Natural Theology, Chapter 2
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,foreign. 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; foreign.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 Soul, which the brute Beaſts have not. Though they have ſome reſemblance of reaſon, yet they have nothing of the impreſſion of a Deity, becauſe they are not made to the immediate praiſe and glory of their Creator, as Man is: Which is the reaſon why all Nations have acknowledged, and worſhipped a Deity. When the Apoſtle went forth in the execution of his Commiſſion, to preach the Goſpel in the Nations of the Gentile World; where-ever he came, he found the People performing Worſhip to ſome Deity or other. When he came to Athens, he found there that foreign, or ſuperſtitious fear, and reverence of their Gods; which Luke mentions in Acts 17. 22. Yea, not onelyonly at Athens, which was a place of Learning, but even amongſt the barbarous people: Which we read of in Acts 14. how they brought Garlands, and would have offered Sacrifices to Barnabas and Paul, which ſhews they had upon their hearts the ſenſe of a Deity; and ſome kind of religious Worſhip was found amongſt them. And their Learned Men have all along aſſerted, the worſhip of a Deity to be the chief part of the Law of Nature, God having a Witneſs for himſelf in every Man's Conſcience. But this I ſhall ſpeak more of afterwards.
2. The Being of God is made known by the Scriptures, which throughout declare to us that God is: And this is the evidence of Faith, as in Heb. 11. 3. Through Faith we underſtand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God; ſo that the things which are ſeen, were not made of things which do appear. A Text ſomewhat parallel to that which I am now diſcourſing upon. For both of them ſpeaks of the Viſible Things of Nature, and the Inviſible Things of God. Both do ſpeak of theſe Inviſible things of God, evidenced to the mind of man. But with this difference, the one doth ſpeak of the evidence that Reaſon gathers from Nature, the other of the evidence of Faith from the Word of God. So it follows in the ſixth Verſe; He that cometh to God, muſt believe that he is. Faith believes it from the Scriptures, which give witneſs of him, being the proper Object of Faith. And God hath written his Name in clearer Characters in theſe, than what is found in the Book of Conſcience. Had Natural Conſcience been ſufficient, there had been no need of the Scriptures, which were written to inform, rectifie, and guide Conſcience, wherein it is defective or erroneous: So that, as it is ſaid, Ideò ſcribuntur omnes Libri ut emendetur unus; All Books are written to amend the Book of Conſcience. So eſpecially we may ſay it of the Book of Scriptures. Conſcience hath thence a clearer account, not only of the Will and Counſels of God, but even of his very Nature and Being, than by any Characters thereof it can diſcover within it ſelf.
3. The Being of God is alſo made known to us from the Works of Creation. All theſe Works of God do preach a Deity. As the Heavens are ſaid to declare his Glory, and the Firmament to ſhew his Handy-work, Pſal. 19. 1. ſo his Name is ſaid to be excellent in all the Earth, Pſal. 8. 1. The Beams of his Divinity ſhine through the Latitude of all Created Beings. And if you lay your eye in a Beam of the Sun, it leads it to the Body of the Sun. As in every Creature there is aliquid nihili, ſomething of nothing; ſo there is aliquid Dei, ſomething of God.
Praeſentemque refert quaelibet Herba Deum.
The Herbs we ſee, ſhew God to Be.
As the Philoſopher being asked, where his Books were, anſwered, His Books were, Totius Entis naturalis Univerſitas; The Univerſity of all natural Being. And verily thoſe that have no Books, and never were at any Univerſity of Learning, may in the Book of Nature, and the Univerſity of created beings, read and underſtand the Being of God.
Now this is the Evidence of his Being that my Text ſpeaks of, and therefore is to be the ſubject of my preſent Diſcourſe. Which I ſhall explain by theſe following Arguments.
Arg. 1. It is impoſſible for this Creation to give itſelf a Being. The Heavens could not make themſelves, nor the Earth itſelf, for then they ſhould be before themſelves. Their acting before their exiſting, which is impoſſible to Reaſon. For it is a true ſaying in Philoſophy, Operari ſequitur eſſe; Operations do follow the Creatures Being, both as to time, and the manner of working. As alſo, Nihil producitur in actum niſi per ens in actu; Nothing is produced into actual being but by ſome Being that doth actually exiſt. And therefore this Creation muſt be brought into being by ſome actual Being that was before it:Nil ſe gignit, nil provenit a ſe. Paling. And what can that be but God alone.
Should we aſſert the World was made by Angels, as the Carpocratians ſaid of old; yet who then made thoſe Angels. Much leſs could it be made by Men, for they underſtand little of the works of it how it is made. And how came Man himſelf firſt to be? Its true what we read Act. 17. Of one Blood were made all Nations; but not by Creation, but Generation. And what gave being to that one Blood? There we muſt have recourſe to a firſt Being; and who that is, the Text tells us, God made of one Blood all Nations.
Or, ſhould we ſay according to the antient Philoſophy, now revived by ſome, That the Univerſe was framed by the fortuitous concourſe of innumerable Atomes of ſeveral Forms, Figures, and Qualities, that from Eternity danced up and down in an infinite ſpace. And thoſe that were heavieſt fell loweſt, and made the Earth; And thoſe that were lighter took their place above them. Thoſe that were moiſt did coaleſce into Water, and thoſe that were thin and rare into Air and the ſuperiour Elements. Which was the fond and irrational Opinion of certain Philoſophers of old,The account of this Opinion we find at large in Gaſſendus. as Leucippus, Lucretius, and eſpecially Epicurus.
But of this Opinion we need no other confutation than the exact Order of all things in Nature; which could not be ſo by ſome chance or accident. No more than an Houſe exactly built could come into ſuch a frame by the Caſual meeting together of Stones and Timber. And why did thoſe Atomes fall together then, and not ſooner? And whence is it that the courſe of Nature is now ſo fixed and conſtant? if all things came together at firſt by chance, all things ſtill ſhould fall out by chance. Or if we ſhould admit a poſſibility of ſuch an orderly concourſe of theſe Atomes, yet how came theſe Atomes into being? Did they make themſelves? That I ſhewed was impoſſible. Were they Eternal? How come they then to be changed from what they were. For whatever is from Eternity m…ſt needs be the ſame to Eternity. But he that deſires a further confutation of this fancy, may read what is written againſt it by a learned Knight in his Book againſt Atheiſm.Sir Char. Wolſely.
There were ſome other Philoſophers that ſaid, All things did ariſe out of Number; as the Pythagoreans. But it is ſuppoſed, they meant all things did ariſe out of Unity; that is, from one firſt Being; from that Unity which is, Unitatis omnis effectrix, as one ſpeaks; that hath produced all creatures, in the ſeveral Unities of their individual Beings.
Others of them thought that all things did at firſt ſpring out of Contraries. It's true, All compound Bodies are made up of contrary Elements.Frigida pugnabant calidis, humentia ſiccis. Ovid. Met. l. 1. p. 2. And the oppoſition of two Contraries in Nature may produce ſome third thing different from them both. But theſe Contraries muſt have an exiſtence in their diſtinct natures before any compound can reſult from them. And ſo though they be the material or formal cauſe of any effects in Nature, yet they themſelves could not have exiſtence without ſome efficient cauſe; and this doth neceſſarily lead us up to God, who is the firſt Cauſe.
Or, could we conjecture with Pliny, (for it was but his conjecture) that the World itſelf is an Eternal Deity. Plin. Nat. Phil. Lib. 1. c. 7.For ſo he ſpeaks; God, whoſoever he be, if happily there be any other but the very world, he is all Sight, all Hearing, all Life, all Soul, all of Himſelf.
But he ſpeaks more poſitively concerning the Sun, Verily, ſaith he, it is the Life and Soul of the World, the principal Governour of Nature,Lib. 1. cap. 6. and no leſs than a God, or Divine Power, conſidering his work and operation.
Or, can we ſay with Ariſtotle, That the World is eternal; which Opinion he grounded upon this Principle, Ex nihilo nil fit; Out of nothing nothing is made. Which is true, if we ſpeak of nothing as it imports matter out of which things are made. But if we mean by nothing only the term from whence Creation began, ſo it is not true; For all things did ſo ariſe from nothing as their term. It is alſo true in Philoſophy, that nothing can bring forth nothing in a natural courſe; but it is not ſo in Divinity, that treats of God and his Infiniteneſs; For He can produce being out of non-being, as He hath done in the Worlds Creation. And as we read in Geneſis 1. 1.
But it is as well againſt Reaſon as againſt Scripture to aſſert the World to be Eternal. For as there could be no Progreſs in Number, if there was no unit out of which all Number ſprings: For Number is greater or leſſer as it is nearer to, or farther off from Unity: So there could be no computation of time, if there was not ſome firſt moment. For Time is nothing elſe but a ſucceſſion or flux of moments; as one gives this deſcription of it it is Nunc fluens. So that all time muſt be computed according to its nearneſs to, or remoteneſs from the beginning of time. If there was no beginning of time, there could be no Prius & poſterius. We could not reckon Ancient and Modern. And there could properly be no ſuch thing as Antiquity. For this preſent moment would be as antient, with reſpect to Eternity, as a thouſand years ago. And therefore ſeeing there is prius & poſterius, ſooner and later in time, there muſt of neceſſity be ſome beginning of time.
And if there be a beginning of Time, there muſt be a beginning of the World. For Time and the World were alwaies together.
Arg. 2. We ſee in Nature every thing is ſerving a rational End. As the Sun enlightens the World, which elſe would be but one great Dungeon, and unfit for habitation. The Clouds and Rain ſerve an end, which is to cool and mo…ſten the Earth, which elſe would be dry and barren. The Winds do ſerve an end, which is to purge and purifie the Air, that for want of motion it might not corrupt and putrifie. And the Earth is endued with a Seminal vertue to bring forth Herbs and Fruits of ſeveral kind for the uſe of Man and Beaſt.
And as all things in Nature ſerve an End, ſo they are wonderfully fitted to their ſeveral Ends. Now whence is this but from ſome wiſe Agent that fitted things thus to their end. As Philoſophers tell us of four ſorts of Cauſes in Nature, the Efficient, Formal, Material, and Final, and the one hath dependance upon the other: If there was no efficient there could be no matter, if no matter no form, if no form no end; for the form is given with reſpect to the end. But where we ſee matter, and that matter inveſted with form, and that form ſerving an end, we may then conclude this could not be without an efficient. As when we ſee a Clock or Watch, and ſee how every Wheel, yea every Pin therein doth ſerve an end, and theſe fitted to that end, we conclude this was not by chance, but by the workmanſhip of ſome skilful Artiſt. Or, had we ſeen Archimedes his Sphere, artificially framed to repreſent the ſeveral Motions of the Heavenly Orbes, we ſhould conclude, this was not thus framed of it ſelf. So when we ſee all things in Nature in motion, and every wheel of Nature moving to a rational end, we may conclude, this was done by ſome Infinite Intelligence. Which the Heathen Philoſophers did acknowledg, when they called God, or the Maker of all things, foreign, Mind, and Reaſon, as we read in Plato. Anaxagoras ſo freq…ently called God Mens, that in deriſion they gave him the name of Mens. And as Virgil, as I remember ſpeaks,
Totáque infuſa per artus
Mens agitet molem, &c.
A Mind this Heap doth actuate,
And through its joints doth penetrate.
By which we may perceive that they apprehended the World had a Maker, and that He that made all things, was an Intelligent Being. Lactantius quoting the ſeveral deſcriptions the Heathen Philoſophers made of God, Lib. 1. cap. 5. among the reſt, quotes Chryſippus deſcribing him to be, Naturalem vim divinâ Ratione praeditam. A natural Power endued with Divine Reaſon. For they evidently ſaw a Divine Wiſdom join'd with Power in all the works of Creation.
Argum. 3. We ſee in the Creation the excellent proportion and uſefulneſs of one part to another for the preſervation of the whole, and the ſuitableneſs of the whole to Man that is made the Lord of it. The Life of Man or Beaſt cannot be preſerved without Food; Food they cannot have unleſs the Earth bring it forth; bring it forth it cannot unleſs it be watered with Showers from Heaven; Showers there cannot be without Clouds; Clouds cannot be without Vapours; Vapours there cannot be, unleſs they are exhaled by the Sun from the Waters; and for this end the Sun-beams do not only bring down Light and Heat to the Earth, but attract Vapours from it towards Heaven, and all for the ſervice of the Earth. Wherein we ſee the Heavens hearing the Earth, and the Earth hearing the Corn, Wine, and Oyl, and other Fruits, and all hearing Man. And as in this lower World one part of the Creation is ſupported by another, as the Earth by the Waters and Air, ſo this whole lower World is preſerved by the ſuperiour World, and under the dominion of it, which ſhews the excellent Order of things in Nature; each part tending to preſerve the whole, which the Philoſophers call the Harmony of the Univerſe. As one of them ſpeaks, Natura eſt perfectiſſima Harmonia; There is no Harmony better than the Order of Nature. For as in Harmony, though there are ſeveral Sounds, yet are they ſo tempered and modulated, as to make pleaſant Muſick. So the ſeveral parts of the Univerſe are ſo adapted and fitted to each other, as that they all do conſtitute an harmonious Order. And as Harmony ariſeth out of Diſcords, ſo there is in the Univerſe, Concordia diſcors, Creatures of contrary Natures and Qualities, yet ſo mixed and proportioned, as that they ſweetly agree together, and harmonize with each other, and ſerve mutually to the preſervation of one another.
And if we conſider how the Creation is fitted to the uſe of Man, and Man is fitted to it, who was made the Lord of it, we may eaſily diſcern this was done by ſome wiſe Agent. As there are many pleaſant qualities in natural things, ſo man hath ſeveral bod…ly Senſes, whereby to diſcern and enjoy the pleaſantneſs of them. To what purpoſe was there ſweet Smells, beautiful Colours, pleaſant Taſts in the Flowers and Fruits of the Earth, if there were no ſuch Senſes, as Seeing, Taſting, or Smelling. And ſo to what purpoſe would theſe Senſes be in the Bodies of Men, if there were not ſuitable Objects provided in Nature for them. And ſo when we obſerve in theſe fruits of the Earth ſuch vertues and qualities that are both nouriſhing and medicinal to the Body of Man, and ſome of them have Signatures and Characters upon them that declare their vertue, and what part of Mans Body they are uſeful to, it ſhewes they were created for the uſe of Man. As we ſee a Man that builds an Houſe for his uſe, he doth fit it with Rooms, Furniture, and Utenſils, to make it a convenient Habitation. So hath God fitted this World to be an habitation for Man, who is made to be the Inhabitant of it, Act. 17. 26.
And as the Nature of Man doth affect variety, ſo hath God furniſht the World with infinite variety of Creatures, for the gratifying of his Senſe, and for the delightful exerciſe of his Mind; and by all ſetting forth His own manifold Wiſdom; and commending Himſelf to Man by his great Goodneſs and Bounty herein.
And there is ſuch a ſuitableneſs betwixt the World and Man, that Man is called a little World. But the greater World doth ſerve the leſſer. After God had made and finiſhed the reſt of his works, He then made Man, and epitomized them all in him; and gave him dominion over them: And the exact fitneſs of the ſeveral parts of the Creation to his uſe, doth ſhew that it is the Effect of ſome Infinite Wiſdom.
Arg. 4. Whence is it that thoſe two Natural Principles of Self-preſervation, and Self-propagation, are ſo inviolably founded in the Nature of all living Creatures; even thoſe that have no Reaſon, as well as thoſe that have: both which are neceſſary to the preſervation of the Univerſe. May not we hence eaſily argue, that ſurely this was done intentionally for ſuch an end. And if intentionally, then it is done by Reaſon; and if by Reaſon, it muſt be by His Reaſon that firſt made this Univerſe. For is it not rational, that when the Creatures were made they ſhould be preſerved, both in the Individuals and the ſeveral Species or kinds of their being; and what can do this better in a natural courſe, than for them to have theſe two Principles inherent in their ſeveral Natures.
And ſo we may obſerve in Vegetables, as Herbs, Flowers, Trees; they all have a Seed in themſelves, which Nature brings forth for the preſervation of their ſeveral Kinds in a continued ſucceſſion of Individuals of the ſame kind. And whence is this rational proviſion in Nature, but by ſome rational Agent, and who can that be but the God of Nature, that was before it, and founded this rational Law in it, and is the Natura naturans, as Philoſophers ſpeak: That Nature that is the Original and Law-giver of Nature.
Arg. 5. We may obſerve in the Creation there are degrees of being, and this ſhews there is ſome chief Being. And there are degrees of Perfection, which ſhews there is ſome chief Perfection. For elſe we could not compute degrees, if there was no firſt, with reſpect to which ſuch computation is to be made.
Theſe degrees in Nature are by learned Men call'd the Scale of Nature; and we muſt come to ſome top in the Scale or Ladder, and not aſcend in Infinitum, though we muſt into Infinity, which is the Infinite God. For, as I ſaid before, where there is prius & poſterius, there is primum & poſtremum; So where there is magis & minus, there is maximum & minimum; where there are degrees of Perfection, there muſt needs be ſome greateſt Perfection, and what can that be, but that God who is Optimus & Maximus, who is the moſt excellent Being, and the firſt Perfection. For inſtance; we ſee ſome knowledg in Brutes, but more in Man, more in Angels, but there is a Being then that is perfect in knowledg. And ſo I might ſpeak of all Perfections, whether natural or moral; The degrees of them ſhew there is One Firſt. Or, if you will look upon theſe degrees of Being amongſt the Creatures as ſeveral parts of being, we may again argue, Where there are parts, there muſt be ſome whole; and where there are particulars, there muſt be ſome univerſal. Now we ſee the Creatures Being is but a particular being, and in their ſeveral kinds we ſee ſeveral parts of Being, none of them having all Being in themſelves, and therefore there muſt be ſome totum of Being, or ſome Being that is univerſal, that comprehends in it ſelf all Being, and what can this be but God alone.
Argum. 6. We ſee in the Creation how Creatures that are without Reaſon, yet act according to the exact Rules of Reaſon; which could not be, were they not guided and acted by ſome other principle than their own reſpective Natures. For no Nature can act of it ſelf beyond its own Principle: As we ſee how the Bee doth make its Comb, and the Spider its Web, and the Birds their Neſts, and Bevers their Houſes in the Waters, conſiſting of ſeveral ſtories (as I have heard from Eye-witneſſes) according to the exacteſt Rules of Art and Reaſon. And if you ſay, that theſe Creatures have Reaſon quoad hoc, as to thoſe things that belong to the benefit of their own natures, though not to other things; Yet what ſhall we ſay to thoſe Creatures that have not ſo much as Senſe, or a Senſitive life; as Plants and Trees in this lower World. Whence is it that the Ivy, as if it did know it was a weak Plant, and could not ſubſiſt of itſelf ſhould naturally bend to the Wall or Tree that is near it, there to fix, and as it were incorporate itſelf by a ſtrange and firm in.heſion? Whence is it that a Tree doth fix its Roots with that ſtrength and Art in the bowels of the Earth, that no man can imagine how it could be done better, as if it did know what blaſts of wind it muſt encounter with, which threaten its ſubverſion, &c.
And what Wiſdom is that which guides and carries the Root downward, when the Boughs and Branches aſcend upward; as if it underſtood the need it ſtood in of the fatneſs and moiſture of the Earth, and therefore doth ſend forth its roots up and down through the Earth to forage, and fetch it in.
So alſo, If we conſider how curiouſly the Embrio or Infant is formed in the Womb of her that is with Child; the formative vertue that doth this is ignorant of what it doth, and yet every part is formed to a rational End in Nature.
And whence is it in the upper World that the Sun is placed at ſuch a convenient diſtance from the Earth, and ſteers its motion by ſuch a Line as is moſt for the benefit of it. That when it is gone to its Tropic in the South, it ſhould return back again to the North, as if it did rationally provide for the benefit of each part and region of the lower World? In ſo much that the Pſalmiſt doth attribute Knowledg to it, Pſal. 104. 19. The Sun knoweth its going down. And as Tully argues concerning the Heavens, Their motion is either by Nature, Chance, or Prudence. Not by Nature, for if they were light, they would move upwards; if heavy, they would move downwards; if neither, they would ſtand ſtill: Nor by chance, for they move in a conſtant and regular Order, where there is nothing temerarium nec fortuitum, nothing raſh nor accidental, as he ſpeaks Lib. 2. De Nat. Deor. And therefore they move by Prudence: And that not their own, as they were Gods, as ſome imagined, but by his Wiſdom that made them, by that Eternal Mind that ſuperintends and guides their motions; which he that denies, Ipſe mentis expers judicandus eſt, as he there ſpeaks: that is, one void of Reaſon. If we yield theſe things are done by Nature, and natural Inſtincts; yet ſtill we muſt reply, Whence had Nature theſe ſeveral inſtincts; and if it acts and moves by a Law, who put this Law firſt into it, but He that made all things in Wiſdom, and hath left the prints and footſteps of it in the ſeveral works of his hand. If we ſee an Arrow for the moſt part hit the mark, no man will ſay, This is by chance; but it is guided by ſome skilful hand. So Nature could never produce in ſo great a conſtancy ſuch admirable effects, if it was not guided by ſome inviſible hand.
Argum. 7. We ſee this Order in Nature, that all Creatures do ſerve ſome end above themſelves; As Creatures without life do ſerve thoſe Creatures that have life, and thoſe Creatures that have only a vegetative life ſerve the Creatures that have a Senſitive Life, and thoſe that have a Senſitive Life do ſerve Man that hath a ſuperiour Rational Life; and therefore Man alſo was made to ſerve ſome end above himſelf: and what can this be but to ſerve his Creator. For there is no end that Man can ſerve above himſelf, but ſerving God, which may evidence to us that God is.
And as there is ſome Equity and Reaſon that thoſe things in Nature which are inferior ſhould ſerve the ſuperior, ſo it is the higheſt Reaſon in the world, that Man ſhould ſerve Him that is infinitely ſuperiour to him, and ſupreme over all, and which is that End above Man which he was made to ſerve.
Argum. 8. Laſtly, We ſee all things in Nature under certain bounds and limits. As the Earth, the Waters, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Heavens; So are all living creatures bounded and limited in their ſeveral natures. And within theſe bounds they ſtill abide. Now how came all things to be thus circumſcribed and limited? Why are their ſeveral natures extended thus far and no farther, when it is natural to the Creatures to be extenſive of themſelves towards ſome further perfection in their Beings? Natural Bodies are under Limits, and ſo are created Spirits, as Angels in their ſeveral Orders or denominations, and the Souls of Men. Now who hath ſet theſe limits, but that firſt Being, who is unlimited, and hath made all things in Number, Weight and Meaſure? It is He that hath given the Earth its dimenſions, and confined the Waters within their Banks, that comprehendeth the duſt of the Earth in a Meaſure; that weigheth the Hills in Scales, and the Mountains in a Balance. It is He that hath meted out the Heavens with his Span, and appointed the number of the Stars, and calleth them all by name. Which the Grecians meant by calling their chief God Jupiter, foreign, or the Limiter; and the Romans call'd him Jovem Terminalem. As God hath given the Creatures their being, ſo He hath ſet them the ſeveral Bounds of their Being. And to make this yet more plain in a few Inſtances. Whence is it that a Stone hath not a vegetative Life as well as a Tree; and a Tree a Senſitive Life as well as a Beaſt; and a Beaſt Reaſon as well as a Man; and why are not Men intellectual Spirits as well as Angels? All Creatures are bounded in their ſeveral natures, and what, or who could thus bound them, but the God and Author of Nature. So that upon the whole I may conclude, That if the World was a living Animal, as Plato fancied, and knew it ſelf, it would readily acknowledg its Beginning and Being from God alone.