Natural Theology, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
God's Being Demonſtrated from the Creation of man. Several peculiar things ſpoken of about his Creation. How the Workmanſhip and Operations of of the body declares Gods Being. The ſoul conſidered in its Capacity, innate principles, immortality, operations; whence we have a further evidence of God's Being.
I Shall now proceed to ſpeak to a further evidence of God's Being from one ſpecial part of his Creation, which is the Creation of man. And therefore ſhall ſpeak to it by it ſelf. And we may obſerve ſome peculiar things related about it above what is ſaid of the other works of God.
1. When God in the courſe of his works came to give Man his Being, He ſaid Come let us make Man. Of his other Works he only ſaid let them be, as, Let there be Light, and Let there be a Firmament &c. But as if himſelf was more Concerned, and that in the Trinity of his Being, about making Man then any other of his works, he ſaith let us make Man.
2. Other creatures he ſpeaks to the Earth and Waters to bring them forth, whether Vegetables; as Herbs, Graſs, Fruits, Trees, &c. Or Animals in the ſeveral Regions of Ayr, Earth, or Water where they do Inhabit, But God ſets to his own hand in the making of Man, He himſelf forms him of the duſt of the ground, and then himſelf breathed into him the breath of life, Gen. 2. 7.
3. God ſaith alſo of Man, Let us make Man, after our own Image, and our own likeneſs. Gen. 1. 26. Which he ſaid not of his other works, either the Light or Firmament, or Sun, Moon, or Stars, which are all Glorious Creatures; Yet he ſaid of none of theſe, Let us make them after our own likeneſs. It may be obſerved alſo that the Word Created is three times repeated, and that in one Verſe, with reſpect to Man's Creation. So God Created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God Created he him, Male and Female Created he them. Gen. 1. 27. Which ſome concieve refers to the plural term uſed about the making of Man. Let us make Man. God Created him, that is God the Father; God Created him, that is God the Son; God Created him that is God the Holy Ghoſt. And which is remarkable, when God is called in Scripture the Maker or Creator of Man it is ſtill expreſſed Plurally, as 35 Job 10. and 149 Pſal. 2. 12 Eccles. 1. 54 Iſa. 5. Where God is ſtiled the Creatours, and Makers of Man in the Hebrew Text. Yet the Creation of him was but one; and the God that Created him one alſo.
4. Man had this Preeminence alſo that he was Created laſt. God proceeding from the more imperfect to the more perfect Works. Making Man laſt, ſhews he is the moſt perfect part of his Creation. And God ſhewed this reſpect to him alſo herein, that he would not make him, till he had Built and richly furniſht the World, to be a fit habitation for him. And it is Evident that God had Man in his eye when he was erecting, framing, and furniſhing of it, for it is exactly fitted to the nature, neceſſity, and delight of Man: as he had Chriſt in his eye when he made Man. And indeed when God had finiſht the reſt of his Creation, he did Epitomize it all in Man; for in his conſtitution, we have Mortal, and Immortal, Viſible and Inviſible, Corporeal and Incorporeal, Material and Immaterial, the Superior and Inferior World joyn'd together to the making of one perſon. So that man is utriuſque mundi nexus, as Scaliger ſpeaks. And there is not ſuch a creature as Man upon this account in the whole Creation. Whereupon David that knew well his curious frame, ſpeaks largely of the workmanſhip of God herein, Pſal. 139. v. 13. 14, 15. 16. verſes. Thou haſt poſſeſſed my Reins, thou haſt covered me in my Mothers Womb. I will praiſe thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Marvelous are thy Works, and that my Soul knoweth right well. My Subſtance was not hid from thee when I was made in ſecret, and curiouſly wrought in the loweſt parts of the Earth. So that God having impreſt ſo much of his own Likeneſs, and beſtowed ſuch peculiar Workmanſhip upon Man, he hath laid a foundation for ſtrong Arguments to evince his Being to us therefrom.
If we look upon his body; How curiouſly and rationally are the ſeveral Organs, Veſſels, and Members thereof fitted to their ſeveral Functions in nature, and each of them contributing in their ſeveral offices to one general End, which is the life of Man. How do the Veins and Arteries meet about the heart; Nature ſending ſuccour from all parts to it, as being the chief Seat of life. And again the heart doth by them convey Blood and Spirits to the whole Body, it being the chief Fountain of life. And to give but one inſtance more in that which ſeems to be the moſt contemptible part of the Body, which is the humours of it. In theſe we may take notice of a Divine Wiſdom. Choler that is hot, and of a fiery quality is uſeful to quicken the body, and to ſtirr up Nature to 'its proper Functions, and by 'its heat to prevent the coagulation and corruption of the blood. And the Melancholick humour being thick and groſs is uſeful to retain the natural and Vital Spirits that they may not be too Volatile and evaporate.
And the Phlegmatick humour, which is more watery, cool, and moiſt, is of uſe to cool and attenuate the blood, and ſo make it fitter for Motion. Now if the Wiſdom of the Creator appears in theſe meaneſt things, which are as it were the Excrements of Nature, how much more in the noble parts of the Body: But I muſt not, nay I cannot ſpeak of theſe things as an Anatomiſt or Phyſician. But we may behold this frame, and admiring ſay, Oh how exquiſitly are the Eyes turned, the Ears, and Noſtrils bored, the Fingers branched, the Joynts coupled, the Nerves extended, the Veins diffuſed, the Bones firmed and faſtned. I remember what I have long ſince read, in the Poet, concerning the ſeveral Parts of Man's body.
Oſſibus ex denis, bis Centenisque Novenis
Conſtat Homo, decies bis dentibus et duo denis,
Ex trecentenis, decies ſex, quinque que venis, &c.
And ſo he proceeds. And in the leaſt part of man ſomething may bee ſeen of God. In ſo much that Galen though before a meer Naturalist, and ſo an Atheist, upon the obſerving the curious Structure of Man's Body, could not forbear the giving an Hymn of Praiſe to the wiſe Creator and framer of it. And it is ſo every way perfect that if a Man had an hundred years given him, as it is ſaid of one, to find out ſome defect in it he would not be able to do it. As among the Heathens they had a God calld Momus who made it his work to Carp at the works of the other Gods. But let a Man ſtudy to find out ſomething to Carp at in this exquiſite frame, he ſhall be able rationally to find nothing. Many indeed will pretend there are Errata's in the Works of Providence which they could correct, but it is becauſe they underſtand them not. But what Errata's can they find in the Works of Creation, and particularly this of the body of Man? This is one of the foreign that my Text mentions, of the things that God made wherein we may behld his Eternal power and Godhead. And if a Man would play the part of Zoilus, to repreprehend this Poem, as he did Homers, he would but ſhew himſelf Ignorant and Impious at once. So that Man need not go far to fetch an Argument for the Being of God, he carries an Evident one continually about him in his own body; Eſpecially if man did but know himſelf in this his meaner part. Did he but know the curious frame of the eye, and the ſeveral Tunicles and Humours belonging to it, whereby it is fitted for ſeeing: And did he then but know how the eye doth ſee; How the raies that come from one point in the Object do meet in one point in the bottom of the Eye. Did he alſo know the various Workmanſhip of the Ear, and underſtand how an Articulate voice ſhould paſs through the fluid medium of the Air, and enter the Ear Articulated as it comes from the mouth of the ſpeaker.
To give but one Inſtance more, in that work of Nature which is proper to Man, and that is, Speech. It is wonderful to conſider how a little breath ſhould be modulated into ſo many diſtinct ſyllabical ſounds, by the nimble touches of the Tongue in the ſeveral parts of the Mouth, and by other inſtruments of Speech. But theſe common works of Nature, we wonder not at; partly becauſe they are common, and partly becauſe ſo little underſtood: yet if duly conſidered, they carry in them a clear evidence of the Being of God.
But to paſs to the more ſublime part of Man, which is his Soul, which doth ſo much the more clearly demonſtrate God's Being to us, by how much he hath ſtampt more of his own likeneſs upon it. And,
1. We may argue from the Capacity of the Soul, which manifeſtly extends beyond the things of this World: And is capable of enjoying a greater good then any of this Creation, in regard that no finite good doth ſatisfie it. Now if it be capable of a greater good, ſurely there is ſuch a good, for there is no Capacity in Nature in vain: As there is no Vacuity in Nature;Quaelibet potentia appetit objectum ſibi Conveniens. Aquin. 3. p. q. 78. Art. 1. Appetitus &. appetitum ſunt ut locum & locatum. Fotherb. Atheom. p. 196. every place is fil'd with ſomething. So if there was any natural Capacity in the creatures, and no object to Anſwer to it, there would be a kind of vacuity in the Creation: Thoſe infinite and boundleſs deſires of the Soul, ſhew that there is an infinite object to ſatisfie them. And therefore of all the faculties of the Soul, that which the Philoſophers call foreign, or the Appetite of the Soul, doth beſt repreſent infinity, becauſe it is infinite in its Inclinations, though not in its Nature. And as it beſt doth repreſent Infinity, ſo it doth demonſtrate alſo that ſomewhere it is to be found. Now it is Evident it is not found in the Creature, and therefore it is in God.
And as it had been (to ſpeak with reverence) ſome deficiency in Gods Creation, not to have made a Creature capable of knowing and enjoying the Creator: So there being a Creature in the Univerſe of ſuch a Capacity, it ſhews that there is ſuch an Object for which this Capacity is given.
2. It is evident that the Soul hath within it divine inclinations, or, an Idea of Divinity, as one ſpeaks, and aſpiring to higher things then thoſe that are Earthly and ſenſual, even towards Divinity, and therefore there is a Divinity, As the Philoſopher ſaid, Hoc habet anima argumentum divinitatis quod eam divina delectent. The Soul hath this Argument in its ſelf, that it is of a Divine Nature, becauſe Divine things are delightful to it: So it ſhews there are Divine Beings, (or rather a Divine Being) becauſe the Soul hath inclinations towards a Divinity: And as Ariſtotle once ſaid, as I have ſomewhere read of him, Though it be but little we know of Superiour Beings, yet that little doth more delight us, then all that we know of things here below. I know that men given up to a ſenſual life, little concern themſelves about higher things then of this lower World; But we are not to take the meaſure of the Soul from ſuch that ſo debaſe it, but rather from them in whom it hath had its beſt improvements. And though it is a true ſaying, Semen naturae non aſſurgit in fructum gratiae; The Seed of Nature cannot riſe up into the Fruit of Grace; yet in ſome it hath riſen up to a greater heigth then in others, in whom we may take the beſt meaſures of it: As Chriſt our Saviour ſaid to the man mentioned in the Goſpel, Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God: Of thoſe that are out of the Kingdom of God, yet ſome come nearer to it then others, that have made better improvements of natural helps, and in whom we may take the beſt meaſure of the principles of Nature.
3. Whence is it that the Soul brings an Impreſſion of a Deity upon it into the World? Even thoſe people that have not had the benefit of any Inſtitution in Knowledge, yet have all acknowledg'd a Deity, which ſhews they had this from Nature, and not from Education? So that in this ſence, that ſaying of Theodoret is true,Theodoret lib. de Angelis, Tom. 2. p. 498. Divinity is first taught men by Nature, and then it is rectified and confirmed to men by Scripture. And this Man's Nature hath peculiar to it, that this Impreſſion is not found in any Creature of this lower World, but here alone; becauſe Man was made for an higher end then the Brutes. And if there was no God, this Impreſſion would be in vain, which yet of all others is moſt generally ingraven;Si enim anima divina, aut à Deo data est, ſinc dubio datorem ſuum novit. Tertul. Teſtimon. animae. p. 88. Yea, Man would be herein more miſerable then the Brutes, to have the fear of a Deity upon his Soul, when there is no ſuch object of his fear.
The greateſt Travellers have not been able to out-travel this notion of a Deity in the remoteſt Countries whither they have come: As is evident in that account given by the greateſt Travellers, as Drake, Candiſh, Hackluit, &c. One of them tells us that the firſt thing he found amongſt the Salvage people in No…a Albion, when he arrived there, was that he found them buſied about Off'ring a Sacrifice; and when he had beſtowed ſome gifts of his liberality upon them, they would have Sacrific'd to him and his Company as Gods. And to this I may add what I find in Scripture, Paſs over the Iſles of Chittim and ſee, and ſend to Kedar and conſider, hath a Nation changed their Gods that were no Gods? Jer. 2. 10. And the Prophet Micah to the ſame purpoſe, chap. 4. v. 5. All people will walk every one in the Name of his God. All people, not only the more civil, which ſome think, are meant by the Iſles of Chittim, but the more barbarous and undiſciplin'd, as the Kedarens: They will none of them change their Gods, but will walk in their Name. So that though the Heathen did differ about the Number, Order, Nature, and Power of their Gods, yet all had ſome Deity they worſhipt; And the wiſer of them did acknowledge one ſupreme Deity;Multi de diis prava ſentiunt, id enim vicioſo more effici ſolet, omnes tamen eſſe vim & naturam divinam arbitrantur. Cic. l. 1. Tuſc. the Maker of the World, and the other, but Deos populares, popular Gods.
And this acknowledgment of a Deity is not ſprung up in Later Times, but hath been from the beginning; neither is it confined only to ſome one Nation, but is in every Nation: So that what we can plead ſo Ancient preſcription for, and the ſuffrage of all mankind, is certainly a great Truth, and a Truth that is ſown in Nature it ſelf. Now what an undeniable Evidence is this of the Being of God, when it is ſo legibly written in every Man's Heart.
Not that the Notice hereof is ſo clear and operative, as it was in Man's ſtate of Innocency; yet ſomething ſtill remains of the old Inſcription, which is renewed and quickned by the Spirit, through the Written Word, where it doth inhabit. As an Ancient writing in Marble that ſtill remains, though much cover'd and obſcur'd with duſt; yet as the duſt is rubbed off, ſo the Writing appears Legible again: It's true ſome Men ſeem to have no Conſcience and ſence of a Deity; yet this is no Argument but that Conſcience is Univerſal to Men: Even as the Sottiſhneſs or Diſtraction of ſome Mens Reaſon, is no Argument againſt Reaſons being an Vniverſal Principle in Men.
4. We may argue from the Souls Immortality: To what purpoſe ſhould it Survive the Body, if there be no God? For if it ſurvive, as I ſhall afterwards ſhew, it muſt Survive to ſome end; and this end cannot be with reſpect to any Creature, and therefore it muſt be with reſpect to God. It doth not Survive with reſpect to the enjoyment of the ſenſual things of this World, for in its ſeparate ſtate it hath no need of them; neither with reſpect to any Homage and Service to be performed to the Angels, for it owes no ſuch thing to them; and therefore it muſt be with reſpect to ſome other end: And he that denyes the Being of God, cannot imagine to what end the Soul ſhould continue for ever.
But becauſe there is a God, who is an Eternal Being, therefore are there Creatures made by him that are of an Eternal duration, that in them he might have glory for ever.
Now that the Soul is Immortal, appears, Becauſe in the Creation of the World there is diſtinction made in the Creatures; Thoſe that were to have Corruptible Natures, were formed out of Corruptible Matter; but thoſe that were to abide for ever, were by Immediate Creation, as Angels, as alſo the Souls of Men; of which it is ſaid, God breathed into Man the breath of Life, and he became a living Soul. Which the Prophet Malachy refers to, in chap. 2. 15. And did he not make One, yet had he the Reſidue of the Spirit: which ſhews the Divine Original of the Soul, proceeding immediately from the Divine Spirit.
Was the Soul of Man Mortal and Corruptible, God could and would have educed it out of thoſe Senſitive Spirits that were Concreated with the Chaos, as he did the Souls of Beaſts, Fiſhes, and the Fowls of the Air; but becauſe he did immediately breathe it into Man, it ſhews that it is of a different Nature from them, and doth not, as they do, return to Corruption.
But to Demonſtrate this from Reaſon, as well as from Scripture, which it may be ſuppoſed an Atheiſt will deny.
1. It is Irrational to conceive, that there ſhould never be a reſpect given to Virtue more than Vice; to Righteouſneſs than Unrighteouſneſs: Seeing it is written in every Mans Nature, that the one is better then the other. Now in this Life we ſee it not; there is one event to the Righteous and the Wicked. And even in the Deaths of Men it is not viſible neither, For how dieth the wiſe Man? as the Fool, as Solomon ſpeaks; And therefore it muſt be after Death; was the Soul Mortal, wickedneſs would eſcape the hands of Juſtice, and Holineſs would never meet with the rewards of Grace: Seeing God made the World, he alſo neceſſarily muſt Govern it, if he Govern it, it is in Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs. If ſo, there muſt be different rewards to the Evil, and the Good: And therefore the Souls of Men neceſſarily muſt ſurvive to receive thoſe rewards.
2. God hath made but two ſorts of Intelligent Creatures in the Univerſe, Angels and Men: And theſe are more immediately made for the Glory of their Creator, who as he is the King Eternal, and Immortal, ſo the Glory that is ſuitable to him, muſt be Eternal and Immortal; which he cannot have but from Immortal Creatures that live for ever; whether it be the Glory of Mercy or of Juſtice. And as he hath the Glory of both in the Angels, ſome always beholding the Face of God, and the others that fell, caſt down to Hell, and delivered into chains of Darkneſs, 2 Pet. 2. 4. So will he have the ſame of Men, the one, in thoſe that are ſaved; and in them that periſh, the other: And this could not be, did not the Souls of Men abide for ever.
3. Whence is it that the Souls of Men have reſpect to a future ſtate, which no other Creatures have: Some have reſpect to it with fear, and terrour; ſome with hope, and joyfulneſs.
And however ſome Men that are wholly immerst in a Life of Senſuality, concern themſelves little about it, yet when they come to leave this World, they cannot but have ſome thoughts concerning it; and then, though it may be too late, will be making ſome proviſion for it.
And if we look to the Heathen Nations, that had only the Light of Nature to ſee by, we ſhall find they had all ſome rude Notions of a future State: Hence were their Notions of Olympus, Elyſium, or a ſtate of Happineſs; of their Pluto, Proſerpina, Rhadamanthus, Cerberus, Styx, and their Dirae, or Canes Stygiae; which ſhew'd the Notions they had in their Souls of a State of Miſery after Death. And the Poets fictions of Tantalus, Siſiphus, Ixion, and others, that were ſuffering Torments of ſeveral kinds in Hell; which ſhews they had ſome apprehenſions of the Souls ſurvival after it leaves the Body. And as Tertullian argues againſt the Heathen,Imo cur in totum times mortem, ſi nihil est tibi timendum post mortem, nec experiendum poſt mortem? &c. Tertul. Teſt. animae, p. 88. If there was no ſurvival of the Soul, what need Men to fear Death; You may ſay becauſe it cuts Men off from the Commodities and Comforts of Life: But it delivers Men from all the Sorrows and Troubles of Life, which uſually exceed the other. And therefore, for it ſelf, it ought not to be feared: And when Men fear it, it is an Argument of ſome ſtate of Miſery after it.
Object. But theſe were but ſome confuſed Notions, and uncertain Conjectures, and ſo prove nothing?
Anſw. Since the Fall of Man all thoſe innate Notions of Knowledge, and Principles of Righteouſneſs, that were Concreated with the Soul are diſordered, and darkned; and amongſt the reſt, that Knowledge the Soul had of it ſelf, and its own Immortality. But thoſe that yet remain, though Confuſed and Imperfect, do ſhew the prints and foot-ſteps of what it once more perfectly was poſſeſſed of. As the Ruins of ſome Ancient ſtately Edifice, do darkly ſhew that there hath been formerly ſuch a ſtately ſtructure in Being.
When meer Nature did lead the Heathen to ſuch (though very rude) Conceptions of the future State of the Soul, it hath a ſtrong Argument in it for ſuch a State. And thoſe Natural Principles and Characters in the Soul, that the Goſpel doth Confirm and clear up to us, to be ſure were Originally placed there by God himſelf: As its of the Immortality is one, which we find the Goſpel doth give abundant Light and Teſtimony to. And ſo it may be an Argument to us that have the Goſpel, though not to the Heathen that had it not.
Object. But theſe apprehenſions that the Heathen had of the future State of the Soul, were at first deviſed for Political ends, to keep people the better under Government.
Anſw. 1. Thoſe Heathen that lived under no Government, had ſuch apprehenſions. And 2. Such Political devices would have had but little Influence to ſuch an end, was there not a Natural (though but a confuſed) Notion of ſuch a ſtate radically in the Hearts of Men: For no Man came from the dead ſo as to tell the World of the ſtate of ſeparate Souls, and therefore for Men to have generally ſome reſpect to a future ſtate, it ſhews there is a Natural and Connate notice thereof in the Souls of Men.
Neither is it an Argument to be ſlighted, whereby ſome have proved the Souls Immortality from Mens Natural deſire to Immortalize their Name; which ſhews the Soul doth look beyond its preſent ſtate, which the Soul of a Brute doth not: As appears by Abſolon's Pillar, ſet up by him to preſerve his Name. And that Fellow that is ſaid to burn Diana's Temple, that he might perpetuate his Name. And how did the Poets pleaſe themſelves, that by their Poems they ſhould have their Names preſerved after their death. Multaque pars mei vitabit Libitinam, ſaid Horace; A great part of me ſhall eſcape death, he means his Name ſhall not die. As he ſaith in the concluſion of his Odes, as I remember, Exegi monumentum aere perennius, &c. He had raiſed, he ſaith, a Monument, to his Name, more laſting than Braſs, whereby he ſhould live in the World after death. And ſo Ovid, with reſpect to one of his chief Poems adds this Concluſion.
Jamque opus exegi quod nec Jovis ira nec ignes,
Nec ferrum, nec poſſit edax abolere vetuſtas.
Not time, Joves wrath, not Sword, or fire,
Can ever make this work expire.
We ſee by this, the Natural deſire of the Soul to Immortality. And becauſe theſe Heathen were without the Light of the Word to direct them to the true Immortality of Heaven, therefore they ſought it, by providing an Immortality to their Names here on Earth. And Tertullian much Inſiſts upon this Argument, lib. de Teſt. animae, and Argues thus, Vnde anima hodie affectaret aliquid quod velit post mortem, & tantopere praepararet quo ſit uſura post obitum ſi nihil de poſtero ſciret, &c. Why ſhould the Soul be ſo ſolicitous to prepare for the enjoyment of ſomething after death, if it did not ſurvive the grave. And he inſtanceth in the Curtii and Reguli, who contemned their lives that they might have a Name after death.
5. The Soul of Man is capable of framing a Conception of God, and that is an Argument that God is: To what purpoſe ſhould ſuch a Capacity be in the Soul, if there was no ſuch Object? To what purpoſe was the faculty of ſeeing, if there was no viſible Objects in Nature? Had the Soul no higher end then to animate an Earthly Body, and to guide Men about the affairs of this lower World, it needed not to have a Capacity beyond them.
And though we know little of the Divine Being, and our higheſt Conceptions, are but ſome low Adumbrations of it, yet the Soul is not altogether deſtitute of them, though in a faln ſtate, And that may ſhew that theſe Conceptions were far higher in it before its fall.
I ſhall illuſtrate this Argument by Inſtances in ſeveral of the Divine Attributes, that are Eſſential to the Being of God: Of all which the Mind is Capable of framing a Conception, though not to comprehend them.
1. Is God's eternity; it is eſſential to his Being to be eternal: And the Mind is capable of running back in its thoughts beyond the Beginning of time, which is eternity, a parte ante, and forward beyond the end of time, yea to an endleſs duration; which is eternity a parte post. It is able to lanch it ſelf out into that wide Ocean.
For whence is it that we have in Divinity a definition given us of eternity; Interminabilis, Boetius.perfecta, & tota ſimul vitae poſſeſſio; An endleſs, entire, and perfect poſſeſſion of life all at once; but that the Mind can frame ſome conception about it?
2. Is Immenſity, or Omnipreſence. The Mind can inlarge it ſelf to the utmoſt Sphaere of the World's Circumference; yea it can imagine a Sphaere beyond that Sphaere, and a ſpace comprehended in no Sphaere; as ſome of the Philoſophers had Notions of an Infinite ſpace before the World's Creation. It can alſo conceive of a Being whoſe preſence may be extenſive to this vaſt ſpace; and may extend beyond the utmoſt Sphaere of the Univerſe, whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain; yea it can conceive of God according to the Philoſophers deſcription of him. He is a Being whoſe Centre is every where, and his Circumferance no where. Though I muſt ſay, this conception is according to the Mind's finiteneſs, not God's Infiniteneſs.
3. Is Univerſality of perfection and Being. Though particulars and Individuals are the only object of Sence, for Vniverſalia non incurrunt in Senſum; Vniverſals do not run into the Sence; yet the Mind is able to frame an abſtract Notion of Univerſality: As of Light, Life, Beauty, Strength, Wiſdom, &c. as they are in themſelves without reſpect to any Individual Subject wherein they may exiſt. It can ſurveigh this whole Creation, and all the perfections of it, and then can conceive of a Being that may have all theſe perfections eminently in it ſelf.
The Philoſophers of old in their ſearch of Nature did raiſe up their Minds from Individuals to apprehend a Species containing all the Individuals; and then by a more abſtract thought, to apprehend a Genus that contained all the Species. And from thence they raiſed their Minds to a Conception of Ens, or Being it ſelf, which is Genus Generaliſſimum. Now God is an Univerſal Perfection, and Univerſal Being; and the Mind though in a low degree, can frame a conception of his Univerſality. As Seneca a Moral Heathen, ſaid of God, Totum est quod vides, & totum est quod non vides; He is all that thou ſeest, and all which thou dost not ſee; ſuch an Univerſal Notion did his Mind frame of God.
4. Is Simplicity. Though our eyes never ſaw ſuch a thing in any Creature, neither can we find it abſolutely in any Creature either in Heaven or Earth, yet the Mind can frame a Conception of it; which is one of the glorious Attributes of God, that he is without any Compoſition, or any diverſity in his Being, in the moſt abſtract and refined Notion of it. As the School-Men have given us a deſcription of this attribute, which ſhews the Mind can conceive ſomething of it. 1. That God is without Parts, either Similar, or Integral, as the Body of Man hath. 2. That he is without matter and form, as we ſee in the Conſtitution of Man, and other Creatures. 3. He is without general and ſpecial Nature; as Man hath a general Nature, as he is a living Creature; and ſpecial, as he is a Man. 4. Without quality; as diſtinct from Eſſence; or Accidents, as diſtinct from Subſtance: as may be found in all Creatures, the very Angels not excepted. 5. Without Act and Power, as diſtinct things: That is, God cannot be poſſibly any thing that he is not, or ceaſe to be what he is. 6. Without any diſtinction of Eſſence, and Exiſtence, which ſome call Being, and Individuation: As we can diſtinguiſh betwixt the common Nature of Man, which is Humanity; and the exiſtence of this Nature in Peter, or John, or any Individual Perſon: So that there is no ſhadow of any compoſition, diſtinction, or as ſome call it, Alterity in his Being: But he is all perfection of Being, not only comprehenſively, but in the greateſt Purity, Unity, and Actuality: And ſo I might proceed to ſpeak of other properties of his Being, but theſe I only mention to ſhew the Capacity that is in the Mind of Man, to frame a Phyſical, or rather a Metaphyſical, conception of a Deity, and the ſeveral properties Eſſential to it; and from hence to draw a rational proof of God's Being.
6. Laſtly, We may Argue from thoſe innate Notions of Good and Evil, that are naturally in the Soul of Man; whereby that which is morally Good is approved, and the contrary is diſapproved: As we ſee it among the Indians, and other Heathens, who have not only Natural Reaſon to diſcern, but have a moral Judgment to approve the good, and to diſprove the evil. And amongſt many of them Injuſtice, Fraud, Violence, Oppreſſion, are ſeverely puniſht, and the contrary rewarded and commended. As the Apoſtle ſpeaks of the Gentiles, that though they were without the Law, yet they did by Nature the things contained in the Law. Now whence is this? why ſhould Juſtice be rather approved of then Injuſtice, Honeſty then Diſhoneſty? but that the Soul did Originally ſpring from ſome Fountain of goodneſs, that did derive ſome reſemblance, and imprint ſome Characters of his own Nature upon it. The Reliques of which the School-Men call Syntereſis, which are yet found in Man; And by Philoſophers are called foreign, and foreign; Common Principles, and Anticipations; preceding all acquired Habits or Principles, by Education, Experience, or Cuſtom.
How is it poſſible to believe a diſtinction of Good and Evil, and a Conſcience about them ſhould be naturally inherent in every Man, as we find it is, unleſs ſome Superior Power had fixed ſuch Principles in us by our firſt conſtitution; and left an indelible Teſtimony in our own Souls about them: So that no Man can, if he would, in his ſober Mind think Evil to be better then Good, and in his ſerious thoughts prefer it before it: wherein we have Nature to be our Miſtreſs and Teacher. And who was the Teacher of Nature? Tertullian will Anſwer for me, Magiſtra natura, anima diſcipula: Quicquid aut illa edocuit, aut iſta perdidiſcit a Deo traditum est, Magiſtro ſcilicet ipſius Magiſtrae: Nature is the Miſtreſs, the Soul the Diſciple; what ever the one hath Taught, and the other hath Learned is derived from God, who is the Maſter of the Miſtreſs her ſelf, Teſt. animae adu: Gentes. And from hence it was that the Barbarous people mention'd, Act. 28. when they ſaw the Viper faſten upon St. Paul's hand, ſaid, This Man is a Murderer, whom, though he hath eſcaped the Sea, yet Vengeance ſuffers not to live. Nature it ſelf taught them that Murther was not only in it ſelf an Evil, but that Vengeance would purſue the Murtherer.
And though ſince ſin entred the Nature of Man, fleſhly luſts do precipitate Men to acts of moral unrighteouſneſs, yet it is becauſe they offer Violence to that Light and Law of Nature that is planted in their Hearts.
And hence it is that we find many of the Heathen loved Juſtice for its own ſake, without any reſpect to profit or praiſe of Men; as ſeeing a native Pulchritude, and goodneſs in it, conform to the inward Rule and Principle that was within themſelves: Such as Socrates, Ariſtides, Fabritius, Licurgus, Solon, and the like. It was once argued by an Heathen then Philoſopher, If there be a God, whence is it that we ſee Evil in the World; if there be no God, whence is it that Good is in the World: He thought the good found therein might be an Argument for the Being of God; though he doubted it, for want of knowledge how Evil did firſt ariſe. But to us that know that Evil came not from God, but from ſome other cauſe, the Argument is ſtrong, There is a Natural Goodneſs, therefore there is a God.