. 25. for and has no end read has no end P. 21. l. 7. for an intelligible Riddle read an untelligible Riddle idem P. l. 11. for extradate read extraduce THE ATHEIST UNMASKED c. THat there should be any such Monster in nature as for a Man who pretends to be a reasonable Creature to deny there is a God is an Impiety out-does the Devils who believe and tremble but Historians and Writings of former times have told us there were such amongst the Heathens and good Authors and sad experience do assure us that such have been and are in the times of Christianity Saint Jude tells us that in the last times there shall be Mockers living after their own Lusts ungodly Men that turn the grace of God into wantoness denying God our only Lord and our Lord Jesus Christ and I find a Learned and Pious Bishop of Salisbury who has written an excellent treatise against it sadly bewailing the growth of it above threescore Years since and sayes though it be a thing so necessary to be believed that there is a God yet least laboured in by Divines to farther our belief and though our Church be stored with some excellent Master Builders and Learned Men yet few or none sets his hand to this many work upon the walls to make them firm and strong many upon the roof to keep it close and light some beautifie and adorn it but none looks down into the ground work of it that it be laid so low as to reach unto the Rock whereby there is a space left for Pioneers and Underminers and such like deceitful Workers which are not able to break through the Walls yet do dig under the Foundation to evert all and complains that this argument is the most deserted part of all Theology and wherein fewest Divines have bestowed their pains the more is the pitty which puts me in mind of the Parable in the Gospel of the Man that sowed good seed in his Field and whilst he slept the Enemy came and sowed Tares so be the seed never so good and well sown yet if it be neglected and we sleep the Enemy win take advantage to sow his Tares and if little or no notice be taken of him he will grow bold and think himself in the right But I must not stay upon generalls resolving to confine my discourse into a very narrow compass for I observe the fate of long tracts to be fruitless in a great measure because the price deterrs most from buying and the length from reading I must be forced also if I have hope of prevailing with or against the Atheist to loose the advantage of Scripture proofs in a great measure because he denies the Scriptures to be of God but to be only humane inventions to cozen the People so that it would be to cast Pearls before Swine to trample them under their feet But by the Atheists leave 't is very unreasonable for him not to give the Scripture so antient an History that Historical Faith that he does to Plutarch Livie and other Historiographers who takes for truth what they write because he cannot accuse the Authors of falshood and for him to say the Scriptures are the contrivances of Men unless he could by some demonstration or probable argument make it appear so is a pittiful shift if they had been such the prying Atheist and his spawn the Deboshee would long since have detected it and we should have heard of it with both Eares all that he can possibly object must be either they that wrote them were deceivers or were themselves deceived I 'le first instance the New Testament which the Atheist most slights and therein the Four Evangelists who write the Life and Death and Resurrection of Christ whosoever weighes their Writings and considers what good Precepts there are of Love Charity Meekness Patience Humility Obedience to Magistrates and Parents and what threatnings to Wickedness Debauchery Whoredom Swearing Lying Drunkenness and all evil must certainly conclude they were not deceivers the Jews indeed as mortal Enemies to Christ and his Disciples as the Atheist endeavoured to make the World believe they and their Master were such but the Resurrection of Christ galled them for when they found he was risen from the Grave and his Tomb empty they raged extreamly and were cut to the heart well knowing that if his Resurrection should be admitted that would justifie Christ and his Apostles and condemn themselves for Malefactors in Crucifying him as the Council told the Apostles Act. 5. You will bring this Mans Blood upon us then if the Resurrection of Christ which is the Foundation of all Religion can by any probable demonstration be cleared the Atheist must acknowledge there is a God and his Apostles not deceivers therefore I 'le only insist upon that which to prevent the World from believing they thought the probablest way was to corrupt the Watch that kept the Sepulchre with assurance of indemnity to say his Disciples came by Night and stole him away while they slept this is a very improbable tale and carries fiction in the fore-head for 't is clear Christ was Buried on the Fryday and there was no Watch set till the Night following then surely if his Disciples would have stollen him away they would have done it the first Night when there was no Watch set Mat. 27.62 and indeed 't is too incredible they could do it and too too incredible they would do it 'T is too too