A Holy Commonwealth, Chapter 1
CHAP. I. There is a God that is mans Creator.
Thes. 1. There are men inhabiting the earth.
HE that denyeth this, denyeth himself to be a man, and therefore is not to be disputed with: yet proveth it to others, while he denyeth it.
Thes. 2. Man is not Eternal; but had a beginning.
We see it of all the Individuals, that they by Generation receive their Existence; There is no man alive now here in flesh, that was alive a thousand years ago. Generation succeedeth Generation. And as all men that are now on earth had a Beginning, so must there be one first man that also had a Beginning. Or else he must have been a pure Act, without Composition, or imperfection, self-sufficient, and without cause, and so not have been Man but God, and therefore not the supposite that we speak of: And as he had been infinite in Duration a part ante, so must he be a parte post: for that which have no cause, can have dissolution or end. But this is not the case of man: therefore man had a Beginning.
Thes. 3. Man did not make himself.
For before he was, he was not: and that which is not, cannot work. Nothing can do nothing: whosoever made him, knew what he did, and how, and why. But neither he that was not, nor his parents knew either what was doing while he was formed in the womb, and how he was fashioned, nor to what end each part and motion was appointed. Therefore neither did we make our selves. nor are our Parents the principal cause of our Being. Nor could the first man be made by himself when he was not, or his Parents that had none.
Thes. 4. Therefore man hath a superior Maker.
If he be an effect, he must have a cause. Nothing below can be his principal Cause: Nothing doth lay claim to such an honor; Nothing is sufficient for such a work: All things below are effects themselves, and therefore have their causes.
Thes. 5. Man being a living Creature, consisting of soul and body, his soul is vegetative, sensitive and rational, (or intellectual) and hath an Intellect to direct, a Will to chuse or refuse, and a Power to execute its Commands.
Sense it selfe is a sufficient Discerner that we are sensible: and Sense and Reason that we are vegetative: And Reason sufficiently discerneth that we are rational: not by an immediate intuition of the Power but by an immediate Intellection of its own Acts. While I reason to prove that man is rationall, and you reason against it, we both prove it.
Thes. 6. Wisdom is the due qualification of mans Understanding; and Vertue, or moral Goodnesse of his Will, and Ability, and Promptitude for Execution of his executive Power.
Mans soul is capable of these; and some in a less, and some in a more excellent degree are possessed of them: so few men will confess themselves to be wholly void of Wisdom and Goodness, that we need not prove the existence of these Endowments.
Thes. 7. He that made man, doth excell all men that he ever made in all perfections of understanding, Will and Power.
For no one can give that which he hath not to give, either formaly or eminently: Nothing of it self can make that which is better then it selfe: for then all the superabundant perfection of the effect should be without a cause. He therefore that made man, must needs have more Power, Wisdom and Goodness then all the men that are, or ever were in the world: because they had none but what he gave them.
Thes. 8. He that is the principal cause of man, is an Eternal, Immense, most perfect Being, an infinite Power, VVisdom and Goodness, that is, he is God.
Either man was made by a Creature, that had himselfe a Maker, or immediately by the uncaused Primitive, Simple, independent being, which is the cause of all things else. If he were made by a Creature, that Creature being but a dependent Being, could be but dependent in its causation, and so could be but the instrument of, or subservient to the principal cause. And as the first cause is not diminished, or loseth not any of his perfection by making the Creatures, and communicating to them, no more is he the less in any effect, because he useth them: But as they have no Being but from him, so they can do nothing but by him; and as his perfections are as glorious, as if there were no Creature in Being; so the effects, which as his instruments, the Creatures perform, are as much his own, as if there had been no Instruments. For if they are Creatures, they can neither have nor do any good but wholly from the Creator; so that if it could be proved, (as it cannot) that the first cause did immediately make man, yet would it not alter our case, or conclude him to be ever the less our Maker.
And that he is an eternal Being without Beginning or cause, is clear: For else there should be a time, (as we may call it) when there was Nothing. And if ever there had been a time when there was Nothing, there never would have been any thing: For nothing can do nothing, and make nothing: He therefore that thinketh God had a Beginning, thinketh that he was caused by nothing, without a cause: and so that all things were made by nothing.
And as the Eternity of God is thus most clear, and is his Immensity. For he made not that which is greater then himselfe, or that can comprehend him, else he should communicate more then he hath, and the effect to be beyond its total cause, which is impossible: And if he comprehend all things, and be greater then all things, he must be immense. And that he is infinite in Power, Wisdom, and Goodnesse, and so most perfect, is clear, because all the Power, Wisdom and Goodnesse of the Creature is from him; and therefore he hath more himselfe then all the Creatures have: and therefore is infinite in all. If all the Power, Wisdom and Goodness in all the world were contracted into one person, it must be less then his that giveth all. None can make that which is better then itselfe. I pass by all other Arguments, as intending at this time no other demonstrations; but duplicate page duplicate page these, from the same effects which we are to treat of. And from these the conclusion is now made plain, that THERE Is A GOD: and that HE CREATED MAN.