Powers of One God Personated and Deified by the Pagans though they had an appearance also of Many Distinct Gods yet were they really nothing but Several Denominations of One Supreme God who as yet is considered as a Thing distinct from the World and Nature But Lastly as God was supposed by these Pagans not only to Pervade All things and To Fill All things but also he being the Cause of All things to be Himself in a manner All things so was he called also by the Name of Every thing or Every thing called by His Name that is the several Things of Nature and Parts of the World were themselves Verbally Deified by these Pagans and called Gods and Goddesses Not that they really accounted them such in themselves but that they thought fit in this manner to acknowledge God in them as the Author of them all For thus the Pagans in St. Austin Vsque adeone inquiunt Majores nostros insipientes fuisse credendum est ut haec nescirent Munera Divina esse non Deos Can you think that our Pagan Ancestors were so sottish as not to know that these Things are but Divine Gifts and not Gods themselves And Cicero also tells us that the meaning of their thus Deifying these Things of Nature was only to signifie that they acknowledged The Force of all things to be Divine and to be Governed by God and that whatsoever brought any great Vtility to Mankind was not such Without the Divine Goodness They conceiving also that the Invisible and Incomprehensible Deity which was the Cause of All things ought to be worshipped in All its Works and Effects in which it had made it self Visible accordingly as they declare in that place of Eusebius before cited in part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they did not Deifie those Visible Bodies of the Sun and Moon and Stars nor the other Sensible Parts of the World themselves but those Invisible Powers of the God over all that were displayed in them For they affirm that that God who is but One but yet Filleth all things with his various Powers and passes through all things forasmuch as he is Invisibly and Incorporeally present in all is reasonably to be worshipped in and by those Visible Things Athanasius B p. of Alexandria in his Book against the Greeks reduces all the False Gods of the Pagans under Two general Heads the First Poetical Fictitious or Phantastical Gods the Second Creatures or Real Things of Nature Deified by them His words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Since this Reason or Discourse of ours hath sufficiently convinced both the Poetical Gods of the Pagans to be no Gods at all and also that they who Deifie the Creatures are in a great Errour and so hath confuted the whole Pagan Idolatry proving it to be meer Vngodliness and Impiety there is nothing now but the True Piety left he who is worshipped by us Christians being the only True God the Lord of Nature and the Maker of all Substances From whence we may observe that according to Athanasius the Pagan Poetick Gods were no Real Things in Nature and therefore they could be no other than the Several Notions and Powers of the One Supreme God Deified or Several Names of him So that Athanasius his Poetick Gods or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods fabulously devised by the Poets were chiefly those Two Kinds of Pagan Gods first mentioned by us that is the Various Considerations of the One Supreme Numen according to its general Notion expressed by so many Proper Names and Secondly his Particular Powers diffused thorough the World severally Personated and Deified Which considered as so many distinct Deities are nothing but meere Fiction and Phancy without any Reality And this do the Pagans themselves in Athanasius acknowledge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They say that the names of those Gods are meerly Fictitious and that there does no where Really Exist any such Jupiter or Saturn or Juno or Mars but that the Poets have feigned them to be so many persons Existing to the deception of their Auditors Notwithstanding which that Third Sort of Pagan Gods also mentioned by us which were Inanimate Substances and the Natures of Things Deified may well be accounted Poetical Gods likewise because though those things themselves be Real and not Feigned yet is their Personation and Deification meer Fiction and Phancy and however the first occasion thereof sprung from this Theological Opinion or Perswasion That God who is In All Things and is the Cause of All Things ought to be worshipped In All Things especially he being himself Invisible yet the making of those things themselves therefore to be so many Persons and Gods was nothing but Poetick Fiction and Phantastry accordingly as their old Mythology and Allegorical Fables of the Gods run much upon this strain XXXIV Hitherto have we declared the Sence of the Pagans in General those also being included who supposed God to be a Being Elevated above the World That they agreed in these Two Things First the Breaking and Crumbling as it were of the Simple Deity and Parcelling out of the same into Many Particular Notions and Partial Considerations according to the Various Manifestations of its Power and Providence in the world by the Personating and Deifying of which Severally they made as it were so Many Gods of One. The chief Ground whereof was this because they considered not the Deity according to its Simple Nature and Abstractly only but Concretely also with the World as he Displayeth himself therein Pervadeth all and Diffuseth his Vertues thorough all For as the Sun reflected by Grosser Vapours is sometimes Multiplied and the same Object beheld through a Polyedrous Glass by reason of those many Superficies being represented in several places at once is thereby rendred Manifold to the Spectator So One and the same Supreme God considered Concretely with the World as Manifesting his Several Powers and Vertues in it was multiplied into Several Names not without the Appearance of so Many Several Gods Whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with those ancient Pagans was the same thing with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which hath Many Names all one with that which hath Many Powers According to this of Callimachus concerning Diana 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this of Virgil concerning Alecto Tibi Nomina Mille Mille nocendi Artes. And accordingly the Many Pagan Gods are in Plato's Cratylus interpreted as the Many Powers of One God Diffused through the World And the Pagan Theologers seemed to conceive this to be more sutable to the Pomp State and Grandeur of the Supreme God for him to be considered Diffusively and called by Many Names signifying his Many Several Vertues and Powers Polyonymy being by them accounted an Honour rather than to be contracted and shrunk all up into One General Notion of a Perfect Mind the Maker or Creator of the whole World The Second Thing in which the Pagans agreed
is their Personating and Deifying also the Parts of the World and Things of Nature themselves and so making them so many Gods and Goddesses too Their meaning therein being declared to be really no other than this That God who doth not only Pervade all things but also was the Cause of All things and therefore himself is in a manner All things ought to be worshipped in all the Things of Nature and Parts of the World as also that the Force of every thing was Divine and that in all things that were Beneficial to mankind The Divine Goodness ought to be acknowledged We shall now observe how both those forementioned Principles of Gods Pervading all things and his Being All things which were the Chief Grounds of the Seeming Polytheism of the Pagans were improved and carried on further by those amongst them who had no Higher Notion of the Supreme Deity than as the Soul of the World Which Opinion that it found entertainment amongst so many of them probably might be from hence because it was so obvious for those of them that were Religious to conceive that as themselves consisted of Body and Soul so the Body of the Whole World was not without its Soul neither and that their Humane Souls were as well derived from the Life and Soul of the World as the Earth and Water in their Bodies was from the Earth and Water of the World Now whereas the more refined Pagans as was before observed supposed God to Pervade and Pass thorough All things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnmixedly these concluded God to be according to that Definition of him in Quintilian taken in a rigid sence Spiritum omnibus Partibus Immistum a Spirit Immingled with all the Parts of the World or else in Manilius his Language Infusumque Deum Caelo Terrisque Fretoque Infused into the Heaven Earth and Seas Sacroque meatu Conspirare Deum and intimately to conspire with his own Work the World as being almost one with it Upon which account he was commonly called Nature also that being thus defined by some of the Stoicks Deus Mundo permistus God Mingled throughout with the World and Divina Ratio toti Mundo insita The Divine Reason inserted into the whole World Which Nature notwithstanding in way of distinction from the Particular Natures of things was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Communis Natura the Common Nature And it was plainly declared by them not to be a Sensless Nature according to that of Balbus in Cicero Natura est quae continet Mundum omnem eumque tuetur atque ea quidem non sine Sensu atque Ratione It is Nature by which the whole World is conteined and upheld but this such a Nature as is not without Sense and Reason As it is elsewhere said to be Perfect and Eternal Reason the Divine Mind and Wisdom conteining also under it all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spermatick Principles by which the things of Nature commonly so called are effected Wherefore we see that such Naturalists as these may well be allowed to be Theists Moses himself in Strabo being accounted one of them whereas those that acknowledge no Higher Principle of the World than a Sensless Nature whether Fortuitous or Orderly and Methodical cannot be accounted any other than Absolute Atheists Moreover this Soul of the World was by such of these Pagans as admitted no Incorporeal Substance it self concluded to be a Body too but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Most Subtil and Most Swift Body as was before observed out of Plato though endued with Perfect Mind and Vnderstanding as well as with Spermatick Reasons which insinuating it self into all other Bodies did Permeate and Pervade the whole Universe and frame all things inwardly Mingling it self with all Heraclitus and Hippasus thinking this to be Fire and Diogenes Apolloniates Air whom Simplicius who had read some of his then extant Works vindicates from that Imputation of Atheism which Hippo and Anaximander lye under Again whereas the more Sublimated Pagans affirmed the Supreme God to be All so as that he was nevertheless something Above All too he being Above the Soul of the World and probably Aeschylus in that forecited passage of his is to be understood after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter is the Ether Jupiter is the Earth Jupiter is the Heaven Jupiter is All things and yet something Higher than all or Above all those Pagans who acknowledged no Higher Numen than the Soul of the World made God to be All Things in a grosser sence they supposing the whole Corporeal World Animated to be also the Supreme Deity For though God to them were Principally and Originally that Eternal Vnmade Soul and Mind which diffuseth it self thorough all things yet did they conceive that as the Humane Soul and Body both together make up one whole Rational Animal or Man so this Mundane Soul and its Body the World did in lke manner both together make up One Entire Divine Animal or God It is true indeed that as the Humane Soul doth Principally act in some one Part of the Body which therefore hath been called the Hegemonicon and Principale some taking this to be the Brain others the Heart but Strato in Tertullian ridiculously the Place betwixt the Eye-browes so the Stoicks did suppose the Great Soul or Mind of the World to act Principally in some one Part thereof which what it was notwithstanding they did not all agree upon as the Hegemonicon or Principale and this was sometimes called by them Emphatically God But nevertheless they all acknowledged this Mundane Soul as the Souls of other Animals to Pervade Animate or Enliven and Actuate more or less its whole Body The World This is plainly declared by Laertius in the Life of Zeno. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stoicks affirm that the World is governed by Mind and Providence this Mind passing through all the Parts of it as the Soul doth in us Which yet doth not act in all parts alike but in some more in some less it passing through some parts only as a Habit as through the bones and Nerves but through others as Mind or Vnderstanding as through that which is called the Hegemonicon or Principale So the whole World being a Living and Rational Animal hath its Hegemonicon or Principal Part too which according to Antipater is the Aether to Possidonius the Air to Cleanthes the Sun c. And they say also that this First God is as it were sensibly Diffused through all Animals and Plants but through the Earth it self only as a Habit. Wherefore the whole World being thus Acted and Animated by one Divine Soul is it self according to these Stoicks also The Supreme God Thus Didymus in Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stoicks call the whole World God and Origen against Celsus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greeks universally affirm the World to be a God but the Stoicks the First and Chief God· And
Substance affirmeth the Son to be of Another Different Substance from the Father and therefore not God but like to God only Neither doth such a one rightly understand those words Of the Substance of the Father he not thinking the Son to be so Consubstantial or of the Essence and Substance of the Father as one man is Consubstantial or Of the Essence or Substance of another who begat him For he who affirmeth that the Son is not so Of God as a man is Of a man according to Essence or Substance but that he is Like him only as a Statue is like a Man or as a Man may be Like to God it is manifest that such a one though he use the word Homoousios yet he doth not really mean it For he will not understand it according to the customary signification thereof for that which hath One and the Same Essence or Substance this word being used by Greeks and Pagans in no other sence than to signifie that which hath the Same Nature as we ought to believe concerning the Father Son and Holy Ghost Where we see plainly that though the word Homoousios be interpreted That which hath One and the Same Essence or Substance yet is this understood of the Same Common Nature and as one man is of the same Essence or Substance with another We might here also add to this the concurrent testimonies of the other Orthodox Fathers but to avoid tediousness we shall omit them and only insert some passages out of St. Austin to the same purpose For he in his First Book Contra Maxim Chap. the 15. writeth thus Duo veri Homines etsi nullus eorum Filius sit Alterius Unius tamen Ejusdem sunt Substantiae Homo autem alterius Hominis Verus filius nullo modo potest nisi Ejusdem cum Patre esse Substantiae etiamsi non sit per omnia Similis Patri Quocirca Verus Dei Filius Unius cum Patre Substantiae est quia Verus Filius est per omnia est Patri similis quia est Dei Filius Two True men though neither of them be Son to the other yet are they both of One and the Same Substance But a man who is the true Son of another man can by no means be of a Different Substance from his Father although he be not in all respects like unto him Wherefore the true Son of God is both of one Substance with the Father because he is a true Son and he is also in all respects like to him because he is the Son of God Where Christ or the Son of God is said to be no otherwise of One Substance with God the Father than here amongst men the Son is of the same Substance with his Father or any one man with another Again the same S. Austin in his Respons ad Sermonem Arianorum expresseth himself thus Ariani nos vocitant Homoousianos quia contra eorum errorem Graeco vocabulo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 defendimus Patrem Filium Spiritum Sanctum id est Unius Ejusdemque Substantiae vel ut expressiùs dicamus Essentiae quae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Graecè appellatur quod planiùs dicitur Unius Ejusdemque Naturae Et tamen siquis istorum qui nos Homoousianos vocant Filium suum non cujus ipse esset sed Diversae diceret esse Naturae Exhaeredari ab ipso mallet Filius quam hoc putarà Quanta igitur impietate isti caecantur qui cum confiteantur Vnicum Dei Filium nolunt Ejusdem Naturae cujus Pater est confiteri sed diversae atque imparis multis modis rebusque dissimilis tanquam non de Deo Natus sed ab illo de Nihilo sit Creatus Gratiâ Filius non Naturâ The Arians call us Homoousians because in opposition to their Errour we defend the Father Son and Holy Ghost to be in the Language of the Greeks Homoousious that is of One and the Same-Substance or to speak more clearly Essence this being in Greek called Usiah which is yet more plainly thus expressed of One and the Same Nature And yet there is none of their own Sons who thus call us Homoousians who would not as willingly be disinherited as be accounted of a Different Nature from his Father How great impiety therefore are they blinded with who though they acknowledge that there is One only Son of God yet will not confess him to be of the same Nature with his Father but different and unequal and many ways unlike him as if he were not Born of God but Created out of Nothing by him himself being a Creature and so a Son not by Nature but Grace only Lastly to name no more places in his First Book De Trinitate he hath these words Si Filius Creatura non est ejusdem cum Patre Substantiae est Omnis enim Substantia quae Deus non est Creatura est quae Creatura non est Deus est Et si non est Filius ejusdem Substantiae cujus est Pater ergo Facta Substantia est If the Son be not a Creature then is he of the same Substance with the Father for whatever Substance is not God is Creature and whatever is not Creature is God And therefore if the Son be not of the Same Substance with the Father he must needs be a Made and Created Substance and not truly God Lastly that the ancient Orthodox Fathers who used the word Homoousios against Arius intended not therein to assert the Son to have One and the same Singular or Individual Essence with the Father appeareth plainly from their disclaiming and disowning those two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concerning the Former of which Epiphanius thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We affirm not the Son to be Tautoousion One and the same Substance with the Father lest this should be taken in way of compliance with Sabellius nevertheless do we assert him to be the Same in Godhead and in Essence and in Power Where it is plain that when Epiphanius affirmed the Son to be the same with the Father in Godhead and Essence he understood this only of a Generical or Specifical and not of a Singular or Individual Sameness namely that the Son is no Creature but God also as the Father is and this he intimates to be the true and genuine sence of the word Homoousios he therefore rejecting that other word Tautoousios because it would be liable to misinterpretation and to be taken in the Sabellian sence for that which hath One and the Same Singular and Individual Essence which the word Homoousios could not be obnoxious to And as concerning that other word Monoousios Athanasius himself in his Exposition of Faith thus expresly condemns it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We do not think the Son to be really One and the Same with the Father as the Sabellians do and to be Monoousios and not Homoousios they thereby
Power One Will and One Energy be much rather called One God But though it be true that Athanasius in this place if at least this were a Genuine Foetus of Athanasius may Justly be thought to attribute too much to this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Common Nature Essence or Substance of all the Three Persons as to the making of them to be truly and properly One God and that those Scripture-passages are but weakly urged to this purpose yet is it plain that he did not acquiesce in this only but addeth other things to it also as their having not only One Will but also One Energy or Action of which more afterwards Moreover Athanasius elsewhere plainly implieth that this Common Essence or Nature of the Godhead is not sufficient alone to make all the Three Hypostases One God As in his Fourth Oration against the Arians where he tells us that his Trinity of Divine Hypostases cannot therefore be accounted Three Gods nor Three Principles because they are not resembled by him to Three Original Suns but only to the Sun and its Splendour and the Light from both Now Three Suns according to the Language of Athanasius have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Common Nature Essence and Substance and therefore are Coessential or Consubstantial and since they cannot be accounted one Sun it is manifest that according to Athanasius this Specifick Identity or Unity is not sufficient to make the Three Divine Hypostases One God Again the same Athanasius in his Exposition of Faith writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither do we acknowledge Three Hypostases Divided or Separate by themselves as is to be seen corporeally in men that we may not comply with the Pagan Polytheism From whence it is Evident that neither Three Separate Men though Coessential to Athanasius were accounted by him to be One Man nor yet the Community of the Specifick Nature and Essence of the Godhead can alone by it self exclude Polytheism from the Trinity Wherefore the true reason why Athanasius laid so great a stress upon this Homoousiotes or Coessentially of the Trinity in order to the Vnity of the Godhead in them was not because this alone was sufficient to make them One God but because they could not be so without it This Athanasius often urges against the Arians as in his Fourth Oration where he tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they must needs introduce a Plurality of Gods because of the Heterogeneity of their Trinity And again afterwards determining that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one Species of the Godhead in Father Son and Spirit he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus do we acknowledge one only God in the Trinity and maintain it more Religiously than those Hereticks do who introduce a Multiform Deity consisting of divers Species we supposing only One Vniversal Godhead in the whole For if it be not thus but the Son be a Creature made out of nothing however called God by these Arians then must He and his Father of necessity be Two Gods one of them a Creator the other a Creature In like manner in his Books Of the Nicene Council he affirmeth concerning the Arians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they make in a manner Three Gods dividing the Holy Monad into Three Heterogeneous Substances Separate from one another Whereas the right Orthodox Trinity on the contrary is elsewhere thus described by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Holy and perfect Trinity Theologized in the Father Son and Spirit hath nothing Aliene Foreign or Extraneous intermingled with it nor is it compounded of Heterogeneous things the Creator and Creature joyned together And whereas the Arians interpreted that of our Saviour Christ I and my Father are One only in respect of Consent or Agreement of Will Athanasius shewing the insufficiency hereof concludeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore besides this Consent of Will there must of necessity be another Vnity of Essence or Substance also acknowledged in the Father and the Son Where by Vnity of Essence or Substance that Athanasius did not mean a Vnity of Singular and Individual but of General or Vniversal Essence only appears plainly from these following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For those things which are Made or Created though they may have an Agreement of Will with their Creator yet have they this by Participation only and in a way of Motion as he who retaining not the same was cast out of Heaven But the Son being begotten from the Essence or Substance of the Father is Essentially or Substantially One with him So that the Opposition here is betwixt Vnity of Consent with God in Created Beings which are Mutable and Vnity of Essence in that which is Vncreated and Immutably of the same Will with the Father There are also many other places in Athanasius which though some may understand of the Vnity of Singular Essence yet were they not so by him intended but either of Generick or Specifick Essence only or else in such other sence as shall be afterwards declared As for Example in his Fourth Oration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We acknowledge only One Godhead in the Trinity where the following words plainly imply this to be understood in part at least of One Common or General Essence of the Godhead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Because if it be not so but the Word be a Creature made out of Nothing he is either not truly God or if he be called by that name then must they be two Gods one a Creator the other a Creature Again when in the same Book it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Son and the Father are One thing in the Propriety of Nature and in the Sameness of one Godhead it is evident from the Context that this is not to be understood of a Sameness of Singular Essence but partly of a Common and Generical One and partly of such another Sameness or Unity as will be hereafter expressed Lastly when the Three Hypostases are somewhere said by him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Essence or Substance this is not to be understood neither in that place as if they had all Three the same Singular Essence but in some of those other Sences before mentioned But though Athanasius no where declare the Three Hypostases of the Trinity to have only One and the same Singular Essence but on the contrary denies them to be Monoousian and though he lay a great stress upon their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Specifick or Generick Vnity and Coessentiality in order to their being One God for as much as without this they could not be God at all yet doth he not rely wholly upon this as alone sufficient to that purpose but addeth certain other considerations thereunto to make it out in manner as followeth First that this Trinity is not a Trinity of Principles but that there is only One Principle
have any Real Existence at all in the things without us and not rather a Seeming Existence only in our own Passions and there is need of Mind or Vnderstanding to judge in this Case and to determine the Controversie which Sense alone cannot decide But the ancient Physiologists concluded without any hesitancy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Nature of Honey in it self is not the same thing with my being sweetned nor of Wormwood with that Sense of bitterness which I have from it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But that the Passion of Sense differ'd from the Absolute Nature of the thing it self without the Senses not comprehending the Objects themselves but only their own Passions from them I say therefore that the Ancients concluded the Absolute Nature of Corporeal things in themselves to be nothing but a certain Disposition of Parts in respect of Magnitude Figure Site and Motion which in Tasts cause us to be differently affected with those Senses of Sweetness and Bitterness and in Sight with those Phancies of Colours and accordingly in the other Senses with other Phancies and that the Corporeal World was to be explained by these Two things whereof one is Absolute in the Bodies without us the various Mechanism of them the other Relative only to us the different Phancies in us caused by the respective Differences of them in themselves Which Phancies or Phantastick Idea's are no Modes of the Bodies without us but of that only in our selves which is Cogitative or Self-Active that is Incorporeal For the Sensible Idea's of Hot and Cold Red and green c. cannot be clearly conceived by us as Modes of the Bodies without us but they may be easily apprehended as Modes of Cogitation that is of Sensation or Sympathetical Perception in us The Result of all which was That whatsoever is either in Our Selves or the Whole World was to be reduced to one or other of these two Principles Passive Matter and Extended Bulk or Self-Active Power and Vertue Corporeal or Incorporeal Substance Mechanism or Life or else to a Complication of them both together XXVIII From this General Account which we have now given of the Origin of the Atomical Physiology it appears that the Doctrine of Incorporeal Substance sprung up together with it But this will be further manifest from that which follows For we shall in the next place shew how this Philosophy did in especial manner owe its Original to the Improvement of one Particular Principle of Reason over and besides all the rest namely that famous Axiom so much talked of amongst the Ancients De Nihilo Nihil in Nihilum Nil posse reverti That Nothing can come from Nothing nor go to Nothing For though Democritus Epicurus and Lucretius abused this Theorem endeavouring to carry it further than the Intention of the first Atomists to the disproving of a Divine Creation of any thing out of Nothing by it Nullam rem à Nihilo gigni Divinitùs unquam and consequently of a Deity Yet as the meaning of it was at first confined and restrained That Nothing of it self could come from Nothing nor go to Nothing or that according to the Ordinary Course of Nature without an Extraordinary Divine Power Nothing could be rais'd from Nothing nor reduc'd to Nothing it is not only an undoubted Rule of Reason in it self but it was also the Principal Original of that Atomical Physiology which discarding Forms and Qualities acknowledged really nothing else in Body besides Mechanism Wherefore it was not in vain or to no purpose that Laertius in the Life of Democritus takes notice of this as one of his Dogmata 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Nothing was made or Generated out of Nothing nor Corrupted into Nothing This being a Fundamental Principle not only of his Atheism but also of that very Atomical Physiology it self which he pursued And Epicurus in his Epistle to Herodotus plainly fetches the beginning of all his Philosophy from hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We fetch the beginning of our Philosophy saith he from hence that Nothing is made out of Nothing or destroy'd to Nothing for if things were made out of Nothing then every thing might be made out of every thing neither would there be any need of Seeds And if whatsoever is Corrupted were destroyed to Nothing then all things would at length be brought to Nothing Lucretius in like manner beginning here insists more largely upon those Grounds of Reason hinted by Epicurus And first That Nothing can be made out of Nothing he proves thus Nam si de nihilo fierent ex omnibus rebus Omne Genus nasci posset Nil Semine egeret E mare primùm Homines terra posset oriri Squamigerum Genus c. Nec Fructus iidem Arboribus constare solerent Sed mutarentur Ferre omnes omnia possent Praeterea cur Vere Rosam Frumenta Calore Vites Autumno fundi suadente videmus c. Quòd si de Nihilo fierent subitò exorerentur Incerto spatio atque alienis Partibus anni In like manner he argues to prove that Nothing is Corrupted into Nothing Huc accedit utì quicque in sua Corpora rursum Dissolvat Natura neque ad Nihilum interimat res Nam si quid Mortale à cunctis Partibus esset Ex oculis res quaeque repentè erepta periret Praeterea quaecunque Vetustate amovet aetas Si penitus perimit consumens Materiam omnem Vnde Animale Genus generatim in Lumina Vitae Redducit Venus aut redductum Daedala Tellus Vnde alit atque auget generatim pabula praebens c. Haud igitur penitus pereunt quaecunque videntur Quando aliud ex alio reficit Natura nec ullam Rem gigni patitur nisi morte adjutam alienâ In which Passages though it be plain that Lucretius doth not immediately drive at Atheism and nothing else but primarily at the establishing of a peculiar kind of Atomical Physiology upon which indeed these Democriticks afterward endeavoured to graft Atheism yet to take away that suspicion we shall in the next place shew that generally the other Ancient Physiologers also who were Theists did likewise build the structure of their Philosophy upon the same Foundation that Nothing can come from Nothing nor go to Nothing As for Example Parmenides Melissus Zeno Xenophanes Anaxagoras and Empedocles of Parmenides and Melissus Aristotle thus writes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They say that no Real Entity is either Generated or Corrupted that is made anew out of Nothing or destroy'd to Nothing And Simplicius tells us that Parmenides gave a notable Reason for the Confirmation of this Assertion that Nothing in Nature could be Made out of Nothing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because if any thing be made out of Nothing then there could be no cause why it should be then made and neither sooner nor later Again Aristotle testifies of Xenophanes and Zeno that they made this a main Principle of their Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
and Evil and therefore the Allowance of it is contradictious to Civil Sovereignty and a Commonwealth There ought to be no other Conscience in a Kingdom or Commonwealth besides the Law of the Countrey the allowance of Private Conscience being ipso facto a Dissolution of the Body Politick and a Return to the State of Nature Upon all these accounts it must needs be acknowledged that those Philosophers who undermine and weaken Theism and Religion do highly deserve of all Civil Sovereigns and Common-wealths XXII Now from all the premised Considerations the Democriticks confidently conclude against a Deity That the System and Compages of the Universe had not its Original from any Vnderstanding Nature but that Mind and Vnderstanding it self as well as all things else in the World sprung up from Sensless Nature and Chance or from the unguided and undirected Motion of Matter Which is therefore called by the Name of Nature because whatsoever moves is moved by Nature and Necessity and the mutual Occursions and Rencounters of Atoms their Plagae their Stroaks and Dashings against one another their Reflexions and Repercussions their Cohesions Implexions and Entanglements as also their Scattered Dispersions and Divulsions are all Natural and Necessary but it is called also by the name of Chance and Fortune because it is all unguided by any Mind Counsel or Design Wherefore Infinite Atoms of different sizes and figures devoid of all Life and Sense moving Fortuitously from Eternity in infinite Space and making successively several Encounters and consequently various Implexions and Entanglements with one another produced first a confused Chaos of these Omnifarious Particles jumbling together with infinite variety of Motions which afterward by the tugging of their different and contrary forces whereby they all hindred and abated each other came as it were by joint Conspiracy to be Conglomerated into a Vortex or Vortices where after many Convolutions and Evolutions Molitions and Essays in which all manner of Tricks were tried and all Forms imaginable experimented they chanced in length of time here to settle into this Form and System of things which now is of Earth Water Air and Fire Sun Moon and Stars Plants Animals and Men So that Sensless Atoms fortuitously moved and Material Chaos were the first Original of all things This Account of the Cosmopoeia and first Original of the Mundane System is represented by Lucretius according to the mind of Epicurus though without any mention of those Vortices which yet were an essential part of the old Democritick Hypothesis Sed quibus ille modis conjectus material Fundarit coelum ac terram pontÃque profunda Solis lunaï cursus ex ordine ponam Nam certè neque consilio primordia rerum Ordine se quaeque atque sagaci mente locarunt Nec quos quaeque dárent motus pepigere profectò Sed quia multa modis multis primordia rerum Ex infinito jam tempore percita plagis Ponderibúsque suis consuerunt concita ferri Omni'modisque coire atque omnia pertentare Quaecunque inter se possent congressa creare Proptereà fit utì magnum volgata per aevum Omnigenos coetus motus experiundo Tandem ea conveniant quae ut convenere repentè Magnarum rerum fiant exordia saepe Terraï Maris Coeli generÃsque Animantum But because some seem to think that Epicurus was the first Founder and Inventor of this Doctrine we shall here observe that this same Atheistick Hypothesis was long before described by Plato when Epicurus was as yet unborn and therefore doubtless according to the Doctrine of Leucippus Democritus and Protagoras though that Philosopher in a kind of disdain as it seems refused to mention either of their Names 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Atheists say that Fire Water Air and Earth i. e. the four Elements were all made by Nature and Chance and none of them by Art or Mind that is they were made by the fortuitous Motion of Atoms and not by any Deity And that those other Bodies of the Terrestrial Globe of the Sun the Moon and the Stars which by all except these Atheists were in those times generally supposed to be Animated and a kind of Inferiour Deities were afterwards made out of the foresaid Elements being altogether Inanimate For they being moved fortuitously or as it happened and so making various commixtures together did by that means at length produce the whole Heavens and all things in them as likewise Plants and Animals here upon earth all which were not made by Mind nor by Art nor by any God but as we said before by Nature and Chance Art and Mind it self rising up afterwards from the same Sensless Principles in Animals CHAP. III. An Introduction to the Confutation of the Atheistick Grounds in which is contained a particular Accompt of all the several Forms of Atheism 1. That the Grounds of the Hylozoick Atheism could not be insisted on in the former Chapter together with those of the Atomick they being directly contrary each to other with a further Accompt of this Hylozoick Atheism 2. A Suggestion by way of Caution for the preventing of all mistakes That every Hylozoist must not therefore be condemned for an Atheist or a mere Counterfeit Histrionical Theist 3. That nevertheless such Hylozoists as are also Corporealists can by no means be excused from the Imputation of Atheism for Two Reasons 4. That Strato Lampsacenus commonly called Physicus seems to have been the first Asserter of the Hylozoick Atheism he holding no other God but the Life of Nature in Matter 5. Further proved that Strato was an Atheist and that of a different Form from Democritus he attributing an Energetick Nature but without Sense and Animality to all Matter 6. That Strato not deriving all things from a mere Fortuitous Principle as the Democritick Atheists did nor yet acknowledging any one Plastick Nature to preside over the Whole but deducing the Original of things from a Mixture of Chance and Plastick Nature both together in the several parts of Matter must therefore needs be an Hylozoick Atheist 7. That the famous Hippocrates was neither an Hylozoick nor Democritick Atheist but rather an Heraclitick Corporeal Theist 8. That Plato took no Notice of the Hylozoick Atheism nor of any other then what derives the Original of all things from a mere Fortuitous Nature and therefore either the Democritical or the Anaximandrian Atheism which latter will be next declared 9. That it is hardly imaginable there should have been no Philosophick Atheists in the World before Democritus and Leucippus there being in all Ages as Plato observes some or other sick of the Atheistick Disease That Aristotle affirms many of the first Philosophers to have assigned only a Material Cause of the Mundane System without either Efficient or Intending Cause They supposing Matter to be the only Substance and all things else nothing but the Passions and Accidents of it
This Opinion is further Confuted by that Slow and Gradual Process that is in the Generations of things which would seem to be but a Vain and Idle Pomp or a Trifling Formality if the Agent were Omnipotent as also by those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle calls them those Errors and Bungles which are committed when the Matter is Inept and Contumacious which argue the Agent not to be Irresistible and that Nature is such a thing as is not altogether uncapable as well as Humane Art of being sometimes frustrated and disappointed by the Indisposition of Matter Whereas an Omnipotent Agent as it could dispatch its work in a Moment so it would always do it Infallibly and Irresistibly no Ineptitude or Stubbornness of Matter being ever able to hinder such a one or make him Bungle or Fumble in any thing 5. Wherefore since neither all things are produced Fortuitously or by the Unguided Mechanism of Matter nor God himself may reasonably be thought to do all things Immediately and Miraculously it may well be concluded that there is a Plastick Nature under him which as an Inferior and Subordinate Instrument doth Drudgingly Execute that Part of his Providence which consists in the Regular and Orderly Motion of Matter yet so as that there is also besides this a Higher Providence to be acknowledged which presiding over it doth often supply the Defects of it and sometimes Over-rule it forasmuch as this Plastick Nature cannot act Electively nor with Discretion And by this means the Wisdom of God will not be shut up nor concluded wholly within his own Breast but will display it self abroad and print its Stamps and Signatures every where throughout the World so that God as Plato after Orpheus speaks will be not only the Beginning and End but also the Middle of all things they being as much to be ascribed to his Causality as if himself had done them all Immediately without the concurrent Instrumentality of any Subordinate Natural Cause Notwithstanding which in this way it will appear also to Humane Reason that all things are Disposed and Ordered by the Deity without any Sollicitous Care or Distractious Providence And indeed those Mechanick Theists who rejecting a Plastick Nature affect to concern the Deity as little as is possible in Mundane Affairs either for fear of debasing him and bringing him down to too mean Offices or else of subjecting him to Sollicitous Encumberment and for that Cause would have God to contribute nothing more to the Mundane System and Oeconomy than only the First Impressing of a certain Quantity of Motion upon the Matter and the After-conserving of it according to some General Laws These men I say seem not very well to understand themselves in this Forasmuch as they must of necessity ether suppose these their Laws of Motion to execute themselves or else be forced perpetually to concern the Deity in the Immediate Motion of every Atom of Matter throughout the Universe in order to the Execution and Observation of them The Former of which being a Thing plainly Absurd and Ridiculous and the Latter that which these Philosophers themselves are extremely abhorrent from we cannot make any other Conclusion than this That they do but unskilfully and unawares establish that very Thing which in words they oppose and that their Laws of Nature concerning Motion are Really nothing else but a Plastick Nature acting upon the Matter of the whole Corporeal Universe both Maintaining the Same Quantity of Motion always in it and also Dispensing it by Transferring it out of one Body into another according to such Laws Fatally Imprest upon it Now if there be a Plastick Nature that governs the Motion of Matter every where according to Laws there can be no Reason given why the same might not also extend further to the Regular Disposal of that Matter in the Formation of Plants and Animals and other things in order to that Apt Coherent Frame and Harmony of the whole Universe 6. And as this Plastick Nature is a thing which seems to be in it self most Reasonable so hath it also had the Suffrage of the best Philosophers in all Ages For First it is well known that Aristotle concerns himself in nothing more zealously than this That Mundane things are not Effected merely by the Necessary and Vnguided Motion of Matter or by Fortuitous Mechanism but by such a Nature as acts Regularly and Artificially for Ends yet so as that this Nature is not the Highest Principle neither or the Supreme Numen but Subordinate to a Perfect Mind or Intellect he affirming that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Mind together with Nature was the Cause of this Vniverse and that Heaven and Earth Plants and Animals were framed by them both that is by Mind as the Principal and Directive Cause but by Nature as a Subservient or Executive Instrument and elsewhere joyning in like manner God and Nature both together as when he concludes That God and Nature do nothing in Vain Neither was Aristotle the First Broacher or Inventor of this Doctrine Plato before him having plainly asserted the same For in a Passage already cited he affirms that Nature together with Reason and according to it orders all things thereby making Nature as a Distinct thing from the Deity to be a Subordinate Cause under the Reason and Wisdom of it And elsewhere he resolves that there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain Causes of a Wise and Artificial Nature which the Deity uses as Subservient to it self as also that there are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Con-causes which God makes use of as Subordinately Cooperative with himself Moreover before Plato Empedocles Philosophized also in the same manner when supposing Two Worlds the one Archetypal the other Extypal he made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Friendship Discord to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Active Principle and Immediate Operator in this Lower World He not understanding thereby as Plutarch and some others have conceited Two Substantial Principles in the World the one of Good the other of Evil but only a Plastick Nature as Aristotle in sundry places intimates which he called by that name partly because he apprehended that the Result and Upshot of Nature in all Generations and Corruptions amounted to nothing more than Mixtures and Separations or Concretion and Secretion of Preexistent things and partly because this Plastick Nature is that which doth reconcile the Contrarieties and Enmities of Particular things and bring them into one General Harmony in the Whole Which latter is a Notion that Plotinus describing this very Seminary Reason or Plastick Nature of the World though taking it in something a larger sence than we do in this place doth ingeniously pursue after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Seminary Reason or Plastick Nature of the Vniverse opposing the Parts to one another and making them severally Indigent produces by that means War and Contention
is not the Deity it self but a Thing very remote from it and far below it so neither is it the Divine Art as it is in it self Pure and Abstract but Concrete and Embodied only for the Divine Art considered in it self is nothing but Knowledge Vnderstanding or Wisdom in the Mind of God Now Knowledge and Understanding in its own Nature is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain Separate and Abstract thing and of so Subtil and Refined a Nature as that it is not Capable of being Incorporated with Matter or Mingled and Blended with it as the Soul of it And therefore Aristotle's Second Instance which he propounds as most pertinent to Illustrate this business of Nature by namely of the Physicians Art curing himself is not so adequate thereunto because when the Medicinal Art Cures the Physician in whom it is it doth not there Act as Nature that is as Concrete and Embodied Art but as Knowledge and Vnderstanding only which is Art Naked Abstract and Vnbodied as also it doth its Work Ambagiously by the Physician 's Willing and Prescribing to himself the use of such Medicaments as do but conduce by removing of Impediments to help that which is Nature indeed or the Inward Archeus to effect the Cure Art is defined by Aristotle to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Reason of the thing without Matter and so the Divine Art or Knowledge in the Mind of God is Vnbodied Reason but Nature is Ratio Mersa Confusa Reason Immersed and Plunged into Matter and as it were Fuddled in it and Confounded with it Nature is not the Divine Art Archetypal but only Ectypal it is a living Stamp or Signature of the Divine Wisdom which though it act exactly according to its Arthetype yet it doth not at all Comprehend nor Understand the Reason of what it self doth And the Difference between these two may be resembled to that between the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Reason of the Mind and Conception called Verbum Mentis and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Reason of External Speech the Latter of which though it bear a certain Stamp and Impress of the Former upon it yet it self is nothing but Articulate Sound devoid of all Vnderstanding and Sense Or else we may Illustrate this business by another Similitude comparing the Divine Art and Wisdom to an Architect but Nature to a Manuary Opificer the Difference betwixt which two is thus set forth by Aristotle pertinently to our purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We account the Architects in every thing more honourable than the Manuary Opificers because they understand the Reason of the things done whereas the other as some Inanimate things only Do not knowing what they Do the Difference between them being only this that Inanimate Things Act by a certain Nature in them but the Manuary Opificer by Habit. Thus Nature may be called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Manuary Opificer that Acts subserviently under the Architectonical Art and Wisdom of the Divine Understanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which does Do without Knowing the Reason of what â—t Doth 12. Wherefore as we did before observe the Preeminences of Nature above Humane Art so we must here take Notice also of the Imperfections and Defects of it in which respect it falls short of Humane Art which are likewise Two and the First of them is this That though it Act Artificially for the sake of Ends yet it self doth neither Intend those Ends nor Vnderstand the Reason of that it doth Nature is not Master of that Consummate Art and Wisdom according to which it acts but only a Servant to it and a Drudging Executioner of the Dictates of it This Difference betwixt Nature and Abstract Art or Wisdom is expressed by Plotinus in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How doth Wisdom differ from that which is called Nature Verily in this Manner That Wisdom is the First Thing but Nature the Last and Lowest for Nature is but an Image or Imitation of Wisdom the Last thing of the Soul which hath the lowest Impress of Reason shining upon it as when a thick piece of Wax is thoroughly impressed upon by a Seal that Impress which is clear and distinct in the superiour Superficies of it will in the lower side be weak and obscure and such is the Stamp and Signature of Nature compared with that of Wisdom and Vnderstanding Nature being a thing which doth only Do but not Know. And elsewhere the same Writer declares the Difference between the Spermatick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reasons and Knowledges or Conceptions of the Mind in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whether are these Plastick Reasons or Forms in the Soul Knowledges But how shall it then Act according to those Knowledges For the Plastick Reason or Form Acts or Works in Matter and that which acts Naturally is not Intellection nor Vision but a certain Power of moving Matter which doth not Know but only Do and makes as it were a Stamp or Figure in Water And with this Doctrine of the Ancients a Modern Judicious Writer and Sagacious Inquirer into Nature seems fully to agree that Nature is such a Thing as doth not Know but only Do For after he had admired that Wisdom and Art by which the Bodies of Animals are framed he concludes that one or other of these two things must needs be acknowledged that either the Vegetative or Plastick Power of the Soul by which it Fabricates and Organizes its own body is more Excellent and Divine than the Rational Or else In Naturae Operibus neque Prudentiam nec Intellectum inesse sedita solùm videri Conceptui nostro qui secundùm Artes nostras Facultates seu Exemplaria à nobismetipsis mutuata de rebus Naturae divinis judicamus Quasi Principia Naturae Activa effectus suos eo modo producerent quo nos opera nostra Artificialia solemus That in the Works of Nature there is neither Prudence nor Vnderstanding but only it seems so to our Apprehensions who judge of these Divine things of Nature according to our own Arts and Faculties and Patterns borrowed from our selves as if the Active Principles of Nature did produce their Effects in the same manner as we do our Artificial Works Wherefore we conclude agreeably to the Sence of the best Philosophers both Ancient and Modern That Nature is such a Thing as though it act Artificially and for the sake of Ends yet it doth but Ape and Mimick the Divine Art and Wisdom it self not Understanding those Ends which it Acts for nor the Reason of what it doth in order to them for which Cause also it is not Capable of Consultation or Deliberation nor can it Act Electively or with Discretion 13. But because this may seem strange at the first sight that Nature should be said to Act 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the sake of Ends and Regularly or Artificially and yet be
several parts of Matter distant from one another acting alone by themselves without any common Directrix being not able to confer together nor communicate with each other could never possibly conspire to make up one such uniform and Orderly System or Compages as the Body of every Animal is The same is to be said likewise concerning the Plastick Nature of the whole Corporeal Universe in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things are ordered together conspiringly into One. It must be one and the same thing which formeth the whole or else it could never have fallen into such an Uniform Order and Harmony Now that which is One and the Same acting upon several distant parts of Matter cannot be Corporeal Indeed Aristotle is severely censured by some learned men for this that though he talk every where of such a Nature as acts Regularly Artificially and Methodically in order to the Best yet he does no where positively declare whether this Nature of his be Corporeal or Incorporeal Substantial or Accidental which yet is the less to be wondred at in him because he does not clearly determine these same points concerning the Rational Soul neither but seems to stagger uncertainly about them In the mean time it cannot be denied but that Aristotle's Followers do for the most part conclude this Nature of his to be Corporeal whereas notwithstanding according to the Principles of this Philosophy it cannot possibly be such For there is nothing else attributed to Body in it besides these three Matter Form and Accidents neither of which can be the Aristotelick Nature First it cannot be Matter because Nature according to Aristotle is supposed to be the Principle of Motion and Activity which Matter in it self is devoid of Moreover Aristotle concludes that they who assign only a Material Cause assign no Cause at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of well and fit of that Regular and Artificial Frame of things which is ascribed to Nature upon both which accompts it is determined by that Philosopher that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature is more a Principle and Cause than Matter and therefore it cannot be one and the same thing with it Again it is as plain that Aristotle's Nature cannot be the Forms of particular Bodies neither as Vulgar Peripateticks seem to conceive these being all Generated and Produced by Nature and as well Corruptible as Generable Whereas Nature is such a thing as is neither Generated nor Corrupted it being the Principle and Cause of all Generation and Corruption To make Nature and the Material Forms of Bodies to be one and the self-same thing is all one as if one should make the Seal with the Stamper too to be one and the same thing with the Signature upon the Wax And Lastly Aristotle's Nature can least of all be the Accidents or Qualities of Bodies because these act only in Vertue of their Substance neither can they exercise any Active Power over the Substance it self in which they are whereas the Plastick Nature is a thing that Domineers over the Substance of the whole Corporeal Vniverse and which Subordinately to the Deity put both Heaven and Earth into this Frame in which now it is Wherefore since Aristotle's Nature can be neither the Matter nor the Forms nor the Accidents of Bodies it is plain that according to his own Principles it must be Incorporeal 21. Now if the Plastick Nature be Incorporeal then it must of necessity be either an Inferiour Power or Faculty of some Soul which is also Conscious Sensitive or Rational or else a lower Substantial Life by it self devoid of Animal Consciousness The Platonists seem to affirm both these together namely that there is a Plastick Nature lodged in all particular Souls of Animals Brutes and Men and also that there is a General Plastick or Spermatick Principle of the whole Vniverse distinct from their Higher Mundane Soul though subordinate to it and dependent upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is called Nature is the Off-spring of an higher Soul which hath a more Powerful Life in it And though Aristotle do not so clearly acknowledge the Incorporeity and Substantiality of Souls yet he concurrs very much with this Platonick Doctrine that Nature is either a Lower Power or Faculty of some Conscious Soul or else an Inferiour kind of Life by it self depending upon a Superiour Soul And this we shall make to appear from his Book De Partibus Animalium after we have taken notice of some considerable Preliminary Passages in it in order thereunto For having first declared that besides the Material Cause there are other Causes also of Natural Generations namely these two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that for whose sake or the Final Cause and that from which the Principle of Motion is or the Efficient Cause he determines that the former of these Two is the principal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The chiefest of these two Causes seems to be the Final or the Intending Cause for this is Reason and Reason is alike a Principle in Artificial and in Natural things Nay the Philosopher adds excellently that there is more of Reason and Art in the things of Nature than there is in those things that are Artificially made by men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is more of Final or Intending Causality and of the reason of Good in the works of Nature than in those of Humane Art After which he greatly complains of the first and most Ancient Physiologers meaning thereby Anaximander and those other Ionicks before Anaxagoras that they considered only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Material Principle and Cause of things without attending to those Two other Causes the Principle of Motion and that which aims at Ends they talking only of Fire Water Air and Earth and generating the whole World from the Frotuitous Concourse of these Sensless Bodies But at length Aristotle falls upon Democritus who being Junior to those others before mentioned Philosophised after the same Atheistical manner but in a new way of his own by Atoms acknowledging no other Nature neither in the Universe nor in the Bodies of Animals than that of Fortuitous Mechanism and supposing all things to arise from the different Compositions of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions Of which Democritick Philosophy he gives his Censure in these following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If Animals and their several parts did consist of nothing but Figure and Colour then indeed Democritus would be in the right But a Dead man hath the same Form and Figure of Body that he had before and yet for all that he is not a Man neither is a Brazen or Wooden Hand a Hand but only Equivocally as a Painted Physician or Pipes made of Stone are so called No member of a Dead Mans Body is that which it was before when he was alive neither Eye nor Hand nor Foot Wherefore this is but a rude way of Philosophizing and just as if a Carpenter should talk
God but an Energetick and Effectual Principle and the Plastick Nature the true and proper Fate of Matter or the Corporeal World What Magick is and that Nature which acts Fatally acts also Magically and Sympathetically 19. That the Plastick Nature though it be the Divine Art and Fate yet for all that it it neither God nor Goddess but a Low and Imperfect Creature it acting Artificially and Rationally no otherwise than compounded Forms of Letters when printing Coherent Philosophick Sence nor for Ends than a Saw or Hatchet in the hands of a skilful Mechanick The Plastick and Vegetative Life of Nature the Lowest of all Lives and Inferiour to the Sensitive A Higher Providence than that of the Plastick Nature governing the Corporeal World it self 20. Notwithstanding which forasmuch as the Plastick Nature is a Life it must needs be Incorporeal One and the same thing having in it an entire Model and Platform and acting upon several distant parts of Matter at once coherently cannot be Corporeal and though Aristotle no where declare whether his Nature be Corporeal or Incorporeal which he neither doth clearly concerning the Rational Soul and his Followers conclude it to be Corporeal yet according to the very Principles of that Philosophy it must needs be otherwise 21. The Plastick Nature being Incorporeal must either be a Lower Power lodged in Souls that are also Conscious Sensitive or Rational or else a distinct Substantial Life by it self and Inferiour Kind of Soul How the Platonists complicate both these together with Aristotle's agreeable Determination that Nature is either Part of a Soul or not without Soul 22. The Plastick Nature as to Animals according to Aristotle a Part or Lower Power of their Respective Souls That the Phaenomena prove a Plastick Nature or Archeus in Animals to make which a distinct thing from the Soul is to multiply Entities without necessity The Soul endued with a Plastick Power the chief Formatrix of its own Body the Contribution of certain other Causes not excluded 23. That besides that Plastick Principle in Particular Animals forming them as so many Little Worlds there is a General Plastick Nature in the whole Corporeal Vniverse which likewise according to Aristotle is either a Part and Lower Power of a Conscious Mundane Soul or else something depending on it 24. That no less according to Aristotle than Plato and Socrates our selves partake of Life from the Life of the Vniverse as well as we do of Heat and Cold from the Heat and Cold of the Vniverse from whence it appears that Aristotle also held the worlds Animation with further Vndeniable Proof thereof An Answer to Two the most considerable places of that Philosopher that seem to imply the contrary That Aristotles First Immoveable Mover was no Soul but a Perfect Intellect Abstract from Matter but that he supposed this to move only as a Final Cause or as being Loved and besides it a Mundane Soul and Plastick Nature to move the Heavens Efficiently Neither Aristotle's Nature nor his Mundane Soul the Supreme Deity However though there be no such Mundane Soul as both Plato and Aristotle conceived yet notwithstanding there may be a Plastick Nature depending upon a Higher Intellectual Principle 25. No Impossibility of some other Particular Plastick Principles and though it be not reasonable to think that every Plant Herb and Pile of Grass hath a Plastick or Vegetative Soul of its own nor that the Earth is an Animal yet that there may possibly be One Plastick Inconscious Nature in the whole Terraqueous Globe by which Vegetables may be severally organized and framed and all things performed which transcend the Power of Fortuitous Mechanism 26. Our Second Vndertaking which was to shew how grosly those Atheists who acknowledge this Plastick Nature Misunderstand it and Abuse the Notion to make a Counterfeit God-almighty or Numen of it to the exclusion of the True Deity First in their supposing that to be the First and Highest Principle of the Vniverse which is the Last and lowest of all Lives a thing as Essentially Derivative from and Dependent upon a Higher Intellectual Principle as the Eccho on the Original Voice 27. Secondly in their making Sense and Reason in Animals to Emerge out of a Sensless Life of Nature by the mere Modification and Organization of Matter That no Duplication of Corporeal Organs can ever make One Single Inconscious Life to advance into Redoubled Consciousness and Self-enjoyment 28. Thirdly in attributing Perfect Knowledge and Vnderstanding to this Life of Nature which yet themselves suppose to be devoid of all Animal Sense and Consciousness 29. Lastly in making the Plastick Life of Nature to be merely Corporeal the Hylozoists contending that it is but an Inadequate Conception of Body as the only Substance and fondly dreaming that the Vulgar Notion of God is nothing but such an Inadequate Conception of the Matter of the Whole Vniverse mistaken for a Complete and Entire Substance by it self the Cause of all things CHAP. IV. The Idea of God declared in way of Answer to the First Atheistick Argument The Grand Prejudice against the Naturality of this Idea as Essentially including Unity or Onelyness in it from the Pagan Polytheism removed Proved that the Intelligent Pagans generally acknowledged One Supreme Deity What their Polytheism and Idolatry was with some Accompt of Christianity 1. The either Stupid Insensibility or Gross Impudence of Atheists in denying the word GOD to have any Signification or that there is any other Idea answering to it besides the mere Phantasm of the Sound The Disease called by the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Petrification or Dead Insensibility of the Mind 2. That the Atheists themselves must needs have an Idea of God in their minds or otherwise when they deny his Existence they should deny the Existence of Nothing And that they have also the same Idea of him with Theists they denying the very same thing which the others affirm 3. A Lemma or Preparatory Proposition to the Idea of God That though some things be Made or Generated yet it is not possible that all things should be Made but something must of Necessity Exist of it self from Eternity Vnmade and be the Cause of those other things that are Made 4. The Two most Opposite Opinions concerning that which was Self-existent from Eternity or Vnmade and the Cause of all other things Made One That it was nothing but Sensless Matter the most Imperfect of all things The Other That it was something Most Perfect and therefore Consciously Intellectual The Asserters of this latter Opinion Theists in a strict and proper sence of the former Atheists So that the Idea of God in general is a Perfect Consciously Vnderstanding Being or Mind Self-existent from Eternity and the Cause of all other things 5. Observed That the Atheists who deny a God according to the true Idea of him do often Abuse the word calling Sensless Matter by that Name and meaning nothing else thereby but a
may be added according to the Opinion of many That there is a kind of Necessity of some Evils in the World for a Condiment as it were to give a Rellish and Haut-goust to Good since the Nature of Imperfect Animals is such that they are apt to have but a Dull and Sluggish Sense a Flat and Insipid Taste of Good unless it be quickned and stimulated heightned and invigorated by being compared with the Contrary Evil. As also that there seems to be a Necessary Vse in the World of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those Involuntary Evils of Pain and Suffering both for the Exercise of Vertue and the Quickning and Exciting the Activity of the World as also for the Repressing Chastising and Punishing of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those Voluntary Evils of Vice and Action Upon which several accompts probably Plato concluded that Evils could not be uâ—terly destroyed at least in this Lower World which according to him is the Region of Lapsed Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is neither possible O Theodorus That Evils should be quite destroyed for there must be something always Contrary to Good nor yet that they should be seated amongst the Gods but they will of necessity infest this Lower Mortal Region and Nature Wherefore we ought to endeavour to flee from hence with all possible speed and our flight from hence is this to assimilate our selves to God as much as may be Which Assimilation to God consisteth in being Just and Holy with Wisdom Thus according to the Sence of Plato though God be the Original of all things yet he is not to be accounted properly the Cause of Evils at least Moral ones they being only Defects but they are to be imputed to the Necessity of Imperfect Beings which is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Necessity which doth often resist God and as it were shake off his Bridle Rational Creatures being by means thereof in a Capability of acting contrary to God's Will and Law as well as their own true Nature and Good and other things hindred of that Perfection which the Divine Goodness would else have imparted to them Notwithstanding which Mind that is God is said also by Plato to Rule over Necessity because those Evils occasioned by the Necessity of Imperfect Beings are Over-ruled by the Divine Art Wisdom and Providence for Good Typhon and Arimanius if we may use that Language being as it were Outwitted by Osiris and Oromasdes and the worst of all Evils made in spight of their own Nature to contribute subserviently to the Good and Perfection of the Whole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this must needs be acknowledged to be the greatest Art of all to be able to Bonifie Evils or Tincture them with Good And now we have made it to appear as we conceive that Plutarch had no sufficient Grounds to impute this Opinion of Two Active Perceptive Principles in the World one the Cause of Good and the other of Evil to Plato And as for the other Greek Philosophers his Pretences to make them Assertors of the same Doctrine seem to be yet more slight and frivolous For he concludes the Pythagoreans to have held Two such Substantial Principles of Good and Evil merely because they sometimes talkt of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Contrarieties and Conjugations of things such as Finite and Infinite Dextrous and Sinistrous Eaven and Odd and the like As also that Heraclitus entertain'd the same Opinion because he spake of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Versatil Harmony of the World whereby things reciprocate forwards and backwards as when a Bow is successively Intended and Remitted as likewise because he affirmed All things to flow and War to be the Father and Lord of all Moreover he resolves that Empedocles his Friendship and Contention could be no other than a Good and Evil God though we have rendred it probable that nothing else was understood thereby but an Active Spermatick Power in this Corporeal World causing Vicissitudes of Generation and Corruption Again Anaxagoras is entitled by him to the same Philosophy for no other reason but only because he made Mind and Infinite Matter Two Principles of the Universe And Lastly Aristotle himself cannot scape him from being made an Assertor of a Good and Evil God too merely because he concluded Form and Privation to be Two Principles of Natural Bodies Neither does Plutarch acquit himself any thing better as to the Sence of Whole Nations when this Doctrine is therefore imputed by him to the Chaldeans because their Astrologers supposed Two of the Planets to be Beneficent Two Maleficent and Three of a Middle Nature and to the ancient Greeks because they sacrificed not only to Jupiter Olympius but also to Hades or Pluto who was sometimes called by them the Infernal Jupiter We confess that his Interpretation of the Traditions and Mysteries of the ancient Egyptians is ingenious but yet there is no necessity for all that that by their Typhon should be understood a Substantial Evil Principle or God Self-existent as he contends For it being the manner of the ancient Pagans as shall be more fully declared afterwards to Physiologize in their Theology and to Personate all the several Things in Nature it seems more likely that these Egyptians did after that manner only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Personate that Evil and Confusion Tumult and Hurliburly Constant Alternation and Vicissitude of Generations and Corruptions which is in this Lower World though not without a Divine Providence by Typhon Wherefore the only Probability now left is that of the Persian Magi that they might indeed assert Two such Active Principles of Good and Evil as Plutarch and the Manicheans afterwards did and we must confess that there is some Probability of this because besides Plutarch Laertius affirms the same of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there are Two Principles according to the Persian Magi a Good Demon and an Evil one he seeming to Vouch it also from the Autorities of Hermippus Eudoxus and Theopompus Notwithstanding which it may very well be Questioned whether the meaning of those Magi were not herein misunderstood they perhaps intending nothing more by their Evil Demon than such a Satanical Power as we acknowledge that is not a Substantial Evil-Principle unmade and Independent upon God but only a Polity of Evil Demons in the World united together under One Head or Prince And this not only because Theodorus in Photius calls the Persian Arimanius by that very name Satanas but also because those very Traditions of theirs recorded by Plutarch himself seem very much to favour this Opinion they running after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there is a Fatal time at hand in which Arimanius the Introducer of Plagues and Famines must of necessity be utterly destroyed and when the Earth being made plain and equal there shall be but one Life and one
glomeravit in Orbes In semet reditura meat Mentemque Profundam Circuit simili convertit Imagine Coelum Wherefore as well according to Plato's Hypothesis as Aristotle's it may be affirmed of the Supreme Deity in the same Boetius his Language that Stabilisque manens dat cuncta Moveri Being it self Immovable it causeth all other things to Move The Immediate Efficient Cause of which Motion also no less according to Aristotle than Plato seems to have been a Mundane Soul however Aristotle thought not so fit to make this Soul a Principle in all Probability because he was not so well assured of the Incorporiety of Souls as of Minds or Intellects Nevertheless this is not the only thing which Aristotle imputed to his First and Highest Immovable Principle or the Supreme Deity its turning Round of the Primum Mobile and that no otherwise than as being Loved or as the Final Cause thereof as Proclus supposed but he as well as Anaxagoras asserted it to be also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cause of Well and Fit or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that without which there could be no such thing as Well that is no no Order Aptitude Proportion and Harmony in the Universe He declaring excellently that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnless there were something else in the world besides Sensibles there could be neither Beginning nor Order in it but one thing would be the Principle of another infinitly or without end and again in another place already cited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not at all likely that either Fire or Earth or any such Body should be the Cause of that Well and Fit that is in the World nor can so Noble an Effect as this be reasonably imputed to Chance or Fortune Wherefore himself agreeably with Anaxagoras concludes that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mind which is properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cause of Well and Right and accordingly does he frequently call the Supreme Deity by that Name He affirming likewise that the Order Pulchritude and Harmony of the whole World dependeth upon that One Highest and Supreme Being in it after the same manner as the Order of an Army dependeth upon the General or Emperour who is not for the Order but the Order for him Which Highest Being of the Universe is therefore called by him also conformably to Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Separate Good of the World in way of distinction from that Intrinsick or Inherent Good of it which is the Order and Harmony it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is to be considered also What is the Good and Best of the Vniverse Whether its own Order only or Something Separate and existing by it self Or rather Both of them together As the Good of an Army consisteth both in its Order and likewise in its General or Emperor but principally in this Latter because the Emperor is not for the Order of the Army but the Order of the Army is for him for all things are coordered together with God and respectively to him Wherefore since Aristotle's Supreme Deity by what name soever called whether Mind or Good is the proper Efficient Cause of all that Well and Fit that is in the Universe of all the Order Pulchritude and Harmony thereof it must needs be granted that besides its being the Final Cause of Motion or its Turning round the Heavens by being Loved it was also the Efficient Cause of the Whole Frame of Nature and System of the World And thus does he plainly declare his Sence where he applauds Anaxagoras for maintaining 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Mind is the Cause not only of all Order but also of the whole World and when himself positively affirms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that from such a Principle as this depends the Heaven and Nature Where by Heaven is meant the whole World and by Nature that Artificial Nature of his before insisted on which doth nothing in vain but always acteth for Ends Regularly and is the Instrument of the Divine Mind He also somewhere affirmeth that if the Heavens or World were Generated that is Made in Time so as to have had a Beginning then it was certainly Made not by Chance and Fortune but by such an Artificial Nature as is the Instrument of a Perfect Mind And in his Physicks where he contends for the Worlds Ante-Eternity he concludes nevertheless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Mind together with Nature must of necessity be the Cause of this Whole Vniverse For though the World were never so much Coeternal with Mind yet was it in order of Nature after it and Juniour to it as the Effect thereof himself thus generously resolving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that though some that is the Atheists affirm the Elements to have been the First Beings yet it was the most reasonable thing of all to conclude that Mind was the Oldest of All things and Seniour to the World and Elements and that according to Nature it had a Princely and Sovereign Dominion over all Wherefore we think it now sufficiently evident that Aristotle's Supreme Deity does not only move the Heavens as being Loved or is the Final Cause of Motion but also was the Efficient Cause of this Whole Mundane System framed according to the Best Wisdom and after the Best manner Possible For perhaps it may not be amiss here to observe That God was not called Mind by Aristotle and those other ancient Philosophers according to that Vulgar Sence of many in these days of ours as if he were indeed an Vnderstanding or Perceptive Being and that perfectly Omniscient but yet nevertheless such as acted all things Arbitrarilily being not determined by any Rule or Nature of Goodness but only by his own Fortuitous Will For according to those ancient Philosophers that which acts without respect to Good would not so much be accounted Mens as Dementiae Mind as Madness or Folly and to impute the Frame of Nature or System of the World together with the Government of the same to such a Principle as this would have been judg'd by them all one as to impute them to Chance or Fortune But Aristotle and those other Philosophers who called the Supreme God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Mind understood thereby that which of all things in the whole world is most opposite to Chance Fortune and Temerity that which is regulated by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Well and Fit of every thing if it be not rather the very Rule Measure and Essence of Fitness it self that which acteth all for Ends and Good and doth every thing after the Best manner in order to the Whole Thus Socrates in that place before cited out of Plato's Phaedo interprets the Meaning of that Opinion That Mind made the World and was the Cause of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That therefore every thing might be concluded to have been disposed of after the Best Manner possible
sacravit We adore the rising Heads and Springs of great Rivers Every sudden and plentiful Eruption of Waters out of the hidden Caverns of the Earth hath its Altars erected to it and some Pools have been made Sacred for their immense Profundity and Opacity Now this is that which is properly called the Physiological Theology of the Pagans their Personating and Deifying in a certain sence the Things of Nature whether Inanimate Substances or the Affections of Substances A great part of which Physiological Theology was Allegorically conteined in the Poetick Fables of the Gods Eusebius indeed was of opinion that those Poetick Fables were at first only Historical and Herological but that afterwards some went about to Allegorize them into Physiological Sences thereby to make them seem the less impious and ridiculous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such was the ancient Theology of the Pagans namely Historical of men deceased that were worshipped for Gods which some late Vpstarts have altered devising other Philosophical and Physiological sences of those Histories of their Gods that they might thereby render them the more specious and hide the Impiety of them For they being neither willing to abandon those Fopperies of their forefathers nor yet themselves able to bear the Impiety of these Fables concerning the Gods according to the Literal Sence of them have gone about to cure them thus by Physiological Interpretations Neither can it be doubted but that there was some Mixture of Herology and History in the Poetick Mythology Nor denied that the Pagans of latter times such as Porphyrius and others did excogitate and devise certain new Allegorical sences of their own such as never were intended Origen before both him and Porphyry noting this of the Pagans that when the absurdity of their Fables concerning the Gods was objected and urged against them some of them did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apologizing for these things betake themselves to Allegories But long before the times of Christianity those First Stoicks Zeno Cleanthes and Chrysippus were famous for the great pains which they took in Allegorizing these Poetick Fables of the Gods Of which Cotta in Cicero thus Magnam molestiam suscepit minimè necessariam primus Zeno pòst Cleanthes deindè Chrysippus Commentitiarum Fabulalarum reddere rationem vocabulorum cur quidque ita appellatum sit causas explicare Quod cum facitis illud profecto confitemini longè aliter rem se habere atque hominum opinio sit eos qui Dii appellantur Rerum Naturas esse non Figuras Deorum Zeno first and after him Cleanthes and Chrysippus took a great deal more pains than was needful to give a reason of all those Commentitious Fables of the Gods and of the names that every thing was called by By doing which they confessed that the matter was far otherwise than according to mens opinion in as much as they who are called Gods in them were nothing but the Natures of things From whence it is plain that in the Poetick Theology the Stoicks took it for granted that the Natures of Things were Personated and Deified and that those Gods were not Animal nor indeed Philosophical but Fictitious and nothing but the Things of Nature Allegorized Origen also gives us a Taste of Chrysippus his thus Allegorizing in his interpreting an obscene Picture or Table of Jupiter and Juno in Samos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Grave Philosopher in his writings saith that Matter having received the Spermatick Reasons of God conteineth them within it self for the adorning of the whole World and that Juno in this Picture in Samos signifies Matter and Jupiter God Upon which occasion that pious Father adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the sake of which and innumerable other such like Fables we will never endure to call The God over all by the name of Jupiter but exercising pure Piety towards the Maker of the World will take care not to defile Divine things with impure Names And here we see again according to Chrysippus his Interpretation that Hera or Juno was no Animâ—l nor Real God but only the Nature of Matter Personated and Deified that is a meer Fictitious and Poetick God And we think it is unquestionably evident from Hesiod's Theogonia that many of these Poetick Fables according to their First Intention were really nothing else but Physiology Allegorized and consequently those Gods nothing but the Natures of things Personated and Deified Plato himself though no friend to these Poetick Fables plainly intimates as much in his Second De Rep. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Fightings of the Gods and such other things as Homer hath feigned concerning them ought not to be admitted into our Commonwealth whether they be delivered in way of Allegory or without Allegories Because Young men are not able to judge when it is an Allegory and when not And it appears from Dionysius Halicarnass that this was the General opinion concerning the Greekish Fables that some of them were Physically and some Tropologically Allegorical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let no man think me to be ignorant that some of the Greekish Fables are profitable to men partly as declaring the Works of Nature by Allegories partly as being helpful for humane life c. Thus also Cicero Alia quoque ex ratione quidem Physicâ magna fluxit Multitudo Deorum qui induti specie humana Fabulas Poetis suppeditaverunt hominum autem vitam Superstitione omni refercerunt Eusebius indeed seems sometimes to cast it as an Imputation upon the whole Pagan Theology that it did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deifie the Inanimate Nature but this is properly to be understood of this Part of their Theology only which was Physiological and of their Mythology or Poetick Fables of the Gods Allegorized it being otherwise both apparently false and all one as to make them downright Atheists For he that acknowledges no Animant God as hath been declared acknowledges no God at all according to the True Notion of him whether he derive all things from a Fortuitous Motion of Matter as Epicurus and Democritus did or from a Plastick and Orderly but Sensless Nature as some Degenerate Stoicks and Strato the Peripatetick whose Atheism seems to be thus described by Manilius Aut neque Terra Patrem novit nec Flamma nec Aer Aut Humor faciuntque Deum per quatuor artus Et Mundi struxere Globum prohibentque requiri Vltra se quidquam Neither ought this Physiological Theology of the Pagans which consisted only in Personating and Deifying Inanimate Substances and the Natures of Things to be confounded as it hath been by some late Writers with that Philosophical Theology of Scaevola Varro and others which was called Natural also but in another sence as True and Real it being indeed but a Part of the Poetical first and afterward of the Political Theology and owing its Original much to the Phancies of Poets whose Humour
Exquiliis So great is the number of these Gods that even Hell or the state of death it self Diseases and Many Plagues are numbred amongst them whilst with a trembling fear we desire to have these pacified And therefore was there a Temple publickly Dedicated in the Palace to the Fever as likewise Altars elsewhere erected to Orbona and to Evil Fortune Of the latter Balbus in Cicero Quo ex genere Cupidinis Voluptatis Lubentinae Veneris Vocabula Consecrata sunt Vitiosarum rerum non Naturalium Of which kind also are those Names of Lust and Pleasure and Wanton Venery things Vicious and not natural Consecrated and Deified Cicero in his Book of Laws informs us that at Athens there were Temples Dedicated also to Contumely and Impudence but withal giving us this censure of such practices Quae omnia ejusmodi detestanda repudianda sunt All which kind of things are to be detested and rejected and nothing to be Deified but what is Vertuous or Good Notwithstanding which it is certain that such Evil Things as these were Consecrated to no other end than that they might be Deprecated Moreover as these Things of Natures or Nature of Things were sometimes Deified by the Pagans plainly and nakedly in their own Appellative Names so was this again sometimes done disguisedly under other Counterfeit Proper Names as Pleasure was Deified under the Names of Volupia and of Lubentina Venus Time according to the Opinion of some under the Name of Cronos or Saturn which as it Produceth all things so devours all things into it self again Prudence or Wisdom likewise under the Names of Athena or Minerva For it is plain that Origen understood it thus when Celsus not only approved of Worshipping God Almighty in the Sun and in Minerva as that which was Lawful but also commended it as a thing Highly Pious he making this Reply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We speak well of the Sun as a good work of God's c. but as for that Athena or Minerva which Celsus here joyneth with the Sun this is a thing Fabulously devised by the Greeks whether according to some Mystical Arcane and Allegorical Sence or without it when they say that she was begotten out of Jupiter 's Brain All Armed And again afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if it be granâ—ed that by Athena or Minerva be Tropologically meant Prudence c. Wherefore not only according to the Poetical but also to the Political and Civil Theology of the Pagans these Accidental Things of Nature and Affections of Substances Personated were made so many Gods and Goddesses Cicero himself in his Book of Laws approving of such Political Gods as these Benè verograve quod Mens Pietas Virtus Fides consecratur manu quarum omnium Romae dedicata publicè Templa sunt ut illa qui habeant habent autem omnes boni Deos ipsos in animis suis collocatos putent It is well that Mind Piety Virtue and Faith are consecrated all which have their Temples publickly dedicated at Rome that so they who possess these things as all Good men do may think that they have the Gods themselves placed in their minds And himself makes a Law for them in his own Common-wealth but with a Cautionary Provision that no Evil and Vicious Things be Consecrated amongst them Ast olla propter quae datur homini adscensus in Coelum Mentem Virtutem Pietatem Fidem earumque laudum delubra sunto Nec ulla vitiorum Solemnia obeunto Let them also worship those things by means whereof men ascend up to Heaven and let there be Shrines or Temples Dedicated to them But let no Religious Ceremonies be performed to Vicious things Notwithstanding all which according to that Theology of the Pagans which was called by Varro Natural whereby is meant not that which was Physiological only but that which is True and Real and by Scaevola Philosophical and which is by both opposed not only to the Poetical and Fabulous but also to the Political and Civil I say according to this Theology of theirs these Accidental Things of Nature Deified could by no means be acknowledged for True and Proper Gods because they were so far from having any Life and Sense in them that they had not so much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any Real Subsistence or Substantial Essence of their own And thus does Origen dispute against Minervas Godship as Tropologically interpreted to Prudence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Athena or Minerva be Tropologized into Prudence then let the Pagans show what Substantial Essence it hath or that it Really Subsists according to this Tropology Which is all one as if he should have said Let the Pagans then shew how this can be a God or Goddess which hath not so much as any Substantial Essence nor Subsists by it self but is a meer Accidental Affection of Substances only And the same thing is likewise urged by Origen concerning other such kind of Gods of theirs as Memory the Mother of the Muses and the Graces all naked in his First Book where Celsus contended for a multiplicity of Gods against the Jews that these things having not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any Substantial Essence or Subsistence could not possibly be accounted Gods and therefore were nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meer Figments of the Greeks Things made to have Humane Bodies and so Personated and Deified And we think there cannot be a truer Commentary upon this Passage of Origen's than these following verses of Prudentius in his Second Book against Symmachus Desine si pudor est Geniilis ineptia iandem Res Incorporeas Simulatis Fingere membris Let the Gentiles be at last ashamed if they have any shame in them of this their folly in describing and setting forth Incorporeal things with Counterfeit Humane Members Where Accidents and Affections of Things such as Victory was whose Altar Symmachus there contended for the Restauration of are by Prudentius called Res Incorporeae Incorporeal Things accordingly as the Greek Philosophers concluded that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qualities Incorporeal Neither is it possible that the Pagans themselves should be insensible hereof and accordingly we find that Cotta in Cicero doth for this reason utterly banish and explode these Gods out of the Philosophick and True Theology Num censes igitur subtiliore ratione opus esse ad haec refellenda Nam Mentem Fidem Spem Virtutem Honorem Victoriam Salutem Concordiam caeteraque ejusmodi Rerum Vim habere videmus non Deorum Aut enim in nobismet insunt ipsis ut Mens ut Spes ut Fides ut Virtus ut Concordia aut optandae nobis sunt ut Honos ut Salus ut Victoria Quare autem in his Vis Deorum sit tum intelligam cum cognovero Is there any need think you of any great Subtilty to confute these things For Mind Faith
neque Dii sunt neque Deos se vocari aut coli volunt c. Nec tamen illi sunt qui vulgo coluntur quorum exiguus certus est numerus But these Ministers of the Divine Kingdom or Subservient Created Spirits are neither Gods nor would they be called Gods or honoured as such c. Nor indeed are they those Gods that are now vulgarly worshipped by the Pagans of which there is but a Small and Certain number That is the Pagan Gods are reduced into certain Ranks and the Number of them is determin'd by the Utilities of Humane Life of which their Noble and Select Gods are but a few Whereas saith he the Ministers of the Supreme God are according to their own Opinion not Twelve nor Twenty nor Three Hundred and Sixty but Innumerable Stars and Demons Moreover Aristotle in his Book against Zeno supposing the Idea of God to be this the Most Powerful of all things or the Most Perfect Being objecteth thus that according to the Laws of Cities and Countries that is the Civil Theology there seems to be no One absolutely Powerful Being but One God is supposed to be most Powerful as to one thing and another as to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereas Zeno takes it for granted that men have an Idea ïn their minds of God as One the most Excellent and most Powerful Being of all this doth not seem to be according to Law that is the Civil Theology for there the Gods are mutually Better one than another respectively as to several things and therefore Zeno took not this Consent of mankind concerning God from that which vulgarly seemeth From which passage of Aristotle's we may well conclude that the Many Political Gods of the Pagans were not all of them vulgarly look'd upon as the Subservient Ministers of One Supreme God and yet they generally acknowledging as Aristotle himself confesseth a Monarchy and consequently not many Independent Deities it must needs follow as Zeno doubtless would reply that these their Political Gods were but One and the same Supreme Natural God as it were Parcell'd out and Multiplied that is receiving Several Denominations according to Several Notions of him and as he exerciseth Different Powers and produceth Various Effects And this we have sufficiently prov'd already to have been the general sence of the Chief Pagan Doctors that these Many Political and Popular Gods were but the Polyonymy of One Natural God that is either Partial Considerations of him or his Various Powers and Vertues Effects and Manifestations in the World severally Personated and Deified And thus does Vossius himself afterwards confess also That according to the Natural Theology the Many Pagan Gods were but so many Several Denominations of One God though this Learned Philologer doth plainly straiten and confine the Notion of this Natural Theology too much and improperly call the God thereof the Nature of Things however acknowledging it such a Nature as was endued with Sense and Vnderstanding His Words are these Dispar verò sententia Theologorum Naturalium qui non aliud Numen agnoscebant quà m Naturam Rerum eóque omnia Gentium Numina referebant c. Nempe mens eorum fuit sicut Natura esset occupata circa hanc vel illam Affectionem ita Numina Nominaque Deorum variare Cum igitur ubicunque Vim aliquam majorem viderent ita Divinum aliquid crederent eò etiam devenere ut immanem Deorum Dearumque fingerent Catervam Sagaciores interim haec cuncta Vnum esse Numen aiebant putà Rerum Naturam quae licet una foret pro variis tamen Effectis varia sortiretur nomina vario etiam afficeretur cultu But the Case is very different as to the Natural Theologers who acknowledged no other God but the Nature of Things and referred all the Pagan Gods to that For they conceived that as Nature was occupied about several things so were the Divine Powers and the Names of Gods multiplied and diversified And where-ever they saw any Greater Force there did they presently conceit something Divine and by that means came they at length to feign an innumerable company of Gods and Goddesses But the more sagacious in the mean time affirmed all these to be but One and the same God to wit the Nature of Things which though Really but One yet according to its various Effects both received divers Names and was Worshipped after different manners Where Vossius calls the Supreme God of these Natural Theologers the Nature of Things as if the Natural Theology had been denominated from Physicks or Natural Philosophy only whereas we have already shewed that the Natural Theology of Varro and Scaevola was of equal extent with the Philosophick whose only Numen that it was not a Blind and Vnintelligible Nature of Things doth sufficiently appear from that History thereof before given by us as also that it was called Natural in another sence as Real and as opposite to Opinion Phancy and Fabulosity or what hath no Reality of Existence any where in the World Thus does St. Austin distinguish betwixt Natura Deorum the True Nature of the Gods and Hominum Instituta the Institutes of Men concerning them As also he sets down the Difference betwixt the Civil and Natural Theology according to the Mind of Varro in this manner Fieri potest ut in Vrbe secundum Falsas opiniones ea colantur credantur quorum in Mundo vel extra Mundum Natura sit nusquam It may come to pass that those Things may be worshipped and believed in Cities according to False opinions which have no Nature or Real Existence any where either in the World or without it Wherefore if instead of this Nature of Things which was properly the God of none but only of such Atheistick Philosophers as Epicurus and Strato we substitute that Great Mind or Soul of the whole World which Pervadeth All Things and is Diffus'd thorough All which was the True God of the Pagan Theists this of Vossius will be unquestionably true concerning their Natural Theologers that according to them those Many Poetical and Political Gods before mentioned were but One and the same Natural or Real God who in respect of his Different Vertues Powers and Effects was called by several Names and worshipped after different manners Yet nevertheless so as that according to those Theologers there were Really also Many other Inferiour Ministers of this One Supreme God whether called Minds or Demons that were supposed to be the Subservient Executioners of all those several Powers of his And accordingly we had before this full and true account of the Pagans Natural Theology set down out of Prudentius In Vno Constituit jus omne Deo cui serviat ingens Virtutum ratio Variis instructa Ministris Viz. That it acknowledged One Supreme Omnipotent God ruling over all who displayeth and exerciseth his Manifold Vertues and Powers in the world all severally Personated and Deified
and upon that Contingency that arises from the Indifferency or Equality of Eligibility in Objects Lastly such things as do not at all depend upon External Circumstances neither nor are caused by things Natural Anteceding but by some Supernatural Power I say when such Future Events as these are foretold and accordingly come to pass this can be ascribed to no other but such a Being as Comprehends Sways and Governs all and is by a peculiar Priviledge or Prerogative of its own Nature Omniscient Epicurus though really he therefore rejected Divination and Prediction of Future Events because he denied Providence yet did he pretend this further reason also against it because it was a thing Absolutely Inconsistent with Liberty of Will and Destructive of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divination is a thing which hath no Existence nor possibility in nature and if there were such a thing it would take away all Liberty of Will and leave nothing in mens own Power Thus also Carneades in Cicero maintained Ne Apollinem quidem futura posse dicere nisi ea quorum Causas Natura ita contineret ut ea fieri necesse esset That Apollo himself was not able to foretel any future Events other than such as had Necessary Causes in Nature antecedent And some Christian Theists of latter times have in like manner denied to God Almighty all Foreknowledge of Humane Actions upon the same pretence as being both Inconsistent with mens Liberty of Will and Destructive thereof For say they If mens Actions be Free then are they Vnforeknowable they having no Necessary Causes and again if there be any Foreknowledge of them then can they not be Free they being ipso facto Necessitated thereby But as it is certain that Prescience does not destroy the Liberty of mans Will or impose any Necessity upon it mens Actions being not therefore Future because they are Foreknown but therefore Foreknown because Future and were a thing never so Contingent yet upon supposition that it will be Done it must needs have been Future from all Eternity So is it extreme Arrogance for men because themselves can Naturally Foreknow nothing but by some Causes Antecedent as an Eclipse of the Sun or Moon therefore to presume to measure the knowledge of God Almighty according to the same Scantling and to deny him the Prescience of Humane Actions not considering that as his Nature is Incomprehensible so his Knowledge may well be looked upon by us as such too that which is Past our finding out and Too Wonderful for us However it must be acknowledged for an Undoubted Truth that no Created Being can Naturally and Of it self Foreknow any Future Events otherwise than in and by their Causes Anteceding If therefore we shall find that there have been Predictions of such Future Events as had no Necessary Antecedent Causes as we cannot but grant such Things therefore to be Foreknowable So must we needs from thence infer the Existence of a God that is a Being Supernatural Infinitely Perfect and Omniscient since such Predictions as these could have proceeded from no other Cause That there is Foreknowledge of Future Events to men Naturally Unforeknowable hath been all along the Perswasion of the Generality of Mankind Thus Cicero Vetus opinio est jam usque ab Heroicis ducta temporibus eaque Populi Romani omnium Gentium firmata consensu Versari quandam inter homines Divinationem quam Graeci 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appellant id est Praesensionem Scientiam rerum Futurarum This is an Old opinion derived down all along from the Heroick times or the Mythical Age and not only entertained amongst the Romans but also confirmed by the consent of all Nations that there is such a thing as Divination and Presension or Foreknowledge of Future Events And the same Writer elsewhere in the Person of Balbus Quamvis nihil tam irridet Epicurus quà m Praedictionem rerum Futurarum mihi videtur tamen vel maximè confirmare Deorum Providentia consuli rebus humanis Est enim profecto Divinatio quae multis locis rebus temporibus apparet cùm in privatis tùm maximè in publicis Multa cernunt Aruspices multa Augures provident multa Oraculis providentur multa Vaticinationibus multa Somniis multa portentis Although Epicurus deride nothing more then the Prediction of Fature things yet does this seem to me to be a great confirmation of the Providence of the Gods over humane affairs Because there is certainly Divination it appearing in many Places Things and Times and that not only Private but especially Publick Soothsayers foresee many things the Augurs many many things are declared by Oracles many by Prophecies many by Dreams and many by Portents And indeed that there were even amongst the Pagans Predictions of Future Events not discoverable by any Humane Sagacity which accordingly came to pass and therefore argue a Knowledge superiour to that of men or that there are certain Invisible understanding Beings or Spirits seems to be undenyable from History And that the Augurs themselves were sometimes not Unassisted by these Officious Genii is plain from that of Attius Navius before mentioned as the circumstances thereof are related by Historians that Tarquinius Priscus having a mind to try what there was in this skill of Augury Dixit ei se cogitare quiddam id possétne fieri consuluit Ille augurio acto posse respondet Tarquinius autem dixit se cogitasse cotem novaculâ posse praecidi tum Attium jussisse experiri ita Cotem in Comitium illatam inspectante Rege Populo novaculâ esse discissam Told Navius that he Thought of something and he would would know of him Whether it could be done or no. Navius having performed his Augurating Ceremonies replied that the thing might be done Whereupon Priscus declared what his Thought was namely that a Whetstone might be cut in two with a Razor Navius willed them to make trial wherefore a Whetstone being brought immediatly into the Court it was in the sight of the King and all the People divided with a Razor But the Predictions amongst those Pagans were for the most part only of the Former Kind such as proceeded meerly from the Natural Presaging Faculty of these Demons this appearing from hence because their Oracles were often expressed Ambiguously so as that they might be taken either way those Demons themselves it seems being then not confident of the Event as also because they were sometimes plainly mistaken in the Events And from hence it was that they seldom Ventured to foretel any Events remotely distant but only what were nigh at hand and shortly to come to pass and therefore might be Probably Conjectured of from things then in being Notwithstanding which we acknowledge that there are some Few Instances of Predictions amongst the Pagans of the other Kind Such as that intimated by Cicero in his Book of Divination where he declareth the Doctrine of Diodorus concerning Necessity
from Eternity and without Beginning did so Exist Naturally and Necessarily or by the Necessity of its own Nature Now nothing could Exist of It self from Eternity Naturally and Necessarily but that which containeth Necessary and Eternal Self Existence in its own Nature But there is nothing which containeth Necessary Eternal Existence in its own Nature or Essence but only an Absolutely Perfect Being all other Imperfect things being in their Nature Contingently Possible either to Be or Not be Wherefore since something or other must and doth Exist of it self Naturally and Necessarily from Eternity Vnmade and nothing could do this but what included Necessary Self Existence in its Nature or Essence it is certain that it was a Perfect Being or God who did Exist of Himself from Eternity and nothing else all other Imperfect things which have no Necessary Self-Existence in their Nature deriving their Being from Him Here therefore are the Atheists Infinitely Absurd and Vnreasonable when they will not acknowledge that which containeth Independent Self-Existence or Necessity of Existence which indeed is the same with an Impossibility of Non-Existence in its Nature and Essence that is a Perfect Being so much as to Exist at all and yet in the mean time assert that which hath no Necessity of Existence in its Nature the most Imperfect of all Beings Inanimate Body and Matter to have Existed of It self Necessarily from all Eternity We might here add as a farther Confirmation of this Argument what hath been already proved that no Temporary Successive Being whose Duration is in a Continual Flux as if it were every moment Generated a new and therefore neither our Own Souls nor the World nor Matter Moving could possibly have Existed from Eternity and Independently upon any other thing but must have had a Beginning and been Caused by something else namely by an Absolutely Perfect Being whose Duration therefore is Permanent and without any Successive Generation or Flux But besides all these Arguments we may otherwise from the Idea of God already declared be able both exactly to state the Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists and satisfactorily to decide the same In order whereunto there is yet something again to be Premised namely this that as it is certain Every thing was not Made but Something Existed of it Self from Eternity Vnmade so is it likewise certain That Every thing was not Vnmade neither nor Existed of It self from Eternity but something was Made and had a Beginning Where there is a full Agreement betwixt Theists and Atheists as to this one Point no Atheist asserting every thing to have been Vnmade but they all acknowledging themselves to have been Generated and to have had a Beginning that is their own Souls and Personalities as likewise the Lives and Souls of all other Men and Animals Wherefore since Something certainly Existed of It self from Eternity but other things were Made and had a Beginning which therefore must needs derive their being from that which Existed of It self Vnmade here is the State of the Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists Whether that which Existed of It self from all Eternity and was the Cause of all other things were a Perfect Being and God or the most Imperfect of all things whatsoever Inanimate and Sensless matter The Former is the Doctrine of Theists as Aristotle affirmeth of those Ancients who did not write Fabulously Concerning the First Principles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As namely Pherecydes and the Magi and Empedocles and Anaxagoras and many others that they agreed in this That the first Original of all things was the Best and Most Perfect Where by the way we may observe also that according to Aristotle the Ancient Magi did not acknowledge a Substantial Evil Principle they making that which is the Best and Most Perfect Being alone by it self to be the First Begetter of all This I say is the Hypothesis of Theists that there is One Absolutely Perfect Being Existing of It self from all Eternity from whence all other lesser Perfections or Imperfect Beings did gradually Descend till at last they end in Sensless Matter or Inanimate Body But the Atheistick Hypothesis on the contrary makes Sensless Matter the most Imperfect thing to be the First Principle or the only Self-Existent Being and the Cause of all other things and Consequently all Higher Degrees of Perfections that are in the world to have Clombe up or Emerged by way of Ascent from thence as Life Sense Vnderstanding and Reason from that which is altogether Dead and Sensless Nay as it was before observed there hath been amongst the ancient Pagans a certain kind of Religious Atheists such as acknowledging Verbally a God or Soul of the world presiding over the whole supposed this notwithstanding to have first Emerged also out of Sensless Matter Night and Chaos and therefore doubtless to be likewise Dissolvable again into the same And of these is that place in Aristotle to be understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They suppose not the First things as Night and the Heaven and Chaos and the Ocean but Jupiter or God to Rule and Govern all Where it is intimated that the Heaven Night Chaos and the Ocean according to these were Seniors to Jupiter or in Order of Nature before him they apprehending that things did Ascend upward from that which was most Imperfect as Night and Chaos to the more Perfect and at length to Jupiter himself the Mundane Soul who governeth the whole world as our Soul doth our Body Which same Opinion is afterwards again taken notice of and reprehended by Aristotle in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor would he think rightly who should resemble the Principles of the Vniverse to that of Animals and Plants wherefrom Indeterminate and Imperfect things as Seeds do always arise the more Perfect For even here also is the case otherwise then they suppose For it is a man that generates a man nor is the Seed the First The Controversie being thus clearly Stated betwixt Theists and Atheists it may now with great ease and to the full Conviction of all Minds Unprejudiced and Unprepossessed with false Principles be determined It being on the one hand undenyably evident that Lesser Perfections may Naturally Descend from Greater or at least from that which is Absolutely Perfect and which Vertually containeth all but on the other hand utterly Impossible that Greater Perfections and Higher Degrees of Being should Rise and Ascend out of Lesser and Lower so as that which is the most Absolutely Imperfect of all things should be the First Fountain and Original of All. Since no Effect can possibly transcend the Power of its Cause Wherefore it is certain that in the Universe things did not thus Ascend and Mount or Climb up from Lower Perfection to Higher but on the contrary Descend and Slide down from Higher to Lower so that the first Original of all things was not the most Imperfect but the most Perfect Being But
to have a Will absolutely Indifferent to all things and Vndetermined by any thing but it self or to Will nothing because it is Good but to make its own Arbitrary or Contingent and Fortuitous Determination the Sole Reason of all its Actions nay the very Rule or Measure of Goodness Justice and Wisdom it self And this is supposed by them to be the Liberty Sovereigntâ— and Dominion of the Deity Wherefore such Theists as these would think themselves altogether Unconcerned in these Atheistick Objections against Providence or in Defending the Fabrick of the World as Faultless they being as ready as the Atheists themselves to acknowledge that the World might really have been much better made than now it is Only that it must be said to be Well because so made but pretending nevertheless that this is no Impeachment at all of the Existence of a God Quià Deus non tenetur ad Optimum Because God is No way bound or Obliged to the Bâ—st he being indeed according to them nothing but Arbitrary Will Omnipotent But what do these Theists here else then whilst they deny the Fortuitous Motion of Sensless Matter to be the First Original of all things themselves in the mean time Enthrone Fortuitousness and Contingency in the Will of an Omnipotent Being and there give it an Absolute Soveraignty and Dominion over all So that the Controversie betwixt the Atheists and these Theists seems to be no other than this Whether Sensless Matter Fortuitously Moved or a Fortuitous Will Omnipotent such as is altogether undetermined by Goodness Justice and Wisdom be the Sovereign Numen and Original of all things Certainly we Mortals could have little better Ground for our Faith and Hope in such an Omnipotent Arbitrary Will as this then we could have in the Motions of Sensless Atoms furiously agitated or of a Rapid Whirlwind Nay one would think that of the Two it should be more desirable to be under the Empire of Sensless Atoms Fortuitously moved then of a Will altogether Undetermined by Goodness Justice and Wisdom armed with Omnipotence because the Former could harbour no Hurtful or Mischievous Designs against any as the Latter might But this Irrational Will altogether Undetermined by Goodness Justice and Wisdom is so far from being the Highest Liberty Soveraignty and Dominion the Greatest Perfection and the Divinest thing of all that it is indeed nothing else but Weakness and Impotency it self or Brutish Folly and Madness And therefore those Ancients who affirmed that Mind was Lord over all and the Supream King of Heaven and Earth held at the Same time that Good was the Soveraign Monarch of the Universe Good Reigning in Mind and together with it because Mind is that which orders all things for the Sake of Good and whatsoever doth otherwise was according to them not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not Mens but Dementia and Consequently no God And thus does Celsus in Origen declare the Nature of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is not the President or Head of Irregular and Irrational Lust or Appetite and of loose Erratick Disorderliness but of the Just and Righteous Nature And though this were there misapply'd by him against the Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection not understood yet is the Passage highly approved by Origen he adding further in Confirmâ—tion thereof and that as the general Sense of Christians too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVe Christians who hold the Resurrection say as well as you that God can do nothing which is in it self Evil Inept or Absurd no more than he is able not to be God For if God do any Evil he is no God And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God willeth nothing Vnbecoming himself or what is truly Indecorous for as much as this is inconsistent with his Godship And to the same purpose Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Deity acteth according to its own Nature and Essence and its Nature and Essence displaieth Goodness and Justice For if these Things be not there where should they else be found And again elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is Essentially That which Ought to be and therefore he did not Happen to be such as he is and this First Ought to be is the Principle of all things whatsoever that Ought to be Wherefore the Deity is not to be conceived as meer Arbitrariness Humour or Irrational Will and Appetite Omnipotent which would indeed be but Omnipotent Chance but as an Overflowing Fountain of Love and Goodness Justly and Wisely dispensing it self and Omnipotently reaching all things The Will of God is Goodness Justice and Wisdom or Decorousness Fitness and Ought it self Willing so that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is Absolutely The Best is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Indispensable Law to it because its Very Essence God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Impartial Ballance lying Even Equal and Indifferent to all things and Weighing out Heaven and Earth and all the Things therein in the most just and exact Proportions and not a Grain too much or too little of any thing Nor is the Deity therefore Bound or Obliged to do the Best in any way of Servility as men fondly imagine this to be contrary to his Liberty much less by the Law and Command of any Superiour which is a Contradiction but only by the Perfection of its own Nature which it cannot possibly deviate from no more than Vngod it self In Conclusion therefore we acknowledge the Atheists Argument to be thus far Good that If there be a God then of Necessity must all things be Well made and as they Should be vice versâ But no Atheist will ever be able to prove that either the Whole System of the World could have been Better Made or that so much as any one thing therein is Made Ineptly There are indeed many things in the Frame of Nature which we cannot reach to the Reasons of they being made by a Knowledge far Superior and Transcendent to that of Ours and our Experience and Ratiocination but Slowly discovering the Intrigues and contrivances of Providence therein Witness the Circulation of the Blood the Milkie and Lymphatick Vessels and other things without which the Mechanick Structure of the Bodies of Animals cannot be understood all but so lately brought to light wherefore we must not conclude that whatsoever we cannot find out the Reason of or the use that it serveth to is therefore Ineptly Made We shall give one Instance of this The Intestinum Coecum in the Bodies of Men and other Animals seems at first sight to be but a meer Botch or Bungle of Nature and an Odd impertinent Appendix neither do we know that any Anatomist or Physiologer hath given a Rational Account thereof or discovered its Use and yet there being a Valve at the Entrance of it these Two both together are a most Artificial Contrivance of Nature and of great advantage for Animals to hinder
the Divine Art or Wisedom as the Manuary Opificer from the Architect Page 155 12. Two Imperfections of Nature in respect whereof it falls short of Humane Art First That though it act for Ends Artificially yet it self neither Intends those Ends nor Understands the Reason of what it doeth for which cause it cannot act Electively The Difference betwixt Spermatick Reasons and Knowledge That Nature doth but Ape or Mimick the Divine Art or Wisedom being it self not Master of that Reason according to which it acts but onely a Servant to it and Drudging Executioner thereof Page 156 13. Proved that there may be such a thing as acteth Artificially though it self do not comprehend that Art and Reason by which its Motions are Governed First from Musical Habits the Dancer resembles the Artificial Life of Nature Page 157 14. The same further Evinced from the Instincts of Brute Animals Directing them to act Rationally and Artificially in order to their own Good and the Good of the Vniverse without any Reason of their own These Instincts in Brutes but Passive Impresses of the Divine Wisedom and a kind of Fate upon them Page 158 15. The Second Imperfection of Nature that it Acteth without Animal Phancy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Con-sense or Consciousness and hath no express Self-Perception and Self-Enjoyment ibid. 16. Whether this Energy of the Plastick Nature be to be called Cogitation or no Nothing but a Logomachy or Contention about Words Granted that what moves Matter Vitally must needs do it by some Energy of its own distinct from Local Motion but that there may be a Simple Vital Energy without that Duplicity which is in Synaesthesis or clear and express Consciousness Nevertheless that the Energy of Nature may be called a certain Drousie Unawakened or Astonished Cogitation Page 159 17. Severall Instances which render it probable that there may be a Vital Energy without Synaesthesis clear and express Con-sense or Consciousness Page 160 18. Wherefore the Plastick Nature acting neither Knowingly nor Phantastically must needs act Fatally Magically and Sympathetically The Divine Laws and Fate as to Matter not meer Cogitation in the Mind of God but an Energetick and Effectual Principle in it And this Plastick Nature the True and Proper Fate of Matter or of the Corporeal World What Magick is and that Nature which acteth Fatally acteth also Magically and Sympathetically P. 161 19. That Nature though it be the Divine Art or Fate yet for all that is neither a God nor Goddess but a Low and Imperfect Creature it acting Artificially and Rationally no otherwise than Compounded Forms of Letters when Printing Coherent Philosophick Sense nor for Ends than a Saw or Hatchet in the hands of a skillfull Mechanick The Plastick and Vegetative Life of Nature the Lowest of all Lives and Inferiour to the Sensitive A Higher Providence than that of the Plastick Nature governing the Corporeal World it self ibid. 20. Notwithstanding which forasmuch as the Plastick Nature is a Life it must needs be Incorporeal One and the self same thing having in it an entire Model and Platform of the Whole and acting upon several Distant parts of Matter cannot be a Body And though Aristotle himself do no where declare this Nature to be either Corporeal or Incorporeal which he neither clearly doth concerning the Rational Soul and his Followers commonly take it to be Corporeal yet according to the Genuine Principles of that Philosophy must it needs be otherwise Page 165 21. The Plastick Nature being Incorporeal must either be a Lower Power lodged in Souls which are also Conscious Sensitive or Rational or else a distinct Substantial Life by it Self and Inferiour Soul That the Platonists affirm Both with Aristotle's agreeable Determination That Nature is either Part of a Soul or not without Soul ibid. 22. The Plastick Nature as to the Bodies of Animals a Part or Lower Power of their respective Souls That the Phaenomena prove a Plastick Nature or Archeus in Animals to make which a distinct thing from the Soul would be to Multiply Entities without Necessity The Soul endued with a Plastick Nature the Chief Formatrix of its own Body the contribution of other Causes not excluded Page 166 23. That besides the Plastick in Particular Animals Forming them as so many Little Worlds there is a General Plastick or Artificial Nature in the Whole Corporeal Vniverse which likewise according to Aristotle is either a Part and Lower Power of a Conscious Mundane Soul or else something depending thereon Page 167 24. That no less according to Aristotle than Plato and Socrates Our selves partake of Life from the Life of the Universe as well as we do of Heat and Cold from the Heat and Cold of the Vniverse From whence it appears that Aristotle also held the World's Animation which is further Vndeniably proved An Answer to Two the most considerable Places in that Philosopher objected to the contrary That Aristotle's First Immoveable Mover was no Soul but a Perfect Intellect abstract from Matter which he supposed to move onely as a Final Cause or as Being Loved and besides this a Mundane Soul and Plastick Nature to move the Heavens Efficiently Neither Aristotle's Nature nor Mundane Soul the Supreme Deity However though there be no such Mundane Soul as both Plato and Aristotle conceived yet may there be notwithstanding a Plastick or Artificial Nature depending upon a Higher Intellectual Principle Page 168 25. No Impossibility of other Particular Plasticks and though it be not reasonable to think every Plant Herb and Pile of Grass to have a Plastick or Vegetative Soul of its own nor the Earth to be an Animal yet may there possibly be one Plastick Artificial Nature presiding over the Whole Terraqueous Globe by which Vegetables may be severally organized and framed and all things performed which transcend the Power of Fortuitous Mechanism Page 171 26. Our Second Undertaking which was to Show How grosly those Atheists who acknowledge this Artificial Plastick Nature without Animality Misunderstand it and Abuse the Notion to make a Counterfeit God Almighty or Numen of it to the exclusion of the True Deity First In their Supposing That to be the First and Highest Principle of the Vniverse which is the Last and Lowest of all Lives a thing as Essentially Derivative from and Dependent upon a Higher Intellectual Principle as the Echo on the Original Voice Secondly In their making Sense and Reason in Animals to emerge out of a Sensless Life of Nature by the meer Modification and Organization of Matter That no Duplication of Corporeal Organs can ever make One Single Inconscious Life to advance into Redoubled Consciousness and Self-Enjoyment Thirdly In attributing some of them Perfect Knowledge and Understanding to this Life of Nature which yet themselves suppose to be devoid of all Animal Sense and Consciousness Lastly In making this Plastick Life of Nature to be meerly Corporeal The Hylozoïsts contending That it is but an Inadequate Conception of Body as the onely
Substance and fondly dreaming that the Vulgar Notion of a God is Nothing but such an Inadequate Conception of the Matter of the whole Vniverse Mistaken for an Entire Substance by it self the Cause of all things And thus far the Digression Page 172 XXXVIII That though the Confutation of the Atheistick Grounds according to the Laws of Method ought to have been reserved for the last part of this Discourse yet we having reason to violate those Laws crave the Reader 's Pardon for this Preposterousness A considerable Observation of Plato's That it is not onely Gross Sensuality which inclines men to Atheize but also an Affectation of seeming Wiser than the Generality of mankind As likewise that the Atheists making such Pretence to Wit it is a seasonable and proper Vndertaking to Evince that they Fumble in all their Ratiocinations And we hope to make it appear that the Atheists are no Conjurers and that all Forms of Atheism are Nonsense and Impossibility Page 174 CHAP. IV. The Idea of God declared in way of Answer to the First Atheistick Argument and the Grand Objection against the Naturality of this Idea as Essentially including Vnity or Oneliness in it from the Pagan Polytheism removed Proved That the Intelligent Pagans Generally acknowledged One Supreme Deity A fuller Explication of whose Polytheism and Idolatry intended in order to the better giving an Accompt of Christianity I. THE either Stupid Insensibility or Gross Impudence of Atheists in denying the Word God to have any Signification or that there is any other Idea answering to it besides the meer Phantasm of the Sound The Disease called by the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Petrification or Dead Insensibility of the Mind Page 192 II. That the Atheists themselves must needs have an Idea of God in their Minds or otherwise when they deny his Existence they should deny the Existence of Nothing That they have also the same Idea of him in Generall with the Theists the One Denying the very same thing which the Others Affirm Page 194 III. A Lemma or Preparatory Proposition to the Idea of God That though some things be Made or Generated yet it is not possible that all things should be Made but something must of necessity Exist of it Self from Eternity Unmade and be the Cause of those other things that are Made ibid. IV. The Two most Opposite Opinions concerning what was Self-Existent from Eternity or Unmade and the Cause of all other things Made One That it was Nothing but Sensless Matter the Most Imperfect of all things The Other That it was Something Most Perfect and therefore Consciously Intellectual The Asserters of this Latter opinion Theists in a Strict and Proper Sense of the Former Atheists So that the Idea of God in Generall is A Perfect Consciously Understanding Being or Mind Self-Existent from Eternity and the Cause of all other things Page 194 195. V. Observable That the Atheists who deny a God according to the True Idea of him do Notwithstanding often Abuse the Word calling Sensless Matter by that name they meaning Nothing else thereby but onely a First Principle or Self-Existent Unmade thing according to which Notion of the word God there can be no such thing at all as an Atheist no man being able to persuade himself That all things sprung from Nothing Page 195 VI. In order to a more Punctual Declaration of this Divine Idea the Opinion of those taken notice of who suppose Two Self-Existent Unmade Principles God and Matter according to which God not the Principle of all things nor the Sole Principle but onely the Chief Page 196 197. VII These Materiarians Imperfect and Mistaken Theists Not Atheists because they suppose the World Made and Governed by an Animalish Sentient and Understanding Nature whereas no Atheists acknowledge Conscious Animality to be a First Principle but conclude it to be all Generable and Corruptible Nor yet Genuine Theists because they acknowledge not Omnipotence in the full Extent thereof A Latitude therefore in Theism and none to be condemned for Absolute Atheists but such as deny an Eternal Unmade Mind the Framer and Governour of the whole World Page 198 199. VIII An Absolutely Perfect Being the most Compendious Idea of God Which Includeth in it not onely Necessary Existence and Conscious Intellectuality but also Omni-Causality Omnipotence or Infinite Power Wherefore God the Sole Principle of all things and Cause of Matter The True Notion of Infinite Power And that Pagans commonly acknowledged Omnipotence or Infinite Power to be included in the Idea of God Page 200 201. IX That Absolute Perfection implies yet something more than Knowledge and Power A Vaticination in mens Minds of a Higher Good than either That according to Aristotle God is better than Knowledge and hath Morality in his Nature wherein also his Chief Happiness consisteth This borrowed from Plato to whom the Highest Perfection and Supreme Deity is Goodness it self Substantiall above Knowledge and Intellect Agreeably with which the Scripture makes God and the Supreme Good Love This not to be understood of a Soft Fond and Partiall Love God being rightly called also an Impartial Law and the Measure of all things Atheists also suppose Goodness to be included in the Idea of that God whose Existence they deny This Idea here more largely declared Page 202 203 c. X. That this forementioned Idea of God Essentially Includeth Unity Oneliness or Solitariety in it since there cannot possibly be more than One Absolutely Supreme One Cause of All things One Omnipotent and One Infinitely Perfect Epicurus and his Followers professedly denyed a God according to this Notion of him Page 207 XI The Grand Objection against the Idea of God as thus Essentially Including Oneliness and Singularity in it from the Polytheism of all Nations formerly the Jews excepted and of all the Wisest men and Philosophers From whence it is Inferred that this Idea of God is not Natural but Artificial and owes its Original to Laws and Arbitrary Institutions onely An Enquiry therefore here to be made concerning the True Sense of the Pagan Polytheism the Objectors securely taking it for granted that the Pagan Polytheists universally asserted Many Unmade Self-Existent Intellectual Beings and Independent Deities as so many Partial Causes of the World Page 208 209. XII The Irrationality of which Opinion and its manifest Repugnancy to the Phaenomena render it less probable to have been the Belief of all the Pagan Polytheists Page 210 XIII That the Pagan Deities were not all of them Vniversally look'd upon as so many Unmade Self-Existent Beings Vnquestionably Evident from hence Because they Generally held a Theogonia or Generation of Gods This Point of the Pagan Theology insisted upon by Herodotus the most ancient Prosaïck Greek Writer In whom the meaning of that Question Whether the Gods were Generated or Existed all from Eternity seems to have been the same with this of Plato's Whether the World were Made or Unmade Page 211 Certain also that amongst
Peculiar to the Second as if the First were therefore devoid of Mind Reason and Wisedom This an Arcanum of the Platonick and Pythagorick Theology That whereas Anaxagoras Aristotle and the Vulgar make Mind and Understanding the Oldest of all things and the Highest Principle in the Universe this supposes Mind Knowledge and Wisedom to be not the First but Second Partly because there is Multiplicity in Knowledge but there must be Unity before Multiplicity And partly because there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Object or Intelligible before Intellect As also because Intellection or Knowledge is not the Highest Good or Happiness and therefore to be some Substantiall thing in order of Nature Superiour to Mind Hence concluded that the Supreme Deity is Better then Logos Reason Word or Intellect That not Logos from whence Logos is derived Thus Philo The God before Reason or Word better then all the Rationall Nature But this Difficulty common to Platonism with Christianity which likewise makes Word or Reason and Wisedom not the First but Second Hypostasis Thus does Athanasius denie that there is any Word Reason or Wisedom before the Son of God What then Is the First Hypostasis therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devoid of Reason and Mind Plotinus his Attempts to answer this That the First hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Simple Light different from that Multiform Light of Knowledge Again That the First is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligence it self and therefore Superiour to Intellect or that which hath Intellection For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligence it self doth not Understand Besides which another Attempt also to salve this Difficulty Page 583 586 The Ground of this Platonick Dependence and Subordination in the Divine Hypostases Because there is but One Fountain of the Godhead so that the Second must needs differ from the First as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Splendor from the Sun Page 586 587 Though the Second Hypostasis said to have been Begotten from the First yet this not to be taken for such a Generation as that of Men where Three Men Father Son and Grandson all Adult have no Essential Dependence upon one another nor Gradual Subordination This but an Imperfect Generation Page 587 Furthermore the Platonists would recommend this their Gradation in the Deity or Subordination of Hypostases from hence Because by this means not so great a Leap or Jump in the Creation as otherwise there must be nor the Whole Deity screwed up to such a Disproportionate Height as would render it Vncapable of having any Intercourse with the Lower World Were the whole Deity either One Simple Monade or else an Immovable Mind it could have no such Liberty of Will as is commonly attributed to it nor be Affectible with any thing here below nor indeed any fitter Object for mens Devotion then an Adamantine Rock Whereas all the Phaenomena of the Deity salvable by this Platonick Gradation Page 587 588 As also according to this Hypothesis some reasonable satisfaction to be given why just so many Divine Hypostases and neither Fewer nor More Page 588 The Second thing to be Observed concerning the Genuine Platonick or Parmenidian Trinity That though the Hypostases thereof be called Three Natures and Three Principles and Three Opificers and Three Gods yet they all Really make up but One Divinity For the World being Created by all Three and yet having but One Creation they must needs be all One Creatour Porphyrius in S. Cyril explicitly That according to Plato the Essence of the Deity extendeth to Three Hypostases Page 588 589 Platonists further adde That were it not for this Essential Dependence and Subordination the Three Divine Hypostases must needs be Three Co-ordinate Gods and no more One God then Three Men are One Man or Three Suns One Sun Whereas the Sun its Splendor and Derivative Light may all well be accounted One and the same Thing Page 589 590 These Platonists therefore suppose so close a Union and so near a Conjunction betwixt their Three Hypostases as no where else to be found in Nature Plotinus That there is Nothing between them and That they are Onely Not the very same They acknowledge also their Perichoresis or Mutuall Inexistence The Three Hypostases One Divinity to the Platonists in the same manner as the Centre Radious Distance Immovable and Movable Circumference of a Sphear all One Sphear The First Infinite Goodness the Second Infinite Wisedom the Third Infinite Active Love and Power Substantiall Page 590 591 From this full Account of the True and Genuine Platonick Trinity it s both Agreement and Disagreement with the Christian Plainly appeareth First its Agreement in the Three Fundamentall things before mentioned and consequently its Discrepance from Aâ—ianism Page 591 592 Secondly its Disagreement notwithstanding from the Now-received Doctrine in that it supposes the Three Hypostases not to have One and the same Singular Essence nor yet an Absolute Co-Equality but a Graduall Subordination and Essentiall Dependence Vpon which account sâ—id by some to Symbolize with Arianism hâ—wever different from it in the Main Point Page 592 Bâ—sides which the best of the Platonists sometimes Guilty of Extravagant Expressions Plâ—tinus his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thâ—t our Humane Soul is of the same Species with the Mundane Soul or Third Hypostasis Thâ—t being but the Elder Sister Which indeed is to make it Co-Essentiall or Consubstantiall with us Men as S. Austine understood it This a Foundation for Creature Worship or Idolatry Why the Arians by Constantine called Porphyrianists But this Doctrine as Repugnant to Plato so elsewhere Contradicted by Plotinus himself Page 593 594 That notwithstanding a Platonick Christian would Apologize for Plato and the Genuine Pythagoreans after this manner First That having no Scriptures Councills nor Creeds to direct them in the Darkness of this Mystery and to guide their Language they the more excusable if not always Uniform and sometimes Extravagant More to be wondred at that they should approach so near the Christian Truth Page 594 595 And for their Gradual Subordination of Hypostasâ—s and Dependence of the Second and Third upon the First That these Platonists hâ—rein the more excusâ—ble because the Majority of Christian Doctors for the first Three Centuries seem to have asserted the same Page 595 596 The Platonick Christians further Apologie That the Platonists Intention in Subordinating their Three Hypostases onely to exclude a Plurality of Co-ordinate Independent Gods That none of Plato's Three Hypostases Creatures but that the Essence of the Godhead belongeth to them All they being all Eternal Necessarily Existent Infinite or Omnipotent and Creatours Therefore in the sense of the Nicene Councill Consubstantiall and Co-equall The Essence of the Godhead wherein all the Three Hypostases agree as well to the Fathers as Platonists Generall and Universall Page 596 597 Besides which the Genuine Platonists would
THE True Intellectual System OF THE UNIVERSE THE FIRST PART WHEREIN All the REASON and PHILOSOPHY OF ATHEISM is Confuted AND Its IMPOSSIBILITY Demonstrated By R. CVDWORTH D. D. Origenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed for Richard Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred MAJESTY MDCLXXVIII VICTORY Aristotle 〈◊〉 Pythagoras THEISTS 〈…〉 CONFUSION 〈◊〉 Epicurus Aâ—â—â—â—mandes ATHEISTS 〈…〉 â—â—LIGION 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato L. 10. de leg To the Right Honourable HENEAGE LORD FINCH BARON of Daventry Lord High CHANCELLOVR of England and one of His MAJESTIE's most Honourable Privy Council MY LORD THE many Favours I have formerly Received from You as they might justly challenge whenever I had a fit opportunity a Publick and Thankfull Acknowledgment so have they encourag'd me at this time to the Presumption of this Dedication to Your Lordship Whom as Your Perspicacious Wit and Solid Judgment together with Your Acquired Learning render every way a most Accomplish'd and Desirable Patron so did I persuade my self that Your Hearty Affection to Religion and Zeal for it would make You not Unwilling to take that into Your Protection which is written wholly in the Defence thereof so far forth as its own Defects or Miscarriages should not render it uncapable of the same Nor can I think it probable that in an Age of so much Debauchery Scepticism and Infidelity an Undertaking of this kind should be judged by You Useless or Unseasonable And now having so fit an Opportunity I could most willingly expatiate in the large Field of Your Lordship's Praises both that I might doe an Act of Justice to Your self and provoke others to Your Imitation But I am sensible that as no Eloquence less then that of Your own could be fit for such a Performance so the Nobleness and Generosity of Your Spirit is such that You take much more pleasure in Doing Praise-worthy things then in Hearing the Repeated Echo's of them Wherefore in stead of pursuing Encomiums which would be the least pleasing to Your self I shall Offer up my Prayers to Almighty God for the Continuation of Your Lordship's Life and Health That so His MAJESTY may long have such a Loyal Subject and Wise Counsellour the Church of England such a Worthy Patron the High Court of Chancery such an Oracle of Impartial Justice and the whole Nation such a Pattern of Vertue and Piety Which shall ever be the Hearty Desire of MY LORD YOUR LORDSHIP' 's Most Humble and most Affectionate Servant R. Cudworth THE PREFACE TO THE READER THOVGH I confess I have seldom taken any great pleasure in reading other mens Apologies yet must I at this time make some my self First therefore I acknowledge that when I engag'd the Press I intended onely a Discourse concerning Liberty and Necessity or to speak out more plainly Against the Fatall Necessity of all Actions and Events which upon whatsoever Grounds or Principles maintain'd will as We Conceive Serve The Design of Atheism and Vndermine Christianity and all Religion as taking away all Guilt and Blame Punishments and Rewards and plainly rendring a Day of Judgment Ridiculous And it is Evident that some have pursued it of late in order to that End But afterwards We consider'd That this which is indeed a Controversy concerning The True Intellectual System of the Universe does in the full Extent thereof take in Other things the Necessity of all Actions and Events being maintained by Several Persons upon very Different Grounds according to that Tripartite Fatalism mentioned by us in the beginning of the First Chapter For First The Democritick Fate is nothing but The Material Necessity of all things without a God it supposing Sensless Matter Necessarily Moved to be the onely Original and Principle of all things Which therefore is called by Epicurus The Physiological by us the Atheistick Fate Besides which The Divine Fate is also Bipartite Some Theists supposing God both to Decree and Doe all things in us Evil as well as Good or by his Immediate Influence to Determine all Actions and so make them alike Necessary to us From whence it follows That his Will is no way Regulated or Determined by any Essentiall and Immutable Goodness and Justice or that he hath nothing of Morality in his Nature he being onely Arbitrary Will Omnipotent As also That all Good and Evil Morall to us Creatures are meer Theticall or Positive things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Law or Command onely and not by Nature This therefore may be called The Divine Fate Immorall and Violent Again There being other Divine Fatalists who acknowledge such a Deity as both suffers other things besides it self to Act and hath an Essentiall Goodness and Justice in its Nature and consequently That there are things Just and Unjust to us Naturally and not by Law and Arbitrary Constitution onely and yet nevertheless take away from men all such Liberty as might make them capable of Praise and Dispraise Rewards and Punishments and Objects of Distributive Justice they conceiving Necessity to be Intrinsecall to the Nature of every thing in the Actings of it and nothing of Contingency to be found any-where from whence it will follow That nothing could possibly have been Otherwise in the whole World then it Is. And this may be called The Divine Fate Morall as the other Immorall and Naturall as the other Violent it being a Concatenation or Implexed Series of Causes all in themselves Necessary depending upon a Deity Morall if we may so speak that is such as is Essentially Good and Naturally Just as the Head thereof the First Contriver and Orderer of all Which kind of Divine Fate hath not onely been formerly asserted by the Stoicks but also of late by divers Modern Writers Wherefore of the Three Fatalisms or False Hypotheses of the Universe mentioned in the beginning of this Book One is Absolute Atheism Another Immorall Theism or Religion without any Naturall Justice and Morality all Just and Unjust according to this Hypothesis being meer Theticall or Factitious things Made by Arbitrary Will and Command onely The Third and Last such a Theism as acknowledges not onely a God or Omnipotent Understanding Being but also Natural Justice and Morality Founded in him and Derived from him nevertheless no Liberty from Necessity anywhere and therefore no Distributive or Retributive Justice in the World Whereas these Three Things are as we conceive the Fundamentals or Essentials of True Religion First That all things in the World do not Float without a Head and Governour but that there is a God an Omnipotent Understanding Being Presiding over all Secondly That this God being Essentially Good and Just there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Something in its own Nature Immutably and Eternally Just and Unjust and not by Arbitrary Will Law and Command onely And Lastly That there is Something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or That we are so far forth Principles or Masters of our own Actions as to be Accountable to
fall down into these Earthly Bodies But the fullest Record of the Empedoclean Philosophy concerning the Soul is contained in this of Hierocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man falleth from his Happy State as Empedocles the Pythagorean saith By being a Fugitive Apostate and Wanderer from God acted with a certain Mad and Irrational Strife or Contention But he ascends again and recovers his former State if he decline and avoid these Earthly things and despise this unpleasant and wretched Place where Murder and Wrath and a Troop of all other Mischiefs reign Into which Place they who fall wander up and down through the Field of Ate and Darkness But the desire of him that flees from this Field of Ate carries him on towards the Field of Truth which the Soul at first relinquishing and losing its Wings fell down into this Earthly Body deprived of its Happy Life From whence it appears that Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was derived from Empedocles and the Pythagoreans Now from what hath been already cited it is sufficiently manifest that Empedocles was so far from being either an Atheist or Corporealist that he was indeed a Rank Pythagorist as he is here called And we might adde hereunto what Clemens Alexandrinus observes that according to Empedocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If we live holily and justly we shall be happy here and more happy after our departure hence having our Happiness not necessarily confined to time but being able to rest and fix in it to all Eternity Feasting with the other Immortal Beings c. We might also take notice how besides the Immortal Souls of men he acknowledged Daemons or Angels declaring that some of these fell from Heaven and were since prosecuted by a Divine Nemesis or these in Plutarch are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those Empedoclean Daemons lapsed from Heaven and pursued with Divine Vengeance Whose restless Torment is there described in several Verses of his And we might observe likewise how he acknowledged a Natural and Immutable Justice which was not Topical and confined to Places and Countries and Relative to particular Laws but Catholick and Universal and every where the same through Infinite Light and Space as he expresses it with Poetick Pomp and Bravery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the asserting of Natural Morality is no small Argument of a Theist But what then shall we say to those other things which Empedocles is charged with by Aristotle that seem to have so rank a smell of Atheism Certainly those Mongril and Biforme Animals that are said to have sprung up out of the Earth by chance look as if they were more a-kin to Democritus than Empedocles and probably it is the Fault of the Copies that it is read otherwise there being no other Philosopher that I know of that could ever find any such thing in Empedocles his Poems But for the rest if Aristotle do not misrepresent Empedocles as he often doth Plato then it must be granted that he being a Mechanical Physiologer as well as Theologer did something too much indulge to Fortuitous Mechanism which seems to be an Extravagancy that Mechanical Philosophers and Atomists have been always more or less subject to But Aristotle doth not charge Empedocles with resolving all things into Fortuitous Mechanism as some Philosophers have done of late who yet pretend to be Theists and Incorporealists but only that he would explain some things in that way Nay he clearly puts a difference betwixt Empedocles and the Democritick Atheists in those words subjoyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. which is as if he should have said Empedocles resolved some things in the Fabrick and structure of Animals into Fortuitous Mechanism but there are certain other Philosophers namely Leucippus and Democritus who would have all things whatsoever in the whole World Heaven and Earth and Animals to be made by Chance and the Fortuitous Motion of Atoms without a Deity It seems very plain that Empedocles his Philia and Nichos his Friendship and Discord which he makes to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Active Cause and Principle of Motion in the Universe was a certain Plastick Power superiour to Fortuitous Mechanism and Aristotle himself acknowledges somewhere as much And Plutarch tells us that according to Empedocles The Order and System of the World is not the Result of Material Causes and Fortuitous Mechanism but of a Divine Wisdom assigning to every thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not such a Place as Nature would give it but such as is most convenient for the Good of the whole Simplicius who had read Empedocles acquaints us that he made two Worlds the one Intellectual the other Sensible and the former of these to be the Exemplar and Archetype of the latter And so the Writer De Placitis Philosophorum observes that Empedocles made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two Suns the one Archetypal and Intelligible the other Apparent or Sensible But I need take no more pains to purge Empedocles from those two Imputations of Corporealism and Atheism since he hath so fully confuted them himself in those Fragments of his still extant First by expressing such a hearty Resentment of the Excellency of Piety and the Wretchedness and Sottishness of Atheism in these Verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To this Sence He is happy who hath his mind richly fraught and stored with the Treasures of Divine Knowledge but he miserable whose mind is Darkened as to the Belief of a God And Secondly by denying God to have any Humane Form or Members 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Or otherwise to be Corporeal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And then positively affirming what he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only a Holy and Ineffable Mind that by Swift Thoughts agitates the whole World XXV And now we shall speak something also of Anaxagoras having shewed before that he was a Spurious Atomist For he likewise agreed with the other Atomists in this that he asserted Incorporeal Substance in general as the Active Cause and Principle of Motion in the Universe and Particularly an Incorporeal Deity distinct from the World Affirming that there was besides Atoms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is express'd in Plato An Ordering and Disposing Mind that was the Cause of all things Which Mind as Aristotle tells us he made to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The only Simple Vnmixed and Pure thing in the World And he supposed this to be that which brought the Confused Chaos of Omnisarious Atoms into that Orderly Compages of the World that now is XXVI And by this time we have made it evident that those Atomical Physiologers that
were before Democritus and Lencippus were all of them Incorporealists joyning Theology and Pneumatology the Doctrine of Incorporeal Substance and a Deity together with their Atomical Physiology This is a thing expresly noted concerning Ecphantus the Pythagorean in Stobaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ecphantus held the Corporeal World to consist of Atoms but yet to be Ordered and Governed by a Divine Providence that is he joyned Atomology and Theology both together And the same is also observed of Arcesilas or perhaps Archelaus by Sidonius Apollinaris Post hos Arcesilaus Divinâ Mente paratam Conjicit hanc Molem confectam Partibus illis Quas Atomos vocat ipse leves Now I say as Ecphantus and Archelaus asserted the Corporeal World to be made of Atoms but yet notwithstanding held an Incorporeal Deity distinct from the same as the First Principle of Activity in it so in like manner did all the other ancient Atomists generally before Democritus joyn Theology and Incorporealism with their Atomical Physiology They did Atomize as well as he but they did not Atheize but that Atheistical Atomology was a thing first set on foot afterward by Leucippus and Democritus XXVII But because many seem to be so strongly possessed with this Prejudice as if Atheism were a Natural and Necessary Appendix to Atomism and therefore will conclude that the same persons could not possibly be Atomists and Incorporealists or Theists we shall further make it Evident that there is not only no Inconsistency betwixt the Atomical Physiology and Theology but also that there is on the Contrary a most Natural Cognation between them And this we shall do two manner of ways First by inquiring into the Origin of this Philosophy and considering what Grounds or Principles of Reason they were which first led the Antients into this Atomical or Mechanical way of Physiologizing And Secondly by making it appear that the Intrinsecal Constitution of this Physiology is such that whosoever entertains it if he do but thoroughly understand it must of necessity acknowledge that there is something else in the World besides Body First therefore this Atomical Physiology seems to have had its Rise and Origin from the Strength of Reason exerting its own Inward Active Power and Vigour and thereby bearing it self up against the Prejudices of Sense and at length prevailing over them after this manner The Ancients considering and revolving the Idea's of their own Minds found that they had a clear and distinct Conception of Two things as the General Heads and Principles of whatsoever was in the Universe the one whereof was Passive Matter and the other Active Power Vigour and Vertue To the Latter of which belongs both Cogitation and the Power of Moving Matter whether by express Consciousness or no. Both which together may be called by one General Name of Life so that they made these two General Heads of Being or Entity Passive Matter or Bulk and Self Activity or Life The Former of these was commonly called by the Ancients the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which suffers and receives and the Latter the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Active Principle and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that from whence Motion Springs In rerum Natura saith Cicero according to the General Sence of the Ancients Duo quaerenda sunt Vnum quae Materia sit ex qua quaeque res efficiatâ—â— Alterum quae res sit quae quicque Efficiat There are two things to be enquired after in Nature One what is the Matter out of which every thing is made Another what is the Active Cause or Efficient To the same purpose Seneca Esse debet aliquid Vnde siat deinde à Quo fiat hoc est Causa illud Materia There must be something Out of which a thing is made and then something By which it is made the Latter is properly the Cause and the Former the Matter Which is to be understood of Corporeal things and their Differences that there must be both Matter and an Active Power for the production of them And so also that of Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That from whence the Principle of Motion is is one Cause and the Matter is another Where Aristotle gives that name of Cause to the Matter also though others did appropriate it to the Active Power And the Writer de Placitis Philosophorum expresses this as the General Sence of the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is impossible that Matter alone should be the sole Principle of all things but there must of necessity be supposed also an Agent or Efficient Cause As Silver alone is not sufficient to make a Cup unless there be an Artificer to work upon it And the same is to be said concerning Brass Wood and other Natural Bodies Now as they apprehended a Necessity of these two Principles so they conceived them to be such as could not be confounded together into one and the same Thing or Substance they having such distinct Idea's and Essential Characters from one another The Stoicks being the only Persons who offering Violence to their own apprehensions rudely and unskilfully attempted to make these two distinct things to be one and the same Substance Wherefore as the First of these viz. Matter or Passive Extended Bulk is taken by all for Substance and commonly called by the name of Body so the other which is far the more Noble of the Two being that which acts upon the matter and hath a Commanding Power over it must needs be Substance too of a different kind from Matter or Body and therefore Immaterial or Incorporeal Substance Neither did they find any other Entity to be conceivable besides these two Passive Bulk or Extension which is Corporeal Substance and Internal Self-Activity or Life which is the Essential Character of Substance Incorporeal to which Latter belongs not only Cogitation but also the Power of Moving Body Moreover when they further considered the First of these the Material or Corporeal Principle they being not able clearly to conceive any thing else in it besides Magnitude Figure Site and Motion or Rest which are all several Modes of Extended Bulk concluded therefore according to Reason that there was Really nothing else existing in Bodies without besides the various Complexions and Conjugations of those Simple Elements that is nothing but Mechanism Whence it necessarily followed that whatsoever else was supposed to be in Bodies was indeed nothing but our Modes of Sensation or the Phancies and Passions in us begotten from them mistaken for things really existing without us And this is a thing so obvious that some of those Philosophers who had taken little notice of the Atomical Physiology had notwithstanding a suspicion of it as for Example Plotinus who writing of the Criterion of Truth and the power of Reason hath these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though the things of Sense seem to have so clear a Certainty yet notwithstanding it is doubted concerning them whether the Qualities of them
Generation but only such as is out of Nothing nor Corruption but such as is into Nothing Which as we have already intimated is to be understood differently in respect to Inanimate and Animate things for in things Inanimate there is Nothing Produced or Destroyed because the Forms and Qualities of them are no Entities really distinct from the Substance but only diverse Mixtures and Modifications But in Animate things where the Souls are real Entities really distinct from the Substance of the Body there is Nothing Produced nor Destroyed neither because those Souls do both exist before their Generations and after their Corruptions which business as to Men and Souls is again more fully expressed thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Good and Ill did First us Here attend And not from Time Before the Soul Descend That here alone we live and when Hence we depart we forthwith then Turn to our old Non-entity again Certes ought not to be believ'd by Wise and Learned Men. Wherefore according to Empedocles this is to be accounted one of the Vulgar Errors That Men then only have a being and are capable of Good and Evil when they live here that which is called Life But that both before they are Born and after they are Dead they are perfectly Nothing And besides Empedocles the same is represented by the Greek Tragedian also as the Sence of the ancient Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Nothing Dies or utterly perisheth but things being variously Concreted and Secreted Transposed and Modified change their Form and Shape only and are put into a New Dress Agreeably whereunto Plato also tells us that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ancient Tradition or Doctrine before his Time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That as well the Living were made out of the Dead as the Dead out of the Living and that this was the constant Circle of Nature Moreover the same Philosopher acquaints us that some of those Ancients were not without suspicion that what is now called Death was to Men more properly a Nativity or Birth into Life and what is called Generation into Life was comparatively rather to be accounted a sinking into Death the Former being the Soul's Ascent out of these Gross Terrestrial Bodies to a Body more Thin and Subtil and the Latter its Descent from a purer Body to that which is more Crass and Terrestrial 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who knows whether that which is called Living be not indeed rather Dying and that which is called Dying Living Moreover that this was the Doctrine of Pythagoras himself that no Real Entity perishes in Corruptions nor is produced in Generations but only new Modifications and Transpositions made is fully expressed by the Latin Poet both as to Inanimate and to Animate Things Of the first thus Nec perit in tanto quicquam mihi credite mundo Sed variat faciemque novat Nascique vocatur Incipere esse aliud quà m quod fuit antè Morique Desinere illud idem Cum sint Huc forsitan Illa Haec Translata Illuc Summâ tamen omnia constant Of the Second that the Souls of Animals are Immortal did preexist and do transmigrate from the same Ground after this manner Omnia mutantur Nihil interit Errat illinc Huc venit hinc illuc quoslibet occupat artus Spiritus éque Feris Humana in Corpora transit Inque Feras Noster nec tempore deperit ullo Vtque novis facilis signatur Cera figuris Nec manet ut fuerat nec formas servat easdem Sed tamen ipsa eadem est Animam sic semper eandem Esse sed in varias doceo migrare Figuras Wherefore though it be a thing which hath not been commonly taken Notice of of late yet we conceive it to be unquestionably true that all those ancient Philosophers who insisted so much upon this Principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That no Real Entity is either Generated or Corrupted did therein at once drive at these two things First the establishing of the Immortality of all Souls their Prae and Post-existence forasmuch as being Entities Really distinct from the Body they could neither be Generated nor Corrupted and Secondly the making of Corporeal Forms and Qualities to be no Real Entities distinct from the Body and the Mechanism thereof because they are things Generated and Corrupted and have no Prae and Post-existence Anaxagoras in this Latter being the only Dissenter who supposing those Forms and Qualities to be real Entities likewise distinct from the Substance of Body therefore attributed Perpetuity of Being to them also Prae and Post-existence in Similar Atoms as well as to the Souls of Animals And now we have made it sufficiently evident that the Doctrine of the Incorporeity and Immortality of Souls we might add also of their Preexistence and Transmigration had the same Original and stood upon the same Basis with the Atomical Pysiology and therefore it ought not at all to be wondered at what we affirmed before that the same Philosophers and Pythagoreans asserted both those Doctrines and that the Ancient Atomists were both Theists and Incorporealists XXXIV But now to declare our Sence freely concerning this Philosophy of the Ancients which seems to be so prodigiously paradoxical in respect of that Pre-existence and Transmigration of Souls We conceive indeed that this Ratiocination of theirs from that Principle That Nothing Naturally or of it self comes from Nothing nor goes to Nothing was not only firmly conclusive against Substantial Forms and Qualities of Bodies really distinct from their Substance but also for Substantial Incorporeal Souls and their Ingenerability out of the Matter and particularly for the future Immortality or Post-existence of all Humane Souls For since it is plain that they are not a mere Modification of Body or Matter but an Entity and Substance really distinct from it we have no more reason to think that they can ever of themselves vanish into Nothing than that the substance of the Corporeal World or any part thereof can do so For that in the Consumption of Bodies by Fire or Age or the like there is the destruction of any real Substance into Nothing is now generally exploded as an Idiotical conceit and certainly it cannot be a jot less Idiotical to suppose that the Rational Soul in Death is utterly extinguished Moreover we add also that this Ratiocination of the Ancients would be altogether as firm and irrefragable likewise for the Pre-existence and Transmigration of Souls as it is for their Post-existence and future Immortality did we not as indeed we do suppose Souls to be Created by God immediately and infused in Generations For they being unquestionably a distinct Substance from the Body and no Substance according to the ordinary Course of Nature coming out of Nothing they must of Necessity either Preexist in the Universe before Generations and
Transmigrate into their respective Bodies or else come from God immediatly who is the Fountain of all and who at first created all that Substance that now is in the World besides himself Now the latter of these was a thing which those Ancient Philosophers would by no means admit of they judging it altogether incongruous to bring God upon the Stage perpetually and make him immediatly interpose every where in the Generations of Men and all other Animals by the Miraculous production of Souls out of Nothing Notwithstanding which if we well consider it we shall find that there may be very good reason on the other side for the successive Divine Creation of Souls namely that God did not do all at first that ever he could or would do and put forth all his Creative Vigour at once in a moment ever afterwards remaining a Spectator only of the consequent Results and permitting Nature to do all alone without the least Interposition of his at any time just as if there were no God at all in the World For this may be and indeed often hath been the effect of such an Hypothesis as this to make men think that there is no other God in the World but Blind and Dark Nature God might also for other good and wise Ends unknown to us reserve to himself the continual exercise of this his Creative power in the successive Production of new Souls And yet these Souls nevertheless after they are once brought forth into being will notwithstanding their Juniority continue as firmly in the same without vanishing of themselves into Nothing as the Substance of Senseless Matter that was Created many thousand years before will do And thus our Vulgar Hypothesis of the new Creation of Souls as it is Rational in it self so it doth sufficiently salve their Incorporeity their future Immortality or Post-eternity without introducing those offensive Absurdities of their Preexistence and Transmigration XXXV But if there be any such who rather than they would allow a future Immortality or Post-existence to all Souls and therefore to those of Brutes which consequently must have their Successive Transmigrations would conclude the Souls of all Brutes as likewise the Sensitive Soul in Man to be Corporeal and only allow the Rational Soul to be distinct from Matter To these we have only thus much to say That they who will attribute Life Sense Cogitation Consciousness and Self-enjoyment not without some footsteps of Reason many times to Blood and Brains or mere Organized Bodies in Brutes will never be able clearly to defend the Incorporeity and Immortality of Humane Souls as most probably they do not intend any such thing For either all Conscious and Cogitative Beings are Incorporeal or else nothing can be proved to be Incorporeal From whence it would follow also that there is no Deity distinct from the Corporeal World But though there seem to be no very great reason why it should be thought absurd to grant Perpetuity of Duration to the Souls of Brutes any more than to every Atom of Matter or Particle of Dust that is in the whole World yet we shall endeavour to suggest something towards the easing the minds of those who are so much burthened with this difficulty viz. That they may if they please suppose the Souls of Brutes being but so many particular Eradiations or Effluxes from that Source of Life above whensoever and wheresoever there is any fitly prepared Matter capable to receive them and to be Actuated by them to have a sense and frution of themselves in it so long as it continues such but as soon as ever those Organized Bodies of theirs by reason of their Indisposition become uncapable of being further acted upon by them then to be resumed again and retracted back to their Original Head and Fountain Since it cannot be doubted but what Creates any thing out of Nothing or sends it forth from it self by free and voluntary Emanation may be able either to Retract the same back again to its original Source or else to Annihilate it at pleasure And I find that there have not wanted some among the Gentile Philosophers themselves who have entertained this Opinion whereof Porphyry is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every irrational Power is resolved into the Life of the Whole XXXVI Neither will this at all weaken the future Immortality or Post-eternity of Humane Souls For if we be indeed Theists and do in very good Earnest believe a Deity according to the true Notion of it we must then needs acknowledge that all created Being whatsoever owes the Continuation and Perpetuity of its Existence not to any Necessity of Nature without God and Independently upon him but to the Divine Will only And therefore though we had nâ—ver so much Rational and Philosophical assurance that our Souls are Immaterial Substances distinct from the Body yet we could not for all that have any absolute certainty of their Post-eternity any otherwise than as it may be derived to us from the Immutability and Perfection of the Divine Nature and Will which does alwaies that which is Best For the Essential Goodness and Wisdom of the Deity is the only Stability of all things And for ought we Mortals know there may be good Reason why that Grace or Favour of future Immortality and Post-eternity that is indulged to Humane Souls endued with Reason Morality and Liberty of Will by means whereof they are capable of Commendation and Blame Reward and Punishment that so they may be Objects for Divine Justice to display it self upon after this Life in different Retributions may notwithstanding be denied to those lower Lives and more contemptible Souls of Brutes alike devoid both of Morality and Liberty XXXVII But if any for all this will still obstinately contend for that ancient Pythagorick and Empedoclean Hypothesis That all Lives and Souls whatsoever are as old as the first Creation and will continue to Eternity or as long as the World doth as a thing more Reasonable and Probable than our Continual Creation of new Souls by means whereof they become Juniors both to the matter of the World and of their own Bodies and whereby also as they pretend the Divine creative Power is made too Cheap and Prostituted a thing as being Famulative alwaies to Brutish and many times to unlawful Lusts and undue Conjunctions but especially than the Continual Decreation and Annihilation of the Souls of Brutes we shall not be very unwilling to acknowledge thus much to them That indeed of the two this Opinion is more Reasonable and Tolerable than that other Extravagancy of those who will either make all Souls to be Generated and consequently to be Corporeal or at least the Sensitive Soul both in Men and Brutes For besides the Monstrosity of this latter opinion in making two distinct Souls and Perceptive Substances in every Man which is a thing sufficiently confuted by Internal Sense it leaves us also in an absolute Impossibility of proving the Immortality of
Real Qualities One Instance whereof might be given in Plutarch writing against Colotes the Epicurean Wherefore Plato that was a zealous Asserter of an Incorporeal Deity distinct from the World and of Immortal Souls seriously Physiologized only by Matter Forms and Qualities Generation Corruption and Alteration and he did but play and toy sometimes a little with Atoms and Mechanism As where he would compound the Earth of Cubical and Fire of Pyramidal Atoms and the like For that he did therein imitate the Atomical Physiology is plain from these words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these Cubical and Pyramidal Corpuscula of the Fire and Earth are in themselves so small that by reason of their parvitude none of them can be perceived singly and alone but only the Aggregations of many of them together XLV And Aristotle here trode in Plato's footsteps not only in the better part in asserting an Incorporeal Deity and an Immoveable first Mover but also in Physiologizing by Forms and Qualities and rejecting that Mechanical way by Atoms which had been so generally received amongst the Ancients Wherefore though the Genius of these two Persons was very different and Aristotle often contradicteth Plato and really dissents from him in several Particularities yet so much I think may be granted to those Reconcilers Porphyry Simplicius and others that the main Essentials of their two Philosophies are the same Now I say the whole Aristotelical System of Philosophy is infinitely to be preferred before the whole Democritical though the former hath been so much disparaged and the other cried up of late amongst us Because though it cannot be denied but that the Democritick Hypothesis doth much more handsomly and intelligibly salve the Corporeal Phaenomena yet in all those other things which are of far the greatest moment it is rather a Madness than a Philosophy But the Aristotelick System is right and sound here as to those greater things it asserting Incorporeal Substance a Deity distinct from the World the Naturality of Morality and Liberty of Will Wherefore though a late Writer of Politicks do so exceedingly disparage Aristotle's Ethicks yet we shall do him this right here to declare that his Ethicks were truly such and answered their Title but that new Modle of Ethicks which hath been obtruded upon the World with so much Fastuosity and is indeed nothing but the old Democritick Doctrine revived is no Ethicks at all but a mere Cheat the undermining and subversion of all Morality by substituting something like it in the Room of it that is a mere Counterfeit and Changeling The Design whereof could not be any other than to debauch the World We add further that Aristotle's System of Philosophy seems to be more consistent with Piety than the Cartesian Hypothesis it self which yet plainly supposeth Incorporeal Substance For as much as this latter makes God to contribute nothing more to the Fabrick of the World than the Turning round of a Vortex or Whirlpool of Matter from the fortuitous Motion of which according to certain General Laws of Nature must proceed all this Frame of things that now is the exact Organization and successive Generation of Animals without the Guidance of any Mind or Wisdom Whereas Aristotle's Nature is no Fortuitous Principle but such as doth Nothing in Vain but all for Ends and in every thing pursues the Best and therefore can be no other than a Subordinate Instrument of the Divine Wisdom and the Manuary Opificer or Executioner of it However we cannot deny but that Aristotle hath been taxed by sundry of the Ancients Christians and others for not so explicitely asserting these two things the Immortality of Humane Souls and Providence over men as he ought to have done and as his Master Plato did Though to do him all the right we can we shall observe here that in his Nicomachian Ethicks he speaks favourably for the Latter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If God take any Care of Humane things as it seems he doth then it is reasonable to think also that he is delighted with that which is the Best and nearest akin to himself which is Mind or Right Reason and that he rewards those who most Love and Honour it as taking care of such things as are most pleasing to him in doing rightly and honestly A very good Sentence were it not Ushered in with too much of Scepticism And as for the Point of the Soul's Immortality It is true that whereas other Philosophers before Aristotle asserted the Preexistence Incorporeity and Immortality of all Souls not only the Rational but the Sensitive also which in Men they concluded to be one and the same Substance according to that of Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Soul is Immortal they resolving that no Life nor Cogitation could be Corporeal Aristotle on the contrary doth expresly deny he Preexistence that is the Separability Incorporeity and Immortality of all Sensitive Souls not in Brutes only but also every where tgiving his reason for it in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That all Souls cannot Preexist is manifest from hence because those Principles whose Action is Corporeal cannot possibly exist without the Body as the Power of Walking without the Feet Wherefore it is impossible that these Sensitive Souls preexisting should come into the Body from without since they can neither come alone by themselves naked and stript of all Body they being inseparable from it neither can they come in with a Body that is the Seed This is Aristotle's Argument why all Sensitive Souls must needs be Corporeal because there is no Walking without Feet nor Seeing without Eyes But at the same time he declares that the Mind or Intellect does Preexist and come in from without that is is Incorporeal Separable and Immortal giving his Reason for it in like manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It remains that the Mind or Intellect and that alone preexisting enter from without and be only Divine since its Energy is not blended with that of the Bodies but it acts independently upon it Notwithstanding which Aristotle elsewhere distinguishing concerning this Mind or Intellect and making it to be twofold Agent and Patient concludes the former of them only to be Immortal but the latter Corruptible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Agent Intellect is only Immortal and Eternal but the Passive is Corruptible where some Interpreters that would willingly excuse Aristotle contend that by the Passive Intellect is not meant the Patient but the Phantasie only because Aristotle should otherwise contradict himself who had before affirmed the Intellect to be Separable Unmixed and Inorganical which they conceive must needs be understood of the Patient But this Salvo can hardly take place here where the Passive Intellect is directly opposed to the Agent Now what Aristotle's Agent Vnderstanding is and whether it be any thing in us any Faculty of our Humane Soul or no seems to be a thing very questionable and has therefore caused much Dispute amongst his
World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicurus according to Vulgar Opinion leaves a God but according to the Nature of things none at all And as Epicurus so other Atheists in like manner have commonly had their Vizards and Disguises Atheism for the most part prudenly chusing to walk abroad in Masquerade And though some over-credulous Persons have been so far imposed upon hereby as to conclude that there was hardly any such thing as an Atheist any where in the World yet they that are Sagacious may easily look through these thin Veils and Disguises and perceive these Atheists oftentimes insinuating their Atheism even then when they most of all profess themselves Theists by affirming that it is impossible to have any Idaea or Conception at all of God and that as he is not Finite so he cannot be Infinite and that no Knowledge or Understanding is to be attributed to him which is in effect to say that there is no such thing But whosoever entertains the Democritick Principles that is both rejects Forms and Qualities of Body and makes all things to be Body though he pretend never so much to hold a Corporeal Deity yet he is not at all to be believed in it it being a thing plainly Contradictious to those Principles III. Wherefore this Mongrel Philosophy which Leucippus Democritus and Protagoras were the Founders of and which was entertained afterwards by Epicurus that makes as Laertius writes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sensless Atoms to be the first Principles not only of all Bodies for that was a thing admitted before by Empedocles and other Atomists that were Theists but also of All things whatsoever in the whole Universe and therefore of Soul and Mind too this I say was really nothing else but a Philosophical Form of Atheology a Gigantical and Titanical Attempt to dethrone the Deity not only by Salving all the Phaenomena of the World without a God but also by laying down such Principles from whence it must needs follow that there could be neither an Incorporeal nor Corporeal Deity It was Atheism openly Swaggering under the glorious Appearance of Wisdom and Philosophy There is indeed another Form of Atheism which insisting on the Vulgar way of Philosophizing by Forms and Qualities we for distinction sake shall call Stratonical such as being too modest and shame-faced to fetch all things from the Fortuitous Motion of Atoms would therefore allow to the several Parts of Matter a certain Kind of Natural though not Animal Perception such as is devoid of Reflexive Consciousness together with a Plastick power whereby they may be able Artificially and Methodically to Form and Frame themselves to the best advantage of their Respective Capabilities something like to Aristotle's Nature but that it hath no dependence at all upon any higher Mind or Deity And these Atheists may be also called Hylozoick as the other Atomick because they derive all things in the whole Universe not only Sensitive but also Rational Souls together with the Artificial Frame of Animals from the Life of the Matter But this kind of Atheism seems to be but an unshapen Embryo of some Dark and Cloudy Brains that was never yet digested into an entire System nor could be brought into any such tolerable Form as to have the confidence to shew it self abroad in full and open View But the Democritik and Atomick Atheism as it is the boldest and rankest of all Atheisms it not only undertaking to salve all Phaenomena by Matter Fortuitously moved without a God but also to demonmonstrate that there cannot be so much as a Corporeal Deity so it is that alone which pretending to an entire and coherent System hath publickly appeared upon the Stage and therefore doth in a manner only deserve our Consideration And now we shall exhibit a full View and Prospect of it and discover all its Dark Mysteries and Profundities we being much of this Perswasion that a plain and naked Representation of them will be a great part of a Confutation at least not doubting but it will be made to appear that though this Monster big-swoln with a Puffy shew of Wisdom strutt and stalk so Gigantically and march with such a kind of stately Philosophick Grandeur yet it is indeed but like the Giant Orgoglio in our English Poet a mere Empty Bladder blown up with vain Conceit an Empusa Phantasm or Spectre the Off-spring of Night and Darkness Non-sence and Contradiction And yet for all that we shall not wrong it the least in our Representation but give it all possible Advantages of Strength and Plausibility that so the Atheists may have no Cause to pretend as they are wont to do in such Cases that either we did not understand their Mysteries nor apprehend the full strength of their Cause or else did purposely smother and conceal it Which indeed we have been so far from that we must confess we were not altogether unwilling this business of theirs should look a little like something that might deserve a Confutation And whether the Atheists ought not rather to give us Thanks for Mending and Improving their Arguments then complain that we have any way Empaired them we shall leave it to the Censure of impartial Judgments IV. Plato tells us that even amongst those Pagans in his time there was generally such a Religious Humor that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whosoever had but the least of Seriousness and Sobriety in them whensoever they took in hand any Enterprize whether great or small they would always invoke the Deity for Assistance and Direction Adding moreover that himself should be very faulty if in his Timaeus when he was to treat about so grand a point concerning the whole World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether it were made or unmade he should not make his Entrance thereinto by a Religious Invocation of the Deity Wherefore certainly it could not be less than a piece of Impiety in a Christian being to treat concerning the Deity it self and to produce all that Prophane and Unhallowed stuff of Atheists out of their Dark Corners in order to a Confutation and the better Confirmation of our Faith in the Truth of his Existence not to implore his Direction and Assistance And I know no Reason but that we may well do it in that same Litany of Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we may first speak agreeably to his own mind or becomingly of his Nature and then consentaneously with our Selves V. Now there are these two things here to be performed by us First to discover and produce the Chief Heads of Arguments or Grounds of Reason insisted on by the Atheists to disprove a Deity evincing withall briefly the Ineffectualness and Falsness of them And Secondly to shew how they Endeavour either to Confute or Salve consistently with their own Principles all those Phaenomenae which are commonly urg'd against them to prove a Deity and Incorporeal Substance manifesting likewise the Invalidity thereof The grounds of Reason alledged for the Atheistical Hypothesis
rough and smooth hookey and crooked Atoms he judging these things to be nothing but the mere Dreams and Dotages of Democritus not teaching but wishing Here we see that Strato denied the World to be made by a Deity or perfect Understanding Nature as well as Democritus and yet that he dissented from Democritus notwithstanding holding another kind of Nature as the Original of things than he did who gave no account of any Active Principle and Cause of Motion nor of the Regularity that is in Things Democritus his Nature was nothing but the Fortuitous Motion of Matter but Strato's Nature was an Inward Plastick Life in the several Parts of Matter whereby they could Artificially frame themselves to the best advantage according to their several Capabilities without any Conscious or Reflexive Knowledg Quicquid aut sit aut fiat says the same Authour Naturalibus fieri aut factum esse docet ponderibus motibus Strato teaches whatsoever is or is made to be made by certain inward Natural Forces and Activities VI. Furthermore it is to be observed that though Strato thus attributed a certain kind of Life to Matter yet he did by no means allow of any one Common Life whether Sentient and Rational or Plastick and Spermatick only as Ruling over the whole mass of Matter and Corporeal Universe which is a thing in part affirmed by Plutarch and may in part be gathered from these words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strato affirmeth that the World is no Animal or God but that what is Natural in every thing follows something Fortuitous antecedent Chance first beginning and Nature acting consequently thereupon The full sence whereof seems to be this that though Strato did not derive the Original of all Mundane things from mere Fortuitous Mechanism as Democritus before him had done but supposed a Life and Natural Perception in the Matter that was directive of it yet not acknowledging any one Common Life whether Animal or Plastick as governing and swaying the whole but only supposing the several Parts of Matter to have so many several Plastick Lives of their own he must needs attribute something to Fortune and make the Mundane System to depend upon a certain Mixture of Chance and Plastick or Orderly Nature both together and consequently must be an Hylozoist Thus we see that these are two Schemes of Atheism very different from one another that which fetches the Original of all things from the mere Fortuitous and Unguided Motion of Matter without any Vital or Directive Principle and that which derives it from a certain Mixture of Chance and the Life of Matter both together it supposing a Plastick Life not in the whole Universe as one thing but in all the several Parts of Matter by themselves the first of which is the Atomick and Democritick Atheism the second the Hylozoick and Stratonick VII It may perhaps be suspected by some that the famous Hippocrates who lived long before Strato was an Assertour of the Hylozoick Atheism because of such Passages in him as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature is Vnlearned or Vntaught but it learneth from it self what things it ought to do And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature findeth out ways to it self not by Ratiocination But there is nothing more affirmed here concerning Nature by Hippocrates than what might be affirmed likewise of the Aristotelick and Platonick Nature which is supposed to act for Ends though without Consultation and Ratiocination And I must confess it seems to me no way mis-becoming of a Theist to acknowledge such a Nature or Principle in the Universe as may act according to Rule and Method for the Sake of Ends and in order to the Best though it self do not understand the reason of what it doth this being still supposed to act dependently upon a higher Intellectual Principle and to have been first set a work and employed by it it being otherwise Non-sence But to assert any such Plastick Nature as is Independent upon any higher Intellectual Principle and so it self the first and highest Principle of Activity in the Universe this indeed must needs be either that Hylozoick Atheism already spoken of or else another different Form of Atheism which shall afterwards be described But though Hippocrates were a Corporealist yet we conceive he ought not to lie under the suspicion of either of those two Atheisms forasmuch as himself plainly asserts a higher Intellectual Principle than such a Plastick Nature in the Universe namely an Heraclitick Corporeal God or Vnderstanding Fire Immortal pervading the whole World in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It seems to me that that which is called Heat or Fire is Immortal and Omniscient and that it sees hears and knows all things not only such as are present but also future Wherefore we conclude that Hippocrates was neither an Hylozoick nor Democritick Atheist but an Heraclitick Corporeal Theist VIII Possibly it may be thought also that Plato in his Sophist intends this Hylozoick Atheism where he declares it as the Opinion of many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Nature generates all Things from a certain Spontaneous Principle without any Reason and Vnderstanding But here the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be as well rendred Fortuitous as Spontaneous however there is no necessity that this should be understood of an Artificial or Methodical Unknowing Nature It is true indeed that Plato himself seems to acknowledge a certain Plastick or Methodical Nature in the Universe Subordinate to the Deity or that perfect Mind which is the supreme Governour of all things as may be gathered from these words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Nature does rationally or orderly together with Reason and Mind govern the whole Vniverse Where he supposes a certain Regular Nature to be a Partial and Subordinate Cause of things under the Divine Intellect And it is very probable that Aristotle derived that whole Doctrine of his concerning a Regular and Artificial Nature which acts for Ends from the Platonick School But as for any such Form of Atheism as should suppose a Plastick or Regular but Sensless Nature either in the whole World or the several parts of Matter by themselves to be the highest Principle of all things we do not conceive that there is any Intimation of it to be found any where in Plato For in his De Legibus where he professedly disputes against Atheism he states the Doctrine of it after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Nature and Chance produced all the first greatest and most excellent things but that the smaller things were produced by Humane Art The plain meaning whereof is this that the First Original of things and the frame of the whole Universe proceeded from a mere Fortuitous Nature or the Motion of Matter unguided by any Art or Method And thus it is further explained in the following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c.
Anaxagoras makes Good a Principle as that which moves For though Mind move Matter yet it moves it for the sake of something and being it self as it were first moved by Good So that Good is also a Principle And we note this the rather to show how well these three Philosophers Aristotle Plato and Anaxagoras agreed all together in this excellent Truth That Mind and Good are the First Principle of all things in the Universe XII And now we think it is sufficiently evident that these old Materialists in Aristotle whoever they were were downright Atheists not so much because they made all Substance to be Body or Matter for Heraclitus first and after him Zeno did the like deriving the Original of all things from Fire as well as Anaximenes did from Air and Thales is supposed by Aristotle to have done from Water and that with some little more seeming plausibility since Fire being a more Subtle and Moveable Body than any other was therefore thought by some of those Ancients to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most Incorporeal of all Bodies as Earth was for that cause rejected by all those Corporeal Philosophers from being a Principle by reason of the grossness of its parts But Heraclitus and Zeno notwithstanding this are not accounted Atheists because they supposed their Fiery Matter to have not only Life but also a perfect Vnderstanding Originally belonging to it as also the whole World to be an Animal Whereas those Materialists of Aristotle made Sensless and Stupid Matter devoid of all Vnderstanding and Life to be the first Principle and Root of all things For when they supposed Life and Vnderstanding as well as all other Differences of Things to be nothing but mere Passions and Accidents of Matter Generable out of it and Corruptible again into it and indeed to be produced but in a Secundary way from the Fortuitous Commixture of those first Elementary Qualities Heat and Cold Moist and Dry Thick and Thin they plainly implied the substance of Matter in it self to be devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding Now if this be not Atheism to derive the Original of all things even of Life and Mind it self from Dead and Stupid Matter Fortuitously Moved then there can be no such thing at all XIII Moreover Aristotle's Materialists concluded every thing besides the Substance of Matter which is in it self indifferent to al things and consequently all particular and determinate Beings to be Generable and Corruptible Which is a thing that Plato takes notice of as an Atheistick Principle expressing it in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Nothing ever is but every thing is Made and Generated Forasmuch as it plainly follows from hence that not only all Animals and the Souls of men but also if there were any Gods which some of those Materialists would not stick at least verbally to acknowledge meaning thereby certain Understanding Beings superiour to men these likewise must needs have been all Generated and consequently be Corruptible Now to say that there is no other God than such as was Made and Generated and which may be again Unmade Corrupted and Die or that there was once no God at all till he was made out of the Matter and that there may be none again this is all one as to deny the thing it self For a Native and Mortal God is a pure Contradiction Therefore whereas Aristotle in his Metaphysicks tells us of certain Theologers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as did Generate all things even the Gods themselves out of Night and Chaos we must needs pronounce of such Theologers as these who were Theogonists and Generated all the Gods without exception out of Sensless and Stupid Matter that they were but a kind of Atheistical Theologers or Theological Atheists For though they did admit of certain Beings to which they attributed the Name of Gods yet according to the true Notion of God they really acknowledged none at all i. e. no Understanding Nature as the Original of things but Night and Chaos Sensless and Stupid Matter Fortuitously Moved was to them the highest of all Numens So that this Theology of theirs was a thing wholly founded in Atheistical Non-sence XIV And now we think it seasonable here to observe how vast a difference there was betwixt these old Materialists in Aristotle and those other Philosophers mentioned before in the first Chapter who determined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That no Real Entity at all was Generated or Corrupted for this reason because Nothing could be made out of Nothing These were chiefly the Philosophers of the Italick or Pythagorick Succession and their design in it was not as Aristotle was pleased somewhere to affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to contradict common sence and experience in denying all Natural Generations and Alterations but only to interpret Nature rightly in them and that in way of opposition to those Atheistick Materialists after this manner That in all the Mutations of Nature Generations and Alterations there was neither any new Substance Made which was not before nor any Entity really distinct from the Preexisting Substances but only that Substance which was before diversly Modified and so Nothing Produced in Generations but new Modifications Mixtures and Separations of preexistent Substances Now this Doctrine of theirs drove at these Two things First the taking away of such Qualities and Forms of Body as were vulgarly conceived to be things really distinct from the Substance of extended Bulk and all its Modifications of more or less Magnitude Figure Site Motion or Rest. Because if there were any such things as these produced in the Natural Generations and Alterations of Bodies there would then be some Real Entity Made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Nothing Inexistent or Preexistent Wherefore they concluded that these supposed Forms and Qualities of Bodies were really nothing else but only the different Modifications of Pre-existent Matter in respect of Magnitude Figure Site and Motion or Rest or different Concretions and Secretions which are no Entities really distinct from the Substance but only cause different Phasmata Phancies and Apparitions in us The Second thing which this Doctrine aimed at was the establishing the Incorporiety and Ingenerability of all Souls For since Life Cogitation Sense and Understanding could not be resolved into those Modifications of Matter Magnitude Figure Site and Motion or into Mechanism and Phancie but must needs be Entities really distinct from Extended Bulk or Dead and Stupid Matter they concluded that therefore Souls could not be Generated out of Matter because this would be the Production of some Real Entity out of Nothing Inexisting or Preexisting but that they must needs be another kind of Substance Incorporeal which could no more be Generated or Corrupted than the Substance of Matter it self and therefore must either Preexist in Nature before Generations or else be divinely Created and Infused in them It hath been already proved in the First
manner forasmuch as they made the Ocean and Tethys to have been the Original of Generation and for this cause the Oath of the Gods is said to be by water called by the Poets Styx as being that from which they all derived their Original For an Oath ought to be by that which is most Honourable and that which is most Ancient is most Honourable In which words it is very probable that Aristotle aimed at Plato however it is certain that Plato in his Theaetetus affirms this Atheistick Doctrine to have been very ancient 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all things were the off-spring of Flux and Motion that is that all things were Made and Generated out of Matter and that he chargeth Homer with it in deriving the Original of the Gods themselves in like manner from the Ocean or Floating Matter in this Verse of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father of all Gods the Ocean is Tethys their Mother Wherefore these indeed seem to have been the ancientest of all Atheists who though they acknowledged certain Beings superiour to men which they called by the Name of Gods did notwithstanding really deny a God according to the true Notion of him deriving the Original of all things whatsoever in the Universe from the Ocean that is Fluid Matter or which is all one from Night and Chaos and supposing all their Gods to have been Made and Generated and consequently to be Mortal and Corruptible Of which Atheistick Theology Aristophanes gives us the description in his Aves after this manner That at first was Nothing but Night and Chaos which laying an Egg from thence was produced Love that mingling again with Chaos begot Heaven and Earth and Animals and all the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First all was Chaos one confused Heap Darkness enwrapt the disagreeing Deep In a mixt croud the Jumbled Elements were Nor Earth nor Air nor Heaven did appear Till on this horrid vast Abyss of things Teeming Night spreading o'er her cole-black Wings Laid the first Egg whence after times due course Issu'd forth Love the World 's Prolifick Source Glistering with golden Wings which fluttering o'er Dark Chaos gendred all the numerous store Of Animals and Gods c. And whereas the Poet there makes the Birds to have been begotten between Love and Chaos before all the Gods though one might think this to have been done Jocularly by him merely to humour his Plot yet Salmasius conceives and not without some reason that it was really a piece of the old Atheistick Cabala which therefore seems to have run thus That Chaos or Matter confusedly moved being the first Original of all Things did from thence rise up gradually from lesser to greater Perfection First Inanimate things as the Elements Heaven Earth and Seas then Brute-animals afterwards Men and last of all the Gods As if not only the Substance of Matter and those Inanimate Bodies of the Elements Fire Water Air and Earth were as Aristotle somewhere speaks according to the sence of those Atheistick Theologers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First in order of Nature before God as being themselves also Gods but also Brute-animals at least if not men too And this is the Atheistick Creation of the World Gods and all out of Sensless and Stupid Matter or Dark Chaos as the only Original Numen the perfectly Inverted order of the Universe XVIII But though this Hypothesis be purely Atheistical that makes Love which is supposed to be the Original Deity to have it self sprung at first from an Egg of the Night and consequently that all Deity was the Creature or Off-spring of Matter and Chaos or Dark Fortuitous Nature yet Aristotle somewhere conceives that not only Parmenides but also Hesiod and some others who did in like manner make Love the Supreme Deity and derive all things from Love and Chaos were to be exempted out of the number of those Atheistick Materialists before described forasmuch as they seemed to understand by Love an Active Principle and Cause of Motion in the Universe which therefore could not spring from an Egg of the Night nor be the Creature of Matter but must needs be something Independent on it and in order of Nature before it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One would suspect that Hesiod and if there be any other who made Love or Desire a Principle of things in the Universe aimed at this very thing namely the setling of another Active Principle besides Matter For Parmenides describing the Generation of the Universe makes Love to be the Senior of all the Gods and Hesiod after he had mentioned Chaos introduced Love as the Supreme Deity As intimating herein that besides Matter there ought to be another Cause or Principle that should be the Original of Motion and Activity and also hold and conjoyn all things together But how these two Principles are to be ordered and which of them was to be placed first whether Love or Chaos may be judged of afterwards In which latter words Aristotle seems to intimate that Love as taken for an Active Principle was not to be supposed to spring from Chaos but rather to be in order of Nature before it and therefore by this Love of theirs must needs be meant the Deity And indeed Simmias Rhodius in his Wings a Hymn made in Honour of this Love that is Senior to all the Gods and a Principle in the Universe tells us plainly that it is not Cupid Venuses soft and effeminate Son but another kind of Love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I 'm not that Wanton Boy The Sea-froath Goddess's only Joy Pure Heavenly Love I hight and my Soft Magick Charms not Iron Bands fast tye Heaven Earth and Seas The Gods themselves do readily Stoop to my Laws The whole World daunces to my Harmony Moreover this cannot be that Love neither which is described in Plato's Symposium as some learned men have conceived that was begotten between Penia and Porus this being not a Divine but Demoniack thing as the Philosopher there declares no God but a Daemon only or of a Middle Nature For it is nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Love of Pulchritude as such which though rightly used may perhaps Wing and Inspire the Mind to Noble and Generous Attempts and beget a scornful disdeign in it of Mean Dirty and Sordid things yet it is capable of being abused also and then it will strike downward into Brutishness and Sensuality But at best it is an Affection belonging only to Imperfect and Parturient Beings and therefore could
fuit Inundatio quae non secus quà m Hyems quà m Aestas Lege Mundi venit Whatsoever from the beginning to the end of it it can either Do or Suffer it was all at first included in the Nature of the whole As in the Seed is conteined the Whole Delineation of the Future man and the Embryo or Vnborn infant hath already in it the Law of a Beard and Gray Hairs The Lineaments of the whole Body and of its following age being there described as it were in a little and obscure Compendium In like manner the Original and First Rudiments of the World conteined in them not only the Sun and Moon the Courses of the Stars and the Generations of Animals but also the Vicissitudes of all Terrestrial things And every Deluge or Inundation of Water comes to pass no less by the Law of the World its Spermatick or Plastick Nature than Winter and Summer doth XXVIII We do not deny it to be possible but that some in all Ages might have entertained such an Atheistical Conceit as this That the Original of this whole Mundane System was from one Artificial Orderly and Methodical but Sensless Nature lodge in the Matter but we cannot trace the footsteps of this Doctrine any where so much as among the Stoicks to which Sect Seneca who speaks so waveringly and uncertainly in this point Whether the World were an Animal or a Plant belonged And indeed diverse learned men have suspected that even the Zenonian and Heraclitick Deity it self was no other than such a Plastick Nature or Spermatick Principle in the Universe as in the Seeds of Vegetables and Animals doth frame their respective Bodies Orderly and Artificially Nor can it be denied but that there hath been just cause given for such a suspicion forasmuch as the best of the Stoicks sometimes confounding God with Nature seemed to make him nothing but an Artificial Fire Orderly and Methodically proceeding to Generation And it was Familiar with them as Laertius tells us to call God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spermatick Reason or Form of the World Nevertheless because Zeno and others of the chief Stoical Doctors did also many times assert that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Rational and Intellectual Nature and therefore not a Plastick Principle only in the Matter of the Universe as likewise that the whole World was an Animal and not a mere Plant Therefore we incline rather to excuse the generality of the first and most ancient Stoicks from the imputation of Atheism and to account this Form of Atheism which we now speak of to be but a certain Degeneracy from the right Heraclitick and Zenonian Cabala which seemed to contain these two things in it First that there was an Animalish Sentient and Intellectual Nature or a Conscious Soul and Mind that presided over the whole World though lodged immediately in the Fiery Matter of it Secondly that this Sentient and Intellectual Nature or Corporeal Soul and Mind of the Universe did contain also under it or within it as the inferiour part of it a certain Plastick Nature or Spermatick Principle which was properly the Fate of all things For thus Heraclitus defined Fate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A certain Reason passing through the Substance of the whole World or an Ethereal Body that was the Seed of the Generation of the Vniverse And Zeno's first Principle as it is said to be an Intellectual Nature so it is also said to have contained in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All the Spermatick Reasons and forms by which every thing is done according to Fate However though this seem to have been the genuine Doctrine both of Heraclitus and Zeno yet others of their Followers afterwards divided these two things from one another and taking only the latter of them made the Plastick or Spermatick Nature devoid of all Animality or Conscious Intellectuality to be the highest Principle in the Universe Thus Laertius tells us that Boethus an eminent and famous Stoical Doctor did plainly deny the World to be an Animal that is to have any Sentient Conscious or Intellectual Nature presiding over it and consequently must needs make it to be but Corpus Naturâ gubernante ut Arbores ut Sata A Body governed by a Plastick or Vegetative Nature as Trees Plants and Herbs And as it is possible that other Stoicks and Heracliticks might have done the like before Boethus so it is very probable that he had after him many Followers amongst which as Plinius Secundus may be reckoned for one so Seneca himself was not without a doubtful Tincture of this Atheism as hath been already shewed Wherefore this Form of Atheism which supposes one Plastick or Spermatick Nature one Plantal or Vegetative Life in the whole World as the Highest Principle may for distinction sake be called the Pseudo-Stoical or Stoical Atheism XXIX Besides these Philosophick Atheists whose several Forms we have now described it cannot be doubted but that there have been in all Ages many other Atheists that have not at all Philosophized nor pretended to maintain any particular Atheistick System or Hypothesis in a way of Reason but were only led by a certain dull and sottish though confident Disbelief of whatsoever they could not either See or Feel Which kind of Atheists may therefore well be accompted Enthusiastical or Fanatical Atheists Though it be true in the mean time that even all manner of Atheists whatsoever and those of them who most of all pretend to Reason and Philosophy may in some sence be justly stiled also both Enthusiasts and Fanaticks Forasmuch as they are not led or carried on into this way of Atheizing by any clear Dictates of their Reason or Understanding but only by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain Blind and Irrational Impetus they being as it were Inspired to it by that lower Earthly Life and Nature which is called in the Scripture-oracles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit of the World or a Mundane Spirit and is opposed to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit that is of God For when the Apostle speaks after this manner We have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit that is of God he seems to intimate thus much unto us That as some men were Led and Inspired by a Divine Spirit so others again are Inspired by a Mundane Spirit by which is meant the Earthly Life Now the former of these Two are not to be accompted Enthusiasts as the word is now commonly taken in a Bad Sence because the Spirit of God is no Irrational thing but either the very self same thing with Reason or else such a thing as Aristotle as it were Vaticinating concerning it somewhere calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain Better and Diviner thing than Reason and Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Root of Reason But on the contrary the Mundane Spirit or Earthly Life is Irrational Sottishness and they who are Atheistically Inspired by it how
distinct Plastick Life of its own which are the Stratonick Atheists Wherefore there does not seem to be any room now left for any other Form of Atheism besides these Four to thrust in And we think fit here again to inculcate what hath been already intimated That one Grand Difference amongst these several Forms of Atheism is this That some of them attributing no Life at all to Matter as such nor indeed acknowledging any Plastick Life of Nature distinct from the Animal and supposing every thing whatsoever is in the world besides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bare Substance of Matter considered as devoid of all Qualities that is mere extended Bulk to be Generated and Corrupted consequently resolve that all manner of Life whatsoever is Generable and Corruptible or educible out of Nothing and reducible to Nothing again and these are the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheisms But the other which are the Stoical and Stratonical do on the contrary suppose some Life to be Fundamental and Original Essential and Substantial Ingenerable and Incorruptible as being a First Principle of things Nevertheless this not to be any Animal Conscious and Self-perceptive Life but a Plastick Life of Nature only all Atheists still agreeing in those Two forementioned Things First that there is no other Substance in the World besides Body Secondly that all Animal Life Sense and Self-perception Conscious Vnderstanding and Personality are Generated and Corrupted successively Educed out of Nothing and Reduced into Nothing again XXXII Indeed we are not ignorant that some who seem to be Well-wishers to Atheism have talk'd sometimes of Sensitive and Rational Matter as having a mind to suppose Three several sorts of Matter in the Universe Specifically different from one another that were Originally such and Self-existent from Eternity namely Sensless Sensitive and Rational As if the Mundane System might be conceived to arise from a certain Jumble of these Three several sorts of Matter as it were scuffling together in the Dark without a God and so producing Brute Animals and Men. But as this is a mere Precarious Hypothesis there being no imaginable accompt to be given how there should come to be such an Essential Difference betwixt Matters or why this Piece of Matter should be Sensitive and that Rational when another is altogether Sensless so the Suggestors of it are but mere Novices in Atheism and a kind of Bungling Well-wishers to it First because according to this Hypothesis no Life would be Produced or Destroyed in the successive Generations and Corruptions of Animals but only Concreted and Secreted in them and consequently all humane Personalities must be Eternal and Incorruptible Which is all one as to assert the Prae and Post-existence of all Souls from Eternity to Eternity a thing that all Genuine and Thorow-pac'd Atheists are in a manner as abhorrent from as they are from the Deity it self And Secondly because there can be no imaginable Reason given by them Why there might not be as well a certain Divine Matter perfectly Intellectual and Self-existent from Eternity as a Sensitive and Rational Matter And therefore such an Hypothesis as this can never serve the turn of Atheists But all those that are Masters of the Craft of Atheism and thorowly Catechized or Initiated in the Dark Mysteries thereof as hath been already inculcated do perfectly agree in this That all Animal Sentient and Conscious Life all Souls and Minds and consequently all humane Personalities are Generated out of Matter and Corrupted again into it or rather Educed out of Nothing and Reduced into Nothing again We understand also that there are certain Canting Astrological Atheists who would deduce all things from the Occult Qualities and Influences of the Stars according to their different Conjunctions Oppositions and Aspects in a certain blind and unaccomptable manner But these being Persons devoid of all manner of Sense who neither so much as pretend to give an Accompt of these Stars whether they be Animals or not as also whence they derive their Original which if they did undertake to do Atheistically they must needs resolve themselves at length into one or other of those Hypotheses already proposed therefore as we conceive they deserve not the least Consideration But we think fit here to observe that such Devotoes to the heavenly Bodies as look upon all the other Stars as petty Deities but the Sun as the Supreme Deity and Monarch of the Universe in the mean time conceiving it also to be Perfectly Intellectual which is in a manner the same with the Cleanthean Hypothesis are not so much to be accompted Atheists as Spurious Paganical and Idolatrous Theists And upon all these Considerations we conclude again that there is no other Philosophick Form of Atheism that can easily be devised besides these Four mentioned the Anaximandrian the Democritical the Stoical and the Stratonical XXXIII Amongst which Forms of Atheism there is yet another Difference to be observed and accordingly another Distribution to be made of them It being first premised that all these forementioned Sorts of Atheists if they will speak consistently and agreeably to their own Principles must needs suppose all things to be one way or other Necessary For though Epicurus introduced Contingent Liberty yet it is well known that he therein plainly contradicted his own Principles And this indeed was the First and Principal thing intended by us in this whole Undertaking to confute that False Hypothesis of the Mundane System which makes all Actions and Events Necessary upon Atheistick Grounds but especially in the Mechanick way Wherefore in the next place we must observe that though the Principles of all Atheists introduce Necessity yet the Necessity of these Atheists is not one and the same but of two different kinds some of them supposing a Necessity of Dead and Stupid Matter which is that which is commonly meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Material Necessity and is also called by Aristotle an Absolute Necessity of things Others the Necessity of a Plastick Life which the same Aristotle calls an Hypothetical Necessity For the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheists do both of them assert a Material and Absolute Necessity of all things one in the way of Qualities and the other of Motion and Mechanism But the Stoical and Stratonical Atheists assert a Plastical and Hypothetical Necessity of things only Now one grand Difference betwixt these two Sorts of Atheisms and their Necessities lies in this That the Former though they make all things Necessary yet they suppose them also to be Fortuitous there being no Inconsistency between these Two And the Sence of both the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheisms seems to be thus described by Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things were mingled together by Necessity according to Fortune For that Nature from whence these Atheists derived all things is at once both Necessary and Fortuitous But the Plastick Atheisms suppose such a Necessary Nature for the First Principle of things as is
not merely Fortuitous but Regular Orderly and Methodical the Stoical excluding all Chance and Fortune universally because they subject all things to One Plastick Nature ruling over the whole Universe but the Stratonical doing it in part only because they derive things from a Mixture of Chance and Plastick Nature both together And thus we see that there is a Double Notion of Nature amongst Atheists as well as Theists which we cannot better express than in the words of Balbus the Stoick personated by Cicero Alii Naturam censent esse Vim quandam sine Ratione cientem motus in corporibus necessarios Alii autem Vim participem Ordinis tanquam Viâ progredientem Cujus Solertiam nulla Ars nulla Manus nemo Opifex consequi potest imitando Seminis enim Vim esse tantam ut id quanquam perexiguum nactumque sit Materiam quâ ali augerique possit ita fingat efficiat in suo quidque genere partim ut per stirpes alantur suas partim ut movere etiam possint ex se similia sui generare Some by Nature mean a certain Force without Reason and Order exciting Necessary Motions in Bodies but others understand by it such a Force as participating of Order proceeds as it were Methodically Whose exquisiteness no Art no Hand no Opificer can reach to by Imitation For the Force of Seed is such that though the Bulk of it be very small yet if it get convenient Matter for its nourishment and increase it so Forms and Frames things in their several kinds as that they can partly through their Stocks and Trunks be nourished and partly Move themselves also and Generate their like And again Sunt qui omnia Naturae Nomine appellent ut Epicurus Sed nos cum dicimus Naturâ constare administrarÃque Mundum non ita dicimus ut Glebam aut Fragmentum Lapidis aut aliquid ejusmodi nulla cohaerendi Natura Sed ut Arborem ut Animalia in quibus nulla Temeritas sed Ordo apparet Artis quaedam Similitudo There are some who call all things by the name of Nature as Epicurus But we when we say that the World is administred by Nature do not mean such a Nature as is in Clods of Earth and Pieces of Stone but such as is in a Tree or Animal in whose Constitution there is no Temerity but Order and Similitude of Art Now according to these Two different Notions of Nature the Four forementioned Forms of Atheism may be again Dichotomized after this manner into such as derive all things from a mere Fortuitous and Temerarious Nature devoid of all Order and Methodicalness and such as deduce the Original of things from a certain Orderly Regular and Artificial though Sensless Nature in Matter The former of which are the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheisms the latter the Stoical and Stratonical It hath been already observed that those Atheisms that derive all things from a mere Fortutious Principle as also suppose every thing besides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bare Substance of Matter or Extended Bulk to be Generated and Corrupted though they asserted the Eternity of Matter yet they could not agreeably to their own Hypothesis maintain the Eternity and Incorruptibility of the World And accordingly hereunto both the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheists did conclude the World to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as was at first Made and should be again Corrupted And upon this accompt Lucretius concerns himself highly herein to prove both the Novity of the World and also its Future Dissolution and Extinction that Totum Nativum Mortali Corpore constat But instead of the Worlds Eternity these Two sorts of Atheists introduced another Paradox namely an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Infinity of Worlds and that not only Successive in that space which this World of ours is conceived now to occupy in respect of the Infinity of Past and Future Time but also a Contemporary Infinity of Coexistent Worlds at all times throughout Endless and Unbounded Space However it is certain that some Persons Atheistically inclined have been always apt to run out another way and to suppose that the Frame of things and System of the World ever was from Eternity and ever will be to Eternity such as now it is dispensed by a certain Orderly and Regular but yet Sensless and Vnknowing Nature And it is Prophesied in Scripture that such Atheists as these should especially abound in these latter days of ours There shall come in the last days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheistical Scoffers walking after their own Lusts and saying Where is the promise of his Coming For since the Fathers fell asâ—eep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the Creation Which latter words are spoken only according to the received Hypothesis of the Jews the meaning of these Atheists being quite otherwise that there was neither Creation nor Beginning of the World but that things had continued such as now they are from all Eternity As appears also from what the Apostle there adds by way of Confutation That they were wilfully Ignorant of this that by the word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the Water and in the Water and that as the World that then was overflowing with Water perished so the Heavens Earth which now are by the same word are kept in store and reserved unto Fire against the day of Judgment Perdition of Vngodly men And it is evident that some of these Atheists at this very day march in the garb of Enthusiastical Religionists acknowledging no more a God than a Christ without them and Allegorizing the day of Judgment and future Conflagration into a kind of seemingly Mystical but really Atheistical Non-sence These if they did Philosophize would resolve themselves into one or other of those Two Hypotheses before mentioned either that of One Plastick Orderly and Methodical but Sensless Nature ruling over the whole Universe or else that of the Life of Matter making one or other of these two Natures to be their only God or Numen It being sufficiently agreeable to the Principles of both these Atheistick Hypotheses and no others to maintain the Worlds both Antè and Post-Eternity yet so as that the latter of them namely the Hylozoists admitting a certain Mixture of Chance together with the Life of Matter would suppose that though the main Strokes of things might be preserved the same and some kind of constant Regularity always kept up in the World yet that the whole Mundane System did not in all respects continue the same from Eternity to Eternity without any Variation But as Strabo tells us that Strato Physicus maintained the Euxine Sea at first to have had no Out-let by Byzantium into the Mediterranean but that by the continual running in of Rivers into it causing it to overflow there was in length of time a passage opened by the Propontis and Hellespont As also
that the Mediterranean Sea forced open that passage of the Herculean straits being a continual Isthmus or neck of Land before that many parts of the present Continent were heretofore Sea as also much of the present Ocean habitable Land So it cannot be doubted but that the same Strato did likewise suppose such kind of Alternations and Vicissitudes as these in all the greater parts of the Mundane System But the Stoical Atheists who made the whole World to be dispensed by one Orderly and Plastick Nature might very well and agreeably to their own Hypothesis maintain besides the Worlds Eternity one Constant and Invariable Course or Tenor of things in it as Plinius Secundus doth who if he were any thing seems to have been one of these Atheists Mundum hoc quod nomine alio Coelum appellare libuit cujus circumflexu reguntur cuncta Numen esse credi par est Aeternum Immensum neque Genitum neque Interiturum Idem rerum Naturae Opus rerum ipsa Natura The World and that which by another name is called the Heavens by whose Circumgyration all things are governed ought to be believed to be a Numen Eternal Immense such as was never Made and shall never be Destroyed Where by the way it may be again observed that those Atheists who denied a God according to the True Notion of him as a Conscious Vnderstanding Being presiding over the whole World did notwithstanding look upon either the World it self or else a mere Sensless Plastick Nature in it as a kind of Numen or Deity they supposing it to be Ingenerable and Incorruptible Which same Pliny as upon the grounds of the Stoical Atheism he maintained against the Anaximandrians and Democriticks the Worlds Eternity and Incorruptibility so did he likewise in way of Opposition to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Infinity of Worlds of theirs assert that there was but One World and that Finite In like manner we read concerning that Famous Stoick Boethus whom Laertius affirms to have denied the World to be an Animal which according to the language and sence of those times was all one as to deny a God that he also maintained contrary to the received Doctrine of the Stoicks the Worlds Ante-Eternity and Incorruptibllity Philo in his Treatise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Incorruptibility of the World testifying the same of him Nevertheless it seems that some of these Stoical Atheists did also agree with the Generality of the other Stoical Theists in supposing a successive Infinity of Worlds Generated and Corrupted by reason of intervening Periodical Conflagrations though all dispensed by such a Stupid and Sensless Nature as governs Plants and Trees For thus much we gather from those words of Seneca before cited where describing this Atheistical Hypothesis he tells us that though the World were a Plant that is governed by a Vegetative or Plastick Nature without any Animality yet notwithstanding ab initio ejus usque ad exitum c. it had both a Beginning and will have an End and from its Beginning to its End all was dispensed by a kind of Regular Law even its Successive Conflagrations too as well as those Inundations or Deluges which have sometimes hapned Which yet they understood after such a manner as that in these several Revolutions and Successive Circuits or Periods of Worlds all things should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exactly alike to what had been Infinitely before and should be again Infinitely afterwards Of which more elsewhere XXXIV This Quadripartite Atheism which we have now represented is the Kingdom of Darkness Divided or Labouring with an Intestine Seditious War in its own Bowels and thereby destroying it self Insomuch that we might well save our selves the labour of any further Confutation of Atheism merely by committing these several Forms of Atheism together and dashing them one against another they opposing and contradicting each other no less than they do Theism it self For first those two Pairs of Atheisms on the one hand the Anaximandrian and Democritick on the other the Stoical and Stratonical do absolutely destroy each other the Former of them supposing the First Principle of all things to be Stupid Matter devoid of all manner of Life and contending that all Life as well as other Qualities is Generable and Corruptible or a mere Accidental thing and looking upon the Plastick Life of Nature as a Figment or Phantastick Capritio a thing almost as formidable and altogether as impossible as a Deity the other on the contrary founding all upon this Principle That there is a Life and Natural Perception Essential to Matter Ingenerable and Incorruptible and contending it to be utterly impossible to give any accompt of the Phaenomena of the World the Original of Motion the Orderly Frame and Disposition of things and the Nature of Animals without this Fundamental Life of Nature Again the Single Atheisms belonging to each of these several Pairs quarrel as much also between themselves For the Democritick Atheism explodes the Anaximandrian Qualities and Forms demonstrating that the Natural Production of such Entities out of Nothing and the Corruption of them again into Nothing is of the two rather more impossible than a Divine Creation and Annihilation And on the other side the Anaximandrian Atheist plainly discovers that when the Democriticks and Atomicks have spent all their Fury against these Qualities and Forms and done what they can to salve the Phaenomena of Nature without them another way themselves do notwithstanding like drunken men reel and stagger back again into them and are unavoidably necessitated at last to take up their Sanctuary in them In like manner the Stoical and Stratonical Atheists may as effectually undo and confute each other the Former of them urging against the Latter That besides that Prodigious Absurdity of making every Atom of Sensless Matter Infallibly Wise or Omniscient without any Consciousness there can be no reason at all given by the Hylozoists why the Matter of the whole Universe might not as well Conspire and Confederate together into One as all the single Atoms that compound the Body of any Animal or Man or why one Conscious Life might not as well result from the Totum of the former as of the latter by which means the whole World would become an Animal or God Again the Latter contending that the Stoical or Cosmo-plastick Atheist can pretend no reason why the whole World might not have one Sentient and Rational as well as one Plastick Soul in it that is as well be an Animal as a Plant. Moreover that the Sensitive Souls of Brute Animals and the Rational Souls of Men could never possibly emerge out of one Single Plastick and Vegetative Soul in the whole Universe And lastly that it is altogether as impossible that the whole World should have Life in it and yet none of its Parts have any Life of their own as that the whole World should be White or Black and yet no part of it
Nature for that Motion Wherefore the Divine Law and Command by which the things of Nature are administred must be conceived to be the Real Appointment of some Energetick Effectual and Operative Cause for the Production of every Effect 3. Now to assert the Former of these Two things that all the Effects of Nature come to pass by Material and Mechanical Necessity or the mere Fortuitous Motion of Matter without any Guidance or Direction is a thing no less Irrational than it is Impious and Atheistical Not only because it is utterly Unconceivable and Impossible that such Infinite Regularity and Artificialness as is every where throughout the whole World should constantly result out of the Fortuitous Motion of Matter but also because there are many such Particular Phaenomena in Nature as do plainly transcend the Powers of Mechanism of which therefore no Sufficient Mechanical Reasons can be devised as the Motion of Respiration in Animals as there are also other Phaenomena that are perfectly Cross to the Laws of Mechanism as for Example that of the Distant Poles of the Aequator and Ecliptick which we shall insist upon afterward Of both which kinds there have been other Instances proposed by my Learned Friend Dr. More in his Enchiridion Metaphysicum and very ingeniously improved by him to this very purpose namely to Evince that there is something in Nature besides Mechanism and consequently Substance Incorporeal Moreover those Theists who Philosophize after this manner by resolving all the Corporeal Phaenomena into Fortuitous Mechanism or the Necessary and Vnguided Motion of Matter make God to be nothing else in the World but an Idle Spectator of the Various Results of the Fortuitous and Necessary Motions of Bodies and render his Wisdom altogether Useless and Insignificant as being a thing wholly Inclosed and shut up within his own breast and not at all acting abroad upon any thing without him Furthermore all such Mechanists as these whether Theists or Atheists do according to that Judicious Censure passed by Aristotle long since upon Democritus but substitute as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Carpenters or Artificers Wooden Hand moved by Strings and Wires in stead of a Living Hand They make a kind of Dead and Wooden World as it were a Carved Statue that hath nothing neither Vital nor Magical at all in it Whereas to those who are Considerative it will plainly appear that there is a Mixture of Life or Plastick Nature together with Mechanism which runs through the whole Corporeal Universe And whereas it is pretended not only that all Corporeal Phaenomena may be sufficiently salved Mechanically without any Final Intending and Directive Causality but also that all other Reasons of things in Nature besides the Material and Mechanical are altogether Vnphilosophical the same Aristotle ingeniously exposes the Ridiculousness of this Pretence after this manner telling us That it is just as if a Carpenter Joyner or Carver should give this accompt as the only Satisfactory of any Artificial Fabrick or Piece of Carved Imagery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that because the Instruments Axes and Hatchets Plains and Chissels happened to fall so and so upon the Timber cutting it here and there that therefore it was hollow in one place and plain in another and the like and by that means the whole came to be of such a Form For is it not altogether as Absurd and Ridiculous for men to undertake to give an accompt of the Formation and Organization of the Bodies of Animals by mere Fortuitous Mechanism without any Final or Intending Causality as why there was an Heart here and Brains there and why the Heart had so many and such different Valves in the Entrance and Out-let of its Ventricles and why all the other Organick Parts Veins and Arteries Nerves and Muscles Bones and Cartilages with the Joints and Members were of such a Form Because forsooth the Fluid Matter of the Seed happened to move so and so in several places and thereby to cause all those Differences which are also divers in different Animals all being the Necessary Result of a certain Quantity of Motion at first indifferently impressed upon the small Particles of the Matter of this Universe turned round in a Vortex But as the same Aristotle adds no Carpenter or Artificer is so simple as to give such an Accompt as this and think it satisfactory but he will rather declare that himself directed the Motion of the Instruments after such a manner and in order to such Ends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Carpenter would give a better account than so for he would not think it sufficient to say that the Fabrick came to be of such a form because the Instruments happened to fall so and so but he will tell you that it was because himself made such strokes and that he directed the Instruments and determined their motion after such a manner to this End that he might make the Whole a Fabrick fit and useful for such purposes And this is to assign the Final Cause And certainly there is scarcely any man in his Wits that will not acknowledge the Reason of the different Valves in the Heart from the apparent Usefulness of them according to those particular Structures of theirs to be more Satisfactory than any which can be brought from mere Fortuitous Mechanism or the Unguided Motion of the Seminal Matter 4. And as for the Latter Part of the Disjunction That every thing in Nature should be done Immediately by God himself this as according to Vulgar Apprehension it would render Divine Providence Operose Sollicitous and Distractious and thereby make the Belief of it to be entertained with greater difficulty and give advantage to Atheists so in the Judgment of the Writer De Mundo it is not so Decorous in respect of God neither that he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 set his own Hand as it were to every Work and immediately do all the Meanest and Triflingest things himself Drudgingly without making use of any Inferior and Subordinate Instruments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If it were not congruous in respect of the State Majesty of Xerxes the Great King of Persia that he should condescend to do all the meanest Offices himself much less can this be thought decorous in respect of God But it seems far more August and becoming of the Divine Majesty that a certain Power and Vertue derived from him and passing through the Vniverse should move the Sun and Moon and be the Immediate Cause of those lower things done here upon Earth Moreover it seems not so agreeable to Reason neither that Nature as a Distinct thing from the Deity should be quite Superseded or made to Signifie Nothing God himself doing all things Immediately and Miraculously from whence it would follow also that they are all done either Forcibly and Violently or else Artificially only and none of them by any Inward Principle of their own Lastly
And therefore though it be One yet notwithstanding it consists of Different and Contrary things For there being Hostility in its Parts it is nevertheless Friendly and Agreeable in the Whole after the same manner as in a Dramatick Poem Clashings and Contentions are reconciled into one Harmony And therefore the Seminary and Plastick Nature of the World may fitly be resembled to the Harmony of Disagreeing things Which Plotinick Doctrine may well pass for a Commentary upon Empedocles accordingly as Simplicius briefly represents his sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Empedocles makes Two Worlds the one Vnited and Intelligible the other Divided and Sensible and in this lower Sensible World he takes notice both of Vnity and Discord It was before observed that Heraclitus likewise did assert a Regular and Artificial Nature as the Fate of things in this Lower World for his Reason passing thorough the Substance of all things or Ethereal Body which was the Seed of the Generation of the Vniverse was nothing but that Spermatick or Plastick Nature which we now speak of And whereas there is an odd Passage of this Philosophers recorded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that neither any God nor Man made this World which as it is justly derided by Plutarch for its Simplicity so it looks very Atheistically at first sight yet because Heraclitus hath not been accompted an Atheist we therefore conceive the meaning of it to have been this That the World was not made by any whatsoever after such a manner as an Artificer makes an House by Machins and Engins acting from without upon the Matter Cumbersomly and Moliminously but by a certain Inward Plastick Nature of its own And as Hippocrates followed Heraclitus in this as was before declared so did Zeno and the Stoicks also they supposing besides an Intellectual Nature as the Supreme Architect and Master-builder of the World another Plastick Nature as the Immediate Workman and Operatour Which Plastick Nature hath been already described in the words of Balbus as a thing which acts not Fortuitously but Regularly Orderly and Artificially and Laertius tells us it was defined by Zeno himself after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature is a Habit moved from it self according to Spermatick Reasons or Seminal Principles perfecting and containing those several things which in determinate times are produced from it and acting agreeably to that from which it was secreted Lastly as the Latter Platonists and Peripateticks have unanimously followed their Masters herein whose Vegetative Soul also is no other than a Plastick Nature so the Chymists and Paracelsians insist much upon the same thing and seem rather to have carried the Notion on further in the Bodies of Animals where they call it by a new name of their own the Archeus Moreover we cannot but observe here that as amongst the Ancients They were generally condemned for down-right Atheists who acknowledged no other Principle besides Body or Matter Necessarily and Fortuitously moved such as Democritus and the first Ionicks so even Anaxagoras himself notwithstanding that he was a professed Theist and plainly asserted Mind to be a Principle yet because he attributed too much to Material Necessity admitting neither this Plastick Nature nor a Mundane Soul was severely censured not only by the Vulgar who unjustly taxed him for an Atheist but also by Plato and Aristotle as a kind of spurious and imperfect Theist and one who had given great advantage to Atheism Aristotle in his Metaphysicks thus represents his Philosophy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anaxagoras useth Mind and Intellect that is God as a Machin in the Cosmopoeia and when he is at a loss to give an accompt of things by Material Necessity then and never but then does he draw in Mind or God to help him out but otherwise he will rather assign any thing else for a Cause than Mind Now if Aristotle censure Anaxagoras in this manner though a professed Theist because he did but seldom make use of a Mental Cause for the salving of the Phaenomena of the World and only then when he was at a loss for other Material and Mechanical Causes which it seems he sometimes confessed himself to be what would that Philosopher have thought of those our so confident Mechanists of later times who will never vouchsafe so much as once to be beholding to God Almighty for any thing in the Oeconomy of the Corporeal World after the first Impression of Motion upon the Matter Plato likewise in his Phaedo and elsewhere condemns this Anaxagoras by name for this very thing that though he acknowledged Mind to be a Cause yet he seldom made use of it for salving the Phaenomena but in his twelfth de Legibus he perstringeth him Unnamed as one who though a professed Theist had notwithstanding given great Encouragement to Atheism after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some of them who had concluded that it was Mind that ordered all things in the Heavens themselves erring concerning the Nature of the Soul and not making that Older than the Body have overturned all again for Heavenly Bodies being supposed by them to be full of Stones and Earth and other Inanimate things dispensing the Causes of the whole Vniverse they did by this means occasion much Atheism and Impiety Furthermore the same Plato there tells us that in those times of his Astronomers and Physiologers commonly lay under the prejudice and suspicion of Atheism amongst the vulgar merely for this reason because they dealt so much in Material Causes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Vulgar think that they who addict themselves to Astronomy and Physiology are made Atheists thereby they seeing as much as is possible how things come to pass by Material Necessities and being thereby disposed to think them not to be ordered by Mind and Will for the sake of Good From whence we may observe that according to the Natural Apprehensions of Men in all Ages they who resolve the Phaenomena of Nature into Material Necessity allowing of no Final nor Mental Causality disposing things in order to Ends have been strongly suspected for Friends to Atheism 7. But because some may pretend that the Plastick Nature is all one with an Occult Quality we shall here show how great a Difference there is betwixt these Two For he that asserts an Occult Quality for the Cause of any Phaenomenon does indeed assign no Cause at all of it but only declare his own Ignorance of the Cause but he that asserts a Plastick Nature assigns a Determinate and proper Cause nay the only Intelligible Cause of that which is the greatest of all Phaenomena in the World namely the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Orderly Regular and Artificial Frame of things in the Universe whereof the Mechanick Philosophers however pretending to salve all Phaenomena by Matter and Motion assign no Cause at all Mind and Understanding is the only true Cause of Orderly Regularity and he that asserts a Plastick Nature asserts Mental Causality in
the World but the Fortuitous Mechanists who exploding Final Causes will not allow Mind and Vnderstanding to have any Influence at all upon the Frame of things can never possibly assign any Cause of this Grand Phaenomenon unless Confusion may be said to be the Cause of Order and Fortune or Chance of Constant Regularity and therefore themselves must resolve it into an Occult Quality Nor indeed does there appear any great reason why such men should assert an Infinite Mind in the World since they do not allow it to act any where at all and therefore must needs make it to be in Vain 8. Now this Plastick Nature being a thing which is not without some Difficulty in the Conception of it we shall here endeavour to do these Two things concerning it First to set down a right Representation thereof and then afterwards to show how extremely the Notion of it hath been Mistaken Perverted and Abused by those Atheists who would make it to be the only God Almighty or First Principle of all things How the Plastick Nature is in general to be conceiv'd Aristotle instructs us in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the Naupegical Art that is the Art of the Shipwright were in the Timber it self Operatively and Effectually it would there act just as Nature doth And the Case is the same for all other Arts If the Oecodomical Art which is in the Mind of the Architect were supposed to be transfused into the Stones Bricks and Mortar there acting upon them in such a manner as to make them come together of themselves and range themselves into the Form of a complete Edifice as Amphion was said by his Harp to have made the Stones move and place themselves Orderly of their own accord and so to have built the Walls of Thebes Or if the Musical Art were conceived to be immediately in the Instruments and Strings animating them as a Living Soul and making them to move exactly according to the Laws of Harmony without any External Impulse These and such like Instances in Aristotle's Judgment would be fit Iconisms or Representations of the Plastick Nature That being Art it self acting Immediately upon the Matter as an inward Principle in it To which purpose the same Philosopher adds that this thing might be further illustrated by an other Instance or Resemblence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature may be yet more clearly Resembled to the Medicinal Art when it is imployed by the Physician in curing himself So that the meaning of this Philosopher is that Nature is to be conceived as Art Acting not from without and at a Distance but Immediately upon the thing it self which is Formed by it And thus we have the first General Conception of the Plastick Nature That it is Art it self acting immediately on the Matter as an Inward Principle 9. In the next Place we are to observe that though the Plastick Nature be a kind of Art yet there are some Considerable Preeminences which it hath above Humane Art the First whereof is this That whereas Humane Art cannot act upon the Matter otherwise than from without and at a distance nor communicate it self to it but with a great deal of Tumult and Hurliburly Noise and Clatter it using Hands and Axes Saws and Hammers and after this manner with much ado by Knocking 's and Thrustings slowly introducing its Form or Idea as for Example of a Ship or House into the Materials Nature in the mean time is another kind of Art which Insinuating it self Immediately into things themselves and there acting more Commandingly upon the Matter as an Inward Principle does its Work Easily Cleaverly and Silently Nature is Art as it were Incorporated and Imbodied in matter which doth not act upon it from without Mechanically but from within Vitally and Magically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Here are no Hands nor Feet nor any Instrument Connate or Adventitious there being only need of Matter to work upon and to be brought into a certain Form and Nothing else For it is manifest that the Operation of Nature is different from Mechanism it doing not its Work by Trusion or Pulsion by Knocking 's or Thrustings as if it were without that which it wrought upon But as God is Inward to every thing so Nature Acts Immediately upon the Matter as an Inward and Living Soul or Law in it 10. Another Preeminence of Nature above Humane Art is this That whereas Humane Artists are often to seek and at a loss and therefore Consult and Deliberate as also upon second thoughts mend their former Work Nature on the contrary is never to seek what to do nor at a stand and for that Reason also besides another that will be Suggested afterwards it doth never Consult nor Deliberate Indeed Aristotle Intimates as if this had been the Grand Objection of the old Atheistick Philosophers against the Plastick Nature That because we do not see Natural Bodies to Consult or Deliberate therefore there could be Nothing of Art Counsel or Contrivanee in them but all came to pass Fortuitously But he confutes it after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is absurd for Men to think nothing to be done for Ends if they do not see that which moves to consult although Art it self doth not Consult Whence he concludes that Nature may Act Artificially Orderly and Methodically for the sake of Ends though it never Consult or Deliberate Indeed Humane Artists themselves do not Consult properly as they are Artists but when ever they do it it is for want of Art and because they are to seek their Art being Imperfect and Adventitious but Art it self or Perfect Art is never to seek and therefore doth never Consult or Deliberate And Nature is this Art which never hesitates nor studies as unresolved what to do but is always readily prompted nor does it ever repent afterwards of what it hath formerly done or go about as it were upon second thoughts to alter and mend its former Course but it goes on in one Constant Unrepenting Tenor from Generation to Generation because it is the Stamp or Impress of that Infallibly Omniscient Art of the Divine Understanding which is the very Law and Rule of what is Simply the Best in every thing And thus we have seen the Difference between Nature and Humane Art that the Latter is Imperfect Art acting upon the Matter from without and at a Distance but the Former is Art it self or Perfect Art acting as an Inward Principle in it Wherefore when Art is said to imitate Nature the meaning thereof is that Imperfect Humane Art imitates that Perfect Art of Nature which is really no other than the Divine Art it self as before Aristotle Plato had declared in his Sophist in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those things which are said to be done by Nature are indeed done by Divine Art 11. Notwithstanding which we are to take notice in the next place that as Nature
and Diligent Inquirer into Nature before commended resolves Natura tanquam Fato quodam seu Mandato secundùm Leges operante movet Nature moveth as it were by a kind of Fate or Command acting according to Laws Fate and the Laws or Commands of the Deity concerning the Mundane Oeconomy they being really the same thing ought not to be looked upon neither as Verbal things nor as mere Will and Cogitation in the Mind of God but as an Energetical and Effectual Principle constituted by the Deity for the bringing of things decreed to pass The Aphrodisian Philosopher with others of the Ancients have concluded that Fate and Nature are but two different Names for one and the same thing and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both that which is done Fatally is done Naturally and also whatever is done Naturally is done Fatally but that which we assert in this place is only this that the Plastick Nature may be said to be the True and Proper Fate of Matter or the Corporeal World Now that which acts not by any Knowledge or Fancy Will or Appetite of its own but only Fatally according to Laws and Impresses made upon it but differently in different Cases may be said also to act Magically and Sympathetically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The true Magick is the Friendship and Discord that is in the Vniverse and again Magick is said to be founded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Sympathy and Variety of diverse Powers conspiring together into one Animal Of which Passages though the Principal meaning seem to be this that the ground of Magical Fascination is one Vital Vnitive Principle in the Universe yet they imply also that there is a certain Vital Energy not in the way of Knowledge and Fancy Will and Animal Appetite but Fatally Sympathetical and Magical As indeed that Mutual Sympathy which we have constant Expâ—rience of betwixt our Soul and our Body being not a Material and Mechanical but Vital thing may be called also Magical 19. From what hath been hitherto declared concerning the Plastick Nature it may appear That though it be a thing that acts for Ends Artificially and which may be also called the Divine Art and the Fate of the Corporeal World yet for all that it is neither God nor Goddess but a Low and Imperfect Creature Forasmuch as it is not Master of that Reason and Wisdom according to which it acts nor does it properly Intend those Ends which it acts for nor indeed is it Expresly Conscious of what it doth it not Knowing but only Doing according to Commands Laws imprest upon it Neither of which things ought to seem strange or incredible since Nature may as well act Regularly and Artificially without any Knowledge and Consciousness of its own as Forms of Letters compounded together may Print Coherent Philosophick Sence though they understand nothing at all and it may also act for the sake of those Ends that are not intended by it self but some Higher Being as well as the Saw or Hatchet in the hand of the Architect or Mechanick doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Ax cuts for the sake of something though it self does not ratiocinate nor intend or design any thing but is only subservient to that which does so It is true that our Humane Actions are not governed by such exact Reason Art and Wisdom nor carried on with such Constancy Eavenness and Uniformity as the Actions of Nature are notwithstanding which since we act according to a Knowledge of our own and are Masters of that Wisdom by which our Actions are directed since we do not act Fatally only but Electively and Intendingly with Consciousness and Self-perception the Rational Life that is in us ought to be accompted a much Higher and more Noble Perfection than that Plastick Life of Nature Nay this Plastick Nature is so far from being the First and Highest Life that it is indeed the Last and Lowest of all Lives it being really the same thing with the Vegetative which is Inferiour to the Sensitive The difference betwixt Nature and Wisdom was before observed that Wisdom is the First and Highest thing but Nature the Last and Lowest this latter being but an Umbratile Imitation of the former And to this purpose this Plastick Nature is further described by the same Philosopher in these Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spermatick Reason or Plastick Nature is no pure Mind or perfect Intellect nor any kind of pure Soul neither but something which depends upon it being as it were an Effulgency or Eradiation from both together Mind and Soul or Soul affected according to Mind generating the same as a Lower kind of Life And though this Plastick Nature contain no small part of Divine Providence in it yet since it is a thing that cannot act Electively nor with Discretion it must needs be granted that there is a Higher and Diviner Providence than this which also presides over the Corporeal World it self which was a thing likewise insisted upon by that Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things in the world are not administred merely by Spermatick Reasons but by Perileptick that is Comprehensive Intellectual Reasons which are in order of Nature before the other because in the Spermatick Reasons cannot be contained that which is contrary to them c. Where though this Philosopher may extend his Spermatick Reasons further than we do our Plastick Nature in this place which is only confined to the Motions of Matter yet he concludes that there is a higher Principle presiding over the Universe than this So that it is not Ratio mersa confusa a Reason drowned in Matter and confounded with it which is the Supreme Governour of the World but a Providence perfectly Intellectual Abstract and Released 20. But though the Plastick Nature be the Lowest of all Lives nevertheless since it is a Life it must needs be Incorporeal all Life being such For Body being nothing but Antitypous Extension or Resisting Bulk nothing but mere Outside Aliud extra Aliud together with Passive Capability hath no Internal Energy Self-activity or Life belonging to it it is not able so much as to Move it self and therefore much less can it Artificially direct its own Motion Moreover in the Efformation of the Bodies of Animals it is One and the self-same thing that directs the Whole that which Contrives and Frames the Eye cannot be a distinct thing from that which Frames the Ear nor that which makes the Hand from that which makes the Foot the same thing which delineates the Veins must also form the Arteries and that which fabricates the Nerves must also project the Muscles and Joynts it must be the same thing that designs and Organizes the Heart and Brain with such Communications betwixt them One and the self-same thing must needs have in it the entire Idea and the complete Model or Platform of the whole Organick Body For the
of a Wooden Hand For thus these Physiologers declare the Generations and Causes of Figures only or the Matter out of which things are made as Air and Earth Whereas no Artificer would think it sufficient to render such a Cause of any Artificial Fabrick because the Instrument happened to fall so upon the Timber that therefore it was Hollow here and Plane there but rather because himself made such strokes and for such Ends c. Now in the close of all this Philosopher at length declares That there is another Principle of Corporeal things besides the Material and such as is not only the Cause of Motion but also acts Artificially in order to Ends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is such a thing as that which we call Nature that is not the Fortuitous Motion of Sensless Matter but a Plastick Regular and Artificial Nature such as acts for Ends and Good declaring in the same place what this Nature is namely that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soul or Part of Soul or not without Soul and from thence inferring that it properly belongs to a Physiologer to treat concerning the Soul also But he concludes afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the whole Soul is not Nature whence it remains that according to Aristotle's sence Nature is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either part of a Soul or not without Soul that is either a lower Part or Faculty of some Conscious Soul or else an Inferiour kind of Life by it self which is not without Soul but Suborditate to it and dependent on it 22. As for the Bodies of Animals Aristotle first resolves in General that Nature in them is either the whole Soul or else some part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature as the Moving Principle or as that which acts Artificially for Ends so far as concerns the Bodies of Animals is either the whole Soul or else some Part of it But afterward he determines more particularly that the Plastick Nature is not the whole Soul in Animals but only some part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Nature in Animals properly so called is some Lower Power or Faculty lodged in their respective Souls whether Sensitive or Rational And that there is Plastick Nature in the Souls of Animals the same Aristotle elsewhere affirms and proves after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What is that which in the Bodies of Animals holds together such things as of their own Nature would otherwise move contrary ways and flie asunder as Fire and Earth which would be distracted and dissipated the one tending upwards the other downwards were there not something to hinder them now if there be any such thing this must be the Soul which is also the Cause of Nourishment and Augmentation Where the Philosopher adds that though some were of Opinion that Fire was that which was the Cause of Nourishment and Augmentation in Animals yet this was indeed but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only the Concause or Instrument and not simply the Cause but rather the Soul And to the same purpose he philosophizeth elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither is Concoction by which Nourishment is made in Animals done without the Soul nor without Heat for all things are done by Fire And certainly it seems very agreeable to the Phaenomena to acknowledge something in the Bodies of Animals Superiour to Mechanism as that may well be thought to be which keeps the more fluid parts of them constantly in the same Form and Figure so as not to be enormously altered in their Growth by disproportionate nourishment that which restores Flesh that was lost consolidates dissolved Continuities Incorporates the newly received Nourishment and joyns it Continuously with the preexistent parts of Flesh and Bone which regenerates and repairs Veins consumed or cut off which causes Dentition in so regular a manner and that not only in Infants but also Adult persons that which casts off Excrements and dischargeth Superfluities which makes things seem ungrateful to an Interiour Sense that were notwithstanding pleasing to the Taste That Nature of Hippocrates that is the Curatrix of Diseases 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that Archeus of the Chymists or Paracelsians to which all Medicaments are but Subservient as being able to effect nothing of themselves without it I say there seems to be such a Principle as this in the Bodies of Animals which is not Mechanical but Vital and therefore since Entities are not to be multiplied without necessity we may with Aristotle conclude it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain part of the Soul of those Animals or a Lower Inconscious Power lodged in them 23. Besides this Plastick Nature which is in Animals forming their several Bodies Artificially as so many Microcosms or Little Worlds there must be also a general Plastick Nature in the Macrocosm the whole Corporeal Universe that which makes all things thus to conspire every where and agree together into one Harmony Concerning which Plastick Nature of the Universe the Author de Mundo writes after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Power passing thorough all things ordered and formed the whole World Again he calls the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Spirit and a Living and Generative Nature and plainly declares it to be a thing distinct from the Deity but Subordinate to it and dependent on it But Aristotle himself in that genuine Work of his before mentioned speaks clearly and positively concerning this Plastick Nature of the Universe as well as that of Animals in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It seemeth that as there is Art in Artificial things so in the things of Nature there is another such like Principle or Cause which we our selves partake of in the same manner as we do of Heat and Cold from the Vniverse Wherefore it is more probable that the whole World was at fiâ—st made by such a Cause as this if at least it were made and that it is still conserved by the same than that Mortal Animals should be so For there is much more of Order and determinate Regularity in the Heavenly Bodies than in our selves but more of Fortuitousness and inconstant Regularity among these Mortal things Notwithstanding which some there are who though they cannot but acknowledge that the Bodies of Animals were all framed by an Artificial Nature yet they will needs contend that the System of the Heavens sprung merely from Fortune and Chance although there be not the least appearance of Fortuitousness or Temerity in it And then he sums up all into this Conclusion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore it is manifest that there is some such thing as that which we call Nature that is that there is not only an Artificial Methodical and Plastick Nature in Animals by which their respective Bodies are Framed and Conserved but also that there is such a General Plastick Nature likewise in the Vniverse by which the Heavens
and whole World are thus Artificially Ordered and Disposed 24. Now whereas Aristotle in the forecited Words tells us that we partake of Life and Understanding from that in the Universe after the same manner as we partake of Heat and Cold from that Heat and Cold that is in the Universe It is observable that this was a Notion borrowed from Socrates as we understand both from Xenophon and Plato that Philosopher having used it as an Argumentation to prove a Deity And the Sence of it is represented after this manner by the Latin Poet Principio Coelum ac Terram Campósque Liquentes Lucentémque Globum Lunae Titaniáque Astra Spiritus intus alit totósque Infusa per Artus Mens agitat Molem Magno se Corpore miscet Inde Hominum Pecudúmque Genus Vitaeque Volantûm From whence it may be collected that Aristotle did suppose this Plastick Nature of the Vniverse to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Either Part of some Mundane Soul that was also Conscious and Intellectual as that Plastick Nature in Animals is or at least some Inferiour Principle depending on such a Soul And indeed whatever the Doctrine of the modern Peripateticks be we make no doubt at all but that Aristotle himself held the Worlds Animation or a Mundane Soul Forasmuch as he plainly declares himself concerning it elsewhere in his Book De Coelo after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But we commonly think of the Heavens as nothing else but Bodies and Monads having only a certain Order but altogether inaâ—imate whâ—râ—as we ought on the contrary to conceive of them as partaking of Life and Action that is as being endued with a Rational or Intellectual Life For so Simplicius there rightly expounds the place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But we ought to think of the Heavens as Animated with a Rational Soul and thereby partaking of Action and Rational Life For saith he though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be affirmed not only of Irrational Souls but also of Inanimate Bodies yet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does only denominate Rational Beings But further to take away all manner of scruple or doubt concerning this business that Philosopher before in the same Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affirmeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Heaven is Animated and hath a Principle of Motion within it self Where by the Heaven as in many other places of Aristotle and Plato is to be understood the Whole World There is indeed One Passage in the same Book De Coelo which at first sight and slightly considered may seem to contradict this again and therefore probably is that which hath led many into a contrary Perswasion that Aristotle denied the Worlds Animation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is not reasonable neither to think that the Heavens continue to Eternity moved by a Soul necessitating or violently compelling them Nor indeed is it possible that the Life of such a Soul should be pleasurable or happy Forasmuch as the continual Violent Motion of a Body naturally inclining to move another way must needs be a very unquiet thing and void of all Mental Repose especially when there is no such Relaxation as the Souls of Mortal Animals have by sleep and therefore such a Soul of the World as this must of necessity be condemned to an Eternal Ixionian Fate But in these Words Aristotle does not deny the Heavens to be moved by a Soul of their own which is positively affirmed by him elsewhere but only by such a Soul as should Violently and Forcibly agitate or drive them round contrary to their own Natural Inclination whereby in the mean time they tended downwards of themselves towards the Centre And his sence concerning the Motion of the Heavens is truly represented by Simplicius in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole World or Heaven being as well a natural as an Animalish Body is moved properly by Soul but yet by means of Nature also as an Instrument so that the Motion of it is not Violent But whereas Aristotle there insinuates as if Plato had held the Heavens to be moved by a Soul violently contrary to their Nature Simplicius though sufficiently addicted to Aristotle ingenuously acknowledges his Error herein and vindicating Plato from that Imputation shews how he likewise held a Plastick Nature as well as a Mundane Soul and that amongst his Ten Instances of Motion the Ninth is that of Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which always moves another being it self changed by something else as the Tenth that of the Mundane Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which originally both moves it self and other things as if his Meaning in that place were That though Nature be a Life and Internal Energy yet it acts Subserviently to a Higher Soul as the First Original Mover But the Grand Objection against Aristotle's holding the Worlds Animation is still behind namely from that in his Metaphysicks where he determines the Highest Starry Heaven to be moved by an Immoveable Mover commonly supposed to be the Deity it self and no Soul of the World and all the other Spheres likewise to be moved by so many Separate Intelligencies and not by Souls To which we reply that indeed Aristotle's First Immoveable Mover is no Mundane Soul but an Abstract Intellect Separate from Matter and the very Deity it self whose manner of moving the Heavens is thus described by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It Moveth only as being Loved wherefore besides this Supreme Vnmoved Mover that Philosopher supposed another Inferiour Moved Mover also that is a Mundane Soul as the Proper and Immediate Efficient Cause of the Heavenly Motions of which he speaks after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which it self being moved objectively or by Appetite and Desire of the First Good moveth other things And thus that safe and sure-footed Interpreter Alex. Aphrodisius expounds his Masters Meaning That the Heaven being Animated and therefore indeed Moved by an Internal Principle of its own is notwithstanding Originally moved by a certain Immoveable and Separate Nature which is above Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both by its contemplating of it and having an Appetite and Desire of assimilating it self thereunto Aristotle seeming to have borrowed this Notion from Plato who makes the Constant Regular Circumgyration of the Heavens to be an Imitation of the Motion or Energy of Intellect So that Aristotle's First Mover is not properly the Efficient but only the Final and Objective Cause of the Heavenly Motions the Immediate Efficient Cause thereof being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soul and Nature Neither may this be Confuted from those other Aristotelick Intelligences of the Lesser Orbs that Philosopher conceiving in like manner concerning them that they were also the Abstract Minds or Intellects of certain other inferiour Souls which moved their several Respective Bodies or Orbs Circularly and Uniformly in a kind of Imitation of them For this plainly appears from hence in that he
aâ—firms of these his Inferiour Intelligences likewise as well as of the Supreme Mover that they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Move only as the end Where it is Evident that though Aristotle did plainly suppose a Mundane Intellectual Soul such as also conteined either in it or under it a Plastick Nature yet he did not make either of these to be the Supreme Deity but resolved the First Principle of things to be One Absolutely Perfect Mind or Intellect Separate from Matter which was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Immoveable Nature whose Essence was his Operation and which Moved only as being Lovâ—d or as the Final Cause of which he pronounces in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That upon such a Principle as this Heaven and Nature depends that is the Animated Heaven or Mundane Soul together with the Plastick Nature of the Universe must of necessity depend upon such an Absolutely Perfect and Immoveable Mind or Intellect Having now declared the Aristotelick Doctrine concerning the Plastick Nature of the Universe with which the Platonick also agrees that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either Part of a Mundane Intellectual Soul that is a Lower Power and Faculty of it or else not without it but some inferior thing depending on it we think sit to add in this place that though there were no such Mundane Soul as both Plato and Aristotle supposed distinct from the Supreme Deity yet thâ—re might notwithstanding be a Plastick Nature of the Universe depending immediately upon the Deity it self For the Plastick Nature essentially depends upon Mind or Intellect and could not possibly be without it according to those words before cited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature depends upon such an Intellectual Principle and for this Cause that Philosopher does elsewhere joyn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind and Nature both together 25. Besides this General Plastick Nature of the Universe and those Particular Plastick Powers in the Souls of Animals it is not impossible but that there may be other Plastick Natures also as certain Lower Lives or Vegetative Souls in some Greater Parts of the Universe all of them depending if not upon some higher Conscious Soul yet at least upon a Perfect Intellect presiding over the whole As for Example Though it be not reasonable to think that every Plant Herb and Pile of Grass hath a Particular Plastick Life or Vegetative Soul of its own distinct from the Mechanism of the Body nor that the whole Earth is an Animal endued with a Conscious Soul yet there may possibly be for ought we know one Plastick Nature or Life belonging to the whole Terrestrial or Terraqueous Globe by which all Plants and Vegetables continuous with it may be differently formed according to their different Seeds as also Minerals and other Bodies framed and whatsoever else is above the Power of Fortuitous Mechanism effected as by the Immediate Cause though always Subordinate to other Causes the chief whereof is the Deity And this perhaps may ease the Minds of those who cannot but think it too much to impose all upon one Plastick Nature of the Universe 26. And now we have finished our First Task which was to give an Accompt of the Plastick Nature the Sum whereof briefly amounts to this That it is a certain Lower Life than the Animal which acts Regularly and Artificially according to the Direction of Mind and Vnderstanding Reason and Wisdom for Ends or in Order to Good though it self do not know the Reason of what it does nor is Master of that Wisdom according to which it acts but only a Servant to it and Drudging Executioner of the same it operating Fatally and Sympathetically according to Laws and Commands prescribed to it by a Perfect Intellect and imprest upon it and which is either a Lower Faculty of some Conscious Soul or else an Inferiour kind of Life or Soul by it self but essentially depending upon an Higher Intellect We procede to our Second Vndertaking which was to shew how grosly those Two Sorts of Atheists before mentioned the Stoical or Cosmo-plastick and the Stratonical or Hylozoick both of them acknowledging this Plastick Life of Nature do mistake the Notion of it or Pervert it and Abuse it to make a certain Spurious and Counterfeit God-Almighty of it or a First Principle of all things thereby excluding the True Omnipotent Deity which is a Perfect Mind or Consciously Vnderstanding Nature presiding over the Universe they substituting this Stupid Plastick Nature in the room of it Now the Chief Errors or Mistakes of these Atheists concerning the Plastick Nature are these Four following First that they make that to be the First Principle of all and the Highest thing in the Universe which is the Last and Lowest of all Lives a thing Essentially Secondary Derivative and Dependent For the Plastick Life of Nature is but the mere Vmbrage of Intellectuality a faint and shadowy Imitation of Mind and Vnderstanding upon which it doth as Essentially depend as the Shadow doth upon the Body the Image in the Glass upon the Face or the Eccho upon the Original Voice So that if there had been no Perfect Mind or Intellect in the World there could no more have been any Plastick Nature in it than there could be an Image in the Glass without a Face or an Eccho without an Original Voice If there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if there be a Plastick Nature that acts Regularly and Artificially in Order to Ends and according to the Best Wisdom though it self not comprehending the reason of it nor being clearly Conscious of what it doth then there must of necessity be a Perfect Mind or Intellect that is a Deity upon which it depends Wherefore Aristotle does like a Philosopher in joyning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature and Mind both together but these Atheists do very Absurdly and Unphilosophically that would make a Sensless and Inconscious Plastick Nature and therefore without any Mind or Intellect to be the First Original of all things Secondly these Atheists augment the Former Error in supposing those Higher Lives of Sense or Animality and of Reason or Vnderstanding to rise both of them from that Lower Sensless Life of Nature as the only Original Fundamental Life Which is a thing altogether as Irrational and Absurd as if one should suppose the Light that is in the Air or Aether to be the Only Original and Fundamental Light and the Light of the Sun and Stars but a Secondary and Derivative thing from it and nothing but the Light of the Air Modificated and Improved by Condensation Or as if one should maintain that the Sun and Moon and all the Stars were really nothing else but the mere Reflections of those Images that we see in Rivers and Ponds of Water But this hath always been the Sottish Humour and Guise of Atheists to invert the Order of the
Universe and hang the Picture of the World as of a Man with its Heels upwards Conscious Reason and Vnderstanding being a far higher Degree of Life and Perfection than that Dull Plastick Nature which does only Do but not Know can never possibly emerge out of it neither can the Duplication of Corporeal Organs be ever able to advance that Simple and Stupid Life of Nature into Redoubled Consciousness or Self-perception nor any Triplication or indeed Milleclupation of them improve the same into Rea-Vnderstanding Thirdly for the better Colouring of the Former Errors the Hylozoists adulterate the Notion of the Plastick Life of Nature confounding it with Wisdom and Vnderstanding And though themselves acknowledge that no Animal-sense Self-perception and Consciousness belongs to it yet they will have it to be a thing Perfectly Wise and consequently every Atom of Sensless Matter that is in the whole World to be Infallibly Omniscient as to all its own Capacities and Congruities or whatsoever it self can Do or Suffer which is plainly Contradictious For though there may be such a thing as the Plastick Nature that according to the Former Description of it can Do without Knowing and is devoid of Express Consciousness or Self-perception yet Perfect Knowledge and Vnderstanding without Consciousness is Non-sence and Impossibility Wherefore this must needs be condemned for a great piece of Sottishness in the Hylozoick Atheists that they attribute Perfect Wisdom and Vnderstanding to a Stupid Inconscious Nature which is nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mere Drudging Instrument or Manuary Opificer of Perfect Mind Lastly these Atheists err in this that they make this Plastick Life of Nature to be a mere Material or Corporeal thing whereas Matter or Body cannot move it self much less therefore can it Artificially order and dispose its own Motion And though the Plastick Nature be indeed the Lowest of all Lives yet notwithstanding since it is a Life or Internal Energy and Self-activity distinct from Local Motion it must needs be Incorporeal all Life being Essentially such But the Hylozoists conceive grosly both of Life and Vnderstanding spreading them all over upon Matter just as Butter is spread upon Bread or Plaster upon a Wall and accordingly slicing them out in different Quantities and Bulks together with it they contending that they are but Inadequate Conceptions of Body as the only Substance and consequently concluding that the Vulgarly received Notion of God is nothing else but such an Inadeqaute Conception of the Matter of the Whole Corporeal Universe mistaken for a Complete and Entire Substance by it self that is supposed to be the Cause of all things Which fond Dream or Dotage of theirs will be furthâ—r confutâ—d in due place But it is now time to put a Period to this long though necessary Digression concerning the Plastick Life of Nature or an Artificial Orderly and Methodical Nature XXXVIII Plato gives an accompt why he judged it necessary in those times publickly to propose that Atheistick Hypothesis in order to a Confutation as also to produce Rational Arguments for the Proof of a Deity after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Had not these Atheistick Doctrines been publickly divulged and made known in a manner to all it would not have been needful to have confuted them nor by Reasons to prove a Deity but now it is necessary And we conceive that the same Necessity at this time will justifie our present undertaking likewise since these Atheistick Doctrines have been as boldly vented and publickly asserted in this latter Age of ours as ever they could be in Plato's time When the severity of the Athenian Government must needs be a great check to such Designs Socrates having been put to death upon a mere false and groundless Accusation of Atheism and Protagoras who doubtless was a Real Atheist having escaped the same punishment no otherwise than by flight his Books being notwithstanding publickly burnt in the Market-place at Athens and himself condemned to perpetual Exile though there was nothing at that time proved against him save only this one Sceptical Passage in the beginning of a Book of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concerning the Gods I have nothing at all to say either that they be or be not there being many things that hinder the knowledge of this Matter both the Obscurity of the thing it self and the shortness of humane Life Whereas Atheism in this Latter Age of ours hath been impudently asserted and most industriously promoted that very Atomick Form that was first introduced a little before Plato's time by Leucippus Protagoras and Democritus having been also Revived amongst us and that with no small Pomp and Ostentation of Wisdom and Philosophy It was before observed that there were Two several Forms of Atomical Philosophy First the most Ancient and Genuine that was Religious called Moschical or if you will Mosaical and Pythagorical Secondly the Adulterated Atheistick Atomology called Leucippean or Democritical Now accordingly there have been in this Latter Age of ours Two several successive Resurrections or Restitutions of those Two Atomologies For Renatus Cartesius first revived and restored the Atomick Philosophy agreeably for the most part to that ancient Moschical and Pythagorick Form acknowledging besides Extended Substance and Corporeal Atoms another Cogitative Incorporeal Substance and joyning Metaphysicks or Theology together with Physiology to make up one entire System of Philosophy Nor can it well be doubted but that this Physiology of his as to the Mechanick part of it hath been Elaborated by the ingenious Author into an Exactness at least equal with the best Atomologies of the Ancients Nevertheless this Cartesian Philosophy is highly obnoxious to Censure upon some Accompts the Chief whereof is this That deviating from that Primitive Moschical Atomology in rejecting all Plastick Nature it derives the whole System of the Corporeal Universe from the Necessary Motion of Matter only divided into Particles Insensibly small and turned round in a Vortex without the Guidance or Direction of any Vnderstanding Nature By means whereof though it boast of Salving all the Corporeal Phaenomena by mere Fortuitous Mechanism and without any Final or Mental Causality yet it gives no Accompt at all of that which is the Grandest of all Phaenomena the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Orderly Regularity and Harmony of the Mundane System The Occasion of which Miscarriage hath been already intimated namely from the acknowledging only Two Heads of Being Extended and Cogitative and making the Essence of Cogitation to consist in Express Consciousness from whence it follows that there could be no Plastick Nature and therefore either all things must be done by Fortuitous Mechanism or else God himself be brought Immediately upon the Stage for the salving of all Phaenomena Which Latter Absurdity our Philosopher being over careful to avoid cast himself upon the Former the banishing of all Final and Mental Causality quite out of the World and acknowledging no other Philosophick Causes beside Material and
those Atheistick Arguments and so stand upon our defensive Posture but we shall also assault Atheism even with its own Weapons and plainly demonstrate that all Forms of Atheism are unintelligible Nonsence and Absolute Impossibility to Humane Reason As we shall likewise over and above Occasionally insert some as we think Undeniable Arguments for a Deity The Digression concerning the Plastick Life of Nature or an Artificial Orderly and Methodical Nature N. 37. Chap. 3. 1. That neither the Hylozoick nor Cosmo-plastick Atheists are condemned for asserting an Orderly and Artificial Plastick Nature as a Life distinct from the Animal however this be a Thing exploded not only by the Atomick Atheists but also by some Professed Theists who notwithstanding might have an undiscerned Tang of the Mechanically-Atheistick Humour hanging about them 2. If there be no Plastick Artificial Nature admitted then it must be concluded that either all things come to pass by Fortuitous Mechanism and Material Necessity the Motion of Matter unguided or else that God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do all things himself Immediately and Miraculously framing the Body of every Gnat and Fly as it were with his own hands since Divine Laws and Commands cannot Execute themselves nor be the proper Efficient Causes of things in Nature 3. To suppose all things to come to pass Fortuitously or by the Vnguided Motion of Matter a thing altogether as Irrational as it is Atheistical and Impious there being many Phaenomena not only above the Powers of Mechanism but also contrary to the Laws of it The Mechanick Theists make God but an Idle Spectator of the Fortuitous Motions of Matter and render his Wisdom altogether Vseless and Insignificant Aristotle's Judicious Censure of the Fortuitous Mechanists with the Ridiculousness of that Pretence that Material and Mechanical Reasons are the Only Philosophical 4. That it seems neither decorous in respect of God nor congruous to Reason that he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do all things himself Immediately and Miraculously Nature being quite Superseded and made to signifie nothing The same further confuted by the Slow and Gradual Process of things in Nature as also by those Errors and Bungles that are committed when the Matter proves Inept and Contumacious arguing the Agent not to be Irresistible 5. Reasonably inferred that there is a Plastick Nature in the Vniverse as a Subordinate Instrument of Divine Providence in the Orderly Disposal of Matter but yet so as not without a Higher Providence presiding over it forasmuch as this Plastick Nature cannot act Electively or with Discretion Those Laws of Nature concerning Motion which the Mechanick Theists themselves suppose really nothing else but a Plastick Nature 6. The Agreeableness of this Doctrine with the Sentiments of the best Philosophers in all Ages Aristotle Plato Empedocles Heraclitus Hippocrates Zeno and the Paracelsians Anaxagoras though a Professed Theist severely censur'd both by Aristotle and Plato as an Encourager of Atheism merely because he used Material and Mechanical Causes more than Mental and Final Physiologers and Astronomers why vulgarly suspected of Atheism in Plato's time 7. The Plastick Nature no Occult Quality but the only Intelligible Cause of that which is the Grandest of all Phaenomena the Orderly Regularity and Harmony of Things which the Mechanick Theists however pretending to salve all Phaenomena can give no accompt at all of A God or Infinite Mind asserted by them in vain and to no purpose 8. Two Things here to be performed by us First to give an Accompt of the Plastick Nature and then to shew how the Notion of it hath been Mistaken and Abused by Atheists The First General Accompt of this Plastick Nature according to Aristotle that it is to be conceived as Art it self acting Inwardly and Immediately upon the Matter as if Harmony Living in the Musical Instruments should move the Strings of them without any External Impulse 9. Two Preeminencies of the Plastick Nature above Humane Art First that whereas Humane Art acts upon the Matter from without Cumbersomely and Moliminously with Tumult and Hurliburly Nature acting on it from within more Commandingly doth its Work Easily Cleaverly and Silently Humane Art acts on the Matter Mechanically but Nature Vitally and Magically 10. The Second Preeminence of Nature above Humane Art that whereas Humane Artists are often to seek and at a loss anxiously Consult and Deliberate and upon Second thoughts Mend their former Work Nature is never to seek nor Vnresolved what to do nor doth she ever Repent afterwards of what she hath done changing her Former Course Humane Artists themselves Consult not as Artists but only for want of Art and therefore Nature though never Consulting may act Artificially Concluded that what is called Nature is really the Divine Art 11. Nevertheless that Nature is not the Divine Art Pure and Abstract but Concreted and Embodied in Matter Ratio Mersa Confusa Not the Divine Art Archetypal but Ectypal Nature differs from the Divine Art as the Manuary Opificer from the Architect 12. Two Imperfections of the Plastick Nature in respect whereof it falls short even of Humane Art First That though it act for Ends Artificially yet it self neither Intends those Ends nor Vnderstands the Reason of what it doth and therefore cannot act Electively The Difference between the Spermatick Reasons and Knowledge Nature doth but Ape or Mimick the Divine Art or Wisdom being not Master of that Reason according to which it acts but only a Servant to it and Drudging Executioner of it 13. Proved that there may be such a thing as acts Artificially though it self do not comprehend that Art by which its Motions are Governed First from Musical Habits The Dauncer resembles the Artificial Life of Nature 14. The same further evinced from the Instincts of Brute-animals directing them to act Rationally and Artificially in order to their own Good and the Good of the Vniverse without any Reason of their own The Instincts in Brutes but Passive Impresses of the Divine Wisdom and a kind of Fate upon them 15. The Second Imperfection of the Plastick Nature that it acts without Animal Phancy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Express Con-sense and Consciousness and is devoid of Self-perception and Self-enjoyment 16. Whether this Energy of the Plastick Nature be to be called Cogitation or no but a Logomachy or Contention about Words Granted that what moves Matter Vitally must needs do it by some Energy of its own distinct from Local Motion but that there may be a simple Vital Energy without that Duplicity which is in Synaesthesis or clear and express Consciousness Nevertheless that the Energy of Nature might be called a certain Drowsie Vnawakened or Astonish'd Cogitation 17. Instances which render it probable that there may be a Vital Energy without Synaesthesis clear and express Con-sense or Consciousness 18. The Plastick Nature acting neither Knowingly nor Phantastically acts Fatally Magically and Sympathetically The Divine Laws and Fate as to Matter not mere Cogitation in the Mind of
First Principle or Self-existent Vnmade thing That according to this Notion of the word God there can be no such thing as an Atheist no man beâ—ng able to perswade himself that all things sprung from Nothing 6. In order to the more punctual Declaration of the Divine Idea the Opinion of those taken notice of who suppose Two Self-existent Vnmade Principles God and Matter and so God not to be the Sole but only the Chief Principle 7. That these are but Imperfect and Mistaken Theists Their Idea of God declared with its Defectivenâ—ss A Latitude in Theism None to be condemned for Absolute Atheists but â—uch as deny an Eternal Vnmade Mind ruling over the matter 8. The most Compendious Idea of God An Absolutely Perfect Being â—hat this includes not only Conscious Intellectuality and Necessary Existence but also Omni-causality Omnipotence and Infinite Power and therâ—fore God the sole Principle of all and Cause of Matter The true Notion of Infinite Power Pagans acknowledged the Divine Omnipotence And that the Atheists supposed Infinite Power to be included in the Idea of God proved from Lucretius 9. That absolute Perfection implies something more than Power and Knowledge A Vaticination in mens minds of a Higher Good than either That God is Better than Knowledge according to Aristotle and that there is Morality in the Nature of God wherein his chief Happiness consisâ—eth This borrowed from Plato who makes the Highest Perfection and Supreme Deity to be Goodness it self above Knowledge and Intellect God and the Supreme Good according to the Scripture Love God no soft or fond Love but an Impartial Law and the Measure of all things That the Atheists supposed Goodness also to be included in the Idea of God The Idea of God more Explicate and Vnfolded A Being absolutely Perfect Infinitely Good Wise and Powerful Necessarily Existent and not only the Framer of the World but also the Cause of all things 10. That this Idea of God Essentially includes Unity or Onelyness in it since there can be but One Supreme One Cause of all things One Omnipotent and One Infinitely Perfect This Vnity or Onelyness of the Deity supposed also by Epicurus and Lucretius who professedly denyed a God according to this Idea 11. The Grand Prejudice against the Naturality of this Idea of God as it Essentially includes Vnity and Solitariety from the Polytheism of all Nations formerly besides the Jewes and of all the wisest men and Philosophers from whence it is inferred that this Idea of God is but Artificial and owes its Original to Laws and Institution An Enquiry to be made concerning the true sence of the Pagan Polytheism That the Objectors take it for granted that the Pagan Polytheists universally asserted Many Self-existent Intellectual Beings and Independent Deities as so many Partial Causes of the World 12. First the Irrationality of this Opinion and its manifest Repugnancy to the Phaenomena which render it less probable to have been the Belief of all the Pagan Polytheists 13. Secondly That no such thing at all appears as that ever any Intelligent Pagans asserted a Multitude of Eternal Vnmade Independent Deities The Hesiodian Gods The Valentinian Aeons The nearest Approach made thereunto by the Manichean Good and Evil Gods This Doctrine not generally asserted by the Greek Philosophers as Plutarch affirmeth Questioned whether the Persian Evil Daemon or Arimanius were a Self-existent Principle Essentially Evil. Aristotle's Confutation and Explosion of Many Principles or Independent Deities Faustus the Manichean his Conceit that the Jews and Christians Paganized in the Opinion of Monarchy with St. Austin's Judgment concerning the Pagans thereupon 14. Concluded that the Pagan Polytheism must be understood according to another Equivocation in the word Gods as used for Created Intellectual Beings superiour to Men that ought to be Religiously Worshipped That the Pagans held both Many Gods and One God as Onatus the Pythagorean declares himself in different Sences Many Inferiour Deities Suberdinate to One Supreme 15. Further Evidence of this that the Intelligent Pagan Polytheists held only a Plurality of Inferiour Deities Subordinate to one Supreme First because after the Emersion of Christianity and its contest with Paganism when occasion was offered not only no Pagan asserted a Multiplicity of Independent Deities but also all Vniversally disclaim'd it and professed to acknowledge One Supreme God 16. That this was no Refinement or Interpolation of Paganism as might possibly be suspected but that the Doctrine of the most Ancient Pagan Theologers and greatest Promoters of Polytheism was agreeable hereunto which will be proved not from suspected Writings as of Trismegist and the Sibyls but such as are Indubitate First That Zoroaster the chief Promoter of Polytheism in the Eastern Parts acknowledged one Supreme Deity the Maker of the World proved from Eubulus in Porphyry besides his own words cited by Eusebius 17. That Orpheus commonly called by the Greeks The Theologer and the Father of the Grecanick Polytheism clearly asserted one Supreme Deity proved by his own words out of Pagan Records 18. That the Aegyptians themselves the most Polytheistical of all Nations had an acknowledgement amongst them of one Supreme Deity 19. That the Poets who were the greatest Depravers of the Pagan Theology and by their Fables of the Gods made it look more Aristocratically did themselves notwithstanding acknowledge a Monarchy one Prince and Father of Gods That famous Passage of Sophocles not to be suspected though not found in any of these Tragedies now extant 20. That all the Pagan Philosophers who were Theists universally asserted a Mundane Monarchy Pythagoras as much a Polytheist as any and yet his First Principle of Things as well as Numbers a Monad or Unity Anaxagoras his One Mind ordering all things for Good Xenophanes his One and All and his One God the Greatest among the Gods 21. Parmenides his Supreme God One Immoveable Empedocles his both Many Gods Junior to Friendship and Contention and his One God called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Senior to them Zeno Eleates his Demonstration of One God in Aristotle 22. Philolaus his Prince and Governour of all God always One Euclides Megarensis his God called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One the Very Good Timaeus Locrus his Mind and Good above the Soul of the World Antisthenes his One Natural God Onatus his Corypheus 23. Generally believed and true that Socrates acknowledged One Supreme God but that he disclaimed all the Inferiour Gods of the Pagans a Vulgar Error Plato also a Polytheist and that Passage which some lay so great stress upon That he was serious when he began his Epistles with God but when with Gods jocular Spurious and Counterfeit and yet he was notwithstanding an undoubted Monotheist also in another sence an Asserter of One God over all of a Maker of the World of a First God of a Greatest of the Gods The First Hypostasis of the Platonick Trinity properly the King of all things for whose sake are all things Tâ—e Father of the Cause and
to Inferiour Created Beings First that this Honour which is bestowed upon them does ultimately redound to the Supreme God and aggrandize his State and Majesty they being all his Ministers and Attendants 49. That as Daemons are Mediatours betwixt the Celestial Gods and Men so those Celestial Gods and all the other Inferiour Deities are themselves also Mediatours betwixt Men and the Supreme God and as it were Convenient steps by which we ought with Reverence to approach him 50. That there is an Honour in Justice due to all those excellent Beings that are above us and that the Pagans do but honour every thing as they ought in that due rank and place in which the Supreme God hath set it 51. That Daemons or Angels being appointed to preside over Kingdoms Cities and Persons and the several parts of the Corporeal Vniverse and being many ways Benefactors to us Thanks ought to be returned to them by Sacrifice 52. That the Inferiour Gods Demons and Heroes being all of them able to do us either Good or Hurt and being also Irascible and therefore Provokable by our neglect of them it is as well our Interest as our Duty to Pacifie and Appease them by Worship 53. Lastly that it cannot be thought that the Supreme God will envy those Inferiour Gods that Worship or Honour which is bestowed upon them nor suspected that any of those Inferiour Deities will Factiously go about to set up themselves against the Supreme God 54. That many of the Pagans worshiped none but Good Daemons and that those of them who worshipped Evil ones did it only in order to their Appeasment and Mitigation that so they might do them no hurt None but Magicians to be accompted properly Devil-Worshippers who honour Evil Daemons in order to the gratification of their Revenge Lust and Ambition 55. The Pagans plead that those Daemons who delivered Oracles and did Miracles amongst them must needs be Good since there cannot be a greater reproach to the Supreme God than to suppose him to appoint Evil Daemons as Presidents and Governours over the World or to suffer them to have so great a sway and share of Power in it The Faith of Plato in Divine Providence that the Good every where prevails over the Bad and that the Delphick Apollo was therefore a Good Daemon 56. The Pagans Apology for Worshipping the Supreme God in Images Statues and Symbols That these are only Schetically Worshipped by them the Honour passing from them to the Prototype And that since we living in Bodies cannot easily have a Conception of any thing without some Corporeal Image or Phantasm thus much must be indulged to the Infirmity of Humane Nature at least in the Vulgar to Worship God Corporeally in Images to prevent their running to Atheism 57. That though it should appear by this Apology of the Pagans that their Case were not altogether so Bad as is commonly supposed yet they cannot be Justified thereby in the Three Particulars above mentioned but the Scripture-Condemnation of them is Irrefragable That knowing God they did not Glorifie him as God or Sanctifie his Name that is Worship him according to his Vncommon and Incommunicable his Peerless and Insociable Transcendent and Singular Incomparable and Vnresembleable Nature but mingled some way or other Creature-worship with the Worship of the Creatour First that the Worshipping of One God in his Various Gifts and Effects under several personal Names a thing in it self absurd may also prove a great occasion of Atheism when the things themselves come to be called by those Names as Wine Bacchus Corn Ceres The Conclusion easily following from thence that the Good things of Nature are the only Deities But to Worship the Corporeal World it self Animated as the Supreme God and the Parts of it as the Members of God plainly to Confound God with the Creature and not to Glorifie him as Creatour nor according to his Separate and Spiritual Nature 58. To give Religious Worship to Daemons or Angels Heroes or Saints or any other Intellectual Creatures though not honouring them equally with the Supreme God is to deny God the Honour of his Holiness his Singular Insociable and Incommunicable Nature as he is the only Self-originated Being and the Creator of all Of whom Through Whom and To Whom are all things As God is such a Being that there is nothing Like him so ought the Worship which is given him to be such as hath nothing Like to it A Singular Separate and Incommunicate Worship They not to be Religiously Worshipped that Worship 59. That the Religious Worship of Created Spirits proceeded chiefly from a Fear that if they were not worshipped they would be provoked and do hurt which is both highly Injurious to Good Spirits and a Distrust of the Sufficiency of God's Power to protect his Worshippers That all Good Spirits Vninvok'd are of themselves officiously ready to assist those who sincerely Worship and Propitiate the Supreme Deity and therefore no need of the Religious Worship of them which would be also Offensive to them 60. That Mens praying to Images and Statues is much more Ridiculous than Childrens talking to Babies made of Clouts but not so Innocent they thereby Debasing both themselves and God not Glorifying him according to his Spiritual and Vnresembleable Nature but changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God into the Likeness of Corruptible Man or Beast 61. The Mistake of those who think none can be guilty of Idolatry that believe One God the Maker of the World 62. That from the same ground of Reason That nothing ought to be Religiously Worshipped besides the Supreme God or whom he appoints to represent himself because he ought to be Sanctified and dealt withal according to his Singular Nature as unlike to every thing it follows contrary to the Opinion of some Opposers of Idolatry that there ought also to be a Discrimination made between things Sacred and Prophane and Reverence used in Divine Worship Idolatry and Sacrilege allied 63. Another Scripture-Charge upon the Pagans that they were Devil-worshippers not as though they intended all their Worship to Evil Daemons or Devils as such but because their Polytheism and Idolatry unacceptable to God and Good Spirits was promoted by Evil Spirits delivering Oracles and doing Miracles for the Confirmation of it they also insinuating themselves into the Temples and Statues therefore the Worship was look'd upon as done to them The same thing said of others besides Pagans that they Worshipped Devils 64. Proved that they were Evil Daemons who delivered Oracles and did Miracles amongst the Pagans for the carrying on of that Religion from the many Obscene Rites and Mysteries not only not prohibited but also injoyned by them 65. The same thing further proved from other cruel and bloody Rites but especially that of Man Sacrifices Plutarch's Clear Acknowledgement that both the Obscene Rites and Man-Sacrifices amongst the Pagans owed their Original to Wicked Daemons 66. That the God of Israel neither required nor accepted
is the Cause of those other things that are Made something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that was Self-originated and Self-existing and which is as well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incorruptible and Vndestroyable as Ingenerable whose Existence therefore must needs be Necessary because if it were supposed to have happened by Chance to exist from Eternity then it might as well happen again to Cease to Be. Wherefore all the Question now is what is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Ingenerable and Incorruptible Self-originated and Self-existent Thing which is the Cause of all other things that are Made IV. Now there are Two Grand Opinions Opposite to one another concerning it For first some contend that the only Self-existent Vnmade and Incorruptible Thing and First Principle of all things is Sensless Matter that is Matter either perfectly Dead and Stupid or at least devoid of all Animalish and Conscious Life But because this is really the Lowest and most Imperfect of all Beings Others on the contrary judge it reasonable that the First Principle and Original of all things should be that which is Most Perfect as Aristotle observes of Pherecydes and his Followers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they made the First Cause and Principle of Generation to be the Best and then apprehending that to be endewed with Conscious Life and Vnderstanding is much a Greater Perfection than to be devoid of both as Balbus in Cicero declares upon this very occasion Nec dubium quin quod Animans sit habeátque Mentem Rationem Sensum id sit melius quà m id quod his careat they therefore conclude That the only Vnmade thing which was the Principle Cause and Original of all other things was not Sensless Matter but a Perfect Conscious Vnderstanding Nature or Mind And these are they who are strictly and properly called Theists who affirm that a Perfectly Conscious Vnderstanding Being or Mind existing of it self from Eternity was the Cause of all other things and they on the contrary who derive all things from Sensless Matter as the First Original and deny that there is any Conscious Vnderstanding Being Self-existent or Vnmade are those that are properly called Atheists Wherefore the true and genuine Idea of God in general is this A Perfect Conscious Vnderstanding Being or Mind Existing of it self from Eternity and the Cause of all other things V. But it is here observable that those Atheists who deny a God according to this True and Genuine Notion of him which we have declared do often Abuse the Word calling Sensless Matter by that Name Partly perhaps as indeavouring thereby to decline that odious and ignominious name of Atheists and partly as conceiving that whatsoever is the First Principle of things Ingenerable and Incorruptible and the Cause of all other things besides it self must therefore needs be the Divinest Thing of all Wherefore by the word God these mean nothing else but that which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnmade or Self-existent and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or First Principle of things Thus it was before observed that Anaximander called Infinite Matter devoid of all manner of Life the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or God and Pliny the Corporeal World endewed with nothing but a Plastick Vnknowing Nature Numen as also others in Aristotle upon the same account called the Inanimate Elements Gods as Supposed First Principles of things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for these are also Gods And indeed Aristotle himself seems to be guilty of this miscarriage of Abusing the word God after this manner when speaking of Love and Chaos as the two first Principles of things he must according to the Laws of Grammar be understood to call them both Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concerning these two Gods how they ought to be ranked and which of them is to be placed first whether Love or Chaos is afterwards to be resolved Which Passage of Aristotle's seems to agree with that of Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Chaos is said to have been made the first of the Gods unless we should rather understand him thus That Chaos was said to have been made before the Gods And this Abuse of the Word God is a thing which the learned Origen took notice of in his Book against Celsus where he speaks of that Religious Care which ought to be had about the use of Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He therefore that hath but the least consideration of these things will take a Religious care that he give not improper names to things left he should fall into a like miscarriage with those who attribute the name of God to Inanimate and Sensless matter Now according to this false and spurious Notion of the word God when it is taken for any Supposed First Principle or Self-existent Unmade Thing whatsoever that be there neither is nor can be any such things as an Atheist since whosoever hath but the least dram of Reason must needs acknowledge that Something or other Existed from Eternity Vnmade and was the Cause of those other things that are Made But that Notion or Idea of God according to which some are Atheists and some Theists is in the strictest sence of it what we have already declared A Perfect Mind or Consciously Vnderstanding Nature Self-existent from Eternity and the Cause of all other things The genuine Theists being those who make the First Original of all things Universally to be a Consciously Vnderstanding Nature or Perfect Mind but the Atheists properly such as derive all things from Matter either perfectly Dead and Stupid or else devoid of all Conscious and Animalish Life VI. But that we may more fully and punctually declare the true Idea of God we must here take notice of a certain Opinion of some Philosophers who went as it were in a middle betwixt both the Former and neither made Matter alone nor God the Sole Principle of all things but joyned them both together and held Two First Principles or Self-existent Vnmade Beings independent upon one another God and the Matter Amongst whom the Stoicks are to be reckoned who notwithstanding because they held that there was no other Substance besides Body strangely confounded themselves being by that means necessitated to make their Two First Principles the Active and the Passive to be both of them really but One and the self-same Substance their Doctrine to this purpose being thus declared by Cicero Naturam dividebant in Res Duas ut Altera esset Efficiens Altera autem quasi huic se praebens ex qua Efficeretur aliquid In eo quod Efficeret Vim esse censebant in eo quod Efficeretur Materiam quandam in Vtroque tamen Vtrumque Neque enim Materiam ipsam ohaerere potuisse si nullâ Vi contineretur neque Vim sine aliqua Materia
Nihil est enim quod non Alicubi esse cogatur The Stoicks divided Nature into Two Things as the First Principles One whereof is the Efficient or Artificer the Other that which offers it self to him for things to be made out of it In the Efficienti Principle they took notice of Active Force in the Patient of Matter but so as that in each of these were both together forasmuch as neither the Matter could cohere together unless it were contained by some Active Force nor the Active Force subsist of it self without Matter because that is Nothing which is not somewhere But besides these Stoicks there were other Philosophers who admitting of Incorporeal Substance did suppose Two First Principles as Substances really distinct from one another that were Coexistent from Eternity an Incorporeal Deity and Matter as for Example Anaxagoras Archelaus Atticus and many more insomuch that Pythagoras himself was reckoned amongst those by Numenius and Plato by Plutarch and Laertius And we find it commonly taken for granted that Aristotle also was of this Perswasion though it cannot be certainly concluded from thence as some seem to suppose because he asserted the Eternity of the World Plotinus Porphyrius Jamblichus Proclus and Simplicius doing the like and yet notwithstanding maintaining that God was the Sole Principle of all things and that Matter also was derived from him Neither will that Passage of Aristotle's in his Metaphysicks necessarily evince the Contrary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God seems to be a Cause to all things and a certain Principle because this might be understood only of the Forms of things But it is plain that Plutarch was a Maintainer of this Doctrine from his Discourse upon the Platonick Psychogonia besides other Places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is therefore better for us to follow Plato than Heraclitus and loudly to declare that the World was made by God For as the world is the Best of all Works so is God the Best of all Causes Nevertheless the Substance or Matter out of which the World was made was not it self made but always ready at hand and subject to the Artificer to be ordered and disposed by him For the making of the World was not the Production of it out of Nothing but out of an antecedent Bad and Disorderly State like the Making of an House Garment or Statue It is also well known that Hermogenes and other ancient Pretenders to Christianity did in like manner assert the Self-existence and Improduction of the Matter for which Cause they were commonly called Materiarii or the Materiarian Hereticks they pretending by this means to give an account as the Stoicks had done before them of the Original of Evils and to free God from the Imputation of them Their Ratiocination to which purpose is thus set down by Tertullian God made all things either out of Himself or out of Nothing or out of Matter He could not make all things out of Himself because himself being always Vnmade he should then really have been the Maker of Nothing And he did not make all out of Nothing because being Essentially good he would have made Nihil non optimum every thing in the Best manner and so there could have been no Evil in the World But since there are Evils and these could not procede from the Will of God they must needs arise from the Fault of something and therefore of the Matter out of which things were made Lastly it is sufficiently known likewise that some Modern Sects of the Christian Profession at this day do also assert the Vncreatedness of the Matter But these suppose in like manner as the Stoicks did Body to be the Onely Substance VII Now of all these whosoever they were who thus maintained Two Self-existent Principles God and the Matter we may pronounce Universally that they were neither Better nor Worse than a kind of Imperfect Theists They had a certain Notion or Idea of God such as it was which seems to be the very same with that expressed in Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Animal the Best Eternal and represented also by Epicurus in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Animal that hath all Happiness with Incorruptibility Wherein it was acknowledged by them that besides Sensless Matter there was also an Animalish and Conscious or Perceptive Nature Self-existent from Eternity in opposition to Atheists who made Matter either devoid of all manner of Life or at least of such as is Animalish and Conscious to be the Sole Principle of All things For it hath been often observed that some Atheists attributed a kind of Plastick Life or Nature to that Matter which they made to be the Only Principle of the Universe And these Two sorts of Atheisms were long since taken notice of by Seneca in these words Vniversum in quo nos quoque sumus expers esse Consilii aut ferri Temeritate quadam aut Naturâ Nesciente quid faciat The Atheists make the Vniverse whereof our selves are part to be devoid of Counsel and therefore either to be carried on Temerariously and Fortuitously or else by such a Nature as which though it be Orderly Regular and Methodical yet is notwithstanding Nescient of what it doth But no Atheist ever acknowledged Conscious Animality to be a First Principle in the Universe nor that the Whole was governed by any Animalish Sentient and Vnderstanding Nature presiding over it as the Head of it but as it was before declared they Concluded all Animals and Animality all Conscious Sentient and Self-perceptive Life to be Generated and Corrupted or Educed out of Nothing and Reduced to Nothing again Wherefore they who on the Contrary asserted Animality and Conscious Life to be a First Principle or Vnmade thing in the Universe are to be accounted Theists Thus Balbus in Cicero declares that to be a Theist is to assert Ab Animantibus Principiis Mundum esse Generatum That the World was Generated or Produced at first from Animant Principles and that it is also still governed by such a Nature Res omnes subjectas esse Naturae Sentienti That all things are subject to a Sentient and Conscious Nature steering and guiding of them But to distinguish this Divine Animal from all others these Desiners added that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Best and most Happy Animal and accordingly this Difference is added to that Generical Nature of Animality by Balbus the Stoick to make up the Idea or Definition of God complete Talem esse Deum certâ Notione animi praesentimus Primùm ut sit Animans Deinde ut in omni Natura nihil Illo sit Praestantius We presage concerning God by a certain Notion of our Mind First that he is an Animans or Consciously Living Being and then Secondly that he is such an Animans as that there is nothing in the Whole Vniverse or Nature of things more Excellent than Him Wherefore these
to Confute Infinite Power Omne Immensum peragravit Mente Animóque Vnde refert nobis Victor quid possit Oriri Quid nequeat Finita Potestas denique quoique Quanam sit ratione atque altè Terminus haerens Quare Relligio pedibus subjecta vicissim Obteritur nos exaequat Victoria Coelo As if he should have said Epicurus by shewing that all Power was Finite effectually destroyed Religion he thereby taking away the Object of it which is an Omnipotent and Infinitely Powerful Deity And this is a thing which the same Poet often harps upon again that there is No Infinite Power and Consequently no Deity according to the true Idea of it But last of all in his Sixth Book he condemns Religionists as guilty of great folly in asserting Omnipotence or Infinite Power that is a Deity after this manner Rursus in antiquas referuntur Relligiones Et Dominos acres asciscunt Omnia Posse Quos miseri credunt ignari quid queat esse Quid nequeat Finita Potestas denique quoique Quanam sit ratione atque altè Terminus haerens Quo magis errantes totâ regione feruntur Where though the Poet speaking carelesly after the manner of those times seem to attribute Omnipotence and Infinite Power to Gods Plurally yet as it is evident in the thing it self that this can only be the Attribute of One Supreme Deity so it may be observed that in those Passages of the Poets before cited it is accordingly always ascribed to God Singularly Nevertheless all the Inferiour Pagan Deities were supposed by them to have their certain shares of this Divine Omnipotence severally dispensed and imparted to them IX But we have not yet dispatched all that belongs to the Entire Idea of God For Knowledge and Power alone will not make a God For God is generally conceived by all to be a Most Venerable and Most Desirable Being whereas an Omniscient and Omnipotent Arbitrary Deity that hath nothing either of Benignity or Morality in its Nature to Measure and Regulate its Will as it could not be truly August and Venerable according to that Maxime sine Bonitate nulla Majestas so neither could it be Desirable it being that which could only be Feared and Dreaded but not have any Firm Faith or Confidence placed in it Plutarch in the Life of Aristides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. God seems to excel in these Three things Incorruptibility Power and Virtue of all which the Most Divine and Venerable is Vertue for Vacuum and the Sensless Elements have Incorruptibility Earthquakes and Thunders Blustering Winds and Overflowing Torrents Much of Power and Force Wherefore the Vulgar being affected three manner of ways towards the Deity so as to admire its Happiness to Fear it and to Honour it they esteem the Deity Happy for its Incorruptibility they Fear it and stand in awe of it for its Power but they Worship it that is Love and Honour it for its Justice And indeed an Omnipotent Arbitrary Deity may seem to be in some sence a Worse and more Vndesireable Thing than the Manichean Evil God forasmuch as the Latter could be but Finitely Evil whereas the Former might be so Infinitely However I think it can be little doubted but that the whole Manichean Hypothesis taken all together is to be preferred before this of One Omnipotent Arbitrary Deity devoid of Goodness and Morality ruling all things because there the Evil Principle is Yoaked with another Principle Essentially Good checking and controlling it And it also seems less Dishonourable to God to impute Defect of Power than of Goodness and Justice to him Neither can Power and Knowledge alone make a Being in it self completely Happy for we have all of us by Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as both Plato and Aristotle call it a certain Divination Presage and Parturient Vaticination in our minds of some Higher Good and Perfection than either Power or Knowledge Knowledge is plainly to be preferred before Power as being that which guides and directs its blind Force and Impetus but Aristotle himself declares that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Something better than Reason and Knowledge which is the Principle and Original of it For saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Principle of Reason is not Reason but Something Better Where he also intimates this to be the Proper and Essential Character of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For what is there that can be better than Knowledge but God Likewise the same Philosopher elsewhere plainly determines that there is Morality in the Nature of God and that his Happiness consisteth principally therein and not in External things and the Exercise of his Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That every man hath so much of Happiness as he hath of Vertue and Wisdom and of Acting according to these ought to be confessed and acknowledged by us it being a thing that may be proved from the Nature of God who is Happy but not from any external Goods but because he is himself or that which he is and in such a manner affected according to his Nature that is because he is Essentially Moral and Vertuous Which Doctrine of Aristotle's seems to have been borrowed from Plato who in his Dialogues De Republica discoursing about Moral Vertue occasionally falls upon this Dispute concerning the Summum Bonum or Chiefest Good wherein he concludes that it neither consisted in Pleasure as such according to the Opinion of the Vulgar nor yet in Mere Knowledge and Vnderstanding according to the Conceit of others who were more Polite and Ingenious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You know that to the Vulgar Pleasure seems to be the Highest Good but to those who are more Elegant and Ingenuous Knowledge But they who entertain this Latter Opinion can none of them declare what kind of Knowledge it is which is that Highest and Chiefest Good but are necessitated at last to say that it is The Knowledge of Good very ridiculously Forasmuch as herein they do but run round in a Circle and upbraiding us for being ignorant of this Highest Good they talk to us at the same time as knowing what it is And thereupon he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That though Knowledge and Truth be both of them Excellent things yet he that shall conclude the Chief Good to be something which transcends them both will â—ot be mistaken For as Light and Sight or the Seeing Faculty may both of them rightly be said to be Soliform things or of Kin to the Sun but neither of them to be the Sun it self so Knowledge and Truth may likewise both of them be said to be Boniform things and of Kin to the Chief Good but neither of them to be that Chief Good it self but this is still to be look'd upon as a thing more August and Honourable In all which of Plato's there seems to be little more than what may be experimentally found within
Aristotle in those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Pythagoreans also say the Vniverse and all things are determin'd and contein'd by three Principles Of which Pythagorick Trinity more afterward But now we may enlarge and fill up that Compendious Idea of God premised of A Being Absolutely Perfect by adding thereunto to make it more Particular such as is Infinitely Good Wise and Powerful necessarily Existing and not only the Framer of the World but also the Cause of all things Which Idea of the Deity is sufficient in order to our present Undertaking Nevertheless if we would not only attend to what is barely necessary for a Dispute with Atheists but also consider the Satisfaction of other Free and Devout Minds that are hearty and sincere Lovers of this Most Admirable and Most Glorious Being we might venture for their Gratification to propose yet a more Full Free and Copious Description of the Deity after this manner God is a Being Absolutely Perfect Vnmade or Self-originated and Necessarily Existing that hath an Infinite Fecundity in him and Virtually Conteins all things as also an Infinite Benignity or Overflowing Love Vninvidiously displaying and communicating it self together with an Impartial Rectitude or Nature of Justice Who fully comprehends himself and the Extent of his own Fecundity and therefore all the Possibilities of things their several Natures and Respects and the Best Frame or System of the Whole Who hath also Infinite Active and Perceptive Power The Fountain of all things who made all that Could be Made and was Fit to be made producing them according to his Own Nature his Essential Goodness and Wisdom and therefore according to the Best Pattern and in the Best manner Possible for the Good of the Whole and reconciling all the Variety and Contrariety of things in the Vniverse into One most Admirable and Lovely Harmony Lastly who Conteins and Vpholds all things and governs them after the Best Manner also and that without any Force or Violence they being all Naturally subject to his Authority and readily obeying his Laws And Now we see that God is such a Being as that if he could be supposed Not to Be there is Nothing whose Existence a Good Man could Possibly more Wish or Desire X. From the Idea of God thus declared it evidently appears that there can be but One such Being and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnity Oneliness or Singularity is Essential to it forasmuch as there cannot possibly be more than One Supreme more than One Omnipotent or Infinitely Powerful Being and more than One Cause of all things besides it self And however Epicurus endeavouring to pervert and Adulterate the Notion of God pretended to satisfie that Natural Prolepsis or Anticipation in the Minds of Men by a Feigned and Counterfeit asserting of a Multiplicity of Coordinate Deities Independent upon One Supreme and such as were also altogether unconcerned either in the Frame or Government of the World yet himself notwithstanding plainly took notice of this Idea of God which we have proposed including Vnity or Onelyness in it he professedly opposing the Existence of such a Deity as may sufficiently appear from that Argumentation of his in the Words before cited Quis regere Immensi summam Quis habere Profundi Indu manu validas potis est moderanter habenas Quis pariter coelos omnes convertere omnes Ignibus aetheriis terras suffire feraces Omnibus Ãnque locis esse omni tempore praesto Where he would conclude it to be a thing Utterly impossible for the Deity to Animadvert Order and Dispose all things and be Present every where in all the distant places of the World at once which could not be Pretended of a Multitude of Coordinate Gods sharing the Government of the World amongst them and therefore it must needs be levell'd against a Divine Monarchy or One Single Solitary Supreme Deity ruling over all As in like manner when he pursues the same Argument further in Cicero to this purpose that though such a thing were supposed to be Possible yet it would be notwithstanding absolutely Inconsistent with the Happiness of any Being he still procedes upon the same Hypothesis of one Soâ—e and Single Deity Sive ipse Mundus Deus est quid potest esse minus quietum quam nullo puncto temporis intermisso versari circum axem Coeli admirabili celeritate Sive in ipso Mundo Deus inest aliquis qui regat qui gubernet qui cursus astrorum mutationes temporum hominum commoda vitásque tueatur nae Ille est implicatus molestis negotiis operosis Whether you will suppose the World it self to be a God what can be more unquiet than without intermission perpetually to whirle round upon the Axis of the Heaven with such admirable celerity Or whether you will imagine a God in the World distinct from it who does govern and dispose all things keep up the Courses of the Stars the Successive Changes of the Seasons and Orderly Vicissitudes of things and contemplating Lands and Seas conserve the Vtilities and Lives of men certainly He must needs be involved in much solicitous trouble and Employment For as Epicurus here speaks Singularly so the Trouble of this Theocracy could not be thought so very great to a Multitude of Coordinate Deities when parcel'd out among them but would rather seem to be but a sportful and delightful Divertisement to each of them Wherefore it is manifest that such an Idea of God as we have declared including Vnity Oneliness and Singularity in it is a thing which the ancient Atheists under the times of Paganism were not unacquainted with but principally directed their Force against But this may seem to be Anticipated in this place because it will fall in afterwards more opportunely to be discoursed of again XI For this is that which lies as the Grand Prejudice and Objection against that Idea of God which we have proposed Essentially including 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Singularity or Oneliness in it or the Real Existence of such a Deity as is the Sole Monarch of the Universe Because all the Nations of the World heretofore except a small and inconsiderable handful of the Jews together with their Wisest men and greatest Philosophers were generally look'd upon as Polytheists that is such as Acknowledged and Worshipped a Multiplicity of Gods Now One God and Many Gods being directly Contradictious to one another it is therefore concluded from hence that this Opinion of Monarchy or of One Supreme God the Maker and Governour of all hath no Foundation in Nature nor in the genuine Idea's and Prolepses of mens minds but is a mere Artificial thing owing its Original wholly to Private Phancies and Conceits or to Positive Laws and Institutions amongst Jews Christians and Mahometans For the assoilling of which Difficulty seeming so formidable at first sight it is necessary that we should make a Diligent Enquiry into the True and Genuine sence of this Pagan Polytheism For since
these could not be supposed to be Vnmade or Self-existent by those who acknowledged the whole World to have been Generated and had a Beginning But as these Names were used more Properly to signifie Invisible and Vnderstanding Powers Presiding over the Things in Nature and Dispensing of them however they have an appearance of so many several distinct Deities yet they seem to have been all really nothing else but as Balbus in Cicero expresses it Deus Pertinens per Naturam cujusque Rei God passing through and acting in the Nature of every thing and consequently but several Names or so many Different Notions and Considerations of that One Supreme Numen that Divine Force Power and Providence which runs through the whole World as variously Manifesting it self therein Wherefore since there were no other Kinds of Gods amongst the Pagans besides these already enumerated unless their Images Statues and Symbols should be accounted such because they were also sometimes Abusively called Gods which could not be supposed by them to have been Vnmade or without a Beginning they being the Workmanship of mens own hands We conclude universally that all that Multiplicity of Pagan Gods which makes so great a shew and noise was really either nothing but Several Names and Notions of One Supreme Deity according to its different Manifestations Gifts and Effects in the World Personated or else Many Inferiour Vnderstanding Beings Generated or Created by One Supreme so that One Vnmade Self-existent Deity and no more was acknowledged by the more Intelligent of the ancient Pagans for of the Sottish Vulgar no man can pretend to give an account in any Religion and consequently the Pagan Polytheism or Idolatry consisted not in worshipping a Multiplicity of Vnmade Minds Deities and Creators Self-existent from Eternity and Independent upon One Supreme but in Mingling and Blending some way or other unduly Creature-worship with the Worship of the Creator And that the ancient Pagan Theists thus acknowledged One Supreme God who was the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnmade or Vnproduced Deity I say Theists because those amongst the Pagans who admitted of Many Gods but none at all Unmade were absolute Atheists this may be undeniably concluded from what was before proved that they acknowledged Omnipotence or Infinite Power to be a Divine Attribute Because upon the Hypothesis of Many Vnmade Self-existent Deities it is plain that there could be none Omnipotent and consequently no such thing as Omnipotence in rerum natura and therefore Omnipotence was rightly and properly styled by Macrobius Summi Dei Omnipotentia it being an Attribute Essentially Peculiar to One Supreme and Sole Self-existent Deity And Simplicius likewise a Pagan confuted the Manichean Hypothesis of Two Self-existent Deities from hence also because it destroyed Omnipotence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For they who assert Two Principles of the Vniverse One Good the other Evil are necessitated to grant that the Good Principle called by them God is not the Cause of all things neither can they praise it as Omnipotent nor ascribe a Perfect and Whole Entire Power to it but only the Half of a Whole Power at most if so much Over and besides all which it hath been also proved already that the ancient Atheists under Paganism directed themselves principally against the Opinion of Monarchy or of One Supreme Deity ruling over all from whence it plainly appears that it was then asserted by the Pagan Theists And we think it here observable that this was a thing so generally confessed and acknowledged that Faustus the Manichean took up this Conceit that both the Christians and Jews Paganized in the Opinion of Monarchy that is derived this Doctrine of One Deity the Sole Principle of all things only by Tradition from the Pagans and by consequence were no other than Schisms or Subdivided Sects of Paganism Vos desciscentes à Gentibus saith he Mâ—narchiae Opinionem primò vobiscum divulsistis id est ut Omnia credatis ex Deo Estis sanè Schisma necnon Priores vestri Judaei De Opinione Monarchiae in nullo-etiam ipsi dissentiunt à Paganis Quare constat Vos atque Judeâ—s Schisma esse Gentililitatis Sectas autem si quaeras non plus erunt quà m Duae Gentium Nostra You revolting from the Gentiles broke off their Opinion of Monarchy and carried it along with you so as to believe all things to come from God Wherefore you are really nothing but a Schism of Paganism or a Subdivided Branch of it and so are your Predecessors the Jews who differ nothing from Pagans neither in this Opinion of Monarchy Whence it is manifest that both Christians and Jews are but Schisms of Gentilism But as for Sects of Religion really differing from another there are but these Two That of the Pagans and That of ours who altogether dissent from them Now though this be false and foolish as to the Christians and Jews deriving that Opinion of Monarchy only by way of Tradition from the Pagans which is a thing founded in the Principles of Nature yet it sufficiently shews this to have been the General Sence of the Pagans that all their Gods were derived from One Sole Self-existent Deity so that they neither acknowledged a Multitude of Unmade Deities nor yet that Duplicity of them which Plutarch contended for One Good and the Other Evil who accordingly denied God to be the Cause of all Things writing thus in his Defect of Oracles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are guilty of one Extreme who make God the Cause of Nothing and they of another who make him the Cause of all things But this Paradox was both late started amongst the Greeks and quickly cried down by the Succession of their Philosophers and therefore prejudiceth not the Truth of Faustus his General Assertion concerning the Pagans Which is again fully confirmed by St. Austin in his Reply Siquis ità dividat ut dicat eorum quae aliquâ Religione detinentur Aliis placere Vnum Deum colendum Aliis Multos per hanc differentiam Pagani à nobis Remoti sunt Manichaei cum Paganis deputantur nos autem cum Judaeis Hîc fortê dicatis quòd Multos Deos Vestros ex Vna Substantia perhibetis Quasi Pagani Multos suos non ex Vna asserant quamvis diversa illis Officia Opera Potestates illis attribuant sicut etiam apud vos Alius Deus expugnat Gentem Tenebrarum Alius ex eâ captâ fabricat Mundum c. If one should make another Distribution of Religionists into such as Worship either One God or Many Gods according to this Division the Pagans will be removed from us Christians and joyned with You Manicheans But perhaps you will here say that all your Many Gods are derived from One Substance as if the Pagans did not also derive all their Gods from One though attributing several Offices Works and Powers to them in like manner as amongst you One God expugns the Nation
Original of all things Maximus Madaurensis a confident and resolved Pagan in St. Austin's time expressed both his own and the general sence of Pagans after this manner Equidem Vnum esse Deum Summum sine initio Naturae ceu Patrem Magnum atque Magnificum quis tam demens tam mente captus neget esse certissimum Hujus nos virtutes per Mundanum opus diffusas multis vocabulis invocamus quoniam nomen ejus cuncti proprium videlicet ignoramus Ita sit ut dum ejus quasi quaedam Membra carptim variis supplicationibus prosequimur Totum colere profectò videamur Truly that there is One Supreme God without beginning as the Great and Magnificent Father of Nature who is so mad or devoid of sense as not to acknowledge it to be most certain His Vertues diffused throughout the whole World because we know not what his proper name is we invoke under many different names Whence it comes to pass that whilst we prosecute with our supplications his as it were divided Members severally we must needs be judged to worship the whole Deity And then he concludes his Epistle thus Dii te servent per quos Eorum atque cunctorum mortalium Communem Patrem universi mortales quos terra sustinet mille modis concordi discordia venerantur The Gods keep thee by and through whom we Pagans dispersed over the whole World do worship the common Father both of those Gods and all Mortals after a thousand different manners nevertheless with an agreeing discord Longimanus likewise another more modest Pagan Philosopher upon the request of the same St. Austin declares his sence concerning the way of worshipping God and arriving to happiness to this purpose Per Minores Deos perveniri ad Summum Deum non sine Sacris Purificatoriis That we are to come to the Supreme God by the Minor or Inferior Gods and that not without Purifying Rites and Expiations he supposing that besides a vertuous and holy Life certain Religious Rites and Purifications were necessary to be observed in order to that end In which Epistle the Supreme God is also stiled by him Vnus Vniversus Incomprehensibilis Ineffabilis Infatigabilis Creator Moreover that the Pagans generally disclaim'd this Opinion of Many Vnmade Self-existent Deities appeareth plainly from Arnobius where he brings them in complaining that they were falsly and maliciously accused by some Christians as guilty thereof after this manner Frustrà nos falso calumnioso incessitis appetitis crimine tanquam inficias eamus Deum esse Majorem cùm à nobis Jupiter nominetur Optimus habeatur Maximus cúmque illi augustissimas sedes Capitolia constituerimus immania In vain do you Christians calumniate us Pagans and accuse us as if we denied One Supreme Omnipotent God though we both call him Jupiter and accompt him the Best and the Greatest having dedicated the most august seats to him the vast Capitols Where Arnobius in way of opposition shows first how perplexed and intangled a thing the Pagans Theology was their Poetick Fables of the Gods nonsensically confounding Herology together with Theology and that it was impossible that that Jupiter of theirs which had a Father and a Mother a Grandfather and a Grandmother should be the Omnipotent God Nam Deus Omnipotens mente una omnium communi mortalitatis assensu neque Genitus scitur neque novam in lucem aliquando esse prolatus nec ex aliquo tempore coepisse esse vel saeculo Ipse enim est Fons rerum Sator saeculorum ac temporum Non enim ipsa per se sunt sed ex ejus perpetuitate perpetua infinita semper continuatione procedunt At verò Jupiter ut vos fertis Patrem habet Matrem Avos Avias nunc nuper in utero matris suae formatus c. You Pagans confound your selves with Contradictions for the Omnipotent God according to the natural sence of all mankind was neither begotten or made nor ever had a Beginning in time he being the Fountain and Original of all things But Jupiter as you say had both Father and Mother Grandfathers and Grandmothers and was but lately formed in the womb and therefore he cannot be the Eternal Omnipotent God Nevertheless Arnobius afterwards considering as we suppose that these Poetick Fables were by the wiser Pagans either totally rejected or else some way or other Allegorized he candidly dismisseth this advantage which he had against them and grants their Jupiter to be the true Omnipotent Deity and consequently that same God which the Christians worshiped but from thence infers that the Pagans therefore must needs be highly guilty whilst worshipping the same God with the Christians they did hate and persecute them after that manner Sed sint ut vultis unum nec in aliquo vi numinis majestate distantes ecquid ergò injustis persequimini nos odiis Quid ut ominis pessimi nostri nominis inhorrescitis mentione st quem Deum colitis eum nos an t quid in eadem causa vobis esse contenditis familiares Deos inimicos atque infestissimos nobis Etenim si una religio est nobis vobÃsque communis cessat ira coelestium But let it be granted that as you affirm your Jupiter and the Eternal Omnipotent God are one and the same Why then do you prosecute us with unjust hatreds abominating the very mention of our names if the same God that you worship be worshipped by us or if your Religion and ours be the same why do you pretend that the Gods are propitious to you but most highly provoked and incensed against us Where the Pagans defence and reply is Sed non idcirco Dii vobis infesti sunt quòd Omnipotentem colatis Deum sed quod hominem natum quod personis infame est vilibus crucis supplicio interemptum Deum fuisse contenditis superesse adhuc creditis quotidianis supplicationibus adoratis But we do not say that the Gods are therefore displeased with you Christians because you worship the Omnipotent God but because you contend him to be a God who was not only born a mortal man but also died an ignominious death suffering as a Malefactor believing him still to survive adoring him with your dayly prayers To which Arnobius retorts in this manner Tell us now I pray you who these Gods are who take it as so great an injury indignity done to themselves that Christ should be worshipped Are they not Janus and Saturn Aesculapius and Liber Mercurius the son of Maia and the Theban or Tyrian Hercules Castor and Pollux and the like Hice ergo Christum coli à nobis accipi existimari pro Numine vulneratis acipiunt auribus obliti paulo ante sortis conditionis suae id quod sibi concessum est impertiri alteri nolunt Haec est Justititia Coelitum hoc Deorum judicium sanctum Nonne
Consentaneously whereunto they did both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theologize or Deifie all things looking upon every thing as having 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something Supernatural or a kind of Divinity in it and also bestow Several Names upon God according to all the several Parts of the World and Things of Nature calling him in the Starry Heaven and Aether Jupiter in the Air Juno in the Winds Aeolus in the Sea Neptune in the Earth and Subterraneous Parts Pluto in Learning Knowledge and Invention Minerva and the Muses in War Mars in Pleasure Venus in Corn Ceres in Wine Bacchus and the like However it is unquestionably Evident from hence that Orpheus with his Followers that is the Generality of the Greekish Pagans acknowledged One Vniversal and All-comprehending Deity One that was All and consequently could not admit of Many Self-existent and Independent Deities XVIII Having treated largely concerning the Two most Eminent Polytheists amongst the ancient Pagans Zoroaster and Orpheus and clearly proved that they asserted One Supreme Deity we shall in the next place observe that the Egyptians themselves also notwithstanding their Multifarious Polytheism and Idolatry had an acknowledgment amongst them of One Supreme and Vniversal Numen There hath been some Controversie amongst Learned Men Whether Polytheism and Idolatry had their first rise from the Egyptians or the Chaldeans because the Pagan Writers for the most part give the Precedency here to the Egyptians Lucian himself who was by Birth a Syrian and a diligent enquirer into the Antiquities of his own Country affirming that the Syrians and Assyrians received their Religion and Gods first from the Egyptians and before Lucian Herodotus the Father of History reporting likewise that the Egyptians were the First that erected Temples and Statues to the Gods But whether the Egyptians or Chaldeans were the First Polytheists and Idolaters there is is no question to be made but that the Greeks and Europeans generally derived their Polytheism and Idolatry from the Egyptians Herodotus affirms in oneplace that the Greeks received their Twelve Gods from thence and in another that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Almost all the Names of the Gods came first out of Egypt into Greece In what sence this might be true of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it self though the word be Originally Greekish shall be declared afterwards But it is probable that Herodotus had here a further meaning that the very Names of many of the Greekish Gods were originally Egyptian In order to the confirmation of which we shall here propound a Conjecture concerning One of them viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 called otherwise by the Greeks Pallas and by the Latins Minerva For first the Greek Etymologies of this word seem to be all of them either Trifling and Frivolous or Violent and Forced Plato in his Cratylus having observed that according to the ancient Allegorical Interpreters of Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind or Vnderstanding Personated and Deified conceived that the first imposers of that Name intending to signifie thereby Divine Wisdom called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Vnderstanding of God or the Knowledge of Divine things as if the Word had been at first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and thence afterward transformed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But being not fully satisfied himself with this Etymology he afterwards attempts another deriving the Word from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge concerning Manners or Practical Knowledge as if it had been at first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from thence changed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Others of the Greeks have deduced this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is the Property of Wisdom to collect all into One supposing that it was at first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Others would fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Alpha Privative because Minerva or Wisdom though she be a Goddess yet hath nothing of Feminine Imperfection in her Others again would etymologize it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because Vertue or Wisdom is of such a Noble and Generous temper as that it scorns to subject it self to any base and unworthy servitude Lastly others would derive it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affirming it to have been at first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From all which uncertainty of the Greeks concerning the Etymon of this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from the Frivolousness or Forcedness of these Conjectures we may rather conclude that it was not originally Greekish but Exotical and probably according to Herodotus Egyptian Wherefore let us try whether or no we can find any Egyptian Word from whence this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be deriâ—ed Plato in his Timaeus making mention of Sais a City in Egypt where Solon sometime sojourned tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the President or Tutelar God of that City was called in the Egyptian Language Neith but in the Greek as the same Egyptians affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now why might not this very Egyptian word Neith by an easie inversion have been at first turned into Thien or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men commonly pronouncing Exotick words ill-favouredly and then by additional Alpha's at the beginning and end transformed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This seems much more probable than either Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or any other of those Greek Etymologies before-mentioned And as the Greeks thus derived the Names of many of their Gods from the Egyptians so do the Latins seem to have done the like from this one Instance of the word Neptune which though Varro would deduce à nubendo as if it had been Nuptunus because the Sea covers and hides the Land and Scaliger with others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Washing this being the chief use of Water yet as the learned Bochart hath observed it may with greater probability be derived from the Egyptian word Nephthus Plutarch telling us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Egyptians called the Maritime parts of Land or such as border upon the Sea Nephthus Which Conjecture may be further confirmed from what the same Plutarch elsewhere write that as Isis was the Wife of Osiris so the Wife of Typhon was called Nephthus From whence one might collect that as Isis was taken sometimes for the Earth or the Goddess presiding over it so Nephthus was the Goddess of the Sea To which may be further added out of the same Writer that Nephthus was sometimes called by the Egyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Venus probably because Venus is said to have risen out of the Sea But whatever may be thought of these Etymological conjectures certain it is that no Nation in the world was ever accompted by the Pagans more Devout Religious and Superstitious than the Egyptians and consequently none was more Polytheistical and Idolatrous Isocrates in his Praise of Busiris gives them a
also inserted into their Almanacks or Ephemerides together with the times of their Risings and Settings and the Prognosticks or significations of future Events from them For he observed that those Egyptians who made the Sun the Demiurgus or Architect of the World interpreted the Stories of Isis and Osiris and all those other Religious Fables into nothing but Stars and Planets and the River Nile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and referred all things universally into Natural or Inanimate nothing into Incorporeal and Living Substances Which Passage of Porphyrius concerning Chaeremon we confess Eusebius lays great stress upon endeavouring to make advantage of it first against the Egyptians and then against the Greeks and other Pagans as deriving their Religion and Theology from them It is manifest from hence saith he that the very Arcane Theology of the Egyptians Deified nothing but Stars and Planets and acknowledged no Incorporeal Principle or Demiurgick Reason as the Cause of this Vniverse but only the Visible Sun And then he concludes in this manner See now what is become of this Arcane Theology of the Egyptians that deifies nothing but sensless Matter or Dead Inanimate Bodies But it is well known that Eusebius took all advantages possible to represent the Pagans to the worst and render their Theology ridiculous and absurd nevertheless what he here urgeth against the Egyptians is the less valuable because himself plainly contradicts it elsewhere declaring that the Egyptians acknowledged a Demiurgick Reason and Intellectual Architect of the World which consequently was the Maker of the Sun and confessing the same of the other Pagans also Now to affirm that the Egyptians acknowledged no other Deity than Inanimate Matter and the Sensless Corporeal World is not only to deny that they had any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any Arcane Theology at all which yet hath been sufficiently proved but also to render them absolute Atheists For if this be not Atheism to acknowledge no other Deity besides Dead and Sensless Matter then the word hath no signification Chaeremon indeed seems to impute this Opinion not to all the Egyptians but to some of them and it is very possible that there might be some Atheists amongst the Egyptians also as well as amongst the Greeks and their Philosophers And doubtless this Chaeremon himself was a kind of Astrological Atheist for which cause we conclude that it was not Chaeremon the Stoick from whom notwithstanding Porphyrius in his Book of Abstinence citeth certain other things concerning the Egyptians but either that Chaeremon whom Strabo made use of in Egypt or else some other of that name But that there ever was or can be any such Religious Atheists as Eusebius with some others imagine who though acknowledging no Deity besides Dead and Sensless Matter notwithstanding devoutly court and worship the same constantly invoking it and imploring its assistance as expecting great Benefit to themselves thereby This we confess is such a thing as that we have not Faith enough to believe it being a sottishness and contradictious Non-sence that is not incident to humane Nature Neither can we doubt but that all the devout Pagans acknowledged some Living and Vnderstanding Deities or other nor easily believe that they ever Worshipped any Inanimate or Sensless Bodies otherwise than as some way referring to the same or as Images and Symbols of them But as for that Passage in Porphyrius his Epistle concerning Chaeremon where he only propounds doubts to Anebo the Egyptian Priest as desiring further Information from him concerning them Jamblichus hath given us a full answer to it under the person of Abammo another Egyptian Priest which notwithstanding hath not hitherto been at all taken notice of because Ficinus and Scutellius not understanding the word Chaeremon to be a Proper name ridiculously turn'd it in their Translations Optarem and Gauderem thereby also perverting the whole sence The words in the Greek MS. now in the hands of my Learned Friend Mr. Gale run thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Chaeremon and those others who pretend to write of the first Causes of the World declare only the Last and Lowest Principles as likewise they who treat of the Planets the Zodiack the Decans the Horoscopes and the Robust Princes And those things that are in the Egyptian Almanacks or Ephemerides contain the least part of the Hermaical Institutions namely the Phases and Occultations of the Stars the Increase and Decrease of the Moon and the like Astrological Matters which things have the lowest place in the Egyptian Aetiology Nor do the Egyptians resolve all things into Sensles Nature but they distinguish both the Life of the Soul and the Intellectual Life from that of Nature and that not only in our selves but also in the Vniverse they determining Mind and Reason first to have existed of themselves and so this whole World to have been made Wherefore they acknowledge before the Heaven and in the Heaven a Living Power and place pure Mind above the World as the Demiurgus and Architect thereof From which Testimony of Jamblichus who was but little Juniour to Porphyrius and Contemporary with Eusebius and who had made it his business to inform himself thoroughly concerning the Theology of the Egyptians it plainly appears that the Egyptians did not generally suppose as Chaeremon pretended concerning some of them a Sensless Inanimate Nature to be the first Original of all things but that as well in the World as in our selves they acknowledged Soul superiour to Nature and Mind or Intellect superiour to Soul this being the Demiurgus of the World But we shall have afterwards occasion more opportunely to cite other Passages out of this Jamblichus his Egyptian Mysteries to the same purpose Wherefore there is no pretense at all to suspect that the Egyptians were universally Atheists and Anarchists such as supposed no Living Understanding Deity but resolved all into Sensless Matter as the first and highest Principle But all the question is whether they were not Polyarchists such as asserted a Multitude of Understanding Deities Self-existent or Unmade Now that Monarchy was an essential part of the Arcane and True Theology of the Egyptians A. Steuchus Eugubinus and many other learned men have thought to be unquestionably evident from the Hermetick or Trismegistick Writings they taking it for granted that these are all genuine and sincere Whereas there is too much cause to suspect that there have been some Pious Frauds practised upon these Trismegistick Writings as well as there were upon the Sibylline and that either whole Books of them have been counterfeited by pretended Christians or at least several spurious and supposititious Passages here and there inserted into some of them Isaac Casaubon who was the first Discoverer has taken notice of many such in that first Hermetick Book entituled Paemander some also in the Fourth Book inscribed Crater and some in the Thirteenth call'd the Sermon in the Mount concerning Regeneration which may justly render those Three whole Books or at least
Though sometimes the Egyptians added to the Serpent also a Hawk thus complicating the Hieroglypick of the Deity according to that of a famous Egyptian Priest in Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the First and Divinest Being of all is Symbolically represented by a Serpent having the head of an Hawk And that a Hawk was also sometimes used alone for a Hieroglyphick of the Deity appeareth from that of Plutarch That in the Porch of an Egyptian Temple at Sais were ingraven these Three Hieroglyphicks a Young man an Old man and an Hawk to make up this Sentence That both the Beginning and End of humane Life dependeth upon God or Providence But we have Two more remarkable Passages in the forementioned Horus Apollo concerning the Egyptian Theology which must not be pretermitted the first this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That according to them there is a Spirit passing through the Whole World to wit God And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It seemeth to the Egyptians that nothing at all consists without God In the next place Jamblichus was a person who had made it his business to inform himself thoroughly concerning the Theology of the Egyptians and who undertakes to give an account thereof in his Answer to Porphyrius his Epistle to Anebo an Egyptian Priest whose Testimony therefore may well seem to deserve credit And he first gives us a Summary account of their Theology after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God who is the Cause of Generation and the whole Nature and of all the Powers in the Elements themselves is Separate Exempt Elevated above and expanded over all the Powers and Elements in the World For being above the World and transcending the same Immaterial and Incorporeal Supernatural Vnmade Indivisible manifested wholly from himself and in himself he ruleth over all things and in himself conteineth all things And because he virtually comprehends all things therefore does he impart and display the same from himself According to which excellent Description of the Deity it is plain that the Egyptians asserting One God that Comprehends All things could not possibly suppose a Multitude of Self-existent Deities In which place also the same Jamblichus tells us that as the Egyptian Hieroglyphick for Material and Corporeal things was Mud or floating Water so they pictur'd God in Loto arbore sedentem super Lutum sitting upon the Lote-tree above the Watery Mud Quod innuit Dei eminentiam altissimam qua fit ut nullo modo attingat Lutum ipsum Demonstratque Dei imperium intellectuale quia Loti arboris omnia sunt rotunda tam frondes quà m fructus c. Which signifies the transcendent Eminency of the Deity above the Matter and its intellectual Empire over the World because both the Leaves and Fruit of that tree are Round representing the Motion of intellect Again he there adds also that the Egyptians sometime pictured God sitting at the Helm of a Ship But afterward in the same Book he sums up the Queries which Porphyrius had propounded to the Egyptian Priest to be resolved concerning them in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You desire to be resolved What the Egyptians think to be the first Cause of all Whether Intellect or something above Intellect And that Whether alone or with some other Whether Incorporeal or Corporeal Whether the first Principle be the same with the Demiurgus and Architect of the World or before him Whether all things proceed from One or Many Whether they suppose Matter or Qualified Bodies to be the first and if they admit a First Matter Whether they assert it to be Vnmade or Made In answer to which Porphyrian Quaeries Jamblichus thus begins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall first reply to that you first demand That according to the Egyptians before all Entities and Principles there is One God who is in order of nature before him that is commonly called the first God and King Immoveable and always remaining in the solitariety of his own Vnity there being nothing Intelligible nor any thing else complicated with him c. In which words of Jamblichus and those others that there follow after though there be some obscurity and we may perhaps have occasion further to consider the meaning of them elsewhere yet he plainly declares that according to the Egyptians the first Original of all things was a perfect Unity above Intellect but intimating withall that besides this First Unity they did admit of certain other Divine Hypostases as a Perfect Intellect and Mundane Soul subordinate thereunto and dependent on it concerning which he thus writeth afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Egyptians acknowledge before the Heaven and in the Heaven a Living Power or Soul and again they place a pure Mind or Intellect above the World But that they did not acknowledge a Plurality of Coordinate Independent Principles is further declared by him after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus the Egyptian Philosophy from first to last begins from Vnity and thence descends to Multitude the Many being always governed by the One and the Infinite or Vndeterminate nature every where mastered and conquered by some finite and determined measure and all ultimately by that highest Vnity that is the first Cause of all things Moreover in answer to the last Porphyrian Question concerning Matter whether the Egyptians thought it to be Vnmade and Selfexistent or Made Jamblichus thus replies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That according to Hermes and the Egyptians Matter was also Made or produced by God ab Essentialitate succisa ac subscissâ Materialitate as Scutellius turns it Which Passage of Jamblichus Proclus upon the Timaeus where he asserts that God was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the uneffable cause of Matter takes notice of in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Tradition of the Egyptians agreeth herewith That Matter was not Vnmade or Self-existent but produced by the Deity For the Divine Jamblichus hath recorded that Hermes would have Materiality to have been produced from Essentiality that is the Passive Principle of Matter from that Active Principle of the Deity And it is very probable from hence that Plato was also of the same opinion concerning Matter viz. because he is supposed to have followed Hermes and the Egyptians Which indeed is the more likely if that be true which the same Proclus affirmeth concerning Orpheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Orpheus also did after the same manner deduce or derive Matter from the First Hypostasis of Intelligibles that is from the Supreme Deity We shall conclude here in the last place with the Testimony of Damascius in his Book of Principles writing after this manner concerning the Egyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eudemus hath given us no exact account of the Egyptians but the Egyptian Philosophers that have been in our times have declared the hidden truth of their Theology having found in certain Egyptian Writings that there was according to them One
Commentary on this Inscription Wherefore it may be here observed that those Pagans who acknowledged God to be a Mind and Incorporeal Being secrete from Matter did notwithstanding frequently consider him not abstractly by himself alone but concretely together with the Result of his whole Fecundity or as displaying the World from himself and diffusing himself through all things and being in a manner All Things Accordingly we learn'd before from Horus Apollo that the Egyptians by God meant a Spirit diffusing it self through the World and intimately pervading all things and that they supposed that nothing at all could consist without God And after this manner Jamblichus in his Mysteries interprets the meaning of this Egyptian Inscription For when he had declared that the Egyptians did both in their Doctrine and their Priestly Hierurgies exhort men to ascend above Matter to an Incorporeal Deity the Maker of all he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hermes also propounded this Method and Bithys the Prophet interpreted the same to King Ammon having found it written in Hieroglyphick letters in the Temple of Sais in Egypt as he also there declared the name of that God who extends or diffuses himself through the whole World And this was Neith or Athenae that God thus described I am all that Was Is and Shall be and my Peplum or Veil no mortal could ever uncover Where we cannot but take notice also that whereas the Athena of the Greeks was derived from the Egyptian Neith that she also was famous for her Peplum too as well as the Egyptian Goddess Peplum saith Servius est Propriè Palla picta Faeminea Minervae consecrata Peplum is properly a womanish Pall or Veil embroidered all over and consecrated to Minerva Which Rite was performed at Athens in the Great Panathenaicks with much Solemnity when the Statue of this Goddess was also by those Noble Virgins of the City who embroidered this Veil cloathed all over therewith From whence we may probably conclude that the Statue of the Egyptian Neith also in the Temple of Sais had likewise agreeably to its Inscription such a Peplum or Veil cast over it as Minerva or Artemis at Athens had this Hieroglyphically to signifie that the Deity was invisible and incomprehensible to mortals but had Veiled it self in this Visible Corporeal World which is as it were the Peplum the exteriour variegated or embroidered Vestment of the Deity To all which Considerations may be added in the last place what Proclus hath recorded that there was something more belonging to this Egyptian Inscription than what is mentioned by Plutarch namely these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Sun was the fruit or off-spring which I produced from whence it is manifest that according to the Egyptians the Sun was not the Supreme Deity and that the God here described was as Proclus also observeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Demiurgical Deity the Creator of the whole World and of the Sun Which Supreme Incorporeal Deity was notwithstanding in their Theology said to be All Things because it diffused it self thorough All. Wherefore whereas Plutarch cites this Passage out of Hecataeus concerning the Egyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they take the First God and the Vniverse for one and the Same thing the meaning of it cannot be as if the First or Supreme God of the Egyptians were the Sensless Corporeal World Plutarch himself in the very next words declaring him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Invisible and Hidden whom therefore the Egyptians as inviting him to manifest himself to them called Hammon as he elsewhere affirmeth That the Egyptians First God or Supreme Deity did see all things himself being not seen But the forementioned Passage must needs be understood thus that according to the Egyptians the First God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Vniverse were Synonymous expressions often used to signifie the very same thing because the First Supreme Deity is that which contains All Things and diffuseth it self through All Things And this Doctrine was from the Egyptians derived to the Greeks Orpheus declaring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all things were One and after him Parmenides and other Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that One was the Vniverse or All and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Vniverse was Immovable they meaning nothing else hereby but that the First Supreme Deity was both One and All things and Immovable And thus much is plainly intimated by Aristotle in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are some who pronounced concerning the whole Vniverse as being but One Nature that is who called the Supreme Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Vniverse because that vertually contained All things in it Nevertheless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Vniverse was frequently taken by the Pagan Theologers also as we have already intimated in a more comprehensive sence for the Deity together with all the extent of its Fecundity God as displaying himself in the World or for God and the World both together the Latter being look'd upon as nothing but an Emanation or Efflux from the Former And thus was the word taken by Empedocles in Plutarch when he affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the World was not the Vniverse but only a small part thereof And according to this sence was the God Pan understood both by the Arcadians and other Greeks not for the mere Corporeal World as Sensless and Inanimate nor as endued with a Plastick Nature only though this was partly included in the Notion of Pan also but as proceeding from a Rational and Intellectual Principle diffusing it self through All or for the whole System of Things God and the World together as one Deity For that the Arcadick Pan was not the Corporeal World alone but chiefly the Intellectual Ruler and Governour of the same appears from this Testimony of Macrobius Hunc Deum Arcades colunt appellantes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non sylvarum Dominum sed universae substantiae Materialis Dominatorem The Arcadians worship this God Pan as their most ancient and honourable God calling him the Lord of Hyle that is not the Lord of the Woods but the Lord or Dominator over all Material Substance And thus does Phornultus likewise describe the Pan of the other Greeks not as the mere Corporeal World Sensless and Inanimate but as having a Rational and Intellectual Principle for the Head of it and presiding over it that is for God and the World both together as one System the World being but the Efflux and Emanation of the Deity The lower parts of Pan saith he were Rough and Goatish because of the asperity of the Earth but his upper parts of a Humane Form because the Ether being Rational and Intellectual is the Hegemonick of the World Adding hereunto that Pan was feigned to be Lustful or Lascivious because of the Multitude of Spermatick Reasons contained in the World and
the continual Mixtures and Generations of things to be cloathed with the Skin of a Libbard because of the bespangled Heavens and the beautiful variety of things in the World to live in a Desaert because of the Singularity of the World and Lastly to be a good Demon by reason of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that supreme Mind Reason and Vnderstanding that governs all in it Pan therefore was not the mere Corporeal World Sensless and Inanimate but the Deity as displaying it self therein and pervading All things Agreeably to which Diodorus Siculus determines that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were but two several Names for one and the same Deity as it is well known that the whole Universe was frequently called by the Pagans Jupiter also as well as Pan. And Socrates himself in Plato directs his Prayer in a most devout and serious manner to this Pan that is not the Corporeal World or Sensless Matter but an Intellectual Principle Ruling over all or the Supreme Deity diffusing it self through All he therefore distinguishing him from the Inferiour Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Good or Gracious Pan and ye other Gods who preside over this place Grant that I may be Beautiful or Fair within and that those External things which I have may be such as may best agree with a right Internal disposition of mind and that I may account him to be rich that is wise and just The matter of which prayer though it be excellent yet is it Paganically directed to Pan that is the Supreme God and the Inferiour Gods both together Thus we see that as well according to the Greeks as the Egyptians the First or Supreme God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Universe were really the same thing And here we cannot but by the way take notice of that famous and remarkable Story of Plutarch's in his defect of Oracles concerning Demons lamenting the Death of the Great Pan. In the time of Tiberius saith he certain persons embarquing from Asia for Italy towards the Evening sailed by the Echinades where being becalmed they heard from thence a loud voice calling one Thamous an Egyptian Mariner amongst them and after the third time commanding him when he came to the Palodes to declare That the Great Pan was dead He with the advice of his company resolved that if they had a quick gale when they came to the Palodes he would pass by silently but if they should find themselves there becalmed he would then perform what the voice had commanded But when the ship arrived thither there neither was any Gale of Wind nor agitation of Water Whereupon Thamous looking out of the hinder Deck towards the Palodes pronounced these words with a loud voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Great Pan is dead which he had no sooner done but he was answered with a Quire of many voices making a great Howling and Lamentation not without a certain mixture of Admiration Plutarch who gives much credit to this Relation adds how Sollicitous Tiberius the Emperour was first concerning the truth thereof and afterwards when he had satisfied himself therein concerning the Interpretation he making great Enquiry amongst his Learned men who this Pan should be But the only use which that Philosopher makes of this Story is this to prove that Demons having Bodies as well as men though of a different kind from them and much more longeve yet were notwithstanding Mortal he endeavouring from thence to salve that Phaenomenon of the Defect of Oracles because the Demons who had formerly haunted those places were now dead But this being an idle Fancy of Plutarch's it is much more probably concluded by Christian Writers that this thing coming to pass in the Reign of Tiberius when our Saviour Christ was crucified was no other than a Lamentation of Evil Demons not without a mixture of Admiration upon account of our Saviours Death happening at that very time They not mourning out of Love for him that was dead but as sadly presaging evil to themselves from thence as that which would threaten danger to their Kingdom of Darkness and a Period to that Tyranny and Domination which they had so long exercised over Mankind according to such Passages of Scripture as these Now is the Prince of this World judged and Having spoiled Principalities and Powers by his Death upon the Cross He triumphed over them in it Now our Saviour Christ could not be called Pan according to that Notion of the word as taken for nothing but the Corporeal World devoid of all manner of Life or else as endued only with a Plastick Nature but this Appellation might very well agree to him as Pan was taken for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Reason and Vnderstanding by which all things were made and by which they are all governed or for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Divine Wisdom which diffuseth it self through all things Moreover Pan being used not so much for the naked and abstract Deity as the Deity as it were embodied in this Visible Corporeal World might therefore the better signifie God manifested in the Flesh and cloathed with a Particular Humane Body in which respect alone he was capable of dying Neither indeed was there any other Name in all the Theology of the Pagans that could so well befit our Saviour Christ as this We have now made it manifest that according to the ancient Egyptian Theology from whence the Greekish and European was derived there was One Intellectual Deity One Mind or Wisdom which as it did produce all things from it self so doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contain and comprehend the whole and is it self in a manner All things We think fit in the next place to observe how this Point of the Old Egyptian Theology viz. God's being All things is every where insisted upon throughout the Hermaick or Trismegistick Writings We shall begin with the Asclepian Dialogue or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated into Latin by Apuleius in the Entrance of which the Writer having declared Omnia Vnius esse Vnum esse Omnia that all things were of One and that One was All things he afterwards adds this explication thereof Nonne hoc dixi Omnia Unum esse Unum Omnia utpote quia in Creatore fuerint omnia antequam creâsset omnia Nec immeritò Vnus est dictus Omnia cujus membra sunt Omnia Hujus itaque qui est Unus Omnia vel ipse est Creator omnium in tota hac disputatione curato meminisse Have we not already declared that All things are One and One All things forasmuch as All things existed in the Creator before they were made Neither is he improperly said to be All things whose Members all things are Be thou therefore mindful in this whole disputation of him who is One and All things or was the Creator of All. And thus afterwards does he declare that all Created things were in the Deity before
But that notwithstanding he asserted One Supreme and only Vnmade or Self-existent Deity is also manifest from that other Apothegm of his in Laertius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is the Oldest of all things because he is Vnmade From whence it may be concluded that all Thales his other Gods were Generated and the Off-spring of One sole Unmade Deity Pherecydes Syrus was Thales his contemporary of whom Aristotle in his Metaphysicks hath recorded that he affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the First Principle from whence all other things were Generated was the Best or an Absolutely Perfect Being So as that in the Scale of Nature things did not ascend upwards from the most Imperfect to the more Perfect Beings but on the contrary descend downwards from the most Perfect to the less Perfect Moreover Laertius informs us that this was the Beginning of one of Pherecydes his Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter and Time and the Earth always were Where notwithstanding in the following words he makes the Earth to be dependent upon Jupiter Though some reading 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seem to understand him thus that Jupiter and Saturn really one and the same Numen was always from Eternity However there is in these words an acknowledgment of One Single and Eternal Deity Pythagoras was the most eminent of all the ancient Philosophers who that he was a Polytheist as well as the other Pagans may be concluded from that Beginning of the Golden Verses though not written by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherein men are exhorted in the first place to worship the Immortal Gods and that accordingly as they were appointed by Law after them the Heroes and last of all the Terrestrial Demons And accordingly Laertius gives this account of Pythagoras his Piety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he conceived men ought to worship both the Gods and the Heroes though not with equal honour And who these Gods of Pythagoras were the same Writer also declareth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they were in part at least the Sun and Moon and Stars Notwithstanding which that Pythagoras acknowledged One Supreme and Universal Numen which therefore was the Original of all those other Gods may partly appear from that Prayer in the Golden Verses which whether written by Philolaus or Lysis or some other Follower of Pythagoras were undoubtedly ancient and agreeable to his Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter alme malis jubeas vel solvier omnes Omnibus utantur vel quonam daemone monstra Upon which Hierocles thus writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It was the manner of the Pythagoreans to honour the Maker and Father of this whole Vniverse with the name of Dis and Zen it being just that he who giveth Being and Life to all should be denominated from thence And again afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This very name Zeus is a convenient symbol or image of the Demiurgical Nature And they who first gave names to things were by reason of a certain wonderful Wisdom of theirs a kind of excellent Statuaries they by those several Names as Images lively representing the natures of things Moreover that this Pythagorick Prayer was directed to the Supreme Numen and King of Gods Jamblichus thus declares in his Protrepticks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here is an excellent exhortation of these Golden Verses to the pursuit of Divine Felicity mingled together with Prayers and the Invocation of the Gods but especially of that Jupiter who is the King of them Moreover the same might further appear from those Pythagorick Fragments that are still extant as that of Ocellus Lucanus and others who where Moralists in which as Gods are sometimes spoken of plurally so also is God often singularly used for that Supreme Deity which conteineth the whole But this will be most of all manifest from what hath been recorded concerning the Pythagorick Philosophy and its making a Monad the First Principle It is true indeed that the Writer de Placitis Philosophorum doth affirm Pythagoras to have asserted Two Substantial Principles Self-existent a Monad and a Dyad by the former of which as God is confessed to have been meant so the latter of them is declared with some uncertainty it being in one place interpreted to be a Daemon or a Principle of Evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Pythagoras his First Principle is God and Good which is the Nature of Vnity and a perfect Mind but his other Principle of Duality is a Demon or Evil But in another place expounded to be Matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythagoras his Principles were a Monad and Infinite Duality The former of them an Active Principle Mind or God the latter Passive and Matter And Plutarch in some other Writings of his declares that the First Matter did not exist alone by it self Dead and Inanimate but acted with an irrational Soul and that both these together made up that wicked Daemon of his And doubtless this Book De Placitis Philosophorum was either written by Plutarch himself or else by some Disciple and Follower of his according to his Principles Wherefore this accompt which is therein given of the Pythagorick Doctrine was probably infected with that private Conceit of Plutarch's That God and a wicked Demon or else Matter together with an Irrational Soul Self-existent were the First Principles of the Vniverse Though we do acknowledge that others also besides Plutarch have supposed Pythagoras to have made Two Self-existent Principles God and Matter but not animate nor informed as Plutarch supposed with any Irrational or wicked Soul Notwithstanding which it may well be made a Question Whether Pythagoras by his Dyad meant Matter or no because Malchus or Porphyrius in the Life of Pythagoras thus interprets those Two Pythagorick Principles of Vnity and Duality 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cause of that Sympathy Harmony and Agreement which is in things and of the conservation of the Whole which is always the same and like it self was by Pythagoras called Vnity or a Monade that Vnity which is in the things themselves being but a participation of the First Cause But the reason of Alterity Inequality and unconstant Irregularity in things was by him called a Dyad Thus acording to Porphyrius by the Pythagorick Dyad is not so much meant Matter as the Infinite and Indeterminate Nature and the Passive Capability of Things So that the Monade and Dyad of Pythagoras seem to have been the same with Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Finite and Infinite in his Philebus the Former of which Two only is Substantial that First most simple Being the cause of all Unity and the Measure of all things However if Pythagoras his Dyad be to be understood of a Substantial Matter it will not therefore follow that he supposed Matter to be Self-existent and
Physicks yet could not altogether dissemble it For when he thus begins There must of necessity be either One Principle or Many and if there be but One then must it either be Immovable as Parmenides and Melissus affirm or else Movable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Naturalists or Physiologers he therein plainly intimates that when Parmenides and Melissus made One Immovable the Principle of all things they did not write this as Physiologers And afterwards he confesses that this Controversie whether there were One Immovable Principle does not belong to Natural Philosophy but to some other Science But this is more plainly declared by him elsewhere writing concerning Parmenides and Melissus after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though it be granted that Parmenides and Melissus otherwise said well yet we must not imagine them to have spoken Physically For this that there is something Vnmade and Immovable does not so properly belong to Physicks as to a certain other Science which is before it Wherefore Parmenides as well as Xenophones his Master by his One and All meant nothing else but the Supreme Deity he calling it also Immovable For the Supreme Deity was by these Ancient Philosophers styled First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Vnity and Monad because they conceived that the First and most Perfect being and the beginning of all things must needs be the most Simple Thus Endorus in Simplicius declares their sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Ancients affirmed that the One or Vnity was the first Principle of All Matter it self as well as other things being derived from it they meaning by this One that Highest or Supreme God who is over all And Syrianus to the same purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those Divine Men called God The One as being the cause of Vnity to all things as likewise he was of Being and Life And Simplicius concludes that Parmenides his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his One Ens was a certain Divine Principle Superior to Mind or Intellect and more Simple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It remaineth therefore that that Intelligible which is the Cause of all things and therefore of Mind and Vnderstanding too in which all things are contained and comprehended compendiously and in a way of Vnity I say that this was Parmenides his One Ens or Being In the next place Parmenides with the others of those Ancients called also his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his One Ens or First most Simple Being All or the Vniverse because it virtually contained all things and as Simplicius writes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are from this One distinctly displayed For which cause in Plato's Parmenides this One is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 distributed into All things that are Many But that Parmenides by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One-All or the Vniverse did not understand the Corporeal World is evident from hence because he called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Indivisible and as Simplicius observes supposed it to have no Magnitude because that which is Perfectly One can have no Parts Wherefore it may be here observed that this expression of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One being All hath been used in very different Sences for as Parmenides and Xenophanes understood it of the Supreme Deity that One most Perfect and most Simple Being was the Original of all things so others of them meant it Atheistically concerning the most Imperfect and Lowest of all Beings Matter or Body they affirming all things to be nothing but One and the same Matter diversly modified Thus much we learn from that place of Aristotle's in his Metaphysicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who affirm One to be All in this sence as if All things were nothing but one and the same Matter and that corporeal and endued with magnitude it is manifest that they err sundry wayes But here is a great Difference betwixt these Two to be observed in that the Atheistical asserters of One and All whether they meant Water or Air by it or something else did none of them suppose their One and All to be Immovable but Movable but they whose Principle was One and all Immovable as Parmenides Melissus and Zeno could not possibly mean any thing else thereby but the Deity that there was one most Simple Perfect and Immutable Being Incorporeal which virtually contained All Things and from which All things were derived But Heraclitus who is one of those who are said to have affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that One was All or that the Vniverse was but One Thing might possibly have taken both those sences together which will also agree in the Stoical Hypothesis that All things were both from One God and from One Fire they being both alike Corporeal Theiâ—â—s who supposed an intellectual Fire to be the First Principle of All Things And though Aristotle in his Physicks quarrel very much with Parmenides and Melissus for making One Immovable Principle yet in his Metaphysicks himself doth plainly close with it and own it as very good Divinity that there is One Incorporeal and Immovable Principle of All Things and that the Supreme Deity is an Immovable Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If there be any such Substance as this that is separate from Matter or Incorporeal and Immovable as we shall afterwards endeavour to shew that there is then the Divinity ought to be placed here and this must be acknowledged to be the First and most Proper Principle of all But lest any should suspect that Aristotle if not Parmenides also might for all that hold Many such Immoveable Principles or Many Eternal Uncreated and Self-existent Beings as so many Partial Causes of the World Simplicius assures us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that though divers of the Ancient Philosophers asserted a Plurality of Movable Principles and some indeed an Infinity yet there never was any Opinion entertained amongst Philosophers of Many or More than One Immovable Principles From whence it may be concluded that no Philosopher ever asserted a Multitude of Unmade Selfexistent Minds or Independent Deities as Coordinate Principles of the World Indeed Plotinus seems to think that Parmenides in his Writings by his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ens did frequently mean a Perfect Mind or Intellect there being no True Entity according to him below that which Understands which Mind though Incorporeal was likened by him to a Sphere because it comprehends all within it self and because Intellection is not from without but from within But that when again he called his On or Ens One he gave occasion thereby to some to quarrel with him as making the same both One and Many Intellect being that which conteins the Ideas of all things in it Wherefore Parmenides his whole Philosophy saith he was better digested and more exactly and distinctly set down in Plato's Parmenides where he acknowledgeth Three Vnities Subordinate or a Trinity of Divine Hypostases
Wherefore the sence of Empedocles his words here was this that the whole created World together with all things belonging to it viz. Plants Beasts Men and Gods was made from Contention and Friendship Nevertheless since according to Empedocles Contention and Friendship did themselves depend also upon one Supreme Deity which he with Parmenides and Xenophanes called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or The Very One the Writer De Mundo might well conclude that according to Empedocles all things whatsoever and not only men but Gods were derived from One Supreme Deity And that this was indeed Empedocles his sence appears plainly from Aristotle in his Metaphysicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Empedocles makes Contention to be a certain Principle of Corruption and Generation Nevertheless he seems to generate this Contention it self also from the Very One that is from the Supreme Deity For all things according to him are from this Contention God only excepted he writing after this manner From which that is Contention and Friendship all the things that have been are and shall be Plants Beasts Men and Gods derived their Original For Empedocles it seems supposed that were it not for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Discord or Contention all things would be One So that according to him all things whatsoever proceded from Contention or Discord together with a mixture of Friendship save only the Supreme God who hath therefore no Contention at all in him because he is Essentially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnity it self and Friendship From whence Aristotle takes occasion to quarrel with Empedocles as if it would follow from his Principles that the Supreme and most Happy God was the Least wise of all as being not able to know any thing besides himself or in the World without him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. This therefore happens to Empedocles that according to his Principles the most Happy God is the least Wise of all other things for he cannot know the Elements because he hath no Contention in him all Knowledge being by that which is like himself writing thus We know Earth by Earth Water by Water Air by Air and Fire by Fire Friendship by Friendship and Contention by Contention But to let this pass Empedocles here making the Gods themselves to be derived from Contention and Friendship the Supreme Deity or most Happy God only excepted who hath no Contention in him and from whom Contention and Friendship themselves were derived plainly acknowledged both One Unmade Deity the Original of all things under the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The very One and many other Inferiour Gods generated or produced by him they being Juniors to Contention or Discord as this was also Junior to Vnity the First and Supreme Deity Which Gods of Empedocles that were begotten from Contention as well as Men and other things were doubtless the Stars and Demons Moreover we may here observe that according to Empedocles his Doctrine the true Original of all the Evil both of Humane Souls and Demons which he supposed alike Lapsable was derived from that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Discord and Contention that is necessarily contained in the Nature of them together with the the Ill Use of their Liberty both in this Present and their Pre-existent State So that Empedocles here trode in the footsteps of Pythagoras whose Praises he thus loudly sang forth in his Poems 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Horum de numero quidam praestantia norat Plurima Mentis Opes Amplas sub pectore servans Omnia Vestigans Sapientum Docta Reperta c. XXII Before we come to Socrates and Plato we shall here take notice of some other Pythagoreans and Eminent Philosophers who clearly asserted One Supreme and Vniversal Numen though doubtless acknowledging withal Other Inferiour Gods Philo in his Book De Mundi Opificio writing of the Hebdomad or Septenary Number and observing that according to the Pythagoreans it was called both a Motherless and Virgin Number because it was the only number within the Decad which was neither Generated nor did it self Generate tells us that therefore it was made by them a Symbol of the Supreme Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Pythagoreans likened this Number to the Prince and Governour of All Things or the Supreme Monarch of the Vniverse as thinking it to bear a resemblance of his Immutability which Phancy of theirs was before taken notice of by us However Philo hereupon occasionally cites this Remarkable Testimony of Philolaus the Pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God saith he is the Prince and Ruler over all alwayes One Stable Immovable Like to himself but Vnlike to every thing else To which may be added what in Stobaeus is further recorded out of the same Philolaus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This World was from Eternity and will remain to Eternity One governed by One which is Cognate and the Best Where notwithstanding he seemeth with Ocellus to maintain the Worlds Pre-eternity And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore said Philolaus the World might well be called the Eternal Energy or Effect of God and of Successive Generation Jamblichus in his Protrepticks cites a Passage out of Archytas another Pythagorean to the same purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Whosoever is able to reduce all kinds of things under One and the same Principle this man seems to me to have found out an excellent Specula or high Station from whence he may be able to take a Large View and Prospect of God and of all other things and he shall clearly perceive that God is the Beginning and End and Middle of All things that are performed according to Justice and Right Reason Upon which words of Archytas Jamblichus thus glosseth Archytas here declares the End of all Theological Speculation to be this not to rest in Many Principles but to reduce all things under One and the same Head Adding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That this knowledge of the first Vnity the Original of All things is the end of all Contemplation Moreover Stobaeus cites this out of Archytas his Book of Principles viz. That besides Matter and Form 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There is another more necessary cause which Moving brings the Form to the Matter and that this is the First and most Powerful Cause which is fitly called God So that there are Three Principles God Matter and Form God the Artificer and Mover and Matter that which is moved and Form the Art introduced into the Matter In which same Stobean Excerption it also follows afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there must be something better than Mind and that this thing better than Mind is that which we properly call God Ocellus also in the same Stobaeus thus writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life contains the bodies of Animals the Cause of which
Life is the Soul Concord contains Houses and Cities the cause of which Concord is Law and Harmony contains the whole World the cause of which Mundane Harmony is God And to the same purpose Aristaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Artificer is to Art so is God to the Harmony of the world There is also this passage in the same Stobaeus cited out of an anonymous Pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is the Principle and the First thing and the World though it be not the Supreme God yet is it Divine Timaeus Locrus a Pythagorean Senior to Plato in his Book concerning Nature or the Soul of the World upon which Plato's Timaeus was but a kind of Commentary plainly acknowledgeth both One Supreme God the Maker and Governour of the whole World and also Many other Gods his Creatures and subordinate Ministers in the close thereof writing thus concerning the punishment of wickedmen after this life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these things hath Nemesis decreed to be executed in the second Circuit by the Ministry of Vindictive Terrestrial Demons that are Overseers of humane affairs to which Demons that Supreme God the Ruler over all hath committed the Government and Administration of the World Which world is compleated and made up of Gods Men and other Animals all Created according to the best Pattern of the Eternal and Vnmade Idea In which words of Timaeus there are these Three several Points of the Pagan Theology contained First that there is One Supreme God Eternal and Unmade the Creator and Governour of the whole World and who made it according to the Best Pattern or Exemplar of his own Idea's and Eternal Wisdom Secondly that this World Created by God is compounded and made up of other Inferiour Gods Men and Brute Animals Thirdly that the Supreme God hath committed the Administration of our Humane Affairs to Demons and Inferiour Gods who are constant inspectors over us some of which he also makes use of for the punishment of wicked men after this life Moreover in this Book of Timaeus Locrus the Supreme God is often called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God in way of eminency sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Very Good sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Principle of the Best things sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Maker of the Better Evil being supposed not to proceed from him sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Best and most Powerful Cause sometime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Prince and Parent of all things Which God according to him is not the Soul of the World neither but the Creator thereof he having made the World an Animal and a Secondary Generated God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God willing to make the world the Best that it was capable of made it a Generated God such as should never be destroyed by any other Cause but only by that God himself who framed it if he should ever will to dissolve it But since it is not the part of that which is good to destroy the Best of Works the World will doubtless ever remain Incorruptible and Happy the best of all Generated things made by the Best Cause looking not at Patterns Artificially framed without him but the Idea and Intelligible Essence as the Paradigms which whatsoever is made conformable to must needs be the Best and such as shall never need to be mended Moreover he plainly declares that this Generated God of his the World was produced in Time so as to have a Beginning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Before the Heaven was made existed the Idea Matter and God the Opifex of the Best Wherefore whatever Ocellus and Philolaus might do yet this Timaeus held not the Worlds Eternity wherein he followed not only Pythagoras himself as we have already shewed but also the generality of the first Pythagoreans of whom Aristotle pronounces without exception 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they Generated the World Timaeus indeed in this Book seems to assert the Pre-eternity of the Matter as if it were a Self-existent Principle together with God and yet Clemens Alexandrinus cites a passage out of him looking another way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Would you hear of one only Principle of all things amongst the Greeks Timaeus Locrus in his Book of Nature will bear me witness thereof he there in express words writing thus There is One Principle of All Things Vnmade for if it were made it would not be a Principle but that would be the Principle from whence it was made Thus we see that Timaeus Locrus asserted One Eternal and Vnmade God the maker of the whole World and besides this another Generated God the World it self Animated with its several Parts the difference betwixt both which Gods is thus declared by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Eternal God who is the Prince Original and Parent of all these things is seen only by the Mind but the other Generated God is visible to our eyes viz. this world and those parts of it which are Heavenly that is the Stars as so many particular Gods contained in it But here it is to be observed that that Eternal God is not only so called by Timaeus as being without beginning but also as having a distinct kind of duration from that of Time which is properly called Aeon or Eternity he therein following Parmenides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time is but an Image of that Vnmade Duration which we call Eternity wherefore as this sensible World was made according to that Eternal Exemplar or Pattern of the Intelligible World so was Time made together with the World as an Imitation of Eternity It hath been already observed that Onatus another Pythagorean took notice of an Opinion of some in his time that there was One only God who comprehended the whole World and no other Gods besides or at least none such as was to be religiously worshipped himself in the mean time asserting That there was both One God and Many Gods or besides One Supreme and Vniversal Numen Many other Inferiour and Particular Deities to whom also men ought to pay Religious Worship Now his further account of both these Assertions is contained in these following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who maintain that there is only One God and not Many Gods are very much mistaken as not considering aright what the Dignity and Majesty of the Divine Transcendency chiefly consisteth in namely in Ruling and Governing those which are like to it that is Gods and in excelling or surmounting Others and being Superiour to them But all those other Gods which we contend for are to that First and Intelligible God but as the Dancers to the Coryphaeus or Choragus as the Inferior Common Soldiers to the Captain or General to whom it properly belongeth to follow and comply with their Leader and Commander The work indeed
World especially since in so many other places of his Writings he plainly owns a Divine Monarchy We pass from M. Tullius Cicero to M. Terentius Varro his Equal a man famous for Polymathy or Multifarious Knowledge and reputed unquestionably though not the most Eloquent yet the most Learned of all the Romans at least as to Antiquity He wrote One and Forty Books concerning the Antiquities of Humane and Divine things wherein he transcended the Roman Pontifices themselves and discovered their Ignorance as to many points of their Religion In which Books he distinguished Three Kinds of Theology the First Mythical or Fabulous the Second Physical or Natural and the Last Civil or Popular The First being most accomodate to the Theatre or Stage the Second to the World or the Wiser men in it the Third to Cities or the Generality of the Civilized Vulgar Which was agreeable also to the Doctrine of Scaevola that Learned Pontifex concerning Three Sorts of Gods Poetical Philosophical and Political As for the Mythical and Poetical Theology it was censured after this manner by Varro In eo sunt multa contra Dignitatem Naturam immortalium ficta In hoc enim est ut Deus alius ex capite alius ex femore sit alius ex guttis sanguinis natus In hoc ut Dii furati sint ut adulteraverint ut servierint homini Denique in hoc omnia Diis attribuuntur quae non modo in hominem sed etiam in contemptissimum hominem cadere possunt That according to the Literal Sence it conteined many things contrary to the Dignity and Nature of Immortal Beings The Genealogy of one God being derived from the Head of another from the Thigh of another from drops of Blood Some being represented as Thieves others as Adulterers c. and all things attributed to the Gods therein that are not only incident to men but even to the most contemptible and flagitious of them And as for the Second the Natural Theology which is the True this Varro conceived to be above the capacity of Vulgar Citizens and that therefore it was expedient there should be another Theology calculated more accommodate for them and of a middle kind betwixt the Natural and the Fabulous which is that which is called Civil For he affirmed Multa esse vera quae vulgo scire non sit utile quaedam quae tametsi falsa sint aliter existimare populum expediat that there were many things true in Religion which it was not convenient for the Vulgar to know and again some things which though false yet it was expedient they should be believed by them As Scaevola the Roman Pontifex in like manner would not have the Vulgar to know that the True God had neither Sex nor Age nor Bodily Members Expedire igitur existimat saith St. Austin of him falli in Religione Civitates quod dicere etiam in Libris Rerum Divinarum ipse Varro non dubitat Scaevola therefore judgeth it expedient that Cities should be deceived in their Religion which also Varro himself doubteth not to affirm in his Books of Divine Things Wherefore this Varro though disapproving the Fabulous Theology yet out of a pious design as he conceived did he endeavour to assert as much as he could the Civil Theology then received amongst the Romans and to vindicate the same from Contempt yet nevertheless so as that Si eam Civitatem novam constitueret ex Naturae potiùs Formulâ Deos Deorum nomina se fuisse dedicaâ—urum non dubitet confiteri If he were to constitute a New Rome himself he doubts not to confess but that he would dedicate Gods and the Names of Gods after another manner more agreeably to the Form of Nature or Natural Theology Now what Varro's own sence was concerning God he freely declared in those Books of Divine Things namely That he was the Great Soul and Mind of the whole World Thus St. Austin Hi soli Varroni videntur animadvertisse quid esset Deus qui crediderunt cum esse Animam Motu ac Ratione mundum gubernantem These alone seem to Varro to have understood what God is who believed him to be a Soul governing the whole World by Motion and Reason So that Varro plainly asserted One Supreme and Vniversal Numen he erring only in this as St. Austin conceives that he called him A Soul and not the Creator of Soul or a Pure and Abstract Mind But as Varro acknowledged One Vniversal Numen the Whole Animated World or rather the Soul thereof which also he affirmed to be called by several Names as in the Earth Tellus in the Sea Neptune and the like so did he also admit together with the rest of the Pagans other Particular Gods which were to him nothing but Parts of the World Animated with Souls Superiour to men A summo Circuitu coeli usque ad Circulum Lunae aethereas Animas esse Astra ac Stellas eosque coelestes Deos non modo intelligi esse sed etiam videri Inter Lunae verò gyrum nimborum Caeumina Aereas esse Animas sed eas animo non oculis videri vocari Heroas Lares Genios That from the highest Circuit of the heavens to the Sphere of the Moon there are Ethereal Souls or Animals the Stars which are not only understood but also seen to be Celestial Gods And between the Sphere of the Moon and the Middle Region of the Air there are Aereal Souls or Animals which though not seen by our Eyes yet are discovered by our Mind and called Heroes Lares and Genii So that according to Varro the only True Natural Gods were as himself also determined Anima Mundi ac Partes ejus First the great Soul and Mind of the whole world which comprehendeth all and secondly the Parts of the World Animated superiour to men Which Gods also he affirmed to be worshipped Castiùs more purely and chastly without Images as they were by the first Romans for one hundred and seventy years he concluding qui primi simulachra Deorum populi posuerunt eos civitatibus suis metum dempsisse errorem addidisse prudenter existimans saith St. Austin Deos facilè posse in Simulachrorum stoliditate contemni That those Nations who first set up Images of the Gods did both take away Fear from their Cities and add Errour to them he wisely Judging that the Foppery of Images would easily render their Gods contemptible L. Annaeus Seneca the Philosopher was contemporary with our Saviour Christ and his Apostles who though frequently acknowledging a Plurality of Gods did nevertheless plainly assert One Supreme he not only speaking of him Singularly and by way of Eminency but also plainly describing him as such as when he calls him Formatorem Vniversi Rectorem Arbitrum Custodem Mundi Ex quo suspensa sunt omnia Animum ac Spiritum Vniversi Mundani hujus operis Dominum Artificem Cui nomen
oâ—herwise than as it is by Him appointed Likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because all things are by him Connected together and proceed from him unhinderably 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because all things in the world are determined and nothing left Infinite or Vndetermined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he makes an apt Division and Distribution of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his Power is such as that none can possibly avoid or escape him Lastly that Ingenious Fable as he calls it of the Three Fatal Sisters Clotho Lachesis and Atropos according to him meant nothing but God neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All this is nothing else but God as the noble and generous Plato also intimates when he affirmeth God to contain the Beginning and Middle and End of all things And both Cicero and Seneca tell us that amongst the Latins God was not only called Fatum but also Natura and Fortuna Quid aliud est Natura saith Seneca quam Deus Divina Ratio toti Mundo Partibus ejus inserta What is Nature else but God and the Divine Reason inserted into the Whole World and all its Several Parts He adding that God and Nature were no more Two Different Things than Annaeus and Seneca And Nonnunquam Deum saith Cicero Fortunam appellant quod efficiat multa improvisa nec opinata nobis propter obscuritatem ignorationemque Causarum They sometimes call God also by the name of Fortune because he surprizeth us in many Events and bringeth to pass things unexpected to us by reason of the Obscurity of Causes and our Ignorance Seneca thus concludes concerning these and the like Names of God Omnia ejusdem Dei Nomina sunt variè utentis sua Potestate These are all Names of one and the same God Variously Manifesting his Power But concerning most of these forementioned Names of God and such as are like to them it was rightly observed by St. Austin that they had no such Appearance or shew of Many Distinct Gods Haec omnia cognomina imposuerunt Vni Deo propter Causas Potestatesque Diversas non tamen propter tot res etiam tot Deos eum esse coegerunt c. Though the Pagans imposed all these Several Names upon One God in respect of his Several Powers yet did they not therefore seem to make so many Gods of them as if Victor were one God and Invictus another God and Centupeda another God and Tigillus another and Ruminus another c. Wherrefore there are other Names of God used amongst the Pagans which have a greater show and appearance of so many Distinct Deities not only because they are Proper Names but also because each of them had their peculiar Temples appropriated to them and their different Rites of Worship Now these are of Two sorts First such as signifie the Deity according to its Vniversal and All-comprehending Nature and Secondly such as denote the same only according to certain Particular Powers Manifestations and Effects of it in the world Of the First kind there are not a few For First of all PAN as the the very word plainly implies him to be a Vniversal Numen and as he was supposed to be the Harmostes of the whole World or to play upon the World as a Musical Instrument according to that of Orpheus or Onomacritus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So have we before showed that by him the Arcadians and Greeks meant not the Corporeal World Inanimate nor yet as endued with a Sensless Nature only but as proceeding from an Intellectual Principle or Divine Spirit which framed it Harmoniously and as being still kept in tune acted and governed by the same Which therefore is said to be the Vniversal Pastor and Shepherd of all Mankind and of the whole world according to that other Orphick passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pascens Humanum Genus ac sine limite Terram And this Pan Socrates in Plato's Phaedrus plainly invokes as the Supreme Numen Pan therefore is the One only God for there cannot possibly be more than One Pan more than One All or Vniverse who conteined All within himself displayed All from himself framing the World Harmoniously and who is in a manner All Things Again JANVS whom the Romans First invoked in all their Sacrifices and Prayers and who was never omitted whatsoever God they sacrificed unto was unquestionably many times taken for a Vniversal Numen as in this of Martial Nitidique Sator pulcherrime mundi And again in this of Ovid. Quicquid ubique vides Coelum Mare Nubila Terras Omnia sunt nostra clausa patentque Manu Me penes est Vnum vasti Custodia Mundi From which passages it also appears that Janus was not the meer Sensless and Inanimate Matter of the World but a Principle Presiding over it And without doubt all the Beginnings of things were therefore referred to this Janus because he was accounted the most Ancient God and the Beginning of all things St. Austin concluding him to be the same with Jupiter therefore quarrels with the Pagans that is with their Civil Theology for thus making Two Gods of One. Cum ergo Janus Mundus sit Jupiter Mundus sit Vnusque sit Mundus quare Duo Dii sunt Janus Jupiter Quare seorsum habent Templa seorsum Aras diversa Sacra dissimilia Simulachra Si propterea quia alia vis est Primordiorum alia Causarum ex illa Jani ex ista Jovis nomen accepit nunquid si unus homo in diversis rebus duas habeat potestates aut duas artes quia singularum diversa Vis est ideo Duo dicuntur Artifices c. Since therefore Janus is the World and Jupiter is the World and there is but one World how can Janus and Jupiter be Two Gods Why have they their Temples apart their Altars apart distinct Sacred things and Statues of different forms If because the force of Beginnings is One and the force of Causes Another he is therefore called Janus from the former and Jupiter from the latter I ask whether or no if one Man have two Several arts about different things he therefore be to be called Two Artificers Or is there any more reason why one and the same God having Two Powers one over the Beginnings of things and another over the Causes should therefore be accounted Two Gods Where when Jupiter and Janus are both said to be the World this is to be understood properly not of the Matter but the Soul or Mind of the World as St. Austin himself elsewhere declares Sit Jupiter Corporei hujus Mundi Animus qui universam istam Molem ex quatuor Elementis constructam atque compactam implet movet Let Jupiter be the Mind of this corporeal World which both filleth and moveth that whole bulk compounded and made up of the four Elements Nevertheless as the Soul and Body both together are called the Man so was the whole Animated World by the Pagans
him be Deus Consus as giving Counsel and Dea Sentia as inspiring men with Sense let him be the Goddess Juventas which has the Guardianship of young men and Fortuna Barbata which upon some more than others liberally bestoweth beards let him be Deus Jugatinus which joyns man and wife together and Dea Virginensis which is then invoked when the Girdle of the Bride is loosed Lastly let him be Mutinus also which is the same with Priapus amongst the Greeks if you will not be ashamed to say it Let all these Gods and Goddesses and many more which I have not mentioned be One and the same Jupiter whether as Parts of him which is agreeable to their opinion who hold him to be the Soul of the world or else as his Vertues only which is the sence of many and great Pagan Doctors But that the Authority and Reputation of a late Learned and Industrious Writer G. I. Vossius may not here stand in our way or be a Prejudice to us we think it necessary to take notice of one passage of his in his Book De Theologia Gentili and freely to censure the the same where treating concerning that Pagan Goddess Venus he writeth thus Ex Philosophica de Diis Doctrina Venus est vel Luna ut vidimus vel Lucifer sive Hesperus Sed ex Poetica ac Civili supra hos coelos statuuntur Mentes quaedam â Syderibus diversae quomodò Jovem Apollinem Junonem Venerem caeterosque Deos Consentes considerare jubet Apuleius Quippe eos inquit Natura Visibus nostris denegavit necnon tamen Intellectu eos mirabundi contemplamur acie mentis acrius contemplantes Quid apertius hic quam ab eo per Deos Consentes intelligi non Corpora Coelestia vel Subcoelestia sed sublimiorem quandam Naturam nec nisi animis conspicuam According to the Philosophick Doctrine concerning the Gods Venus is either the Moon or Lucifer or Hesperus but according to the Poetick and Civil Theology of the Pagans there were certain Eternal Minds placed above the Heavens distinct from the Stars accordingly as Apuleius requires us to consider Jupiter and Apollo Juno and Venus and all those other Gods called Consentes he affirming of them that though Nature had denied them to our sight yet notwithstanding by the diligent contemplation of our Minds we apprehend and admire them Where nothing can be more plain saith Vossius than that the Dii consentes were understood by Apuleius neither to be Celestial nor Subcelestial Bodies but a certain higher Nature perceptible only to our Minds Upon which words of his we shall make these following Remarks First that this Learned Writer seems here as also throughout that whole Book of his to mistake the Philosophick Theology of Scaevola and Varro and others for that which was Physiological only which Physiological Theology of the Pagans will be afterwards declared by us For the Philosophick Theology of the Pagans did not Deifie Natural and Sensible Bodies only but the Principal part thereof was the Asserting of One Supreme and Vniversal Numen from whence all their other Gods were derived Neither was Venus according to this Philosophick and Arcane Theology taken only for the Moon or for Lucifer or Hesperus as this Learned Writer concieves but as we have already proved for the Supreme Deity also either according to its Universal Notion or some Particular Consideration thereof Wherefore the Philosophick Theology both of Scaevola and Varro and others was called Natural not as Physiological only but in another sence as Real and True it being the Theology neither of Cities nor of Stages or Theaters but of the World and of the Wise men in it Philosophy being that properly which considers the Absolute Truth and Nature of things Which Philosophick Theology thereof was opposed both to the Civil and Poetical as consisting in Opinion and Phancy only Our Second Remark is That Vossius does here also seem incongruously to make both the Civil and Poetical Theology as such to Philosophize whereas the First of these was properly nothing but the Law of Cities and Commonwealths together with Vulgar Opinion and Errour and the Second nothing but Phancy Fiction and Fabulosity Poetarum ista sunt saith Cotta in Cicero nos autem Philosophi esse volumus Rerum authores non Fabularum Those things belong to Poets but we would be Philosophers authors of Things or Realities and not of Fables But the main thing which we take notice of in these words of Vossius is this that they seem to imply the Consentes and Select and other Civil and Poetical Gods of the Pagans to have been generally accounted so many Substantial and Eternal Minds or Vnderstanding Beings Supercelestial and Independent their Jupiter being put only in an equality with Apollo Juno Venus and the rest For which since Vossius pretends no other manner of Proof than only from Apuleius his De Deo Socratis who was a Platonick Philosopher we shall here make it evident that he was not rightly understood by Vossius neither which yet ought not to be thought any Derogation from this Eminent Philologer whose Polymathy and Multifarious Learning is readily acknowledged by us that he was not so well versed in all the Niceties and Punctilio's of the Platonick School For though Apuleius do in that Book besides those Visible Gods the Stars take notice of another kind of Invisible ones such as the Twelve Consentes and others which he faith we may animis conjectare per varias Vtilitates in vita agenda animadversas in iis rebus quibus eorum singuli curant make a conjecture of by our minds from the various Vtilities in humane life perceived from those things which each of these care of yet that he was no Bigot in this Civil Theology is manifest from hence because in that very place he declares as well against Superstition as Irreligious Prophaneness And his design there was plainly no other than to reduce the Civil and Poetical Theologies of the Pagans into some handsome conformity and agreement with that Philosophical Natural and Real Theology of theirs which derived all the Gods from One Supreme and Vniversal Numen but this he endeavours to do in the Platonick way himself being much addicted to that Philosophy Hos Deos in sublimi aetheris vertice locatos Plato existimat veros incorporales animales sine ullo neque fine neque exordio sed prorsus ac retro aeviternos corporis contagione suâ quidem naturâ remotos ingenio ad summam beatitudinem porrecto c. Quorum Parentem qui omnium rerum Dominator atque Auctor est solum ab omnibus nexibus patiendi aliquid gerendive nulla vice ad alicujus rei mutua obstrictum cur ego nunc dicere exordiar cum Plato coelesti facundia praeditus frequentissimè praedicet hunc solum majestatis incredibili quadam nimietate ineffabili non posse penuria sermonis humani quavis oratione vel modicà comprehendi All these
Powers all of them salutiferous and procuring the good of that which is made c. Moreover by these Powers and out of them is the Incorporeal and Intelligible World compacted which is the Archetype of this visible World that consisting of Invisible Ideas as this doth of visible Bodies Wherefore some admiring with a kind of astonishment the Nature of both these worlds have not only Deified the whole of them but also the most excellent parts in them as the Sun and the Moon and the whole Heaven which they scruple not at all to call Gods Where Philo seems to speak of a double Sun Moon and Heaven as Julian did the one Sensible the other Intelligible Moreover Plotinus himself sometimes complies with this Notion he calling the Ideas of the Divine Intellect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligible Gods as in that place before cited where he exhorteth men ascending upward above the Soul of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To praise the Intelligible Gods that is the Divine Intellect which as he elsewhere written is both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One and Many We have now given a full account of Apuleius his sence in that Book De Deo Socratis concerning the Civil and Poetical Pagan Gods which was not to assert a Multitude of Substantial and Eternal Deities or Minds Independent in them but only to reduce the Vulgar Theology of the Pagans both their Civil and Poetical into some conformity with the Natural Real and Philosophick Theology and this according to Platonick Principles Wherein many other of the Pagan Platonists both before and after Christianity concurred with him they making the Many Pagan Invisible Gods to be really nothing but the Eternal Ideas of the Divine Intellect called by them the Parts of the Intelligible and Archetypal World which they supposed to have been the Paradigms and Patterns according to which this Sensible World and all Particular things therein were made and upon which they depended they being only Participations of them Wherefore though this may well be look'd upon as a Monstrous Extravagancy in these Platonick Philosophers thus to talk of the Divine Ideas or the Intelligible and Archetypal Paradigms of things not only as Substantial but also as so many several Animals Persons and Gods it being their humour thus upon all slight occasions to multiply Gods yet nevertheless must it be acknowledged that they did at the very same time declare all these to have been derived from One Supreme Deity and not only so but also to exist in it as they did likewise at other times when unconcerned in this business of their Pagan Polytheism freely acknowledge all these intelligible Ideas to be Really nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conceptions in the Mind of God or the First Intellect though not such Slight Accidental and Evanid ones as those Conceptions and Modifications of our humane Souls are and consequently not to be so many Distinct Substances Persons and Gods much less Independent Ones but only so many Partial Considerations of the Deity What a Rabble of Invisible Gods and Goddesses the Pagans had besides those their Dii Nobiles and Dii Majorum Gentium their Noble and Greater Gods which were the Consentes and Selecti hath been already showed out of St. Austin from Varro and others as namely Dea Mena Deus Vagitanus Dea Levana Dea Cunina Diva Rumina Diva Potina Diva Educa Diva Paventina Dea Venilia Dea Agenoria Dea Stimula Dea Strenua Dea Numeria Deus Consus Dea Sentia Deus Jugatinus Dea Virginensis Deus Mutinus To which might be added more out of other places of the same St. Austin as Dea Deverra Deus Domiducus Deus Domitius Dea Manturna Deus Pater Subigus Dea Mater Prema Dea Pertunda Dea Rusina Dea Collatina Dea Vallonia Dea Seia Dea Segetia Dea Tutilina Deus Nodotus Dea Volutina Dea Patelena Dea Hostilina Dea Flora Dea Lacturtia Dea Matura Dea Runcina Besides which there are yet so many more of these Pagan Gods and Goddesses extant in other Writers as that they cannot be all mentioned or enumerated by us divers whereof have Very Small Mean and Contemptible Offices assigned to them as their names for the most part do imply some of which are such as that they were not fit to be here interpreted From whence it plainly appears that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing at all without a God to these Pagans they having so strong a Perswasion that Divine Providence extended it self to all things and expressing it after this manner by assigning to Every thing in Nature and Every part of the World and whatsoever was done by men some particular God or Goddess by name to preside over it Now that the Intelligent Pagans should believe in good earnest that all these Invisible Gods and Goddesses of theirs were so many Several Substantial Minds or Vnderstanding Beings Eternal and Vnmade really existing in the World is a thing in it self Vtterly Incredible For how could any possibly perswade themselves that there was One Eternal Unmade Mind or Spirit which for example Essentially presided over The Rockings of Infants Cradles and nothing else another over the Sweeping of Houses another over Ears of Corn another over the Husks of Grain and another over the Knots of Straw and Grass and the like And the Case is the very same for those other Noble Gods of theirs as they call them the Consentes and Selecti since there can be no reason given why those should all of them be so many Substantial and Eternal Spirits Self-existent or Vnmade if none of the other were such Wherefore if these be not all so many Several Substantial and Eternal Minds so many Selfexisting and Independent Deities then must they of necessity be either Several Partial Considerations of the Deity viz. the Several Manifestations of the Divine Power and Providence Personated or else Inferiour Ministers of the same And thus have we already shewed that the more High-flown and Platonick Pagans as Julian Apuleius and others understood these Consentes and Select Gods and all the other Invisible ones to be really nothing else but the Ideas of the Intelligible and Archetypal World which is the Divine Intellect that is indeed but Partial Considerations of the Deity as Vertually and Exemplarily conteining all things whilst others of them going in a more plain and easie way concluded these Gods of theirs to be all of them but several Names and Notions of the One Supreme Deity according to the Various Manifestations of its Power in the world as Seneca expresly affirmeth not only concerning Fate Nature and Fortune c. but also Liber Pater Hercules and Mercury before mentioned by him that they were Omnia ejusdem Dei Nomina variè utentis suâ potestate all Names of One and the same God as diversly using his power and as Zeno in Laertius concludes of all the rest or else which amounts to the same thing that they were the Several Powers and Vertues
it was perpetually to Personate Things and Natures But the Philosophick Theology properly so called which according to Varro was that de qua multos libros Philosophi reliquerunt as it admitted none but Animal Gods and such as really existed in Nature which therefore were called Natural namely one Supreme Universal Numen a Perfect Soul or Mind comprehending all and his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 other Inferiour Understanding Beings his Ministers Created by him such as Stars and Demons so were all those Personated Gods or Natures of Things Deified in the Arcane Theology interpreted agreeably thereunto St. Austin often takes notice of the Pagans thus Mingling and as it were Incorporating Physiology with their Theology he justly condemning the same As in his 49. Epistle Neque illinc excusant impii sua Sacrilega Sacra Simulachra quòd eleganter interpretantur quid quaeque significent Omnis quippe illa Interpretatio ad Creaturam refertur non ad Creatorem cui uni debetur Servitus Religionis illa quae uno nomine Latria Graecè appellatur Neither do the Pagans sufficiently excuse their Sacrilegious Rites and Images from hence because they elegantly and ingeniously interpret what each of those things signifieth For this Interpretation is referred to the Creature and not to the Creator to whom alone belongeth Religious Worship that which by the Greeks is called Latria And again in his Book De Civ D. L. 6. c. 8. Atenim habent ista Physiologicas quasdam sicut aiunt id est Naturalium Rationum Interpretationes Quasi verò nos in hac Disputatione Physiologiam quaeramus non Theologiam id est Rationem Naturae non Dei. Quamvis enim qui verus Deus est non Opinione sed Natura sit Deus non tamen omnis Natura Deus est But the Pagans pretend that these things have certain Physiological Interpretations or according to Natural Reasons as if in this Disputation we sought for Physiology and not Theology or the Reason of Nature and not of God For although the True God be not in Opinion only but in Nature God yet is not every Nature God But certainly the First and Chief Ground of this Practice of theirs thus to Theologize Physiology and Deifie in one sence or other all the Things of Nature was no other than what has been already intimated their supposing God to be not only Diffused thorough the whole World and In all things but also in a manner All things and that therefore he ought to be worshipped in All the Things of Nature and Parts of the World Wherefore these personated Gods of the Pagans or those Things of Nature Deified by them and called Gods and Goddesses were for all that by no means accounted by the Intelligent amongst them True and Proper Gods Thus Cotta in Cicero Cum Fruges Cererem Vinum Liberum dicimus genere nos quidem sermonis utimur usitato sed ecquem tam amentem esse putas qui illud quo vescatur Deum esse credat Though it be very common and familiar language amongst us to call Corn Ceres and Wine Bacchus yet who can think any one to be so mad as to take that to be really a God which he feeds upon The Pagans really accounted that only for a God by the worshipping and invoking whereof they might reasonably expect benefit to themselves and therefore nothing was Truely and Properly a God to them but what was both Substantial and also Animant and Intellectual For Plato writes that the Atheistick Wits of his time therefore concluded the Sun and Moon and Stars not to be Gods because they were nothing but Earth and Stones or a certain Fiery Matter devoid of all Understanding and Sense and for this cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unable to take notice of any Humane Affairs And Aristotle affirmeth concerning the Gods in general 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That all men conceived them to Live and consequently to Act since they cannot be supposed to sleep perpetually as Endymion did The Pagans Universally conceived the Gods to be Happy Animals and Aristotle there concludes the happiness of them all to consist in Contemplation Lucretius himself would not debar men of that Language then vulgarly received amongst the Pagans of calling the Sea Neptune Corn Ceres Wine Bacchus and the Earth the Mother of the Gods too provided that they did not think any of these for all that to be Truly and Really Gods Hîc siquis Mare Neptunum Cereremque vocare Constituit fruges Bacchi nomine abuti Mavolt quam Laticis proprium proferre vocamen Concedamus ut hic Terrarum dictitet Orbem Esse Deum Matrem dum non sit re tamen apse And the reason why the Earth was not really a Goddess is thus given by him Terra quidem vero caret omni tempore Sensu. Because it is constantly devoid of all manner of sense Thus Balbus in Cicero tells us that the first thing included in the notion or Idea of a God is this Vt sit Animans That it be Animant or endued with Life Sense and Vnderstanding And he conceiving the Stars to be undoubtedly such therefore concludes them to be Gods Quoniam tenuissimus est Aether semper agitatur viget necesse est quod Animal in eo gignatur idem quoque Sensu acerrimo esse Quare â—um in Aethere Astra gignantur consentaneum est in iis Sensum inesse Intelligentiam Ex quo efficitur in Deorum numero Astra esse ducenda Because the Aether is most subtil and in continual agitation that Animal which is begotten in it must needs be endued with the quickest and sharpest sense Wherefore since the Stars are begotten in the Aether it is reasonable to think them to have Sense and Vnderstanding from whence it follows that they ought to be reckoned in the number of Gods And Cotta in the Third Book affirms that all men were so far from thinking the Stars to be Gods that Multi ne Animantes quidem esse concedant many would not so much as admit them to be Animals plainly intimating that unless they were Animated they could not possibly by Gods Lastly Plutarch for this very reason absolutely condemns that whole practice of giving the names of Gods and Goddesses to Inanimate things as Absurd Impious and Atheistical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who give the names of Gods to Sensless and Inanimate Natures and Things and such as are destroyed by men in the use of them beget most wicked and Atheistical opinions in the minds of men since it cannot be conceived how these things should be Gods for nothing that is Inanimate is a God And now we have very good reason to conclude that the Distinction or Division of Pagan Gods used by some into Animal and Natural by Natural being meant Inanimate is utterly to be rejected if we speak of their True and Proper Gods since nothing was such to the
Pagans but what had Life Sense and Understanding Wherefore those Personated Gods that were nothing but the Natures of Things Deified as such were but Dii Commentitii Fictitii Counterfeit and Fictitious Gods or as Origen calls them in that place before cited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Figments of the Greeks and other Pagans that were but Things turned into Person and Deified Neither can there be any other sence made of these Personated and Deified Things of Nature than this that they were all of them really so many Several Names of One Supreme God or Partial Considerations of him according to the Several Manifestations of himself in his Works Thus according to the old Egyptian Theology before declared God is said to have both No Name and Every Name or as it is expressed in the Asclepian Dialogue Cum non possit Vno quamvis è Multis composito Nomine nuncupari potius Omni Nomine vocandus est siquidem sit Vnus Omnia ut necesse sit aut Omnia Ipsius Nomine aut Ipsum Omnium Nomine nuncupari Since he cannot be fully declared by any one Name though compounded of never so many therefore is he rather to be called by Every Name he being both One and All Things so that either Every Thing must be called by His Name or He by the Name of Every thing With which Egyptian Doctrine Seneca seemeth also fully to agree when he gives this Description of God Cui Nomen Omne convenit He to whom every Name belongeth and when he further declares thus concerning him Quaecunque voles illi Nomina aptabis and Tot Appellationes ejus possunt esse quot Munera You may give him whatsoever Names you please c. and There may be as many Names of him as there are Gifts and Effects of his and lastly when he makes God and Nature to be really One and the same Thing and Every thing we see to be God And the Writer De Mundo is likewise consonant hereunto when he affirmeth that God is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or may be denominated from Every Nature because he is the Cause of all things We say therefore that the Pagans in this their Theologizing of Physiology and Deifying the Things of Nature and Parts of the World did accordingly Call Every Thing by the Name of God or God by the Name of Every Thing Wherefore these Personated and Deified Things of Nature were not themselves Properly and Directly worshipped by the Intelligent Pagans who acknowledged no Inanimate thing for a God so as to terminate their worship ultimately in them but either Relatively only to the Supreme God or else at most in way of Complication with him whose Effects and Images they are so that they were not so much themselves worshipped as God was worshipped in them For these Pagans professed that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 look upon the Heaven and World not slightly and superficially nor as meer Bruit Animals who take notice of nothing but those sensible Phantasms which from the objects obtrude themselves upon them or else as the same Julian in that Oration again more fully expresseth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not view and contemplate the Heaven and World with the same eyes that Oxen and Horses do but so as from that which is Visible to their outward senses to discern and discover another Invisible Nature under it That is they professed to behold all things with Religious Eyes and to see God in Every Thing not only as Pervading all things and Diffused thorough all things but also as Being in a manner All things Wherefore they looked upon the whole World as a Sacred Thing and as having a kind of Divinity in it it being according to their Theology nothing but God himself Visibly Displayed And thus was God worshipped by the Pagans in the whole Corporeal World taken all at once together or in the Universe under the Name of Pan. As they also commonly conceived of Zeus and Jupiter after the same manner that is not Abstractly only as we now use to conceive of God but Concretely together with all that which Proceedeth and Emaneth from him that is the Whole World And as God was thus described in that old Egyptian Monument to be All that Was Is and Shall be so was it before observed out of Plutarch that the Egyptians took the First God and the Vniverse for One and the same Thing not only because they supposed the Supreme God Vertually to contain all things within himself but also because they were wont to conceive of him together with his Outflowing and all the extent of Fecundity the whole World displayed from him all at once as one entire thing Thus likewise do the Pagans in Plato confound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greatest God and The Whole World together as being but one and the same thing And this Notion was so Familiar with these Pagans that Strabo himself writing of Moses could not conceive of his God and of the God of the Jews any otherwise than thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 namely That which containeth us all and the Earth and the Sea which we call the Heaven and World and the Nature of the Whole By which notwithstanding Strabo did not mean the Heaven or World Inanimate and a Sensless Nature but an Understanding Being framing the whole World and containing the same which was conceived together with it of which therefore he tells us that according to Moses no wise man would go about to make any Image or Picture resembling any thing here amongst us From whence we conclude that when the same Strabo writing of the Persians affirmeth of them that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 take the Heaven for Jupiter and also Herodotus before him that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Call the Whole Circle of the Heaven Jupiter that is the Supreme God the meaning of neither of them was that the Body of the Heaven Inanimate was to them the Highest God but that though he were an Understanding Nature yet framing the whole Heaven or World and containing the same he was at once conceived together with it Moreover God was worshipped also by the Pagans in the Several Parts of the wrorld under Several Names as for example in the Higher and Lower Aether under those Names of Minerva and Jupiter in the Air under the name of Juno in the Fire under the name of Vulcan in the Sea under the name of Neptune c. Neither can it be reasonably doubted but that when the Roman Sea-Captains Sacrificed to the Waves they intended therein to worship that God who acteth in the Waves and whose Wonders are in the Deep But besides this the Pagans seemed to apprehend a kind of necessity of worshipping God thus in his works and in the Visible things of this World because the generality of the Vulgar were then unable to frame any notion or conception at all
Hope Virtue Honour Victory Health Concord and the like we see them to have the Force of Things but not of Gods Because they either exist in us as Mind Hope Virtue Concord or else they are desired to happen to us as Honour Health Victory that is they are nothing but meer Accidents or Affections of Things and therefore how they can have the Force of Gods in them cannot possibly be understood And again afterwards he affirmeth Eos qui Dii appellantur Rerum Naturas esse non Figuras Deorum That those who in the Allegorical Mythology of the Pagans are called Gods are really but the Natures of Things and not the True Figures or Forms of Gods Wherefore since the Pagans themselves acknowledged that those Personated and Deified Things of Nature were not True and Proper Gods the meaning of them could certainly be no other than this that they were so many Several Names and Partial Considerations of One Supreme God as manifesting himself in all the Things of Nature For that Vis or Force which Cicero tells us was that in all these things which was called God or Deified is really no other than Something of God in Every Thing that is Good Neither do we otherwise understand those following words of Balbus in Cicero Quarum Rerum quia Vis erat tanta ut sine Deo regi non posset ipsa Res Deorum Nomen obtinuit Of which things because the Force is such as that it could not be Governed without God therefore have the Things themselves obteined the Names of Gods that is God was acknowledged and worshipped in them all which was Paganically thus signified by Calling of them Gods And Pliny though no very Divine Person yet being ingenious easily understood this to be the meaning of it Fragilis laboriosa Mortalitas in Partes ista digessit Infirmitatis suae memor ut Portionibus quisque coleret quo maximò indigeret Frail and toilsom Mortality has thus broken and crumbled the Deity into Parts mindful of its own Infirmity that so every one by Parcels and Pieces might worship that in God which himself most stands in need of Which Religion of the Pagans thus worshipping God not entirely all together at once as he is One most Simple Being Unmixed with any thing but as it were brokenly and by piece-meals as he is severally Manifested in all the Things of Nature and the Parts of the World Prudentius thus perstringeth in his Second Book against Symmachus Tu me praeterito meditaris Numina mille Quae simules parere meis Virtutibus ut me Per varias partes minuas cui nulla recidi Pars aut Forma potest quia sum Substantia Simplex Nec Pars esse queo From which words of his we may also conclude that Symmachus the Pagan who determined That it was One Thing that all worshipped and yet would have Victory and such like other things worshipped as Gods and Goddesses did by these and all those other Pagan Gods before mentioned understand nothing but so many Several Names and Partial Considerations of One Supreme Deity according to its several Vertues or Powers so that when he sacrificed to Victory he sacrificed to God Almighty under that Partial Notion as the Giver of Victory to Kingdoms and Commonwealths It was before observed out of Plutarch that the Egyptian Fable of Osiris being mangled and cut in pieces by Typhon did Allegorically signifie the same thing viz. the One Simple Deity 's being as it were divided in the Fabulous and Civil Theologies of the Pagans into many Partial Considerations of him as so many Nominal and Titular Gods which Isis notwithstanding that is True Knowledge and Wisdom according to the Natural or Philosophick Theology unites all together into One. And that not only such Gods as these Victory Vertue and the like but also those other Gods Neptune Mars Bellona c. were all really but one and the same Jupiter acting severally in the world Plautus himself seems sufficiently to intimate in the Prologue of his Amphitryo in these words Nam quid ego memorem ut alios in Tragaediis Vidi Neptunum Virtutem Victoriam Martem Bellonam commemorare quae bona Vobis fecissent Queis Benefactis meus Pater Deûm Regnator Architectus omnibus Whereas there was before cited a Passage out of G. I. Vossius his Book De Theolog. Gent. which we could not understand otherwise than thus that the generality of the Pagans by their Political or Civil Gods meant so many Eternal Minds Independent and Self-Existent we now think our selves concerned to do Vossius so much right as to acknowledge that we have since met with another place of his in that same Book wherein he either corrects the former Opinion or else declares himself better concerning it after this manner that the Pagans generally conceived their Political Gods to be so many Substantial Minds or Spirits not Independent and Self-existent nor indeed Eternal neither but Created by One Supreme Mind or God and appointed by him to preside over the Several Parts of the World and Things of Nature as his Ministers Which same thing he affirmeth also of those Deified Accidents and Affections that by them were to be understood so many Substantial Minds or Spirits Created presiding over those several Things or dispensing of them His words in the beginning of his Eighth Book where he speaks concerning these Affections and Accidents Deified by the Pagans are as followeth Hujusmodi Deorum propè immensa est copia Ac in Civili quidem Theologia considerari solent tanquam Mentes quaedam hoc honoris à Summo Deo sortitae ut Affectionibus istis praeessent Nempe crediderunt Deum quem Optimum Max. vocabant non per se omnia curare quo pacto ut dicebant plurimum beatitudini ejus decederet sed instar Regis plurimos habere Ministros Ministras quorum singulos huic illive curae prefecisset Sic Justitia quae Astraea ac Themis praefecta erat actibus cunctis in quibus Justitia attenderetur Comus curare creditus est Comessationes Et sic in caeteris id genus Diis nomen ab ea Affectione sortitis cujus cura cuique commissa crederetur Quo pacto si considerentur non aliter different à Spiritibus sive Angelis bonis malisque quam quòd hi reverà à Deo conditi sint illae verò Mentes de quibus nunc loquimur sint Figmentum Mentis humanae pro numero Assectionum in quibus Vis esse major videretur comminiscentis Mentes Affectionibus Singulis praefectas Facilè autem Sacerdotes suà Commenta persuadere simplicioribus potuerunt quia satis videretur verisimile summae illi Menti Deorum omnium Regi innumeras servire mentes ut eò perfectior sit Summi Dei beatitudo minusque curis implicetur inque tot Famulantium numero Summi Numinis Majestas magis eluceat Ac talis quidem Opinio erat Theologiae Civilis Of such Gods
in the Poetick and Civil Theologies together with the subservient Ministry of other Inferiour Created Minds Vnderstanding Beings or Demons called also by them Gods It is very true as we have already declared that the more High-flown Platonick Pagans did reduce those Many Poetical and Political Gods and therefore doubtless all the Personated and Deified Things of Nature too to the Platonick Ideas or First Paradigms and Patterns of Things in the Archetypal World which they affirmed to have been begotten from the Supreme Deity that is from the First Hypostasis of the Platonick Trinity and which were commonly called by them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligible Gods as if they had been indeed so many Distinct Substances and Persons And as we have also proved out of Philo that this High-flown Paganick Theology was ancienter than either Julian or Apuleius so do we think it not unworthy our Observation here that the very same Doctrine is by Celsus imputed also to the Egyptian Theologers as pretending to worship Brute Animals no otherwise than as Symbols of those Eternal Ideas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Celsus also addeth That we Christians deride the Egyptians without cause they having many Mysteries in their Religion for as much as they profess that perishing Brute Animals are not worshipped by them but the Eternal Ideas According to which of Celsus it should seem that this Doctrine of Eternal Ideas as the Paradigms and Patterns of all things here below in this Sensible World was not proper to Plato nor the Greeks but common with them to the Egyptians also Which Eternal Ideas however supposed to have been Generated from that First Divine Hypostasis of the Platonick and Egyptian Trinity and called Intelligible Gods were nevertheless acknowledged by them all to exist in One Divine Intellect according to that of Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Intelligibles exist no where of themselves without Mind or Intellect which Mind or Intellect being the Second Divine Hypostasis these Intelligible and Invisible Gods however Generated from God yet are therefore said by Julian in his Book against the Christians both to Coexist with God and to Inexist in him To which purpose also is this othâ—r Passage of Julian's in his Sixth Oration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For God is All things forasmuch as he conteineth within himself the Causes of all things that any way are whether of Immortal things Immortal or of Corruptible and Perishing things not Corruptible but Eternal also and always remaining which therefore are the Causes of their perpetual Generation and New production Now these Causes of All things conteined in God are no other than The Divine Ideas Wherefore from hence it plainly appears that these Platonick and Egyptian Pagans who thus reduced their Multiplicity of Gods to the Divine Ideas did not therefore make them to be so many Minds or Spirits really distinct from the Supreme God though dependent on him too but indeed only so many Partial Considerations of One God as being All things that is conteining within himself the Causes of all things And accordingly we find in Origen that as the Egyptian Theologers called their Religious Animals Symbols of the Eternal Ideas so did they also call them Symbols of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Celsus applauds the Egyptian Theologers talking so magnificently and mysteriously of those Brute Animals worshipped by them and affirming them to be certain Symbols of God And now we have given some account of the Polyonymy of the One Supreme God in the Theologies of the Pagans or of his being called by Many Proper Personal Names carrying with them an Appearance of So many Several Gods First that God had many several Names bestowed upon him from many Different Notions and Partial Considerations of him according to his Vniversal and All-comprehending Nature Janus as the Beginning of the World and All things and the First Original of the Gods Whom therefore that ancient Lyrick Poet Septimius Apher accordingly thus invoked O cate rerum Sator O PRINCIPIVM DEORVM Stridula cui Limina cui Cardinei Tumultus Cui reserata mugÃunt aurea Claustra Mundi Genius as the Great Mind and Soul of the whole World Saturn as that Hidden Source and Principle from which all Forms and Lives issue forth and into which they again retire being there laid up as in their Secret Storehouse Or else as one of the Egyptian or Hermaick Writers expresseth it that which doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make all things out of it self and unmake them into it self again This Hetrurian Saturn answering to the Egyptian Hammon that likewise signified Hidden and is accordingly thus interpreted by Jamblichus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that bringeth forth the secret Power of the Hidden Reasons of things conteined within himself into Light God was also called Athena or Minerva as Wisdom diffusing it self through all things and Aphrodite Vrania the Heavenly Venus or Love Thus Phanes Orpheus his Supreme God so called according to Lactantius Quia cum adhuc nihil esset Primus ex Infinito apparuerit because when there was yet nothing he First appeared out of that Infinite Abyss but according to Proclus because he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 discover and make manifest the Intelligible Vnities or Ideas from himself though we think the Conjecture of Athanasius Kircherus to be more probable than either of these that Phanes was an Egyptian Name this Phanes I say was in the Orphick and Egyptian Theology as Proclus upon Plato's Timaeus informs us styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tender and Soft Love And Pherecydes Syrus likewise affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Jupiter was turned all into Love when he went about to make the world Besides which there were other such Names of the Supreme God and more than have been mentioned by us as for example Summanus amongst the ancient Romans that afterward grew obsolete of which St. Austin thus Romani veteres nescio quem Summanum cui Nocturna Fulmina tribuebant coluerunt magis quam Jovem ad quem Diurna Fulmina pertinebant Sed postquam Jovi Templum insigne ac sublime constructum est propter aedis dignitatem sic ad eum multitudo confluxit ut vix inveniatur qui Summani nomen quod audiri jam non potest se saltem legisse meminerit The ancient Romans worshipped I know not what God called Summanus more than they did Jupiter But after that a stately and magnificent Temple was erected to Jupiter they all betook themselves thither in so much that the Name of Summanus now not at all heard is scarcely to be found in any ancient writings Again as the Pagans had certain other Gods which they called Special so were these but Several Names of that Supreme God also according to Particular Considerations of him either as Presiding over certain Parts of the World and Acting in them or as Exercising certain Special Powers and Vertues in the World which Several Vertues and
in way of opposition to those who think God to be nothing else but the Heaven it self and those Heavenly things which we see or the whole Sensible World Animated Wherefore Cicero that he might shew the Omnipotence of the First and Supreme God to be such as could scarcely be understood but not at all perceived by Sense he calleth whatsoever falleth under humane sight His Temple that so he that worshippeth these things as the Temple of God might in the mean time remember that the chief Worship is due to the Maker and Creator of them as also that himself ought to live in the World like a Priest or Mysta holily and religiously And thus we see that the Pagans were universally Cosmolatrae or World-worshippers in one sence or other not that they worshipped the World as a Dead and Inanimate thing but either as the Body of God or at least as the Temple or Image of him Neither of which terminated their worship in that which was Sensible and Visible only but in that great Mind or Soul which Framed and Governeth the whole World Understandingly though this was called also by them not the Nature of things but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Common Nature and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Nature of the Vniverse because it contained under it the Spermatick Reasons or Plastick Principles of the whole World Furthermore these Pagan Theists Universally acknowledging the whole World to be an Animal and that Mundane Animal also to be a God those of them who supposed it not to be the First and Highest God did consequently all conceive it as hath been already observed to be either a Second or at least a Third God And thus Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Greeks do plainly affirm the whole World to be a God some of them as the Stoicks the First God others as the Platonists to whom may be added the Egyptians also the Second God though some of these Platonists call it the Third God Those of the Platonists who called the Mundane Animal or Animated World the Second God look'd upon that whole Platonick Trinity of Divine Hypostases 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all but as One First God but those others of them who called it a Third God supposed a greater distinction betwixt those Three Hypostases and made so many several Gods of them the First a Monad or Simple Goodness the Second Mind or Intellect the Third Psyche or the Universal Soul which also without any more ado they concluded to be the Immediate Soul of this Corporeal World Existing likewise from Eternity with it Now this Second God which was the whole Animated World as well to the Egyptians as the Platonists was by them both said to be not only the Temple and Image but also the Son of the First God That the Egyptians called the Animated World the Son of God hath been already proved and that the other Pagans did the like also is evident from this of Celsus where he pretends that the Christians called their Jesus the Son of God in imitation of those Ancient Pagans who had styled the World so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whence these Christians came to call their Jesus the Son of God I shall now declare Namely because our Ancestors had called the World as made by God the Son of God and God Now is there not a goodly similitude think you betwixt these two Sons of God theirs and ours Upon which words of his Origen writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Celsus supposed us Christians to have borrowed this Appellation of the Son of God from the Pagans they calling the World as made by God the Son of God and God Wherefore these Pagans who look'd upon the whole Animated World only as the Second God and Son of God did unquestionably also worship the First God in the World and that probably by Personating and Deifying his several Parts and Members too Thus do we understand what that was which gave occasion to this mistake of late Writers that the Pagans worshipped the Inanimate Parts of the World as such for True and Proper Gods viz. their not perceiving that they worshipped these only as the Parts or Living Members of One Great Mundane Animal which was to them if not the First God yet at least the Second God the Temple Image and Son of the First God And now have we as we conceive given a full account of the Seeming Polytheism of the Pagans not only in their Poetical and Fabulous but also their Political or Civil Theology the Former of which was nothing but Phancy and Fiction and the Conforming of Divine to Humane Things the Latter nothing but Vulgar Opinion and Errour together with the Laws and Institutes of States-men and Politicians designed Principally to amuze the Vulgar and keep them the better in obedience and subjection to Civil Laws Besides which the Intelligent Pagans generally acknowledged another Theology which was neither Fiction nor meer Opinion and Law but Nature and Philosophy or Absolute Truth and Reality according to which Natural and Philosophick Theology of theirs there was only One Vnmade Self-originated Deity and many other Created Gods as his Inferiour Ministers So that those many Poetical and Political Gods could not possibly be look'd upon otherwise than either as the Created Ministers of One Supreme God whether taken Singly or Collectively or else as the Polyonymy and Various Denomination of him according to several Notions and Partial Conceptions of him and his several Powers and Manifestations in the World Personated and Deified Which latter we have already proved to have been the most generally received Opinion of the Pagan Theologers according to that of Euclides the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is One Supreme Good or Highest Deity called by Many Names and according to that of Antisthenes before cited That the Many Popular Gods were but One and the same Natural God viz. as Lactantius adds Summae totius Artifex The Maker of the whole World We shall conclude with repeating what hath been already suggested that though the Intelligent Pagans did Generally disclaim their Fabulous Theology St. Austin telling us that when the absurdities thereof were urged against them they would commonly make such replies as these Absit inquiunt Fabularum est ista Garrulitas and again Rursus inquiunt ad Fabulas redis Far be it from us say they to think so or so this is nothing but the garrulity of idle Fables and You would bring us again to Fables and though they owned another Theology besides their Civil also which was the Natural and Philosophical as the only True yet did they notwithstanding acknowledge a kind of necessity that in those times at least there should be besides the Natural and Philosophical Theology which the Vulgar were not so capable of another Theology framed and held forth that might be more accommodate to their
too in another sence that is Produced and Derived by way of Emanation from that One who is every way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnderived and Independent upon any other Cause And thus Proclus Universally pronounces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All the Gods owe their Being Gods to the First God He adding that he is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Fountain of the Godhead Wherefore the Many Gods of the Intelligent Pagans were derived from One God and but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plutarch somewhere calls them The Subservient Powers or Ministers of the One Supreme Vnmade Deity Which as hath been before observed was frequently called by these Pagans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or in way of Eminency as likewise were those other Inferiour or Generated Gods in way of distinction from him called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Gods And accordingly the sence of Celsus is thus represented in Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Gods were the Makers of the Bodies of all Animals the Souls of them only being the Work of God Moreover these Inferiour Gods are styled by Ammianus Marcellinus Substantiales Potestates Substantial Powers probably in way of distinction from those other Pagan Gods that were not Substantial but only so many Names and Notions of the One Supreme God or his Powers severally Personated and Deified Which Substantial Powers of Am. Marcellinus as Divination and Prophecy was by their means imparted to men were all said to be subject to that One Sovereign Deity called Themis whom saith he the ancient Theologers seated In Cubili Solio Jovis in the Bed-chamber and Throne of Jupiter as indeed some of the Poets have made her to be the wife of Jupiter and others his Sister And Anaxarchus in Plutarch styles her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter's Assesor though that Philosopher abused the Fable and grosly depraved the meaning of it as if it signified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That whatsoever is done by the Sovereign Power is therefore Just and Right whereas the True Moral tâ—ereof was this That Justice or Righteousness sits in Counsel with God and in his Mind and Will prescribes Laws to Nature and the whole World Themis therefore was another Name of God amongst the 〈◊〉 according to his Universal Confideration besides those befoâ—â— mentioned and when Plato in his Book of Laws would have men to swear by the Names of those Three Gods Jupiter Apollo and Themis these were but so many several Partial Notions of the One Supreme Deity the meaning thereof being no other than this as Pighius observeth Timore Divino Veritate ipsa ac Aequitate sanciri debere Juramenta In Jove enim Summi Numinis Potestatem Falsi ac Perjurii Vindicem in Apolline Veritatis Lumen in Themide Jus Fas atque Licitum esse intelligitur Est enim Themis ipsa Lex aeterna atque Vniversalis Mundo ac Naturae praescripta or according to Cicero Ratio recta Summi Jovis And Ficinus in his Commentary as to the main agreeth herewith So that when the Pagan Theologers affirmed the Numen of Themis to preside over the Spirits of the Elements and all those other Substantial Powers from whom Divination was participated to men their meaning therein was clearly no other that this That there was One Supreme Deity ruling over all the other Gods and that the Divine Mind which prescribeth Laws to Nature and the whole World and conteins all the Fatal Decrees in it according to the Evolution of which things come to pass in the World was the Fountain from whence all Divination proceeded as these Secrets were more or less imparted from thence to those Inferiour Created Spirits The Philosophy of the Pagan Theology amongst the Greeks was plainly no other than this That there is One Vnmade Self-existent Deity the Original of all and that there are many other Substantial Powers or Spirits created by it as the Ministers of its Providence in the World but there was much of Poetry or Poetick Phancy intermingled with this Philosophy as the Flourish to it to make up their Pagan Theology Thus as hath been before declared the Pagans held both One God and Many Gods in different sences One Vnmade Self-existent Deity and Many Generated or Created Gods Onatus the Pythagorean declaring that they who asserted one only God and not Many Vnderstood not what the Dignity and Majesty of the Divine Transcendency consisted in namely in ruling over Gods and Plotinus conceiving that the Supreme God was most of all Glorified not by being Contracted into One but by having Multitudes of Gods Derived from him and Dependent on him and that the Honour done to them redounded unto him Where there are Two Things to be distinguished First that according to the Pagan Theists God was no Solitary Being but that there were Multitudes of Gods or Substantial Powers and Living Understanding Natures Superiour to men which were neither Self-existent nor yet Generated out of Matter but all Generated or Created from One Supreme Secondly that forasmuch as these were all supposed to have some Influence more or less upon the Government of the World and the Affairs of Mankind they were therefore all of them conceived to be the due Objects of mens Religious Worship Adoration and Invocation and accordingly was the Pagan Devotion scattered amongst them all Nor were the Gods of the Oriental Pagans neither meer Dead Statues and Images as some would conclude from the Scripture but Living Vnderstanding Beings Superiour to men though worshipped in Images according to that Reply of the Chaldeans in Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar when he required them to tell his Dream There is none other that can shew this thing before the King Except Those Gods whose Dwelling is not with Flesh that is The Immortal Gods or who are exalted above the Condition of Humane Frailty Though some conceive that these words are to be understood of a Peculiar sort of Gods namely that this was such a thing as could not be done by those Demons and Lower Aerial Gods which frequently converse with men but was reserved to a Higher Rank of Gods who are above humane converse Now as to the Former of these Two Things that God is no Solitary Being but that there are Multitudes of Understanding Beings Superiour to Men the Creatures and Ministers of One Supreme God the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament fully agree with the Pagans herein Thousand Thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him and Ye are come to an innumerable Company of Angels But the Latter of them That Religious Worship and Invocation doth of right belong to these Created Spirits is constantly denied and condemned in these Writings that Being a thing peculiarly reserved to that one God who was the Creator of Heaven and Earth And thus is that Prophecy of Jeremy to be understood expressed in the Chalday Tongue
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Supermundane Soul which was the Third in their Trinity of Gods or Divine Hypostases the Proper and Immediate Opificer of the World And the same in all probability was Plato's opinion also and therefore that Soul which is the only Deity that in his Book of Laws he undertakes to prove was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Supermundane Soul and not the same with that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Mundane Soul whose Genesis or Generation is described in his Timaeus the Former of them being a Principle and Eternal the Latter made in Time together with the World though said to be Older than it because in order of Nature before it And thus we see plainly that though some of these Platonists and Pythagoreans either Misunderstood or Depraved the Cabbala of the Trinity so as to make the Third Hypostasis thereof to be the Animated World which themselves acknowledged to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Creature and Thing made yet others of the more Refined of them supposed this Third Hypostasis of their Trinity to be not a Mundane but a Supermundane Soul and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Creature but the Creator or Opificer of the Whole World And as for the Second Particular proposed it was a gross Absurdity in those Platonists also to make the Second in their Trinity of Gods and Hypostases not to be one God or Hypostasis but a Multitude of Gods and Hypostases as also was that a Monstrous Extravagancy of theirs to suppose the Ideas all of them to be so many distinct Substances and Animals Which besides others Tertullian in his Book De Anima thus imputes to Plato Vult Plato esse quasdam Substantias Invisibiles Incorporeales Supermundiales Divinas Aeternas quas appellat Ideas id est Formas Exempla Causas Naturalium istorum manifestorum subjacentium Corporalibus illas quidem esse Veritates haec autem Imagines earum Plato conceiveth that there are certain Substances Invisible Incorporeal Supermundial Divine and Eternal which he calls Ideas that is Forms Exemplars and Causes of all these Natural and Sensible Things they being the Truths but the other the Images Neither can it be denied but that there are some odd Expressions in Plato sounding that way who therefore may not be justified in this nor I think in some other Conceits of his concerning these Ideas as when he contends that they are not only the Objects of Science but also the Proper and Physical Causes of all things here below as for example that the Ideas of Similitude and Dissimilitude are the Causes of the Likeness and Unlikeness of all things to one another by their Participation of them Nevertheless it cannot be at all doubted but that Plato himself and most of his Followers very well understood that these Ideas were all of them really nothing else but the Noemata or Conceptions of that one Perfect Intellect which was their Second Hypostasis and therefore they could not look upon them in good earnest as so many Distinct Substances Existing severally and apart by themselves out of any Mind however they were guilty of some Extravagant Expressions concernning them Wherefore when they called them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essences or Substances as they are called in Philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most necessary Essences their true meaning herein was only this to signifie that they were not such Accidental and Evanid things as our Conceptions are they being the Standing Objects of all Science at least if not the Causes also of Existent Things Again when they were by them sometimes called Animals also they intended only to signifie thereby that they were not meer Dead Forms like Pictures drawn upon Paper or Carved Images and Statues And thus Amelius the Philosopher plainly understood that Passage of St. John the Evangelist concerning the Eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he pointing the Words otherwise than our Copies now do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which was made in him was Life this Philosopher glossing after this manner upon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In whom whatsoever was made was Living and Life and True Being Lastly no wonder if from Animals these Ideas forthwith became Gods too to such men as took all occasions possible to multiply Gods in which there was also something of that Scholastick Notion Quicquid est in Deo est Deus Whatsoever is in God is God But the main thing therein was a piece of Paganick Poetry these Pagan Theologers being Generally possessed with that Poetick homour of Personating Things and Deifying them Wherefore though the Ideas were so many Titular Gods to many of the Platonick Pagans yet did Julian himself for Example who made the most of them suppose them all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Coexist with God and Inexist in him that is in the First Mind or Second Hypostasis of their Trinity Lastly whereas Proclus and others of the Platonists intermingle Many Particular Gods with those Three Vniversal Principles or Hypostases of their Trinity as Noes Minds or Intellects Superiour to the First Soul and Henades and Agathotetes Vnities and Goodnesses Superiour to the First Intellect too thereby making those Particular Beings which must needs be Creatures Superiour to those Hypostases that are Vniversal and Infinite and by consequence Creaturizing of them this Hypothesis of theirs I say is altogether Absurd and Irrational also there being no Created Beings Essentially Good and Wise but all by Participation nor any Immovable Natures amongst them whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Essense their Operation but all Mutable and Changeable and probably as Origen and others of the Fathers add Lapsable and Peccable Nulla Natura est quae non recipiat Bonum Malum Exceptâ Dei Naturâ quae Bonorum omnium Fons est Christi Sapientia Sapientiae enim Fons est Sapientia utique Stultitiam recipere non potest Justitia est quae nunquam profecto Injustitiam capiet Verbum est vel Ratio quae uâ—ique Irrationalis effici non potest Sed Lux est Lucem certum est quod Tenebrae non comprehendent Similiter Natura Spiritus Sancti quae sancta est non recipit Pollutionem Naturaliter enim vel Substantiâ—liâ—er Sancta est Siqua autem alia Natura Sancta est ex Assumptione hoc vel Inspiratione Spiritus sancti habet ut sanctisicetur non ex suâ Naturâ hoc possidens sed ut Accidens propter quod decidere potest qoud accidit There is no Nature which is not capable both of Good and Evil excepting only the Nature of God who is the Fountain of all Good and the Wisdom of Christ For he is the Fountain of Wisdom and Wisdom it self never can receive Folly he is also Justice it self which can never admit of Injustice and the Reason and Word it self which can never become Irrational he
is also the Light it self and it is certain that Darkness cannot comprehend this Light nor insinuate it self with it In like manner the Nature of the Holy Ghost is such as can never receive Pollution it being Substantially and Essentially Holy But whatsoever other Nature is Holy it is only such in way of Participation and by the Inspiration of this Holy Spirit so that Holiness is not its very Nature and Essence but only an Accident to it and whatsoever is but Accidental may fail All Created Beings therefore having but Accidental Goodness and Wisdom may Degenerate and fall into Evil and Folly Which of Origen's is all one as if he should have said there is no such Rank of Beings as Autogaathotetes Essential Goodnesses there being only one Being Essentially Good or Goodness it self Nor no such Particular Created Beings existing in Nature as the Platonists call Noes neither that is Minds or Intellects Immovable Perfectly and Essentially Wise or Wisdom it self whose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose Essence is their Operation and who consequently have no Flux at all in them nor Successive Action only the Eternal Word and Wisdom of God being such who also are absolutely Ununitable to any Bodies It is true that Origen did sometimes make mention of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Minds or Intellects but it was in another sence he calling all Souls as first Created by God and before their Lapse by that name which was as much as if he should have said though some of the Platonists talk much of their Noes yet is there nothing answerable to that name according to their Notion of them but the only Noes really existing in Nature are Vnfallen but Peccable Souls he often concluding that the Highest Rank of Created Beings are indeed no better than those which the Platonists commonly call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Souls By which Souls he understood first of all Beings in their own nature Selfmoveable and Active whereas the Noes of the Platonists are altogether Immoveable and above Action And then again such Beings or Spirits Incorporeal as exist not Abstractly and Separately from all Matter as the Noes of the Platonists were supposed to do but are Vitally Vnitable to Bodies so as together with those Bodies to compound and make up One Animal Thus I say Origen conceived even of the Highest Angelical and Arch-Angelica Orders that they were eall of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Souls United to Bodies but such as were Pure Subtil and Ethereal however he supposed it not Impossible for them to sink down into Bodies more Gross and Feculent And it is certain that many of the Ancient Christian Writers concurred with Origen herein that the Highest Created Spirits were no Naked and Abstract Minds but Souls cloathed with some Corporeal Indument Lastly Origen's Souls were also supposed to be all of them endowed with Liberum Arbitrium or Free-Will and consequently to be Self-improvable and Self-impairable and no Particular Created Spirits to be absolutely in their own Nature Impeccable but Lapsible into Vitious Habits Whereas as the Platonick Noes are supposed to be such Beings as could never Fall nor Degenerate And the Generality of the Christian Writers seem'd to have consented or conspir'd with Origen in this also they supposing him who is now the Prince of Devils to have been once an Angel of the Highest Order Thus does St. Jerome determine Solus Deus est in quem Peccatum non cadit caetera cùm sint Liberi Arbitrii possunt in utramque partem suam flectere voluntatem God is the only Being that is absolutely uncapable of sin but all other Beings having Free Will in them may possibly turn their Will to either way that is to Evil as well as to Good It is certain that God in a sence of Perfection is the most Free Agent of all neither is Contingent Liberty Universally denied to him but here it is made the only Privilege of God that is of the Holy Trinity to be devoid of Liberum Arbitrium namely as it implieth Imperfection that is Peccability and Lapsibility in it It is true that some of the Platonick Philosophers suppose that even in that Rank of Beings called by them Souls though they be not Essentially Immutable but all Self-moveable and Active yet there are some of them of so high a Pitch and Elevation as that they can never Degenerate nor sink down into Vitious Habits Thus Simplicius for one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the First and Highest of Souls which were Immediately produced from what are Essentially Good although they have some abatement in them they being not Goodnesses Essentially but desirous of Good nevertheless are they so near a kin to that Highest Good of all as that they do Naturally and Indivulsively cleave to the same and have their Volitions always uniformly directed towards it they never declining to the worser Insomuch that if Proaeresis be taken for the Choosing of one thing before another perhaps there is no such thing as Proaeresis to be imputed to them unless one should call the choosing of the First Goods Proaeresis By these higher Souls Simplicius must needs understand either the Souls of the Sun Moon and Stars or else those of the Superiour Orders of Demoniack or Angelick Beings Where though he make a Question Whether Proaeresis or Deliberation belong to them yet does he plainly imply that they have none at all of that Lubricous Liberum Arbitrium or Free-will belonging to them which would make them capable of Vice and Immorality as well as Vertue But whatever is to be said of this there seems to be no necessity at all for admitting that Assertion of Origen's that all Rational Souls whatsoever even those of Men and those of the highest Angelical Orders are Universally of one and the same Nature and have no Fundamental or Essential Difference in their Constitution and consequently that all the difference that is now betwixt them did arise only from the Difference of their Demeanour or Use of that Power and Liberty which they all alike once had So that Thrones and Dominions and Principalities and Powers were all made such by their Merits and Humane Souls though now sunk so low yet are not absolutely Uncapable of Commencing Angels or ascending to those highest Altitudes as it is not impossible according to him neither but that the Highest Angels also the Seraphim and Cherubim might in length of time not only Degenerate into Devils but also sink down into Humane Bodies His reason for which Monstrous Paradox is only this that the Divine Justice cannot otherwise well be salved but God must needs be a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Acepter of Persons should he have Arbitrarily made such vast Differences amongst Intellectual Beings Which Ground he also extendeth so far as to the Humane Soul of our Saviour Christ himself as being not Partially appointed to that transcendent
to the First God and to the Second Cause and to the Third the Soul of the World they calling this also the Third God Wherefore we think there is good reason to conclude that those Eternal or Vncreated Gods of Plato in his Timaeus whose Image or Statue this whole Generated or Created World is said by him to be were no other than his Trinity of Divine Hypostases the Makers or Creators thereof And it was before as we conceive rightly guessed that Cicero also was to be understood of the same Eternal Gods as Platonizing when he affirmed A Diis omnia à Principio facta That all things were at first made by the Gods and à Providentiâ Deorum Mundum omnes Mundi partes constitutas esse That the World and all its Parts were constituted by the Providence of the Gods But that the Second Hypostasis in Plato's Trinity viz. Mind or Intellect though said to have been Generated or to have Proceeded by way of Emanation from the First called Tagathon The Good was notwithstanding unquestionably acknowledged to have been Eternal or without Beginning might be proved by many express Testimonies of the most Genuine Platonists but we shall here content our selves only with Two one of Plotinus writing thus concerning it Enn. 5. L. 1. c. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let all Temporal Generation here be quite banished from our thoughts whilst we treat of things Eternal or such as alwayes are we attributing Generation to them only in respect of Causality and Order but not of Time And though Plotinus there speak particularly of the Second Hypostasis or Nous yet does he afterwards extend the same also to the Third Hypostasis of that Trinity called Psyche or the Mundane Soul which is there said by him likewise to be the Word of the Second as that Second was the Word of the First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is Generated from what is better than Mind can be no other than Mind because Mind is the Best of all things and every thing else is after it and Junior to it as Psyche or Soul which is in like manner the Word of Mind and a certain Energy thereof as Mind is the Word and Energy of the First Good The other Testimony is of Porphyrius cited by S. Cyril out of the Fourth Book of his Philosophick History where he sets down the Doctrine of Plato after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Wherefore we ought not to entertain any other Principles but having placed First the Simple Good to set Mind or the Supreme Intellect next after it and then the Vniversal Soul in the third place For this is the right order according to Nature neither to make More Intelligibles or Universal Principles nor yet Fewer than these three For he that will contract the number and make fewer of them must of necessity either suppose Soul and Mind to be the same or else Mind and the First Good But that all these three are divers from one another hath been often demonstrated by us It remains now to consider that if there be more than these three Principles what Natures they should be c. Thirdly as all these three Platonick Hypostases are Eternal and Necessarily Existent so are they plainly supposed by them not to be Particular but Vniversal Beings that is such as do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contain and comprehend the whole World under them and preside over all things which is all one as to say that they are each of them Infinite and Omnipotent For which reason are they also called by Platonick Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Principles and Causes and Opificers of the whole World First as for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind or Vnderstanding Whereas the Old Philosophers before Plato as Anaxagoras Archelaus c. and Aristotle after him supposed Mind and Vnderstanding to be the very First and Highest Principle of all which also the Magick or Caldee Oracles take notice of as the most Common opinion of mankind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Mind is generally by all men look'd upon as the First and Highest God Plato considering that Vnity was in order of Nature before Number and Multiplicity and that there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Intelligible before Intellect so that Knowledge could not be the First and Lastly that there is a Good transcending that of Knowledge made One most Simple Good the Fountain and Original of all things and the First Divine Hypostatis and Mind or Intellect only the Second next to it but Inseparable from it and most nearly Cognate with it For which cause in his Philebus though he agree thus far with those other Ancient Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Mind alwayes rules over the whole Vniverse yet does he add afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Mind is not absolutely the First Principle but Cognate with the Cause of all things and that therefore it rules over all things with and in a kind of subordination to that First Principle which is Tagathon or the Highest Good Where when Plato affirms that Mind or his Second Divine Hypostasis is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the First it is all one as if he should have said that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with it all which words are used by Athanasius as Synonymous with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Co-Essential or Con-Substantial So that Plato here plainly and expresly agrees or Symbolizes not with the Doctrine of Arius but with that of the Nicene Council and Athanasius that the Second Hypostasis of the Trinity whether called Mind or Word or Son is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Co-Essential or Con-Substantial with the First and therefore not a Creature And then as for the Third Hypostasis called Psyche or the Superiour Mundane Soul Plato in his Cratylus bestowing the name of Zeus that is of the Supreme God upon it and etymologizing the same from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adds these words concerning it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is nothing which is more the Cause of Life to us and all other Animals than this Prince and King of all things And that therefore God was called by the Greeks Zeus because it is by him that all Animals live And yet that all this was properly meant by him of the Third Hypostasis of his Trinity called Psyche is manifest from those words of his that follow where he expounds the Poetick Mythology before mentioned making Zeus to be the Son of Chronos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is agreeable to reason that Zeus should be the Progeny or Off-spring of a certain great Mind Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are equivalent Terms
it though seemingly repugnant and clashing with one another yet in their opinion fairly Reconciled and Salved by this Trinity of Divine Hypostases Subordinate Lastly they pretend also that according to this Hypothesis of theirs there may be some Reasonable Satisfaction given to the Mind of Man both why there are so many Divine Hypostases and why there could be no more whereas according to other ways it would seem to have been a meer Arbitrary Business and that there might have been either but One Solitary Divine Hypostasis or but a Duality of them or else they might have been beyond a Trinity Numberless The Second Thing which we shall observe concerning the most Genuine Platonical and Parmenidian Trinity is this That though these Philosophers sometimes called their Three Divine Hypostases not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Three Natures and Three Principles and Three Causes and Three Opificers but also Three Gods and a First and Second and Third God yet did they often for all that suppose all these Three to be Really One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Divinity or Numen It hath been already proved from Origen and others that the Platonists most commonly called the Animated World the Second God though some of them as for example Numenius styled it the Third God Now those of them who called the World the Second God attributed indeed not more but less Divinity to it than those who would have it to be the Third God Because these Latter supposed that Soul of the World to be the Third Hypostasis of their Trinity but the other taking all these Three Divine Hypostases together for One Supreme and First God called the World the Second God they supposing the Soul thereof to be another Soul Inferiour to that First Psyche which was properly their Third Hypostasis Wherefore this was really all one as if they should have called the Animated World the Fourth God only by that other way of reckoning when they called it a Second God they intimated that though those Three Divine Hypostases were frequently called Three Gods yet were they notwithstanding Really all but One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divinity or Numen or as Plotinus speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divinity which is in the whole World Thus when God is so often spoken of in Plato Singularly the word is not always to be understood of the First Hypostasis only or the Tagathon but many times plainly of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the First and Second and Third all together or that whole Divinity which consisteth or is made up of these Three Hypostases And this will further appear from hence because when the whole World is said in Plato to be the Image of the Eternal Gods as also by Plotinus of the First Second and Third by whom it is always produced anew as the Image in a Glass is this is not to be understood as if the World being Tripartite each Third part thereof was severally produced or Created by one of those Three nor yet can it be conceived how there could be Three Really distinct Creations of One and the same thing Wherefore the World having but one Creation and being Created by those Three Divine Hypostases it follows that they are all Three Really but One Creator and One God Thus when both in Plato and Plotinus the Lives and Souls of all Animals as Stars Demons and Men are attributed to the Third Hypostasis the First and great Psyche as their Fountain and Cause after a Special Manner accordingly as in our Creed the Holy Ghost is styled the Lord and Giver of Life this is not so to be understood as if therefore the First and Second Hypastases were to be excluded from having any Causality therein For the First is styled by Plato also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cause of all Good things and therefore doubtless chiefly of Souls and the Second is called by him and others too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cause and Artificer of the whole World We conclude therefore that Souls being Created by the Joynt Concurrence and Influence of these Three Hypostases Subordinate they are all Really but One and the same God And thus it is expresly affirmed by Porphyrius in St. Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Essence of the Divinity proceeds or propagates it self by way of descent downwards unto Three Hypostases or Subsistences The Highest God is the Tagathon or Supreme Good the Second next after him is the Demiurgus so called the Architect or Artificer of the World and the Soul of the World that is the Third for the Divinity extendeth so far as to this Soul Here we plainly see that though Porphyrius calls the Three Divine Hypostases Three Gods yet does he at the very same time declare that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Essence of the Godhead and the Divinity extends it self to all these Three Hypostases including the Third and last also which they call the Mundane Soul within the compass of it And therefore that even according to the Porphyrian Theology it self which could not be suspected to affect any compliance with Christianity the Three Hypostases in the Platonick Trinity are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Co-Essential both as being each of them God and as being all One God St Cyril himself also acknowledging as much where he writeth thus of the Platonists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That supposing Three Hypostases which have the Nature of Principles in the Vniverse they extend the Essence of God to all these three Hypostases Indeed many conceive that the Platonists making the Three Hypostases of Their Trinity to be thus Gradually Subordinate one to another could not for that very Reason acknowledge them to be One Divinity but the Platonists themselves do upon this very account and no other declare all these Three to be One Divinity because they have an Essential Dependence and Gradual Subordination in them the Second being but the Image of the First and the Third the Image both of the First and Second Whereas were these Three supposed to be Perfectly Co-Equal and to have no Essential Dependence one upon another they could not by these Platonists be concluded to be any other than Three Coordinate Gods having only a Generical or Specifical Identity and so no more One than Three men are One man a thing which the Platonick Theology is utterly abhorrent from as that which is inconsistent with the Perfect Monarchy of the Universe and highly Derogatory from the honour of the Supreme God First Cause For example should Three Suns appear in the Heaven all at once with Co-equal Splendor and not only so but also be concluded that though at First derived or Lighted and Kindled from one yet they were now all alike Absolute and Independent these Three could not so well be thought to be one Sun as Three that should
but of Kind Which Vnity of the Common or General Essence of the Godhead is the same thing also with that Equality which some of the Ancient Fathers so much insist upon against Arius namely An Equality of Nature as the Son and Father are both of them alike God that Essence of the Godhead which is Common to all the Three Persons being as all other Essences supposed to be Indivisible From which Equality it self also does it appear that they acknowledged no Identity of Singular Essence it being absurd to say that One and the self same thing is Equal to it self And with this Equality of Essence did some of these Orthodox Fathers themselves imply that a certain Inequality of the Hypostases or Persons also in their mutual Relation to one another might be consistent As for example St. Austin writing thus against the Arians Patris ergo Filii Spiritus Sancti etiamsi disparem cogitant Potestatem Naturam saltem confiteantur Aequalem Though they conceive the Power of the Father Son and Holy Ghost to be Vnequal yet let them for all that confess their Nature at least to be Equal And St. Basil likewise Though the Son be in Order Second to the Father because produced by him and in Dignity also forasmuch as the Father is the Cause and Principle of his being yet is he not for all that Second in Nature because there is One Divinity in them both And that this was indeed the meaning both of the Nicene Pathers and of Athanasius in their Homoousiotes their Coessentiality or Con-substantiality and Coequality of the Son with the Father namely their having both the same Common Essence of the Godhead or that the Son was No Creature as Arius contended but truly God or Vncreated likewise will appear undeniably from many passages in Athanasius of which we shall here mention only some few In his Epistle concerning the Nicene Council he tells us how the Eusebian Faction subscribed the Form of that Council though afterward they recanted it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All the rest subscribing the Eusebianists themselves subscribed also to these very words which they now find fault with I mean Of the Essence or Substance and Coessential or Consubstantial and that the Son is no Creature or Facture or any of the Things Made but the Genuine Off-spring of the Essence or Substance of the Father Afterwards he declareth how the Nicene Council at first intended to have made use only of Scripture Words and Phrases against the Arians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As that Christ was the Son of God and not from nothing but from God the Word and Wisdom of God and consequently no Creature or thing Made But when they perceived that the Eusebian Faction would evade all those Expressions by Equivocation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They conceived themselves necessitated more plainly to declare what they meant by being From God or Out of him and therefore added that the Son was Out of the Substance of God thereby to distinguish him from all Created Beings Again a little after in the same Epistle he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Synod perceiving this rightly declared that the Son was Homoousious with the Father both to cut off the Subterfuges of Hereticks and to show him to be different from the Creatures For after they had decreed this they added immediately They who say that the Son of God was from things that are not or Made or Mutable or a Creature or of another Substance or Essence all such does the Holy and Catholick Church Anathematize Whereby they made it Evident that these Words Of the Father and Coessential or Consubstantial with the Father were opposed to the Impiety of those expressions of the Arians that the Son was a Creature or thing Made and Mutable and that he was not before he was Made which he that affirmeth contradicteth the Synod but whosoever dissents from Arius must needs consent to these Forms of the Synod In this same Epistle to cite but one passage more out of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Brass and Gold Silver and Tin are alike in their shining and colour nevertheless in their Essence and Nature are they very different from one another If therefore the Son be such then let him be a Creature as we are and not Coessential or Consubstantial but if he be a Son the Word Wisdom Image of the Father and his Splendour then of right should he be accounted Coessential and Consubstantial Thus in his Epistle concerning Dionysius we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Son 's being one of the Creatures and his not being Coessential or Consubstantial with the Father put for Synonymous expressions which signifie one and the samething Wherefore it semeeth to be unquestionably evident that when the Ancient Orthodox Fathers of the Christian Church maintained against Arius the Son to be Homoousion Coessential or Consubstantial with the Father though that word be thus interpreted Of the same Essence or Substance yet they Universally understood thereby not a Sameness of Singular and Numerical but of Common or Vniversal Essence only that is the Generical or Specifical Essence of the Godhead that the Son was no Creature but truly and properly God But if it were needful there might be yet more Testimonies cited out of Athanasius to this purpose As from his Epistle De Synodis Arimini Seleuciae where he writeth thus concerning the Difference betwixt those Two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Like Substance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of the Same Substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For even your selves know that Similitudes is not Predicated of Essences or Substances but of Figures and Qualities only But of Essences or Substances Identity or Sameness is affirmed and not Similitude For a man is not said to be Like to a man in respect of the Essence or Substance of Humanity but only as to Figure or Form they being said as to their Essence to be Congenerous of the same Nature or Kind with one another Nor is a man properly said to be Vnlike to a Dog but of a Different Nature or Kind from him Wherefore that which is Congenerous of the same Nature Kind or Species is also Homoousion Coessential or Consubstantial of the same Essence or Substance and that which is of a different Nature Kind or Species is Heterousion of a different Essence or Substance Again Athanasius in that Fragment of his Against the Hypocrisie of Meletius c. concerning Consubstantiality writeth in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He that denies the Son to be Homoousion Consubstantial with the Father affirming him only to be like to him denies him to be God In like manner he who reteining the word Homousion or Consubstantial interprets it notwithstanding only of Similitude or Likeness in
against Theists We have been hiâ—herto prevented of â—hat full and Copious Confutation of them intended by us by reason of that large Account given of the Pâ—gan Polythâ—ism which yet was no Impertinent Digression neither it removing the Grand Objâ—ction against the Naturality of the Idea of God as including Onelinâ—ss in it as also preparing a way for that Defence of Christianity designed by us against Atheists Wherefore that we may not here be quite excluded of what was principally intended we shall subjoyn a Contracted and Compendious Confutation of all the Premised Atheistick Principles The FIRST whereof was this That either men have no Idea of God at all or else none but such as is Compounded and Made up of Impossible and Contradictious Notions from whence these Atheists would inferr Him to be an Vnconceivable Nothing In Answer whereunto there hath been something done already it being declared in the Beginning of the Fourth Chapter what the Idea of God is viz. A Perfect Vnderstanding Nature Necessarily Self-Existent and the Cause of all other things And as there is Nothing either Vnconceivable or Contradictious in this Idea so have we shewed that these Confounded Atheists do not only at the same time when they verbally deny an Idea of God implicitly acknowledge and confess it for as much as otherwise denying his Existence they should deny the Existence of Nothing but also that they agree with Theists in this very Idea it being the only thing which Atheists Contend for That the First Originl and Head of all things is no Perfect Vnderstanding Nature but that all sprung from Tohu and Bohu or Dark and Senslâ—ss Matter Fortuitoâ—sly moved Moreover we have not only thus declared the Idea of God but also largely proved and made it clearly evident that the Generality of Mankind in all Ages have had a Prolepsis or Anticipation in their Minds concerning the Real and Actual Existence of such a Being the Pagans themselves besides their other Many Gods which were Vnderstanding Beings Superiour to men acknowledging One Chief and Sovereign Numen the Maker of them all and of the Whole World From whence it plainly appears that those few Atheists that formerly have been and still are here and there up and down in the World are no other than the Monsters and Anomalies of Humane Kind And this alone might be sufficient to repel the First Atheistick Assault made against the Idea of God Nevertheless that we may not seem to dissemble any of the Atheists Strength we shall here Particularly declare all their most Colourable Pretences against the Idea of God and then show the Folly and Invalidity of them Which Pretences are as follow First That we have no Idea nor Thought of any thing not Subject to Corporeal Sense nor the least Evidence of the Existence of any thing but from the same Secondly That Theists themselves acknowledging God to be Incomprehensible he may be from thence inferred to be a Non-Entity Thirdly That the Theists Idea of God including Infinity in it is therefore absolutely Vnconceivable and Impossible Fourthly That Theology is an Arbitrarious Compilement of Inconsistent and Contradictious Notions And Lastly That the Idea and Existence of God ows all its being either to the Confounded Non-Sence of Astonish'd Minds or else to the Fiction and Imposture of Politicians We begin with the First That we can have no Idea Conception or Thought of any thing not Subject to Sense nor the least Evidence of the Existence of any thing but from the same Thus a Modern Atheistick Writer Whatsoever we can conceive hath been Perceived first by Sense either at once or in parts and a man can have no Thought representing any thing not Subject to Sense From whence it fâ—llows that whatsoever is not Sensible and Imaginable is utterly unconceivable and to us Nothing Moreover the same Writer adds That the only Evidence which we have of the Existence of any thing is from Sense the Consequence whereof is this That there being no Corporeal Sense of a Deity there can be no Evidence at all of his Existence Wherefore according to the Tenour of the Atheistick Philosophy all is Resolved into Sense as the only Criterion of Truth accordingly as Protagoras in Plato's Theaetetus concludes Knowledge to be Sense and a late Writer of our own determins Sense to be Original Knowledge Here have we a wide Ocean before us but we must Contract our Sayls Were Sense Knowledge and Vnderstanding then he that sees Light and Colours and feels Heat and Cold would understand Light and Colours Heat and Cold and the like of all other Sensible Things neither would there be any Philosophy at all concerning them Whereas the Mind of man remaineth altogether unsatisfied concerning the Nature of these Corporeal Things even after the Strongest Sensations of them and is but thereby awakened to a further Philosophick Enquiry and Search about them what this Light and Colours this Heat and Cold c. Really should be and whether they be indeed Qualities in the Objects without us or only Phantasms and Sensations in our selves Now it is certain that there could be no Suspicion of any such thing as this were Sense the Highest Faculty in us neither can Sense it self ever decide this Controversie since once Sense cannot judge of another or correct the Error of it all Sense as such that is as Phancy and Apparition being alike True And had not these Atheists been Notorious Dunces in that Atomick Philosophy which they so much pretend to they would clearly have learn'd from thence That Sense is not Knowledge and Vnderstanding nor the Criterion of Truth as to Sensible things themselves it reaching not to the Essence or Absolute Nature of them but only taking notice of their Outside and perceiving its own Passions from them rather than the Things themselves and That there is a Higher Faculty in the Soul of Reason and Vnderstanding which judges of Sense detects the Phantastry and Imposture of it discovers to us that there is nothing in the Objects themselves like to those forementioned Sensible Ideas and resolves all Sensible Things into Intelligible Principles the Ideas whereof are not Foraign and Adventitious and meer Passive Impressions upon the Soul from without but Native and Domestick to it or Actively Exerted from the Soul it self no Passion being able to make a Judgment either of it self or other things This is a thing so Evident that Democritus himself could not but take notice of it and acknowledge it though he made not a right use thereof he in all Probability continuing notwithstanding a Confounded and Besotted Atheist Sextus Empiricus having recorded this of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Democritus in his Canons affirmeth that there are Two kinds of Knowledges One by the Senses and another by the Mind Of which that by the Mind is only accounted Knowledge he bearing witness to the Faithfulness and Firmness thereof for the judgment of Truth The other by the Senses he calleth
therefore much more than an Infinity of Atoms or Particles of Matter And though this Numerical Infinity of theirs were also Vnconceivable and Impossible yet does it sufficiently appear from hence that these Ancient Philosophick Atheists were so far from being abhorrent from Infinity as a Thing Impossible and a Non-Entity that they were on the contrary very fond thereof and therefore never went about to disprove a Deity after this manner Because there can be Nothing Infinite But in the next place we shall make it manifest that these Modern Atheists do no less contradict plain Reason and their very Selves also than they do their Predecessors in that Impiety when they thus go about to disprove the Existence of a God Because there can be Nothing Infinite neither in Duration nor in Power nor in any other regard For First though it should be doubted whether there be a God or no yet must it needs be acknowledged to be as Indubitable as any thing in all Geometry that there was something or other Infinite in Duration or Eternal without Beginning because if there had been once Nothing at all there could never have been Any thing that Common Notion or Principle of Reason having here an Irresistible Force That Nothing could ever come from Nothing Now if there were never Nothing but always Something then must there of necessity be something Infinite in Duration and Eternal without Beginning Wherefore it cannot be accounted less than Extreme Sottishness and Stupidity of Mind in these Modern Atheists thus to impugn a Deity from the Impossibility of Infinite Duration without beginning But in the next place we must confess it seems to us hardly conceivable that any Atheist whatsoever could possibly be so prodigiously Sottish or so monstrously infatuated as really to think that once there was Nothing at all but that afterwards Sensless Matter happened no body knows how to come into Being from whence all other things were derived According to which Hypothesis it would follow also that Matter might as well some time or other happen again to cease to be and so all things vanish into Nothing To conclude therefore these Atheists must of necessity be Guilty of One or Other of these Two Things either of Extreme Sottishness and Stupidity in acknowledging neither God nor Matter nor Any Thing to have Existed Infinitely from Eternity without Beginning or else if they do acknowledge the Pre-Eternity of Matter or its Infinite Past-duration without Beginning then of the most Notorious Impudence in making that an Argument against the Existence of a God which themselves acknowledge to Matter Nevertheless we shall here readily comply with these Modern Atheists thus far as to grant them these Two following Things First that we can have no Proper and Genuine Phantasm of any Infinite whatsoever because we never had Corporeal Sense of any neither of Infinite Number nor of Infinite Magnitude and therefore much less of Infinite Time or Duration and of Infinite Power these two Latter things Time and Power themselves not falling under Corporeal Sense Secondly That as we have no Phantasm of any Infinite so neither is Infinity Fully Comprehensible by our humane Understandings that are but Finite But since it is certain even to Mathematical Evidence That there was Something Infinite in Duration or without Beginning insomuch that no Intelligent Atheist upon Mature Consideration will ever venture to contradict it we shall from hence extort from thâ—se Atheists an acknowledgment of the Falsness of these Two Theorems of theirs That whatsoever we have no Phantasm or Sensible Idea of as also whatsoever is not Fully Comprehensible by us is therefore a pure Non-Entity or Nothing and enforce them to confess That there is something Really Existing in Nature which we have neither any Phantasm of nor yet can Fully Comprehend with our Imperfect Understandings Nay we will yet go further in compliance with them and acknowledge likewise That as for those Infinities of Number of Corporeal Magnitude and of Time or Successive Duration we have not only no Phantasm nor Full Intellectual Comprehension of them but also no manner of Intelligible Idea Notion or Conception For though it be true that Number be somewhere said by Aristotle to be Infinite yet was his meaning there only in such a negative Sence as this that we can never possibly come to an End thereof by Addition but may in our minds still add Number to Number Infinitely which is all one as if he should indeed have affirmed that there can be no Number Actually and Positively Infinite according to Aristotle's own Definition of Infinite elsewhere given namely That to which nothing can be added no Number being ever so Great but that One or More may still be added to it And as there can be no Infinite Number so neither can there be any Infinity of Corporeal Magnitude not only because if there were the parts thereof must needs be Infinite in Number but also because as no Number can be so great but that More maâ— be added to it so neither can any Body or Magnitude be ever so Vast but that more Body or Magnitude may be supposed still further and further this Addition of Finites never making up Infinite Indeed Infinite Space beyond the Finite World is a thing which hath been much talked of and it is by some supposed to be Infinite Body but by others to be an Incorporeal Infinite through whose Actual Distance notwithstanding Mensurable by Poles and Miles this Finite World might rowl and tumble Infinitely But as we conceive all that can be demonstrated here is no more than this That how vast soever the Finite World should be yet is there a Possibility of more and more Magnitude and Body still to be added to it further and further by Divine Power Infinitely or that the World could never be made so Great no not by God himself as that his own Omnipotence could not make it yet Greater Which Potential Infinity or Indefinite Encreasableness of Corporeal Magnitude seems to have been mistaken for an Actual Infinity of Space Whereas for this very Reason because more could be added to the Magnitude of the Corporeal World Infinitely or without End therefore is it Impossible that it should ever be Positively and Actually Infinite That is such as to which nothing more can Possibly be added Wherefore we conclude concerning Corporeal Magnitude as we did before of Number that there can be no Absolute and Actual Infinity thereof and that how much Vaster soever the World may be than according to the Supposition of Vulgar Astronomers who make the Starry Sphere the Vtmost Wall thereof yet is it not Absolutely Infinite such as Really hath No Bounds or Limits at all nor to which Nothing more could by Divine Power be added Lastly we affirm likewise concerning Time or Successive Duration that there can be no Infinity of that neither no Temporal Eternity without Beginning and that not only because there would then be an
Imperfect is accounted such by the Diminution of that which is Perfect From whence it comes to pass that if in any kind any thing appear Imperfect there must of Necessity be something also in that Kind Perfect For Perfection being once taken away it could not be imagined from whence that which is accounted Imperfect should have proceeded Nor did the Nature of things take beginning from Inconsummate and Imperfect things but proceedings from things Absolute and Complete thence descend down to these lower Effete and Languid things But of this more elsewhere Wherefore since Infinite is the same with Absolutely Perfect we having a Notion or Idea of the Latter must needs have of the Former From whence we learn also that though the word Infinite be in the form thereof Negative yet is the Sence of it in those things which are really capable of the same Positive it being all one with Absolutely Perfect as likewise the Sence of the word Finite is Negative it being the same with Imperfect So that Finite is properly the Negation of Infinite as that which in order of Nature is before it and not Infinite the Negation of Finite However in those things which are capable of no true Infinity because they are Essentially Finite as Number Corporeal Magnitude and Time Infinity being there a meer Imaginary thing and a Non-Entity it can only be conceived by the Negation of Finite as we also conceive Nothing by the Negation of Something that is we can have no Positive Conception at all thereof We conclude To assert an Infinite Being is nothing else but to assert a Being Absolutely Perfect such as Never was Not or had no Beginning which could produce all things Possible and Conceivable and upon which all other things must depend And this is to assert a God One Absolutely Perfect Being the Original of all things God and Infinite and Absolutely Perfect being but different Names for One and the same thing We come now to the Fourth Atheistick Objection That Theology is nothing but an Arbitrarious Compilement of Inconsistent and Contradictious Notions Where First we deny not but that as some Theologers or Bigotical Religionists or later times extend the Divine Omnipotence to things Contradictious and Impossible as to the Making of One and the same Body to be all of it in several distant places at once so may others sometimes unskilfully attribute to the Deity things Inconsistent or Contradictious to one another because seeming to them to be all Perfections As for example though it be concluded generally by Theologers that there is a Natural Justice and Sanctity in the Deity yet do some notwithstanding contend That the Will of God is not determined by any Antecedent Rule or Nature of Justice but that whatsoever he could be supposed to Will Arbitrarily would therefore be Ipso facto Just which is called by them the Divine Soveraignty and look'd upon as a Great Perfection Though it be certain that these Two Things are directly Contradictious to one another viz. That there is something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its own Nature Just and Vnjust or a Natural Sanctity in God and That the Arbitrary Will and Command of the Deity is the only Rule of Justice and Injustice Again some Theologers determining That Whatsoever is in God is God or Essential to the Deity they conceiving such an Immutability to be a Necessary Perfection thereof seem thereby not only to Contradict all Liberty of Will in the Deity which themselves notwithstanding contend for in a high degree that all things are Arbitrarily determined by Divine Decree but also to take away from it all Power of Acting ad Extra and of Perceiving or Animadverting things done sucessively here in the World But it will not follow from these and the like Contradictions of mistaken Theologers that therefore Theology it self is Contradictious and hath nothing of Philosophick Truth at all in it no more than because Philosophers also hold Contradictory Opinions that therefore Philosophy it self is Contradictious and that there is Nothing Absolutely True or False but according to the Protagorean Doctrine all Seeming and Phantastical But in the next place we add that though it be true that the Nature of things admits of nothing Contradictious and that whatsoever plainly Implies a Contradiction must therefore of necessity be a Non-Entity yet is this Rule notwithstading obnoxious to be much abused when whatsoever mens Shallow and Gross Understandings cannot Reach to they will therefore presently conclude to be Contradictious and Impossible As for example the Atheists and Materialists cannot Conceive of any other Substance besides Body and therefore do they determine presently that Incorporeal Substance is a Contradiction in the very Terms it being as much as to say Incorporeal Body wherefore when God is said by Theologers to be an Incorporeal Substance this is to them an Absolute Impossibility Thus a Modern Writer The Vniverse that is the whole Mass of all things is Corporeal that is to say Body Now every Part of Body is Body and Consequently every Part of the Vniverse is Body and that which is not Body is no part thereof And because the Vniverse is All that which is no part of it is nothing Therefore when Spirits are called Incorporeal this is only a name of Honour and it may with more Piety be attributed to God himself in whom we consider not what Attribute best expresseth his Nature which is Incomprehensible But what best expresseth our Desire to Honour him Where Incorporeal is said to be an Attribute of Honour that is such an Attribute as expresseth only the Veneration of mens Minds but signifieth nothing in Nature nor hath any Philosophick Truth and Reality under it a Substance Incorporeal being as Contradictious as Something and Nothing Notwithstanding which this Contradiction is only in the Weakness and Childishness of these mens Understandings and not the thing it self it being Demonstrable that there is some other Substance besides Body according to the True and Genuine Notion of it But because this mistake is not proper to Atheists only there being some Theists also who labour under this same Infirmity of Mind not to be able to Conceive any other Substance besides Body and who therefore assert a Corporeal Deity we shall in the next place show from a passage of a Modern Writer what kind of Contradictions they are which these Atheists impute to all Theology namely such as these that it supposes God to Perceive things Sensible without any Organs of Sense and to Vnderstand and be Wise without any Brains Pious men saith he attribute to God Almighty for Honours sake whatsoever they see Honourable in the world as Seeing Hearing Willing Knowing Justice Wisdom c. But they deny him such poor things as Eyes Ears and Brains and other Organs without which we Worms neither have nor can conceive such Faculties to Be and so far they do well But when they dispute of God's Actions Philosophically then do they
Stratonick or Hylozoick Atheism because Sense and Conscious Vnderstanding could no more result either from those Qualities of Heat and Cold Moist and Dry contempered together or from the meer Organization of Inanimate and Sensless Matter than it could from the Concursus Motus Ordo Positura Figurae of Atoms devoid of all manner of Qualities Had there been once nothing but Sensless Matter Fortuitously Moved there could never have emerged into Being any Soul or Mind Sense and Vnderstanding because no Effect can possibly transcend the Perfection of its Cause Wherefore Atheists supposing Themselves and all Souls and Minds to have sprung from Stupid and Sensless Matter and all that Wisdom which is any where in the World both Political and Philosophical to be the Result of meer Fortune and Chance must needs be concluded to be Grosly Ignorant of Causes which had they not been they could never have been Atheists So that Ignorance of Causes is the Seed not of Theism but of Atheism true Philosophy and the Knowledge of the Cause of our Selves leading necessarily to a Deity Again Atheists are Ignorant of the Cause of Motion in Bodies also by which notwithstanding they suppose all things to be done that is they are never able to Salve this Phaenomenon so long as they are Atheists and acknowledge no other Substance besides Matter or Body For First it is undeniably certain that Motion is not Essential to all Body as such because then no Particles of Matter could ever Rest and consequently there could have been no Generation nor no such Mundane System produced as this is which requires a certain Proportionate Commixture of Motion and Rest no Sun nor Moon nor Earth nor Bodies of Animals since there could be no Coherent Consistency of any thing when all things flutter'd and were in continual Separation and Divulsion from one another Again it is certain likewise that Matter or Body as such hath no Power of Moving it self Freely or Spontaneously neither by Will or Appetite both because the same Inconvenience would from hence ensue likewise and because the Phaenomena or Appearances do plainly evince the contrary And as for that Prodigiously Absurd Paradox of some few Hylozoick Atheists that all Matter as such and therefore every Smallest Particle thereof hath not only Life Essentially belonging to it but also Perfect Wisdom and Knowledge together with Appetite and Self-moving Power though without Animal Sense or Consciousness this I say will be elsewhere in due place further confuted But the Generality of the ancient Atheists that is the Anaximandrians and Democriticks attributed no manner of Life to Matter as such and therefore could ascribe no Voluntary or Spontaneous Motion to the same but Fortuitous only according to that of the Epicurean Poet already cited Nam certè neque Consilio Primordia rerum Ordine se quaeque atque sagaci mente locarunt Nec quos quaeque darent Motus pepigere profectó Wherefore these Democriticks as Aristotle somewhere intimates were able to assign no other Cause of Motion than only this That One Body moved another from Eternity Infinitely so that there was no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no First Vnmoved Mover ever to be found because there is no Beginning nor First in Eternity From whence probably that Doctrine of some Atheistick Stoicks in Alex. Aphrodisius was derived That there is no First in the rank and order of Causes In the footsteps of which Philosophers a Modern Writer seemeth to have trodden when declaring himself after this manner Si quis ab Effectu quocunque ad Causam ejus Immediatam atque inde and Remotiorem ac sic perpetuò ratiocinatione ascenderit non tamen in aeternum procedere poterit sed defatigatus aliquando deficiet If any one will from whatsoever Effect ascend upward to its Immediate Cause and from thence to a Remoter and so onwards perpetually in his Ratiocination yet shall he never be able to hold on thorough all Eternity but at length being quite tyred out with his Journey be forced to desist or give over Which seems to be all one as if he should have said One thing Moved or Caused another Infinitely from Eternity in which there being no Beginning there is consequently no First Mover or Cause to be reach'd unto But this Infinite Progress of these Democriticks in the Order of Causes and their shifting off the Cause of Motion from one thing to another without end or beginning was rightly understood by Aristotle to be indeed the Assigning of No Cause of Motion at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They acknowledging saith he no First Mover according to Nature must needs make an idle Progress Infinitely that is in the Language of this Philosopher assign no Cause at all of Motion Epicurus therefore to mend the matter though according to the Principles of the Atomick Physiology he discarded all other Qualities yet did he notwithstanding admit this One Quality of Gravity or Ponderosity in Atoms pressing them continually downwards in Infinite Space In which as nothing could be more Absurd nor Vnphilosophical than to make Vpwards and Downwards in Infinite Space or a Gravity tending to no Centre nor Place of Rest so did he not assign any Cause of Motion neither but only in effect affirm the Atoms therefore to tend Downwards because they did so a Quality of Gravity signifying only an Endeavour to tend Downwards but Why or Wherefore no body knows And it is all one as if Epicurus should have said that Atoms moved Downwards by an Occult Quality he either betaking himself to this as an Asylum a Sanctuary or Refuge for his Ignorance or else indeed more absurdly making his very Ignorance it self disguized under that name of a Quality to be the Cause of Motion Thus the Atheists universally either assigned no Cause at all for Motion as the Anaximandrians and Democriticks or else no True one as the Hylozoists when to avoid Incorporeal Substance they would venture to attribute Perfect Vnderstanding Appetite or Will and Self-moving Power to all Sensless Matter whatsoever But since it appears plainly that Matter or Body cannot Move it self either the Motion of all Bodies must have no manner of Cause or else must there of necessity be some other Substance besides Body such as is Self-active and Hylarchical or hath a Natural Power of Ruling over Matter Upon which latter account Plato rightly determin'd that Cogitation which is Self-activity or Autochinesie was in order of Nature before the Local Motion of Body which is Heterochinesie Though Motion considered Passively in Bodies or taken for their Translation or Change of Distance and Place be indeed a Corporeal thing or a Mode of those Bodies themselves moving yet as it is considered Actively for the Vis Movens that Active Force which causes this Translation or Change of Place so is it an Incorporeal thing the Energy of a Self-Active Substance upon that sluggish Matter or Body which cannot at all move it self Wherefore in the Bodies of
vastly Gigantean men as could stride over Seas and take up Mountains in their Clutches and turn the Heavens about with the strength of their arms Against all which notwithstanding he gravely gives such a Reason as plainly overthrows his own Principles Res sic quaeque suo ritu procedit omnes Foedere Naturae certo discrimina servant Because things by a certain Covenant of Nature always keep up their Specifick Differences without being confounded together For what Covenant of Nature can there be in Infinite Chance or what Law can there be set to the Absolutely Fortuitous Motions of Atoms to circumscribe them by Wherefore it must be acknowledged that according to the genuine Hypothesis of the Atomick Atheism all Imaginable Forms of Inanimate Bodies Plants and Animals as Centaurs Scylla's and Chimaera's are producible by the Fortuitous Motions of Matter there being nothing to hinder it whilst it doth Omnimodis coire atque omnia pertentare Quaecunque inter se possint congressa creare Put it self into all kind of Combinations play all manner of Freaks and try all possible Conclusions and Experiments But they Pretend that these Monstrous Irregular Shapes of Animals were not therefore now to be found because by reason of their Inept Fabrick they could not propagate their kind by Generation as neither indeed Preserve their own Individuals Thus does Lucretius declare the sence of Epicurus Quoniam Natura absterruit auctum Nec potuere cupitum aetatis tangere florem Nec reperire cibum nec jungi per Veneris res And that this Atheistick Doctrine was older than Epicurus appeareth from these words of Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When Animals Happened at first to be made in all manner of Forms those of them only were preserved and continued to the present time which chanced to be fitly made for Generation but all the others perished as Empedocles affirmeth of the Partly-Oxe-and-Partly-Man-Animals Moreover the ancient both Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheists concluded that besides this One World of ours there were other Infinite Worlds they conceiving it as absurd to think there should be but One only World in Infinite Space as that in a vast plowed and sowed Field there should grow up only One Ear of Corn and no more and they would have us believe that amongst these Infinite Worlds all of them Fortuitously made there is not One of a Thousand or perhaps of Ten thousand that hath such Regularity Concinnity and Harmony in it as this World that we chanced to emerge in Now it cannot be thought strange as they suppose if amongst Infinite Worlds One or Two should chance to fall into some Regularity They would also confidently assure us that the present System of things in this World of ours shall not long continue such as it is but after a while fall into Confusion and Disorder again Mundi naturam totius aetas Mutat ex alio terram status excipit alter Quod potuit nequeat possit quod non tulit antè The same wheel of Fortune which moving upward hath brought into view this Scene of things that now is turning round will sometime or other carry it all away again introducing a new one in its stead and then shall we have Centaurs and Scylla's and Chimera's again all manner of Inept Forms of Animals as before But because men may yet be puzzled with the Vniversality and Constancy of this Regularity and its long Continuance through so many Ages that there are no Records at all of the contrary any where to be found the Atomick Atheist further adds that the Sensless Atoms playing and toying up and down without any care or thought and from Eternity Trying all manner of Tricks Conclusions and Experiments were at length they know not how Taught and by the Necessity of things themselves as it were Driven to a certain kind of Trade of Artificialness and Methodicalness so that though their Motions were at First all Casual and Fortuitous yet in length of Time they became Orderly and Artificial and Governed by a certain Law they contracting as it were upon themselves by long Practice and Experience a kind of Habit of moving Regularly or else being by the meer Necessity of things at length forced so to move as they should have done had Art and Wisdom directed them Thus Epicurus in his Epistle to Herodotus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It must be held that Nature is both Taught and Necessitated by the things themsâ—lves Or else as Gassendus interprets the words quadam veluti Naturali Necessariaque Doctrina sensim imbuta by little and little Embued with a certain kind of Natural and Necessary Doctrine To which Atheistick Pretences we shall briefly reply First that it is but an Idle Dream or rather Impudent Forgery of these Atheists that hereâ—ofore there were in this World of ours all manner of Monstrous and Irregular Shapes of Animals produced Centaurs Scylla's and Chimâ—ra's c. and indeed at first none but such There being not the least footstep of any such thing appearing in all the Monumentâ— of Antiquity and Traditions of Former times and these Atheists being not able to give any manner of reason why there should not be such produced as well at this Present time however the Individuals themselves could not continue long or propagate by Generation or at least why it should not Happen that in some Ages or Countreys there were either all Androgyna of both Sexes or else no Animal but of One Sex Male or Female only or lastly none of any Sex at all Neither is there any more reason to give credit to these Atheists when though enemies to Divination they would Prophesie concerning Future times that in this World of ours all shall sometime fall into Confusion and Nonsence again And as their Infinity of Worlds is an Absolute Impossibility so to their Bold and Confident Assertion concerning those Supposed other Worlds as if they had travelled over them all that amongst Ten Thousand of them there is hardly One that hath so much Regularity in it as this World of ours it might be replied with equal Confidence and much more Probability of Reason That were every Planet about this Sun of ours an Habitable Earth and every Fixed Star a Sun having likewise its sâ—veral other Planets or Habitable Earths moving round about it and not any one of these Desert or Vninhabited but all Peopled with Animals we say were this so extravagant Supposition true That there would not be found any one Ridiculous or Inept System amongst them all but that the Divine Art and Wisdom which being Infinite can never be Defective nor any where Idle would exercise its Dominion upon all and every where Impress the Sculptures and Signatures of it self In the next place we affirm That the Fortuitous Motions of Sensless Atomi trying never so many Experiments and Conclusions and making Minds when they apply their own Properties to things without them and think because
Relaxation and there-not Mechanical but Vital We might also add amongst many others the Intersection of the Plains of the Equator and Ecliptick or the Earth's Diurnal Motion upon an Axis not Parallel with that of the Ecliptick nor Perpendicular to the Plain thereof For though Carâ—esius would needs imagine this Earth of ours once to have been a Sun and so it self the Centre of a lesser Vortex whose Axis was then Directed after this manner and which therefore still kept the same Site or Posture by reason of the Striate Particles finding no fit Pores or Traces for their passage thorough it but only in this Direction yet does he himself confess that because these Two Motions of the Earth the Annual and Diurnal would be much more conveniently made upon Parallel Axes therefore according to the Laws of Mechanism they should perpetually be brought nearer and nearer together till at length the Equator and the Ecliptick come to have their Axes Parallel to one another Which as it hath not yet come to pass so neither hath there been for these last two Thousand years according to the best Observations and Judgments of Astronomers any nearer approach made of them to one another Wherefore the Continuation of these â—wo Motions of the Earth the Annual and Diurnal upon Axes differâ—nt or not Parallel is resolvable into nothing but a Final and Mental Cause or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was Best it should be so the Variety of the Seasons of the year depending hereupon But the greatest of all the particular Phaenomena is the Organization and Formation of the Bodies of Animals consisting of such Variety and Curiosity which these Mechanick Philosophers being no way able to give an account of from the Necessary Motion of Matter Vnguided by Mind for Ends prudently therefore break off their System there when they should come to Animals and so leave it altogether untouch'd We acknowledge indeed that there is a Posthumous Piece extant imputed to Cartesius and entituled De la Formation du Foetus wherein there is some Pretence made to salve all this by Fortuitous Mechanism But as the Theory thereof is wholly built upon a False Supposition sufficiently confuted by the Learned Harvey in his Book of Generation That the Seed doth Materially enter into the Composition of the Egg so is it all along Precarious and Exceptionable nor does it extend at all to the Differences that are in several Animals or offer the least Reason why an Animal of one Species or Kind might not be Formed out of the Seed of another It is here indeed Pretended by these Mechanick Theists that Final Causes therefore ought not to be of any Regard to a Philosopher because we should not arrogate to Our selves to be as Wise as God Almighty is or to be Privy to his Secrets Thus in the Metaphysical Meditations Atque ob hanc Vnicam Rationem totum illud Causarum genus quod à Fine peti solet in Rebus Physicis nullum Vsum habere existimo non enim absque Temeritate me puto investigare posse Fines Dei And again likewise in the Principles of Philosophy Nullas unquam Rationes circa Res Naturales à Fine quem Deus aut Natura in iis faciendis sibi proposuit admittimus quia non tantum nobis debemus arrogare ut ejus Consiliorum participes esse possimus But the Question is not Whether we can always reach to the Ends of God Almighty and know what is Absolutely Best in every case and accordingly make Conclusions that therefore the thing is or ought to be so but Whether any thing at all were made by God for Ends and Good otherwise than would of it self have resulted from the Fortuitous Motion of Matter Nevertheless we see no Reason at all why it should be thought Presumption or Intrusion into the Secrets of God Almighty to affirm that Eyes were made by him for the End of Seeing and accordingly so contrived as might best conduce thereunto and Ears for the End of Hearing and the like This being so plain that nothing but Sottish Stupidity or Atheistick Incredulity masked perhaps under an Hypocritical Veil of Humility can make any doubt thereof And therefore Aristotle justly reprehended Anaxagoras for that Absurd Aphorism of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Man was therefore the Wisest or most Solert of all Animals because he Chanced to have hands He not doubting to affirm on the Contrary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it was far more reasonable to think that because Man was the Wisest or most Solert and Active of all Animals therefore he had Hands given him For Nature saith he distributeth as a Wise man doth what is suitable to every one and it is more Proper to give Pipes to one that hath Musical Skill than upon him that hath Pipes to bestow Musical Skill Wherefore these Mechanick Theists would further alledge and that wiâ—h some more Colour of Reason That it is below the Dignity of God Almighty to condescend to all those mean and trivial Offices and to do the Things of Nature himself immediatly as also that it would be but a Botch in Nature if the Defects thereof were every where to be supplied by Miracle But to this also the Reply is easie That though the Divine Wisdom it self contrived the System of the whole World for Ends and Good yet Nature as an Inferiour Minister immediately Executes the same I say not a Dead Fortuiâ—â—us and meerly Mechanichal but a Vital Orderly and Artificial Nature Which Nature asserted by most of the Ancient Philosophers who were Theists is thus described by Proclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature is the Last of all those Causes that Fabricate this Corporeal and Sensible world and the utmost bound of Incorporeal Substances Which being full of Reasons and Powers Orders and Presides over all Mundane affairs It proceeding according to the Magic Oracles from that Supreme Goddess the Divine Wisdom which is the Fountain of all Life as well Intellectual as that which is Concrete with Matter Which Wisdom this Nature always essentially depending upon passes through all things unhinderably by means whereof even Inanimate things partake of a kind of Life and things Corruptible remain Eternal in their Species they being contained by its Standing Forms or Ideas as their Causes And thus does the Oracle describe Nature as presiding over the whole Corporeal Word and perpetually turning round the Heavens Here have we a Description of One Vniversal Substantial Life Soul or Spirit of Nature Subordinate to the Deity besides which the same Proclus elsewhere supposeth other Particular Natures or Spermatick Reasons in those Words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the first Soul are there particular Souls and after the Vniversal Nature Particular Natures Where it may be
of the Deity were Fictitiously made by way of Transition from men For as by encreasing a man of an ordinary Stature in our Imagination we Fictitiously make the Phantasm of a Cyclops so when beholding a Happy Man that aboundeth with all good things we Amplifie Intend and as it were Swell the same in our Minds higher and higher we then arrive at length to the Idea of a Being Absolutely Happy that is a God So did the Ancients taking notice of a very Longeve man and encreasing this length of Age further and further Infinitely by that means Frame the Notion or Idea of Eternity and attribute the same to God But to this we Reply First that according to the Principles of the Atheists themselves there could not possibly be any such Amplifying and Feigning Power of the Soul as whereby it could Make More than Is because they suppose it to have no Active Power at all but all our Conceptions to be nothing but meer Passions from the Objects without according to that of Protagoras in Plato's Thaeetetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is neither possible for a man to conceive that which is not nor any more or otherwise than he Suffers Again as Sextus the Philosopher also intimates the Atheists are here plainly guilty of that Fallacy or Errour in Ratiocination which is commonly called a Circle or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For whereas they could not otherwise Judge the greatest Perfection and Happiness which ever they had experience of in men to be Imperfect then by an Anticipated Idea of Perfection and Happiness with which it was in their minds compared by vertue of which Idea also it comes to pass that they are able to Amplifie those lesser Perfections of men further and further and can take occasion from Imperfect Things to think of that which is Absolutely Perfect that is whereas these Atheists themselves first make the Idea of Imperfection from Perfection they not attending to this do again go about to make up the Notion or Idea of that which is Absolutely Perfect by way of Amplification from that which is Imperfect But that men have a Notion of Absolute Perfection in them by which as the Rule or Measure they comparing other things therewith Judge them to be Imperfect and which is therefore in Order of Nature First may appear from hence because all Theologers as well Pagan as Christian give this Direction for the Conceiving of God that it should principally be done Per Viam Remotionis by way of Remotion of all Imperfection from him Thus Alcinous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first way of Conceiving of God is by Remotion or Abstraction We add in the last place That Finite things put together can never make up Infinite as may appear from that Instance of Humane Longevity proposed for if one should Amplifie that never so much by adding of more and more Past Time or years to it yet would he never thereby by able to arrive at Eternity without beginning God differs not from these Imperfect Created things in Degrees only but in the Whole Kind And though Infinite Space may perhaps be here Objected as a thing taken for granted which being nothing but Extension or Magnitude must therefore consist or be made up of Finite Parts yet as was it before declared we have no certainty of any more than this that the Finite World might have been made Bigger and Bigger Infinitely or Without End which Infinity of Magnitude is but like that of Number Potential from whence it may be inferred as well of the one as the other that it can never be Actually Infinite Wherefore were there no Infinitely Perfect Being in Nature the Idea thereof could never be made up by any Amplifying Power of the Soul or by the Addition of Finites Neither is that of any moment which Gassendus so much objecteth here to the contrary that though there were no God or Infinite Being yet might the Idea of him as well be Feigned by the Mind as that of Infinite Worlds or of Infinite Matter was by some Philosophers For Infinite Worlds and Infinite Matter are but words Ill Put-together Infinity being a Real thing in Nature and no Fiction of the Mind as well as the World or Matter but yet proper to the Deity only But it is no wonder if they who denied a God yet retaining this Notion of Infinity should misapply the same as they did also other Properties of the Deity to Matter To conclude this Our humane Soul cannot Feign or Create any New Cogitation or Conception that was not before but only variously compound that which Is nor can it ever make a Positive Idea of an Absolute Non-Entity that is such as hath neither Actual nor Possible Existence Much less could our Imperfect Beings Create the Entity of so Vast a Thought as that of an Infinitely Perfect Being out of Nothing this being indeed more then for God Almighty or a Perfect Being to Create a Real World out of Nothing because there is no Repugnancy at all in the Latter as there is in the Former We affirm therefore that Were there no God the Idea of an Absolutely or Infinitely Perfect Being could never have been Made or Feigned neither by Politicians nor by Poets nor Philosophers nor any other Which may be accounted another Argument for a Deity But that Religion is no Figment of Politicians will further unquestionably appear from that which now shall follow As the Religion of an Oath is a Necessary Vinculum of Civil Society so Obligation in Conscience respecting the Deity as its Original and as the Punisher of the Violation thereof is the very Foundation of all Civil Sovereignty For Pacts and Covenants into which some would resolve all Civil Power without this Obligation in Conscience are nothing but meer Words and Breath and the Laws and Commands of Civil Sovereigns do not make Obligation but presuppose it as a thing in Order of Nature Before them and without which they would be Invalid Which is a Truth so Evident that the Writer De Cive could not dissemble it though he did not rightly understand this Natural Obligation but acknowledgeth it in these words Obligatio ad Obedientiam Civilem cujus vi Leges Civiles Validae sunt Omni Lege Civili prior est Quòd si quis Princeps Summus Legem Civilem in hanc Formulam conciperet Non Rebellabis nihil efficeret Nam nisi prius Obligentur Cives ad Obediendum hoc est ad Non Rebellandum Omnis Lex Invalida est si prius Obligentur est Superflua The Obligation to Civil Obedience by the force of which all the Civil Laws become Valid is before those Civil Laws And if any Prince should make a Law to this purpose That no man should Rebel against him this would signifie nothing because unless they to whom it is made were before Obliged to Obey or not to Rebel the Law is Invalid and if they were then is it
to speak more particularly it is certain notwithstanding all the vain pretences of Lucretius and other Atheists or Semi-Atheists to the contrary that Life and Sense could never possibly spring out of Dead and Sensless Matter as it s only Original either in the way of Atoms no Composition of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions being ever able to produce Cogitation or in the way of Qualities since Life and Perception can no more result from any Mixture of Elements or Combinations of Qualities of Heat and Cold Moist and Dry c. than from Unqualified Atoms This being undeniably Demonstrable from that very Principle of Reason which the Atheists are so fond of but misunderstanding abuse as shall be manifested afterward that Nothing can come from Nothing Much less could Vnderstanding and Reason in men ever have Emerged out of Stupid Matter devoid of all manner of Life Wherefore we must needs here freely declare against the Darknâ—ss of that Philosophy which hath been Sometimes unwarily entertained by such as were no Atheists That Sense may Rise from a certain Modification Mixture or Organization of Dead and Sensless Matter as also that Vnderstanding and Reason may result from Sense the plain consequence of both which is that Sensless Matter may prove the Original of all things and the only Numen Which Doctrine therefore is doubtless a main piece of the Philosophy of the Kingdom of Darkness But this Darkness hath been of late in great measure dispelled by the Light of the Atomick Philosophy restored as it was in its first Genuine and Virgin State Undeflowred as yet by Atheists this clearly Showing how far Body and Mechanism can go and that Life and Cogitation can never Emerge out from thence it being built upon that Fundamental Principle as we have made it evident in the first Chapter that Nothing can come from Nothing And Strato and the Hylozoick Atheists were so well aware and so sensible of this that all Life and Vnderstanding could not possibly be Generated or Made but that there must be some Fundamental and Substantial or Eternal Vnmade Life and Knowledge that they therefore have thought necessary to attribute Life and Perception or Vnderstanding with Appetite and Self-moving Power to all Matter as such that so it might be thereby fitly Qualified to be the Original of all things Than which Opinion as nothing can be more Monstrous so shall we else where Evince the Impossibility thereof In the mean time we doubt not to averr that the Argument proposed is a Sufficient Demonstration of the Impossibility of Atheism which will be further manifested in our Answer to the Second Atheistick Objection against a Divine Creation because Nothing can come from Nothing But this Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists may be yet more Particularly Stated from the Idea of God as including Mind or Vnderstanding in it Essentially Viz. Whether Mind be Eternal and Vnmade as being the Maker of all or else Whether all Mind were it self Made or Generated and that out of Sensless Matter For according to the Doctrine of the Pagan Theists Mind was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Oldest of all things Senior to the World and Elements and by Nature hath a Princely and Lordly Dominion over all But according to those Atheists who make Matter or Body devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding to be the First Principle Mind must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Post-Nate thing Younger than the world a Weak Umbratil and Evanid Image and next to Nothing And the Controversie as thus Stated may be also Clearly and Satisfactorily decided For First we say That as it is certainly True That If there had been once Nothing at all there could never have been Any thing So is it true likewise that If once there had been no Life in the whole Universe but all had been Dead then could there never have been any Life or Motion in it and If once there had been no Mind Vnderstanding or Knowledge then could there never have been any Mind or Vnderstanding produced Because to suppose Life and Vnderstanding to rise and spring up out of that which is altogether Dead Sensless as it s only Original is plainly to Suppose Something to come out of Nothing It cannot be said so of other things as of Corporeal World and Matter that If once they had not been they could never Possibly have been because though there had been no World nor Matter yet might these have been produced from a Perfect Omnipotent Incorporeal Being which in it self Eminently containeth all things Dead and Sensless Matter could never have Created or Generated Mind and Vnderstanding but a Perfect Omnipotent Mind could Create Matter Wherefore because there is Mind we are certain that there was some Mind or other from Eternity without Beginning though not because there is Body that therefore there was Body or Matter from Eternity Vnmade Now these Imperfect Minds of ours were by no means Themselves Eternal or without Beginning but from an Antecedent Non-Existence brought forth into Being but since no Mind could spring out of Dead and Sensless Matter and all Minds could not Possibly be Made nor one produced from another Infinitely there must of necessity be an Eternal Vnmade Mind from whence those Imperfect Minds of ours were derived Which Perfect Omnipotent Mind was as well the Cause of all other things as of humane Souls But before we proceed to any further Argumentation we must needs take notice here that the Atheists suppose no small part of their strength to lie in this very thing namely their disproving a God from the Nature of Vnderstanding and Knowledge nor do they indeed swagger in any thing more than this We have already set it for the Eleventh Atheistick Argument That Knowledge being the Information of the Things themselves Known and all Conception the Action of that which is Conceived and the Passion of the Conceiver the World and all Sensible things must needs be before there could be any Knowledge or Conception of them and no Knowledge or Conception before the World as its Cause Or more briefly thus The world could not be made by Knowledge and Vnderstanding because there could be no Knowledge or Vnderstanding of the world or of any thing in it before it was made For according to these Atheists Things made Knowledge and not Knowledge Things they meaning by Things here such only as are Sensible and Corporeal So that Mind and Vnderstanding could not be the Creator of the world and these Sensible things it self being the Creature of them a Secondary Derivative Result from them or a Phantastick Image of them the Youngest and most Creaturely thing in the whole world Whence it follows that to Suppose Mind and Vnderstanding to be the Maker of all things would be no better Sense that if one should suppose the Images in Ponds and Rivers to be the Makers of the Sun Moon and Stars and other things represented in them And upon such a
to be the same with that in another In like manner Simplicius proving that Body is not the first Principle because there must of necessity be Something Self-moving and what is so must needs be Incorporeal writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because what is such must of necessity be Indivisible and Indistant for were it Divisible and Distant it could not all of it be conjoyned with its whole self so that the whole should both actively move and be moved Which same thing seems further Evident in the Souls being All Conscious of It Self and Reflexive upon its whole Self which could not be were one part of it Distant from another Again the same Philosopher expresly denieth the Soul though a Self-moving Substance to be at all Locally Moved otherwise then by accident in respect of the Body which is moved by it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Soul being not Moved by Corporeal or Local Motions for in respect of these it is Immoveable but by Cogitative ones only the names whereof are Consultation and Deliberation c. by these Moveth Bodies Locally And that this was Really Plato's meaning also when he determined the Soul to be a Self-moving Substance and the Cause of all Bodily Motion that moving it self in a way of Cogitation it moved Bodies Locally Notwithstanding that Aristotle would not take notice of it sufficiently appears from his own words and is acknowledged by the Greek Scholiasts themselves upon Aristotle's De Anima Thus again Simplicius elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Since the Soul is not in a place it is not capable of any Local Motion We should omit the Testimonies of any more Philosophers were it not that we find Porphyrius so full and express herein who makes this the very beginning of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Manuduction to Intelligibles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That though Every Body be in a Place yet Nothing that is properly Incorporeal is in a Place and who afterwards further pursues it in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither does that which is Incorporeal move Locally by Will Place being Relative only to Magnitude and Bulk But that which is devoid of Bulk and Magnitude is likewise devoid of Local Motion Wherefore it is only present by a certain Disposition and Inclination of it to one thing more than another nor is its presence there discernible otherwise than by its operations and Effects Again concerning the Three Divine Hypostases he writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Supreme God is therefore Every where because he is Nowhere and the same is true also of the Second and Third Divine Hypostasis Nous and Psyche The Supreme God is Every where and No where in respect of those things which are after him and only his own and in himself Nous or Intellect is in the Supreme God Every where and No where as to those things that are after him Psyche or the Mundane Soul is both in Intellect and the Supreme God and Every where and No where as to Bodies Lastly Body is both in the Soul of the World and in God Where he denies God to be Locally in the Corporeal World and thinks it more proper to say that the Corporeal World is in God then God in it because the World is held and contained in the Divine Power but the Deity is not in the Locality of the World Moreover he further declares his Sense after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor if there were conceived to be such an Incorporeal Space or Vacuum as Democritus and Epicurus supposed could Mind or God possibly Exist in this Empty Space as Co-extended with the same for this would be only Receptive of Bodies but it could not receive the Energie of Mind or Intellect nor give any Place or Room to that that being no Bulkie thing And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Corporeal World is Distantly present to the Intelligible or the Deity and that is Indivisibly and Indistantly present with the World But when that which is Indistant and Vnextended is present with that which is Distant and Extended then is the Whole of the Former one and the same Numerically in Every part of the Latter That is it is Indivisibly and Vnmultipliedly and Illocally there according to its own Nature present with that which is naturally Divisible and Multipliable and in a Place Lastly he affirmeth the same likewise of the Humane Soul that this is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Substance devoid of Magnitude and which is not Locally present to this or that Body but by Disposition and Energie and therefore the Whole of it in every part thereof Vndividedly And as for Christian Writers besides Origen who was so famous an Asserter of Incorporeal Substance that as Socrates recordeth the Egyptian Monks and Anthropomorphites threatned death to Theophilus the Alexandrian Bishop unless he would at once execrate and renounce the Writings of Origen and profess the Belief of a Corporeal God of Humane Form and who also maintained Incorporeal Substance to be Vnextended as might be proved from Sundry Passages both of his Book against Celsus and that Peri Archon we say besides Origen and others of the Greeks St. Austine amongst the Latins clearly asserted the same he maintaining in his Book De Quantitate Animae and else where concerning the Humane Soul that being Incorporeal it hath no Dimensions of Length Breadth and Profundity and is Illocabilis No where as in a Place We shall conclude with the Testimony of Boetius who was both a Philosopher and a Christian Quaedam sunt saith he Communes Animi Conceptiones per se notae apud Sapientes tantum Vt Incorporalia non esse In Loco There are certain Common Conceptions or Notions of the Mind which are known by themselves amongst wise men only as this for example That Incorporeals are in No Place From whence it is manifest that the generality of reputed Wise men were not formerly of this opinion Quod Nusquam est nihil est That what is No where or in no certain Place is Nothing and that this was not look'd upon by them as a Common Notion but only as a Vulgar Errour By this time we have made it unquestionably Evident that this Opinion of Incorporeal Substance being Vnextended Indistant and Devoid of Magnitude is no Novel or Recent thing nor first started in the Scholastick Age but that it was the general Perswasion of the most ancient and learned Asserters of Incorporeal Substance especially that the Deity was not Part of it Here and Part of it There nor the Substance thereof Mensurable by Yards and Poles as if there were so much of it contained in one Room and so much and no more in another according to their several Dimensions but that the whole Vndivided Deity was at once in Every Part of the world and consequently No where Locally after the manner of Bodies But because this
have a Building of God a House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan Earnestly And Verse the 5. He that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God who also hath given us the Earnest of the Spirit Now how these Preludiums and Prelibations of an Immortal Body can consist with the Souls continuance after Death in a Perfect Separation from all manner of Body till the Day of Judgement is not so easily Conceivable Lastly it is not at all to be Doubted but that Irenaeus Origen and those other Ancients who entertained that Opinion of Souls being Clothed after Death with a certain Thin and Subtle Body suspected it not in the least to be Inconsistent with that of the Future Resurrection as it is no way Inconsistent for one who hath only a Shirt or Wastcoat on to put on a Sute of Cloths or Exteriour Upper garment Which will also seem the less strange if it be considered that even here in this Life our Body is as it were Two Fold Exteriour and Interiour we having besides the Grosly-Tangible Bulk of our Outward Body another Interiour Spirituous Body the Souls Immediate Instrument both of Sense and Motion which Latter is not put into the Grave with the Other nor Imprisoned under the Cold Sods Notwithstanding all which that hath been here suggested by us we shall not our selves venture to determine any thing in so great a Point but Sceptically leave it Vndecided The Third and Last thing in the Forementioned Philosophick or Pythagorick Cabbala is concerning those Beings Superior to men commonly called by the Greeks Demons which Philo tells us are the same with Angels amongst the Jews and accordingly are those words Demons and Angels by Hierocles and Simplicius and other of the latter Pagan Writers sometimes used indifferently as Synonymous viz. That these Demons or Angels are not Pure Abstract Incorporeal Substances devoid of Vital Vnion with any Matter but that they consist of something Incorporeal and something Corporeal joyned together so that as Hierocles writeth of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have a Superiour and an Inferiour Part in them and their Superiour Part is an Incorporeal Substance their Inferiour Corporeal In a word that they all as well as men consist of Soul and Body united together there being only this Difference betwixt them that the Souls of these Demons or Angels never descend down to such Gross and Terrestrial Bodies as Humane Souls do but are always Clothed either with Aerial or Etherial ones And indeed this Pythagorick Cabbala was Universal concerning all Vnderstanding Beings besides the Supreme Deity or Trinity of Divine Hypostases that is concerning all the Pagan Inferiour Gods that they are no other than Souls vitally united to some Bodies and so made up of Incorporeal and Corporeal Substance Joyned together For thus Hierocles plainly expresseth himself in the forecited place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Rational Nature in General was so produced by God as that it neither is Body nor yet without Body but an Incorporeal Substance having a Cognate or Congenit Body Which same thing was else where also thus declared by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole Rational Order or Rank of Being with its Congenite Immortal Body is the Image of the whole Deity the Maker thereof Where by Hierocles his Rational Nature or Essence and by the Whole Rational Order is plainly meant all Vnderstanding Beings Created of which he acknowledgeth only these Three Kinds and Degrees First the Immortal Gods which are to him the Animated Stars Secondly Demons Angels or Heroes and Thirdly Men called also by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Terrestrial Demons he pronouncing of them all that they are alike Incorporeal Substances together with a Congenite Immortal Body and that there is no other Vnderstanding Nature than such besides the Supreme Deity which is Complete in it self without the Conjunction of any Body So that according to Hierocles the Ancient Pythagorick Cabbala acknowledged no such Entities at all as those Intelligences of Aristotle and the Noes of some High-flown Platonists that is perfectly Vnbodied Minds and much less any Rank of Henades or Vnities Superior to these Noes And indeed such Particular Created Beings as these could neither have Sense or Cognizance of any Corporeal thing Existing without them Sense as Aristotle hath observed Resulting from a Complication of Soul and Body as Weaving Results from a Complication of the Weaver and Weaving Instruments nor yet could they Act upon any Part of the Corporeal Vniverse So that these Immoveable Beings would be but like Adamantine Statues and things Unconnected with the rest of the World having no Commerce with any thing at all but the Deity a kind of Insignificant Metaphysical Gazers or Contemplators Whereas the Deity though it be not properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Mundane Soul such as together with the Corporeal World as its Body makes up one Compleat and Entire Animal yet because the whole world proceeded from it and perpetually dependeth on it therefore must it needs take Cognizance of all and Act upon all in it upon which account it hath been styled by these Pythagoreans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Mundane but a Supra-Mundane Soul Wherefore this Ancient Pythagorick Cabbala seems to be agreeable to reason also that God should be the only Incorporeal Being in this sense such whose Essence is Complete and Life Entire within it self without the Conjunction or Appendage of any Body but that all other Incorporeal Substances Created should be Compleated and Made up by a Vital Vnion with Matter so that the whole of them is neither Corporeal nor Incorporeal but a Complication of both and all the Highest and Divinest things in the Universe next to the Supreme Deity are Animals consisting of Soul and Body united together And after this manner did the Ancient asserters of Incorporeal Substance as Unextended decline that Absurdity Objected against them of the Illocality of all Finite Created Spirits that these being Incorporeal Substances Vitally Clothed with some Body may by reason of the Locality and Mobility of their Respective Bodies truly be said to be he Here and There and to Move from Place to Place Wherefore we are here also to show what Agreement or Disagreement there is betwixt this Part of the Pythagorick Cabbala and the Christian Philosophy And First it hath been already intimated that the very same Doctrine with this of the Ancient Pythagoreans was plainly asserted by Origen Thus in his First Book Peri Archon c. 6. Solius Dei saith he id est Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Naturae id proprium est ut sine Materiali Substantia absque Vllâ Corporeae Adjectionis Societate intelligatur subsistere It is proper to the Nature of God only that is of the Father Son and Holy Ghost to subsist without Material Substance or the Society of any Corporeal
Adjection Again L. 2. c. 2. Materialem Substantiam Opinione quidem Intellectu solum Separari à Naturis Rationalibus Pro ipsis vel Post ipsas Effectam videri sed nunquam sine ipsa eas vel Vixisse vel Vivere selius namque Trinitatis Incorporea Vita existere rectè putabitur Material Substance in Rational Natures is indeed Separable from them in Conception and Vnderstanding it seeming to be made for them and in Order of Nature after them but it is not Really and Actually Separable from the same nor did they ever or can they live without it For a Life perfectly Incorporeal is rightly deemed to belong to the Trinity only So also in his Fourth Book and his Anacephalaeosis Semper erunt Rationabiles Naturae quae indigent Indumento Corporeo Semper ergo erit Natura Corporea cujus Indumentis Vti necesse est Rationabiles Creaturas Nisi quis putet se posse ostendere quod Natura Rationabilis absque Vllo Corpore vitam degere possit Sed quam difficile id sit quam propè impossibile Intellectui nostro in Superioribus ostendimus There always will be Rational Natures which stand in need of a Corporeal Indument Wherefore there will be always Corporeal Nature as a necessary Indument or Clothing for these Rational Creatures Vnless any one could show that it is possible for the Rational Nature to live without a Body Which how difficult and almost Impossible it is to our Vnderstanding hath been already declared Aquinas Affirmeth Origen in this Doctrine of his to have followed the Opinion of certain Ancient Philosophers and undoubtedly it was the Old Pythagorick Cabbala which the Learned Origen here adhered to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Hierocles and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Rational Nature made by God that is all Created Vnderstanding Beings are neither Body nor yet without Body but have always a Cognate or Congenite Body as their Vehicle or Indument So that Angels or Demons as well according to Origen as Hierocles are all of them Incorporeal Substances not Naked and Abstract but Clothed with certain Subtle Bodies or Animals compounded and made up of Soul and Body together Wherefore Huetius and other learned men seem not well to have understood Origen here but to have confounded Two different Opinions together when they suppose him to have asserted Angels and all Vnderstanding Creatures not to Have Bodies but to Be Bodies and nothing else and consequently that there is no Incorporeal Substance at all besides the Deity Whereas Origen only affirmeth that nothing besides the Trinity could subsist and live alone absque ulla corporeae adjectionis Societate without the Society of any Corporeal Adjection and that the Material Nature is only a Necessary Indument or Clothing of all Rational or Vnderstanding Creatures And in this Sense is it that an Incorporeal Life is said by him to be proper only to the Trinity because all other Vnderstanding Beings are Animals compounded of Soul and Body together But that Origen acknowledged even our Humane Soul it self to be Incorporeal as also that there is Something in Angels Incorporeal might be made evident from Sundry Passages in his Writings as this Particularly in his Sixth Book against Celsus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We do not think an Incorporeal Substance to be Combustible nor that the Soul of Man can be resolved into Fire or the Substance of Angels Thrones Dominions Principalities or Powers Where by the Substance of Angels he doubtless meant the Souls of them Origen's Sense being thus declared by St. Jerom In Libris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Angelos Thronos Dominationes Potestates Rectores Mundi Tenebrarum omne Nomen quod nominatur dicit Animas esse corum Corporum quae vel Desiderio vel ministerio susceperint That in his Book of Principles he affirmeth Angels and Thrones and Dominions and Powers and the Governours of the Darkness of this world and every Name that is named in St. Paul to be all of them the Souls of certain Bodies such as either by their own Desire and Inclination or the Divine Allotment they have received Now there can be no Question made but that he who supposed the Souls of men to be Incorporeal in a strict Philosophick Sense and such as could not suffer any thing from Fire did also acknowledge Something Incorporeal in Angels And thus doth he somewhere declare himself in that Book Peri Arechon Per Christum creata dixit Paulus omnia Visibilia Invisibilia per quod declaratur esse etiam in Creaturis quasdam Invisibiles secundum proprietatem suam substantias Sed hae quamvis ipsae non sunt Corporeae utuntur tamen Corporibus licet ipsae sunt Corporeâ Substantiâ meliores Illa vero Substantia Trinitatis neque Corpus neque In Corpore esse credenda est sed in toto Incorporea When Paul affirmeth all things Visible and Invisible to have been Created by Cbrist or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he intimated that even amongst the Creatures there are some properly Invisible Substances Which Invisible Substances Created though they be not Bodies yet do they use Bodies themselves being better than Corporeal Substance But the substance of the Trinity is neither Body nor yet in Body but altogether Incorporeal Wherefore Angelical and Humane Souls are not as Huetius supposeth called Incorporeal by Origen only as Subtle Bodies sometimes are by the more Simple and Unskilful but in a strict Philosophick sense only he supposed them to differ from the Deity in this that though they be not Bodies yet they are always In Bodies or Clothed with Bodies whereas the Deity is in Both senses Incorporeal it having not so much as any Corporeal Indument So that there is here no contradiction at all to be found in Origen he constantly asserting Angels to have something Incorporeal In them as their Superiour Part and not in that vulgar sense of a Subtle Body but in the Philosophick nevertheless to Have also a Corporeal Indument or Clothing as their Out side or Lower Part and in that regard only He calling them Corporeal It is true indeed that there were amongst the Ancient Fathers some who were so far from supposing Angels to be altogether Incorporeal that they ran into the other Extream and concluded them to have Nothing at all Incorporeal in them but to be meer Bodies But these either asserted that there was no such thing a◠all as any Incorporeal Substance and that not only Angels and Humane Souls but also God himself was a Body or at least they concluded that nothing Created was Incorporeal and that God though Himself Incorporeal yet could Create nothing but Bodies These are here the Two Extreams One that Angels have nothing Corporeal at all belonging to them The Other that they are altogether Corporeal or have Nothing Incorporeal in them a Middle betwixt both which is the
the Deity by Theists is generally supposed to be a Living Being Perfectly Happy and Immortal or Incorruptible there can be no such Living Being Immortal and Consequently none Perfectly Happy Because all Living Beings whatsoever are Concretions of Atoms which as they were at first Generated so are they again liable to Death and Curruption Life being no Simple Primitive Nature nor Substantial thing but a meer Accidental Modification of Compounded Bodies only which upon the Disunion of their Parts or the Disordering of their Contexture vanisheth again into Nothing And there being no Life Immortal Happiness must needs be a meer Insignificant Word and but a Romantick Fiction Where first This is well that the Atheists will confess that according to their Principles there can be no such thing at all as Happiness because no Security of Future Permanency all Life perpetually coming Out of Nothing and whirling back into Nothing again But this Atheistick Argument is likewise Founded upon the Former Errour That Body is the Only Substance the First Principles whereof are devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding whereas it is certain that Life cannot possibly result from any Composition of Dead and Lifeless things and therefore must needs be a Simple and Primitive Nature It is true indeed that the Participated Life in the Bodies of Animals which yet is but improperly called Life it being Nothing but their being Actuated by a Living Soul is a meer Accidental thing Generable and Corruptible since that Body which is now Vitally united to a Living Soul may be Disunited again from it and thereby become a Dead and Lifeless Carcase but the Primary or Original Life it self is Substantial nor can there be any Dead Carcase of a Humane Soul That which hath Life Essentially belonging to the Substance of it must needs be Naturally Immortal because no Substance can of it self Perish or Vanish into Nothing Besides which there must be also some not only Substantial but also Eternal Vnmade Life whose Existence is Necessary and which is Absolutely Vnannihilable by any thing else which therefore must needs have Perfect Security of its own future Happiness And this is an Incorporeal Deity And this is a Brief Confutation of the Eight Atheistick Argument BUt the Democritick Atheist proceeds endeavouring further to Disprove a God from the Phaenomena of Motion and Cogitation in the Three following Argumentations First therefore whereas Theists commonly bring an Argument from Motion to Prove a God or First Vnmoved Mover the Atheists contend on the contrary that from the very Nature of Motion the Impossibility of any such First Vnmoved Mover is clearly Demonstrable For it being an Axiom of undoubted Truth concerning Motion That Whatsoever is Moved is Moved by some other thing Or That Nothing can Move it self it follows from thence Unavoydably That there is no Aeternum Immobile No Eternal Vnmoved Mover but on the contrary that there was Aeternum Motum an Eternal Moved Or That One thing was Moved by Another from Eternity Infinitely Without any First Mover or Cause Because as Nothing could move it self So could nothing ever Move Another but what was it self before Moved by Something else To which we Reply That this Axiom Whatsoever is Moved is Moved by Another and not by It self was by Aristotle and those other Philosophers who made so much use thereof restrained to the Local Motion of Bodies only That no Body Locally Moved was ever Moved Originally from it self but from something else Now it will not at all follow from hence That therefore Nihil Movetur nisi à Moto That No Body was ever Moved but by some othâ—r Body that was also before Moved by Something else or That of necessity One Body was moved by another Body and that by another and so backwards Infinitely without any First Vnmoved or Self-Moving and Self-Active Mover as the Democritick Atheist fondly Conceits For the Motion of Bodies might proceed as Unquestionably it did from something else which is not Body and was not Before Moved Moreover the Democritick Atheist here also without any Ground imagines That were there but One Push once given to the world and no more this Motion would from thence forward always continue in it one Body still moving another to all Eternity For though this be indeed a Part of the Cartesian Hypothesis that according to the Laws of Nature A Body Moving will as well continue in Motion as a Body Resting in Rest until that Motion be Communicated and Transferred to some other Body yet is the Case different here Where it is supposed not only one Push to have been given to the world at first but also the same Quantity of Motion or Agitation to be constantly Conserved and Maintained But to let this pass because it is something a Subtle Point and not so rightly Understood by many of the Cartesians themselves We say that it is a thing Utterly Impossible That One Body should be Moved by Another Infinitely without any first Cause or Mover which was Self Active and that not from the Authority of Aristotle only Pronouncing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That in the Causes of Motion there could not Possibly be an Infinite Progress but from the Reason there subjoyned by Aristotle Because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If there were no First Vnmoved Mover there could be no Cause of Motion at all For were all the Motion that is in the World a Passion from something else and yet no First Vnmoved Active Mover then must it be a Passion from no Agent or without an Action and Consequently proceed from Nothing and either Cause it self or be Made without a Cause Now the Ground of the Atheists Errour here is only from hence because He taketh it for granted That there is no other Substance besides Body nor any other Action but Local Motion from whence it comes to pass that to Him this Proposition No Body can Move it self is one and the same with this Nothing can Act from It self or be Self-Active And thus is the Atheistick Pretended Demonstration against a God or First Cause from Motion abundantly Confuted we having made it Manifest that there is no Consequence at all in this Argument That because No Body can Move it Self therefore there can be no First Vnmoved Mover as also having discovered the Ground of the Atheists Errour here their taking it for granted that there is Nothing but Body and lastly having plainly showed that it implies a Contradiction there should be Action and Motion in the World and yet Nothing Self-Moving or Self-Active So that it is Demonstratively certain from Motion that there is a First Cause or Vnmoved Mover We shall now further add That from the Principle acknowledged by the Democritick Atheists themselves That No Body can move it self it follows also undeniably that there is some Other Substance besides Body something Incorporeal which is Self-Moving and Self-Active and was the First Vnmoved Mover of the Heavens or World For
It is true indeed that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Thing Vnderstood is in order of Nature before the Intellection and Conception of it and from hence was it that the Pythagoreans and Platonists concluded that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind or Intellect was not the very First and Highest Thing in the Scale of the Vniverse but that there was another Divine Hypostasis in order of Nature before it called by them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One and The Good as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Intelligible thereof But as those Three Archical Hypostases of the Platonists and Pythagoreans are all of them Really but One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Divinity And the First of those Three Superiour to that which is properly called by them Mind or Intellect is not supposed therefore to be Ignorant of it self So is the First Mind or Vnderstanding no other than that of a Perfect Being Infinitely Good Fecund and Powerful and vertually Containing all things comprehending it self and the Extent of its own Goodness Fecundity Vertue and Power that is all Possibilities of things their Relations to one another and Verities a Mind before Sense and Sensible Things An Omnipotent Vnderstanding Being which is it self its own Intelligible is the First Original of all things Again that there must of necessity be some other Substance besides Body or Matter and which in the Scale of Nature is Superiour to it is evident from hence because otherwise there could be no Motion at all therein no Body being ever able to move it self There must be something Self-Active and Hylarchical something that can Act both from it self and upon Matter as having a Natural Imperium or Command over it Cogitation is in order of Nature before Local Motion Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind are no Syllables or Complexions of things Secundary and Derivative which might therefore be made out of things devoid of Life and Vnderstanding but Simple Primitive and Vncompounded Natures they are no Qualities or Accidental Modifications of Matter but Substantial Things For which Cause Souls or Minds can no more be Generated out of Matter than Matter it Self can be Generated out of Something else and therefore are they both alike in some sense Principles Naturally Ingenerable and Incorruptible though both Matter and all Imperfect Souls and Minds were at first Created by one Perfect Omnipotent Vnderstanding Being Moreover Nothing can be more Evident than this that Mind and Vnderstanding hath a Higher Degree of Entity or Perfection in it and is a Greater Reality in Nature than meer Sensless Matter or Bulkie Extension And Consequently the things which belong to Souls and Minds to Rational and Intellectual Beings as such must not have Less but More Reality in them than the things which belong to Inanimate Bodies Wherefore the Differences of Just and Vnjust Honest and Dishonest are greater Realities in Nature than the Differences of Hard and Soft Hot and Cold Moist and Dry. He that does not perceive any Higher Degree of Perfection in a Man than in an Oyster nay than in a Clod of Earth or Lump of Ice in a Piece of Past or Pye-Crust hath not the Reason or Understanding of a Man in him There is unquestionably a Scale or Ladder of Nature and Degrees of Perfection and Entity one above another as of Life Sense and Cogitation above Dead Sensless and Vnthinking Matter of Reason and Vnderstanding above Sense c. And if the Sun be Nothing but a Mass of Fire or Inanimate Subtle Matter Agitated then hath the most Contemptible Animal that can see the Sun and hath Consciousness and Self enjoyment a Higher Degree of Entity and Perfection in it than that whole Fiery Globe as also than the Materials Stone Timber Brick and Morter of the most Stately Structure or City Notwithstanding which the Sun in other regards and as it s vastly Extended Light and Heat hath so great an Influence upon the Good of the whole World Plants and Animals may be said to be a far more Noble and Vseful thing in the Universe than any one Particular Animal whatsoever Wherefore there being plainly a Scale or Ladder of Entity the Order of Things was unquestionably in way of Descent from Higher Perfection Downward to Lower it being as Impossible for a Greater Perfection to be produced from a Lesser as for Something to be Caused by Nothing Neither are the Steps or Degrees of this Ladder either upward or downward Infinite but as the Foot Bottom or Lowest Round thereof is Stupid and Sensless Matter devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding so is the Head Top and Summity of it a Perfect Omnipotent Being Comprehending it self and all Possibilities of things A Perfect Understanding Being is the Beginning and Head of the Scale of Entity from whence things Gradually Descend downward lower and lower till they end in Sensless Matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind is the Oldest of all things Senior to the Elements and the whole Corporeal World and likewise according to the same Ancient Theists it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Nature Lord over all or hath a Natural Imperium and Dominion over all it being the most Hegemonical thing And thus was it also affirmed by Anaxagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Mind is the Soveraign King of Heaven and Earth We have now made it evident that the Epicurean and Anaximandrian Atheists who derive the Original of all things from Sensless Matter devoid of all Manner of Life can no way Salve the Phaenomenon of Cogitation Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind no more than they can that of Local Motion And the Reason why we have insisted so much upon this Point is because these Atheists do not only pretend to Salve this Phaenomenon of Cogitation without a God and so to take away the Argument for a Deity from thence but also to Demonstrate the Impossibility of its Existence from the very Nature of Knowledge Mind and Vnderstanding For if Knowledge be in its own Nature Nothing but a Passion from Singular Bodies Existing without the Knower and if Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind be Junior to Body and Generated out of Sensless Matter then could no Mind or Vnderstanding Being Possibly be a God that is a First Principle and the Maker of all things And though Modern Writers take little or no Notice of this yet did Plato anciently make the very State of the Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists principally to consist in this very thing viz. Whether Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind were Juniors to Body and Sprung out of Sensless Matter as Accidental Modifications thereof or else were Substantial things and in order of Nature Before it For after the Passages before Cited he thus concludeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These men seem to suppose Fire Water Air and Earth to be the very First things in the Vniverse and the Principles of all calling them only Nature but
Soul and Mind to have sprung up afterwards out of them Nay they do not only Seem to suppose this but also in Express Words declare the same And thus by Jupiter have we discovered the very Fountain of that Atheistick Madness of the Ancient Physiologers to wit their making Inanimate Bodies Senior to Soul and Mind And accordingly that Philosopher addresses himself to the Confutation of Atheism no otherwise than thus by proving Soul not to be Junior to Sensless Body or Inanimate Matter and Generated out of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is the First Cause of the Generation and Corruption of all Things the Atheistick Doctrine supposes not to have been First Made but what is indeed the Last thing to be the First And hence is it that they erre concerning the Essence of the Gods For they are ignorant what kind of thing Soul is and what power it hath as also especially concerning its Generation and Production That it was First of all made before Body it being that which Governs the Motions Changes and Transformations thereof But if Soul be First in Order of Nature before Body then must those things which are Cognate to Soul be also before the Things which appertain to Body and so Mind and Vnderstanding Art and Law be before Hard and Soft Heavy and Light and that which these Atheists call Nature the Motion of Inanimate Bodies Junior to Art and Mind it being Governed by the same Now that Soul is in order of Nature before Body this Philosopher demonstrates only from the Topick or Head of Motion because it is Impossible that one Body should Move another Infinitely without any First Cause or Mover but there must of Necessity be something Self-Moving and Self-Active or which had a power of Changing it Self that was the first Cause of all Local Motion in Bodies And this being the very Notion of Soul that it is such a thing as can Move or Change it self in which also the Essence of Life consisteth He thus inferreth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is therefore sufficiently demonstrated from hence that Soul is the Oldest of all things in the Corporeal World it being the Principle of all the Motion and Generation in it And his Conclusion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It hath been therefore rightly affirmed by us that Soul is Older than Body and was Made Before it and Body Younger and Junior to Soul Soul being that which Ruleth and Body that which is Ruled From whence it follows that the Things of Soul also are Older than the things of Body and therefore Cogitation Intellection Volition and Appetite in order of Nature before Length Breadth and Profundity Now it is Evident that Plato in all this Understood not only the Mundane Soul or his Third Divine Hypostasis the Original of that Motion that is in the Heavens and the whole Corporeal Universe but also all other Particular Lives and Souls whatsoever or that whole Rank of Beings called Soul he supposing it all to have been at first made before the Corporeal System or at least to have been in order of Nature Senior to it as Superiour and more excellent that which Ruleth being Superiour to that which is Ruled and no Soul or Life whatsoever to be Generated out of Sensless Matter Wherefore we must needs here condemn that Doctrine of some Professed Theists and Christians of Latter Times who Generate all Souls not only the Sensitive in Brutes but also the Rational in Men out of Matter For as much as hereby not only that Argument for the Existence of a God from Souls is quite taken away and nothing could hinder but that Sensless Matter might be the Original of all things if Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind sprung out of it but also the Atheist will have an advantage to prove the Impossibility of a God from hence Because if Life and Vnderstanding in their own Nature be Factitious and Generable out of Matter then are they no Substantial Things but Accidental only from whence it will plainly follow that no Mind could possibly be a God or First Cause of all things it being not so much as able to Subsist by it Self Moreover if Mind as such be Generable and Educible out of Nothing then must it needs be in its own Nature Corruptible also and Reducible to Nothing again whereas the Deity is both an Vnmade and Incorruptible Being So that there could not possibly be according to this Hypothesis any other God than such a Jupiter or Soul of the World as the Atheistick Theogonists acknowledged that Sprung out of Night Chaos and Non-Entity and may be again Swallowed up into that Dark Abyss Sensless Matter therefore being the only Vnmade and Incorruptible thing and the Fountain of all things Even of Life and Vnderstanding it must needs be acknowledged to be the Only Real Numen Neither will the Case be much different as to some others who though indeed they do not professedly Generate the Rational but only the Sensitive Soul both in Men and Brutes yet do nevertheless maintain the Humane Soul it self to be but a meer Blank or White Sheet of Paper that hath nothing at all in it but what was Scribled upon it by the Objects of Sense and Knowledge or Understanding to be nothing but the Result of Sense and so a Passion from Sensible Bodies existing without the Knower For hereby as they plainly make Knowledge and Vnderstanding to be in its own Nature Junior to Sense and the very Creature of Sensibles so do they also imply the Rational Soul and Mind it self to be as well Generated as the Sensitive wherein it is Vertually Contained or to be nothing but a Higher Modification of Matter agreeably to that Leviathan Doctrine That men differ no otherwise from Brute Animals then only in their Organization and the Use of Speech or Words In very truth Whoever maintaineh that any Life or Soul any Cogitation or Consciousness Self-Perception and Self-Activity can spring out of Dead Sensless and Unactive Matter the same can never possibly have any Rational Assurance but that his own Soul had also a like Original and Consequently is Mortal and Corruptible For if any Life and Cogitation can be thus Generated then is there no Reason but that all Lives may be so they being but Higher Degrees in the same Kind and neither Life nor any thing else can be in its own Nature Indifferent to be either Substance or Accident and sometimes one sometimes the other but either all Life Cogitation and Consciousness is Accidental Generable and Corruptible or else none at all That which hath inclined so many to think the Sensitive Life at least to be nothing but a Quality or Accident of Matter Generable out of it and Corruptible into it is that strange Protean Transformation of Matter into so many seemingly Unaccountable Forms and Shapes together with the Scholastick Opinion threupon of Real Qualities that is Entities distinct from the Substance of
the Regurgitation of the Faeces upward towards the Ventricle The First Atheistick Instance of the Faultiness of things in the Frame of Nature is from the Constitution of the Heavens and the Disposition of the Aequator and Ecliptick intersecting each other in an Angle of Three and Twenty Degrees and upwards whereby as they pretend the Terrestrial Globe is rendred much more Uninhabitable than otherwise it might be But this is built upon a False Supposition of the Ancients that the Torrid Zone or all between the Tropicks was utterly Uninhabitable by reason of the Extremity of Heat And it is certain that there is nothing which doth more demonstrate a Providence than this very thing it being the most Convenient Site or Disposition that could be devised as will appear if the Inconveniences of other Dispositions be considered especially these Three First If the Axes of those Circles should be Parallel and their Plains Coincident Secondly If they should Intersect each other in Right Angles and Thirdly which is a Middle betwixt both If they should cut one another in an Angle of Forty Five Degrees For it is evident that each of these Dispositions would be attended with far greater Inconveniences to the Terrestrial Inhabitants in respect of the Length of Days and Nights Heat and Cold. And that these two Circles should continue thus to keep the same Angular Intersection when Physical and Mechanick Causes would bring them still nearer together this is a farther Eviction of a Providence also In the next place the Atheist supposes that according to the general Perswasion of Theists the world and all things therein were Created only for the Sake of Man he thinking to make some advantage for his Cause from hence But this seemeth at first to have been an Opinion only of some strait-laced Stoicks though afterward indeed recommended to others also by their own Self-love their Over Weaning and Puffy Conceit of themselves And so Fleas and Lice had they Understanding might conclude the Bodies of other greater Animals and Men also to have been made only for them But the Whole was not properly made for any Part but the Parts for the Whole and the Whole for the Maker thereof And yet may the things of this Lower World be well said to have been Mâ—de Principally though not Only for Man For we ought not to Monopolize the Divine Goodness to our selves there being other Animals Superiour to us that are not altogether Unconcerned neither in this Visible Creation and it being reasonable to think that Even the Lower Animals likewise and whatsoever hath Conscious Life was made partly also to Enjoy it self But Atheists can be no Fit Judges of Worlds being made Well or Ill either in general or respectively to Mankind they having no Standing Measure for Well and Ill without a God and Morality nor any True Knowledge of themselves and what their own Good or Evil Consisteth in That was at first but a Froward Speech of some sullen discontented Persons when things falling not out agreeably to their own Private Selfish and Partial Appetites they would Revenge themselves by Railing upon Nature that is Providence and calling her a Stepmother only to Mankind whilst she was a Fond Partial and Indulgent Mother to other Animals and though this be Elegantly set off by Lucretius yet is there nothing but Poetick Flourish in it all without any Philosophick Truth The Advantages of Mankind being so notoriously conspicuous above those of Brutes But as for Evils in general from whence the Atheist would conclude the God of the Theist to be either Impotent or Envious it hath been already declared that the True Original of them is from the Necessity of Imperfect Beings and the Incompossibility of things but that the Divine Art and Skill most of all appeareth in Bonifying these Evils and making them like Discords in Musick to contribute to the Harmony of the Whole and the Good of Particular Persons Moreover a great part of those Evils which men are afflicted with is not from the Reality of Things but only from their own Phancy and Opinions according to that of the Moralist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not Things themselves that disturb men but only their Own Opinions concerning things and therefore it being much in our own Power to be freed from these Providence is not to be Blamed upon the account of them Pain is many times nearly linked with Pleasure according to that Socratick Fable That when God could not reconcile their Contrary Natures as he would he Tyed them Head and Tayl together And good men know that Pain is not the Evil of the Man but only of the Part so affected as Socrates also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It goes no further than the Leg where it is But this is many times very Serviceable to free us from the Greater Evils of the Mind upon which all our Happiness dependeth To the Atheists who acknowledge no Malum Culpae No Evil of Fault Turpitude or Dishonesty Death is the Greatest and most Tragical of all Evils But though this according to their forlorn Hypothesis be nothing less than an Absolute Extinction of Life yet according to the Doctrine of the Genuine Theists which makes all Souls Substantial no Life of it self without Divine Annihilation will ever quite Vanish into Nothing any more than the Substance of Matter doth And the Ancient Pythagoreans and Platonists have been here so Kind even to the Souls of Brutes also as that they might not be left in a State of Inactivity and Insensibility after Death as to bestow upon them certain Subtle Bodies which they may then continue to Act in Nor can we think otherwise but that Aristotle from this Fountain derived that Doctrine of his in his Second Book De Gen. An. c. 3. where after he had declared the Sensitive Soul to be Inseparable from Body he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All Souls therefore seem to have another Body and Diviner than that of the Elements and as themselves differ in Dignity and Nobility so do these Bodies of theirs differ from one another And afterwards calling this Subtle Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Spirit he affirmeth it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Analogous to the Element of the Stars Only as Galen and S. Austin and others have conceived Aristotle deviated here from the Pythagoreans in this that he supposed the Sensitive Soul it self to be really nothing else but this Very Subtle and Star-like Body and not a distinct Substance from it using it only as a Vehicle Nevertheless he there plainly affirmeth the Mind or Rational Soul to be really distinct from the Body and to come into it From Without Pre-Existing and consequently should acknowledge also its After-Immortality But whatsoever Aristotles Judgment were which is not very Material it is Certain that Dying to the Rational or Humane Soul is nothing but a withdrawing into the Tyring-house and putting off the Clothing of this Terrestrial Body
So that it will still continue after death to live to God whether in a Body or without it Though according to Plato's Express Doctrine the Soul is never quite Naked of all Body he writting thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Soul is always conjoyned with a Body but sometimes of one kind and sometimes of another which many Christian Doctors also as is before declared have thought highly probable However our Christian Faith assures us that the Souls of Good men shall at length be clothed with Spiritual and Heavenly Bodies such as are in Aristotle's Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Analogous to the Element of the Stars Which Christian Resurrection therefore to Life and Immortality is far from being as Celsus reproched it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Meer Hope of Worms And thus much shall suffice in way of Confutation of the First Atheistick Objection against Providence which is the Twelfth Argumentation propounded in the Second Chapter The Thirteenth Atheistick Argument or Second Objection against Providence is from the Seeming Confusion of Humane Affairs That all things fall alike to all the Innocent and the Nocent the Pious and the Impious the Religious and the Prophane nay That many times the Worser Causes and Men prevail against the Better as is intimated in that Passage of the Poet though in the Person of a Theist Victrix Causa Deo placuit sed Victa Catoni And That the Vnjust and Vngodly often flow in all kind of Prosperity whilst the Innocent and Devout Worshippers of the Deity all their Lives long conflict with Adversity Whereas were there a God and Providence as they conceive Prophane and Irreligious Persons would be presently Thunder-struck from Heaven or otherwise made remarkable Objects of Divine Vengeance as also the Pious Miraculously protected and rescued from Evil and Harms Now we grant indeed that this Consideration hath too much puzled and staggered Weak Minds in all Ages Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily therefore is the heart of the Sons of men fully set in them to do Evil. And the Psalmist himself was sometime much perplexed with this Phaenomenon the Prosperity of the Vngodly who set their Mouths against Heaven and whose Tongue walketh through the Earth so that he was Tempted to think He had cleansed his Heart in Vain and Washed his hands in Innocency till at length entring into the Sanctuary of God his Mind became Illuminated and his Soul fixed in a firm Trust and Confidence upon Divine Providence Whom have I in Heaven but thee c. My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the Strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever For as some will from hence be apt to infer That there is no God at all but that blind Chance and Fortune steer all the Fool hath said in his heart there is no God So will others conclude That though there be a God yet he either does not know things done here below How does God Know and is there Knowledge in the most High or else will not so far Humble himself or Disturb his own Ease and Quiet as to concern himself in our Low Humane Affairs First of all therefore we here say That it is altogether unreasonable to require that Divine Providence should Miraculously interpose upon every turn in Punishing the Vngodly and Preserving the Pious and thus perpetually interrupt the Course of Nature which would look but like a Botch or Bungle and a violent business but rather carry things on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Still and Silent Path and shew his Art and Skill in making things of themselves fairly unwind and clear up at last into a Satisfactory Close Passion and Self Interest is blind or short sighted but that which steers the whole world is no Fond Pettish Impatient and Passionate thing but an Impartial Disinteressed and Vncaptivated Nature Nevertheless it is certain that sometimes we have not wanted Instances in Cases extraordinary of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God appearing as it were Miraculously upon the Stage and manifesting himself in taking immediate Vengeance upon Notorious Malefactors or delivering his Faithful Servants from imminent Dangers or Evils Threatned as the same is often done also by a secret and Undiscerned overruling of the things of Nature But it must be granted that it is not always thus but the Periods of Divine Providence here in this World are commonly Longer and the Evolutions thereof Slower According to that of Euripides which yet has a Tange of Prophaneness in the Expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Deity is Slow or Dilatory and this is the Nature of it For it is not from Slackness and Remisness in the Deity but either from his Patience and Long-suffering he willing that men should Repent or else to teach us Patience by his Example as Plutarch suggesteth or that all things may be carried on with the more Pomp and Solemnity or Lastly for other particular Reasons as Plutarch ventures to assign one why it might not be expedient for Dionysius the Tyrant though so Prophane and Irreligious a Person to have been cut off suddainly But Wicked and Ungodly Persons often times fail not to be met withal at last and at the long run here in this Life and either in Themselves or Posterity to be notoriously Branded with the Marks of Divine Displeasure according to that of the Poet Rarò antecedentem Scelestum c. It is seldom that Wickedness altogether scapes Punishment though it come slowly after limping with a Lame Foot and those Proverbial Speeches amongst the Pagans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mills of the Gods do slowly wind But they at length to powder grind And Divine Justice steals on Softly with Woollen Feet but Strikes at last with Iron Hands Nevertheless we cannot say that it is always thus neither but that Wicked Persons may possibly sometimes have an Uninterrupted Prosperity here in this Life and no visible Marks of Divine Displeasure upon them but as the generously vertuous will not Envy them upon this account nor repine at their own condition they knowing that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is neither any thing truly Evil to the Good nor Good to the Evil so are they so far from being staggered herewith in their Belief of a God and Providence that they are rather the more confirmed in their Perswasions of a Future Immortality and Judgment after Death when all things shall be set straight and right and Rewards and Punishments Impartially Dispensed That of Plutarch therefore is most true here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That there is a Necessary Connexion betwixt those Two things Divine Providence and the Permanence or Immortality of Humane Souls one and the same Reason confirming them both neither can one of these be taken alone without the other But they who because Judgment is not presently Executed upon the Vngodly blame the Management of things as Faulty and Providence as Defective are like such Spectators
of a Dramatick Poem as when wicked and injurious Persons are brought upon the Stage for a while Swaggering and Triumphing impatiently cry out against the Dramatist and presently condemn the Plot whereas if they would but expect the winding up of things and stay till the last Close they should then see them come off with shame and sufficient punishment The Evolution of the World as Plotinus calls it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Truer Poem and we men Histrionical Acters upon the Stage who notwithstanding insert something of our Own into the Poem too but God Almighty is that Skilful Dramatist who always connecteth that of ours which went before with what of his follows after into good Coherent Sense and will at last make it appear that a Thred of exact Justice did run through all and that Rewards and Punishments are measured out in Geometrical Proportion Lastly it is in it self Fit that there should be some where a Doubtful and Cloudy State of things for the better Exercise of Vertue and Faith For as there could have been no Hercules had there not been Monsters to subdue so were there no such Difficulties to encounter with no Puzles and Entanglements of things no Temptations and Tryals to assault us Vertue would grow Languid and that Excellent Grace of Faith want due Occasions and Objects to exercise it self upon Here have we therefore such a State of things and this World is as it were a Stage erected for the more Difficult part of Vertue to Act upon and where we are to Live by Faith and not by Sight That Faith which is the Substance of Things to be Hoped for and the Evidence of things not Seen a Belief in the Goodness Power and Wisdom of God when all things are Dark and Clowdy round about us The Just shall live by his Faith We have now sufficiently Confuted the Second Atheistick Objection also against Providence as to the Conduct and Oeconomy of Humane Affairs Nevertheless this is a large Field and much more might be said in Defense of Providence both as to these and other Instances had we room here to Expatiate in Wherefore for a Supplement of what remains we shall refer the Reader to the Writings of others who have professedly undertaken Apology's for Providence both as to the Fabrick and Oeconomy of the World but especially the Learned and Ingenious Author of the Divine Dialogues Only we shall here add Some few Considerations not so much for the Confutation of Atheists as for the better Satisfaction of such Religionists who too easily Concluding That all Things might have been much Better than they are are thereupon apt to call in Question the Divine Attribute of Goodness in its full Extent which yet is the only Foundation of our Christian Faith First therefore we say that in Judging of the Works of God we ought not to consider the Parts of the World alone by themselves and then because we could Phancy much Finer things thereupon blame the Maker of the Whole As if one should attend only to this Earth which is but the Lowest and most Dreggy Part of the Universe or blame Plants because they have not Sense Brutes because they have not Reason Men because they are not Demons or Angels and Angels because they are not Gods or want Divine Perfection Upon which Account God should either have made nothing at all since there can be nothing besides himself Absolutely Perfect or else nothing but the Higher Rank of Angelical Beings free from Mortality and all those other Evils that attend mankind or such Fine things as Epicurus his Gods were feigned to be living in certain delicious Regions where there was neither Blustring Winds nor any Lowring Clouds nor Nipping Frosts nor Scorching Heat nor Night nor Shadow but the Calm and Unclouded Aether always Smiling with gentle Serenity Whereas were there but one kind of thing the Best thus made there could have been no Musick nor Harmony at all in the World for want of Variety But We ought in the first place to consider the Whole Whether that be not the Best that Could be Maâ—â— having all that belongeth to it and then the Parts in reference to the Whole whether they be not in their several Degrees and Ranks Congruous and Agreeable thereunto But this is a thing which hath been so well insisted upon by Plotinus that we cannot speak better to it than in his Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God made the Whole most Beautiful Entire Compleat and Sufficient all agreeing friendly with it self and its parts both the Nobler and the meaner of them being alike Congruous thereunto Whosoever therefore from the Parts thereof will blame the whole is an Absurd and Vnjust Censurer For we ought to Consider the Parts not alone by themselves but in reference to the whole whether they be Harmonious and Agreeable to the same Otherwise we shall not blame the Vniverse but some of its Parts only taken by themselves as if one should blame the Hair or Toes of a man taking no notice at all of his Divine Visage and Countenance or omitting all other Animals one should attend only to the most contemptible of them or lastly overlooking all other men consider only the most Deformed Thersites But that which God made was the Whole as one thing which he that attends to may hear it speaking to him after this manner God Almighty hath made me and from thence came I Perfect and Compleat and standing in need of nothing because in me are contained all things Plants and Animals and Good Souls and Men happy with Virtue and innumerable Demons and many Gods Nor is the Earth alone in me adorned with all manner of Plants and Variety of Animals or does the Power of Soul extend at most no further than to the Seas as if the whole Air and Aether and Heaven in the mean time were quite devoid of Soul and altogether unadorned with Living Inhabitants Moreover all things in me desire Good and every thing reaches to it according to its Power and Nature For the whole World depends upon that First and Highest Good the Gods themselves who reign in my several parts and all Animals and Plants and whatsoever seems to be Inanimate in me For Some things in me partake only of Being some of Life also some of Sense some of Reason and some of Intellect above Reason But no man ought to require Equal things from Vnequal nor that the Finger should see but the Eye it being enough for the Finger to be a Finger and to perform its own Office And again afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As an Artificer would not make all things in an Animal to be Eyes so neither has the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spermatick Reason of the World made all things Gods but some Gods and some Demons and some Men and some Lower Animals Not out of Envy but to display its own Variety and Fecundity But we are like Vnskilful
Co-Extended with its Rayes and Light it would see and perceive every Atom of Matter that it s out stretched Beams reached to and touched Now all Created Beings are themselves in some sense but the Rayes of the Deity which therefore cannot but Feel and Sensibly Perceive all these its own Effluxes and Emanations Men themselves can order and manage Affairs in several distant Places at once without any Disturbance and we have innumerable Notions of things in our Mind that lie there easily together without Crowding one another or Causing any Distraction to us Nevertheless the Minds of weak Mortals may here be somewhat eased and helped by considering what hath been before suggested That there is no necessity God Almighty should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do all things himself Immediately and Drudgingly but he may have his Inferiour Ministers and Executioners under him to discharge him of that Supposed Encumberment As First of all an Artificial Plastick Nature which without Knowledge and Animal Consciousness disposes the Matter of the Universe according to the Platform or Idea of a Perfect Mind and forms the Bodies of all Animals And this was the Reason why we did before insist so much upon this Artificial Regular and Methodical Nature namely that Divine Providence might neither be excluded from having an Influence upon all things in this Lower World as resulting only from the Fortuitous Motions of Sensless Matter unguided by any Mind nor yet the Deity be supposed to do every thing it self Immediatly and Miraculously without the Subservient Ministery of any Natural Causes which would seem to us Mortals to be not only a Violent but also an Operose Cumbersom and Moliminous Business And thus did Plato acknowledge that there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain Causes of a Prudent that is Artificial and Orderly Nature which God makes use of as Subservient to himself in the Mundane Oeconomy Besides which those Instincts also impressed upon Animals and which they are Passive to directing them to Act for Ends either not understood or not attended to by them in order to their own Good and the Good of the Universe are another part of that Divine Fate which inserted into things themselves is the Servant and Executioner of Providence Above all which there are yet other Knowing and Vnderstanding Ministers of the Deity as its Eyes and Hands Demoniack or Angelick Beings appointed to preside over Mankind all Mundane Affairs and the Things of Nature they having their several distinct Offices and Provinces assigned them Of which also Plato thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are certain Rulers or Presidents appointed by that Supreme God who Governs the whole world over all the several things and Parts therein even to the smallest Distribution of them All which Inferiour Causes are constantly over looked and supervised by the Watchful Eye of God Almighty himself who may also sometimes Extraordinarily Interpose We need not therefore restrain and confine Divine Providence to a Few Greater things only as some do that we may thereby consult the ease of the Deity and its Freedom from Distraction but may and ought to Extend it to all things whatsoever Small as well as Great And indeed the Great things of the World cannot well be ordered neither without some regard to the Small and Little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As Architects affirm that great stones cannot be well placed together in a Building without little Neither can Generals of Armies nor Governours of Families nor Masters of Ships nor Mechanick Artificers discharge their several Functions and do their Works respectively as they ought did they not mind the Small things also as well as the Great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the forementioned Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us not therefore make God Almighty Inferiour to Mortal Opificers who by one and the same Art can order Small things as well as Great and so suppose him to be Supine and negligent Nevertheless the Chief Concernment and Employment of Divine Providence in the World is the Oeconomy of Souls or Government of Rational Beings which is by Plato contracted into this Compendium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There is no other work left for the Supreme Governour of all then only to Translate Better Souls into Better places and Conditions and Worser into Worser or as he after addeth to dispose of every one in the world in such a manner as might best render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vertue victorious and triumphant over Vice And thus may the slow and Imperfect wits of Mortals be satisfied that Providence to the Deity is no Moliminous Laborious and Distractious thing But that there is no higher Spring of Life in Rational Animals than Contracted Self Love and that all Good Will and Benevolence arises only from Indigency and Imbecillity and That no Being whatsoever is concerned in the welfare of any other thing but only what it self stands in Need of and Lastly therefore That what is Irresistibly Powerful and Needs nothing would have no manner of Benevolence nor concern it self in the Good and Welfare of any thing whatsoever This is but another Idol of the Atheists Den and only argues their Bad Nature Low-sunck Minds and Gross Immorality And the same is to be said also of that other Maxim of theirs That what is perfectly Happy would have nothing at all To Do but only enjoy its own Ease and Quiet whereas there is nothing more troublesome to our selves than this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this having Nothing to Do and the Activity of the Deity or a Perfect Being is altogether as Easie to it as its Essence The Atheistick Queries come next to be Answered which being but Three are Naturally to be disposed in this order First If there were a God or Perfect Being who therefore was sufficiently Happy in the enjoyment of himself Why would he go about to make a World Secondly If he must needs make a World why did he not make it sooner this Late production thereof looking as if he had but newly awaked out out of a long sleep throughout Infinite Past Ages or else had in length of time contracted a Satiety of his Solitude Thirdly and Lastly What Tools or Instruments what Machines or Engines had be or How could he move the Matter of the whole world especially if Incorporeal because then he would run through all things and could not lay hold nor fasten upon any thing To the First therefore we say That the reason why God made the World was from his own Overflowing and Communicative Goodness that there might be other Beings also Happy besides him and enjoy themselves Nor does this at all clash with God's making of the world for his own Glory and Honour though Plotinus were so shy of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is ridiculous to say that God made the world that he might be Honoured this being to transfer the affections of humane Artificers and Statuaries upon him
the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ought it self Decreeing Willing and Acting Neither does God Punish any out of a delight in Punishment or in the Evil and Suffering of the Persons Punished but to those who are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altogether Incurable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Punishment is Physick in order to their recovery and amendment so that the Sourse and Fountain thereof is Goodness to the Persons themselves Punished But to such as are Incurable the Punishment inflicted on them is Intended for the Good of the Whole So that this Attribute of Justice in God doth not at all Clash with the Attribute of Goodness it being but a Branch thereof or particular Modification of the same Goodness and Justice in God are alwayes Complicated together neither his Goodness being Fondness nor his Justice Cruelty but he being both Good in Punishing and Just in Rewarding and Dispensing Benefits Wherefore it can be the Interest of none that there should be no God nor Immortality unless perhaps of such Desperately and Incurably Wicked persons who abandoning their true Interest of being Good have thereupon no other Interest now left them than Not to be or become Nothing To be without a God is to be without Hope in the World for Atheists can have neither Faith nor Hope in Sensless Matter and the Fortuitous Motions thereof And though an understanding Being have never so much Enjoyment of it self for the present yet could it not possibly be Happy without Immortality and Security of the Future Continuance thereof But the Atheists conclude that there is Nothing Immortal and that all Life Perishes and Vanishes into Nothing and consequently also that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Happiness is a thing that hath no Existence in Nature a meer Figment and Chimaera or Idle Wish and vain Dream of Mortals Wherefore it cannot be the Interest of Mankind that this Hypothesis should be True which thus plainly cuts off all Hope from men and leaves them in an utter Impossibility of being ever Happy God is such a Being as if he could be supposed not to be there is nothing which any who are not desperately engaged in Wickedness no not Atheists themselves could possibly more Wish for or Desire To Believe a God is to Believe the Existence of all Possible Good and Perfection in the Universe It is to Believe That things are as they Should be and That the World is so well Framed and Governed as that the Whole System thereof could not Possibly have been Better For Peccability arises from the Necessity of Imperfect Freewilled Beings left to themselves and therefore could not by Omnipotence it self have been excluded and though Sin Actual might perhaps have been kept out by Force and Violence yet all things Computed it was doubtless most for the Good of the Whole that it should not be thus Forcibly Hindered There is Nothing which cannot be Hoped for by a Good man from the Deity Whatsoever Happiness his Being is Capable of and such things as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can now enter into the Heart of man to Conceive Infinite Hopes lie before us from the Existence of a Being Infinitely Good and Powerful and our Own Souls Immortality and nothing can Hinder or Obstruct these Hopes but our own Wickedness of Life To Believe a God and Do well are Two the most Hopeful Cheerful and Comfortable things that possibly can be And to this purpose is that of Linus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore as for Democritus and Epicurus whose Encomiums the Atheists here so loudly sing forth we say That however they have made so great a noise in the World and have been so much cried up of late yet were they really no better than a Couple of Infatuated Sophists or Witty Fools and Debauchers of Mankind And now come we to the Last Atheistick Argumentation wherein they endeavour to recommend their Doctrine to Civil Sovereigns and to perswade them that Theism or Religion is absolutely Inconsistent with their Interest Their Reasons for which are these Three following First Because the Civil Sovereign Reigns only in Fear and therefore if there be any Power and Fear greater than the Power and Fear of the Leviathan Civil Authority can signifie little Secondly Because Sovereignty is in its own nature absolutely Indivisible and must be either Infinite or None at all so that Divine Laws Natural and Revealed Superiour to it circumscribing it would consequently Destroy it Wherefore Religion and Theism must of necessity be Displaced and Removed out of the way to make room for the Leviathan to Roll and Tumble in Thirdly and Lastly Private Judgment of Good and Evil Just and Vnjust is also Contradictious to the very Being of a Body Politick which is One Artificial Man made up of many Natural men United under One Head having one Common Reason Judgment and Will ruling over the whole But Conscience which Religion introduceth is Private Judgment of Good and Evil Just and Vnjust and therefore altogether Inconsistent with true Politicks that can admit of no Private Consciences but only One Publick Conscience of the Law In way of Answer to the First of which we must here briefly Vnravel the Atheistick Ethicks and Politicks The Foundation whereof is first laid in the Villanizing of Humane Nature as that which has not so much as any the least Seeds either of Politicalness or Ethicalness at all in it nothing of Equity and Philanthropy there being no other Charity or Bâ—nevolence any where according to them save what resulteth from Fear Imbecillity and Indigency nothing of Publick and Common Concern but all Private and Selfish Appetite and Vtility or the Desires of Sensual Pleasure and Honour Dominion and Precellency before others being the only Measures of Good in Nature So that there can be nothing Naturally Just or Vnjust nothing in it self Sinful or Vnlawful but every man by Nature hath Jus ad omnia a Right to Every thing whatsoever his Appetite inclineth him unto or himself judgeth Profitable even to other mens Bodies and Lives Si occidere Cupis Jus babes If thou Desirest to Kill thou hast then Naturally a Right thereunto that is a Liberty to Kill without any Sin or Injustice For Jus and Lex or Justitia Right and Law or Justice in the Language of these Atheistick Politicians are directly contrary to one another their Right being a Belluine Liberty not Made or Left by Justice but such as is Founded in a Supposition of its Absolute Non-Existence Should therefore a Son not only murder his own Parents who had tenderly brought him up but also Exquisitely torture them taking pleasure in beholding their rusul Looks and hearing their lamentable Shreiks and Outcries there would be Nothing of Sin or Injustice at all in this nor in any thing else because Justice is no Nature but a meer Facticious and Artificial thing Made only by Men and Civil Laws And according to these mens
Apprehensions Nature has been very kind and indulgent to mankind herein that it hath thus brought us into the World without any Fetters or Shackles upon us Free from all Duty and Obligation Justice and Morality these being to them nothing but Restraints and Hinderances of True Liberty From all which it follows that Nature absolutely Dissociates and Segregates men from one another by reason of the Inconsistency of those Appetites of theirs that are all Carried out only to Private Good and Consequently that every man is by Nature in a State of War and Hostility against every man In the next place therefore these Atheistick Politicians further add that though this their State of Nature which is a Liberty from all Justice and Obligation and a Lawless Loose or Belluine Right to every thing be in it self Absolutely the Best yet nevertheless by reason of mens Imbecillity and the Equality of their Strengths and Inconsistency of their Appetites it proves by Accident the Worst this War with every one making mens Right or Liberty to every thing indeed a Right or Liberty to Nothing they having no security of their Lives much less of the Comfortable enjoyment of them For as it is not possible that all men should have Dominion which were indeed the most desirable thing according to these Principles so the Generality must needs be sensible of more Evil in such a State of Liberty with an Universal War against all than of Good Wherefore when men had been a good while Hewing and Slashing and Justling against one another they became at length all weary hereof and conceived it necessary by Art to help the Defect of their own Power here and to choose a Lesser Evil for the avoiding of a Greater that is to make a Voluntary Abatement of this their Infinite Right and to Submit to Terms of Equality with one another in order to a Sociable and Peaceable Cohabitation and not only So but also for the Security of all that others should observe such Rules as well as themselves to put their Necks under the Yoke of a Common Coercive Power whose Will being the Will of them all should be the very Rule and Law and Measure of Justice to them Here therefore these Atheistick Politicians as they first of all Slander Humane Nature and make a Villain of it so do they in the next place reproach Justice and Civil Sovereignty also making it to be nothing but an Ignoble and Bastardly Brat of Fear or else a Lesser Evil submitted to meerly out of Necessity for the avoiding of a Greater Evil that of War with every one by reason of mens Natural Imbecillity So that according to this Hypothesis Justice and Civil Government are plainly things not Good in themselves nor Desireable they being a Hinderance of Liberty and Nothing but Shackles and Fetters but by Accident only as Necessary Evils And thus do these Politicians themselves sometimes distinguish betwixt Good and Just that Bonum Amatur Per Se Justum Per Accidens Good is that which is Loved for it self but Just by Accident From whence it follows unavoidably that all men must of necessity be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnwillingly Just or not with a full and perfect but Mixt Will only Just being a thing that is not Sincerely Good but such as hath a great Dash or Dose of Evil blended with it And this was the Old Atheistick Generation of Justice and of a Body Politick Civil Society and Soveraignty For though a Modern Writer affirm this Hypothesis which he looks upon as the only true Scheme of Politicks to be a New Invention as the Circulation of the Blood and no older than the Book De Cive yet is it Certain that it was the commonly received Doctrine of the Atheistick Politicians and â—hilosophers before Plato's time who represents their Sense concerning the Original of Justice and Civil Society in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am to declare first what Justice is according to the sense of these Philosophers and from whence it was Generated They say therefore that by Nature Lawless Liberty and to do that which is now called Injustice and Injury to other men is Good but to Suffer it from others is Evil. But of the two there is more of Evil in suffering it than of Good in doing it Whereupon when men had Clashed a good while Doing and Suffering Injury the Greater part who by reason of their Imbecillity were not able to take the Former without the Latter at length Compounded the business amongst themselves and agreed together by Pacts and Covenants neither to Do nor Suffer Injury but to Submit to Rules of Equality and make Laws by Compact in order to their Peaceable Cohabitation they calling that which was required in those Laws by the Name of Just. And then is it added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this is according to these Philosophers the Generation and Essence of Justice as a certain Middle thing betwixt the Best and the Worst The Best to exercise a Lawless Liberty of doing whatsoeves one please to other men without Suffering any inconvenience from it And the Worst to Suffer Evil from others without being able to revenge it Justice therefore being a Middle thing betwixt both these is Loved not as that which is Good in it self but only by reason of mens Imbecillity and their Inability to do Injustice For as much as he that had sufficient Power would never enter into such Compacts and Submit to Equality and Subjection As for Example if a man had Gyges his Magical Ring that he could do whatsoever he listed and not be seen or taken Notice of by any such a one would certainly never Enter into Covenants nor Submit to Laws of Equality and Subjection Agreeably whereunto it hath been concluded also by some of these Old Atâ—eistick Philosophers that Justice was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not properly and directly ones own Good the Good of him that is Just but another mans Good partly of the Fellow Citizens but chiefly of the Ruler whose Vassal he is And it is well Known that after Plato's Time this Hypothesis concerning Justice that it was a meer Factitious thing and sprung only from mens Fear and Imbecillity as a Lesser Evil was much insisted on by Epicurus also But let us in the next place see how our Modern Atheistick Philosophers and Politicians will mannage and carry on this Hypothesis so as to Consociate men by Art into a Body Politick that are Naturally Dissociated from one another as also Mâ—ke Justice and Obligation Artificial when there is none in Nature First of all therefore these Artificial Justice-Makers City-Mâ—kâ—rs and Authority-Mâ—kers tell us that though men have an Infinite Right by Nâ—ture yet may they Alienate this Right or part thereof from themselves and either Simply Renounce it or Transfer the same upon some other Person by means whereof it will become Unlawful for themselves afterwards to make use thereof Thus late Writer Mâ—n
mâ—y by Signs Dâ—clâ—re Velle se non Licitum sibi amplius fore certum aliquid facere quòd Jure anteà fecisse poterant That it is their Will it shall no longer be Lawful for them to do something which before they had a Right to do and this is called by him a Simple Renunciation of Right and â—urther saith he they may declare again Velle se non Licitum sibi amplius fore aliâ—ui Resistere c. That it is their Will it shall be no longer Lawful for them to Resist this or that particular Person whom before they might Lawfully hâ—ve resisted and this is called a Translation of Right But if there be Nothing in its own Nature Vnlawful then cannot this be Vnlâ—wful for a man afterwards to make use of such Liberty as he had before in Words Renounced or Abandoned Nor can any man by his meer Will make any thing Vnlawful to him which was not so in it self but only Suspend the Exercise of so much of his Liberty as he thought good But however could a man by his Will Oblige himself or make any thing Vnlawful to him there would be Nothing got by this because then might he by his Will Disoblige himself again and make the same Lawful as before For what is Made meerly by Will may be Destroyed by Will Wherefore these Politicians will yet urge the business further and tell us That no man can be Obliged but by his own Act and that the Essence of Injustice is Nothing else but Dati Repetitio The taking away of that which one had before given To which we again Reply that were a man Naturally Vnobliged to any thing then could he no way be Oblâ—ged to stand to his own Act so that it should be Really Vnjust and Unlawful for him at any time upon Second thoughts Voluntarily to undo what he had before voluntarily done But the Atheists here plainly Render Injustice a meer Ludicrous thing when they tell us that it is Nothing but such an Absurdity in Life as it is in Disputation when a man Denies a Proposition that he had before Granted Which is no Real Evil in him as a Man but only a thing Called an Absurdity as a Disputant That is Injustice is no Absolute Evil of the Man but only a Râ—lative Incongruity in him as a Citizen As when a man speaking Lâ—tine observes not the Laws of Grammar this is a kind of Injustice in him as a Latinist or Grammarian so when one who lives in Civil Society observes not the Laws and Conditions thereof this is as it were The False Latine of a Citizen and nothing else According to which Notion of Injustice there is no such Real Evil or Hurt in it as can any way withstand the Force of Appetite and Private Vtility and Oblige men to Civil Obedience when it is Contrary to the same But these Political Juglers and Enchanters will here cast yet a further Mist before mens Eyes with their Pacts and Covenants For men by their Covenants say they may Unquestionably Oblige themselves and make things Vnjust and Vnlawful to them that were not so before Wherefore Injustice is again Defined by them and that with more Speciousness to be the Breach of Covenants But though it be true that if there be Natural Justice Covenants will Oblige yet upon the Contrary Supposition that there is Nothing Naturally Vnjust this cannot be Vnjust neither to Break Covenants Covenants without Natural Justice are nothing but meer Words and Breath as indeed these Atheistick Politicians themselves agreeably to their own Hypothesis call them and therefore can they have no Force to Oblige Wherefore these Justice-Makers are themselves at last necessitaâ—ed to fly to Laws of Nature and to Pretend this to be a Law of Nature That men should Stand to their Pacts and Covenants Which is plainly to Contradict their main Fundamental Principle that by Nature nothing is Vnjust or Vlawâ—ul for if it be so then can there be no Laws of Nature and if there be Laws of Nature then must there be something Naturally Unjust and Unlawful So that this is not to Make Justice but clearly to Vnmake their own Hypothesis and to suppose Justice to have been already Made by Nature or to be in Nature which is a Gross Absurdity in Disputation to Affirm what one had before Denied But these their Laws of Nature are indeed nothing but Jugling Equivocation and a meer Mockery themselves again acknowledging them to be no Laws because Law is nothing but the Word of him who hath Command over others but only Conclusions or Theorems concerning what conduces to the Conservation and Defence of themselves upon the Principle of Fear that is indeed the Laws of their own Timorous and Cowardly Complexion for they who have Courage and Generosity in them according to this Hypothesis would never Submit to such sneaking Terms of Equality and Subjection but venture for Dominion and resolve either to Win the Saddle or Loose the Horse Here therefore do our Atheistick Politicians plainly daunce round in a Circle they first deriving the Obligation of Civil Laws from that of Covenants and then that of Covenants from the Laws of Nature and Lastly the Obligation both of these Laws of Nature and of Covenants themselves again from the Law Command and Sanction of the Civil Sovereign without which neither of them would at all Oblige And thus is it manifest how vain the Attempts of these Politicians are to Make Justice Artificially when there is no such thing Naturally which is indeed no less than to make Something out of Nothing and by Art to Consociate into Bodies Politick those whom Nature had Dissociated from one another a thing as impossible as to Ty Knots in the Wind or Water or to build up a Stately Palace or Castle out of Sand. Indeed the Ligaments by which these Politicians would tie the Members of their huge Leviathan or Artificial Man together are not so good as Cobwebs they being really nothing but meer Will and Words For if Authority and Sovereignty be made only by Will and Words then is it plain that by Will and Words they may be Vnmade again at pleasure Neither indeed are these Atheistick Politicians themselves altogether unaware hereof that this their Artificial Justice and Obligation can be no firm Vinculum of a Body Politick to Consociate those together and Unite them into One who are Naturally Dissociated and Divided from one another they acknowledging that Covenants without the Sword being but Words and Breath are of no strength to hold the Members of their Leviathan or Body Politick together Wherefore they plainly betake themselves at length from Art to Force and Power and make their Civil Sovereign really to Reign only in Fear And this must needs be their meaning when they so constantly declare All Obligation Just and Vnjust to be derived only from Law they by Law there understanding a Command directed to such as by reason of
and Phancies This the Fourth Atheistick Argument That to suppose an Incorporeal Mind to be the Original of all things is nothing else but to make the Abstract Notion of a meer Accident to be the First Cause Page 67 IX A Fifth Pretended Ground of Atheism That an Incorporeal Deity being already confuted a Corporeal one may be disproved also from the Principles of Corporealism in General Because Matter being the onely Substance and all other Differences of things nothing but the Accidents thereof Generable and Corruâ—tible no Living Vnderstanding Being can be Essentially Incorruptible The Stoical God Incorruptible onely by Accident Page 69 X. Their further Attempt to doe the same Atomically That the First Principle of all things whatsoever in the Vniverse being Atoms or Corpuscula devoid of all manner of Qualities and consequently of Sense and Understanding which sprung up afterwards from a certain Composition or Contexture of them Mind or Deity could not therefore be the First Original of all Page 70 XI A farther Atheistick Attempt to impugn a Deity by disproving the World's Animation or its being governed by a Living Vnderstanding Animalish Nature presiding over the whole Because forsooth Sense and Understanding are peculiar Appendices to Flesh Bloud and Braines and Reason is no where to be found but in Human Form Page 73 XII An Eighth Atheistick Instance That God being taken by all for a Most Happy Eternal and Immortal Animal or Living Being there can be no such thing because all living Beings are Concretions of Atoms that were at first generated and are liable to Death and Corruption by the Dissolution of their Compages Life being no Simple Primitive Nature but an Accidental Modification of compounded Bodies onely which upon the Disunion of their Parts or Disturbance of their Contexture vanisheth into Nothing Page 75 XIII A Ninth Pretended Atheistick Demonstration That by God is meant a First Cause or Mover and such as was not before moved by any thing else without it but Nothing can move it self and therefore there can be no unmoved Mover nor any First in the Order of Causes that is a God Page 76 XIV Their farther Improvement of the same Principle That there can be no Action whatsoever without some external Cause or that Nothing taketh Beginning from it self but from the Action of some other Agent without it so that no Cogitation can arise of it self without a Cause all Action and Cogitation being really nothing but Local Motion from whence it follows that no Thinking Being could be a First Cause any more than a Machin or Automaton Page 76. XV. Another Grand Mystery of Atheism That all Knowledge and Mental Conception is the Information of the things themselves known existing without the Knower and a meer Passion from them and therefore the world must needs have been before any Knowledge or Conception of it but no Knowledge or Conception before the world as its Cause Page 77 XVI A Twelfth Atheistick Argumentation That things could not be made by a God because they are so Faulty and Ill made That they were not contrived for the Good of Man and that the Deluge of Evils which overflows all shows them not to have proceeded from any Deity ibid. XVII A Thirteenth Instance of Atheists from the Defect of Providence That in Human Affairs all is Tohu and Bohu Chaos and Confusion Page 79 XVIII A Fourteenth Atheistick Objection That it is impossible for any one Being to Animadvert and Order all things in the distant places of the whole world at once But if it were possible That such Infinite Negotiosity would be absolutely inconsistent with Happiness Page 80 XIX Quaeries of Atheists Why the world was not made sooner and What God did before Why it was made at all since it was so long unmade and How the Architect of the world could rear up so huge a Fabrick Page 81 XX. The Atheists Pretence That it is the great Interesse of Mankind There should be no God And that it was a Noble and Heroical Exploit of the Democriticks to Chase away that Affrightfull Spectre out of the world and to free men from the Continual Fear of a Deity and Punishment after Death Embittering all the Pleasures of Life Page 83 XXI The Last Atheistick Pretence That Theism is also inconsistent with Civil Sovereignty it introducing a Fear greater than the Fear of the Leviathan and that any other Conscience besides the Civil Law being Private Judgment is Ipso Facto a Dissolution of the Body Politick and a Revolt to the State of Nature Page 84 XXII The Atheists Conclusion from all the former Premisses as it is set down in Plato and Lucretius That all things sprung Originally from Nature and Chance without any Mind or God or proceeded from the Necessity of Material Motions Vndirected for Ends. And that Infinite Atoms Devoid of all Life and Sense Moving in Infinite Space from Eternity did by their Fortuitous Rencounters and Entanglements produce the System of this whole Vniverse and as well all Animate as Inanimate things Page 97 CHAP. III. An Introduction to the Confutation of the Atheistick Grounds wherein is contained a particular Account of all the Severall Forms of Atheism together with a necessary Digression concerning a Plastick or Artificial Nature I. THat the Grounds of the Hylozoïck Atheism could not be insisted on by us in the former Chapter together with those of the Atomick they being directly opposite each to other with a farther Account of this Hylozoïck Atheism P. 104. II. A Suggestion in way of Caution for the Preventing of all mistakes That every Hylozoïst must not therefore be presently condemned as an Atheist or but a meer Counterfeit Histrionical Theist Page 105 III. That nevertheless such Hylozoïsts as are also Corporealists or acknowledge no other Substance besides Body can by no means be excused from the Imputation of Atheism for Two Reasons Page 106 IV. That Strato Lampsacenus commonly called Physicus was probably the First Asserter of the Hylozoïck Atheism he acknowledging no other God but the Life of Nature in Matter Page 107 V. Further Proved that this Strato was an Atheist and of a different Form from Democritus he attributing an Energetick Nature but without Sense and Animality to all Matter Page 108 VI. That Strato not deriving all things from a meer Fortuitous Principle as the Democritick Atheists did nor yet acknowledging any one Plastick Nature to preside over the whole but deducing the Original of things from a Mixture of Chance and Plastick Nature both together in the several parts of Matter must therefore needs be an Hylozoïck Atheist ibid. VII That the Famous Hippocrates was neither an Hylozoïck nor Democritick Atheist but rather an Heraclitick Corporeal Theist Page 109 VIII That Plato took no notice of the Hylozoïck Atheism nor of any other save what derives the Original of all things from a meer Fortuitous Nature and therefore either the Democritical or the Anaximandrian Atheism which Latter will be next
different from the Hylozoick in that it takes away all Fortuitousness Subjecting all things Vniversally to the Fate of this One Methodical Unknowing Nature Page 132 XXVIII Possible that some in all ages might have entertained this Atheistical Conceit That all things are dispensed by One Regular and Methodical Senseless Nature nevertheless it seemeth to have been chiefly asserted by certain Spurious Heracliticks and Stoicks Vpon which account this Cosmo-plastick Atheism may be called Pseudo-zenonian Page 133 XXIX That besides the Philosophick Atheists there have been always in the World Enthusiastick and Fanatick Atheists though indeed all Atheists may in some sense be said to be both Enthusiasts and Fanaticks as being meerly led by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Irrational Impetus Page 134 XXX That there cannot easily be any other Form of Atheism besides these Four already mentioned because all Atheists are Corporealists and yet not all Corporealists Atheists but onely such of them as make the First Principle not to be Intellectual ibid. XXXI A Distribution of Atheisms Producing the forementioned Quaternio and shewing the Difference that is betwixt them Page 136 XXXII That they are but meer Bunglers at Atheism who talk of Sensitive and Rational Matter Specifically Differing And that the Canting Astrological Atheists are not at all considerable because not Vnderstanding themselves Page 137 XXXIII Another Distribution of Atheisms That they either derive the Original of all things from a meerly Fortuitous Principle and the Unguided Motion of Matter or else from a Plastick Regular and Methodical but Senseless Nature What Atheists denied the Eternity of the World and what asserted it Page 138 XXXIV That of these Four Forms of Atheism the Atomick or Democritical and the Hylozoick or Stratonical are the Principal which Two being once confuted all Atheism will be confuted Page 142 XXXV These Two Forms of Atheism being contrary to each other that we ought in all Reason to insist rather upon the Atomick nevertheless we shall elsewhere confute the Hylozoick also and further prove against all Corporealists that no Cogitation nor Life can belong to Matter Page 145 XXXVI That in the mean time we shall not neglect the other Forms of Atheism but Confute them all together as they agree in one Principle As also by way of Digression here insist largely upon the Plastick Life of Nature in order to a fuller Confutation as well of the Hylozoick as the Cosmo-plastick Atheism Page 146 1. That these Two Forms of Atheism are not therefore Condemned by us meerly because they suppose a Life of Nature distinct from the Animal Life however this be a thing altogether Exploded by some professed Theists therein symbolizing too much with the Democritick Atheists ibid. 2. That if no Plastick Artificial Nature be admitted then one of these two things must be concluded That either all things come to pass by Fortuitous Mechanism or Material Necessity the Motion of Matter Vnguided or else that God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe all things Himself Immediately and Miraculously framing the Body of every Gnat and Fly as it were with his own hands forasmuch as Divine Laws and Commands cannot execute themselves nor be alone the proper Efficient Causes of things in Nature Page 147 3. To suppose the Former of these that all things come to pass Fortuitously by the Unguided Motion of Matter and without the Direction of any Mind a thing altogether as Irrational as Impious there being many Phaenomena both Above the Mechanick Powers and Contrary to the Laws thereof That the Mechanick Theists make God but an Idle Spectatour of the Fortuitous Motions of Matter and render his Wisedom altogether useless and insignificant Aristotle's Judicious Censure of this Fortuitous Mechanism and his Derision of that Conceit that Material and Mechanical Reasons are the onely Philosophical Page 148 4. That it seems neither Decorous in respect of God nor Congruous to Reason that he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe all things Himself Immediately and Miraculously without the Subserviency of any Natural Causes This further Confuted from the Slow and Gradual Process of things in Nature as also from those Errours and Bungles that are Committed when the Matter proves Inept and Contumacious which argue the Agent not to be Irresistible Page 149 5. Reasonably inferred from hence That there is an Artificial or Plastick Nature in the Vniverse as a Subordinate Instrument of Divine Providence in the Orderly Disposal of Matter but not without a Higher Providence also presiding over it forasmuch as this Plastick Nature cannot Act Electively or with Discretion Those Laws of Nature concerning Motion which the Mechanick Theists themselves suppose Really Nothing else but a Plastick Nature or Spermatick Reasons Page 150 6. The Argeeableness of this Doctrine with the Sentiments of the best Philosophers of all Ages Anaxagoras though a professed Theist severely Censured both by Plato and Aristotle as an encourager of Atheism meerly because he used Material and Mechanical Causes more than Mental and Final Physiologers and Astronomers for the same Reason also vulgarly suspected of Atheism in Plato's time Page 151 7. The Plastick Artificial Nature no Occult Quality but the onely Intelligible Cause of that which is the Grandest of all Phaenomena the Orderly Regularity and Harmony of Things which the Mechanick Theists however pretending to Salve all Phaenomena give no accompt of A God or Infinite Mind asserted by these in vain and to no purpose Pag. 154 8. Two things here to be Performed To give an accompt of the Plastick Artificial Nature and then To show how the Notion thereof is Mistaken and Abused by Atheists The First General Accompt of this Nature according to Aristotle That it is to be conceived as Art it self acting Inwardly and Immediately upon the Matter as if Harmony Living in the Musical Instruments should move the Strings thereof without any External Impulse Page 155 9. Two Preeminences of Nature above Humane Art First That whereas Humane Art acts upon the Matter without Cumbersomely or Moliminously and in a way of Tumult or Hurlyburly Nature acting upon the same from Within more Commandingly doth its work Easily Cleverly and Silently Humane Art acteth on Matter Mechanically but Nature Vitally and Magically Page 155 10. The Second Preeminence of Nature That whereas Human Artists are often to seek and at a loss Anxiously Consult and Deliberate and upon Second thoughts Mend their former work Nature is never to seek or Vnresolved what to doe nor doth she ever Repent of what she hath done and thereupon correct her Formâ—r Course Human Artists themselves Consult not as Artists but always for want of Art and therefore Nature though never Consulting nor Deliberating may notwithstanding act Artificially and for Ends. Concluded that what is by us called Nature is Really the Divine Art Page 156 11. Nevertheless That Nature is not the Divine Art Pure and Abstract but Concreted and Embodied in Matter the Divine Art not Archetypal but Ectypal Nature differs from
or Image Worship The Latter of which accounted by the Jews the greatest Enormity of the Pagans as is proved from Philo and this the Reason why their Polytheism called also Idolatry Plainly declared by S. Paul that the Pagan Superstition consisted not in worshipping Many Independent Gods and Creators but in joyning Creature-worship some way or other with the worship of the Creator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How to be Vnderstood and in what Sense the Pagans though acknowledging the Creator might be said to have Worshipped the Creature beyond him Page 471 472 Again from S. Pauls Oration to the Athenians where their Unknown God is said to be that same God whom S. Paul Preached Who made the World and all things in it And these Athenian Pagans are affirmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Religiously and Devoutly to Worship this True God Page 473 474 Lastly that Aratus his Zeus was the True God whose Offspring our Souls are Proved not onely from the Context of that Poet himself undeniably and from the Scholiast upon him but also from S. Pauls Positive Affirmation Nor was Aratus Singular in this That Ancient Prayer of the Athenians Commended by M. Antoninus for its Simplicity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rain Rain O Gracious Jupiter c. no otherwise to be understood And how that other Passage of S. Paul That in the Wisedom of God the World by Wisedom knew not God does not at all Clash herewith Page 475 476 XXXII In order to a Fuller Explication of the Pagan Theology and makeing it the better appear that the Polytheism thereof was not Contradictions to the acknowledgment of One Supreme Omnipotent Numen Three Things to be Considered First That much of their Polytheism was but Seeming and Phantasticall onely and really nothing but the Polyonymy of One God Secondly That their Reall and Naturall Polytheism consisted onely in Religiously Worshipping besides this One Supreme Universall Numen Many other Particular and Inferiour Created Beings as Animated Stars Demons and Hero's Thirdly That they Worshipping both the Supreme and Inferiour Gods in Statues Images and Symbols these were also sometimes Abusively called Gods To one or other of which Three Heads all the Pagan Polytheism Referrible Page 477 For the better perswading That much of the Pagan Polytheism was Really nothing but the Polyonymy of One Supreme God or the Worshipping him under severall Personall Names to be Remembred again what was before Suggested That the Pagan Nations Generally besides their Vulgar had another more Arcane Theology which was the Theology of Wise men and of Truth That is besides both their Fabulous and Poeticall their Politicall and Civil Theology they had another Natural and Philosophick one This Distinction of the Vulgar and Civil Theology from the Nataral and Reall owned by the Greeks Generally and amongst the Latins by Scaevola the Pontifex Varro Cicero Seneca and others ibid. That the Civil Theology of the Pagans differed from the Natural and Reall by a certain Mixture of Fabulosity in it Of the Romans suffering the Statue of Jupiters Nurse to be kept in the very Capitol as a Religious Monument Jupiters Nativity or his having a Father and a Mother Atheistically Fabulous Poets themselves acknowledging so much of the Natural and True Teology That Jupiter being the Father of Gods and Men the Maker of the whole World was himself Eternall and Unmade Page 478 That the Civil as well as Poeticall Theology had some appearance of Many Independent Deities also they making Severall Supreme in their severall Territories and Functions One Chief for one thing and another for another But according to the Naturall and Philosophick Theology the Theology of Wise men and of Truth all these but Poeticall Commentitious Fictitious and Phantastick Gods such as had no distinct Substantiall Essences of their own and therefore Really to be accounted nothing else but severall Names or Notions of One Supreme God Page 478 479 Certain that the Egyptians had severall Proper and Personal Names for that One Supreme Universal Numen that Comprehends the whole World according to several Notions of it or its several Powers as Ammon Phtha Osiris Neith Cneph to which may be added Serapis and Isis too Besides Iamblichus Damascius his Testimony also to this purpose concerning the Egyptian Theology This the Pattern of the other especially European Theologies the Greek and Roman Page 479 480 That the Greeks and Romans also often Made More Gods of One or affected a Polyonymy of the Same Gods Evident from those many Proper and Personal Names bestowed First upon the Sun of which Macrobius who therefore had this Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 given to him and then upon the Moon Styled also Polyonymous as well as her Brother the Sun and Lastly upon the Earth famous likewise for her Many Names as Vesta Cybele Ceres Proserpina Ops c. Wherefore not at all to be Doubted but that the Supreme God or Sovereign Numen of the whole World was much more Polyonymous This Title given to him also as well as to Apollo in Hesychius He thus Invoked by Cleanthes Zeno the Writer De Mundo Seneca Macrobius clearly confirm the same Maximus Madaurensis in S. Austin his full acknowledgment thereof Page 480 481 The First Instances of the Polyonymy of the Supreme God amongst the Pagans in such Names as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And amongst the Latins Victor Invictus Opitulus Stator Tigillus Centupeda Almus Ruminus c. Again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all several Names of the One Supreme God as likewise were Clotho Lachesis and Atropos in the Writer De Mundo And amongst the Latins not onely Fate but also Nature and Fortune too as Cicero and Seneca affirm Page 482 But besides these there were other Proper Names of the Supreme God which had a greater shew and appearance of so many Several Gods they having their Peculiar Temples and several Appropriated Rites of Worship And First such as signifie the Deity according to its more Universal Nature As for example Pan which not the Corporeal World Inanimate or endued with a Sensless Nature onely but a Rational or Intellectual Principle displaying it self in Matter framing the World Harmoniously and being in a manner All things This also the Universal Pastor and Shepherd of all Mankind Page 483 Again Janus First Invoked by the Romans in their Sacrifices and never omitted The most Ancient God and First Beginning of all things Described by Ovid Martial and others as a Universal Numen Concluded by S. Austin to be the Same with Jupiter the Soul or Mind of the whole World The word Janus probably derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Aetolian Jupiter Page 483 484 Genius also one of the Twenty Select Roman Gods according to Festus a Universal Numen that God who is the Begetter of All things And according to Varro in S. Austine the same with Jupiter Page 484 485 That Chronos or Saturn no particular Deity but a Universal Numen
also which Comprehends the whole nature of the World affirmed by Dionysius Halicarnass The word Saturn Hetrurian and Originally from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Hidden called by the Latins Deus Latius the Hidden God whence Italy Latium and the Italians Latins as Worshippers of this Hidden God or the Occult Principle of all things This according to Varro He that Produceth out of himself the Hidden Seeds and Forms of all things and Swalloweth them up into himself again which the Devouring of his Male Children This Sinus quidam Naturae c. a Certain Inward and deep Recess of Nature containing all things within it self as God was sometimes Defined by the Pagans This to S. Austin the same with Jupiter as likewise was Coelus or Uranus in the old Inscription and therefore another Name of God too The Poetick Theology of Jupiters being the Son of Saturn and Saturn the Son of Coelus an Intimation according to Plato of a Trinity of Divine Hypostases Universal Page 485 486 Though Minerva or Athena were sometimes confined to a narrower Sense yet was it often taken for a Name of God also according to his Universal Notion it being to Athenagoras the Divine Wisedom displaying it self through all things This excellently described by Aristides as the First Begotten Off-spring of the Original Deity or the Second Divine Hypostasis by which all things were made agreeably with the Christian Theology Page 486 487 Aphrodite Urania or the Heavenly Venus another name of God also according to his Universal Notion it being the same with that Love which Orpheus and other Philosophers in Aristotle made the First Original of all things Plato's Distinction of an Elder and a Younger Venus The Former the Daughter of Uranus without a Mother or the Heavenly Venus said to be Senior to Japhet and Saturn The Latter afterwards begotten from Jupiter and the Nymph Dione the Vulgar Venus Urania or the Heavenly Venus called by the Oriental Nations Mylitta that is the Mother of all things Temples in Pausanias Dedicated to this Heavenly Venus This described by Aeschylus Euripides and Ovid as the Supreme Deity and the Creator of all the Gods God Almighty also thus described as a Heavenly Venus or Love by Sev. Boetius To this Urania or Heavenly Venus another Venus in Pausanias near a kin called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Verticordia As Conversive of mens Minds upwards from Vnchast Love or Vnclean Lust. Page 488 489 Though Vulcan according to the Common Notion of him a Special God yet had he sometimes a more Universal Consideration Zeno in Laertius that the Supreme God is called Vulcan as Acting in the Artificiall Fire of Nature Thus the Soul of the World styled by the Aegyptians Phtha which as Iamblichus tells us was the same with the Greeks Hephaestus or Vulcan Page 489 490 Besides all which Names of the Supreme God Seneca informs us that he was sometimes called also Liber Pater because the Parent of all things sometimes Hercules because his Force is Unconquerable and sometimes Mercury as being Reason Number Order and Knowledge Page 490 But besides this Polyonymy of God according to his Universal Notion there were other Dii Speciales or Speciall Gods also amongst the Pagans which likewise were really but Several Names of One and the same Supreme Deity variè utentis sua Potestate as Seneca Writeth diversly using his Power in Particular Cases and in the several Parts of the World Thus Jupiter Neptune and Pluto mistaken by some Christians for a Trinity of Independent Gods though Three Civil Gods yet were they Really but One and the Same Natural and Philosophick God as Acting in those Three Parts of the World the Heaven the Sea the Earth and Hell Pluto in Plato's Cratylus a Name for That Part of Divine Providence which is exercised in the Government of Separate Souls after Death This Styled by Virgil the Stygian Jupiter But to others Pluto together with Ceres the Manifestation of the Deity in this whole Terrestrial Globe The Celestial and Terrestrial Jupiter but One God Zeus and Hades one and the same to Orpheus Euripides doubtfull whether God should be Invoked by the Name of Zeus or Hades Hermesianax the Colophonian Poet makes Pluto the First of those Many Names of God Synonymous with Zeus Page 490 491 Neptune also another Special God a name of the Supreme Deity as Acting in the Seas onely This affirmed by Xenocrates in Stobaeus Zeno in Laertius Balbus and Cotta in Cicero and also by Maximus Tyrius Page 492 The Statue of Jupiter with Three Eyes in Pausanias signifying that according to the Natural Theology it was One and the Same God Ruling in those Three Several Parts of the World the Heaven the Sea and the Earth that was called by Three Names Jupiter Neptune and Pluto Wherefore since Proserpina and Ceres are the same with Pluto and Salacia with Neptune Concluded that all these though Several Poetical and Political Gods yet were but One and the Same Natural and Philosophick God Page 492 493 Juno also another Special God a name of the Supreme Deity as Acting in the Aire Thus Xenocrates and Zeno. The Pagans in S. Austin that God in the Aether is called Jupiter in the Aire Juno So Minerva likewise when taken for a Special God a name of the Supreme God according to that Particular Consideration of him as Acting in the Higher Aether From whence S. Austin disputeth against the Pagans Maximus Tyrius of these and many other Gods of the Pagans that they were but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divine Names Page 493 494 Yet Many other Special Gods amongst the Pagans which also were really nothing but Divine Names or Names of God as variously exercising his Power or bestowing Several Gifts as in Corn and Fruit Ceres in Wine Bacchus in Medicine Aesculapius in Traffick Mercury in War Mars in Governing the Winds Aeolus c. Page 494 That not onely Philosophers did thus interpret the Many Poetical and Political Gods into One and the Same Natural God but the Poets themselves also sometimes openly broached this more Arcane Free and True Theology as Hermesianax amongst the Greeks and Valerius Soranus amongst the Latins Page 494 495 That S. Austin making a large Enumeration of the other Special Gods amongst the Pagans affirmeth of them Vniversally That according to the Sense of the Pagan Doctors they were but one Natural God and all Really the same with Jupiter Page 495 496 Apuleius in his Book De Deo Socratis either not rightly understood by that Learned and Industrius Philologer G.I. Vossius or else not sufficiently attended to His design there plainly to reduce the Pagans Civil Theology into a Conformity with the Natural and Philosophick which he doth as a Platonist by making the Dii Consentes of the Romans and their other Invisible Gods to be all of them Nothing but the Divine Ideas and so the Off-spring of one Highest God An occasion for this Phancy given by Plato
where he calls his Ideas Animals Nor was Apuleius Singular herein Julian in his Book against the Christians going the very same way and no otherwise understood by S. Cyril than as to make the Invisible Gods worshipped by the Pagans to be the Divine Ideas A Phancy of the same Julian who opposed the Incarnation of the Eternal Word that Aesculapius was first of all the Idea of the Medicinal Art Generated by the Supreme God in the Intelligible World which afterwards by the Vivifick Influence of the Sun was Incarnated and appeared in Humane Form about Epidaurus And that this Pagan Doctrine Older than Christianity proved out of Philo writing of a Sun and Moon Intelligible as well as Sensible Religiously worshipped by the Pagans That is the Ideas of the Archetypal World And thus were these Ideas of the Divine Intellect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligible Gods to Plotinus also Page 496 c. 501 Wherefore Julian Apuleius and those others who thus made all the Pagan Invisible Gods to be nothing else but the Divine Ideas the Patterns of Things in the Archetypal World supposed them not to be so many Independent Deities nor Really Distinct Substances Separate from one another but onely so many Partiall Considerations of One God Julian before affirming them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As to have been Generated out of him so also to Coexist with him and Inexist in him Page 501 502 That the Pagans appointed some Particular God or Goddess by Name to preside over Every thing there Being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothing at all without a God to them appeareth from that Catalogue of their Ignoble or Petty Gods Collected by S. Austine out of Varro Now it is Incredible that they should think all these to be so many Single Substantiall Spirits of each Sex Really Existing apart in the World they must therefore needs take them to be so many Partiall Considerations of the Deity either in the way of the more High-flown Platonists as his Ideas Exemplarily and Vertually containing all things or else in that more Common and easâ—y way of the Generality as so many Several Denominations of him according to the Several Manifestations of his Power and Providence or as the Pagans in Eusebius declares themselves those Several Vertues and Powers of the Supreme God themselves Personated and Deifyed Which yet because they were not executed without the Subservient Ministery of Created Spirits Angels or Demons appointed to preside over such things therefore might these also Collectively taken be included under them Page 502 503 But for the fuller clearing of this Point that the Pagan Polytheism was in great part Nothing but the Polyonymy of one God Two Things here to be taken notice of First that the Pagan Theology Vniversally Supposed God to be Diffused thorough all to Permeate and Pervade all and Intimately to Act all Thus Horus Apollo of the Egyptians Thus among the Greeks Diogenes the Cynick Aristotle the Italick and Stoicall Philosophers Thus the Indian Brachmans before Strabo Thus also the Latin Poets and Seneca Quintilian Apuleius and Servius besides others Page 503 504 That Anaxagoras and Plato also though neither of them Confounded God with the World but affirmed him to be Unmingled with any thing yet Concluded him in like manner to Permeate and Pervade all things Plato 's Etymology of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as taken for a Name of God to this purpose in his Cratylus Where a Fragment of Heraclitus and his Description of God agreeably hereunto a most Subtle and Swift Substance that Permeates and Passes through every thing by which all things are made But Plato disclaiming this Corporeity of the Deity will neither have it Fire nor Heat but a Perfect Mind that Passes through all things Unmixedly Page 505 Wherefore no wonder if the Pagans supposing God to be Diffused thorough all things called him in the Several Parts of the World and Things of Nature by several Names as in the Earth Ceres in the Sea Neptune c. This accompt of the Pagan Polytheism given by Paulus Orosius That whilst they believed God to be in Many things they indiscreetly made Many Gods of Him Page 505 506 Further to be observed That many of the Pagan Theologers seemed to go yet a Strain higher they supposing God not onely to Pervade all things but also to Be himself all things That the Ancient Egyptian Theology ran so high Evident from the Saitick Inscription A strong Tang hereof in Aeschylus as also in Lucan Neither was this proper to those who held God to be the Soul of the World but the Language also of those other more Refined Philosophers Xenophanes Parmenides c. they affirming God to be One and All. With which agreeth the Authour of the Asclepian Dialogue that God is Vnus omnia One all things and that before things were made he did then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hide them or Occultly contain them all within himself In like manner Orpheus Page 506 507 This not onely a further Ground of the Polyonymy of One God according to the Various Manifestations of himself in the World but also of another Strange Phaenomenon in the Pagan Theology their Personating the Inanimate Parts of the World and Natures of things and bestowing the Names of Gods and Goddesses upon them Thus Moschopulus before cited and Arnobius This Plutarch thinks to have been done at first Metonymically onely the Effects of the Gods being called Gods as the Books of Plato Plato And thus far not disliked by him But himself complaineth that aftewards it was carried on further by Superstitious Religionists and not without great Impiety Nevertheless that Inanimate Substances and the Natures of things were formerly Deifyed by the Ancient Pagans otherwise than Metonymically proved from Cicero Philo and Plato For they supposing God to Pervade all things and to be All things did therefore look upon every thing as Sacred or Divine and Theologize the Parts of the World and Natures of Things Titularly making them Gods and Goddesses But especially such things as wherein Humane Utility was most concerned and which had most of Wonder in them Page 507 510 This properly the Physiological Theology of the Pagans their Personating and Deifying the Natures of things and Inanimate Substances That the Ancient Poetick Fables of the Gods were many of them in their first and true meaning thus Physiologically Allegorical and not meer Herology affirmed against Eusebius Zeno Cleanthes and Chrysippus Famous for thus Allegorizing the Fables of the Gods Chrysippus his Allegorizing an Obscene Picture of Jupiter and Juno in Samos Plato though no Friend to these Poetick Fables yet confesses some of them to have contained Allegories in them the same doth also Dionysius Halicarnassaeus and Cicero likewise who affirmeth this Personating and Deifying the Natures of things to have filled the World with Superstition Page 510 512 Against Eusebius again That the whole Theology of the Pagans consisted not in thus Deifying the Natures of things and
Inanimate Bodies because he that acknowledgeth no Animant God acknowledges no God at all but is a downright Atheist Page 512 Neither ought this Physiological Theology of the Pagans that consisted in Personating and Deifying the Natures of things and Inanimate Bodies to be Confounded with that Natural and Philosophical Theology of Varro Scaevola and others which admitted of no other but Animant Gods and such as Really Existed in Nature for which Cause it was called Natural in opposition to the Fictitious and Phantastick Poetick Gods Page 512 S. Austin's just Censure and Condemnation of the Pagans for their thus Theologizing of Physiology or Fictitiously Personating and Deifying the Natures of things Page 512 513 But though the Pagans did thus verbally Personate and Deifie the things of Nature yet did not the Intelligent amongst them therefore account these True and Proper Gods Cotta in Cicero Though we call Corn Ceres and Wine Bacchus yet was there never any one so mad as to take that for a God which himself feeds upon and devours The Pagans really accounted that onely for a God by the Invoking whereof they might expect benefit to themselves and therefore Nothing Inanimate This proved from Plato Aristotle Lucretius Cicero and Plutarch Wherefore these Natures of things Deified but Fictitious and Phantastick Gods Nor can any other sense be made of them than this that they were really but so many several Names of one Supreme God as severally manifested in his works according to that Egyptian Theology That God may be called by the Name of every thing or every thing by the Name of God With which agreeth Seneca That there may be as many Names of God as there are Gifts and Effects of his and the Writer De Mundo That God may be Denominated from every Nature he being the Cause of all things Page 513 515 Wherefore these Deified Natures of things were not directly worshipped by the Intelligent Pagans but onely Relatively to the Supreme God or in way of Complication with him onely and so not so much Themselves as God worshipped in them The Pagans Pretence that they did not look upon the world with such Eyes as Oxen and Horses do but with Religious Eyes so as to see God in every thing They therefore worshipped the Invisible Deity in the Visible manifestations of himself God and the World together This sometimes called Pan and Jupiter Thus was the whole World said to be the Greatest God and the Circle of the Heavens worshipped by the Persians not as Inanimate Matter but as the Visible manifestation of the Deity displayed from it and pervaded by it When the Roman Sea-Captains Sacrificed to the Waves their worship intended to that God who Stilleth the Waves and Quieteth the Billows Page 515 516 These Pagans also apprehended a Necessity of permitting men to worship the Invisible God in his Visible Works This account given by them in Eusebius Plato himself approved of worshipping the Invisible God in the Sun Moon and Stars as his Visible Images And though Maximus Tyrius would have men endeavour to rise above the Starry Heavens and all Visible things yet does he allow the weaker to worship God in his Progeny And Socrates perswades Euthydemus to be contented herewith Besides which some Pagans worshipping the Elements directed their Intention to the Spirits of those Elements as Julian in Ammianus these being supposed also to be Animated or else to those Daemons whom they conceived to inhabit them or preside over them Page 516 518 XXXIII Further to be observed That amongst those Natures of things some were meerly Accidental as Hope Love Desire Memory Truth Vertue Piety Faith Justice Concord Clemency Victory Echo Night According to which the vulgar Athenians supposed S. Paul to have Deified Anastasis or made a Goddess of the Resurrection as well as a God of Jesus Vices also sometimes thus Deified by them as Contumely and Impudence to whom were Temples dedicated at Athens though to the end that these things might be Deprecated These Accidents sometimes Deified under Counterfeit Proper Names as Pleasure under the name of Volupia and Lubentina Venus Time under the name of Chronos or Saturn Prudence or Wisedom under the names of Athena or Minerva against which Origen in his answer to Celsus Cicero himself allowed of Dedicating Temples to Mind Vertue Piety Faith c. Page 518 520 But such Accidents and Affections of Things Deifyed could not possibly be Accounted True and Proper Gods they having not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any Reall Subsistence or Substantiall Essence of their own And thus does Origen again dispute against Minerva's Godship as Tropologized into Prudence As he doth also elsewhere upon the same Ground against that of Memory the Mother of the Muses and that of the Graces he concluding these and such like therefore to be nothing but Figments of the Greeks they being Things Personated and Feigned with Humane Members Thus the Pagans condemned by Prudentius also for Feigning Things Incorporeal with Counterfeit Members These Gods plainly Exploded by Cotta or Cicero in disguise as having onely Vim Rerum but not Deorum the Force of Things but not of Gods in them or being but Naturae Rerum and not Figurae Deorum Page 520 521 Wherefore the True meaning of these Deified Natures of Things could be no other then this that God was to be acknowledged and worshipped in All things or as the Pagans themselves declare it that the Force of every thing was both governed by God and it self Divine Pliny of this Breaking and Crumbling of the Deity into Parts Every one Worshipping that in God and for a God which himself most stood in need of This dividing of the Simple Deity and Worshipping it Brokenly by parcells and piece-meal as manifested in all the Several Things of Nature and Parts of the world Justly Censured and Elegantly Perstringed by Prudentius against Symmachus Where Prudentius grants that Symmachus who declared that it was One thing which all worshipped when he sacrificed to Victory did sacrifice to God Almighty under that Partiall Notion as the Giver of Victory This in the Egyptian Allegory Osiris Mangled and Cut in pieces by Typhon Victory and Vertue as well as Neptune Mars and Bellona but several names or Notions of Jupiter in the Prologue of Plautus his Amphitryo Page 521 522 Vossius his opinion that these Deified Accidents and Natures of Things as well as the other Pagan Invisible Gods were commonly lookt upon by the Vulgar as so many Single Substantiall Minds or Spirits Created by the Supreme God and appointed to preside over those several things respectively Where it is acknowledged that neither the Political nor the Poetical Gods of the Pagans were taken so much as by the Vulgar for so many Independent Deities Page 523 524 Probable that by these Gods the Wiser Pagans sometimes understood Demons in Generall or Collectively that is whosoever they were that were appointed to preside over those several Things or dispense them As
Aeolus in Arrianus seems to be taken for the Demons appointed by God Almighty to preside over the Winds Page 524 525 Lactantius his Reason why the Consentes and Select Gods vulgarly worshipped by the Romans could not be Single Demons or Angels Page 525 And from Aristotle's Observation against Zeno That according to Law or Civil Theology One God was chief for one thing and another for another Concluded that these Political Gods were not properly the Subservient Ministers of the Supreme and therefore could be nothing but several Names and Notions of One Natural God according to his Various Powers and Effects Page 525 526 And thus does Vossius himself afterwards confess That according to the Natural Theology all the Pagan Gods were but Several Denominations of one God Where notwithstanding this Learned and Industrious Philologer seems to take the Natural and Philosophick Theology for the Physiological he making the God thereof the Nature of things Whereas the Natural Theology was the True and Real and Philosophical opposed both to the Fictions of the Poets and the Institutes of Law-makers and Politicians As Varro affirmeth that in Cities those things were Worshipped and believed according to False Opinions which had no Nature nor Real Subsistence neither in the World nor without it The God of the Pagans not the Nature of things which could be the Numen of none but of Atheists but an Understanding Being the Great Mind or Soul of the whole World pervading all things Thus unquestionably true that the Many Poetical and Political Gods were but several Names or Notions of One Natural Real and True God Besides which there were other Inferiour Ministers of this Supreme God acknowledged to be the Instruments of his Providence and Religiously worshipped also A brief but full accompt of the Pagans Natural Theology set down by Prudentius Page 526 527 And when the more high-flown Pagans referred these Poetical and Political Gods to the Divine Idea's or Patterns of things in the Archetypal World which besides the Platonists the Egyptians in Celsus are said to have done making the Brute Animals worshipped by them but Symbols of the Eternal Idea's They hereby made these Gods to be but so many Partiall Considerations of One God neither as being All things or Containing in himself the Causes of all things as Julian himself declareth in his Sixth Oration Page 527 528 An Anacephalaeosis That much of the Pagan Polytheism was but the Polyonymy of One God he being worshipped under several Names First according to several General Notions of him as of Janus Genius Saturn Minerva Urania or the Heavenly Venus or Love and others before declared So also of Summanus according to S. Austin and Themis afterwards to be mentioned Page 528 529 And Secondly according to other more Particular Notions of him in their Special Gods as Acting in some Parts of the world onely or exercising some Particular Powers Page 529 530 And Lastly as Pervading All things and Being All things or the Cause of All things he was thereupon called by the Name of Every thing or Every thing by his Name The Pagans in S. Austin That their Ancestors were not so sottish as not to understand that those Things of Nature were but Divine Gifts and not Themselves Gods And the Pagans in Eusebius That the Invisible God the Cause of All things ought to be worshipped in his Visible Effects wherein he hath displayed himself Page 530 Though the Two former Kinds of these Gods onely called by Athanasius Poetical and Fictitious he opposing them to those of the Third sort that were Natural and Real things yet may these also be well called Poetical Fictitious and Phantastical Gods too because though themselves were Real things Existing in Nature yet was their Personation and Deification meer Fiction Fancy and Poetry And accordingly were they before called by Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meer Figments of the Greeks Page 530 531 XXXIV Of those Pagans who supposed the Supreme God to be the Whole Animated World Hitherto shewed that even the most Refined of the Pagans agreed in these Two things First in Breaking and Crumbling the One Simple Deity and multiplying it into Many Gods or Parcelling it out into several Particular Notions according to its several Powers and Virtues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being to these Pagans the same thing with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And then in Theologizing the whole World Personating and Deifying the Natures of Things Accidents and Inanimate Bodies They supposing God to Pervade all things and Himself to be in a manner All things Therefore every thing to the Religious Sacred and Divine and God to be Worshipped in All. Page 531 532 We shall now add that both those forementioned Principles of God's Pervading all things and his Being all things were carried on farther by those Pagan Theologers who had no higher Notion of the Supreme Deity then as the Soul of the World For First Whereas the more Refined Pagans supposed God to Pervade all things Unmixedly These Mingled and Confounded him with the whole World Some of them supposing him also to be a Subtile Body Page 532 533 Again Whereas the other more Sublimated Pagans affirmed God so to be All as nevertheless to be something also Above all These concluded him to be nothing Higher then the Animated World Page 533 And though they supposed that as well in this Mundane Animal as in other Animals there was something Principal and Hegemonical whether the Sun or Aether or Fire which therefore was Emphatically called God yet did they conceive the whole Matter thereof to be Animated and so to be All God Not barely as Matter but by reason of the Soul thereof Page 534 535 Now if the Whole World Animated be the Supreme God then must all the Parts and Members of the World be the Parts and Members of One God but not themselves therefore properly so Many Gods This affirmed by Origen as the True Sense of these Pagans against that unwary Assertion of Celsus That If the Whole were God then must the several Parts thereof needs be Gods Page 535 Wherefore though these Pagans Deified the Parts of the World and Natures of Things as well as the Powers of the Mundane Soul yet did not the Intelligent amongst them Worship them severally as so many True and Proper Gods but onely as the Parts and Members of one Great Animal or God or rather Worship the great Mundane Soul the Life of the whole World in them all This proved from S. Austin Page 536 537 The same plainly declared also by the Pagans in Athanasius That not the Divided Parts of the World were by them accounted so many several Gods but the Whole made up of them All One God which yet might be worshipped in its several Parts Page 537 The Pagans being thus divided as to their Opinions concerning the Natural and True Theology some of them Worshipped the World as the Body of God but others only as his Image or
or Identity besides Consent of Will or that they all agree in the Uncreated Nature onely This Grossly asserted in the Dialogues of the Trinity Vulgarly Imputed to Athanasius and to that purpose also That Three Men are not Three Men but onely then when they Dissent from one another in Will and Opinion But these Dialogues Pseudepigraphous Nevertheless to be Granted that Athanasius himself in that Book of the Common Essence of the Persons seems to lay something too much Stresse upon this Common Nature Essence or Substance of the Three Persons as to the making of them all but One God However it is certain he does not there rely upon that alone and elsewhere acknowledgeth it to be insufficient The true Reason why Athanasius laid so great a Stresse upon the Homoousiotes not because this alone would make them One God but because they could not possibly be One God without it For if the Father be Uncreated and the Son a Creature then can they not both be One God Several Passages of Athanasius Cited to this purpose Those Expressions in him of One Godhead and the Sameness of the Godhead and One Essence or Substance in the Trinity not so to be understood as if the Three Persons were but several Names Notions or Modes of One Thing Page 612 616 Wherefore though Athanasius lay his Foundation in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Common Specifick Unity of the Persons which is their Consubstantiality in order to their being One God yet does he superadde other Considerations also thereunto A◠first of all this That they are not Three Principles but onely One the Essence of the Father being the Root and Fountain of the Son and Spirit and the Three Hypostases gathered together under One Head Where Athanasius implies That were they perfectly Co-ordinate and Independent they would not be One but Three Gods Page 616 In the next place he further addeth That these Three Hypostases are not Three Separated Disjoined Things but Indivisibly United as the Splendor is Indivisible from the Sun and Wisedom from him that is Wise. That neither of these Persons could be without the other nor any thing come between them they so immediately Conjoyned together as that there is a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Continuity betwixt them Page 616 617 Thirdly Athanasius goes yet higher affirming these Three Hypostases not onely to be Indivisibly Conjoyned but also to have a Mutual Inexistence in each other This afterwards called an Emperichoresis That of our Saviour I am in the Father and the Father in me therefore Quarrelled at by the Arians because they conceived of Things Incorporeal after a Corporeal manner That the Godhead of the Son is the Godhead of the Father and the Father exercises a Providence over all in the Son Page 617 619 Lastly Athanasius also in Sundry Places supposes the Three Divine Hypostases to make up one Entire Divinity as the Fountain and the Stream make up one entire River the Root Stock and Branches one entire Tree Accordingly the word Homoousios used by Athanasius in a further Sense not onely to signify things Agreeing in one Common and General Essence but also such as Essentially Concurr to the making up of One Entire thing That the Three Hypostases do Outwardly or Ad extrà produce all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One and the self-same Action the Father By the Word In the Holy Spirit doing all things That all this Doctrine of Athanasius would have been readily assented to by Plato and his Genuine Followers The Platonick Christian therefore Concludeth That there is no such Real Difference betwixt the Genuine Platonick Trinity and that of the First Orthodox Anti-Arian Fathers as some conceive From which notwithstanding that Tritheistick Trinity of S. Greg. Nyssen Cyril and others of Three Co-ordinate Individuals under the same Species as Three Men seems to have been a Deviation Page 619 620 Hitherto the Platonick Christians Apology for the Genuine Platonick Trinity or Endeavour to reconcile it with the Doctrine of the Ancient Church Where nothing is asserted by our selves but all Submitted to the Judgement of the Learned in these Matters And whatsoever in Plato's Trinity shall be found Discrepan◠from the sense of the First Orthodox Anti-Arian Fathers utterly disclaimed by us Athanasius a great Instrument of Divine Providence for preserving the Christian Church from Lapsing into a kind of Paganick and Idolatrous Christianity ibid. The Reason of this Apology for the Genuine Platonick Trinity Because it is against the Interest of Christianity that this should be made more Discrepant from the Christian then indeed it is Moreover certain that this Genuine Platonick Trinity was Anti-Arian or rather the Arian Anti-Platonick Wherefore Socrates wondered that Georgius and Timotheus Presbyters should adhere to the Arian Faction when one of them was accounted much a Platonist the other an Origenist Page 620 621 Furthermore Platonick Pagans after Christianity highly approved of the Beginning of S. John's Gospell concerning the Logos as exactly agreeing with their Platonick Doctrine Thus Amelius in Eusebius and others A Platonist in S. Austine That it deserved to be writ in Golden Letters and set up in some Eminent places in every Christian Church But that which is most of all Considerable to Justify this Apology The generality of Christian Fathers before and after the Nicene Councill look'd upon this Platonick Trinity if not as really the Same thing with the Christian yet as approaching so near thereunto that it differed chiefly in Circumstances or Manner of Expression Thus Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus Origen S. Cyprian or the Authour of the Book De Spiritu Sancto Eusebius Caesariensis and which is most of all to the purpose Athanasius himself he giving a Signal Testimony thereunto To which may be added S. Austine and Theodoret. S. Cyril though blaming the Platonick Subordination Himself supposing the Trinity to be Three Co-ordinate Individuals under the same Specifick Nature of the Godhead yet acknowledges that Plato was not altogether ignorant of the Truth c. But that Plato's Subordination of his Second Hypostasis to the First was not as the Arian of a Creature to the Creatour already made unquestionably Evident Page 621 625 Wherefore a Wonderfull Providence of Almighty God here to be taken notice of That this Doctrine of a Trinity of Divine Hypostases should be entertained in the Pagan World before Christianity as it were to prepare a way for the Reception of it amongst the Learned Which the Junior Platonists were so sensible of that besides their other Adulterations of the Platonick Trinity before mentioned for the Countenancing of their Polytheism and Idolatry they at length Innovated and Altered the whole Cabbala now no longer acknowledging a Trinity but at least a Quaternity of Divine Hypostases namely before and besides the Trinity another Hypostasis superiour thereunto and standing alone by it self This first started by Iamblichus carried on by Proclus taken notice of by S. Cyril besides which
Plutarch in Herodotus as spoken Universally Plutarch himself restraining the Sense thereof to his Evill Principle Plato's ascribing the World to the Divine Goodness who therefore made all things most like Himself The true meaning of this Proverb That the Deity affecteth to Humble and Abase the Pride of men Lucretius his Hidden Force that hath as it were a Spite to all Overswelling Greatnesses could be no other then the Deity Those amongst Christians who make the worst Representation of God yet Phansy him Kind and Gracious to Themselves Page 659 660 True that Religion often expressed by the Fear of God Fear Prima Mensura Deitatis the First Impression that Religion makes upon men in this Lapsed State But this not a Fear of God as Mischievous and Hurtfull nor yet as a meer Arbitrary Being but as Just and an Impartiall Punisher of Wickedness Lucretius his acknowledging mens Fear of God to be conjoyned with a Conscience of Duty A Naturall Discrimination of Good and Evill with a Sense of an Impartiall Justice presiding over the World and both Rewarding and Punishing The Fear of God as either a Hurtfull or Arbitrary and Tyrannicall Being which must needs be joyned with something of Hatred not Religion but Superstition Fear Faith and Love Three Steps and Degrees of Religion to the Son of Sirach Faith better Defined in Scripture then by any Scholasticks God such a Being as if he were not Nothing more to be Wished for Page 660 661 The Reason why Atheists thus mistake the Notion of God as a Thing onely to be Feared and consequently Hated from their own Ill Nature and Vice The latter disposing them so much to think that there is no Difference of Good and Evill by Nature but onely by Law which Law Contrary to Nature as Restraint to Liberty Hence their denying all Naturall Charity and Acknowledging no Benevolence or Good Will but what arises from Imbecillity Indigency and Fear Their Friendship at best no other then Mercatura Utilitatum Wherefore if there were an Omnipotent Deity this according to the Atheistick Hypothesis could not have so much as that Spurious Love or Benevolence to any thing because standing in Need of Nothing and Devoid of Fear Thus Cotta in Cicero All this asserted also by a late Pretender to Politicks He adding thereunto that God hath no other Right of Commanding then his Irresistible Power nor men any Obligation to obey him but onely from their Imbecillity and Fear or because they cannot Resist him Thus do Atheists Transform the Deity into a Monstrous Shape an Omnipotent Being that hath neither Benevolence nor Justice in him This indeed a Mormo or Bugbear Page 661 662 But as this a false Representation of Theism so the Atheistick Scene of things most Uncomfortable Hopeless and Dismall upon severall Accounts True that no Spightfull Designs in Sensless Atoms in which Regard Plutarch Preferred even this Atheistick Hypothesis before that of an Omnipotent Mischievous Being However no Faith nor Hope neither in Sensless Atoms Epicurus his Confession that it was better to believe the Fable of the Gods then that Materiall Necessity of all things asserted by the other Atheistick Physiologers before himself But he not at all mending the Matter by his supposed Free Will The Panick Fear of the Epicureans of the Frame of Heaven's Cracking and this Compilement of Atoms being dissolved into a Chaos Atheists running from Fear plunge themselves into Fear Atheism rather then Theism from the Imposture of Fear Distrust and Disbelief of Good But Vice afterwards prevailing in them makes them Desire there should be No God Page 663 664 Thus the Atheists who derive the Origin of Religion from Fear First put an Affrightfull Vizard upon the Deity and then conclude it to be but a Mormo or Bugbear the Creature of Fear and Phancy More likely of the Two that the Opinion of a God sprung from Hope of Good then Fear of Evill but neither of these True it owing its Being to the Imposture of no Passion but supported by the Strongest and clearest Reason Nevertheless a Naturall Prolepsis or Anticipation of a God also in mens Minds Preventing Reason This called by Plato and Aristotle a Vaticination Page 664 665 The Second Atheistick Pretence to salve the Phaenomenon of Religion from the Ignorance of Causes and mens innate â—uriosity Vpon which Account the Deity said by them to be nothing but an Asylum of Ignorance or the Sanctuary of Fools next to be Confuted Page 665 That the Atheists both Modern and Ancient here commonly Complicate these Two together Fear and Ignorance of Causes making Theism the Spawn of both as the Fear of Children in the Dark raises Bugbears and Spectres Epicurus his Reason why he took such great pains in the Study of Physiology that by finding out the Naturall Causes of things he might free men from the Terrour of a God that would otherwise Assault their Minds ibid. The Atheists thus Dabbling in Physiology and finding out Materiall Causes for some of those Phaenomena which the unskilfull Vulgar salve onely from a Deity therefore Confident that Religion had no other Originall then this Ignorance of Causes as also that Nature or Matter does all things alone without a God But we shall make it manifest That Philosophy and the True Knowledge of Causes Lead to a Deity and that Atheism from Ignorance of Causes and want of Philosophy Page 665 666 For First No Atheist who derives all from Senslesse Matter can possibly assign any Cause of Himself his own Soul or Mind it being Impossible that Life and Sense should be Naturally produced from what Dead and Sensless or from Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions An Atheistick Objection nothing to the purpose That Laughing and Crying things are made out of Not-Laughing and Crying Principles because these result from the Mechanism of the Body The Hylozoists never able neither to produce Animal Sense and Consciousness out of what Sensless and Inconscious The Atheists supposing their own Life and Understanding and all the Wisedom that is in the World to have sprung meerly from Sensless Matter and Fortuitous Motion Grossely Ignorant of Causes The Philosophy of Our Selves and True Knowledge of the Cause of our own Soul and Mind brings to God Page 666 667 Again Atheists Ignorant of the Cause of Motion by which they suppose all things done this Phaenomenon being no way Salvable according to their Principles First undeniably certain That Motion not Essential to all Body or Matter as such because then there could have been no Mundane System no Sun Moon Earth c. All things being continually Torn in Pieces and Nothing Cohering Certain also That Dead and Sensless Matter such as that of Anaximander Democâ—itus and Epicurus cannot Move it self Spontaneously by Will or Appetite The Hylozoists further considered elsewhere Democritus could assign no other Cause of Motion then this That one Body moved another from Eternity Infinitely without any First Cause or Mover Thus also a Modern Writer To
by perfect Art and Wisedome This Atheistick Fanaticism Page 675 676 No more Possible That Dead and Sensless Matter Fortuitously Moved should at length be Taught and Necessitated by it self to produce this Artificial System of the World then that a dozen or more Persons unskilled in Musick and striking the Strings as it Happened should at length be Taught and Necessitated to fall into Exquisite Harmony Or that the Letters in the Writings of Plato and Aristotle though having so much Philosophick Sense should have been all Scribbled at randome More Philosophy in the Great Volume of the World then in all Aristotle's and Plato's Works and more of Harmony then in any Artificial Composition of Vocall Musick That the Divine Art and Wisedom hath printed such a Signature of it self upon the Matter of the Whole World as Fortune and Chance could never Counterfeit Page 676 677 But in the next place the Atheists will for all this undertake to Demonstrate That things could not Possibly be made by any Intending Cause for Ends and Uses as Eyes for Seeing Ears for Hearing from hence Because things were all in Order of Time as well as Nature before their Uses This Argument seriously propounded by Lucretius in this manner If Eyes were made for the Use of Seeing then of necessity must Seeing have been before Eyes But there was no Seeing before Eyes Therefore could not Eyes be made for the sake of Seeing Page 677 678 Evident that the Logick of these Atheists differs from that of all other Mortalls according to which the End for which any thing is designedly made is onely in Intention First but in Execution Last True that Men are Commonly excited from Experience of things and Sense of their Wants to Excogitate Means and Remedies but it doth not therefore follow that the Maker of the World could not have a Preventive Knowledge of whatsoever would be Usefull for Animals and so make them Bodies Intentionally for those Vses That Argument ought to be thus framed Whatsoever is made Intentionally for any End as the Eye for that of Seeing that End must needs be in the Knowledge and Intention of the Maker before the Actual Existence of that which is made for it But there could be no Knowledge of Seeing before there were Eyes Therefore Eyes could not be made Intentionally for the sake of Seeing Page 678 This the True Scope of the Premised Atheistick Argument however disguised by them in the first Propounding The Ground thereof Because they take it for granted That all Knowledge is derived from Sense or from the Things Known Pre-Existing without the Knower And here does Lucretius Triumph The Controversy therefore at last resolved into this Whether all Knowledge be in its own Nature Junior to Things for if so it must be Granted that the World could not be Made by any Antecedent Knowledge But this afterwards fully Confuted and Proved That Knowledge is not in its own Nature Ectypall but Archetypall and that Knowledge was Older then the World and the Maker thereof Page 679 But Atheists will Except against the Proving of a God from the Regular and Artificiall frame of things That it is unreasonable to think there should be no Cause in Nature for the Common Phaenomena thereof but a God thus Introduced to salve them Which also to suppose the world Bungled and Botcht up That Nature is the Cause of Naturall things Which Nature doth not Intend nor Act for Ends. Wherefore the Opinion of Finall Causality for things in Nature but an Idolum Specûs Therefore rightly banished by Democritus out of Physiology Page 679 680 The Answer Two Extreams here to be avoided One of the Atomick Atheists who derive all things from the Fortuitous Motion of Sensless Matter Another of Bigoticall Religionists who will have God to doe all things Himself Immediately without any Nature The Middle betwixt both That there is not onely a Mechanicall and Fortuitous but also an Artificiall Nature Subservient to the Deity as the Manuary Opificer and Drudging Executioner thereof True that some Philosophers have absurdly attributed their own Properties or Animal Idiopathies to Inanimate Bodies Nevertheless this no Idol of the Cave or Den to suppose the System of the World to have been framed by an Understanding Being according to whose Direction Nature though not it self Intending Acteth Balbus his Description of this Artificiall Nature in Cicero That there could be no Mind in us were there none in the Universe That of Aristotle True That there is more of Art in some things of Nature then in any thing Made by Men. Now the Causes of Artificiall things as a House or Clock cannot be declared without Intention for Ends. This Excellently pursued by Aristotle No more can the Things of Nature be rightly Vnderstood or the Causes of them fully Assigned meerly from Matter and Motion without Intention or Mind They who banish Finall or Mentall Causality from Philosophy look upon the Things of Nature with no other Eyes then Oxen and Horses Some pitifull Attempts of the Ancient Atheists to salve the Phaenomena of Animals without Mentall Causality Democritus and Epicurus so cautious as never to pretend to give an Account of the Formation of the Foetus Aristotle's Judgement here to be Preferred before that of Democritus Page 680 683 But nothing more Strange then that these Atheists should be justified in this their Ignorance by Professed Theists and Christians who Atomizing likewise in their Physiology contend that this whole Mundane System resulted onely from the Necessary and Unguided Motion of Matter either Turned Round in a Vortex or Jumbled in a Chaos without the Direction of any Mind These Mechanick Theists more Immodest then the Atomick Atheists themselves they supposing these their Atoms though Fortuitously moved yet never to have produced any Inept System or Incongruous Forms but from the very first all along to have Ranged themselves so Orderly as that they could not have done it better had they been directed by a Perfect Mind They quite take away that Argument for a God from the Phaenomena and that Artificiall Frame of things leaving onely some Metaphysicall Arguments which though never so good yet by reason of their Subtlety cannot doe so much Execution The Atheists Gratified to see the Cause of Theism thus betrayed by its professed Friends and the Grand Argument for the same totally Slurred by them Page 683 684 As this Great Insensibility of Mind to look upon the Things of Nature with no other Eyes then Brute Animals do so are there Sundry Phaenomena partly Above the Mechanick Powers and partly Contrary to the same which therefore can never be Salved without Mentall and Finall Causality As in Animals the Motion of the Diaphragma in Respiration the Systole and Diastole of the Heart Being a Muscular Constriction and Relaxation To which might be added others in the Macrocosm as the Intersection of the Planes of the Equator and Ecliptick or the Earth's Diurnall Motion upon an Axis not
Parallell with that of its Annual Cartesius his Confession that according to Mechanick Principles these should continually come nearer and nearer together which since they have not done Finall or Mentall Causality here to be acknowledged and because it was Best it should be so But the Greatest Phaenomenon of this kind the Formation and Organization of Animals which these Mechanists never able to give any Account of Of that Posthumous Piece of Cartesius De la Formation Du Foetus Page 684 685 Pretended That to assign Finall Causes is to presume our selves to be as Wise as God Almighty or to be Privy to his Counsells But the Question not Whether we can always reach to the Ends of God Almighty or know what is Absolutely Best in every Case and accordingly Conclude things therefore to be so but Whether any thing in the World be made for Ends otherwise then would have resulted from the Fortuitous Motion of Matter No Presumption nor Intrusion into the Secrets of God Almighty to say that Eyes were made by him Intentionally for the sake of Seeing Anaxagoras his Absurd Aphorism That Man was therefore the most Solert of all Animals because he Chanced to have Hands Far more Reasonable to think as Aristotle concludeth That because Man was the wisest of all Animals therefore he had Hands given him More proper to give Pipes to one that hath Musicall skill then upon him that hath Pipes to bestow Musicall skill Page 685 In the Last place The Mechanick Theists Pretend and that with some more plausibility That it is below the Dignity of God Almighty to perform all those Mean and Triviall Offices of Nature Himself Immediatly This Answered again That though the Divine Wisedom it Self Contrived the System of the whole for Ends yet is there an Artificial Nature under him as his Inferiour Minister and Executioner Proclus his Description hereof This Nature to Proclus a God or Goddess but onely as the Bodies of the Animated Stars were called Gods because the Statues of the Gods Page 685 686 That we cannot otherwise Conclude concerning these Mechanick Theists who derive all things in the Mundane System from the Necessary Motions of Sensless Matter without the Direction of any Mind or God but that they are Imperfect Theists or have a certain Tang of the Atheistick Enthusiasm the Spirit of Infidelity hanging about them Page 687 But these Mechanick Theists Counterbalanc'd by another sort of Atheists not Fortuitous nor Mechanicall namely the Hylozoists who acknowledge the works of Nature to be the works of Understanding and deride Democritus his Rough and Hooky Atoms devoid of Life they attributing Life to all Matter as such and concluding the Vulgar Notion of a God to be but an Inadequate Conception of Matter its Energetick Nature being taken alone by it self as a Compleat Substance These Hylozoists never able to satisfy that Phaenomenon of the One Agreeing and Conspiring Harmony throughout the whole Universe every Atom of Matter according to them being a Distinct Percipient and these Vnable to confer Notions with One another Page 687 Nor can the other Cosmo-Plastick Atheists to whom the whole World but one Huge Plant or Vegetable Endued with a Spermatick Artificiall Nature Orderly disposing the whole without Sense or Understanding doe any thing towards the Salving of This or any other Phaenomena it being Impossible That there should be any such Regular Nature otherwise then as Derived from and Depending on a Perfect Mind ibid. Besides these Three Phaenomena of Cogitation Motion and the Artificial Frame of things with the Conspiring Harmony of the Whole no way Salvable by Atheists Here further Added That those who asserted the Novity of the World could not possibly give an Account neither of the First Beginning of Men and other Animals not now Generated out of Putrefaction Aristotle sometimes doubtfull and staggering concerning the World's Eternity Men and all other Animals not produced at first by Chance either as Worms out of Putrefaction or out of Eggs or Wombs growing out of the Earth Because no Reason to be given why Chance should not as well produce the same out of the Earth still Epicurus his vain Pretence that the Earth as a Child-bearing Woman was now grown Effete and Barren Moreover Men and Animals whether first Generated out of Putrefaction or excluded out of Wombs or Egge-shells supposed by these Atheists themselves to have been produced in a Tender Infant-like State so that they could neither supply themselves with nourishment nor defend themselves from harms A Dream of Epicurus That the Earth sent forth streams of Milk after those her New-born Infants and Nurslings Confuted by Critolaus in Philo. Another Precarious Supposition or Figment of Epicurus That then no immoderate Heats nor Colds nor any blustering Winds Anaximander's way of Salving this Difficulty That Men were first generated and nourished in the bellies of Fishes till able to shift for themselves and then disgorged upon dry land Atheists swallow any thing rather then a God Page 688 689 Wherefore here being Dignus Vindice Nodus a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reasonably introduced in the Mosaick Cabbala to solve the same It appearing from all Circumstances put together that this whole Phaenomenon surpasses not onely the Mechanick but also the Plastick Powers there being much of Discretion therein However not denied but that the Ministery of Spirits Created before Man and other Terrestrial Animals might be here made use of As in Plato after the Creation of Immortal Souls by the Supreme God the Framing of Mortal Bodies is committed to Junior Gods Page 689 690 Furthermore Atheists no more able to Salve that ordinary Phaenomenon of the Conservation of Species by the Difference of Sexes and a due Proportion of Number kept up between Males and Females Here a Providence also Superiour as well to the Plastick as Mechanick Nature ibid. Lastly Other Phaenomena as Real though not Physical which Atheists cannot possibly Salve and therefore do commonly Deny as of Natural Justice or Honesty and Obligation the Foundation of Politicks and the Mathematicks of Religion And of Liberty of Will not onely That of Fortuitous Self-determination when an equal Eligibility of Objects but also That which makes men deserve Commendation and Blame These not commonly distinguished as they Ought Epicurus his endeavour to Salve Liberty of Will from Atoms Declining Vncertainly from the Perpendicular meer Madness and Frenzy Page 690 691 And now have we already Preventively Confuted the Third Atheistick Pretence to Salve the Phaenomenon of Theism from the Fiction and Imposture of Politicians we having proved That Philosophy and the true Knowledg of Causes inferre the Existence of a God Nevertheless this to be here further Answered Page 691 That States-men and Politicians could not have made such use of Religion as sometimes they have done had it been a meer Cheat and Figment of their own Civil Sovereigns in all the distant places of the World could not have so universally conspired in this one
Materiarian Theists acknowledged God to be a Perfectly-understanding Being and Such as had also Power over the Whole Matter of the Universe which was utterly unable to move it self or to produce any thing without him And all of them except the Anaxagoreans concluded that He was the Creator of all the Forms of Inanimate Bodies and of the Souls of Animals However it was Universally agreed upon amongst them that he was at least The Orderer and Disposer of all and that therefore he might upon that account well be called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Maker or Framer of the World Notwithstanding which so long as they Maintained Matter to exist Independently upon God and sometimes also to be Refractory and Contumacious to him and by that means to be the Cause of Evli contrary to the Divine Will it is plain that they could not acknowledge the Divine Omnipotence according to the Full and Proper sence of it Which may also further appear from these Queries of Seneca concerning God Quantum Deus possit Materiam ipse sibi Formet an Datâ utatur Deus quicquid Vult efficiat An in multis rebus illuni Tractanda destituant à Magno Artifice Pravè formentur multa non quia cessat Ars sed quia id in quo exercetur saepe Inobsequens Arti est How far Gods Power does extend Whether he make his own Matter or only use that which is offered him Whether he can do whatsoever he will Or the Materials in many things Frustrate and Disappoint him and by that means things come to be Ill-framed by this great Artificer not because his Art fails him but because that which it is exercised upon proves Stubborn and Contumacious Wherefore I think we may well conclude that those Materiarian Theists had not a Right and Genuine Idea of God Nevertheless it does not therefore follow that they must needs be concluded Absolute Atheists for there may be a Latitude allowed in Theism and though in a strict and proper sence they be only Theists who acknowledge One God perfectly Omnipotent the Sole Original of of all things and as well the Cause of Matter as of any thing else yet it seems reasonable that such Consideration should be had of the Infirmity of Humane Understandings as to extend the Word further that it may comprehend within it those also who assert One Intellectual Principle Self-existent from Eternity the Framer and Governor of the whole World though not the Creator of the Matter and that none should be condemned for Absolute Atheists merely because they hold Eternal Vncreated Matter unless they also deny an Eternal Vnmade Mind ruling over the Matter and so make Sensless Matter the Sole Original of all things And this is certainly most agreeable to common apprehensions for Democritus and Epicurus would never have been condemned for Atheists merely for asserting Eternal Self-existent Atoms no more than Anaxagoras and Archelaus were who maintained the same thing had they not also denied that other Principle of theirs a Perfect Mind and concluded that the World was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Without the ordering and disposal of any Vnderstanding Being that had all Happiness with Incorruptibility VIII The True and Proper Idea of God in its Most Contracted Form is this A Being Absolutely Perfect For this is that alone to which Necessary Existence is Essential and of which it is Demonstrable Now as Absolute Perfection includes in it all that belongs to the Deity so does it not only comprehend besides Necessary Existence Perfect Knowledge or Understanding but also Omni-causality and Omnipotence in the full extent of it otherwise called Infinite Power God is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Animans quo nihil in omni Natura praestantius as the Materiarian Theists describ'd him The Best Living Being nor as Zeno Eleates called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Most Powerful of all things but he is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Absolutely Omnipotent and Infinitely Powerful and therefore neither Matter nor any thing else can exist of it self Independently upon God but he is the Sole Principle and Source from which all things are derived But because this Infinite Power is a thing which the Atheists quarrel much withal as if it were altogether Vnintelligible and therefore Impossible we shall here briefly declare the Sence of it and render it as we think easily Intelligible or Conceivable in these Two following steps First that by Infinite Power is meant nothing else but Perfect Power or else as Simplicius calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Whole and Entire Power such as hath no Allay and Mixture of Impotency nor any Defect of Power mingled with it And then again that this Perfect Power which is also the same with Infinite is really nothing else but a Power of Producing and Doing all whatsoever is Conceivable and which does not imply a Contradiction for Conception is the Only Measure of Power and its Extent as shall be shewed more fully in due place Now here we think fit to observe that the Pagan Theists did themselves also vulgarly acknowledge Omnipotence as an Attribute of the Deity which might be proved from sundry Passages of their Writings Homer Od. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deus aliud post aliud Jupiter Bonúmque Malúmque dat Potest enim Omnia And again Od. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deus autem hoc dabit illud omittet Quodcunque ei libitum fuerit Potest enim Omnia To this Purpose also before Homer Linus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And after him Callimachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are possible for God to do and nothing transcends his Power Thus also amongst the Latin Poets Virgil Aen. the First Sed Pater Omnipotens Speluncis abdidit Atris Again Aen. the Second At Pater Anchises oculos ad sydera laetus Extulit Coelo palmas cum Voce tetendit Jupiter Omnipotens precibus si flecteris ullis And Aen. the Fourth Talibus orantem dictis arásque tenentem Audiit Omnipotens Ovid in like manner Metamorph. 1. Tum Pater Omnipotens misso persregit Olympum Fulmine excussit subjectum Pelion Ossae And to cite no more Agatho an ancient Greek Poet is commended by Aristotle for affirming nothing to be exempted from the Power of God but only this that he cannot make That not to have been which hath been that is do what implies a Contradiction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hoc namque duntaxat negatum etiam Deo est Quae facta sunt Infecta posse reddere Lastly that the Atheists themselves under Paganism look'd upon Omnitence and Infinite Power as an Essential Attribute of the Deity appears plainly from Lucretius when he tells us that Epicurus in order to the Taking away of Religion set himself
the Earth and Hell One being the God or Goddess of Learning and Wisdom Another of Speech and Eloquence Another of Justice and Political Order One the God of War Another the God of Pleasure One the God of Corn and Another the God of Wine and the like For how can it be conceived that a Multitude of Understanding Beings Self-existent and Independent could thus of themselves have fallen into such a Uniform Order and Harmony and without any clashing peaceably and quietly sharing the Government of the whole World amongst them should carry it on with such a Constant Regularity For which Cause we conclude also that neither those Dii Majorum Gentium whether the Twenty Selecti or the Twelve Consentes nor yet that Triumvirate of Gods amongst whom Homer shares the Government of the whole World according to that of Maximus Tyrius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sea being assigned to Neptune the Dark and Subterraneous Parts to Pluto but the Heaven to Jupiter which Three are sometimes called also the Celestial Marine and Terrestrial Jupiter Nor lastly that other Roman and Samothracian Trinity of Gods worshipped all together in the Capitol Jupiter Minerva and Juno I say that none of all these could reasonably be thought by the Pagans themselves to be so many really distinct Vnmade and Self-existent Deities Wherefore the Truth of this whole business seems to be this that the ancient Pagans did Physiologize in their Theology and whether looking upon the Whole World Animated as the Supreme God and consequently the Several Parts of it as his Living Members or else apprehending it at least to be a Mirror or Visible Image of the Invisible Deity and consequently all its Several Parts and Things of Nature but so many Several Manifestations of the Divine Power and Providence they pretended that all their Devotion towards the Deity ought not to be Hudled up in one General and Confused Acknowledgment of a Supreme Invisible Being the Creator and Governour of all but that all the Several Manifestations of the Deity in the World considered singly and apart by themselves should be made so many Distinct Objects of their Devout Veneration and therefore in order hereunto did they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak of the things in Nature and the Parts of the World as Persons and consequently as so many Gods and Goddesses yet so as that the Intelligent might easily understand the Meaning that these were all really nothing else but so many Several Names and Notions of that One Numen Divine Force and Power which runs through the whole World multiformly displaying it self therein To this purpose Balbus in Cicero Videtisne ut à Physicis rebus tracta Ratio sit ad Commentitios Fictos Deos See you not how from the Things of Nature Fictitious Gods have been made And Origen seems to insist upon this very thing where Celsus upbraids the Jews and Christians for worshipping One only God shewing that all that seeming Multiplicity of Pagan Gods could not be understood of so Many Distinct Substantial Independent Deities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To this Sence Let Celsus therefore himself shew how he is able to make out a Multiplicity of Gods Substantial and Self-existent according to the Greeks and other Barbarian Pagans let him declare the Essence and Substantial Personality of that Memory which by Jupiter generated the Muses or of that Themis which brought forth the Hours Or let him shew how the Graces always Naked do subsist by themselves But he will never be able to do this nor to make it appear that those Figments of the Greeks which seem to be really nothing else but the Things of Nature turned into Persons are so many distinct Self-existent Deities Where the latter Words are thus rendred in a Late Edition Sed nunquam poterit Celsus Graecorum Figmenta quae validiora fieri videntur ex rebus ipsis Deos esse arguere which we confess we cannot understand but we conceive the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there turned Validiora fieri is here used by Origen in the same sence with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that his meaning is as we have declared that those Figments of the Greeks and other Barbarian Pagans which are the same with Balbus his Commentitii Ficti Dii are really nothing else but the Things of Nature Figuratively and Fictitiously Personated and consequently not so many Distinct Substantial Deities but only several Notions and Considerations of One God or Supreme Numen in the World Now this Fictitious Personating and Deifying of Things by the Pagan Theologers was done Two manner of ways One when those Things in Nature were themselves without any more ado or Change of Names spoken of as Persons and so made Gods and Goddesses as in the many instances before proposed Another when there were distinct Proper and Personal Names accommodated severally to those Things as of Minerva to Wisdom of Neptune to the Sea of Ceres to Corn and of Bacchus to Wine In which Latter Case those Personal Names Properly signifie the Invisible Divine Powers supposed to preside over those several Things in Nature and these are therefore properly those Gods and Goddesses which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Givers and Dispensers of the Good Things and the Removers of the Contrary but they are used Improperly also for the Things of Nature themselves which therefore as Manifestations of the Divine Power Goodness and Providence Personated are sometimes also Abusively called Gods and Goddesses This Mystery of the Pagan Polytheism is thus fully declared by Moscopulus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must know that whatsoever the Greeks or Pagans saw to have any Power Vertue or Ability in it they looked upon it as not acting according to such Power without the Providence Presidency or Influence of the Gods and they called both the Thing it self which hath the Power and the Deity presiding over it by one and the same Name whence the Ministerial Fire used in Mechanick Arts and the God presiding over those Arts that work by fire were both alike called Hephaestus or Vulcan so the name Demetra or Ceres was given as well to Corn and Fruits as to that Goddess which bestows them Athena or Minerva did alike signifie Wisdom and the Goddess which is the Dispenser of it Dionysus or Bacchus Wine and the God that giveth Wine whence Plato etymologizes the Name from giving of Wine In like manner they called both the Childbearing of Women and the Goddesses that superintend over the same Eilithuia or Lucina Coitus or Copulation and the Deity presiding over it Aphrodite or Venus And lastly in the same manner by the Muses they signified both those Rational Arts Rhetorick Astronomy Poetry and the Goddesses which assist therein or promote the same Now as the several Things in Nature and Parts of the Corporeal World are thus Metonymically and Catacrestically called Gods and Goddesses it is evident that such Deities as
as also that there was no Theogonia nor Temporary Production of the Inferiour Gods from these Verses of his according to Grotius his Correction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nempe Dî semper fuerunt atque nunquam intercident Haec quae dico semper nobis rebus in iisdem se exhibent Extitisse sed Deorum Primum perhibetur Chaos Quînam verò nam de nihilo nîl pote primum existere Ergo nec Primum profecto quicquam nec fuit Alterum Sed quae nunc sic appellantur alia fient postmodum Where though he acknowledges this to have been the General Tradition of the ancient Theists That Chaos was before the Gods and that the Inferior Mundane Gods had a Temporary Generation or Production with the World yet notwithstanding does he conclude against it from this Ground of Reason because Nothing could procede from Nothing and therefore both the Gods and indeed whatsoever else is Substantial in the World was from Eternity Unmade only the Fashion of things having been altered Moreover Diodorus Siculus affirms the Chaldeans likewise to have asserted this Dogma of the Worlds Eternity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Chaldeans affirm the Nature of the World to be Eternal and that it was neither Generated from any Beginning nor will ever admit Corruption Who that they were not Atheists for all that no more than Aristotle appears from those following words of that Historiographer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They believe also that the Order and Disposition of the World is by a certain Divine Providence and that every One of those things which come to pass in the Heavens happens not by chance but by a certain determinate and firmly ratified Judgment of the Gods However it is a thing known to all that the Generality of the later Platonists stiffly adhered to Aristotle in this neither did they onely assert the Corporeal World with all the Inferior Mundane Gods in it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ingenerate and to have existed from Eternity but also maintained the same concerning the Souls of Men and all other Animals They concluding that no Souls were Younger than Body or the World and because they would not seem to depart from their Master Plato therefore did they endeavour violently to force this same sence upon Plato's words also Notwithstanding which concerning these Latter Platonists it is here observable that though they thus asserted the World and all Inferior Gods and Souls to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to that stricter sence of the Word declared that is to have had no Temporary Generation or Beginning but to have Existed from Eternity yet by no means did they therefore conceive them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-originated and Self-existing but concluded them to have been all derived from one sole Self-existent Deity as their Cause which therefore though not in order of Time yet of Nature was before them To this purpose Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind or God was before the World not as if it existed before it in Time but because the World proceeded from it and that was in order of Nature First as the cause thereof and its Archetype or Paradigm the World also always subsisting by it and from it And again elsewhere to the same purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things which are said to have been made or Generated were not so Made as that they ever had a Beginning of their Existence but yet they were Made and will be always Made in another sence nor will they ever be destroyed otherwise than as being dissolved into those Simple Principles out of which some of them were compounded Where though the World be said never to have been Made as to a Temporary beginning yet in another sence is it said to be always Made as depending upon God perpetually as the Emanative Cause thereof Agreeably whereunto the Manner of the Worlds Production from God is thus declared by that Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They do not rightly who Corrupt and Generate the World for they will not understand what Manner of Making or Production the World had to wit by way of Effulgency or Eradiation from the Deity From whence it follows that the World must needs have been so long as there was a God as the Light was coeve with the Sun So likewise Proclus concludes that the World was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 always Generated or Eradiated from God and therefore must needs be Eternal God being so Wherefore these Latter Platonists supposed the same thing concerning the Corporeal World and the Lower Mundane Gods which their Master Plato did concerning his Higher Eternal Gods that though they had no Temporary Production yet they all depended no less upon one Supreme Deity than if they had been made out of Nothing by Him From whence it is manifest that none of these Philosophers apprehended any Repugnancy at all betwixt these Two Things Existence from Eternity and Being Caused or produced by Another Nor can we make any great Doubt but that if the Latter Platonists had been fully convinced of any Contradictious Inconsistency here they would readily have disclaimed that their so beloved Hypothesis of the Worlds Eternity it being so far from Truth what some have supposed that the Assertors of the Worlds Eternity were all Atheists that these Latter Platonists were led into this Opinion no otherwise than from the sole Consideration of the Deity to wit its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 its Essential Goodness and Generative Power or Emanative Fecundity as Proclus plainly declares upon the Timaeus Now though Aristotle were not Acted with any such Divine Enthusiasm as these Platonists seem to have been yet did he notwithstanding after his sober Manner really maintain the same thing That though the World and Inferior Mundane Gods had no Temporary Generation yet were they nevertheless all Produced from One Supreme Deity as their Cause Thus Simplicius represents that Philosopher's Sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle would not have the World to have been made so as to have had a Beginning but yet nevertheless to have been produced from God after some other manner And again afterward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristotle though making God the Cause of the Heaven and its Eternal Motion yet concludes it notwithstanding to have been Ingenerate or Vnmade that is without Beginning However we think sit here to observe that though Aristotle do for the most part express a great deal of Zeal and Confidence for that Opinion of the Worlds Eternity yet doth he sometimes for all that seem to flag a little and speak more Languidly and Sceptically about it as for Example in his Book De Partibus Animalium where he treats concerning an Artificial Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is more likely that the Heaven was
made by such a Cause as this if it were Made and that it is maintained by such a Cause than that Mortal Animals should be so which yet is a thing more generally acknowledged Now it was before declared that Aristotle's Artificial Nature was nothing but the mere Executioner or Opificer of a Perfect Mind that is of the Deity which Two therefore he sometimes joyns together in the Cosmopoeia affirming that Mind and Nature that is God and Nature were the Cause of this Universe And now we see plainly that though there was a Real Controversie amongst the Pagan Theologers especially from Aristotle's time downward concerning the Cosmogonia and Theogonia according to the Stricter notion of those words the Temporary Generation or Production of the World and Inferior Gods or whether they had any Beginning or no yet was there no Controversie at all concerning the Self-existency of them but it was Universally agreed upon amongst them That the World and the Inferior Gods however supposed by some to have existed from Eternity yet were nevertheless all derived from one Sole Self-existent Deity as their Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being either Eradiated or Produced from God Wherefore it is observable that these Pagan Theists who asserted the Worlds Eternity did themselves distinguish concerning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orium Natum Factum as that which was Equivocal and though in one sence of it they denied that the World and Inferior Gods were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet notwithstanding did they in another sence clearly affirm the same For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say they strictly and properly taken is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which in respect of time passed out of Non-existence into Being or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which being not before afterwards was Nevertheless they acknowledge that in a larger sence this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be taken also for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which doth any way depend upon a Superior Being as its Cause And there must needs be the same Equivocation in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that this in like manner may be taken also either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that which is Ingenerate in respect of Time as having no Temporary Beginning or else for that which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ingenerate or Vnproduced from any Cause in which latter sence that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Vnmade is of equal force and extent with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is Self-subsistent or Selforiginated and accordingly it was used by those Pagan Theists who concluded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That Matter was Vnmade that is not only existed from Eternity without Beginning but also was Self-existent and Independent upon any Superior Cause Now as to the Former of these two sences of those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Generality of the ancient Pagans and together with them Plato affirmed the World and all the Inferior Gods to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have been Made in Time or to have had a Beginning for whatever the Latter Platonists pretend this was undoubtedly Plato's Notion of that word and no other when he concluded the World to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forasmuch as himself expresly opposes it to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is Eternal But on the contrary Aristotle and the Later Platonists determined the World and all the Inferior Gods to be in this sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as had no Temporary Beginning but were from Eternity However according to the later Sence of those words all the Pagan Theologers agreed together that the World and all the Inferior Gods whether having a Beginning or Existing from Eternity were notwithstanding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 produced or derived from a Superior Cause and that thus there was only One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Vnproduced and Self-existent Deity who is said by them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Superior to a Cause and Older than any Cause he being the Cause of all things besides himself Thus Crantor and his Followers in Proclus zealous Assertors of the Worlds Eternity determined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the World with all the Inferior Mundane Gods in it notwithstanding their Being from Eternity might be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is orti or made as being produced from another Cause and not Self-originated or Self-existing In like manner Proclus himself that grand Champion for the Worlds Eternity plainly acknowledged notwithstanding the Generation of the Gods and World in this sence as being produced from a Superior Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We call it the Generations of the Gods meaning thereby not any Temporary Production of them but their Ineffable Procession from a Superior First Cause Thus also Salustius in his Book de Diis Mundo where he contends the World to have been from Eternity or without Beginning yet concludes both it and the other Inferiour Gods to have been made by One Supreme Deity who is called by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the First God For saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God or the First Cause having the greatest power or being Omnipotent ought therefore to make not only Men and other Animals but also Gods and Demons And accordingly this is the Title of his 13. Chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How Eternal things may be said to be Made or Generated It is true indeed as we have often declared that some of the Pagan Theists asserted God not to be the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only Vnmade and Self-existent Being but that Matter also was such nevertheless this Opinion was not so generally received amongst them as is commonly supposed and though some of the ancient Fathers confidently impute it to Plato yet there seems to be no sufficient ground for their so doing and Porphyrius Jamblychus Proclus and other Platonists do not only professedly oppose the same as false but also as that which was dissonant from Plato's Principles Wherefore according to that larger Notion of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as taken synonymously with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there were Very many of the Pagan Theologers who agreed with Christians in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God is the only Ingenerate or Vnmade Being and that his very Essence is Ingenerability or Innascibility all other things even Matter it self being made by him But all the rest of them only a few Ditheists excepted though they supposed Matter to be Self-existent yet did they conclude that there was only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 onely One Vnmade or Vnproduced God and that all their other Gods were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in One sence or other if not as Made in Time yet at least as Produced from a Superiour Cause Nothing now remaineth but onely that we shew how