and Differing Beings we may reasonably judge that Several Worlds in the same Vniverse or Creation will supply us with very great Variety and Difference of Creatures 11. There may be Sundry Gradual Differences among the Same Kinds of Beings Thus 't is on Earth and so it may be in Other Parts of God's Creation amongst Men that are of the same Specifick Nature Gradual Varieties are almost Infinite some have the Perfections of Angels almost and others are raised but little above the Craftier sort of Brutes And the Intermediate Differences between these Extreams are innumerable And the same may be observed in other Kinds of Beings And this Variety together with the several Causes Reasons and Ends thereof will afford Great Subject and Matter for Speculation 12. The Supreme Heavens there is no doubt will afford and minister great Variety of Wonders to our Meditation 'T is the Palace of the Great King 't is the House of God the Place wherein he gives the greatest Demonstrations of his Glorious Perfections and especially of his Kindness and remunerating Bounty and Grate And certainly such a Place must needs be very Illustrious it must be adorned with things Great and Wonderful it must be embellished with what will create Extasie and Admiration Nothing Mean is seen in the Courts of Great Kings all things There are full of Splendour Stately Magnificenct and becoming Their Grandeur and Greatness And it cannot be supposed but that the Court of Heaven will be as Worthy of God and as Suitable to his Greatness as are the Courts of Mortal Kings 13. The Distance betwixt God and the Greatest Monarchs upon Earth is Infinite there is no Analogy or Proportion between their Greatness What Proportion is there between the Waters of the Sea and the Hollow of a Man's Hands What Proportion is there between the Dust of the Earth and a Measure Some Proportion there is between them because they are all Finite But between God and his Creatures even the Greatest and most Sublime amongst them there is no Proportion God being of Boundless and Infinite Perfections and they being all of Limited Nature and Qualities 14. If we may guess at the Glory of the Court of God by the Transcendent Greatness of his Essence and Perfections and I know not by what else we may make our Conjectures concerning it we must say That the Splendour of it surpasses that of the Courts of Mortal Kings almost as much as God surpasses Them The Fabrick of Heaven that House not made with Hands transcends the most Pompous Palaces of Princes almost as much as God Transcends Them in Power State and Glory 15. In the Kingdom of God at least after the Resurrection Man will be Compounded of a Body and a Soul And this Glorious Fabrick will contribute much towards the Happiness of both 'T will be an Object and a State suitable to the Senses and Appetites of the Glorious and Spiritual Bodies where-withal they will be endowed What those Senses and Appetites will be I cannot define nor how Great the Changes and Advantages will be that they will receive with the Change and Alteration of the Body on that Great Day But all confess and there is no doubt of it That the One will be the Rule and the Measure of the Other the Change of the Body will give Law as it were to the Change of the Senses and Bodily Appetites that shall be continued unto it 16. But 't is the Soul that will receive the Greatest Advantage and Happiness by the Injoyment and Possession of this House of God Thereby it will learn much of the Divine Excellencies and Perfections much of his Power Wisdom and Goodness much of his Love and Kindness much of the Vnfathomable Riches of his Grace And 't is therein that the Happiness of Man doth consist that I conceive is the Vision of God in which almost all Divines do place the Supreme Felicity and Happiness 17. Yet either Voluntarily or by Command the Blessed Inhabitants of Heaven may leave those Happy Mansions and traverse and view the Whole Creation of God Here we may observe Men travelling from One Kingdom to Another to observe the Manners and Customs the Laws Government and Institutions by which they are Governed and under which they Live as also to take Knowledge of whatsoever is Rare and Peculiar Stupendious and Worthy of Observation And I do not know but the Blessed may pass from One Part of the World to Another and behold what-ever is Curious and Admirable in them And what Wonders of Power Wisdom and Goodness may be found in every of them who can imagine And how much of the Glory of the Divine Attributes may be Illustrated by them who can determine 18. The Scriptures do assure us That the Holy Angels do sometimes converse and are imployed here Below ' Though Heaven be their Home and Countrey and they be therefore called the Angels of Heaven yet sometimes they spend a little time on Earth and many things do they observe and learn Here. What they know of the Redemption of the World by a Saviour and of the Warfare that is betwixt the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent they know by the Church and the Revelations that are made unto it together with the Experience that they have of the Conduct and Success thereof And if the Holy Angels of Heaven learn many things from This Earth the Blessed may learn many things from This and Other Worlds and Parts of God's Creation 19. For something may be known of God which the Heaven of Heavens doth not reveal or discover though they be a most Illustrious Glass in which the Face of God may be seen yet I am not sure that they do reveal all that the Blessed are capable of Knowing concerning him Something the Blessed may learn in Other Parts of the Universe which they cannot learn in the Paradise of God Not that God could not make it known unto them There but he chuses Several Creatures and Several Parts of the Creation upon which to impress the Image and Footsteps of his Perfections and by them to propose them to the View and Knowledge of Rational Beings for 't is they alone that are capable of seeing and beholding them 20. All God's Works do manifest and shew forth his Glorious Attributes and Perfections The Firmament sheweth his handy Work The Sun Moon and Stars in their Essence Regular Motions Influences and Effects do declare his Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness There is not a Creature in the Heavens or in the Earth which doth not teach and reveal something of the Admirable Excellency of their Maker And if This World and all the Beings in it do speak forth the Glory and Perfections of the Great God it cannot be doubted but that whatever Other Worlds there be have been or may be will speak the Same Language God makes all things for Himself that is for the Discovery of Himself and Illustration of
that All do so I cannot believe That there is no Difference between the Soul of the greatest Divine Philosopher or Statesman and that of the veriest Dolt or Ideot is to me an Improbable Paradox and I cannot but think that there is a Gradual Difference at least among Souls themselves 10. This Diversity I humbly conceive is found in all the Faculties and Powers of the Soul I mean in the Vnderstanding Will and Active or Executive Power In all these the Difference is Various according as Men's Love Service and Good Works may have been Various Here below Those that have been most Pious Holy and Abundant in the Works of Righteousness will have the Largest Understandings the most Vigorous Affections of Love Delight and Joy and the most Prompt and Ready Power and Method of Expressing them in Such Ways and by Such Means as are fit and congruous thereunto They will know most and love and rejoyce most and express this Love and Joy most readily in the Other World that served the Honour of God and the Good of Men most Industriously in This. They that have been Most Holy and lived Most to the Acceptation of God in Time will know Him Most fully and love Him Most passionately in Eternity And yet their Knowledge and Love as well as that of others may be capable of Increase and Augmentation as I have discoursed before 11. And there may be as great Diversity in the Bodies and Bodily Organs and Senses of the Blessed as there is in their Minds Some may be more Pure and Spiritual than others and consequently more Agile and Fit for Motion Some may have their Senses and the several Organs and Instruments thereof More Perfect and Compleat than Others and consequently more Capable of apprehending their Objects and Perceiving all the Perfections and Curiosities in them Some may have a More Large and Extensive Presence than others and therefore be capable of inspecting at One View more of the Works of God which renders them More affecting and More amazing He that stands upon a High Hill or Turret beholds More things than he that stands in a Valley and is much More pleased and delighted therein yea is much more ravished with Admiration of them 12. How great may be the Variety and Gradual Difference among the Blessed in these things cannot be determined Great have been the Numbers of Men that since the Creation have dwelt on the Face of this Earth and yet perhaps there were never Two among them in All things and Totally alike Some Difference in the Mixture of the Elements of which they were Compounded in the Shape Figure and Proportion of their Bodies in the Features of their Faces and Beauty of their Countenances might be seen and observed upon them And as Various may be the Difference of the Glorious Bodies of the Blessed The Starrs are Vastly numerous and yet perchance the Difference of their Glory may be as Great as their Number and that None of them are in all things Alike and Equal And such may be the Inequalities among the Inhabitants of the Celestial Kingdom 13. And it may be Modestly supposed that the Love of God to the Blessed may be as Various as their Glory and Perfections are The more Glorious and Perfect any Creature is the more Like he is to God and certainly the More Like any Creature is to God the More it is Beloved of Him Why else doth God despise the Heaven and the Earth in comparison of an Humble and Contrite Spirit and one that trembleth at his Word Isa 66.1 2. Is it not because there is More of his Image on such a Person than on the Frame and Fabrick of the Material Earth and Heavens Why doth God love and take more delight in the Man Christ Jesus than in Men and Angels and all the Holy Myriads that are About his Throne of which I think there is no doubt Is it not for this Reason that He is a far more Illustrious Image of his Attributes and Perfections than Any or All of them 14. How God will manifest a Various and Different Affection to the Blessed according to the Difference of their Perfections I cannot affirm Whether he will do it by Internal Effusions of Joy and Consolation or by External Effects and Demonstrations or by both which seems most probable I know not that 's a Question that I will leave for the Determination of the Other World But that God can and doth do it is past doubt with me He manifests a Peculiar Love to his Only Beloved Son and can do so to All the Members of his Body in Several Measures and Proportions 15. This great Variety of Love and Affection will Cause no Envy or Emulation Among the Blessed for they are free of all Sinful Passions Affections and Inclinations and do rejoyce in the Effusions and Manifestations of the Love of God to Others as well as to Themselves Particular Advantages are Matter of Common Joy As All the Heavenly Quires do Rejoyce in the Preheminence of Christ Jesus so do they in the Advantages of Each other 16. But tho this Variety causes no Envy or Emulation in Heaven yet methinks the Meditation of it should be a great Spur and Incentive to Piety Virtue and Good Works here on Earth Certainly it ought to make us abound in all the Fruits of Righteousness that so we may be capable of the Greatest Manifestations of the Love of God since those that are most Diligent in his Service since those that are the most Pious and Virtuous in This World will be the most Glorious and Excellent in the Other and those that are most Worthy will be most Beloved of God and receive the Greatest Evidences and Demonstrations of his Affection The Consideration of it should put us upon vigorous Endeavours after a mighty Holiness and Virtue that we may be the Objects of God's Choice and Peculiar Love in Heaven 17. 'T is a Question controverted among Divines whether the Blessed have any Knowledge of each other in the Kingdom of Heaven And I humbly conceive that from what I have said in the Fore-going Pages 't will not be Difficult to resolve it So Long a Tract of Time as Eternity may minister sundry Occasions and Opportunities to Friends and Relations for the Knowing of Each other And since 't is not spent in Solitude and Retirements but in Mutual Presence Society and Conversation 't is not possible Almost that they should escape the Knowledge of one Another 18. The Memory and Narration of the Mighty Works and Providences of God of which they had Knowledge in This World will bring Men to the Cognizance of each other There There is a Twofold Memory in Man there is a Sensitive and an Intellectual Memory The First of these depends upon those Ideas and Similitudes of things that by the Mediation of our Senses have been Impressed upon our Minds The Other depends of Such things as by Reason and Discourse are fixed
his Boundless Perfections 21. God knows his Own Excellencies and needs no Effects for the Discovery of them He needs not This or any Other World to acquaint himself with the Extent of his Power his Wisdom or his Goodness These and all his other Attributes are Perfectly understood by him He Doth not nor Cannot learn any thing concerning them from the Works of his Hands His Creatures do not teach him Knowledge nor doth he gain any Vnderstanding by the Effects of his Creative Power and Virtue 22. Therefore Reasonable Creatures must contemplate and behold them or 't will be Very hard in my Apprehension to give any fair Account of them Of what Use were the Heavens and the Earth the Sea and the Dry Ground with those various and almost innumerable sorts and kinds of Beings that are in it if there were no Intelligent Beings to Behold View and Consider them Why were they Made and why did God engrave his Own Image and impress the Characters of his Own Perfections on them if there were no Intellectual Essences to observe them And if this Fabrick that our Eyes behold were made to be a Glass in which Men and Angels might see and contemplate the Glory of its Maker such will be the Use of all Other Worlds that have been are or may be They will be also Mirrors in which understanding and intelligent Beings will behold the Glory of God and among them the Blessed-Inhabitants of Heaven 23. 'T is true in the Present State and by reason of the Darkness and Impotence that Sin hath introduced upon the Soul of Man this World is in great degree useless with regard to the Principal and Main end of it 'T was Built Framed and Fashioned to Reveal God unto them and it bears very Apparent Characters of a Deity upon it But Man is Blind and cannot See them or Lazy and Negligent and will not observe them or ingaged in the Prosecution of Pleasures Profits and Honours and cannot attend to consider them But in my Opinion this only proves That there are other Intellectual Beings that do contemplate God in the Several Creatures and Sorts of Essences that are here below And that though the World were made chiefly to reveal God to Man yet that was not the Only Vse of it but that Angels might therein see and behold the Glory of God And if This World were made partly for the Use and Contemplation of Angels 't is not improbable but that This and Other Worlds may be also made partly for the Use and Contemplation of the Blessed and Glorified Saints of Heaven 24. Yet I must add That This World is of Vse to Mankind Some among them do See and Discern a God If Infinite Excellency and Perfection therein and More might do so if they would apply themselves to Consider it Thought Sin hath darkned the Eye of the Mind it hath not Vtterly extinguished and put it out Something it may still See of God in the Creation if it would put it self on the Meditation of them But if it were granted That Mankind were utterly disabled from Seeing or Learning any thing of God from the Things that are seen yet it would not follow that it were Vseless to him Things may be in their own Nature Vseful to certain Ends and Purposes though Men may have Voluntarily made themselves incapable of Vsing them Wholsom Meat and Drink may be Vseful for the nourishing of Humane Bodies though Some Persons may have so injured their Constitution and destroyed their Stomachs and Digestive Faculties by Intemperance that they are uncapable of making that Vse of it And 't is certain that the World were of Vse to teach Men God though Man were Vtterly disabled so to Vse and Imploy it 25. The Sum of what I have said in this Chapter is this The World in which we Live and do Behold is of very Large and Great Extent the Species and Kinds of Beings in it are Very greatly Numerous There may have been Other Worlds Pre-existent to This there may be Others Co-existent with it and Others may Succeed it to an Indefinite and Vnlimited Period All God's Works Shew forth his Glory they are Vseless to their main End and Intention if there be no Intelligent Natures to Behold and Consider them Angels do Behold and Consider the Works of God in This Sublunary World And 't is not improbable in my Judgment that the Glorious Saints of Heaven may see and behold the Glory of God in the Works that he hath made and done in This and many Other Worlds And so Great and almost Infinitely various may they be as to minister Eternal Matter of Contemplation and an Increase of Knowledge for evermore CHAP. IV. Of the Several Ways and Means of obtaining Knowledge and first of Knowledge by Intuition 1. THe Ways and Means of Obtaining and Increasing Knowledge are Various I shall reduce them to these Heads 1. Intuition 2. Historical Narration 3. Revelation 4. Discursive Argumentation That I be not misunderstood I shall here premise That I do not Positively affirm that the Knowledge of the Blessed will increase by all These Ways in the World to come nor that there are no Other Ways of making Addition to it All that I shall affirm is That 't is Possible yea and Probable that it may be augmented by them 2. By Intuition I mean a present Inspection of Things or a View of them as they are presented to us and set before us Knowledge of things by present Intuition is distinguished from that Knowledge of things that we have by considering the Signs Images and Representations of them The Knowledge that I have of Persons Cities Villages and Countreys by ocular and present Inspection differs from the Knowledge that I have of them by viewing their Pictures and Statues or inspecting the Maps and Delineations of them The Knowledge that we have of the Glory of the Kingdom of God and the Person of our Saviour in it differs much from that which the Blessed Saints and Angels have concerning them Theirs is Present and Intuitive Ours is Absent and Abstractive We obtain it by considering the Reports that are made and the Descriptions that are given of them in the Book of God Whereas Theirs is attained by the Vision Presence and Inspection of those things themselves 3. In this World 't is but very little that we know by Intuition and the Reasons are our Presence is Limited and Confined We are fixed to a Little Spot of God's Creation and can View at once but few of the Creatures of God And though by Local Motion we are able to remove our selves from Place to Place and view Many things Successively by present Intuition which at Once we cannot do yet the Sphere of our Activity is small and 't is with Difficulty and Slow Motions that we do pass through it It takes up a Great deal of time to inspect the Beings that may be seen in a Circumference of a few Miles
Diameter and 't is not done without some Toyl and Labour And much more must be imployed to view a Circumference or Space whose Diameter is Many Miles and of Large Extension 4. Two things will very much augment and increase the Intuitive Knowledge of the Blessed and those are the Extension of their Presence and a Facility of moving from Place to Place These I do humbly conceive will be very Great Advantages unto them therein Peradventure their Presence may be so Extensive that by Means thereof they may inspect and behold more things at One View than we can Successively and one after another in Many Years And it may be their Motion may be almost as quick as the Beams of Light and they may pass the Immense Spaces of the Universe in the Twinkling of an Eye or at least with Incredible Swiftness and in a Very Small Space of time But these things must be spoken to something More at large and something More particularly that they may appear a Little Probable if not Vndoubtedly Certain 5. Tho' the Presence of the Blessed in the Future World will be certainly Definite and Limited for their Advancement to Bliss and Glory will not make them so Many Gods their proper Natures will still remain They will be Men in Heaven as truly as they were on Earth But tho' they continue Men yet I do with Submission conceive that their Presence will be much more Extensive and Large than now it is And in all likelihood the Extension of their Presence may be Varied There according to the Variety of their Graces and Virtues their Faith and their Obedience Here. 6. Our Lord Jesus remains a True Man in his Glorified Estate and yet certainly his Presence is much More Extensive than when he dwelt upon Earth When he was upon Earth 't was as much Limited and Confined as that of Other Men But it seems to me utterly Improbable that it should continue or remain so now he is in Heaven Then he was able to inspect and view by Intuition no more than others that were of Humane Race for He was in all things made like unto them Sin only excepted But now perhaps he may as easily inspect the Whole Globe of this Earth and the Heavens that Encompass and Surround it as any of us can view a Globe or Circumference of an Inch Diameter 7. For he is the Soveraign of Mankind He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He is the Governour of the World The Laws by which they ought to Live and by which they must be Judged are his Laws Sentence will pass upon all Men at the Great Day of Accounts according to their Obedience or Disobedience to them 8. Besides He is our Great Intercessor with God Almighty But how can he Hear our Prayers and Vnderstand our Needs and Wants unless he be Present with us and do Inspect and Observe them Can he Intercede for what he Knows not Or can he Know what he doth not Hear Or can he Hear where he is not Present Or can he be Present with all those that call upon him unless his Presence be of Large and Extensive Nature Is not his Name called upon from the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the same And can all those Prayers come before him unless his Presence be very Diffusive and extended with the Fabrick of Earth and Heaven 9. In the mean time I am not about to affirm the Vbiquity of Christ's Bodily Presence nor to determine the Manner of it I suppose his Presence of no greater Extension than his Government and his Government no larger than the Extent of his Redemption and what else may be Necessary for the Protection and Preservation of his Church and People And as to what concerns the Manner of his Presence I determine nothing 'T is but little that we know of the Nature of our Own Souls whil'st they are in the Body and therefore can pretend to know little of the Soul of our Saviour since it is cloathed with a Glorious Body What is the Nature of that Body and what are its Extensions how the Soul is Joyned to it and doth Actuate and Enliven it and by what Tubes and Opticks it doth View and take Cognizance of the Affairs of Men I cannot tell but that Jesus Christ even in his Humane Nature hath some Knowledge of them I think cannot be doubted 10. To say of Christ as the Papists do of the Saints and Angels to whom they address their Prayers gives me no Satisfaction They tell us That God Hears the Prayers that they present unto them and acquaints them with them that they may Again Offer and Present them to him This and some other Improbable Accounts do they give of their Praying to Saints and Angels when Protestants do tell them That they cannot possibly take Cognizance of them by reason that their Presence is of Limited and Determinate Nature 11. For what is the Advantage of the Man Christ Jesus above Angels and Saints if he Possess and enjoy no Greater Perfections than they do It cannot be doubted but that They may understand the Needs and Wants of Men if God will Reveal them unto them And if Christ Jesus come no otherwise by the Knowledge of them what is his Excellency and what are his Advantages at least in that Kind greater than Theirs And how hath he a Name above every Name not only in This World but also in That which is To come And how hath He in all things the Preheminence Surely these Expressions of Scripture do import Some Excellencies and Advantages Peculiar to the Human Nature of Christ Jesus which Saints and Angels are uncapable of 12. Moreover Christ Jesus is the Head of his Church even in his Humane Nature and from Him the Holy Spirit is communicated by the Means of his Ordinances to all the Members of it But how can this be without Knowledge Or how can he know the Vsefulness and Necessity of it to the Several and Single Members of His Body without Largeness of Presence The Reason of the Divine Omniscience is derived from his Omnipresence God knows all things because he is Present Every Where And I do humbly think that the Extensiveness of our Saviour's Knowledge bears proportion with the Extent of his Presence 13. In brief Christ Jesus considered as Man and as Mediator is the great and general Administrator of all the Affairs of this Humane World Whatsoever is done in it he does it for all Power in Heaven and Earth is given to him and God hath given him Power Over all Flesh all things are made Subject to Him and he is the Head over all things to the Church These things with many more of like importance the Holy Scriptures do assert concerning Him But how the Power thus given to Christ can be exercised without Knowledge of the Affairs of the World and of the Church I mean an Intuitive Knowledge of them nor how he
the Moon be an Habitable World as it is not altogether Improbable I see no reason why we may not think the same of all the other Luminous Bodies that are placed in the Expanded Heavens If that Planet be a World much like our Earth the Sun may be a World something advanced above it in Lustre and in Glory And the Inhabitants thereof may be Illustrious in proportion to their Countrey and excel Us who live upon This Earth as much as the Lustre and Brightness of the One surmounts the Shadows and Darkness of the Other 24. And the Blessed being of a Very Active Nature and capable of moving with Velocity and Swiftness may step from Star to Star and Intuitively observe what-ever is Wonderful and Worthy of Observation there They may observe what-ever in them is fit to Exalt the Honour and Advance the Praâ—â—ens of their Great Creatour And it needs not to be doubted but they will find Sufficient Reasons and Occasions for it There is something Great in all the Works of God upon the Surface of this Earth and in the Seas and Rivers that run within the Banks and Shores thereof And surely the more Illustrious Worlds and Parts of the Creation will produce things vastly Greater than any that are found Here below and more Worthy of Admiration 25. But no Part of the Vniverse will produce things so Great as will the Court of Heaven There shall we see and behold the Bravest the most Stately and most Magnificent Effects of the Divine Power Wisdom and Goodness And how Great is the Extent of that Glorious Palace and what great Variety of Beings may be found There who can determine If the Earth compared with the Heavens be but a Point the Heavens compared with the Heaven of Heavens may be much more so the Extent thereof may be almost Infinite And though there should be no Other Worlds either Past Present or to Come yet even That alone might employ Eternal Ages to view and behold the Wonders and the Glories of it 26. There may be various Kinds of Rational and Intellectual Essences or Beings There may be Pure Minds and such as are utterly Immaterial and there may be Several Gradual Differences amongst them There may be Angels Incorporate and furnished with Material Organs much of the same Nature with those where-with the Blessed will be endued at the Resurrection And among these there may be very many Gradations and Modal Differences and Distinctions and among the Saints the Gradual Differences may be very great and many and so may be the Reasons of them And all these will lie open to our View and Meditation 27. What Kinds of Beings may be designed and prepared for the Ornament of the New Jerusalem that City of the Living God I cannot say or determine But forasmuch as there are many things Here below which besides the Illustration of the Divine Perfections seem to be of little or no use unless it be to Embellish and Adorn the World and render it Pleasant to our View so 't is probable that in the House and Kingdom of God many things may be placed There to make it Beautiful and Pleasant to those that shall be thought Worthy of Admission Thither And these Beings may be of Several Kinds and Natures and may minister Matter to our Contemplation as well as Pleasure to the Bodily Senses where-withall we shall be endued There 28. But the most Amazing Wonder that will be proposed to the Intuition and Contemplation of the Blessed will be our Lord Christ Jesus He that was sometimes the most Despised of Mortal Men is There the Prince of the Kings of the Earth He that was the Contempt of Men is the Object even of Angel's Admiration He that sometimes stood before the Tribunal of Pontius Pilate is already Appointed Judge of the Living and the Dead and all must come before his Judgment-Seat and receive their Sentence from Him And how great the Excellencies and Perfections of this Jesus are who will undertake to Characterize or Describe 29. A God indeed in the Humane Nature He cannot be but certainly He is and will remain the most Glorious and Resplendent Image of God in the Whole Creation He had never been Exalted far above all Principalities and Powers Angels and Authorities had never been made Subject to Him if He had not greatly surpassed them in his Personal and Essential Perfections and Advantages His Power Wisdom and Goodness his Presence his Providence his Government and Empire is much more Large and Perfect than that of any other Created Essence And therefore He hath obtained a more Excellent Name than any of them and is advanced and set before them 30. Of this Jesus the Blessed will have a present Intuition not only in his Personal but Politick Capacity They will behold him as Head of Saints and Angels the Captain-General of all the Hosts of Heaven the most Illustrious Being that presides over them and under the Pure Deity Directs and Governs them and Communicates Vital Influences unto them For although the Scripture doth assure us That the Work of Man's Restauration and Salvation beign accomplished He shall Give up the Kingdom to God the Father yet I do conceive that He will always retain the Honour and Title of the Saviour and Redeemer of Men and that as the Sun doth Illustrate this Inferiour World so that Son of Righteousness will Illustrate the Supreme and Heavenly Jerusalem The Lamb is the Light of it And the Blessed shall Eternally Behold and Dwell in his Light to their incredible Pleasure and Satisfaction But of the â—ncrease of Knowledge by Intuition I have said enough and therefore here I 'le put a Period to This Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Increase of Knowledge by Revelation 1. WHen God made Man he endued him with Reasonable Faculties and made him capable of Moral Government He was able to understand his Duty and by the Prospect of Rewards and Punishments he could chuse the Observance and refuse the Neglect and Contempt thereof He was able to See and Discern the Meaning and Importance of the Divine Commandments and he could upon consideration of its Advantages chuse Obedience and on the Prevision of its Mischiefs refuse Disobedience and Sin 2. The Laws by which God intended to Govern Mankind were written in the Nature of Things and from thence they were to derive the Knowledge of them The several Beings in the World considered with Relation to God and one Another are the Signs of the Divine Will and Divine Laws are nothing else but the Significations of God's Will concerning Man's Duty Reward and Punishment and the Whole Creation at least as far as Man is capable of observing it are the Revealing Signs thereof 3. God did not Reveal all his Will concerning Man's Duty even whil'st Innocent in the Nature of Things but some Part of it He made known even then by Supernatural Revelation Such was the Prohibition of Eating of the Fruit of the
Light to the Bodily Eye which no sooner appears above the Horizon than all Eyes are enlightned thereby in a moment 30. I am prone to think This Knowledge Progressive and Increasing and that Mary Ages spent in the House of God will furnish the Blessed with More of the Knowlege of Him than they were endowed withal upon their first Admission and Entrance there I cannot think that the Millions of Ages pardon the Expression that do compound an Everlasting Duration will make no Increase in the Knowledge of the Blessed nor add no Perfection to their Vnderstandings 31. VVhether the Proofs that I shall make of this Probleme be Valid or Invalid the Reader must determine when he hath Weighed and Considered them I am content that they be esteemed as they are 'T is no part of our Creed that I am defending If my Arguments be thought invalid and my Opinion rejected 't will be no matter of Provocation to me If They be thought cogent and my Opinion worthy of Acceptation with Pious and Ingenious Men perchance I may be a little pleased therein But if it may advance the Love of God and make Heaven any whit the more acceptable to the Thoughts and Meditations of Christians I am sure I shall greatly rejoyce 32. These Things being premised 't will be adviseable to propose the Probleme Knowledge Eternally Progressive and give the Sense wherein I understand it 33. The word Knowledge I take in the largest Meaning and Signification I understand it not in the Strict Sense of Aristotle for the Knowledge of Things by their proper Efficient and Constitutive Causes but in a General and Vnlimited Sense for All Kinds of Knowledge by whatsoever means or after whatsoever manner it be obtained 34. By Eternally Progressive I mean Everlastingly Increasing it will Advance for Ever it will never arrive at that Perfection beyond which it can proceed no further The Visible World is Finite the Extension thereof is Limited and Determined The Waves of the Sea have their Bounds prefixed and set unto them Hitherto says God shall they come and no farther and here shall their Rage be stopped But Humane Knowledge hath No Bounds affixed unto it it may Increase to all Durations 35. By the Future State I mean the State of the Blessed after their Departure hence There is Another World and State Consequent and Future to This. Humane Souls do not perish when they leave their Bodies they subsist in Another State and do Advance in Knowledge There as well as Here Here 't is obviously Progressive and I see no reason why it may not be so There Here we proceed gradually in the Knowledge of Things and such is the Constitution and Nature of our Faculties that 't is in my Apprehension Impossible it should be otherwise And I cannot imagine that Death should make so great an Alteration in them that what was before naturally Impossible should become not only Possible but Necessary and Vnavoidable for such must our Knowledge be if it be Perfect Immediately upon our Dissolution and Departure hence 36. By the Blessed I mean such as God shall deem Worthy and Meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light such as having done his Commandments and performed the Terms of the Gospel-Covenant have Right to the Tree of Life and Admission Through the Gates into the City CHAP. II. The Probability of the Question argued from the Consideration of the Nature of God and Man THe Question being thus briefly stated I shall lay down such Propositions as shall render it fairly Probable to Persons of Free and Vnprejudiced Minds and will give themselves Liberty to consider Things without Byass and Partiality 1. God's Perfections are Infinite his Power hath No Limits of Extension He can effect all things that are the Effects of Power There is nothing Impossible unto Him His Wisdom is of Vast Extent and reaches all things There is nothing can escape the Cognizance of his Infinite Understanding His Goodness is of Equal Extent with his Power and Wisdom it touches all things that are the Proper and Congruous Objects thereof 2. Though Man receive Great Advantages immediately upon his Admission into the Kingdom of Heaven yet he still remains a Finite Creature His removal from this Howling Wilderness doth not make him a God nor endow him with Divine Perfections He remains There a Finite Essence and of Limited Powers Though he be Mightily Advanced and his Capacities Enlarged beyond our present Conceptions yet he is still a Creature and his Nature remains the Same invariably 3. A Finite Creature can never comprehend an Infinite Creator The Globe of the Earth cannot be contained in a Nut-shell nor the Waters of the Ocean in a Bottle or Tankard The Hills cannot be crowded into a Cottage nor the Mountains into a Shepherds Tent. There is no Congruous Proportion between the One and the Other And there is far less Proportion between the Understanding of Man and the Perfections of God The One is Finite the Other is Infinite and between them there can be no Analogy Whereas there is some betwixt all Created Beings though sometimes very small forasmuch as they are all Limited and Circumscribed 4. Man must Know though not Comprehend the Excellencies and Perfections of God or he cannot be Happy All Appetites have their Proper Objects and in the Knowledge and Fruition of them they find their Content and Satisfaction and in the Absence of them they find Misery and Torment This we find true in the Experience of every Day Men have Appetite and Inclination to a Sociable Life and therefore in the Company and Society of Seconds they find Pleasure and Repose and Solitude is Irksome and Vngrateful to them They have Appetites and Inclinations to Eat and Drink and Rest and in the Enjoyment of the Objects of those Appetites they are Pleased and Satisfied and if they be deprived of them in their Proper Seasons they are Troubled and Vneasie 5. Man hath an Inclination and Desire to know God 'T is Natural to him to proceed from the Effect to the Nearest Cause and from That to the Next and so in an Orderly and Regular Gradation till it ascend to God the Prime Cause of all Things and there it Rests and is Satisfied That 's the Proper and Terminating Object of all Humane Knowledge and Disquisition When we have pursued things thither were we sit down in Complacency and solace our selves in our Acqusitions 6. What the Mind of Man cannot receive of the Divine Perfections at Once it may receive at Many times and by Succession The Soul being a Limited Essence it cannot receive or know much of the Excellencies of God at one Single Grasp or Fathome but at several times and Successively it may know much and how much is not safe to say or determine Ten Thousand Men cannot pass the Gates of a City at once but in succession of Time Many Millions may do it All the Water in the Ocean
their Souls and to avoid the Insupportable Burthen of Doing nothing 19. New Objects and New Discoveries do most affect our Minds and make the most Grateful Impressions on them in Time And 't is not unlikely but they will do so in Eternity Those that Converse in Books and Contemplate and Inquire into the Nature of Things do find themselves Sensibly affected with new things Thence 't is said That Pythagoras sacrificed a Hecatomb to the Gods upon his finding out the Demonstration of the Forty-seventh Proposition of the First Book of Euclid He was so ravished with that New Discovery that he knew not how Sufficiently to testify his Gratitude unto them 'T is not to be doubted but that he knew many things in Geometry and had skill in Demonstration before he found the Artifice of Demonstrating that Proposition But this was New and made more Pleasant Sensations upon him than all his Other Knowledge 20. As in Numbers there is nor can be none so great to which some Increase may not be made by Addition and yet Number will never be Infinite So in Beings I conceive they neither are nor can be so Many to which no Addition can be made by an Infinite Power and yet they will still remain Finite For Infinity is an Incommunicable Attribute and Property of God and nothing is capable of it besides Him 21. If Beings may Everlastingly increase there is no reason to doubt but Knowledge may increase in Proportion with them If the One may receive Advantage and be multiplied the Other may do so likewise For Beings and the several Properties and Affections of them are the Objects of Humane Understanding and Men's Science is Greater or Less according to the Greater or Less variety of Objects that they are acquainted withal 22. But of the Variety of Objects that will be proposed to the Contemplation of the Blessed in the Kingdom of God and of the Probability or Possibility of an Eternal Increase of Knowledge thence I intend to discourse in the Next Chapter and therefore I 'le here Conclude This. CHAP. III. Of the Objective Evidences and Probabilities of the Question 1. HAving said something in the Preceding Chapter from the Consideration of the Nature of God and his Perfections compared with the Nature Faculties and Inclinations of Man to Prove or at least make Probable the Doctrine that I have asserted I shall now proceed to propose some Objective Reasons and Evidences for the farther Establishment and Proof of it 2. The Visible World is of very Vast Extent and no Man can determine the Limits of it Who can with any Certainty say This is the Compass and These are the Extensions of the Earth and Heaven Who can tell me the Diameter of the Glorious Fabrick that presents it self to our Eyes Where is the Mathematician that will describe the Measure of its Circumference They have pretended to give us the Diameter and Circumference of the Earth the Distance of the Planetary Bodies from it and from each other together with their Peripheries and Magnitudes But none ever dared to determine the Magnitude of the Whole World or so much as to guess at its Extensions 3. This Earth on which we dwell and which in comparison with the Whole World is but a Point by the Confession of the greatest Mathematicians furnishes an almost Infinite Number of Objects to our Contemplation How numerous are the Kinds of Beings on the Earth and in the Sea What Naturalist hath ever pretended to give us an Exact History of them The Kinds of Birds and Beasts and Fishes and Insects are to us Incomputable and so are the Kinds of Herbs and Flowers and Earths and Minerals with many others 4. What Kinds of Beings and how Numerous they may be in the Superiour Parts of This World we cannot say but 't is not Improbable but they may be Replenished with Beings Suitable to their Quality and Condition The higher Parts of this Illustrious Fabrick are much more Pure Clean and Splendid than this Howling Wilderness and the Caliginous Air that doth encompass and surround it and it may be the Beings that inhabit them may as much Transcend those Here as the Place of the One doth Transcend that of the Other This Earth seems to be one of the meanest Parts of the Universe and perhaps the Beings in it may be the Meanest in their Kinds of all the Works of God's Hands 5. There may be Other Worlds now Existing besides that which falls under our Knowledge and Observation Some Philosophers have discoursed of an Infinity of Worlds and thought such an Opinion Worthy of God whose Power is Infinite and Goodness Inexhaustible I like not the Notion of Infinite Worlds but I think it not impossible but that there may be Many Others besides This of which we are a Part and which is offered to our View and Contemplation 6. There may have been Other Worlds Pre-existent to This. The Holy Scriptures do assure us that This World was made Five Thousand and Some Hundreds of Years since But it no where says That there never was Any World before it it no where affirms That God Never produced any Created Being or Systeme of Beings till he gave Existence to the Heavens and the Earth and all the Host of them Of which Moses discourses in the First and Second Chapters of Genesis 7. And truly he that considers the Activity Goodness and Fecundity of the Divine Nature will hardly be able to think that God Never gave Being to any Creatures will a Few Years since a Thousand Years with Him are but as One Day And is it imaginable that he should purpose to have such Essences as should partake with Him in his Happiness and Glory to all Eternity a Parte post and yet a Parte ante should never produce Any till about Five or Six Days ago This will seem very Improbable to a Considering or Inquiring Man 8. There may be a Succession of Worlds after the Conflagration of This and to how long Continuance this Succession may be extended I will not pretend to judge 'T were great Temerity and Presumption for any Mortal to say Hitherunto will it proceed and no Farther and here will God rest and put a Period to the Exercise of his Creative Power and Virtue 9. In those Other Worlds past present and to come there may have been and there may be Various Kinds of Beings of which we have no Knowledge or Cognizance in This. The Kinds of Beings here Below are exceeding Numerous as I have observed already and differing Countreys do produce differing Species and Kinds of Creatures America will furnish us with Herbs and Trees Fruits and Minerals with Fish and Fowls of Other Natures and Qualities than any that are found in Europe Africa and the Southern Islands do abound with many things that Asia and the Northern Countreys are utter Strangers unto 10. And if Several Countreys on the Surface of the same Earth do furnish to us Various
Administrators of it in those Other Worlds as well as in This of which there is no doubt or the least scruple or peradventure among those that bear the Name of Christians 6. By this means the Blessed may be informed of the Nature of the several Beings Existent there and what was the Vse the Virtue and Perfections of them and especially what Reasonable Creatures did inhabit There as also what was the Government and Laws that God prescribed unto and imposed upon them and what the Obedience they gave unto them To which I might add many other things as what was the Period of their Existence and by what Subordinat Means and Causes their Beings were preserved and continued what and where they do receive Rewards and Punishments 7. Thus also they may be informed of all the great Emergencies that happened to them and what were the Causes and Occasions of them as also what Laws what Order and Government was observed among them and into what Various and Different sorts these Reasonable Beings were distinguished and how they employed and spent their Time For Reasonable Souls must have something upon which they may Exercise their Powers either by Action Contemplation or both else their Powers are of No Vse but are made in Vain which cannot be imagined it being beneath the Wisdom of a Prudent Man and much beneath that of the All-Wise God to give Being to Rational Creatures to no End or Purpose 8. How many and numerous the Notices may be that the Blessed may receive after this manner is neither safe nor possible to determine for should they descend to things minute and particular and who knows how low they may descend how almost Infinite and beyond all Computation would they be Should there have been many Worlds Pre-existent to This or Co-existent with it what Infinite Matter of Communication and Discourse would their Affairs afford to the Holy Angels or other Intellectual Agents that had Knowledge and Cognizance of them And how much of Eternity would be Employed in these kind of Histories and Narrations And if we may judge any thing of the Agreeableness of things Then to the Temper of our Minds by what we may find Here below and observe concerning them we must say That such things will be very Pleasant and Delightful not barely as Histories but as Reports and Evidences of the Infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness of God not as bare Narrations of such and such Events but as Effects of the Infinite Power Admirable and Vnsearchable Wisdom and Immense Goodness of the Creator of all things 9. After the Same Manner the Blessed will obtain the Knowledge of the Affairs of This World since the Creation of it The Holy Angels will certainly give them a large Account of the World before the Flood how and by what Gradations they corrupted themselves departed from God and abandoned themselves to Sensuality and Prophaneness What Moses hath very briefly reported they will discourse more at large and give to the Blessed a Full Clear and Satisfactory Knowledge of them Many things that are Dark and Obscure to us will be set in Open Light by their more Large and Ample Discourses That which now ministers Matter for Many and almost Insuperable Objections will be totally freed from them by their Larger Commentaries and Explications concerning them 10. The Holy Men of that Age may also contribute something towards the Increase of the Knowledge of the Blessed Adam and Abel and Seth and Enoch and Noah knew very much of the Affairs of the World from the Creation to the Deluge and since their Removal to Heaven there is no question but that they have very much improved it And surely they will Communicate their Knowledge and entertain the New-Come Saints with the Reports and Narratives of it 11. The Holy Angels also will acquaint them with the History of the World after the Flood till the Days of Abraham they will give them Account of the Re-peopling of it by the Posterity of Noah of the Tower of Babel that they began to build of the Confusion of their Language and of their Dispersion into several Parts of the World thereupon Of these things I make no question they will give very large and particular Accounts Of those things of which we now know almost nothing then and there I mean in the Society of the Blessed we shall have a Clear Full and Perfect Knowledge 12. Noah himself lived four hundred and fifty Years after the Flood and there is no doubt Saw and Knew much of the Affairs of the World And there is as Little Doubt in my Opinion that he doth and will Communicate the Knowledge thereof among the Blessed And so will other of the Pious Patriarchs and Good Men of that Age. They will all contribute to the Increase of the Knowledge of those that in succession of Times are admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven 13. And surely the History of the Church of God in all Ages of the World by the Narrations of Saints and Angels will be most perfectly delivered to the Blessed They will acquaint them with the several Accidents that have happened to it how it hath suffered Many and Great Calamities from its Enemies and sometimes hath Almost perished from among Men and then how and by what Means it hath risen as from the Ashes and become Illustrious again in the World 14. They will declare and propose to their Knowledge and Consideration by what Improbable Means God hath raised and preserved it In the First Ages of Christianity God raised and increased His Church by the Preaching and Discourses of a few Poor Fisher-men in despight to all the Opposition that was made against it by all the Wisdom Learning Power and Policy of the World yea those very Means by which the Enemies of God's Church thought to destroy it were by the Wise and Over-ruling Providence of God made instrumental of advancing it They persecuted all that were called by the Christian Name they despoyled them of their Estates their Friends their Liberties and their Honours they treated them as the Vilest Miscreants they killed and murthered them by Thousands they invented the most Cruel Lingering and Painful Deaths that they could imagine And yet all this would not destroy the Church of God the Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed thereof and the More they mowed and cut them down the More they increased 15. As God raised his Church at first I mean the Christian Church by very Improbable Means so hath he recovered it from a Lapsed and Corrupted Estate by Means altogether as unlikely After it had lain divers Hundreds of Years under the Papal Yoke after it had long sat in Ignorance and Darkness and been accustomed to Superstition and Idolatry and all the Kings of the Earth were ingaged in the Defence thereof was it likely that Luther a poor mean Monk should so Leaven the World by his Doctrine as to cause a Separation from the Romish Falshoods and
to those Attributes that hath not a Very Great and Perspicuous Knowledge of the several Events and Contingencies that have happened in the World 23. And forasmuch as the meanest Saints that formerly lived on Earth had a Part to act upon the Stage of This World and did perform it perhaps even Each of Them as well as the Holy Angels may contribute something to the mutual Increase of Knowledge amongst the Blessed The Least of all Saints will be able to say Something of the Attributes and Perfections of God Some of the Effects of his Power Wisdom and Goodness they have observed and will be able to mention to his Praise 24. How many of the Days of Eternity may be spent in learning the History of the World and the Church of God in it I must not pretend to Discourse much less Define But surely it being so Exceeding large and the Parts and Instances of it being so Numerous it may Justly be thought that a very Considerable Part thereof will be therein imployed 'T is certain that in the Future State the Blessed will retain their own proper Essences which being Finite I am not able to conceive how they can receive the Knowledge of things any other way but Successively and what is received Successively doth exhaust more or less of Time according as that Knowledge or those Notices of things are more or less numerous and increased 25. Let no Man hence infer that the Days of Eternity will be spent in Ineffective Discourses Histories and Narrations To entertain Such Thoughts of it were to Defame and Blaspheme it The Discourses of the Blessed will not be Ineffective Idle and Vnprofitable they will Affect the Hearts both of those that Speak and those that Hear they will produce Affections suitable to their Nature Some of the Histories that will be reported There will produce Amazements and Wonder others will awaken and actuate Love to God others Joy Delight and Pleasure in Him And all of them Praise and Confessions to the Honour of his Transcendent Excellencies and Glorious Attributes and Virtues The Minds of the Blessed will be so Set and Tuned that every mention of the Works and Providences of God will make Impressions on them Acceptable to God and to the Advantage of their own Felicity 26. And certainly such Discourses are an Imployment worthy of the Blessed and very suitable to the Estate and Condition to which they are advanced They are advanced to a High and Happy State and what is more comely and decorous than to speak of the Wonders of his Power Wisdom and Goodness that hath Raised them to it and thereby excite and actuate their own Love Thanks and Praise Nothing can be more Congruous and Agreeable to Rational Natures in their Circumstances and under their Obligations than such kind of Exercises Nothing can be more worthy of God nor nothing more agreeable to Vnderstanding Beings 27. We may observe that the Holy Psalmist very frequently calls to mind and reports the Mighty Works and Stupendious Providences of God towards the Jewish Nation He remembers God's Covenant with Abraham their Captivity in Egypt and miraculous Deliverance thence He reports their many Provocations in the Wilderness the Judgments that he executed upon them their Feigned Repentance and Flattering him with Their Lips when Their Hearts were not Vpright with him And why did he remember these things 'T was to exalt the Honour of God's Kindness Grace and Mercy towards the Jews and his Stedfastness in his Covenant He had sworn unto Abraham to give the Land of Canaan for an Inheritance to his Seed and he would not fail to Verify his Oath notwithstanding all their Provocations 28. And truly I see no reason why the Blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven may not report the Works and Providences of God and make mention of them to His Praise If Praise be comely for the Righteous in this World it will be altogether as comely for them in the Other And if the making mention of the Mighty Acts of the Lord be a proper means of exciting and awakening it in This it may be so also in That which is to come If it be a Great and Pleasant Duty on Earth 't is Much more so in Heaven Though Pious Men on Earth have received Many and Great Blessings from God and such as do very much oblige them to Laud and Praise Him yet sure it is that those that are in Heaven have received Many More and those that are of More Raised and Excellent Nature and therefore are under Greater Obligations thereunto And if we may conjecture any thing of the Nature and Constitution of Humane Minds There by what we have experience of Here nothing will more inlarge and excite their Gratitude and their Praise than the Reports of his kind Providences and Mighty Works done in the World 29. Some more things I might suggest to make the Increase of Knowledge by Tradition Probable and that Eternally as the Nature and Constitution of the Kingdom of Darkness the Order and Government the Laws and Constitutions the Rewards and Punishments that are observed and found among them For without some Order and Government they cannot manage their Opposition to the Kingdom of God and his Christ and without Rewards and Punishments Laws are Insignificant and Toothless things These things I doubt not are well known by the Holy Angels and by Them communicated to the Blessed As also what are the Punishments that God inflicts upon Them and Condemned Souls for their Wickedness and the several Measures and Gradual Differences of them with other things of like nature But perhaps the Reader may think I have been too Prolix already therefore this Chapter shall here receive its Conclusion CHAP. VII Of the Increase of Knowledge by Ratiocination 1. RAtiocination is an Inferring of One thing from Another or a Proceeding from Things Known to those that are Vnknown and a Concluding of One from the Other Thus we conclude that the Sun is near the Summer-Solstice because the Days are at their Greatest Length and that it is near the Winter-Solstice because they are of the Greatest Shortness Thus we conclude that the Sun approaches the Equator when we see the Grass grow Green and Flourishing and the Trees put forth their Buds and Leaves 2. The reasoning Power and discursive Faculty will be of use in the World to come From the Consideration of what God is from the Memory of what He hath done and from the Knowledge of what He doth do the Blessed will Certainly conclude the Necessity of Love and Obedience to Him When they consider that He is the First Cause and giveth Being to all Creatures and to Men Life and Breath and All Things When they remember that He Made them after his Own Image and when they had lost it by sinning against Him He sent his Son into the World to Take away their Guilt to Renew and Sanctifie their Natures and to Restore his Image to them
ought that I know And from this Diversity may proceed very great Difference in their Powers Capacities and Perfections the Knowledge whereof may Increase perhaps to all Durations 13. The Science of Theology will not only Continue but be very much Inlarged Much more of God will be Revealed in the Future State than ever was Revealed in This and our Faculties will be much more Capable of considering and understanding those Discoveries and Revelations I do not doubt but that Heaven will present to the Blessed far more Illustrious Demonstrations of the Divine Perfections than any that have been made here below The Creation Providence and Word of God I do acknowledge have unfolded much of God yet I do believe that Heaven will discover Much more For Here we See through a Glass darkly but there Face to Face Here we see Him very Obscurely and Imperfectly but There we shall see Him as He is And as the Revelations of Him will be more Clear and Full so will our Minds be More Capable of receiving and entertaining them 14. And who can guess what Abysses there may be in the Theology of the Blessed Who can imagine what may be the Treasures thereof And what Time may be spent to Exhaust them And whether after Millions of Ages there may not remain much Vnexhausted The Inquiries that Job makes Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to Perfection It is as high as Heaven What canst thou do Deeper than Hell What canst thou know The Measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea may be as truly made in the Other World as in This And in my Apprehension the Perfections of God and the Knowledge and Theology of them are truly Inexhaustible in both 15. The Mysteries of the Sacred Trinity and Personal Vnion may afford Subject and Matter for Eternal Contemplations and it may be there may be those Depths in them which the Blessed may never be able to Fathome or Comprehend They are such things as in This World we cannot Vnderstand our Reason draws back at the Contemplation of them And had we not some Reverence for the Holy Scriptures that do Reveal and Propose them we should utterly refuse All Assent unto them They are Too Bigg for our Minds in the Present State and therefore we live under some Temptation to reject them and were we not awed by the Word of God we should certainly do it In the Other World these things will be more Clearly revealed and more fully Vnderstood But whether there be not something which after all Search and Inquiry will remain Vnknown even to the Blessed themselves I think very Probable if not absolutely Certain 16. The Perfections of the Person of our Saviour I mean of his Humane Nature are without all scruple exceeding Great and Large and there is not an Essence unless God himself Equal with it much less Superiour to it in the whole Vniverse of Beings The shining Lustre of his Body with the several Perfections of it will be exceeding Great but the Powers Excellencies and Capacities of his Soul will be much more Stupendious Admirable and Amazing And I see no reason why the Blessed may not obtain the Knowledge of them and other things before-mentioned by Ratiocination Why may not much of the Knowledge that they have there both of Bodies and Spirits be gotten by Inference and Deduction Why may they not argue from those things that are Plain to those that are Dark Why may they not argue from Causes to their Effects and from Effects to their Causes too 17. Here 't is the ordinary Method of proceeding Men argue from the Fabrick of Heaven and Earth and the several Creatures in it the Certainty of a First Cause of Infinâ—te Power Wisdom and Goodness and from the Immateriality of the Divine Essence its Incorruptibility and from its Spirituality its Simplicity with sundry other Inferences of like Nature And why the Blessed may not do the Same I cannot Vnderstand if their Reasonable Faculties Continue as Surely they do the Use of them may Continue If it be consistent with the Glory and Happiness of Heaven to Injoy them I see no Valid Reason why the Vse and Exercise of them may not consist with it 18. What hinders but that there may be such Effects and Images of a Trinity in Vnity and of an Hypostatical Vnion as may much Reveal the Nature of those Mysteries and make the Inference as Necessary and Easie as from an Effect to a Cause or from a Copy to an Original Some Images of them we do observe here In the Humane Mind there is a Trinity of Essential Principles and yet but One Soul In Man the Body and Soul do constitute but One Person But 't is not improbable but there may be more Perspicuous Images of them there and that those that here we do observe will be More fully understood And in consequence thereunto these Mysteries may be as Evident to the Blessed as that the Whole is bigger than any Part and that all the Parts taken together are equal to the Whole I do not mean they shall Fully understand them but they shall Clearly understand them and to the Satisfaction and Quiet of their Souls 19. The Reconcileableness of the Infallibility of God's Will with the Liberty of Man's is an Insuperable Difficulty Now but perchance it may be none Then The Blessed may possibly see and understand those Principles Premises and Suppositions from whence they may be easily deduced without any Inconsistency or Opposition The Difficulty of reconciling these things proceeds from our Ignorance of the Nature of God and Man and the Influence that the One and the Other hath upon Humane Actions Did we know what God and what Man is and what are the Operations Peculiar to One and the Other in the producing those Effects that are ascribed to Men probably much or all of this Difficulty would Disappear Now 't is not questioned but that the Blessed will very much Vnderstand all these and from them will argue and infer an easie and obvious Agreement between them 20. The Power Wisdom and Goodness of God are Infinite they are Oceans without either Bank or Bottom if I may so express it His Power is Omnipotent God can accomplish whatsoever he pleases No Opposition can be made to his Mighty Arm. If he will work none can hinder it His Wisdom is unsearchable the Depths thereof are unfathomable no Created Being can find them out unto Perfection His Goodness is of very vast Extension Who can take the just Measures of it 'T is wider than the Earth larger than the great Abyss yea more extensive than the Poles of Heaven And what vast Numbers of Inferences and Conclusions may be made from the Consideration of them How far may they be Propagated and where will they determine 21. From the Knowledg of the Divine Nature and Attributes the Blessed may 't is like infer and deduce the