Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 1 (2 of 3)

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 1 (2 of 3)

p. 17**To expreſs … in the words of one of our own. Wolſcley of Atheiſm pa. 4….[If the World were Eternal, it muſt have been in the ſame poſture as it is now, in a ſtate of Generation and Corruption; And ſo Corruption muſt have been as Eternal as Generation, and then things that do generate and corrupt muſt have Eternally been and Eternally not have been: There muſt be ſome firſt way to ſet Generation on work.] We muſt loſe our ſelves in our conceptions; we cannot conceive a Father before a Child, as well as we cannot conceive a Child before a Father: And reaſon is quite bewildred, and cannot return into a right way of Conception till it Conceive one firſt of every kind: One firſt man, one firſt animal, one firſt Plant from whence others do proceed. The argument is unanſwerable, and the wiſeſt Atheiſt (if any Atheiſt can be called wiſe) cannot unloſe the knot. We muſt come to ſomething, that is firſt in every kind, and this firſt muſt have a cauſe, not of the ſame kind, but Infinite and Independent; otherwiſe men run into unconceivable Labyrinths and contradictions.

Man, the Nobleſt Creature upon Earth, hath a beginning. No Man in the World but was ſome years ago no man. If every man we ſee had a beginning, then the firſt Man had alſo a beginning, then the World had a beginning: For the Earth which was made for the uſe of man, had wanted that end for which it was made. We muſt pitch upon ſome one man that was unborn, that firſt man muſt either be Eternal,**Petav. ut ſupr. p. 10. that cannot be, for he that hath no beginning hath no end; or muſt ſpring out of the Earth as Plants and Trees do: That cannot be: Why ſhould not the Earth produce men to this day, as it doth Plants and Trees? He was therefore made; and whatſoever is made hath ſome cauſe that made it, which is God.**Damaſon If the World were uncreated it were then immutable, but every Creature upon the Earth is in a continual flux, always changing: If things be mutable, they were Created, if Created they were made by ſome Author; whatſoever hath a beginning, muſt have a maker, if the World hath a beginning, there was then a time when it was not; it muſt have ſome cauſe to produce it. That which makes is before that which is made, and this is God.

Secondly, II. Which will appear further in this propoſition, No Creature can make it ſelf: The world could not make it ſelf.

If every man had a beginning, every man then was once nothing; he could not then make himſelf, becauſe nothing cannot be the cauſe of ſomething, Pſa. 100.3. The Lord he is God he hath made us and not we our ſelves, [whatſoever begun in time, was not; and when it was nothing, it had nothing, and could do nothing: And therefore could never give to it ſelf nor to any other to be, or to be able to do: For then it gave what it had not, and did what it could not.**Petav. Theo. Dog. tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 2. pag. 14. Since reaſon muſt acknowledge a firſt of every kind, a firſt Man, &c. it muſt acknowledge him Created and made, not by himſelf: why have not other men ſince riſe up by themſelves? not by Chance; why hath not Chance produced the like in that long time the World hath ſtood? If we never knew any thing give being to it ſelf, how can we Imagine any thing ever could? If the chiefeſt part of this lower World cannot, nor any part of it hath been known to give being to it ſelf, then the whole cannot be ſuppoſed to give any being to it ſelf: Man did not forme himſelf: His body is not from himſelf, it would then have the power of moving it ſelf, but that is not able to live or act without the preſence of the Soul: Whilſt the Soul is preſent the body moves, when that is abſent, the body lies as a ſenſeleſs log, not having the leaſt action or motion. His Soul could not form it ſelf, can that which cannot form the leaſt mote, the leaſt grain of duſt, form it ſelf a nobler ſubſtance than any upon the Earth?

This will be evident to every Mans reaſon, if we conſider

1. Nothing can act before it be. The firſt Man was not, and therefore could not make himſelf to be: For any thing to produce it ſelf is to act; if it acted before it was, it was then ſomething and nothing at the ſame time; it then had a being before it had a being; it acted when it brought it ſelf into being. How could it act without a being, without it was? So that if it were the cauſe of it ſelf, it muſt be before it ſelf as well as after it ſelf; it was before it was; it was as a cauſe before it was as an effect. Action always ſuppoſeth a priciple from whence it flows; as nothing hath no Exiſtence, ſo it p. 18hath no operation; there muſt be therefore ſomething of real Exiſtence to give a Being to thoſe things that are, and every cauſe muſt be an effect of ſome other before it be a cauſe: To be and not be at the ſame time, is a manifeſt contradiction, which would be, if any thing made it ſelf: That which makes is always before that which is made: Who will ſay the Houſe is before the Carpenter, or the Picture before the Limbner? The world as a Creature, muſt be before it ſelf as a Creature.

2. That which doth not underſtand it ſelf and order it ſelf could not make it ſelf. If the firſt Man fully underſtood his own nature, the excellency of his own Soul, the manner of its operations, why was not that underſtanding conveyed to his poſterity? Are not many of them found, who underſtand their own nature, almoſt as little as a Beaſt underſtands it ſelf; or a Roſe underſtands its own ſweetneſs; or a Tulip its own Colours? The Scripture indeed gives us an account how this came about, viz. by the deplorable Rebellion of Man, whereby Death was brought upon them (a Spiritual Death, which includes ignorance as well as an inability to Spritual action**Gen. 2.17. Pſal. 49.8.Gen 2:17Ps 49:8). Thus he fell from his Honour and became like the Beaſts that periſh, and not retaining God in his knowledge, retained not himſelf in his own knowledge.

But what reply can an Atheiſt make to it, who acknowledges no higher cauſe than nature? If the Soul made it ſelf, how comes it to be ſo muddy, ſo wanting in its knowledge of it ſelf, and of other things? If the Soul made its own underſtanding whence did the defect ariſe? If ſome firſt principle was ſetled by the firſt man in himſelf, where was the ſtop that he did not implant all in his own mind, and conſequently in the minds of all his deſcendents? Our Souls know little of themſelves, little of the World, are every day upon new enquiries, have little ſatisfaction in themſelves, meet with many an invincible rub in their way; and when they ſeem to come to ſome reſolution in ſome caſes, ſtagger again, and like a ſtone rould up to the top of the Hill, quickly find themſelves again at the foot. How come they to be ſo purblind in Truth? So ſhort of that which they Judge true goodneſs? How comes it to paſs they cannot order their own Rebellious affections, and ſuffer the rains they have to hold over their affections to be taken out of their hands by the unruly fancy and fleſh?

This no man that denies the being of a God, and the Revelation in Scripture can give an account of. Bleſſed be God that we have the Scripture, which gives us an account of thoſe things, that all the wit of men could never inform us of; and that when they are diſcovered and known by Revelation, they appear not contrary to reaſon.

3. If the firſt Man made himſelf, how came he to limit himſelf? If he gave himſelf being, why did he not give himſelf all the perfections and Ornaments of being? Nothing that made it ſelf could ſit down contented with a little, but would have had as much power to give it ſelf that which is leſs, as to give it ſelf being, when it was nothing. The exellencies it wanted had not been more difficult to gain than the other which it poſſeſſed as belonging to its nature. If the firſt man had been independent upon another, and had his perfection from himſelf, he might have acquired that perfection he wanted as well as have beſtowed upon himſelf that perfection he had; and then there would have been no bounds ſet to him. He would have been Omniſcient and Immutable. He might have given himſelf what he would; if he had had the ſetting his own bounds, he would have ſet none at all; For what ſhould reſtrain him? No man now wants Ambition to be what he is not; and if the firſt man had not been determined by another, but had given himſelf being, he would not have remained in that determinate being, no more than a Toad would remain a Toad, if it had power to make it ſelf a man, and that power it would have had, if it had given it ſelf a being. Whatſoever gives it ſelf being, would give it ſelf all degrees of being, and ſo would have no imperfection, becauſe every imperfection, is a want of ſome degree of being.**Therefore the Heathens called God foreign the only Being. Other things were not beings, becauſe they had not all degrees of being. He that could give himſelf matter and life, might give himſelf every thing. The giving of life is an act of Omnipotence, and what is Omnipotent in one thing, may be in all. Beſides, if the firſt man had made himſelf, he would have conveyed himſelf to all his poſterity in the ſame manner, every man would have had all the perfections of the firſt man, as every Creature hath the perfections of the ſame kind, from whence it naturally Iſſues, all are deſirous to communicate what they can to their poſterity. Communicative goodneſs belongs to every nature. Every plant propagates its kind in the ſame perfection it hath itſelf; p. 19and the nearer any thing comes to a rational nature, the greater affection it hath to that which deſcends from it; therefore this affection belongs to a rational nature much more. The firſt man therefore, if he had had power to give himſelf being, and conſequently all perfection, he would have had as much power to convey it down to his poſterity; no impediment could have ſtopt his way; then all Souls proceeding from that firſt man would have been equally intellectual. What ſhould hinder them from inheriting the ſame perfections? whence ſhould they have divers qualifications and differences in their underſtandings? No man then would have been ſubject to thoſe weakneſſes, doubtings, and unſatisfied deſires of knowledg and perfection. But being all Souls are not alike, 'tis certain they depend upon ſome other cauſe for the communication of that excellency they have. If the perfections of Man be ſo contracted and kept within certain bounds, 'tis certain that they were not in his own power, and ſo were not from himſelf. Whatſoever hath a determinate being muſt be limited by ſome ſuperior cauſe. There is therefore ſome ſuperior power, that hath thus determined the Creature by ſet bounds and diſtinct meaſures, and hath aſſigned to every one its proper nature, that it ſhould not be greater or leſs than it is; who hath ſaid of every one as of the waves of the Sea,**Job 38.11.Job 38:11 Hitherto ſhalt thou come, but no further; and this is God. Man could not have reſerved any perfection from his Poſterity. For ſince he doth propagate not by choice but nature, he could no more have kept back any perfection from them, than he could, as he pleaſed, have given any perfection belonging to his nature to them.

4. That which hath power to give it ſelf being, cannot want power to preſerve that being. Preſervation is not more difficult than Creation. If the firſt Man made himſelf, why did he not preſerve himſelf? He is not now among the living in the world. How came he to be ſo feeble as to ſink into the Grave? Why did he not inſpire himſelf with new heat and moiſture, and fill his languiſhing limbs and declining body with new ſtrength? Why did he not chaſe away Diſeaſes and Death at the firſt approach? What Creature can find the duſt of the firſt Man? All his poſterity traverſe the Stage and retire again; in a ſhort ſpace their Age departs, and is removed from them as a Shepherds Tent, and is cut off with pining Sickneſs. **Iſa. 38.12.Isa 38:12The life of Man is as a wind, and like a cloud that is conſumed and vaniſhes away,**Job 7.6, 7, 8, 9.Job 7:6Job 7:7Job 7:8Job 7:9 The Eye that ſees him ſhall ſee him no more, he returns not to his houſe, neither doth his place know him any more The Scripture gives us the reaſon of this, and layes it upon the ſcore of ſin againſt his Creator; which no Man without revelation can give any ſatisfactory account of.

Had the firſt Man made himſelf, he had been ſufficient for himſelf, able to ſupport himſelf without the aſſiſtance of any creature. He would not have needed animals and plants, and other helps to nouriſh and refreſh him, nor Medicines to cure him. He could not be beholding to other things for his ſupport, which he is certain he never made for himſelf. His own nature would have continued that vigour, which once he had conferred upon himſelf. He would not have needed the heat and light of the Sun; he would have wanted nothing ſufficient for himſelf in himſelf; he needed not have ſought without himſelf for his own preſervation and comfort. What depends upon another is not of it ſelf, and what depends upon things inferiour to it ſelf is leſs of it ſelf. Since nothing can ſubſiſt of it ſelf, ſince we ſee thoſe things upon which Man depends for his nouriſhment and ſubſiſtence, growing and decaying, ſtarting into the world and retiring from it, as well as man himſelf; ſome preſerving cauſe muſt be concluded, upon which all depends.

5. If the firſt Man did produce himſelf, why did he not produce himſelf before?

It hath been already proved, that he had a beginning, and could not be from Eternity. Why then did he not make himſelf before? Not becauſe he would not. For having no being, he could have no will; he could neither be willing nor not willing. If he could not then, how could he afterwards? if it were in his own power he could have done it, he would have done it; if it were not in his own power, then it was in the power of ſome other cauſe, and that is God. How came he by that power to produce himſelf? If the power of producing himſelf were communicated by another, then Man could not be the cauſe of himſelf. That is the cauſe of it which communicated that power to it. But if the power of being was in and p. 20from himſelf and in no other, nor communicated to him, man would always have been in act, and always have Exiſted; no hinderance can be conceived. For that which had the power of being in it ſelf was invincible by any thing that ſhould ſtand in the way of its own being.

We may conclude from hence, the excellency of the Scripture; that it is a Word not to be refuſed credit. It gives us the moſt rational account of things in the 1. and 2. of Geneſis, which nothing in the world elſe is able to do.

Thirdly, III. Propoſition, no Creature could make the world. No Creature can create another. If it creates of nothing, tis then Omnipotent and ſo not a Creature. If it makes ſomething of matter unfit for that which is produced out of it, then the inquiry will be, who was the cauſe of the matter? and ſo we muſt arrive to ſome uncreated being, the cauſe of all. Whatſoever gives being to any other muſt be the higheſt being and muſt poſſeſs all the perfections of that which it gives being to. what viſible Creature is there which poſſeſſes the perfections of the whole world? If therefore an inviſible Creature made the world, the ſame enquiries will return whence that Creature had its being? for he could not make himſelf. If any Creature did Create the World, he muſt do it by the ſtrength and vertue of another, which firſt gave him being; and this is God. For whatſoever hath its Exiſtence and vertue of acting from another, is not God. If it hath its vertue from another tis then a ſecond cauſe, and ſo ſuppoſeth a firſt cauſe. It muſt have ſome cauſe of it ſelf, or be Eternally Exiſtent. If Eternally Exiſtent, tis not a ſecond cauſe, but God; if not Eternally Exiſtent, we muſt come to ſomthing at length which was the cauſe of it, or elſe be bewildred without being able to give an account of any thing. We muſt come at laſt to an Infinite Eternal Independent Being, that was the firſt cauſe of this Structure and Fabrick wherein we and all Creatures dwell. The Scripture proclaims this aloud,**Iſa. 45.6.7. Deut. 4.35.Isa 45:6Isa 45:7Deut 4:35 I am the Lord and there is none elſe: I Form the light and I Create darkneſs. Man the Nobleſt Creature cannot of himſelf make a man, the chiefeſt part of the World. If our Parents only without a Superior power made our Bodies or Souls, they would know the frame of them; as he that makes a Lock knows the Wards of it; he that makes any curious peice of Arras, knows how he ſetts the various colours together, and how many threads went to each diviſion in the Web; he that makes a Watch, having the Idea of the whole work in his mind, knows the motions of it and the reaſon of thoſe motions. But both Parents and Children are equally ignorant of the nature of their Souls and Bodies, and of the reaſon of their motions. God only that had the Supream hand in forming us, in whoſe Book all our members are written, Pſal. 139.16.Ps 139:16which in continuance were faſhioned, knows what we all are ignorant of. If man hath in an ordinary courſe of generation his being chiefly from an higher cauſe than his Parents, the World then certainly had its being from ſome infinitely wiſe intelligent Being, which is God. If it were, as ſome fancy, made by an Aſſembly of Atomes, there muſt be ſome infinite intelligent cauſe that made them, ſome cauſe that ſeparated them, ſome cauſe that mingled them together for the piling up ſo comely a ſtructure as the world. Tis the moſt abſurd thing to think they ſhould meet togeither by hazard, and rank themſelves in that order we ſee without a higher and a wiſe agent. So that no Creature could make the world. For ſuppoſing any Creature was formed before this viſible world and might have a hand in diſpoſing things, yet he muſt have a cauſe of himſelf, and muſt act by the virtue and ſtrength of another; and this is God.

Fourthly, IV. Propoſition. From hence it follows, that there is a firſt cauſe of things which we call God. There muſt be ſomthing ſupreme in the order of nature, ſomthing which is greater than all, which hath nothing beyond it or above it; otherwiſe we muſt run in infinitum. We ſee not a River but we conclude a Fountain; a Watch but we conclude an Artificer. As all number begins from unity, ſo all the multitude of things in the world begins from ſome unity, Oneneſs as the principle of it. Tis natural to ariſe from a view of thoſe things, to the conception of a nature more perfect than any. As from heat mixed with cold, and light mixed with darkneſs, men conceive and ariſe in their underſtandings to an intenſe heat and a pure light: And from a Corporeal or bodily ſubſtance joyned with an incorporeal, (as man is an earthly body, and a Spiritual Soul,) we aſcend to a conception of a ſubſtance purely incorporeal p. 21and Spiritual. So from a multitude of things in the world, Reaſon leads us to one choice being above all. And ſince in all natures in the World, we ſtill find a ſuperior nature; the nature of one beaſt, above the nature of another; the nature of man above the nature of beaſts; and ſome inviſible nature, the worker of ſtrange effects in the Air and Earth, which cannot be aſcribed to any viſible cauſe, we muſt ſuppoſe ſome nature above all thoſe of unconceivable perfection.

**Coccei ſum. Theol. cap. 8. § 33. &c.Every Sceptick, one that doubts whither there be any thing real or no in the World, that counts every thing an appearance, muſt neceſſarily own a firſt cauſe. They cannot reaſonably doubt, but that there is ſome firſt cauſe which makes the things appear ſo to them. They cannot be the cauſe of their own appearance. For as nothing can have a being from it ſelf, ſo nothing can appear by it ſelf and its own force. Nothing can be and not be, at the ſame time. But that which is not and yet ſeems to be; if it be the cauſe why it ſeems to be what it is not, it may be ſaid to be and not to be. But certainly ſuch perſons muſt think themſelves to exiſt. If they do not, they cannot think; and if they do exiſt, they muſt have ſome cauſe of that Exiſtence. So that which way ſoever we turn our ſelves, we muſt in reaſon own a firſt cauſe of the World.

Well then might the Pſalmiſt term an Atheiſt a fool, that diſowns a God againſt his own reaſon. Without owning a God as the firſt cauſe of the world, no man can give any tolerable or ſatisfactory account of the world to his own reaſon.

And this firſt cauſe,

1. Muſt neceſſarily exiſt. **Petav. Theol. Dog. Tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 2. pa. 10. 11.Tis neceſſary that he by whom all things are, ſhould be before all things and nothing before him. And if nothing be before him, he comes not from any other; and then he always was, and without beginning. He is from himſelf; not that he once was not but becauſe he hath not his Exiſtence from another, and therefore of neceſſity he did exiſt from all Eternity. Nothing can make it ſelf, or bring it ſelf into being; therefore there muſt be ſome being which hath no cauſe, that depends upon no other, never was produced by any other, but was what he is from Eternity, and cannot be otherwiſe; and is not what he is by will, but nature, neceſſarily exiſting, and always exiſting without any capacity or poſſibility ever not to be.

2. Muſt be infinitely perfect. Since man knows he is an imperfect being, he muſt ſuppoſe the perfections he wants, are ſeated in ſome other being which hath limited him, and upon which he depends. Whatſoever we conceive of excellency or perfection, muſt be in God. For we can conceive no perfection but what God hath given us a power to conceive. And he that gave us a power to conceive a tranſcendent perfection above whatever we ſaw or heard of, hath much more in himſelf; elſe he could not give us ſuch a conception.

Secondly, II. As the production of the world, ſo the harmony of all the parts of it declare the being and wiſdom of a God. Without the acknowledging God the Atheiſt can give no account of thoſe things. The multitude, elegancy, variety, and beauty of all things are ſteps whereby to aſcend to one fountain and orignal of them.

Is it not a folly to deny the being of a wiſe Agent, who ſparkles in the beauty and motions of the Heavens; rides upon the wings of the wind, and is writ upon the flowers and fruits of Plants. As the cauſe is known by the effects, ſo the wiſdom of the cauſe is known by the elegancy of the work, the proportion of the parts to one another. Who can imagine the world could be raſhly made, and without conſultation, which in every part of it is ſo Artificially framed?**Philo. Judae. Petav. Theolog. Dogmat. Tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 1. pag. 9. No work of Art ſprings up of its own accord. The world is framed by an excellent Art, and therefore made by ſome skilful Artiſt. As we hear not a melodious inſtrument, but we conclude there is a Muſitian that touches it, as well as ſome skilful hand that framed, and diſpoſed it for thoſe Leſſons. And no man that hears the pleaſant ſound of a Lute but will fix his thoughts, not upon the Inſtrument it ſelf, but upon the skill of the Artiſt that made it, and the art of the Muſitian that ſtrikes it, though he ſhould not ſee the firſt, when he ſaw the Lute, nor ſee the other when he hears the harmony. So a rational Creature confines not his thoughts to his ſenſe when he ſees the Sun in its Glory and the Moon walking in its brightneſs; but riſeth up in a contemplation and admiration of that infinite Spirit that compoſed, and filled them with ſuch ſweetneſs.

This appears.

p. 221. In the linking contrary qualities together. All things are compounded of the Elements. Thoſe are endued with contrary qualities, drineſs and moiſture, heat and cold. Theſe would always be contending with and infeſting one anothers rights, till the conteſt ended in the deſtruction of one or both. Where fire is predominant, it would ſuck up the water; where water is prevalent, it would quench the fire. The heat would wholly expel the cold, or the cold over-power the heat. Yet we ſee them chained and linkt one within another in every body upon the Earth, and rendring mutual offices for the benefit of that body wherein they are ſeated, and all conſpiring together in their particular quarrels for the publick intereſt of the body. How could thoſe contraries that of themſelves obſerve no order, that are always preying upon one another, joyntly accord together of themſelves, for one common end, if they were not linkt in a common band, and reduced to that order by ſome incomprehenſible wiſdom and power, which keeps a hand upon them, orders their motions and directs their events, and makes them friendly paſs into one anothers Natures? Confuſion had been the reſult of the diſcord and diverſity of their Natures. No compoſition could have been of thoſe conflicting qualities for the frame of any body, nor any harmony aroſe from ſo many jarring ſtrings, if they had not been reduced, into concord by one that is ſupream Lord over them, and knows how to diſpoſe their varieties and enmities for the publick good.**Athanaſius Petav. Theol. Dog. Tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 1. pag. 4. 5. If a man ſhould ſee a large City or Country conſiſting of great multitudes of men of different tempers, full of Frauds and Factions and Animoſities in their natures againſt one another, yet living together in good order and peace, without oppreſſing and invading one another and joyning together for the publick good; he would preſently conclude, there were ſome excellent Governor, who tempered them by his Wiſdom, and preſerved the publick Peace, though he had never yet beheld him with his eye. Tis as neceſſary to conclude a God, who moderates the contrarieties in the world; as to conclude a wiſe Prince who overrules the contrary diſpoſitions in a ſtate, making every one to keep his own bounds and confines. Things that are contrary to one another ſubſiſt in an admirable order.

2. In the ſubſerviency of one thing to another. **Gaſſend. Phyſic. ſect. 1. lib. 4. cap. 2. pag. 315.All the Members of living Creatures are curiouſly fitted for the ſervice of one another, deſtin'd to a particular end, and endued with a vertue to attain that end, and ſo diſtinctly placed, that one is no hinderance to the other in its operations. Is not this more admirable than to be the work of chance, which is uncapable to ſettle ſuch an order and fix particular and general ends, cauſing an exact correſpondency of all the parts with one another, and every part to conſpire together for one common end? One thing is fitted for another. The Eye is fitted for the Sun, and the Sun fitted for the Eye. Several ſorts of food are fitted for ſeveral Creatures, and thoſe Creatures fitted with Organs for the partaking that food.

1. Subſerviency of Heavenly bodies. **Leſſius.The Sun, the heart of the world, is not for it ſelf but for the good of the World, as the heart of man is for the good of the body. How conveniently is the Sun placed, at a diſtance from the Earth, and the upper Heavens, to enlighten the Stars above and enliven the Earth below? If it were either higher or lower, one part would want its influences. Tis not in the higher parts of the Heavens; the Earth then which lives and fructifies by its influence would have been expoſed to a perpetual Winter and chilneſs, unable to have produced any thing for the ſuſtenance of man or beaſt. If ſeated lower, the Earth had been parch'd up, the world made uninhabitable and long ſince had been conſumed to aſhes by the ſtrength of its heat. Conſider the motion as well as the Situation of the Sun. Had it ſtood ſtill, one part of the World had been cheriſhed by its beams, and the other left in a deſolate Widow-hood, in a diſconſolate darkneſs. Beſides, the Earth would have had no ſhelter from its perpendicular beams ſtriking perpetually and without any remiſſion upon it. The ſame incommodities would have followed upon its fixedneſs as upon its too great nearneſs. By a conſtant day the beauty of the Stars had been obſcured, the knowledge of their motions been prevented, and a conſiderable part of the Glorious wiſdom of the Creator in thoſe choice works of his fingers **Pſal. 8.3.Ps 8:3had been vail'd from our eyes. It moves in a fixed line, viſits all parts of the Earth, ſcatters in the day its refreſhing bleſſings in every creeke of the Earth, and removes the mask from the other beauties of Heaven in the night, which ſparkle out to the glory p. 23of the Creator. It ſpreads its Light, warms the Earth, cheriſheth the Seeds, excites the Spirit in the Earth, and brings Fruit to maturity. View alſo the Air, the vaſt extent between Heaven and Earth, which ſerves for a Water-courſe, a Ciſtern for water, to bedew the face of the Sun-burnt Earth, to ſatisfie the deſolate ground and to cauſe the bud of the tender herb to ſpring forth. **Job. 38.25 27.Job 38:25Could Chance appoint the Clouds of the Air to interpoſe as fans between the ſcorching heat of the Sun, and the faint bodies of the Creatures? Can that be the Father of the Rain or beget the drops of dew? **Job. 38.28.Job 38:28Could any thing ſo blind ſettle thoſe ordinances of Heaven for the preſervation of Creatures on the Earth? Can this either bring or ſtay the bottles of Heaven, when the duſt grows into hardneſs, and the Clods cleave faſt together?**Job. 38.37.38.Job 38:37Job 38:38

2. Subſerviency of the lower World, the Earth, and Sea, which was Created to be inhabited, Iſa. 45.18. The Sea affords water to the Rivers, the Rivers like ſo many veins are ſpread through the whole body of the Earth to refreſh and enable it to bring forth fruit for the ſuſtenance of man and beaſt, Pſal. 104.10.11. He ſends the Springs into the Vallies, which run among the Hills, they give drink to every Beaſt of the Field, the wild Aſſes quench their thirſt. He cauſes the Graſs to grow for the Cattle, and the herb for the ſervice of man, that he may bring forth food out of the Earth, v. 14. The Trees are provided for ſhades againſt the extremity of heat, a refuge for the panting beaſts, an habitation for Birds wherein to make their neſts. ver. 17. and a Basket for their proviſion. How are the Vallies and Mountains of the Earth diſpoſed for the pleaſure and profit of man? Every year are the Feilds covered with Harveſts, for the nouriſhing the Creatures, no part is Barren but beneficial to man. The Mountains that are not cloathed with graſs for his food are ſet with ſtones to make him an Habitation; they have their peculiar ſervices of metals and minerals for the conveniency and comfort and benefit of man. Things which are not fit for his food are medicines for his cure under ſome painful ſickneſs. Where the Earth brings not forth Corn, it brings forth Roots, for the ſervice of other Creatures. Wood abounds more in thoſe Countries where the cold is ſtronger than in others. Can this be the reſult of Chance, or not rather of an infinite Wiſdom?

Conſider the uſefulneſs of the Sea, for the ſupply of Rivers to refreſh the Earth. Which go up by the Mountains and down by the Vallies into the place God hath founded for them, Pſal. 104.8. A ſtore-houſe for fiſh for the nouriſhment of other Creatures, a ſhop of Medicines for cure, and Pearls for ornament. The band that ties remote Nations together, by giving opportunity of paſſage to and commerce with one another. How ſhould that natural inclination of the Sea to cover the Earth, ſubmit to this ſubſerviency to the Creatures? Who hath pounded in this fluid maſs of Water in certain limits, and confin'd it to its own Channel, for the accommodation of ſuch Creatures, who by its common Law can only be upon the Earth? Naturally the Earth was covered with the deep as with a Garment, the waters ſtood above the Mountains. Who ſet a bound that they might not paſs over, that they return not again to cover the Earth?**Pſa. 104.6.9.Ps 104:6Ps 104:9 Was it blind Chance, or an Infinite Power, that ſhut up the Sea with doors, and made thick darkneſs a ſwadling band for it, and ſaid hitherto ſhall thou come and no further, and here ſhall thy proud waves be ſtaid?**Job. 38.8.9.11.Job 38:8Job 38:9Job 38:11

All things are ſo ordered that they are not propter ſe but propter aliud. What advantage accrues to the Sun by its unwearied rouling about the World? Doth it increaſe the perfection of its nature by all its Circuits? No, but it ſerves the inferior world, it impregnates things by its heat. Not the moſt abject thing, but hath its end and uſe. There is a ſtrait connexion, the Earth could not bring forth fruit without the Heavens, the Heavens could not water the Earth without vapours from it.

3. All this Subſerviency of Creatures centers in man. Other Creatures are ſerved by thoſe things as well as our ſelves, and they are provided for their nouriſhment and refreſhment as well as ours;**Amirald. de Trinitate pa. 13. and pag. 18. yet both they and all Creatures meet in man as lines in their Centers: Things that have no life or ſenſe are made for thoſe that have both life and ſenſe, and thoſe that have life and ſenſe are made for thoſe that are endued with reaſon. When the Pſalmiſt admiringly conſiders the Heavens, Moon and Starrs, he intimates man to be the end for which they were Created, Pſal. 8.3, 4. What is man that thou art mindful of him? He expreſſeth more particularly the p. 24Dominion that Man hath over the beaſts of the field, the fowl of the Air, and whatſoever paſſes through the paths of the Sea, verſ. 6.7.8. and concludes from thence the excellency of Gods Name in all the Earth. All things in the World one way or other Center in an uſefulneſs for man, ſome to feed him, ſome to clothe him, ſome to delight him, others to inſtruct him, ſome to exerciſe his wit, and others his ſtrength. Since man did not make them, he did not alſo order them for his own uſe. If they conſpire to ſerve him who never made them, they direct man to acknowledge an other, who is the joynt Creator both of the Lord and the Servants under his Dominion. And therefore as the inferior natures are ordered by an inviſible hand for the good of man; ſo the nature of man is by the ſame hand ordered to acknowledge the Exiſtence and the glory of the Creator of him. This viſible order man knows he did not conſtitute, he did not ſettle thoſe Creatures in ſubſerviency to himſelf; they were placed in that order before he had any acquaintance with them, or Exiſtence of himſelf, which is a queſtion God puts to Job, to conſider of, Job 38.4. Where waſt thou when I laid the foundation of the Earth, declare if thou haſt underſtanding? All is ordered for Mans uſe, the Heavens anſwer to the Earth as a roof to a floor, both compoſing a delightful habitation for man; vapors aſcend from the Earth, and the Heaven concocts them, and returns them back in welcome ſhowers for the ſupplying of the Earth.**Jer. 10.13.Jer 10:13 The light of the Sun deſcends to beautifie the Earth, and imploys its heat to midwife its fruits, and this for the good of the community, whereof Man is the head; and though all Creatures have diſtinct natures and muſt act for particular ends according to the Law of their Creation; yet there is a joynt combination for the good of the whole, as the common end; juſt as all the Rivers in the world, from what part ſoever they come, whether North or South, fall into the Sea for the ſupply of that maſs of waters; which loudly proclaims ſome infinitely wiſe nature, who made thoſe things in ſo exact an harmony.**Morn. de verit. cap. 1. pag. 7. [As in a Clock, the hammer which ſtrikes the bell, leads us to the next Wheel, that to another, the little wheel to a greater, whence it derives its motion, this at laſt to the ſpring, which acquaints us that there was ſome Artiſt that framed them in this ſubordination to one another for this orderly motion.]

4. This order or Subſerviency is regular and uniforme. Every thing is determined to its peculiar nature.**Amiraut. The Sun and Moon make day and night, months and years, determine the ſeaſons, never are defective in coming back to their ſtation and place, they wander not from their Roads, ſhock not againſt one another, nor hinder one another in the functions aſſigned them. From a ſmall grain or ſeed a Tree ſprings, with body, root, bark, leaves, fruit of the ſame ſhape, figure, ſmell, taſt; that there ſhould be as many parts in one as in all of the ſame kind, and no more, and that in the Womb of a ſenſitive Creature, ſhould be formed one of the ſame kind, with all the due members and no more, and the Creature that produceth it knows not how it is formed or how tis perfected. If we ſay this is nature; this nature is an intelligent being; if not, how can it direct all cauſes to ſuch uniforme ends. If it be intelligent, this nature muſt be the ſame we call God, Who ordered every herb to yeild ſeed, and every fruit-Tree to yeild fruit after its kind, and alſo every Beaſt and every creeping thing after its kind, Gen. 11, 12, 24.

And every thing is determined to its particular ſeaſon. The ſap riſeth from the Root at its appointed time, enlivening and cloathing the branches with a new Garment at ſuch a time of the Suns returning, not wholly hindered by any accidental coldneſs of the weather, it being often colder at its return, than it was at the Suns departure. All things have their Seaſons of flouriſhing, budding, bloſſoming, bringing forth fruit; they ripen in their ſeaſons, caſt their leaves at the ſame time; throw off their old cloaths, and in the ſpring appear with new Garments, but ſtill in the ſame faſhion.

**Coccei. ſum. Theol. cap. 8. § 77.The Winds and the Rain have their ſeaſons and ſeem to be adminiſtred by laws for the profit of man: No ſatisfactory cauſe of thoſe things can be aſcribed to the Earth, the Sea, to the Air or Stars. Can any underſtand the ſpreading of his clouds or the noiſe of his Tabernacle? Job 38.29. The natural reaſon of thoſe things cannot be demonſtrated without recourſe to an infinite and intelligent being: Nothing can be rendred capable of the direction of thoſe things but a God.

This regularity in Plants and Animals is in all Nations. The Heavens have the p. 25ſame motion in all parts of the world; all men have the ſame Law of nature in their mind; all Creatures are ſtampt with the ſame law of Creation: In all parts the ſame Creatures ſerve for the ſame uſe; and though there be different Creatures in India and Europe, yet they have the ſame ſubordination, the ſame ſubſerviency to one another, and ultimately to man; which ſhows that there is a God, and but one God, who tunes all thoſe different ſtrings to the ſame notes in all places. Is it nature meerly conducts theſe natural cauſes in due meaſures to their proper effects, without interfering with one another? Can meer nature be the cauſe of thoſe muſical proportions of time? You may as well conceive a Lute to ſound its own ſtrings without the hand of an Artiſt; a City well Governed without a Governor; an Army keep its Stations without a General, as imagine ſo exact an order, without an Orderer: Would any Man, when he hears a Clock ſtrike, by ſit intervals, the hour of the day, imagine this regularity in it, without the direction of one that had underſtanding to manage it? He would not only regard the motion of the Clock, but commend the diligence of the Clock-Keeper.

5. This order and Subſerviency is conſtant. Children change the cuſtomes and manners of their Fathers: Magiſtrats change the Laws they have received from their Anceſtors, and enact new ones in their room: But in the world all things conſiſt as they were created at the beginning; The Law of nature in the Creatures hath met with no change.**Petav. ex Athanaſ. T…eol. Dog. tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 1. § 4. Who can behold the Sun riſing in the morning; the Moon ſhining in the night; increaſing and decreaſing in its due ſpaces; the Stars in their regular motions night after night, for all ages, and yet deny a Preſident over them? And this motion of the Heavenly bodies, being contrary to the nature of other Creatures, who move in order to reſt; muſt be from ſome higher cauſe. But thoſe ever ſince the ſetling in their places, have been perpetually rounding the world:**(Whether it be the Sun, or the Earth that moves, it is all one: Whence have either of them this conſtant and uniform motion?) What nature, but one powerful and intelligent, could give that perpetual motion to the Sun, which being bigger than the Earth a hundred ſixty ſix times, runs many thouſand miles with a mighty ſwiftneſs in the ſpace of an hour, with an unwearied diligence, performing its dayly task, and as a ſtrong man, rejoycing to run its race, for above five thouſand years together, without intermiſſion, but in the time of Joſhuah? **Joſh. 10.13.Josh 10:13Tis not natures Sun, but Gods Sun, which he makes to riſe upon the juſt and unjuſt.**Mat. 5.45.Matt 5:45

So a Plant receives its nouriſhment from the Earth, ſends forth its juyce to every branch, forms a bud which ſpreads it into a bloſſom and flower, the leaves of this drop off, and leave a fruit of the ſame colour and taſt, every year; which being ripened by the Sun, leaves ſeeds behind it for the propagation of its like, which contains in the nature of it, the ſame kind of buds, bloſſoms, fruit which were before; and being nouriſhed in the Womb of the Earth, and quickened by the power of the Sun, diſcovers it ſelf at length, in all the progreſſes, and motions which its predeceſſor did: Thus in all ages, in all places, every year it performs the ſame task, ſpinns out fruit of the ſame colour, taſt, vertue, to refreſh the ſeveral Creatures, for which they are provided.

This ſetled ſtate of things comes from that God who laid the foundations of the Earth, that it ſhould not be removed for ever;**Pſal. 104.5.Ps 104:5 and ſet ordinances for them to act by a ſtated law;**Job. 38.33.Job 38:33 according to which they move as if they underſtood themſelves to have made a Covenant with their Creator.**Jer. 33.20Jer 33:20

3. Add to this union of contrary qualities, and the ſubſerviency of one thing to another, the admirable variety and diverſity of things in the World. What variety of Metals, living Creatures, Plants, what variety and diſtinction in the ſhape of their leaves, flowers, ſmell, reſulting from them? Who can number up the ſeveral ſorts of Beaſts on the Earth, Birds in the Air, Fiſh in the Sea? How various are their motions? Some Creep, ſome Go, ſome Fly, ſome Swim; And in all this variety each Creature hath Organs or members, fitted for their peculiar motion. If you conſider the multitude of Stars, which ſhine like Jewels in the Heavens, their different magnitudes; Or the variety of colours in the Flowers and Tapeſtry of the Earth, you could no more conclude they made themſelves, or were made by chance, than you can imagine a peice of Arras, with a diverſity of figures and colours, either wove it ſelf, or were knit together by hazzard.

p. 26How delicious is the ſap of the Vine, when turned into Wine, above that of a Crab? Both have the ſame Womb of Earth to conceive them, both agree in the nature of Wood and Twigs, as Channels to convay it into fruit: What is that which makes the one ſo ſweet, the other ſo ſower, or makes that ſweet, which was a few weeks before unpleaſantly ſharp? Is it the Earth? No: They both have the ſame ſoil; the Branches may touch each other; the ſtrings of their Roots may under ground entwine about one another. Is it the Sun? both have the ſame beams: Why is not the taſt and colour of the one as gratifying as the other? Is it the root? The taſt of that is far different from that of the fruit it bears. Why do they not when they have the ſame Soil, the ſame Sun, and ſtand near one another, borrow ſomething from one anothers natures? No reaſon can be rendred, but that there is a God of infinite Wiſdom, hath determin'd this variety, and bound up the nature of each Creature within it ſelf.**Amirald. de Trinitate pa. 21. [Everything follows the Law of its Creation, and it is worthy obſervation, that the Creator of them hath not given that power to Animals, which ariſe from different ſpecies, to propagate the like to themſelves; As Mules that ariſe from different ſpecies: No reaſon can be rendred of this, but the fixt determination of the Creator, that thoſe ſpecies which were Created by him ſhould not be loſt in thoſe mixtures, which are contrary to the Law of the Creation.] This cannot poſſibly be aſcribed to that which is commonly called nature, but unto the God of nature, who will not have his Creatures exceed their bounds or come ſhort of them.

Now ſince among thoſe varieties, there are ſomethings better than other, yet all are good in their kind, and partake of Goodneſs,**Gen. 1.31.Gen 1:31 there muſt be ſomething better and more execellent than all thoſe, from whom they derive that goodneſs, which inheres in their nature and is communicated by them to others: And this excellent Being muſt inherit in an eminent way in his own nature, the goodneſs of all thoſe varieties, ſince they made not themſelves, but were made by another. All that goodneſs which is ſcattered in thoſe varieties muſt be infinitely concentred in that nature, which diſtributed thoſe various perfections to them, Pſal. 94.9. He that Planted the Ear ſhall not he hear; he that formed the Eye, ſhall not he ſee; he that teacheth Man knowledge ſhall not he know? The Creator is greater than the Creature, and whatſoever is in his effects, is but an Impreſſion of ſome excellency in himſelf; There is therefore ſome cheif fountain of goodneſs, whence all thoſe various goodneſſes in the world do flow.

From all this it follows, if there be an Order, and Harmony, there muſt be an Orderer, one that made the Earth by his Power, eſtabliſhed the world by his Wiſdom, and ſtretched out the Heavens by his Diſcretion, Jer. 10.12. Order being the effect, cannot be the cauſe of it ſelf: Order is the diſpoſition of things to an end, and is not intelligent, but implies an intelligent Orderer: And therefore it is as certain that there is a God, as it is certain there is order in the world: Order is an effect of Reaſon and Counſel; this reaſon and Counſel muſt have its reſidence in ſome being, before this order was fixed: The things ordered are always diſtinct from that Reaſon and Counſel whereby they are ordered, and alſo after it as the effect is after the cauſe. No Man begins a peice of work, but he hath the Model of it in his own mind: No Man builds an Houſe, or makes a Watch, but he hath the Idea or Copy of it in his own head: This beautiful world beſpeaks an Idea of it, or a model: Since there is ſuch a magnificent wiſdom in the make of each Creature, and the proportion of one Creature to another, this model muſt be before the World, as the patern is always before the thing that is wrought by it. This therefore muſt be in ſome intelligent and wiſe agent, and this is God: Since the reaſon of thoſe things exceed the reaſon and all the art of Man, who can aſcribe them to any inferior cauſe? Chance it could not be; the motions of Chance are not conſtant, and at ſet ſeaſons, as the motions of Creatures are: That which is by Chance is contingent, this is neceſſary; Uniformity can never be the birth of Chance: Who can imagine that all the parts of a Watch can meet together and put themſelves in order and motion by Chance? [**Lactant. Nor can it be nature only which indeed is a diſpoſition of ſecond cauſes: If nature hath not an underſtanding, it cannot work ſuch effects: If nature therefore uſes Counſel to begin a thing, reaſon to diſpoſe it, art to effect it, vertue to compleat it and power to Govern it, why ſhould it be called nature rather than God?] Nothing ſo ſure as that that which hath an end to which it tends, hath a cauſe by which it is ordered to that end: p. 27Since therefore all things are ordered in ſubſerviency to the good of man, they are ſo ordered by him that made both man and them; And man muſt acknowledge the wiſdom and goodneſs of his Creator, and act in ſubſerviency to His glory, as other Creatures act in ſubſerviency to His good: Senſible objects were not made only to gratifie the ſenſe of man, but to hand ſomthing to his mind as he is a rational Creature; to diſcover God to him as an object of love and deſire to be enjoyed:**Coccei. ſum. Theol. cap. 8. § 63.64. If this be not the effect of it, the order of the Creature, as to ſuch an one, is in vain, and falls ſhort of its true end.

To conclude this; As when a Man comes into a Palace, built according to the exacteſt rule of art, and with an unexceptionable conveniency for the Inhabitants, he would acknowledge both the being and ſkill of the Builder: So whoſoever ſhall obſerve the diſpoſition of all the parts of the World, their connexion, comelines, the variety of ſeaſons, the ſwarms of different Creatures, and the mutual offices they render to one another, cannot conclude leſs, than that it was contrived by an Infinite Skill, effected by Infinite Power, and governed by Infinite Wiſdom. None can imagine a Ship to be orderly conducted without a Pilot; Nor the parts of the World to perform their ſeveral functions without a wiſe guide; conſidering the Members of the Body, cannot perform theirs, without the active preſence of the Soul. The Atheiſt then is a fool, to deny that which every Creature in his conſtitution aſſerts, and thereby renders himſelf, unable to give a ſatisfactory account of that conſtant uniformity in the motions of the Creatures.

Thirdly, III. As the production and harmony, ſo particular Creatures, purſuing and attaining their ends, manifeſt that there is a God. All particular Creatures have natural inſtincts, which move them for ſome end: The intending of an end, is a property of a rational Creature; ſince the lower Creatures cannot challenge that title, they muſt act by the underſtanding and direction of another: And ſince man cannot challenge the honor of inſpiring the Creatures with ſuch inſtincts, it muſt be aſcribed to ſome nature infinitely above any Creature in underſtanding. No Creature doth determine it ſelf. Why do the fruits and grain of the Earth nouriſh us, when the Earth which inſtrumentally gives them that fitneſs, cannot nouriſh us, but becauſe their ſeveral ends are determined by one higher than the world?

1. Several Creatures have ſeveral Natures. How ſoon will all Creatures, as ſoon as they ſee the light, move to that whereby they muſt live, and make uſe of the natural arms God hath given their kind, for their defence, before they are grown to any maturity to afford them that defence? The Scripture makes the appetite of Infants to their milk a foundation of the divine Glory, Pſal. 8.3. Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings, haſt thou ordained ſtrength; that is, matter of praiſe and acknowledgment of God, in the natural appetite they have to their milk and their relliſh of it. All Creatures have a natural affection to their young ones; all young ones by a natural inſtinct, move to, and receive the nouriſhment that is proper for them: Some are their own Phyſitians as well as their own Caterers, and naturally diſcern what preſerves them in life, and what reſtores them when ſick. The Swallow flies to its Celendine, and the Toad haſtens to its Plantain.

Can we behold the Spiders Nets, or Silkworms Web, the Bees Cloſets, or the Ants Granaries, without acknowledging a higher Being than a Creature, who hath planted that Genius in them? The conſideration of the nature of ſeveral Creatures God commended to Job, (Chap. 39. where he diſcourſeth to Job of the natural inſtincts, of the Goat, the Oſtrich, Horſe and Eagle, &c.) to perſwade him to the acknowledgment and admiration of God and humiliation of himſelf.

The Spider, as if it underſtood the art of weaving, fits its web both for its own Habitation, and a Net to catch its prey. The Bee builds a Cell which ſerves for Chambers to reſide in, and a repoſitory for its proviſion. Birds are obſerved to build their Neſts with a clammy matter without, for the firmer duration of it, and with a ſoft moſs and down within for the conveniency and warmth of their young: The Stork knows his appointed time. Jer. 8.7. And the Swallows obſerve the time of their coming; they go and return according to the ſeaſons of the year, This they gain not by conſideration, it deſcends to them with their nature: They neither gain nor increaſe it by rational deductions. Tis not in vain to ſpeak of theſe. How little do we improve by Meditation thoſe objects, which daily offer themſelves p. 28to our view, full of inſtructions for us? And our Saviour ſends his diſciples to ſpell God in the Lillies. **Mat. 6.28.Matt 6:28Tis obſerved alſo that the Creatures offenſive to man go ſingle: If they went by troops, they would bring deſtruction upon man and beaſt. This is the nature of them for the preſervation of others.

2. They know not their end. They have a Law in their natures, but have no rational underſtanding, either of the end to which they are appointed, or the means fit to attain it: They naturally do what they do, and move by no Counſel of their own, but by a Law impreſt by ſome higher hand upon their natures.

What Plant knows why it ſtrikes its root into the earth? Doth it underſtand what ſtorms it is to conteſt with, or why it ſhoots up its branches towards Heaven? Doth it know it needs the droppings of the clouds to preſerve it ſelf, and make it fruitful? Theſe are acts of underſtanding: The root is downward to preſerve its own ſtanding, the branches upward to preſerve other Creatures: This underſtanding is not in the Creature it ſelf, but originally in another. Thunders and Tempeſts know not why they are ſent, yet by the direction of a mighty hand they are inſtruments of Juſtice upon a wicked world.

**Coccei. ſum. Theolog. cap. 8. § 67. &c.Rational Creatures that act for ſome end, and know the end they aim at, yet know not the manner of the natural motion of the members to it. When we intend to look upon a thing, we take no counſel about the natural motion of our eyes, we know not all the principles of their operations; or how that dull matter whereof our bodies are compoſed, is ſubject to the order of our minds.**Peirſon, on the Creed p. 35. We are not of Counſel with our ſtomacks about the concoction of our meat, or the diſtribution of the nouriſhing juyce to the ſeveral parts of the body. Neither the Mother nor the Foetus ſit in Council how the formation ſhould be made in the Womb. We know no more than a plant knows what Stature it is of, and what medicinal vertue its fruit hath for the good of man; yet all thoſe natural operations are perfectly directed to their proper end, by an higher wiſdom than any human underſtanding is able to conceive, ſince they exceed the ability of an inanimate or fleſhly nature, yea and the wiſdom of a man. Do we not often ſee reaſonable Creatures acting for one end, and perfecting a higher than what they aimed at, or could ſuſpect? When Joſephs Brethren ſold him for a Slave, their end was to be rid of an Informer:**Gen. 37.2.Gen 37:2 But the action iſſued in preparing him to be the preſerver of them and their families. Cyrus his end was to be a Conqueror, but the action ended in being the Jews deliverer, Prov. 16.9. A mans heart deviſeth his way, but the Lord directs his ſteps.

3. Therefore there is ſome ſuperior underſtanding and nature which ſo acts them. That which acts for an end unknown to it ſelf, depends upon ſome over-ruling wiſdom that knows that end. Who ſhould direct them in all thoſe ends, but he that beſtowed a being upon them for thoſe ends,**Leſſius de providen. lib. 1. pag. 652. who knows what is convenient for their life, ſecurity and propagation of their natures? An exact knowledge is neceſſary both of what is agreeable to them, and the means whereby they muſt attain it, which ſince it is not inherent in them, is in that wiſe God, who puts thoſe inſtincts into them, and governs them in the exerciſe of them to ſuch ends. Any man that ſees a dart flung, knows it cannot hit the mark without the skil and ſtrength of an Archer. Or he that ſees the hand of a Dial pointing to the hours ſucceſſively, knows that the Dial is ignorant of its own end, and is diſpoſed and directed in that motion by an other. All Creatures ignorant of their own natures could not univerſally in the whole kind, and in every Climate and Country, without any difference in the whole world, tend to a certain end, if ſome over-ruling wiſdom did not preſide over the world and guide them: and if the Creatures have a Conductor, they have a Creator: All things are turned round about by his Council, that they may do whatſoever he Commands them upon the face of the world in the earth.**Job. 37.12.Job 37:12

So that in this reſpect the folly of Atheiſm appears. Without the owning a God no account can be given of thoſe actions of Creatures, that are an imitation of Reaſon: To ſay the Bees, &c. are rational, is to equal them to man; nay make them his ſuperiors, ſince they do more by nature than the wiſeſt man can do by art: Tis their own Counſel whereby they act, or anothers; If it be their own, they are reaſonable Creatures; If by anothers, tis not meer nature that is neceſſary; Then other Creatures would not be without the ſame skill: There would be no difference among them: If nature be reſtrained by another, it hath a ſuperior; if not tis a free p. 29agent: Tis an underſtanding being that directs them: And then it is ſomething ſuperior to all Creatures in the world, and by this therefore we may aſcend to the acknowledgment of the neceſſity of a God.

Fourthly, IV. Add to the production and order of the world and the Creatures acting for their end, the preſervation of them. Nothing can depend upon it ſelf in its preſervation, no more than it could in its being. If the order of the world was not fixed by it ſelf, the preſervation of that order cannot be continued by it ſelf.

Tho the matter of the world after Creation cannot return to that nothing whence it was fetched, without the power of God that made it, (becauſe the ſame power is as requiſite to reduce a thing to nothing as to raiſe a thing from nothing,) yet without the actual exerting of a power that made the Creatures, they would fall into confuſion. Thoſe conteſting qualities which are in every part of it, could not have preſerved, but would have conſumed, and extinguiſht one another, and reduced the world to that confuſed Chaos, wherin it was before the Spirit moved upon the waters: As contrary parts could not have met together in one form, unleſs there had been one that had conjoyned them: So they could not have kept together after their conjunction unleſs the ſame hand had preſerved them. Natural contrarieties cannot be reconciled. Tis as great power to keep diſcords knit, as at firſt to link them. Who would doubt, but that an Army made up of ſeveral Nations and humors, would fall into a Civil War, and ſheath their Swords in one anothers bowels, if they were not under the management of ſome wiſe General, or a Ship daſh againſt the Rocks without the skill of a Pilot?**Gaſſend. Phy. ſect. 6. lib. 4. cap. 2. pa. 101. As the body hath neither life nor motion, without the active preſence of the Soul, which diſtributes to every part the vertue of acting; ſets every one in the exerciſe of its proper function and reſides in every part: So there is ſome powerful cauſe which doth the like in the world, that rules and tempers it. There is need of the ſame power and action, to preſerve a thing, as there was at firſt to make it. When we conſider that we are preſerved, and know that we could not preſerve our ſelves; we muſt neceſſarily run to ſome firſt cauſe which doth preſerve us. All works of art depend upon nature, and are preſerved while they are kept by the force of nature: As a Statue depends upon the matter whereof it is made, whither ſtone or braſs; this nature therefore muſt have ſome ſuperior by whoſe influx it is preſerved. Since therefore we ſee a ſtable order in the things of the world, that they conſpire together for the good and beauty of the univerſe; that they depend upon one another: There muſt be ſome principle upon which they do depend; ſomthing to which the firſt link of the chain is faſtened, which himſelf depends upon no ſuperior, but wholly reſts in his own eſſence and being: Tis the title of God to be the preſerver of man and beaſt. **Pſa. 36.6.Ps 36:6The Pſalmiſt elegantly deſcribeth it, Pſal. 104.24. &c. The Earth is full of his riches, all wait upon him, that he may give them their meat in due ſeaſon; when he opens his hand he fills them with good; when he hides his face they are troubled if he take away their breath they die and return to duſt; he ſends forth his Spirit and, they are Created, and renews the face of the Earth, the glory of the Lord ſhall endure for ever, and the Lord ſhall rejoyce in his works: Upon the conſideration of all which the Pſalmiſt v. 34. takes a pleaſure in the Meditation of God as the cauſe and manager of all thoſe things; which iſſues into a joy in God and a praiſing of him. And why ſhould not the conſideration of the power and wiſdom of God in the Creatures produce the ſame effect in the hearts of us, if he be our God? Or as ſome render it, my Meditation ſhall be ſweet, or acceptable to him, whereby I find matter of praiſe in the things of the world, and offer it to the Creator of it.

Thirdly, III. Reaſon,The third Reas. Tis a folly to deny that which a mans own nature witneſſeth to him. The whole frame of bodies and Souls bears the impreſs of the infinite power and wiſdom of the Creator. A body framed with an admirable Architecture, a Soul endowed with Underſtanding, Will, Judgment, Memory, Imagination. Man is the Epitome of the World, contains in himſelf the ſubſtance of all natures, and the fulneſs of the whole univerſe; not only in regard of the univerſalneſs of his knowledge, whereby he comprehends the reaſons of many things; but as all the perfections of the ſeveral natures of the world are gathered and united in man, for the perfection of his own, in a ſmaller volum. In his Soul he partakes of Heaven, in his body of the earth. There is the life of Plants, the ſenſe of beaſts, and the intellectual p. 30nature of Angels. **Gen. 2.7.Gen 2:7The Lord breathed into his Noſtril the breath of life, and man, &c. foreign of lifes. Not one ſort of, lifes; but ſeveral, not only an Animal, but a Rational life; a Soul of a Nobler extract and nature, than what was given to other Creatures.

So that we need not ſtep out of doors, or caſt our eyes any further than our ſelves, to behold a God. He ſhines in the capacity of our Souls and the vigour of our Members. We muſt flie from our ſelves and be ſtript of our own humanity, before we can put off the Notion of a Deity: He that is ignorant of the Exiſtence of God, muſt be poſſeſſed with ſo much folly, as to be ignorant of his own make and frame.

1. In the parts whereof he doth conſiſt, Body and Soul.

Firſt, I. Take a proſpect of the Body. The Pſalmiſt counts it a matter of praiſe and admiration, Pſal. 139.15, 16. I will praiſe thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; when I was made in ſecret and curiouſly wrought in the loweſt parts of the Earth, in thy book all my Members were written. The Scheme of man and every Member was drawn in his book: All the Sinews, Veins, Arteries, Bones, like a peice of Embroidery or Tapeſtry, were wrought by God, as it were with deliberation; like an Artificer that draws out the model of what he is to do in writing, and ſets it before him when he begins his work.

And indeed the Fabrick of mans Body, as well as his Soul, is an argument for a Divinity. The artificial ſtructure of it, the Elegancy of every part, the proper Situation of them, their proportion one to another, the fitneſs for their ſeveral functions, drew from Galen, **Lib. 3. de uſu. partium. Petav. Theol. Dog. Tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 1. pa. 6.(a Heathen and one that had no raiſed ſentiments of a Deity,) a confeſſion of the admirable Wiſdom and Power of the Creator, and that none but God could frame it.

1. In the order, fitneſs and uſefulneſs of every part. The whole model of the body is grounded upon reaſon. Every member hath its exact proportion, diſtinct office, regular motion. Every part hath a particular comlineſs, and convenient temperament beſtowed upon it, according to its place in the Body. The Heart is hot to enliven the whole. The Eye clear to take in objects to preſent them to the Soul: Every member is fitted for its peculiar ſervice and action: Some are for ſenſe, ſome for motion, ſome for preparing, and others for diſpenſing nouriſhment to the ſeveral parts: They mutually depend upon, and ſerve one another. What ſmall ſtrings faſten the particular members together, as the Earth that hangs upon nothing? **Job. 26.7.Job 26:7Take but one part away, and you either deſtroy the whole, or ſtamp upon it ſome mark of deformity. All are knit together by an admirable Symmetry; all orderly perform their functions, as acting by a ſetled Law; none ſwerving from their rule, but in caſe of ſome predominant humor: And none of thoſe in ſo great a multitude of parts, ſtifled in ſo little a Room, or juſtling againſt one another to hinder their mutual actions; none can be better diſpoſed. And the greateſt wiſdom of man could not imagine it, till his eyes preſent them with the ſight and connexion of one part and member with another.

1. The Heart. **Theod. de providentiâ. Orat. 3.How ſtrongly it is guarded with ribs like a Wall, that it might not be eaſily hurt! It draws blood from the Liver, through a channel made for that purpoſe: Rarifies it and makes it fit to paſs through the Arteries and Veins, and to carry heat and life to every part of the body: And by a perpetual motion, it ſucks in the blood and ſpouts it out again; which motion depends not upon the command of the Soul, but is pure natural.

2. The Mouth, takes in the meat, the teeth grind it for the ſtomack, the ſtomack prepares it, nature ſtrains it through the milky veins, the liver refines it and mints it into blood, ſeparates the purer from the droſſy parts, which go to the heart, circuites through the whole body, running through the Veins like Rivers through ſo many channels of the world, for the watering of the ſeveral parts: Which are framed of a thin skin for the ſtraining the blood through, for the ſupply of the members of the body, and framed with ſeveral valves or doors, for the thruſting the blood forwards to perform its circular motion.

3. The Brain, fortified by a ſtrong skull to hinder outward accidents, a tough membrane or skin to hinder any oppreſſion by the skull; the ſeat of ſenſe; that which coins the animal ſpirits by purifying and refining thoſe which are ſent to p. 31it, and ſeems like a curious peice of Needlework.

4. The Ear, framed with windings and turnings, to keep any thing from entring to offend the Brain; ſo diſpoſed as to admit ſounds with the greateſt ſafety and delight;**Eccleſ. 12.4.Eccl 12:4 filled with an air within, by the motion whereof the ſound is tranſmitted to the Brain: As ſounds are made in the Air by diffuſing themſelves, as you ſee Circles made in the water by the flinging in a ſtone. This is the Gate of knowledge, whereby we hear the Oracles of God, and the inſtruction of men for arts: Tis by this they are expoſed to the mind, and the mind of another Man framed in our underſtandings.

5. What a curious Workmanſhip is that of the Eye, which is in the body, as the Sun in the World; ſet in the head as in a Watch-Tower, having the ſofteſt nerves for the receiving the greater multitude of Spirits neceſſary for the act of Viſion? How is it provided with defence, by the variety of Coats to ſecure and accomodate the little humor and part whereby the viſion is made? Made of a round figure and convex, as moſt commodious to receive the ſpecies of objects; ſhaded by the eye-brows and eye-lids, ſecured by the eye-lids which are its ornament and ſafety; which refreſh it when it is too much dried by heat, hinder too much light from inſinuating it ſelf into it to offend it, cleanſe it from impurities, by their quick motion preſerve it from any invaſion, and by contraction confer to the more evident diſcerning of things: Both the eyes ſeated in the hollow of the bone for ſecurity; yet ſtanding out that things may be perceived more eaſily on both ſides: And this little Member can behold the earth, and in a moment veiw things as high as Heaven.

6.**Coccei. ſum. Theol. cap. 8. § 49. The Tongue for ſpeech framed like a Muſical inſtrument; the Teeth ſerving for variety of ſounds; the lungs ſerving for Bellows to blow the Organs as it were, to cool the Heart; by a continual motion tranſmitting a pure Air to the Heart, expelling that which was ſmoky and ſuperfluous. Tis by the Tongue that communication of Truth hath a paſſage among men; it opens the ſenſe of the mind; there would be no converſe and commerce without it: Speech among all Nations hath an elegancy and attractive force, maſtering the affections of men.

Not to ſpeak of other parts, or of the multitude of Spirits that act every part; he quick flight of them where there is a neceſſity of their preſence. Solomon 12 Eccleſiaſt. makes an elegant deſcription of them, in his Speech of old age: And Job …peaks of this formation of the body, Job 10.9, 10, 11, &c. Not the leaſt part of the body is made in vain. The hairs of the Head have their uſe, as well as are an ornament. The whole Symmetry of the body is a raviſhing object. Every Member hath a Signature and mark of God and his Wiſdom: He is viſible in the formation of the Members, the beauty of the parts, and the vigor of the body: This ſtructure could not be from the body, that only hath a paſſive power, and cannot act in the abſence of the Soul: Nor can it be from the Soul. How comes it then to be ſo ignorant of the manner of its formation? The Soul knows not the internal parts of its own body, but by information from others, or inſpection into other bodies: It knows leſs of the inward frame of the body than it doth of it ſelf: But he that makes the Clock can tell the number and motions of the wheels within, as well as what figures are without.

This ſhort diſcourſe is uſeful to raiſe our admirations of the Wiſdom of God, as well as to demonſtrate, that there is an Infinite, Wiſe Creator: And the conſideration of our ſelves every day, and the wiſdom of God in our frame would maintain Religion much in the world; Since all are ſo framed that no man can tell any error in the conſtitution of him. If thus the body of man is fitted for the ſervice of his Soul by an infinite God, the body ought to be ordered for the ſervice of this God and in obedience to him.