Figure Site and Motion and Partly something that is Phantastical in the Sentient That the Atomical Physiology did emerge after this manner from that Principle of Reason that Nothing comes from Nothing nor goes to Nothing might be further convinced from the testimony of Aristotle writing thus concerning it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The ancient Physiologers concluded that because Contraries were made out of one another that therefore they were before one way or other Inexistent Arguing in this manner That if whatsoever be made must needs be made out of Something or out of Nothing and this latter that any thing should be made out of Nothing is Impossible according to the general Consent of all the ancient Physiologers then it follows of Necessity that all Corporeal things are Made or Generated out of things that were really before and Inexistent though by reason of the smallness of their Bulks they were Insensible to us Where Aristotle plainly intimates that all the ancient Philosophers whosoever insisted upon this Principle that Nothing comes from Nothing nor goes to Nothing were one way or other Atomical and did resolve all Corporeal things into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain Moleculae or Corpuscula which by Reason of their smallness were insensible to us that is into Atoms But yet there was a difference between these Atomists forasmuch as Anaxagoras was such an Atomist as did notwithstanding hold Forms and Qualities really distinct from the Mechanical Modifications of Bodies For he not being able as it seems well to understand that other Atomical Physiology of the Ancients that exploding Qualities salved all Corporeal Phaenomena by Mechanism and Phancy and yet acknowledging that that Principle of theirs which they went upon must needs be true That Nothing could of it self come from Nothing nor go to Nothing framed a new kind of Atomology of his own in supposing the whole Corporeal World or Mass of Matter to consist of Similar Atoms that is such as were originally endued with all those different Forms and Qualities that are vulgarly conceived to be in Bodies some Bony some Fleshy some Firie some Watery some White some Black some Bitter some Sweet and the like so that all Bodies whatsoever had some of all sorts of these Atoms which are in a manner Infinite specifically differing from one another in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That all things were in every thing mingled together because they saw that every thing was made of every thing but that things seemed to differ from one another and were denominated to be this or that from those Atoms which are most predominant in the Mixture by reason of their Multiplicity Whence he concluded that all the Generations Corruptions and Alterations of Bodies were made by nothing but the Concretions and Secretions of Inexistent and Preexistent Atoms of different Forms and Qualities without the Production of any new Form and Qualitie out of Nothing or the Reduction of any into Nothing This very account Aristotle gives of the Anaxagorean Hypothesis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anaxagoras seemeth therefore to make Infinite Atoms endued with several Forms and Qualities to be the Elements of Bodies because he supposed that Common opinion of Physiologers to be true that Nothing is Made of Nothing But all the other ancient Physiologers that were before Anaxagoras and likewise those after him who insisting upon the same Principle of Nothing coming from Nothing did not Anaxagorize as Empedocles Democritus and Protagoras must needs make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dissimilar Moleculae and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atoms unformed and unqualified otherwise than by Magnitude Figure and Motion to be the Principles of Bodies and cashiering Forms and Qualities as real Entities distinct from the Matter resolve all Corporeal Phaenomena into Mechanism and Phancie Because if no Real Entity can come from Nothing nor go to Nothing then one of these two things is absolutely Necessary that either these Corporeal Forms and Qualities being real Entities distinct from the Matter should exist before Generations and after Corruptions in certain insensible Atoms originally such according to the Anaxagorean Doctrine Or else that they should not be Real Entities distinct from the Matter but only the different Modifications and Mechanisms of it together with different Phancies And thus we have made it evident that the genuine Atomical Physiology did spring originally from this Principle of Reason that no Real Entitie does of it self come from Nothing nor go to Nothing XXIX Now we shall in the next place show how this very same Principle of Reason which induced the Ancients to reject Substantial Forms and Qualities of Bodies and to Physiologize Atomically led them also unavoidably to assert Incorporeal Substances and that the Souls of Men and Animals were such neither Generated nor Corrupted They had argued against Substantial Forms and Qualities as we have shewed in this manner that since the Forms and Qualities of Bodies are supposed by all to be Generated and Corrupted made anew out of Nothing and destroyed to Nothing that therefore they could not be Real Entities distinct from the Substance of Matter but only different Modifications of it in respect of Figure Site and Motion causing different Sensations in us and were all to be resolved into Mechanism and Fancie For as for that Conceit of Anaxagoras of Prae and Post-existent Atoms endued with all those several Forms and Qualities of Bodies Ingenerably and Incorruptibly it was nothing but an Adulteration of the genuine Atomical Philosophy and a mere Dream of his in which very few follow'd him And now they argue contrariwise for the Souls of Men and Animals in this manner Because they are plainly Real Entities distinct from the Substance of Matter and its Modification and Men and Brutes are not mere Machins neither can Life and Cogitation Sense and Consciousness Reason and Understanding Appetite and Will ever result from Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions that therefore they are not Corporeally Generated and Corrupted as the Forms and Qualities of Bodies are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is impossible for a real Entity to be made or Generated from Nothing preexisting Now there is Nothing of Soul and Mind Reason and Understanding nor indeed of Cogitation and Life contained in the Modifications and Mechanism of Bodies and therefore to make Soul and Mind to rise out of Body whensoever a man is generated would be plainly to make a real Entity to come out of Nothing which is impossible I say because the Forms and Qualities of Bodies are Generated and Corrupted Made and Unmade in the ordinary course of Nature therefore they concluded that they were not real Entities distinct from the Substance of Body and its various Modifications but because Soul and Mind is plainly a real Entity distinct from the Substance of Body its Modification and Mechanism that therefore it was not a thing Generated and Corrupted Made and Unmade but such as had a Being of its own a Substantial Thing by
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
debent From the Fortuitous Concretions of Senseless Vnknowing Atoms did rise up afterwards in certain parts of the World called Animals Soul and Mind Sense and Vnderstanding Counsel and Wisdom But to think that there was any Animalish Nature before all these Animals or that there was an antecedent Mind and Understanding Counsel and Wisdom by which all Animals themselves together with the whole World were made and contrived is either to run round in a Senseless Circle making Animals and Animality to be before one another infinitely or else to suppose an impossible Beginning of an Original Understanding Quality in the Matter Atoms in their first Coalitions together when the World was a making were not then directed by any previous Counsel or preventive Understanding which were things as yet Unborn and Unmade Nam certè neque consilio Primordia rerum Ordine se quaeque atque sagaci mente locârunt Nec quos quaeque darent motus pepigere profectó Mind and Understanding Counsel and Wisdom did not lay the Foundations of the Universe they are no Archical things that is they have not the Nature of a Principle in them they are not Simple Original Primitive and Primordial but as all other Qualities of Bodies Secundary Compounded and Derivative and therefore they could not be Architectonical of the World Mind and Vnderstanding is no God but the Creature of Matter and Motion The sence of this whole Argument is briefly this The first Principle of all things in the whole Universe is Matter or Atoms devoid of all Qualities and consequently of all Life Sense and Understanding and therefore the Original of things is no Understanding Nature or Deity XI Seventhly The Democritick Atheists argue further after this manner They who assert a Deity suppose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole World to be Animated that is to have a Living Rational and Understanding Nature presiding over it Now it is already evident from some of the premised Arguments that the World cannot be Animated in the sence of Platonists that is with an Incorporeal Soul which is in order of Nature before Body it being proved already that there can be no Substance Incorporeal as likewise that it cannot be Animated neither in the Stoical sence so as to have an Original Quality of Understanding or Mind in the Matter But yet nevertheless some may possibly imagine that as in our selves and other Animals though compounded of Sensless Atoms there is a Soul and Mind resulting from the Contexture of them which being once made domineers over the Body governing and ordering it at pleasure so there may be likewise such a Living Soul and Mind not only in the Stars which many have supposed to be lesser Deities and in the Sun which has been reputed a principal Deity but also in the whole Mundane System made up of Earth Seas Air Ether Sun Moon and Starrs all together one General Soul and Mind which though resulting at first from the Fortuitous Motion of Matter yet being once produced may rule govern and sway the Whole Understandingly and in a more perfect manner than our Souls do our Bodies and so long as it continues exercise a Principality and Dominion over it Which although it will not amount to the full Notion of a God according to the strict sence of Theists yet it will approach very near unto it and indanger the bringing in of all the same Inconveniences along with it Wherefore they will now prove that there is no such Soul or Mind as this resulting from the Contexture of Atoms that presides over the Corporeal Universe that so there may not be so much as the Shadow of a Deity left It was observed before that Life Sense Reason and Understanding are but Qualities of Concreted Bodies like those other Qualities of Heat and Cold c. arising from certain particular Textures of Atoms Now as those first Principles of Bodies namely single Atoms have none of those Qualities in them so neither hath the whole Universe any that it can be denominated from but only the Parts of it The whole World is neither Black nor White Hot nor Cold Pellucid nor Opake it containing all those Qualities in its several Parts In like manner the whole has no Life Sense nor Understanding in it but only the parts of it which are called Animals That is Life and Sense are qualities that arise only from such a Texture of Atoms as produceth soft Flesh Blood and Brains in Bodies organized with Head Heart Bowels Nerves Muscles Veins Arteries and the like Sensus jungitur omnis Visceribus Nervis Venis quaecunque videmus Mollia mortali consistere Corpore creta And Reason and Understanding properly so called are peculiar Appendices to humane Shape Ratio nusquam esse potest nisi in hominis figura From whence it is concluded that there is no Life Soul nor Understanding acting the whole World because the World hath no Blood nor Brains nor any Animalish or Humane Form Qui Mundum ipsum Animantem sapientemque esse dixerunt nullo modo viderunt Animi Naturam in quam Figuram cadere posset Therefore the Epicurean Poet concludes upon this Ground that there is no Divine Sense in the whole World Dispositum videtur ubi esse crescere possit Seorsim Anima atque Animus tanto magis inficiandum Totum posse extra Corpus Formámque Animalem Putribus in glebis terrarum aut Solis in Igni Aut in Aqua durare aut altis Aetheris oris Haud igitur constant Divino praedita Sensu Quandoquidem nequeunt vitaliter esse Animata Now if there be no Life nor Understanding above us nor round about us nor any where else in the World but only in our selves and Fellow-Animals and we be the highest of all Beings if neither the whole Corporeal System be Animated nor those greater parts of it Sun Moon nor Stars then there can be no danger of any Deity XII Eighthly the Democritick Atheists dispute further against a Deity in this manner The Deity is generally supposed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Perfectly Happy Animal Incorruptible and Immortal Now there is no Living Being Incorruptible and Immortal and therefore none perfectly Happy neither For according to that Democritick Hypothesis of Atoms in Vacuity the only Incorruptible things will be These three First of all Vacuum or Empty Space which must needs be such because it cannot suffer from any thing since it is plagarum expers Et manet intactum nec ab ictu fungitur hilum Secondly the Single Atoms because by reason of their Parvitude and Solidity they are Indivisible And lastly the Summa Summarum of all things that is the Comprehension of all Atoms dispersed every where throughout Infinite Space Quia nulla loci stat copia certum Quò quasi res possint discedere dissolüique But according to that other Hypothesis of some modern Atomists which also was entertained of old by Empedocles that supposes a Plenity there is nothing
Atheism besides those Four already mentioned because all Atheists are Corporealists and yet all Corporealists not Atheists but only such as make the first Principle of all things not to be Intellectual 31. A Distribution of Atheisms producing the former Quaternio and showing the Difference between them 32. That they are but Bunglers at Atheism who talk of Sensitive and Rational Matter and that the Canting Astrological Atheists are not at all considerable because not understanding themselves 33. Another Distribution of Atheisms That they either derive the Original of things from a Merely Fortuitous Principle the Vnguided Motion of Matter or else from a Plastick and Methodical but Sensless Nature What Atheists denied the Eternity of the World and what asserted it 34. That of these Four Forms of Atheism the Atomick or Democritical and the Hylozoick or Stratonical are the chief and that these Two being once confuted all Atheism will be confuted 35. These Two Forms of Atheism being contrary to one another how we ought in all reason to insist rather upon the Atomick but that afterwards we shall confute the Hylozoick also and prove against all Corporealists that no Cogitation nor Life belongs to Matter 36. That in the mean time we shall not neglect any Form of Atheism but confute them all together as agreeing in one Principle as also show how the old Atomick Atheists did sufficiently overthrow the Foundation of the Hylozoists 37. Observed here that the Hylozoists are not condemned merely for asserting a Plastick Life distinct from the Animal which with most other Philosophers we judge highly probable if taken in a Right Sence but for grosly misunderstanding it and attributing the same to Matter 〈◊〉 The Plastick Life of Nature largely explained 38. 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 reasons to violate those Laws crave the Readers Pardon for this Preposterousness A considerable Observation of Plato's that it is not only Moral Vitiosity 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 undertaking to evince that they fumble in all their Ratiocinations That we hope to make it appear that the Atheists are no Conjurers and that all Forms of Atheism are Non-sence and Impossibility I. WE have now represented the Grand Mysteries of Atheism which may be also called the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Darkness though indeed some of them are but briefly hinted here they being again more fully to be insisted on afterward where we are to give an account of the Atheists Endeavours to Salve the Phaenomenon of Cogitation We have represented the chief Grounds of Atheism in General as also of that most Notorious Form of Atheism in particular that is called Atomical but whereas there hath been already mentioned another Form of Atheism called by us Hylozoical the Principles hereof could not possibly be insisted on in this place where we were to make the most Plausible Plea for Atheism they being directly contrary to those of the Atomical so that they would have mutually destroyed each other For whereas the Atomick Atheism supposes the Notion or Idea of Body to be nothing but Extended Resisting Bulk and consequently to include no manner of Life and Cogitation in it Hylozoism on the contrary makes all Body as such and therefore every smallest Atom of it to have Life Essentially belonging to it Natural Perception and Appetite though without any Animal Sense or Reflexive Knowledge as if Life and Matter or Extended Bulk were but two Incomplete and Inadequate Conceptions of one and the same Substance called Body By reason of which Life not Animal but only Plastical all parts of Matter being supposed able to form themselves Artificially and Methodically though without any Deliberation or Attentive Consideration to the greatest advantage of their present respective Capabilities and therefore also sometimes by Organization to improve themselves further into Sense and Self-enjoyment in all Animals as also to Vniversal Reason and Reflexive Knowledge in Men it is plain that there is no Necessity at all left either of any Incorporeal Soul in Men to make them Rational or of any Deity in the whole Universe to salve the Regularity thereof One main difference betwixt these two Forms of Atheism is this that the Atomical supposes all Life whatsoever to be Accidental Generable and Corruptible But the Hylozoick admits of a certain Natural or Plastick Life Essential and Substantial Ingenerable and Incorruptible though attributing the same only to Matter as supposing no other Substance in the World besides it II. Now to prevent all Mistakes we think fit here by way of Caution to suggest That as every Atomist is not therefore necessarily an Atheist so neither must every Hylozoist needs be accounted such For who ever so holds the Life of Matter as notwithstanding to assert another kind of Substance also that is Immaterial and Incorporeal is no way obnoxious to that soul Imputation However we ought not to dissemble but that there is a great Difference here betwixt these two Atomism and Hylozoism in this regard That the former of them namely Atomism as hath been already declared hath in it self a Natural Cognation and Conjunction with Incorporeism though violently cut off from it by the Democritick Atheists whereas the latter of them Hylozoism seems to have altogether as close and intimate a Correspondence with Corporealism Because as hath been already signified if all Matter as such have not only such a Life Perception and Self-active Power in it as whereby it can Form it self to the best advantage making this a Sun and that an Earth or Planet and fabricating the Bodies of Animals most Artificially but also can improve it self into Sense and Self-enjoyment it may as well be thought able to advance it self higher into all the Acts of Reason and Vnderstanding in Men so that there will be no need either of an Incorporeal Immortal Soul in Men or a Deity in the Universe Nor indeed is it easily conceivable how any should be induced to admit such a Monstrous Paradox as this is That every Atom of Dust or other Sensless Matter is Wiser than the greatest Politician and the most acute Philosopher that ever was as having an Infallible Omniscience of all its own Capabilities and Congruities were it not by reason of some strong Prepossession against Incorporeal Substance and a Deity there being nothing so Extravagánt and Outragiously Wild which a Mind once infected with Atheistical Sottishness and Disbelief will not rather greedily swallow down than admit a Deity which to such is the highest of all Paradoxes imaginable and the most affrightful Bug-bear Notwithstanding all which it may not be denied but that it is possible for one who really entertains the belief of a Deity and a Rational Soul Immortal
mentem qua sapimus qu a providemus qua haec ipsa agimus dicimus videre aut planè qualis ubi sit sentire possumus There is there is certainly such a divine Force in the world neither is it reasonable to think that in these gross and frail Bodies of ours there should be something which hath Life Sense and Vnderstanding and yet no such thing in the whole Vniverse unless men will therefore conclude that there is none because they see it not as if we could see our own mind whereby we order and dispose all things and whereby we reason and speak thus and perceive what kind of thing it is and where it is lodged Where as there is a strong asseveration of the Existence of a God so is his Singularity plainly implied in that he supposes him to be One Mind or Soul acting and governing the whole World as our Mind doth our Body Again in his Tusculan Questions Nec verò Deus ipse alio modo intelligi potest nisi Mens Soluta quaedam Libera segregata ab omni Concretione mortali omnia sentiens movens Neither can God himself be understood by us otherwise than as a certain Loose and Free Mind segregated from all mortal Concretion which both perceives and moves all things So again in the same Book Haec igitur alia innumerabilia cum cernimus possumusne dubitare quin his praesit aliquis vel Effector si haec nata sunt ut Platoni videtur vel si semper fuerint ut Aristoteli placet Moderator tanti operis muneris When we behold these and other wonderful works of Nature can we at all doubt but that there presideth over them either One Maker of all if they had a beginning as Plato conceiveth or else if they always were as Aristotle supposeth One Moderator and Governour And in the Third De Legibus Sine Imperio nec Domus ulla nec Civitas nec Gens nec Hominum universum Genus stare nec rerum Natura omnis nec ipse Mundus potest Nam hic Deo paret huic obediunt Maria Terraeque hominum vita jussis supremae legis obtemperat Without Government neither any House nor City nor Nation nor Mankind in general nor the whole Nature of things nor the World it self could subsist For This also obeyeth God and the Seas and Earth are subject to him and the Life of man is disposed of by the Commands of the Supreme Law Elsewhere he speaks of Dominans ille nobis Deus qui nos vetat hinc injussu suo demigrare That God who rules over all Mankind and forbids them to depart hence without his lieve Of Deus cujus numini parent omnia That God whose Divine Power all things obey We read also in Cicero of Summus or Supremus Deus the Supreme God to whom the First making of Man is properly imputed by him of Summi Rectoris Domini Numen The Divine Power of the Supreme Lord and Governour of Deus praepotens and Rerum omnium praepotens Jupiter The most Powerful God and Jupiter who hath power over all things of Princeps ille Deus qui omnem hunc mundum regit sicut Animus humanus id corpus cui praepositus est That Chief or Principal God who governs the whole world in the same manner as a Humane Soul governeth that Body which it is set over Wherefore as for those Passages before objected where the Government of the World as to the concernments of Mankind at least is ascribed by Cicero to Gods Plurally this was done by him and other Pagans upon no other account but only this because the Supreme God was not supposed by them to do all things himself immediatly in the Government of the World but to assign certain Provinces to other Inferiour Gods as Ministers under him which therefore sharing in the Oeconomy of the World were look'd upon as Co-governours thereof with him Thus when Balbus in Cicero to excuse some seeming defects of Providence in the Prosperities of wicked and the Adversities of good men pretended Non animadvertere omnia Deos nè Reges quidem That the Gods did not attend to all things as neither do Kings Cotta amongst other things replied thus Fac Divinam Mentem esse distentam Coelum versantem terram tuentem maria moderantem cur tam multos Deos nihil agere cessare patitur Cur non rebus humanis aliquos otiosos Deos praefecit qui à te Balbe Innumerabilis explicati sunt Should it be granted that the Divine Mind or Supreme Deity were distracted with turning round the Heavens observing the Earth and Governing the Seas yet why does he let so many other Gods to do nothing at all Or why does he not appoint some of those Idle Gods over Humane affairs which according to Balbus and the Stoicks are innumerable Again when the Immortal Gods are said by Cicero to have Provided for the convenience of Mankind in their First Constitution this doubtless is to be understood according to the Platonick Hypothesis that the Gods and Demons being first made by the Supreme God were set a work and employed by him afterward in the making of man and other mortal Animals And lastly as to that which hath the greatest difficulty of all in it when the whole World is said by Cicero to have been made by the Providence of the Gods this must needs be understood also of those Eternal Gods of Plato's according to whose Likeness or Image the World and Man are said to have been made that is of the Trinity of Divine Hypostases called by Amelius Plato's Three Minds and Three Kings and by others of the Platonists the First and Second and Third God and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The First and Second Cause c. And it may be here observed what we learn from S. Cyril that some Pagans endeavoured to justifie this Language and Doctrine of theirs even from the Mosaick Writings themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they suspecting that the God of the Vniverse being about to make man did there bespeak the other Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were Secondary and Inferiour to him after this manner Let Vs make man according to Our own Image and likeness Which S. Cyril and other Christian Writers understand of the Trinity Now those Eternal Gods of Plato according to whose Image the World and Man is said by him to have been made and which though one of them were properly called the Demiurgus yet had all an Influence and Causality upon the making of it were as hath been already observed not so many Independent and Self-originated Deities but all derived from One First Principle And therefore Cicero following Plato in this is not to be suspected upon that account to have been an Asserter of Many Independent Gods or Partial Creators of the
Dark denying it to be a Rule and Measure of Truth His own words are these There are Two Species of Knowledge the One Genuine the other Dark or Obscure The Dark and Obscure Knowledge is Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting Touching But the Genuine Knowledge is another more Hidden and Recondit To which purpose there is another Fragment also of this Democritus preserved by the same Sextus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bitter and Sweet Hot and Cold are only in Opinion or Phancy Colour is only in opinion Atoms and Vacuum alone in Truth and Reality That which is thought to be are Sensibles but these are not according to Truth but Atoms and Vacuum only Now the chief Ground of this Rational Discovery of the ancient Atomists that Sensible things as Heat and Cold Bitter and Sweet Red and Green are no Real Qualities in the Objects without but only our own Phancies was because in Body there are no such things Intelligible but only Magnitude Figure Site Motion and Rest. Of which we have not only Sensible Ideas Passively impressed upon us from without but also Intelligible Notions Actively Exerted from the Mind it self Which Latter notwithstanding because they are not unaccompanied with Sensible Phantasms are by many unskilfully confounded with them But besides these we have other Intelligible Notions or Ideas also which have no Genuine Phantasms at all belonging to them Of which whosoever doubts may easily be satisfied and convinced by reading but a Sentence or two that he understands in any Book almost that shall come next to his hand and reflexively examining himself whether he have a Phantasm or Sensible Idea belonging to every Word or no. For whoever is modest and ingenuous will quickly be forced to confess that he meets with many Words which though they have a Sence or Intelligible Notion yet have no Genuine Phantasm belonging to them And we have known some who were confidently engaged in the other Opininon being put to read the beginning of Tully's Offices presently non-plust and confounded in that first word Quanquam they being neither able to deny but that there was a Sence belonging to it nor yet to affirm that they had any Phantasm thereof save only of the Sound or Letters But to prove that there are Cogitations not subject to Corporeal Sense we need go no further than this very Idea or Description of God A Substance Absolutely Perfect Infinitely Good Wise and Powerful Necessarily Self-existent and the Cause of all other things Where there is not One Word unintelligible to him that hath any Uunderstanding in him and yet no Considerative and Ingenuous Person can pretend that he hath a Genuine Phantasm or Sensible Idea answering to any one of those words either to Substance or to Absolutely Perfect or to Infinitely or to Good or to Wise or to Powerful or to Necessity or to Self-existence or to Cause or indeed to All or Other or Things Wherefore it is nothing but want of Meditation together with a Fond and Sottish Dotage upon Corporeal Sense which hath so far imposed upon some as to make them believe that they have not the least Cogitation of any thing not subject to Corporeal Sense or that there is nothing in Humane Vnderstanding or Conception which was not First in Bodily Sense a Doctrine highly favourable to Atheism But since it is certain on the contrary that we have many Thoughts not Subject to Sense it is manifes◠that whatsoever falls not under External Sense is not therefore Vnconceivable and Nothing Which whosoever asserts must needs affirm Life and Cogitation it self Knowledge or Vnderstanding Reason and Memory Volition and Appetite things of the greatest Moment and Reality to be Nothing but mere Words without any Significaetion Nay Phancy and Sense it self upon this Hypothesis could hardly scape from becoming Non-Entities too forasmuch as neither Phancy nor Sense falls under Sense but only the Objects of them we neither seeing Vision nor feeling Taction nor hearing Audition much less hearing Sight or seeing Tast or the like Wherefore though God should be never so much Corporeal as some Theists have conceived him to be yet since the Chief of his Essence and as it were his Inside must by these be acknowledged to consist in Mind Wisdom and Vnderstanding he could not possibly as to this fall under Corporeal Sense Sight or Touch any more than Thought can But that there is Substance Incorporeal also and therefore in it self altogether Insensible and that the Deity is such is demonstrated elsewhere We grant indeed that the Evidence of Particular Bodies existing Hîc Nunc without us doth necessarily depend upon the Information of Sense but yet nevertheless the Certainty of this very Evidence is not from Sense alone but from a Complication of Reason and Vnderstanding together with it Where Sense the only Evidence of things there could be no Absolute Truth and Falshood nor Certainty at all of any thing Sense as such being only Relative to Particular Persons Seeming and Phantastical and obnoxious to much Delusion For if our Nerves and Brain be inwardly so moved and affected as they would be by such an Object present when indeed it is absent and no other Motion or Sensation in the mean time prevail against it and obliterate it then must that Object of necessity seem to us present Moreover those Imaginations that spring and bubble from the Soul it self are commonly taken for Sensations by us when asleep and sometimes in Melancholick and Phanciful Persons also when awake That Atheistick Principle that there is no Evidence at all of any thing as Existing but only from Corporeal Sense is plainly contradicted by the Atomick Atheists themselves When they assert Atoms and Vacuum to be the Principles of all things and the Exuvious Images of Bodies to be the Causes both of Sight and Cogitation for Single Atoms and those Exuvious Images were never Seen nor Felt and Vacuum or Empty Space is so far from being Sensible that these Atheists themselves allow it to be the One Only Incorporeal Wherefore they must here go beyond the Ken of Sense and appeal to Reason only for the Existence of these Principles as Protagoras one of them in Plato professedly doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Have a Care that none of the Prophane and Vninitiated in the Mysteries over-hear you By the Prophane I mean saith he those who think nothing to Exist but what they can feel with their Fingers and exclude all that is Invisible out of the Rank of Being Were Existence to be allowed to nothing that doth not fall under Corporeal Sense then must we deny the Existence of Soul and Mind in our selves and others because we can neither Feel nor See any such thing Whereas we are certain of the Existence of our own Souls partly from an inward Consciousness of our own Cogitations and partly from that Principle of Reason That Nothing can not Act. And the Existence of other Individual Souls is manifest to us
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
that whereas the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists admit of no other Efficient Causality in Nature then only Local Motion and allow to Matter or Body their only Substance no Self-Moving Power they hereby make all the Motion that is in the whole world to be without a Cause and from Nothing Action without any Subject or Agent and the Efficiency of all things without an Efficient In the next place should we be so liberal as to grant to the Atomick Atheists Motion without a Cause or permit Strato and the Hylozoick Atheists to attribute to Matter a Self-Moving Power yet do we affirm that this Matter and Motion both together could not Possibly Produce any new Real Entity which was not before Matter as such Efficiently Causing Nothing and Motion only changing the Modifications of Matter as Figure Place Site and Disposition of Parts Wherefore if Matter as such have no Animal Sense and Conscious Vnderstanding Essentially belonging to it which no Atheists as yet have had the Impudence to assert then can no Motion or Modification of Matter no Contexture of Atoms Possibly beget Sense and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind because this would be to bring Something out of Nothing in the Impossible Sense or to suppose Something to be Made by It self without a Cause Which may Serve also for a Confutation of those Imperfect and Spurious Theists who will not allow to God Almighty whether supposed by them to be Corporeal or Incorporeal a Power of Making any thing but only out of Pre-Existent Matter by the new Modifying thereof as a Carpenter makes a House out of Pre-Existing Timber and Stone and a Taylor a Garment out of Pre-Existing Cloth For since Animal Life and Vnderstanding are not by them supposed to belong at all to Matter as such and since they cannot result from any Modifications or Contextures thereof it would plainly follow from hence that God could not Possibly make Animals or Produce Sense and Vnderstanding Souls and Minds which nevertheless these Theists suppose him to have done and therefore ought in reason to acknowledge him not only to be the Maker of New Modifications of Matter and one who Built the world only as a Carpenter doth a House but also of Real Entities distinct from the same And this was the very Doctrine as we have already declared of the most Ancient Atomick Physiologers not That every thing whatsoever might be Made out of Pre-Existing Matter but on the contrary that in all Natural Generations there is no Real Entity Produced out of the Matter which was not before in it but only New Modifications and Consequently that Souls and Minds being not meer Modifications of Matter in respect of Magnitude Figure Site and Motion could never be Produced out of it because they must then of necessity Come from Nothing that is be Made either by Themselves without a Cause or without a Sufficient Cause It hath also been before noted out of Aristotle how the Old Atheistick Materialists being assaulted by those Italick Philosophers after that manner that Nothing which was not before in Matter besides its Modifications could Possibly be Produced out of it because Nothing can Come out of Nothing and consequently that in all Natural Generations and Corruptions there is no Real Entity Made or Destroyed endeavoured without denying the words of that Proposition to Evade after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That there is indeed Nothing Generated or Corrupted in some Sense for as much as the same Substance of Matter always remains it being never Made nor Destroyed For as men do not say that Socrates is Made when he is Made Musical or Handsome nor Destroyed when he looseth these Dispositions because the subject Socrates was before and still remaineth so neither is any Substantial thing or Real Entity in the world Made or Destroyed in this sense because Matter which is the Substance of all perpetually remains and all other things whatsoever are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passions and Affections and Dispositions thereof as Musicalness and Unmusicalness in respect of Socrates Which is all one as if they should say that all things whatsoever besides Matter being but Accidents thereof are Generated out of it and Corruptible into it without the Production of any Real Entity out of Nothing or the Reduction of any into Nothing so long as the Substance of Matter which is the only Real Entity remains always the same Wherefore though Life Sense and Vnderstanding all Souls and Minds be Generated out of Matter yet does it not follow from thence that therefore there is any Real Entity Made or Produced because these are Nothing but Accidents and Modifications of Matter This was the Subterfuge of the Old Hylopathian Atheists Now it is true indeed that whatsoever is in the Universe is either Substance or Accidents and that the Accidents of any Substance may be Generated and Corrupted without the Producing of any Real Entity out of Nothing and Reducing of any into Nothing for as much as the Substance still remains entirely the same But the Atheists taking it for granted that there is no other Substance besides Body or Matter do therefore falsly suppose that which is really Incorporeal Substance or else the Attributes Properties and Modes thereof to be the meer Accidents of Matter and Consequently conclude these to be Generable out of it without the Production of any Real Entity out of Nothing We say therefore that it does not at all follow because the same Numerical Matter as for example a Piece of Wax may be Successively made Spherical Cubical Cylindrical Pyramidal or of any other Figure and the same man may Successively Stand Sit Kneel and Walk both without the Production of Anything out of Nothing or because a heap of Stones Bricks Morter and Timber lying altogether disorderly and confusedly may be made into a Stately Palace and that without the Miraculous Creation of any Real Entity out of Nothing that therefore the same may be affirmed likewise of every thing else besides the bare Substance of Matter as namely Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind that though there be No such thing in Matter it self yet the Production of them out of Matter would be no Production of Something out of Nothing One Ground of which mistake hath been from mens not rightly considering what the Accidents of a Substance are and that they are indeed Nothing but the Modes thereof Now a Mode is such a thing as cannot Possibly be conceived without that whereof it is a Mode as Standing Sitting Kneeling and Walking cannot be conceived without a Body Organized and therefore are but Modes thereof but Life and Cogitation may be clearly apprehended without Body or any thing of Extension nor indeed can a Thought Be conceived to be of such a Length Breadth and Thickness or to be Hewed and Sliced out into many Pieces all which laid together as so many Small Chips thereof would make up again the entireness of that whole
them that is no Contingent Vncertainty in their Motion without bringing of Something out of Nothing which was contrary to the Fundamental Principles of the Atomick Philosophy though this were intolerably absurd in him thus to suppose Contingency and a Kind of Free Will in the Motions of Sensless Atoms so that indeed he brought his Liberty of Will out of Nothing certainly Sense and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind in Animals and Men could not Possibly be Generated out of Atoms or Matter devoid of all Sense and Vnderstanding For the very same Reason Quoniam De Nihilo Nil fit Because Nothing can be Made out of Nothing For unquestionably were all Life and Vnderstanding all Souls and Minds Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter and were there no Substantial or Essential Life and Vnderstanding in the whole Universe then must it of Necessity be all Made out of Nothing or without a Cause and consequently Real Entities and Substantial things be Made out of Nothing which is absolutely Impossible For though we do not say that Life and Cogitation Sense and Vnderstanding abstractly considered are Substances yet do we affirm them to be Entities Really distinct from Matter and no Modifications or Accidents thereof but either Accidents and Modifications or rather Essential Attributes of Substance Incorporeal as also that Souls and Minds which are the Subjects of them are indeed Substantial Things Wherefore We cannot but here again condemn the Darkness of that Philosophy which Educes not only species Visible and Audible Entities Perfectly Unintelligible and Real Qualities distinct from all the Modes of Body and even Substantial Forms too as they call them but also Sensitive Souls themselves both in men and brutes Ex Potentia Materiae Out of the Power of the Matter that is indeed Out of Nothing For as much as this prepares a direct way to Atheism because if Life and Sense Cogitation and Consciousness may be Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter then might this well be supposed the first Original of All things nor could there Reasonably be any Stop made at Rational Souls especially by these men who also conclude them to be Rasae Tabulae meer White Sheets of Paper that have nothing at all in them but what is Scribbled upon them by Corporeal Objects from without there being nothing in the Vnderstanding or Mind of Man which was not before in Sense so that Sense is the First Original Knowledge and Vnderstanding but a Secondary and Derivative thing from it more Vmbratile and Evanide Hitherto have we Demonstrated that all things whatsoever could not possibly be Made out of Matter and particularly that Life and Sense Mind and Vnderstanding being no Accidents or Modes of Matter could not by Motion be Generated out of it without the Production of Real Entities out of Nothing But because some may Possibly Imagine that Matter might otherwise than thus by Motion by a Miraculous Efficiency Produce Souls and Minds we shall add in the last place that Nothing can Efficiently Produce any Real Entity or Substantial thing that was not before unless it have at least equal Perfection to it and a Substantially Emanative or Creative Power But scarcely any man can be so sottish as to Imagine that every Atom of Dust hath Equal Perfection in it to that of the Rational Soul in man or to Attribute a Creative Power to all Matter which is but a Passive thing whilst this is in the mean time denied by him to a Perfect Being both these Assertions also in like manner as the Former Producing Real Entities out of Nothing Causally And thus have we Demonstrated the Impossibility and Non-sense of all Atheism from this very Principle by which the Atheists would assault Theism in the true Sense thereof that No thing can be Made without a Cause or that Nothing cannot be the Cause of Any thing Now if there be no Middle betwixt Atheism and Theism and all things must of Necessity either spring from Sensless Matter or else from a Perfect Vnderstanding Being then is this Demonstration of the Impossibility of Atheism a Sufficient Establishment of the Truth of Theism it being such a Demonstration of a God as the Geometricians call a Deduction Ad Impossibile which they allow of for good and frequently make use of Thus Either there is a God or else Matter must needs be acknowledged to be the only Self-Existent thing and all things else whatsoever to be Made out of it But it is Impossible that all things should be made out of Sensless Matter Therefore is there a God Nevertheless we shall here for further satisfaction show how the Existence of a God may be Directly Demonstrated also from this very Principle which the Atheists endeavour to take Sanctuary in and from thence to impugne Theism De Nihilo Nihil that Nothing can be Made out of Nothing Causally or That Nothing cannot be the Cause of Any thing In the first place therefore we shall fetch our Beginning from what hath been already often declared That it is Mathematically Certain that Something or other did Exist Of It Self from all Eternity or without beginning and Vnmade by any thing else The Certainty of which Proposition dependeth upon this very Principle as its Foundation That Nothing can come from Nothing or be Made out of Nothing or That Nothing which once was not can of it self come into Being without a Cause it following unavoidably from thence That if there had been once Nothing there could never have been Any thing And having thus laid the Foundation we shall in the next place make this further Superstructure that because Something did certainly Exist of it Self from Eternity Vnmade therefore is there also Actually a Necessarily Existent Being For to suppose that any thing did Exist Of It Self from Eternity by its own Free Will and Choice and therefore not Necessarily but Contingently since it might have Willed otherwise this is to suppose it to have Existed before it Was and so Positively to have been the Cause of it self which is Impossible as hath been already declared When a thing therefore is said to be Of It Self or the Cause of It self this is to be understood no otherwise than either in a Negative Sense as having Nothing else for its Cause or because its Necessary Eternal Existence is Essential to the Perfection of its own Nature That therefore which Existed Of It self from Eternity Independently upon any thing else did not so Exist Contingently but Necessarily so that there is undoubtedly something Actually in Being whose Existence is and always was Necessary In the next place it is certain also that Nothing could Exist Necessarily Of it Self but what included Nâ—cessity of Existence in its own Nature For to suppose any thing to Exist Of it self Necessarily which hath no Necessity of Existence in its own Nature is plainly to suppose that Necessary Existence of it to Come from Nothing since it could neither proceed from that Thing
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
Body and its Modifications but yet Generable out of it and Corruptible into it They concluding that as Light and Colours Heat and Cold c. according to those Phancies which we have of them are Real Qualities of Matter distinct from its Substance and Modifications so may Life Sense and Cogitation be in like manner Qualities of Matter also Generable and Corruptible But these Real Qualities of Body in the Sense declared are things that were long since justly exploded by the Ancient Atomists and expunged out of the Catalogue of Entities of whom Laertius hath Recorded that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quite cashier and banish Qualities out of their Philosophy they resolving all Corporeal Phaenomena and therefore those of Heat and Cold Light and Colours Fire and Flame c. intelligibly into nothing but the Different Modifications of Extended Substance viz. More or Less Magnitude of Parts Figure Site Motion or Rest or the Combinations of them and those different Phancies Caused in us by them Indeed there is no other Entity but Substance and its Modifications Wherefore the Democriticks and Epicureans did most shamefully contradict themselves when pretending to reject and explode all those Entities of Real Qualities themselves nevertheless made Life and Vnderstanding such Real Qualities of Matter Generable out of it and Corruptible again into it There is nothing in Body or Matter but Magnitude Figure Site and Motion or Rest now it is Mathematically Certain that these however Combin'd together can never possibly Compound or Make up Life or Cogitation which therefore cannot be an Accident of Matter but must of necessity be a Substantial thing We speak not here of that Life improperly so called which is in Vulgar Speech attributed to the Bodies of Men and Animals for it is plainly Aâ—cidental to a Body to be Vitally Vnited to a Soul or not Therefore is this Life of the Compound Corruptible and Destroyable without the Destruction of any Real Entity there being nothing Destroyed nor Lost to the Universe in the Deaths of Men and Animals as such but only a Disunion or Separation made of those Two Substances Soul and Body one from another But we speak here of the Original Life of the Soul it self that this is Substantial neither Generable nor Corruptible but only Creatable and Annihilable by the Deity And it is strange that any men should perswade themselves that that which Rules and Commands in the Bodies of Animals moving them up and down and hath Sense or Perception in it should not be as Substantial as that Stupid and Sensless Matter that is Ruled by it Neither can Matter which is also but a meer Passive thing Efficiently produce Soul any more than Soul Matter no Finite Imperfect Substance being able to produce another Substance out of Nothing Much less can such a Substance as hath a Lower Degree of Entity and Perfection in it Create that which hath a Higher There is a Scale or Ladder of Entities and Perfections in the Universe one above another and the Production of things cannot possibly be in Way of Ascent from Lower to Higher but must of necessity be in way of Descent from Higher to Lower Now to produce any One Higher Rank of Being from the Lower as Cogitation from Magnitude and Body is plainly to invert this Order in the Scale of the Universe from Downwards to Vpwards and therefore is it Atheistical and by the Same reason that One Higher Rank or Degree in this Scale is thus unnaturally Produced from a Lower may all the rest be so produced also Wherefore we have great reason to stand upon our Guard here and to defend this Post against the Atheists That no Life or Cogitation can either Materially or Efficiently result from Dead and Sensless Body or that Souls being all Substantial and Immaterial things can neither be Generated out of Matter nor Corrupted into the same but only Created or Annihilated by the Deity The Grand Objection against this Substantiality of Souls Sensitive as well as Rational is from that Consequence which will be from thence inferred of their Permanent Subsistence after Death their Perpetuity or Immortality This seeming very absurd that the Souls of Brutes also should be Immortal or subsist after the Deaths of the Respective Animals But especially to Two Sorts of Men First such as scarcely in good earnest believe their own Soul's Immortality and Secondly such Religionists as conclude that if Irrational or Sensitive Souls subsist after Death then must they needs go presently either into Heaven or Hell And R. Cartesius was so sensible of the Offensiveness of this Opinion that though he were fully convinced of the necessity of this Disjunction that either Brutes have nothing of Sense or Cogitation at all or else they must have some other Substance in them besides Matter he chose rather to make them meer Sensless Machins then to allow them Substantial Souls Wherein avoiding a Lesser Absurdity or Paradox he plainly plunged himself into a Greater scarcely any thing being more generally received than the Sense of Brutes Though in truth all those who deny the Substantiality of Sensitive Souls and will have Brutes to have nothing but Matter in them ought consequently according to Reason to do as Cartesius did deprive them of all Sense But on the contrary if it be evident from the Phaenomena that Brutes are not meer Sensless Machins or Automata and only like Clocks or Watches then ought not Popular Opinion and Vulgar Prejudice so far to prevail with us as to hinder our Assent to that which sound Reason and Philosophy clearly dictates that therefore they must have something more than Matter in them Neither ought we when we clearly conceive any thing to be true as this That Life and Cogitation cannot possibly rise out of Dead and Sensless Matter to abandon it or deny our Assent thereunto because we find it attended with some Difficulty not easily Extricable by us or cannot free all the Consequences thereof from some Inconvenience or Absurdity such as seems to be in the Permanent Subsistence of Brutish Souls For the giving an Account of which notwithstanding Plato and the Ancient Pythagoreans proposed this following Hypothesis That Souls as well Sensitive as Rational being all Substantial but not Self-Existent because there is but one Fountain and Principle of all things were therefore Produced or Caused by the Deity But this not in the Generations of the respective Animals it being indecorous that this Divine Miraculous Creative Power should constantly lacquey by and attend upon Natural Generations as also incongruous that Souls should be so much Juniors to Every Atom of Dust that is in the whole World but either all of them from Eternity according to those who Denied the Novity of the World or rather according to others who asserted the Cosmogonia in the first beginning of the World's Creation Wherefore it being also Natural to Souls as such to Actuate and Enliven some Body or to be as it
by Methodius for asserting Souls to Have Bodies but for not asserting them to Be Bodies there being no truly Incorporeall Substance according to Methodius but the Deity This One of the Extreams mentioned And the Origenick Hypothesis to be preferred before that of Methodius Page 817 820 Already Observed That Origen not Singular in this Opinion concerning Humane Souls Irenaeus Philoponus Joannes Thessalonicensis Psellus and others asserting the same S. Austine in his De Gen. ad Lit. Granteth That Souls after Death cannot be carried to any Corporall Places nor Locally Moved without a Body Himself seems to think the Punishment of Souls before the Resurrection to be Phantasticall But gives Liberty of thinking otherwise In his Book De Civ D. He Conceives that Origenick Opinion not Improbable That some Souls after Death and before the Resurrection may Suffer from a certain Fire for the consuming and burning up of their Dross which could not be without Bodies Page 820 822 Hitherto shewed How the Ancient Asserters of Unextended Incorporealls Answered all the Objections made against them but especially that of the Illocality and Immobility of Created Incorporealls namely That by those Bodies which they are always Vitally United to they are Localized and made Capable of Motion according to that of Origen The Soul stands in need of a Body for Locall Motions Next to be considered their Reasons for this Assertion of Unextended and Indistant Substance so repugnant to Imagination Page 822 That whatsoever Arguments do Evince other Substance besides Body the Same against the Atheists Demonstrate that there is Something Unextended themselves taking it for granted that whatsoever is Extended is Body Nevertheless other Arguments propounded by these Ancients to prove directly Unextended Substance Plotinus his First To prove the Humane Soul and Mind such Either every Part of an Extended Soul is Soul and of Mind Mind or Not. If the Latter That no Part of a Soul or Mind is by it Self Soul or Mind then cannot the Whole made up of all those Parts be such But if every supposed Part of a Soul be Soul and of a Mind Mind then would all but One be Superfluous or Every One be the Whole which cannot be in Extended things Page 822 824 Again Plotinus endeavours to Prove from the Energies of the Soul that it is Unextended Because it is One and the Same Indivisible thing that Perceiveth the whole Sensible Object This further pursued If the Soul be Extended then must it either be One Physicall Point or More Impossible That it should be but One Physicall Point If therefore More then must every one of those Points either Perceive a Point of the Object and no more or else the Whole If the Former then can nothing Perceive the Whole nor compare one Part of it with another If the Latter then would every man have innumerable Perceptions of the whole Object at once A Fourth Supposition That the whole Extended Soul Perceives both the Whole Object and all the Parts thereof no Part of this Soul having any Perception by it Self Not to be Made Because the Whole of an Extended Substance nothing but All the Parts and so if no Part have any Perception the Whole can have none Moreover To say the Whole Soul Perceiveth all and no Part of it any thing is indeed to acknowledge it Unextended and to have no Distant Parts Page 824 826 Again This Philosopher would prove the same thing from the Sympathy or Homopathy which is in Animals it being One and the Same thing that perceives Pain in the Head and in the Foot and Comprehends the whole Bulk of the Body Page 826 Lastly He disputes further from the Rationall Energies A Magnitude could not Understand what hath no Magnitude and what is Indivisible whereas we have a Notion not onely of Latitude Indivisible as to Thickness and of Longitude as to Breadth but also of a Mathematicall Point every way Indivisible We have Notions of things also that have neither Magnitude nor Site c. Again all the Abstract Essences of things Indivisible We conceive Extended things themselves Unextendedly the Thought of a Mile or a Thousand Miles Distance taking up no more room in the Soul then the Thought of an Inch or of a Mathematicall Point Moreover were that which perceiveth in us a Magnitude it could not be Equall to every Sensible and alike Perceive things Greater and Lesser then it self Page 827 828 Besides which they might Argue thus That we as we can Conceive Extension without Cogitation and again Cogitation without Extension from whence their Distinction and Separability is Inferrible so can we not Conceive Cogitation with Extension not the Length Breadth and Thickness of a Thought nor the Half or a Third or Twentieth Part thereof nor that it is Figurate Round or Angular Thoughts therefore must be Non-Entities if whatsoever is Unextended be Nothing as also Metaphysicall Truths they having neither Dimensions nor Figure So Volitions and Passions Knowledge and Wisedome it self Justice and Temperance If the things belonging to Soul and Mind be Unextended then must themselves be so Again If Mind and Soul have Distant Parts then could none of them be One but Many Substances If Life Divided then a Half of it would not be Life Lastly no reason could be given why they might not be as well Really as Intellectually Divisible Nor could a Theist deny but that Divine Power might Cleave a Thought together with the Soul wherein it is into many Pieces Page 828 829 The Sense of the Ancient Incorporealists therefore this That in Nature Two kinds of Substances The First of them Passive Bulk or Distant and Extended Substance Which is all One thing without Another and therefore as Many Substances as Parts into which it can be divided Essentially Antitypous one Magnitude Joyned to another always Standing without it and making the Whole so much Bigger Body all Outside having nothing Within no Internall Energy nor any Action besides Locall Motion which it is also Passive to Page 829 Were there no other Substance besides this there could be no Motion Action Life Cogitation Intellection Volition but All would be a Dead Lump nor could any one thing Penetrate another Wherefore Another Substance whose Character 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Active Nature Life Self-Activity Cogitation which no Mode or Accident of Extension it having more of Entity in it Nor are these Two Extension and Life Inadequate Conceptions of One and the Same Substance A Thinker a Monad or One Single Substance Not Conceiveable how the Severall Parts of an Extended Substance should Joyntly Concurre to Produce One and the Same Thought Page 829 830 The Energies of these Two Substances very different The one Nothing but Locall Motion or Translation from Place to Place a meer Outside Thing The other Cogitation an Internall Energy or in the Inside of that which Thinks Which Inside of the Thinking Nature hath no Length Breadth or Profundity no Out-swelling Tumour because then it would
expressed by Sanchuniathon in his Description of the Phoenician Theology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Turbid and Dark Chaos and the Second is intimated in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit was affected with love towards its own Principles perhaps expressing the Force of the Hebrew word Merachepheth and both of them implyng an Understanding Prolifical Goodness Forming and Hatching the Corporeal World into this perfection or else a Plastick Power subordinate to it Zeno who was also originally a Phoenician tells us that Hesiod's Chaos was Water and that the Material Heaven as well as Earth was made out of Water according to the Judgment of the best Interpeters is the genuine sence of Scripture 2 Pet. 3.5 by which water some perhaps would understand a Chaos of Atoms confusedly moved But whether Thales were acquainted with the Atomical Physiology or no it is plain that he asserted besides the Soul's Immortality a Deity distinct from the Corporeal World We pass to Pythagoras whom we have proved already to have been an Atomist and it is well known also that he was a professed Incorporealist That he asserted the Immortality of the Soul and consequently its Immateriality is evident from his Doctrine of Pre-existence and Transmigration And that he likewise held an Incorporeal Deity distinct from the World is a thing not questioned by any But if there were any need of proving it because there are no Monuments of his Extant perhaps it might be done from hence because he was the chief Propagator of that Doctrine amongst the Greeks concerning Three Hypostases in the Deity For that Plato and his Followers held 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Three Hypostases in the Deity that were the first Principles of all things is a thing very well known to all Though we do not affirm that these Platonick Hypostases are exactly the same with those in the Christian Trinity Now Plato himself sufficiently intimates this not to have been his own Invention and Plotinus tells us that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Ancient Opinion before Plato's time which had been delivered down by some of the Pythagoricks Wherefore I conceive this must needs be one of those Pythagorick Monstrosities which Xenophon covertly taxes Plato for entertaining and mingling with the Socratical Philosophy as if he had thereby corrupted the Purity and Simplicity of it Though a Corporealist may pretend to be a Theist yet I never heard that any of them did ever assert a Trinity respectively to the Deity unless it were such an one as I think not fit here to mention XXIII That Parmenides who was likewise a Pythagorean acknowledged a Deity distinct from the Corporeal World is evident from Plato And Plotinus tells us also that he was one of them that asserted the Triad of Divine Hypostases Moreover whereas there was a great Controversie amongst the Ancient Philosophers before Plato's time between such as held all things to Flow as namely Heraclitus and Cratylus and others who asserted that some things did Stand and that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain Immutable Nature to wit an Eternal Mind together with Eternal and Immutable Truths amongst which were Parmenides and Melissus the former of these were all Corporealists this being the very Reason why they made all things to Flow because they supposed all to be Body though these were not therefore all of them Atheists But the latter were all both Incorporealists and Theists for whosoever holds Incorporeal Substance must needs according to Reason also assert a Deity And although we did not before paticularly mention Parmenides amongst the Atomical Philosophers yet we conceive it to be manifest from hence that he was one of that Tribe because he was an eminent Asserter of that Principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That no Real Entity is either Made or Destroyed Generated or Corrupted Which we shall afterwards plainly shew to be the grand Fundamental Principle of the Atomical Philosophy XXIV But whereas we did evidently prove before that Empedocles was an Atomical Physiologer it may notwithstanding with some Colour of Probability be doubted whether he were not an Atheist or at least a Corporealist because Aristotle accuses him of these following things First of making Knowledge to be Sense which is indeed a plain sign of a Corporealist and therefore in the next place also of compounding the Soul out of the four Elements making it to understand every corporeal thing by something of the same within it self as Fire by Fire and Earth by Earth and Lastly of attributing much to Fortune and affirming that divers of the Parts of Animals were made such by chance and that there were at first certain Mongrel Animals fortuitously produced that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as had something of the shape of an Oxe together with the Face of a Man though they could not long continue which seems to give just Cause of Suspicion that Empedocles Atheized in the same manner that Democritus did To the first of these we reply that some others who had also read Empedocles's Poems were of a different Judgment from Aristotle as to that conceiving Empedocles not to make Sense but Reason the Criterion of Truth Thus Empiricus informs us Others say that according to Empedocles the Criterion of Truth is not Sense but Right Reason and also that Right Reason is of two sorts the one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Divine the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Humane Of which the Divine is inexpressible but the Humane declarable And there might be several Passages cited out of those Fragments of Empedocles his Poems yet left to confirm this but we shall produce only this one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To this Sence Suspend thy Assent to the Corporeal Senses and consider every thing clearly with thy Mind or Reason And as to the Second Crimination Aristotle has much weakened his own Testimony here by accusing Plato also of the very same thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato compounds the Soul out of the four Elements because Like is known by Like and things are from their Principles Wherefore it is probable that Empedocles might be no more guilty of this fault of making the Soul Corporeal and to consist of Earth Water Air and Fire than Plato was who in all mens Judgments was as free from it as Aristotle himself if not more For Empedocles did in the same manner as Pythagoras before him and Plato after him hold the Transmigration of Souls and consequently both their Future Immortality and Preexistence and therefore must needs assert their Incorporeity Plutarch rightly declaring this to have been his Opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That as well those who are yet Vnborn as those that are Dead have a Being He also asserted Humane Souls to be here in a Lapsed State 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wanderers Strangers and Fugitives from God declaring as Plotinus tells us that it was a Divine Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Souls sinning should
be Immortal and such as will subsist after Death And the chief demonstration of the Soul's Preexistence to the Ancients before Plato was this because it is an Entity Really distinct from Body or Matter and the Modifications of it and no real Substantial Entity can either spring of it self out of Nothing or be made out of any other Substance distinct from it because Nothing can be made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from nothing either inexisting or preexisting all Natural Generations being but the various Dispositions and Modifications of what was before existent in the Universe But there was Nothing of Soul and Mind Inexisting and Preexisting in Body before there being Nothing of Life and Cogitation in Magnitude Figure Site and Motion Wherefore this must needs be not a thing Made or Generated as Corporeal Forms and Qualities are but such as hath a Being in Nature Ingenerably and Incorruptibly The Mechanism of Humane Body was a thing Made and Generated it being only a different Modification of what was before existent and having no new Entity in it distinct from the Substance And the Totum or Compositum of a Man or Animal may be said to be Generated and Corrupted in regard of the Union and Disunion Conjunction and Separation of those two parts the Soul and Body But the Soul it self according to these Principles is neither a thing Generable nor Corruptible but was as well before the Generation and will be after the Deaths and Corruptions of men as the Substance of their Body which is supposed by all to have been from the first Creation and no Part of it to be annihilated or lost after Death but only scatter'd and dispersed in the Universe Thus the Ancient Atomists concluded That Souls and Lives being Substantial Entities by themselves were all of them as old as any other Substance in the Universe and as the whole Mass of Matter and every smallest Atom of it is That is they who maintained the Eternity of the World did consequently assert also Aeternitatem Animorum as Cicero calls it the Eternity of Souls and Minds But they who conceived the World to have had a Temporary Beginning or Creation held the Coevity of all Souls with it and would by no means be induced to think that every Atom of Senseless Matter and Particle of Dust had such a Privilege and Preeminency over the Souls of Men and Animals as to be Seniour to them Synesius though a Christian yet having been educated in this Philosophy could not be induced by the hopes of a Bishoprick to stifle or dissemble this Sentiment of his Mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall never be perswaded to think my Soul to be younger than my Body But such it seems was the temper of those times that he was not only dispensed withal as to this but also as to another Heterodoxy of his concerning the Resurrection XXXII It is already plain also that this Doctrine of the Ancient Atomists concerning the Immateriality and Immortality the Prae and Post-existence of Souls was not confined by them to Humane Souls only but extended universally to all Souls and Lives whatsoever It being a thing that was hardly ever called into doubt or question by any before Cartesius whether the Souls of Brutes had any Sense Cogitation or Consciousness in them or no. Now all Life Sense and Cogitation was undoubtedly concluded by them to be an Entity Really distinct from the Substance of Body and not the mere Modification Motion or Mechanism of it Life and Mechanism being two distinct Idea's of the Mind which cannot be confounded together Wherefore they resolved that all Lives and Souls whatsoever which now are in the World ever were from the first Beginning of it and ever will be that there will be no new ones produced which are not already and have not alwaies been nor any of those which now are destroyed any more than the Substance of any Matter will be Created or Annihilated So that the whole System of the Created Universe Consisting of Body and particular Incorporeal Substances or Souls in the successive Generations and Corruptions or Deaths of Men and other Animals was according to them Really nothing else but one and the same Thing perpetually Anagrammatized or but like many different Syllables and Words variously and successively composed out of the same preexistent Elements or Letters XXXIII We have now declared how the same Principle of Reason which made the Ancient Physiologers to become Atomists must needs induce them also to be Incorporealists how the same thing which perswaded them that Corporeal Forms were no Real Entities distinct from the Substance of the Body but only the different Modifications and Mechanisms of it convinced them likewise that all Cogitative Beings all Souls and Lives whatsoever were Ingenerable and Incorruptible and as well Preexistent before the Generations of Particular Animals as Postexistent after their Deaths and Corruptions Nothing now remains but only to show more particularly that it was de facto thus that the same persons did from this Principle that Nothing can come from Nothing and go to Nothing both Atomize in their Physiology taking away all Substantial Forms and Qualities and also Theologize or Incorporealize asserting Souls to be a Substance really distinct from Matter and Immortal as also to preexist and this we shall do from Empedocles and first from that Passage of his cited before in part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al. lect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which I find Latin'd thus Ast aliud dico nihil est Mortalibus Ortus Est nihil Interitus qui rebus morte paratur Mistio sed solum est Conciliatio rerum Mistilium haec dici solita est Mortalibus Ortus The full Sence whereof is plainly this That there is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Production of any thing which was not before no new Substance Made which did not really Preexist and therefore that in the Generations and Corruptions of Inanimate Bodies there is no Form or Quality really distinct from the Substance produced and destroyed but only a various Composition and Modification of Matter But in the Generations and Corruptions of Men and Animals where the Souls are Substances really distinct from the Matter that there there is Nothing but the Conjunction and Separation of Souls and particular Bodies existing both before and after not the Production of any new Soul into Being which was not before nor the absolute Death and Destruction of any into Nothing Which is further expressed in these following Verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To this Sence That they are Infants in Vnderstanding and short-sighted who think any thing to be Made which was Nothing before or any thing to Die so as to be Destroyed to Nothing Upon which Plutarch glosses after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Empedocles does not here destroy
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
the Rational Soul the Incorporeity of any Substance and by consequence the Existence of any Deity distinct from the Corporeal World And as for that Pretence of theirs that Senseless Matter may as well become Sensitive and as it were kindled into Life and Cogitation as a Body that was devoid of Light and Heat may be Kindled into Fire and Flame this seems to argue too much Ignorance of the Doctrine of Bodies in men otherwise Learned and Ingenious The best Naturalists having already concluded That Fire and Flame is nothing but such a Motion of the Insensible Parts of a Body as whereby they are violently agitated and many times dissipated and scattered from each other begetting in the mean time tâ—â—se Phancies of Light and Heat in Animals Now there is no difficulty at all in conceiving that the Insensible Particles of a Body which were before quiescent may be put into Motion this being nothing but a New Modification of them and no Entity reâ—lly distinct from the Substance of Body as Life Sense and Cogitation are There is nothing in Fire and Flame or a Kindled Body different from other Bodies but only the Motion or Mechanism and Phancie of it And therefore it is but a crude conceit which the Atheists and Corporealists of former times have been always so fond of That Souls are nothing but Firie or Flammeous Bodies For though Heat in the Bodies of Animals be a Necessary Instrument for Soul and Life to act by in them yet it is a thing really distinct from Life and a Red hot Iron hath not therefore any nearer approximation to Life than it had before nor the Flame of a Candle than the extinguisht Snuff or Tallow of it the difference between them being only in the Agitation of the Insensible Parts We might also add that according to this Hypothesis the Souls of Animals could not be Numerically the same throughout the whole space of their Lives Since that Fire that needs a Pabulum to prey upon doth not continue alwaies one and the same Numerical Substance The Soul of a new born Animal could be no more the same with the Soul of that Animal several years after than the Flame of a new lighted Candle is the same with that Flame that twinkles last in the Socket Which indeed are no more the same than a River or Stream is the same at several distances of time Which Reason may be also extended further to prove the Soul to be no Body at all since the Bodies of all Animals are in a perpetual Flux XXXVIII We have now sufficiently performed our first Task which was to show from the Origin of the Atomical Physiology that the Doctrine of Incorporeal Substance must needs spring up together with it We shall in the next place make it manifest that the Inward Constitution of this Philosophy is also such that whosoever really entertains it and rightly understands it must of necessity admit Incorporeal Substance likewise First therefore the Atomical Hypothesis allowing nothing to Body but what is either included in the Idaea of a thing Impenetrably extended or can clearly be conceived to be a Mode of it as more or less Magnitude with Divisibility Figure Site Motion and Rest together with the Results of their several Combinations cannot possibly make Life and Cogitation to be Qualities of Body since they are neither contained in those things before mentioned nor can result from any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Conjugations of them Wherefore it must needs be granted that Life and Cogitation are the Attributes of another Substance distinct from Body or Incorporeal Again since according to the Tenour of this Physiology Body hath no other Action belonging to it but that of Local Motion which Local Motion as such is Essentially Heterokinesie that which never springs originally from the thing it self moving but alwaies from the Action of some other Agent upon it That is since no Body could ever move it self it follows undeniably that there must be something else in the World besides Body or else there could never have been any Motion in it Of which we shall speak more afterwards Moreover according to this Philosophy the Corporeal Phaenomena themselves cannot be salved by Mechanism alone without Phancie Now Phancie is no Mode of Body and therefore must needs be a Mode of some other kind of Being in our selves that is Cogitative and Incorporeal Furthermore it is evident from the Principles of this Philosophy that Sense it self is not a mere Corporeal Passion from Bodies without in that it supposeth that there is nothing really in Bodies like to those Phantastick Idaea's that we have of Sensible things as of Hot and Cold Red and Green Bitter and Sweet and the like which therefore must needs owe their Being to some Activity of the Soul it self and this is all one as to make it Incorporeal Lastly from this Philosophy it is also manifest that Sense is not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Truth concerning Bodies themselves it confidently pronouncing that those supposed Qualities of Bodies represented such by Sense are merely Phantastical things from whence it plainly follows that there is something in us superiour to Sense which judges of it detects its Phantastry and condemns its Imposture and determines what really is and is not in Bodies without us which must needs be a higher Self-active Vigour of the Mind that will plainly speak it to be Incorporeal XXXIX And now this Atomical Physiology of the Ancients seems to have two Advantages or Preeminences belonging to it the first whereof is this That it renders the Corporeal World Intelligible to us since Mechanism is a thing that we can clearly understand and we cannot clearly and distinctly conceive any thing in Bodies else To say that this or that is done by a Form or Quality is nothing else but to say that it is done we know not how or which is yet more absurd to make our very Ignorance of the Cause disguised under those Terms of Forms and Qualities to be it self the Cause of the Effect Moreover Hot and Cold Red and Green Bitter and Sweet c. formally considered may be clearly conceived by us as different Phancies and Vital Passions in us occasioned by different Motions made from the objects without upon our Nerves but they can never be clearly understood as absolute Qualities in the Bodies themselves really distinct from their Mechanical Dispositions nor is there indeed any more reason why they should be thought such than that when a Man is pricked with a Pin or wounded with a Sword the Pain which he feels should be thought to be an Absolute Qualitie in the Pin or Sword So long as our Sensible Idaea's are taken either for Substantial Forms or Qualities in Bodies without us really distinct from the Substance of the Matter so long are they perfectly unintelligible by us For which Cause Timaeus Locrus Philosophizing as it seemeth after this manner did consentaneously thereunto determine
of Omnipotence can belong to nothing and this is all one as to say There can be no Deity VII Thirdly the Atheists argue against the stricter and higher sort of Theists who will have God to be the Creatour of the whole Corporeal Universe and all its Parts out of Nothing after this manner That which Created the whole Mass of Matter and Body cannot be it self Body Wherefore this Notion of God plainly implies him to be Incorporeal But there can be no Incorporeal Deity because by that word must needs be understood either that which hath no Magnitude nor Extension at all or else that which is indeed extended but otherwise than Body If the Word be taken in the former sence then nothing at all can be so Incorporeal as to be altogether Unextended and devoid of Geometrical Quantity because Extension is the very Essence of all Existent Entity and that which is altogether unextended is perfectly Nothing There can neither be any Substance nor Mode or Accident of any Substance no Nature whatsoever Unexended But if the Word Incorporeal be taken in the latter sence for that which is indeed Extended but otherwise than Body namely so as to penetrate Bodies and coexist with them this is also a thing next to Nothing since it can neither act upon any other thing nor be acted upon by or sensible of any thing It can neither do nor Suffer any thing Nam facere fungi nisi Corpus nulla potest res Wherefore to speak plainly this can be nothing else but empty Space or Vacuum which runs through all things without laying hold on any thing or being affected from any thing This is the only Incorporeal thing that is or can be in Nature Space or Place and therefore to suppose an Incorporeal Deity is to make Empty Space to be the Creatour of all Things This Argument is thus proposed by the Epicurean Poet. Quodcunque erit esse aliquid debebit id ipsum Augmine vel grandi vel parvo Cui si Tactus erit quamvis levis exiguúsque Corporum augebit numerum Summámque sequetur Sin Intactile erit nulla de parte quod ullam Rem prohibere queat per se transire meantem Scilicet hoc id erit Vacuum quod Inane vocamus Whatsoever is is Extended or hath Geometrical Quantity and Mensurability in it which if it be Tangible then it is Body and fills up a Place in the World being part of the whole Mass but if it be Intangible so that it cannot resist the Passage of any thing thorough it then it is nothing else but empty Space or Vacuum There is no Third thing besides these Two and therefore whatsoever is not Body is empty Space or Nothing Praeter Inane Corpora Tertia per se Nulla potest rerum in numero Natura relinqui Thus the Ancient Epicureans and Democriticks argued there being nothing Incorporeal but Space there can be no Incorporeal Deity But because this seems to give Advantage to the Theists in making Space Something or that which hath a Real Nature or Entity without our Conception from whence it will follow that it must needs be either it self a Substance or else a Mode of some Incorporeal Substance the Modern Democriticks are here more cautious and make Space to be no Nature really existing without us but only the Phantasm of a Body and as it were the Ghost of it which has no Reality without our Imagination So that there are not two Natures of Body and Space which must needs inferr two distinct Substances one whereof must be Incorporeal but only One Nature of Body The Consequence of which will be this That an Incorporeal Substance is all one with an Incorporeal Body and therefore Nothing VIII But because it is generally conceived that an Error cannot be sufficiently confuted without discovering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cause of the Mistake therefore the Atheists will in the next place undertake to show likewise the Original of this Doctrine of Incorporeal Substances and from what Misapprehension it sprung as also take occasion from thence further to disprove a Deity Wherefore they say that the Original of this Doctrine of Incorporeal Substances proceeded chiefly from the Abuse of Abstract Names both of Substances whereby the Essences of singular Bodies as of a Man or an Horse being Abstracted from those Bodies themselves are consider'd Universally as also of Accidents when they are consider'd alone without their Subjects or Substances The latter of which is a thing that Men have been necessitated to in order to the Computation or Reckoning of the Properties of Bodies the Comparing of them with one another the Adding Subtracting Multiplying and Dividing of them which could not be done so long as they are taken Concretely together with their Subjects But yet as there is some Use of those Abstract Names so the Abuse of them has been also very great Forasmuch as though they be really the Names of Nothing since the Essence of this and that Man is not any thing without the Man nor is an Accident any thing without its Substance yet men have been led into a gross mistake by them to imagine them to be Realities existing by themselves Which Infatuation hath chiefly proceeded from Scholasticks who have been so intemperate in the use of these Words that they could not make a Rational Discourse of any thing though never so small but they must stuff it with their Quiddities Entities Essences Haecceities and the like Wherefore these are they who being first deluded themselves have also deluded the World introducing an Opinion into the Minds of Men that the Essence of every thing is something without that thing it self and also Eternal and therefore when any thing is Made or Generated that there is no new Being produced but only an antecedent and Eternal Essence cloathed as it were with a new Garment of Existence As also that the mere Accidents of Bodies may exist alone by themselves without their Substances As for Example that the Life Sense and Understanding of Animals commonly call'd by the Names of Soul and Mind may exist without the Bodies or Substances of them by themselves after the Animals are dead which plainly makes them to be Incorporeal Substances as it were the Separate and Abstract Essences of Men. This hath been observed by a Modern Writer in these words Est Hominum Abstractorum tum in omni Vita tum in Philosophia magnus Vsus Abusus Abusus in eo consistit quòd cùm videant aliqui Considerari posse id est inferri in Rationes Accidentium Incrementa Decrementa sine Consideratione Corporum sive Subjectorum suorum id quod appellatur Abstrahere loquuntur de Accidentibus tanquam possent ab omni Corpore Separari Hinc enim Originem trahunt quorundam Metaphysicorum crassi Errores Nam ex eo quod Considerari potest Cogitatio sine consideratione Corporis inferre solent non esse Opus Corporis
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
Chapter that the Upshot of that Pythagorick Doctrine That Nothing could be Generated out of Nothing preexisting amounted to those Two things mentioned viz. the Asserting of the Incorporiety and Ingenerability of Souls and the Rejecting of those Phantastick Entities of Forms and Real Qualities of Bodies and resolving all Corporeal Phaenomena into Figures or Atoms and the different Apparitions or Phancies caused by them but the latter of these may be further confirmed from this passage of Aristotle's where after he had declared that Democritus and Leucippus made the Soul and Fire to consist of round Atoms or Figures like those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those Ramenta that appear in the Air when the Sun-beams are transmitted through Cranies he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And that which is said amongst the Pythagoreans seems to have the same sence for some of them affirm that the Soul is those very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ramenta or Atoms but others of them that it is That which Moves them which latter doubtless were the genuine Pythagoreans However it is plain from hence that the old Pythagoreans Physiologized by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as Democritus that is Figures and Atoms and not Qualities and Forms But Aristotle's Materialists on the contrary taking it for granted that Matter or Extended Bulk is the only Substance and that the Qualities and Forms of Bodies are Entities really distinct from those Modifications of Magnitude Figure Site Motion or Rest and finding also by experience that these were continually Generated and Corrupted as likewise that Life Sense and Understanding were produced in the Bodies of such Animals where it had not been before and again extinguished at the Death or Corruption of them concluded that the Souls of all Animals as well as those other Qualities and Forms of Bodies were Generated out of the Matter and Corrupted again into it and consequently that every thing that is in the whole World besides the Substance of Matter was Made or Generated and might be again Corrupted Of this Atheistick Doctrine Aristotle speaks elsewhere as in his Book de Coelo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are some who affirm that Nothing is Ingenerable but that all things are Made as Hesiod especially and also among the rest they who First Physiologized whose meaning was that all other things are Made or Generated and did Flow none of them having any Stability only that there was one thing namely Matter which always remained out of which all those other things were transformed and Metamorphiz'd Though as to Hesiod Aristotle afterwards speaks differently So likewise in his Physicks after he had declared that some of the Ancients made Air some Water and some other Matter the Principle of all things he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This they affirmed to be all the Substance or Essence that was but all other things the Passions Affections and Dispositions of it and that this therefore was Eternal as being capable of no Change but all other things Infinitely Generated and Corrupted XV. But these Materialists being sometimes assaulted by the other Italick Philosophers in the manner before declared That no Real Entities distinct from the Modifications of any Substance could be Generated or Corrupted because Nothing could come from Nothing nor go to Nothing they would not seem plainly to Contradict that Theorem but only endeavoured to interpret it into a compliance with their own Hypothesis and distinguish concerning the Sence of it in this manner That it ought to be understood only of the Substance of Matter and Nothing else viz. That no Matter could be Made or Corrupted but that all other things whatsoever not only Forms and Qualities of Bodies but also Souls Life Sense and Understanding though really different from Magnitude Figure Site and Motion yet ought to be accounted only the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Passions and Accidents of this Matter and therefore might be generated out of it and Corrupted again into it and that without the Production or Destruction of any real Entity Matter being the only thing that is accounted such All this we learn from these words of Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sence whereof is this And therefore as to that Axiom of some Philosophers That Nothing is either Generated or Destroyed these Materialists admit it to be true in respect of the Substance of matter only which is always preserved the same As say they We do not say that Socrates is simply or absolutely Made when he is made either Handsom or Musical or that he is Destroyed when he loseth those Dispositions because the Subject Socrates still remains the same so neither are we to say that any thing else is absolutely ether Generated or Corrupted because the Substance or Matter of every thing always Continues For there must needs be some certain Nature from which all other things are Generated that still remaining one and the same We have noted this Passage of Aristotle's the rather because this is just the very Doctrine of Atheists at this day That the Substance of Matter or Extended Bulk is the only Real Entity and therefore the only Unmade thing that is neither Generable nor Creatable but Necessarily Existent from Eternity But whatever else is in the World as Life and Animality Soul and Mind being all but Accidents and Affections of this Matter as if therefore they had no Real Entity at all in them are Generable out of Nothing and Corruptible into Nothing so long as the Matter in which they are still remains the same The Result of which is no less than this That there can be no other Gods or God than such as was at first Made or Generated out of Sensless Matter and may be Corrupted again into it And here indeed lies the Grand Mystery of Atheism that every thing besides the Substance of Matter is Made or Generated and may be again Unmade or Corrupted However Anaxagoras though an Ionick Philosopher and therefore as shall be declared afterward Successor to those Atheistick Materialists was at length so far Convinced by that Pythagorick Doctrine That no Entity could be naturally Generated out of Nothing as that he departed from his Predecessors herein and did for this reason acknowledge Mind and Soul that is all Cogitative Being to be a Substance really distinct from Matter neither Generable out of it nor Corruptible into it as also that the Forms and Qualities of Bodies which he could not yet otherwise conceive of than as things really distinct from those Modifications of Magnitude Figure Site and Motion must for the same cause pre-exist before Generations in certain Similar Atoms and remain after Corruptions being only Secreted and Concreted in them By means whereof he introduced a certain Spurious Atomism of his own For whereas the Genuine Atomists before his time had supposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dissimilar Atoms devoid of all Forms and Qualities to be the Principles of all Bodies Anaxagoras substituted in
determines the Motion of it Vitally must needs do it by some other Energy of its own as it is Reasonable also to conceive that it self hath some Vital Sympathy with that Matter which it Acts upon But we apprehend that Both these may be without Clear and Express Consciousness Thus the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Life is Energie even the worst of Lives and therefore that of Nature Whose Energie is not like that of Fire but such an Energie as though there be no Sense belonging to it yet is it not Temerarious or Fortuitous but Orderly Regular Wherefore this Controversie whether the Energy of the Plastick Nature be Cogitation or no seems to be but a Logomachy or Contention about Words For if Clear and Express Consciousness be supposed to be included in Cogitation then it must needs be granted that Cogitation doth not belong to the Plastick Life of Nature but if the Notion of that Word be enlarged so as to comprehend all Action distinct from Local Motion and to be of equal Extent with Life then the Energie of Nature is Cogitation Nevertheless if any one think fit to attribute some Obscure and Imperfect Sense or Perception different from that of Animals to the Energie of Nature and will therefore call it a kind of Drowsie Vnawakened or Astonish'd Cogitation the Philosopher before mentioned will not very much gainsay it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any will needs attribute some kind of Apprehension or Sense to Nature then it must not be such a Sense or Apprehension as is in Animals but something that differs as much from it as the Sense or Cogitation of one in a profound sleep differs from that of one who is awake And since it cannot be denied but that the Plastick Nature hath a certain Dull and Obscure Idea of that which it Stamps and Prints upon Matter the same Philosopher himself sticks not to call this Idea of Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Spectacle and Contemplamen as likewise the Energy of Nature towards it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Silent Contemplation nay he allows that Nature may be said to be in some Sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Lover of Spectacles or Contemplation 17. However that there may be some Vital Energy without Clear and Express 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 con-Con-sense and Consciousness Animadversion Attention or Self-perception seems reasonable upon several accompts For first those Philosophers themselves who make the Essence of the Soul to consist in Cogitation and again the Essence of Cogitation in Clear and Express Consciousness cannot render it any way probable that the Souls of Men in all profound Sleeps Lethargies and Apoplexies as also of Embryo's in the Womb from their very first arrival thither are never so much as one moment without Expresly Conscious Cogitations which if they were according to the Principles of their Philosophy they must ipso facto cease to have any Being Now if the Souls of Men and Animals be at any time without Consciousness and Self-perception then it must needs be granted that Clear and Express Consciousness is not Essential to Life There is some appearance of Life and Vital Sympathy in certain Vegetables and Plants which however called Sensitive Plants and Plant-animals cannot well be supposed to have Animal Sense and Fancy or Express Consciousness in them although we are not ignorant in the mean time how some endeavour to salve all those Phaenomena Mechanically It is certain that our Humane Souls themselves are not always Conscious of whatever they have in them for even the Sleeping Geometrician hath at that time all his Geometrical Theorems and Knowledges some way in him as also the Sleeping Musician all his Musical Skill and Songs and therefore why may it not be possible for the Soul to have likewise some Actual Energie in it which it is not Expresly Conscious of We have all Experience of our doing many Animal Actions Non-attendingly which we reflect upon afterwards as also that we often continue a long Series of Bodily Motions by a mere Virtual Intention of our Minds and as it were by Half a Cogitation That Vital Sympathy by which our Soul is united and tied fast as it were with a Knot to the Body is a thing that we have no direct Consciousness of but only in its Effects Nor can we tell how we come to be so differently affected in our Souls from the many different Motions made upon our Bodies As likewise we are not Conscious to our selves of that Energy whereby we impress Variety of Motions and Figurations upon the Animal Spirits of our Brain in our Phantastick Thoughts For though the Geometrician perceive himself to make Lines Triangles and Circles in the Dust with his Finger yet he is not aware how he makes all those same Figures first upon the Corporeal Spirits of his Brain from whence notwithstanding as from a Glass they are reflected to him Fancy being rightly concluded by Aristotle to be a Weak and Obscure Sense There is also another more Interiour kind of Plastick Power in the Soul if we may so call it whereby it is Formative of its own Cogitations which it self is not always Conscious of as when in Sleep or Dreams it frames Interlocutory Discourses betwixt it self and other Persons in a long Series with Coherent Sence and Apt Connexions in which oftentimes it seems to be surprized with unexpected Answers and Reparties though it self were all the while the Poet and Inventor of the whole Fable Not only our Nictations for the most part when we are awake but also our Nocturnal Volutations in Sleep are performed with very little or no Consciousness Respiration or that Motion of the Diaphragmae and other Muscles which causes it there being no sufficient Mechanical accompt given of it may well be concluded to be always a Vital Motion though it be not always Animal since no man can affirm that he is perpetually Conscious to himself of that Energy of his Soul which does produce it when he is awake much less when asleep And Lastly the Cartesian Attempts to salve the Motion of the Heart Mechanically seem to be abundantly confuted by Autopsy and Experiment evincing the Systole of the Heart to be a Muscular Constriction caused by some Vital Principle to make which nothing but a Pulsifick Corporeal Quality in the Substance of the Heart it self is very Unphilosophical and Absurd Now as we have no voluntary Imperium at all upon the Systole and Diastole of the Heart so are we not conscious to our selves of any Energy of our own Soul that causes them and therefore we may reasonably conclude from hence also that there is some Vital Energy without Animal Fancy or Synaesthesis express Consciousness and Self-perception 18. Wherefore the Plastick Nature acting neither by Knowledge nor by Animal Fancy neither Electively nor Hormetically must be concluded to act Fatally Magically and Sympathetically And thus that Curious
of One God Fictitiously Personated and Deified as the Pagans in Eusebius apologize for themselves that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deifie nothing but the Invisible Powers of that God which is over all Nevertheless because those Several Powers of the Supreme God were not supposed to be all executed immediately by himself but by certain other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subservient Ministers under him appointed to preside over the Several Things of Nature Parts of the World and Affairs of Mankind commonly called Demons therefore were those Gods sometimes taken also for such Subservient Spirits or Demons collectively as perhaps in this of Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When will Zephyrus or the West-wind blow When it seemeth good to himself or to Aeolus for God hath not made thee Steward of the Winds but Aeolus But for the fuller clearing of the whole Pagan Theology and especially this one Point thereof that their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was in great part nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Polytheism or Multiplicity of Gods nothing but the Polyonymy of One God or his being called by Many Personal Proper Names Two Things are here requisite to be further taken notice of First that according to the Pagan Theology God was conceived to be Diffused throughout the whole World to Permeate and Pervade all things to Exist in all things and Intimately to Act all things Thus we observed before out of Horus Apollo that the Egyptian Theologers conceived of God as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Spirit pervading the whole World as likewise they concluded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Nothing at all Consisted without God Which same Theology was Universally entertained also amongst the Greeks For Thus Diogenes the Cynick in Laertius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are full of him And Aristotle or the Writer De Plantis makes God not only to comprehend the whole world but also to be an Inward Principle of Life in Animals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What is the Principle in the Life or Soul of Animals certainly no other than that Noble Animal or Living Being that encompasses and surrounds the whole Heaven the Sun the Stars and the Planets Sextus Empiricus thus represents the sence of Pythagoras Empedocles and all the Italick Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That we men have not only a conjunction amongst our selves with one another but also with the Gods above us and with Brute Animals below us because there is One Spirit which like a Soul pervades the whole World and unites all the parts thereof together Clemens Alexandrinus writeth thus of the Stoicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They affirm that God doth Pervade all the Matter of the Vniverse and even the most vile parts thereof which that Father seems to dislike as also did Tertullian when he represented their Doctrine thus Stotci volunt Deum sic per Materiam decucurrisse quomodo Mel per Favos the Stoicks will have God so to run through the Matter as the Honey doth the Combs Strabo testifies of the ancient Indian Brachmans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That in many things they Philosophized after the Greekish manner as when they affirm that the World had a beginning and that it would be Corrupted and that the Maker and Governour thereof Pervades the whole of it The Latins also fully agreed with the Greeks in this For though Seneca somewhere propounds this Question Vtrum Extrinsecus operi suo Circumfusus sit Deus an toti inditus Whether God be only extrinsically circumfused about his work the World or inwardly insinuating do Pervade it all yet himself elsewhere answers it when he calls God Divinum Spiritum per omnia maxima ac minima aequali intentione diffusum A Divine Spirit Diffused through all things whether Smallest or Greatest with equal intention God in Quintilians Theology is Spiritus omnibus partibus Immistus and Ille fusus per omnes rerum Naturae partes Spiritus a Spirit which insinuates it self into and is Mingled with all the parts of the world And that Spirit which is diffused through all the parts of Nature Apuleius likewise affirmeth Deum omnia permeare That God doth permeate all things and that Nulla res est tam praestantibus viribus quae viduata Dei auxilio sui natura contenta sit There is nothing so excellent or powerful as that it could be content with its own Nature alone void of the Divine Aid or Influence and again Dei Praesentiam non jam cogitatio sola sed Oculi aures sensibilis Substantia comprehendit That God is not only present to our Cogitation but also to our very eyes and ears in all these sensible things Servius agreeably with this doctrine of the Ancient Pagans determineth that Nulla Pars Elementi sine Deo est That there is no part of the Elements devoid of God And that the Poets fully closed with the same Theology is evident from those known passages of theirs Jovis omnia plena and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. All the things of Nature and Parts of the world are full of God as also from this of Virgil Deum namque ire per omnes Terrasque Tractusque Maris Coelumque profundum Lastly we shall observe that both Plato and Anaxagoras who neither of them Confounded God with the World but kept them both distinct and affirmed God to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnmingled with any thing nevertheless concluded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he did order and govern all things passing through and pervading all things which is the very same with that Doctrine of Christian Theologers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God permeates and passes through all things Vnmixedly Which Plato also there in his Cratylus plainly making 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be a Name for God etymologizeth it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. passing thorough all things and thereupon gives us the best account of Heraclitus his Theosophy that is any where extant if not rather a Fragment of Heraclitus his own in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who affirm the Vniverse to be in constant motion suppose a great part thereof to do nothing else but move and change but that there is something which Passes through and Pervades this whole Vniverse by which all those things that are made are made and that this is both the Most Swift and Most subtil thing for it could not otherwise pass through all things were it not so Subtil that nothing could keep it out or hinder it and it must be most swift that it may use all things as if they stood still that so nothing might scape it Since therefore this doth preside over and Order all things Permeating and Passing through them it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Letter Cappa being only taken in for the more handsom pronunciation Here we have therefore Heraclitus
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
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
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
Ground as this does Modern Writer presume to determine that Knowledge and Vnderstanding are not to be attributed to God Almighty because they Imply Imperfection and Dependence upon Corporeal things without Quoniam Scientia Intellectus in nobis nihil aliud sunt quà m suscitatus à Rebus Externis Organa prementibus Animi Tumultus non est putandum aliquid tale accidere Deo Signum enim est Potentiae ab alio dependentis Which is again Englished thus Knowledge and Vnderstanding being in us nothing else but a Tumult in the Mind raised by External things that press the Organical parts of mans Body there is no such thing in God nor can they be attributed to him they being things which depend upon Natural Causes Where this Writer thus denying Knowledge and Vnderstanding to God upon pretence that it speaks Imperfection and Dependence upon External Corporeal things it being nothing but a Tumult raised by the Motions and Pressures of them he must needs Absolutely deny the First Principle of all things to be any Knowing Vnderstanding Nature unless he had asserted some other kind of Knowledge distinct from that of men and clearly attributed the Same to God Almighty Hitherto the sense of Atheists Now we shall for the present only so far forth concern our selves in Confuting this Atheistick Doctrine as to lay a Foundation thereby for the Demostration of the Contrary Namely the Existence of a God or a Mind Before the World from the Nature of Knowledge and Vnderstanding First therefore it is a Sottish Conceit of these Atheists proceeding from their not attending to their own Cogitations that not only Sense but also Knowledge and Vnderstanding in Men is but a Tumult raised from Corporeal things without pressing upon the Organs of their Body or else as they declare themselves more distinctly nothing but the Activity of Sensible Objects upon them and their Passion from them For if this were true then would every thing that Suffered and Reacted Motion especially Polite Bodies as Looking-Glasses have something both of Sense and of Vnderstanding in them It is plain that there comes nothing to us from Bodies without us but only Local Motion and Pressure Neither is Sense it self the meer Passion of those Motions but the Perception of their Passions in a way of Phancy But Sensible things themselves as for example Light and Colours are not Known or Vnderstood either by the Passion or the Phancy of Sense not by any thing meerly Forreign and Adventitious but by Intelligible Ideas Exerted from the Mind it self that is by something Native and Domestick to it nothing being more true than this of Boetius that Omne quod Scitur non ex Sua sed ex Comprehendentium Naturâ Vi Facultate Cognoscitur Whatsoever is Known is Known not by own Force and Power but by the Force and Power the Vigour and Activity of that thing it self which Knows or Comprehends it Wherefore besides the Phantasms of Singular Bodies or of Sensible things Existing without us which are not meer Passions neither it is plain that our Humane Mind hath other Cogitations or Conceptions in it namely the Ideas of the Intelligible Natures and Essences of things which are Vniversal and by and under which it understands Singulars It is a Ridiculous Conceit of a Modern Atheistick Writer that Vniversals are nothing else but Names attributed to many Singular Bodies because whatsoever Is is Singular For though whatsoever Exist without the Mind be Singular yet is it plain that there are Conceptions in our Minds Objectively Vniversal Which Universal Objects of our Mind though they Exist not as such any where without it yet are they not therefore Nothing but have an Intelligible Entity for this very reason because they are Conceivable for since Non-Entity is not Conceivable whatsoever is Conceivable and an Object of the Mind is therefore Something And as for Axiomatical Truths in which something is affirmed or denied as these are not all Passions from Bodies without us for what Local Motions could Impress this Common Notion upon our Minds That Things which agree in one Third agree amongst themselves or any other so neither are these things only gathered by Induction from repeated and reiterated Sensations we clearly apprehending at once that it is Impossible they should be otherwise Thus Aristotle Ingeniously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is evident that there is no knowledge of the Vniversal Theorems of Geometry by Sense For if we could perceive by Sense that the Three Angles of a Triangle were equal to Two Right yet should we not rest satisfied in this as having therefore a sufficient Knowledge hereof but would seek further after a Demonstration of it Sense reaching only to Singulars but Knowledge to Vniversals When from the Vniversal Idea of a Triangle which is neither here nor there nor any where without our Mind but yet hath an Intelligible Entity we see a plain necessity that its Three Angles must be Equal to two Right then do we know the Truth of this Vniversal Theorem and not before as also we Understand that every Singular Triangle so far as it is true hath this Property in it Wherefore the Knowledge of this and the like Truths is not derived from Singulars nor do we arrive to them in way of Ascent from Singulars to Vniversals but on the contrary having first found them in the Vniversals we afterwards Descending apply them to Singulars so that our Knowledge here is not After Singular Bodies and Secundarily or Derivatively From them but in order of Nature Before them and Proleptical to them Now these Vniversal Conceptions some of which are also Abstract as Life Sense Reason Knowledge and the like many of them are of such things whose Singulars do not at all fall under Sense which therefore could never possibly be Impressed upon us from Singular Bodies by Local Motion and again some such as though they belong to Corporeal and Sensible things yet as their Accuracy cannot be reached to by Sense so neither did they ever Exist in that Matter of this lower world which here encompasseth us and therefore could not be stamped upon us from without as for example the Ideas of a Perfect Strait Line and a Plain Superficies or of an exact Triangle Circle Sphere or Cube no Material thing here amongst us being terminated in so Strait Lines but that even by Microscopes there may be discovered much Irregularity and Deformity in them and very probable it is that there are no Perfectly Strait Lines no such Triangles Circles Spheres or Cubes as answer to the Exactness of our Conceptions in any part of the whole Material Universe nor never will be Notwithstanding which they are not Absolute Non-Entities since we can Demonstrate things concerning them and though they never were nor will be yet are they Possible to Exist since nothing can be Conceived but it either Is or else is Possible to be The Humane Mind therfore hath a Power
Cogitation or Consciousness much less a Power of Vnderstanding Eternal Verities that therefore these could not be Generated out of Matter nor Corrupted into the same Because Forms and Qualities are Continually Generated and Corrupted made out of Nothing and Reduced to Nothing again therefore are they no Entities Really distinct from Matter and its different Modifications but because Souls at least Humane are unquestionably Entities Really distinct from Matter and all its Modifications therefore can they not possibly be Generated out of Matter nor Corrupted into the same For if Humane Souls were Generated out of Matter then must some Real Entity be Materially produced out of Nothing there being Nothing of Life and Cogitation in Matter which is a Thing Absolutely Impossible Wherefore these Philosophers concluded concerning Souls that being not Generated out of Matter they were Insinuated or Introduced into Bodies in Generations And this was always a Great Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists concerning the Humane Soul as Lucretius expresseth it Nata sit an contrà Nascentibus Insinuetur Whether it were Made or Generated out of Matter that is indeed out of Nothing or else were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From Without Insinuated into Bodies in Generations Which latter Opinion of theirs supposes Souls as well to have Existed Before the Generations of all Animals as to Exist After their Deaths and Corruptions there being properly Nothing of them Generated but only their Union with those particular Bodies So that the Generations and Corruptions or Deaths of Animals according to this Hypothesis are nothing but an Anagrammatical Transposition of Things in the Universe Prae and Post-Existent Souls being sometimes united to one Body and sometimes to another But it doth not therefore follow because these Ancient Philosophers held Souls to be thus Ingenerable and to have Pre-Existed before the Generation of Animals that therefore they supposed all Souls to have Existed Of Themselves from Eternity Vnmade this being a Thing which was never asserted any more by Theist than Atheist since even those Philosophick Theists who maintained Aeternitatem Animorum The Eternity of Humane Minds and Souls together with the Worlds did notwithstanding assert their Essential Dependence upon the Deity like that of the Lights upon the Sun as if they were a kind of Eternal Effulgency Emanation or Eradiation from an Eternal Sun Even Proclus himself that Great Champion for the Eternity of the World and Souls in this very Case when he writes against Plutarch's Self-Existent Evil Soul expresly declaring that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is no Self Existent Soul but every Soul whatsoever is the Work Effect and Production of God Wherefore when they affirmed Souls to be Ingenerable their meaning was no more than this that they were not meer Accidental Things as Forms and Qualities are nor any more Generated out of Matter than Matter it self is Generated out of Something else upon which account as Aristotle informs us Souls were called also by them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Principles as well as Matter they being both of them Substances in the Universe alike Original that is neither of them Made out of the other But they did not suppose them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ingenerate or Vnmade in the other Sense as if they had been Self-Originated and Independent as Plutarch's Second and Third Principles his Evil Soul and Matter were by him Imagined to be but so doubtless as that if the World had had any beginning they should then have been all Created together with it out of Nothing Prae-Existing But as for the perpetual Creation of new Souls in the Successive Generations of Animals this indeed is a thing which those Philosophers were extremely abhorrent from as thinking it Incongruous that Souls which are in Order of Nature Senior to Bodies should be in Order of Time Juniors to them as also not Reasonable that Divine Creation as it were Prostituted should without end perpetually attend and wait upon Natural Generations and be Intermingled with them But as for this Prae-Existence of Souls we have already declared our own sense concerning it in the First Chapter Though we cannot deny but that besides Origen several others of the Ancient Fathers before the Fifth Council seem either to have Espoused it or at least to have had a favour and kindness for it insomuch that St. Austine himself is sometimes Staggering in this Point and thinks it to be a Great Secret whether mens Souls Existed before their Generations or no and some where concludes it to be a matter of Indifferency wherein every one may have his Liberty of opining either way without offence Wherefore all that can be certainly affirmed in this Case is that Humane Souls could not possibly be Generated out of Matter but were some time or other Created by God Almighty out of Nothing Prae-Existing either In Generations or Before them Lastly as for Brute Animals we must confess that If they be not meer Machines or Automata as some seem inclinable to believe but Conscious and Thinking Beings then from the same Principle of Reason it will likewise follow that they cannot be Generated out of Matter neither and therefore must be Derived from the Fountain of all Life and Created out of Nothing by him who since he can as easily Annihilate as Create and does all for the Best no man need at all to trouble himself about their Permanency or Immortality And now have we given a Full and Particular Account of all the Several Senses wherein this Axiom must be acknowledged to be Undeniably True That Nothing can possibly be Made out of Nothing or Come from Nothing namely these Three First That Nothing which was Not could ever bring it self into Being or Efficiently Produce it self Or That Nothing can possibly be Made without an Efficient Cause Secondly that Nothing which was Not could be Produced or brought into Being by any other Efficient Cause then such as hath at least Equal Perfection in it and a Sufficient Active or Productive Power For if any thing were made by that which hath not Equal Perfection then must so much of the Effect as Transcendeth the Cause be indeed Made without a Cause since Nothing can Give what it hath not or be Caused by it self or by Nothing Again to suppose a thing to be Produced by that which hath no Sufficient Productive Power is Really to suppose it also to be Produced from It self without a Cause or From Nothing Where it is acknowledged by us That no Natural Imperfect Created Being can Create or Emanatively Produce a New Substance which was not Before and give it its Whole Being Hitherto is the Axiom Verified in Respect of the Efficient Cause But in the Third Place it is also True in respect of the Material likewise Not That Nothing could Possibly be ever Made by any Power whatsoever but only out of Pre-Existent Matter and Consequently that Matter it self could be never Made but was Self-Existent For the
Efficiently by any thing which had not at least Equal Perfection in it and â— Sufficient Active or Productive Power and Consequently that no New Substance can be Made but by a Perfect Being which only is Substantially Emanative Thirdly and Lastly that when things are Made out of Pre-Existing Matter as in Artificial Productions and Natural Generations there can be no new Real Entity Produced but only different Modifications of what before Substantially was the Material Cause as such Efficiently Producing Nothing And thus was this Axiom Understood by Cicero That Nothing could be Made out of Nothing viz. Causally in his Book De Fato where he reprehendeth Epicurus for endeavouring to avoid Fate and to Establish Liberty of Will by that Absurd Figment of Atoms Declining Vncertainly from the Perpendicular Nec cum haec ita sint est causa cur Epicurus Fatum extimescat ab Atomis petat praesidium easque De Via deducat uno tempore suscipiat res duas inenodabiles Vnam ut sine Causâ fiat aliquid ex quo existet ut De Nihilo quippiam fiat quod nec ipsi nec cuiquam Physico placet Nor is there for all that any Reason why Epicurus should be so much afraid of Fate and seek Refuge in Atoms he supposing them in their Infinite Descents to Decline Vncertainly from the Perpendicular and laying this as a Foundation for Liberty of Will whereby he plunged himself at once into Two inextricable difficulties the First whereof was the supposing of Something to be made without a Cause or which is all one out of Nothing a thing that will neither be allowed be any Physiologer nor could Epicurus himself be Pleased or Satisfied therewith The reason whereof is because it was a Fundamental Principle of the Atomick Philosophy That Nothing in this Sense could be Made out of Nothing Moreover we have in the next place declared in what other Sense this Proposition that Nothing can be Made out of Nothing is False namely when this Out of Nothing is not taken Causally but so as to signifie the Terminus From which that Nothing can be Made out of an Antecedent Non-Existence that no Real Entity or Substance which before was not could by any Power whatsoever be afterwards brought into being Or That Nothing can possibly be Made but out of Something Pre-Existing by the new Modification thereof And it appears from that of Cicero that the True and Genuine Sense of this Proposition De Nihilo nihil fit according to the Mind of those Ancient Physiologers who laid so great stress thereupon was not that Nothing could by any Power whatsoever be brought out of Non-Existence into Being but only that Nothing could be made without a Cause Nor did they here by Cause mean the Material only in this sense as if Nothing could Possibly be Made but out of Prae-Existing Matter Epicurus being taxed by Cicero for introducing that his Third Motion of Atoms or Clinamen Principiorum out of Nothing or Without an Efficient Cause as indeed all Motion also was to those Atomick Atheists in this Sense from Nothing Nevertheless we have also shewed That if this Proposiâ—ion Nothing out of Nothing in that Atheistick Sense as level'd against a Deity were True yet would it of the Two more impugn Atheism it self than it does Theism the Atheists Generating and Corrupting All Things the Substance of Matter only excepted all Life Sense and Vnderstanding Humane Souls Minds and Personalities they Producing these and consequently Themselves out of Nothing and resolving them all to Nothing again We shall now in the Third and Last place make it manifest that the Atheists do not only bring Real Entities and Substantial things out of Nothing in the Second sense that is out of an Antecedent Non Existence which yet is a thing Possible only to God or a Perfect Being but also that they bring them out of Nothing in the Absolutely Impossible Sense that is suppose them to be Made without a Cause or Nothing to be the Cause of Something But we must prepare the way hereunto by setting down First a Brief and Compendious Sum of the whole Atheistick Hypothesis The Atheists therefore who contend that Nothing can be Made but only New Accidents or Modifications of Pre-Existing Substance Taking it for granted that there is no other Substance besides Body or Matter do conclude accordingly that Nothing can be Made but out of Pre-Existing Matter or Body And then they add hereunto That Matter being the only Substance the only Vnmade Self-Existent thing whatsoever else is in the world besides the bare Substance of this Matter was Made out of it or Produced by it So that there are these Three Things contained in the Atheistick Hypothesis First that No Substance can be Made or Caused by any thing else but only new Modifications Secondly that Matter or Body is the Only Substance and therefore whatsoever is made is Made out of Pre Existing Matter Thirdly and Lastly That whatsoever there is else in the whole world besides the Substance of Matter it is Made or Generated out of Matter And now we shall demonstrate the Absolute Impossibility of this Atheistick Hypothesis from that very Principle of the Ancient Physiologers that Nothing can be Made out of Nothing in the True Sense thereof it not only bringing Real Entities and Substantial Things out of an Antecedent Non-Existence though nothing but an Infinitly Perfect Being neither can thus Create but also Producing them without A Cause First therefore when they affirm Matter to be the Only Substance and all things else whatsoever to be Made out of that alone they hereby plainly Suppose all things to be Made without an Efficient Cause which is to bring them out of Nothing in an Impossible Sense For though it be not True that Nothing can be Made but out of Pre-Existing Matter and consequently that God himself supposed to Exist could in this respect do no more than a Carpenter or Taylor doth I say though it be not Universally True That every thing that is Made must have a Material Cause so that the Quaternio of Causes in Logick is not to be Extended to all things Caused whatsoever yet is it certain that Nothing which once was not could Possibly be Made without an Efficient Cause Wherefore if there be any thing Made which was not before there must of Necessity besides Matter be some other Substance Existing as the Efficient Cause thereof for as much as Matter alone Could not Make any thing as Marble cannot make a Statue nor Timber and Stones a House nor Cloth a Garment This is our First Demonstration of the Impossibility of the Atheistick Hypothesis it supposing all things besides the bare Substance of Matter to be Made out of Matter alone without any other Active Principle or Deity or to be Made without an Efficient Cause which is to bring them from Nothing in an Impossible Sense To which may be added by way of Appendix
Thought From whence it ought to be concluded that Cogitation is no Accident or Mode of Matter or Bulky Extension but a Mode or Attribute of another Substance Really distinct from Matter or Incorporeal There is indeed Nothing else clearly conceivable by us in Body or Bulky Extension but only more or less Magnitude of Parts Figures Site Motion or Rest and all the Different Bodies that are in the whole World are but several Combinations or Syllables made up out of these few Letters but no Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions can Possibly Spell or Compound Life and Sense Cogitation and Vnderstanding as the Syllables thereof and therefore to suppose these to be Generated out of Matter is plainly to suppose some Real Entity to be brought out of Nothing or Something to be made without a Cause which is Impossible But that which hath principally confirmed men in this Errour is the business of Sensible Qualities and Forms as they are vulgarly conceived to be distinct Entities from those forementioned Modifications of Matter in respect of Magnitude of Parts Figure Site Motion or Rest. For since these Qualities and Forms are unquestionably Generated and Corrupted there seems to be no Reason why the same might not be as well acknowledged of Life Sense Cogitation and Vnderstanding that these are but Qualities or Accidents of Matter also â—hough of another Kind and consequently may be Generated out of it without the Making of any Real thing out of Nothing But the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists themselves have from the Principles of the Atomick Philosophy sufficiently Confuted and Rectified this mistake concerning Sensible Qualities they exploding and banishing them all as conceived to be Entities Really distinct from the forementioned Modifications of Matter and that for this very reason Because the Generation of them would upon this supposition be the Production of Something out of Nothing or without a Cause and concluding them therefore to be Really Nothing else but Mechanism or different Modifications of Matter in respect of the Magnitude of Parts Figure Site and Motion or Rest they only Causing different Phancies and Apparitions in us And in very truth this vulgar opinion of Real Qualities of Bodies seems to have no other Original at all than mens mistaking their own Phancies Passions and Affections for things Really Existing in the Objects without them For as Sensible Qualities are conceived to be things distinct from the forementioned â—odifications of Matter so are they Really Nothing but our own Phancies Passions and Affections and Consequently no Accidents or Modifications of Matter but Accidents and Modifications of our own Souls which are Substances Incorporeal Now if these Democritick and Epicurean Atheists themselves concluded that Real Qualities considered as distinct from the Modifications of Matter could not possibly be Generated out of it because this would be the Production of Something out of Nothng they ought certainly much more to have acknowledged the same concerning Life and Cogitation Sense and Vnderstanding that the Generation of these out of sensless Matter would be an Impossible Production of Something out of Nothing and consequently that these are therefore no Corporeal Things but the Attributes Properties or Modes of Substance Incorporeal since they can no way be Resolved into Mechanism and Phancy or the Modifications of Matter as the Vulgar Sensible Qualities may and ought to be For though the Democriticks and Epicureans did indeed suppose all humane Cogitations to be Caused or Produced by the Incursion of Corporeal Atoms upon the Thinker yet did never any of them arrive to such a degree either of Sottishness or Impudence as a Modern Writer hath done to maintain that Cogitation Intellection and Volition are themselves really Nothing else but Local Motion or Mechanism in the inward Parts of the Brain and Heart or that Mens nihil aliud praeterquam Motus in partibus quibusdam Corporis Organici that Mind it self is Nothing but Motion in some parts of the Organized Body who therefore as if Cartesius had not been sufficiently Paradoxical in making Brute Animals though supposed by him to be devoid of all Cogitation Nothing but meer Machines and not contented herewith hath advanced much further in making this Prodigious Conclusion that all Cogitative Beings and Men themselves are Really Nothing else but Machines and Automata whereas he might as well have affirmed Heaven to be Earth Colour to be Sound Number to be Figure or any thing else in the world to be any thing as Cogitation and Local Motion to be very self same thing Nevertheless so strong was the Atheistick Intoxication in those Old Democriticks and Epicureans that though denying Real Qualities of Bodies for this very reason because Nothing could be Produced our of Nothing they Notwithstanding contradicting themselves would make Sense Life and Vnderstanding to be Qualities of Matter and therefore Generable out of it and so Unquestionably Produced Real Entities out of Nothing or Without a Cause Moreover it is observable that Epicurus having a mind to assert Contingent Liberty in men in way of opposition to that Necessity of all Humane Actions which had been before maintained by Democritus and his Followers plainly acknowledges that he could not Possibly do this according to the Grounds of his own Philosophy without supposing something of Contingency in the First Principles that is in the Motion of those Atoms out of which men and other Animals are Made Si semper motus connectitur omnis Et Vetere exoritur semper Novus Ordine Certo Nec Declinando faciunt Primor dia Motus Principium quoddam quod Fati foedera rumpat Ex Infinito ne Causam Causa sequatur Libera per Terras unde haec Animantibus extat Vnde est haec inquam Fatis Avolsa Voluntas The reason for which is afterwards thus expressed by him Quoniam De Nihilo Nil fit because Nothing can be Made out of Nothing Upon which account he therefore ridiculously Feigned besides his Two other Motions of Atoms from Pondus and Plagae Weight and Strokes a Third Motion of them which he calls Clinamen Principiorum a Contingent and Vncertain Declination every way from the Perpendicular out of Design to salve this Phaenomenon of Free Will in men Without bringing Something out of Nothing according as he thus subjoyneth Quare in Seminibus quoque idem fateare necesse est Esse aliam praeter Plagas Pondera causam Motibus unde haec est nobis Innata Potestas De NIHILO quoniam FIERI NIL posse videmus Pondus enim prohibet ne Plagis omnia fiant Externa quasi Vi. Sed ne Mens ipsa Necessum Intestinum habeat cunctis in rebus agendis Et devicta quasi cogatur Ferre Patique Id facit Exiguum CEINAMEN PRINCIPIORVM Nec ratione loci certa nec tempore certo Now if Epicurus himself conceived that Liberty of Will could not possibly be Generated in Men out of Matter or Atoms they having no such thing at all in
Body Eternally conjoyned with it which it may always Enliven And for these Causes do they affirm the Soul always to have a Luciform Body Which Lucid and Etherial Body of the Soul is a thing often mentioned by other Writers also as Proclus in his Commentary upon the Timaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Humane Soul hath also saith he such an Ethereal Vehicle belonging to it as Plato himself intimâ—tâ—s when he affirmeth the Demiurgus at first to have placed it in a Chariot For of necâ—ssity every Soul before this Mortal Body must have an Eternal and easily Moveable Body it being Essential to it to move And elsewhere the same Proclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whilst we remain above we have no need of these Divided Organs which now we have descending into Generation but the Vniform Lucid or Splendid Vehicle is sufficient this having all Senses Vnited together in it Which Doctrine of the Vnorganized Luciform and Spirituous Vehicles seems to have been derived from Plato he in his Epinomis writing thus concerning a Good and Wise man after Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of whom whether I be in Jest or Earnest I constantly affirm that when dying he shall yield to Fate he shall no longer have this Variety of Senses which now we have but One Vniform Body and live a happy Life Moreover Hiâ—rocles much insisteth upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Luciform and Ethereal Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which also saith he the Oracles call the Thin and Subtle Vehicle or Chariot of the Soul he meaning doubtless by these Oracles the Magical or Chaldaick Oracles before mentioned And amongst those now Extant under that Title there seems to be a clear acknowledgment of these Two Vehicula of the Soul or Interiour Induments thereof the Spirituous and the Luciform Body the latter of which is there Enigmatically called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Plain Superficies in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take care not to Defile or Contaminate the Spirit nor to make the Plain Superficies Deep For thus Psellus glosseth upon that Oracle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Chaldaick Philosophers bestow upon the Soul Two Interiour Tunicles or Vestments the one of which they called Pneumatical or the Spirituous Body which is weaved out as it were to it and compounded of the Gross Sensible Body it being the more Thin and Subtle part thereof the other the Luciform Vestment of the Soul Pure and Pellucide and this is that which is here called the Plain Superficies Which saith Pletho is not so to be understood as if it had not Three Dimensions for as much as it is a Body also but only to denote the Subtlety and Tenuity thereof Wherefore when the aforesaid Hierocles also calls this Luciform and Etherial Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Spiritual Vehicle of the Rational Soul he takes not the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Sense wherein it is used by Philoponus and Others as if he intended to confound this Etherial Body with that other Spirituous or Airy Body and to make but one of them but rather styles it Spiritual in a higher Sense and which cometh near to that of the Scripture as being a Body more Suitable and Cognate with that Highest and Divinest Part of the Soul Mind or Reason then the other Terrestial Body is which upon that account is called also by the same Hierocles as well as it is by St. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Animal or Natural Body So that this Spiritual Body of Hierocles is not the Airy but the Etherial Body and the same with Synesius his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His Divine Body And that this Distinction of two Interior Vehicles or Tunicles of the Soul besides that Outer Vestment of the Terrestial Body styled in Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Crustaceous or Ostrâ—aceous Body is not a meer Figment of the latter Platonists since Christianity but a Tradition derived down from Antiquity appeareth plainly from Virgil in his Sixth Aenead where though not commonly understood he writeth first of the Spirituous or Airy Body in which Unpurged Souls receive Punishment after Death thus Quin Supremo cum Lumine Vita reliquit Non tamen omne Malum miseris nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitusque necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur poenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad Ventos aliis sub gurgite Vasto Infectum eluitur Scelus aut exuritur Igni And then again of the other Pure Ethereal and Fiery Body in this manner Donec Longa dies perfecto temporis Orbe Concretam exemit labem Purumque reliquit Aethereum Sensum atque Aurai Simplicis Ignem Now as it was before observed that the Ancient Asserters of the Souls Immortality supposing it to have besides this Terrestial Body another Spirituous or Airy Body conceived this not only to accompany the Soul after Death but also to hang about it here in this Life as its Interiour Vest or Tunicle they probably meaning hereby the same with that which is commonly called the Animal Spirits diffused from the Brain by the Nerves throughout this whole Body in like manner is it certain that Many of them supposing the Soul besides those Two forementioned to have yet a Third Luciform or Etherial Body conceived this in like manner to adhere to it even in this Mortal Life too as its Inmost Clothing or Tunicle yet so as that they acknowledged the Force thereof to be very much weakned and abâ—ted and its Splendour altogether obscured by the Heavy Weight and Gross Steams or Vapours of the Terrestial Body Thus Suidas â—poâ— the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tells us out of Isidore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That according to some Philosophers the Soul hath a certain Luciform Vehicle called also Star or Sun-like and Eternal which Luciform Body is now shut up within this Terrestrial Body as a Light in a dark Lanthorn it being supposed by some of them to be included within the Head c. With which agreeth Hierocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Splendid or Luciform Body lieth in this Mortal Body of ours continually Inspiring it with Life and containing the Harmony thereof The ground of which opinion was because these Philosophers generally conceived the Humane Soul to have Pre-Existed before it came into this Earthly Body and that either from Eternity or else from the First beginning of the World's Creation and being never without a Body and then in a Perfect State to have had a Lucid and Etherial Body either Co-Eternal or Co-Eve with it though in order of Nature Junior to it as its Chariot or Vehicle which being Incorruptible did always inseparably adhere to the Soul in its After Lapses and Descents into an Aerial first and then a Terrestrial Body this being as it were the Vinculum of Union betwixt the Soul
and that after his Resurrection too That he Liveth unto God Romans the 6. the 10. From whence it is evident that they who are said to Live to God are not therefore supposed to be less Alive than they were when they Lived unto men Now it seemeth to be a Priviledge or Prerogative Proper to the Deity only to Live and Act alone without Vital Vnion or Conjunction with any Body Quaerendum saith Origen Si Possibile est penitus Incorporeas remanere Rationabiles Creaturas cum ad summum Sanctitatis ac Beatudinis venerint An necesse est eas semper Conjunctas esse Corporibus It is worth our Enquiry Whether it be possible for Rational Creatures to remain Perfectly Incorporeal and Separate from all Body when they are arrived to the Highest Degree of Holiness and Happiness Or Whether they be always of necessity conjoyned with some Bodies And afterwards he plainly affirmeth it to be Impossible Vivere praeter Corpus Vllam aliam Naturam praeter Patrem Filium Spiritum Sanctum For any other Nature besides the Father and the Son and Holy Ghost to live quite without a Body Indeed if this were most Natural to the Humane Soul and most Perfective of it to continue Separate from all Body then doubtless as Origen Implied should the Souls of Good men rather After the day of Judgment continue in such a State of Separation to all Eternity But on the contrary If it be Natural to Souls to Enliven and Enform some Body or other though not always a Terrestrial one as our Inward Sense inclines us to think then can it not seem so probable that they should by a kind of Violence be kept so long in an Vn-Natural or Preter-Natural State of Nakedness and Separation from all Body some of them even from Adam till the day of Judgment Again the Scripture also Intimates that Souls Departed out of this Life have a Knowledge of one another and are also capable of the Punishment of Sense or Pain Fear him saith our Saviour who After he hath killed hath Power to cast into Hell Luke the 12. And the Soul of the Rich Man is said to be immediately after Death in Torments before the Day of Judgment as likewise to have Known Abraham and Lazarus And it seems neither agreeable to our Common Notions nor yet to Piety to conclude That the Souls of wicked men departing out of this Life from the beginning of the world in their several Ages till the Day of Judgment have all of them no manner of Punishment inflicted on them save only that of Remorse of Conscience and Future Expectation Now it is not conceivable how Souls after Death should Know and be Knowable and Converse with one another and have any Punishment of Sense or Pain inflicted on them were they not Vitally Vnited to some Bodies And thus did Tertullian reason long ago Dolet apud Inferos Anima cujusdam Punitur in Flamma Cruciatur in Linguâ de digito animae foelicioris implorat Solatium Roris Imaginem existimas exitum illum Pauperis Laetantis Divitis moerentis Et quid illic Lazari nomen si non in veritate res est Sed etsi Imago credenda est testimonium erit veritatis Si enim non habet Anima Corpus non caperet Imaginem Corporis Nec mentiretur de Corporalibus Membris Scriptura si non erant Quid est autem illud quod ad Inferna transfertur post Divortium Corporis quod detinetur in Diem Judicii reservatur Ad quod Christus moriendo descendit puto ad Animas Patriarcharum Incorporalitas Animae ab omni genere Custodiae libera est immunis à Poena à Fovel◠Per quod enim Punitur aut Fovetur hoc erit Corpus Igitur siquid Tormenti sive Solatii Anima praecepit in Carcere vel Diversorio Inferûm in Igni vel in Sinu Abrahae probata erit Corporalitas Animae Incorporalitas enim nihil Patitur non habens per quod Pati possit aut si habet hoc erit Corpus In quantum enim Omne Corporale Passibile est in tantum quod Passibile est Corporale est We read in Scripture of a Soul Tormented in Hell Punished with Flames and desirous of a drop of water to cool his Tongue You will say perhaps that this is Parabolical and Fictitious What then does the name of Lazarus signifie there if it were no Real thing But if it be a Parable never so much yet must it notwithstanding as to the main speak agreeably to Truth For if the Soul after Death have no Body at all then can it not have any Corporeal Image Shape or Figure Nor can it be thought that the Scripture would Lie concerning Corporal Members if there were none But what is that which after its Separation from this Body is carried down into Hell and there detained Prisoner and reserved till the day of Judgment And what is that which Christ dying descended down unto I suppose to the Souls of the Patriarchs But Incorporality is free from all Custody or Imprisonment as also devoid of Pain and Pleasure Wherefore if Souls be sensible of Pain after Death and Tormented with Fire then must they needs have some Corporeity for Incorporality suffers Nothing And as every Corporeal thing is Passive or Patible so again whatsoever is Passive is Corporeal Tertullian would also further confirm this from a Vision or Revelation of a certain Sister-Prophet Miracles and Prophecy being said by him not to be then altogether Extinct Inter caetera ostensa est mihi Anima Corporaliter Spiritus videbatur Tenera Lucida Aerii Coloris Et Formae per omnia Humanae There was said she amongst other things a Soul Corporally Exhibited to my View and it was Tender and Lucid and of an Aereal Colour and every way of Humane Form Agreeably to which Tertullian himself addeth Effigiem non aliam Animae Humanae deputandam praeter Humanam quidem ejus Corporis quod unaquaeque circuntulit There is no other Shape to be assigned to a Humane Soul but Humane and indeed that of the Body which it before carried about It is true indeed that Tertullian here drives the business so far as to make the Soul it self to be Corporeal Figurate and Colorate and after Death to have the very same Shape which its respective Body had before in this Life he being one of those who were not able to conceive of any thing Incorporeal and therefore being a Religionist concluded God himself to be a certain Body also But the Reasons which he here insisteth on will indeed extend no further than to prove that the Soul hath after Death some Body Vitally Vnited to it by means whereof it is both capable of Converse and Sensible of Pain for as much as Body alone can have no Sense of any thing And this is that which Irenaeus from the same Scripture gathereth
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
Angels Post Peccatum in hanc sunt detrusi Caliginem ubi tamen Aer That after their Sin they were thrust down down into the Misty darkness of this Lower Air. And here are they as it were Chained and Fettered also by that same Weight of their Gross and heavy Bodies which first sunk them down hither this not suffering them to reascend up or return back to those Bright Etherial Regions above And being thus for the present Imprisoned in this Lower Tartarus or Caliginous Air or Atmosphere they are indeed here Kept and Reserved in Custody unto the Judgment of the Great Day and General Assizes however they may notwithstanding in the mean time seem to Domineer and Lord it for a while here And Lastly our Saviours Go ye Cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels seems to be a clear Confirmation of Devils being Bodied because First to Allegorize this Fire into nothing but Remorse of Conscience would indanger the rendering of other Points of our Religion uncertain also but to say that Incorporeal Substances Vnunited to Bodies can be tormented with Fire is as much as in us lieth to expose Christianity and the Scripture to the Scorn and Contempt of all Philosophers and Philosophick Wits Wherefore Psellus laies no small stress upon this Place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am also convinced of this That Demons have Bodies from the words of our Saviour affirming That they shall be Punished with Fire which how could it be were they altogether Incorporeal it being Impossible for that which is both it self Incorporeal and Vitally Vnunited to any Body to suffer from a Body Wherefore of necessity it must be granted by us Christians that Devils shall receive Punishment of Sense and Pain hereafter in Bodies capable of Suffering Now if Angels in general that is all Created Beings Superiour to men be Substances Incorporeal or Souls Vitally United to Bodies though not always the same but sometimes of one kind and sometimes times of another and never quite Separate from all Body it may seem probable from hence that though there be other Incorporeal Substances besides the Deity yet Vita Incorporea a Life perfectly Incorporeal in the forementioned Origenick Sense or Sine Corporeae Adjectionis Societate Vivere to Live altogether without the Society of any Corporeal Adjection is a Privilege properly belonging to the Holy Trinity only and consequently therefore that Humane Souls when by Death they are Devested of these Gross Earthly Bodies they do not then Live and Act Compleatly without the Conjunction of any Body and so continue till the Resurrection or Day of Judgment this Being a priviledge which not so much as the Angels themselves and therefore no Created Finite Being is capable of the Imperfection of whose Nature necessarily requires the Conjunction of some Body with them to make them up Complete without which it is unconceivable how they should either have Sense or Imagination And Thus doth Origen Consentaneously to his own Principles Conclude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Soul which in its own Nature is Incoâ—poreal and Invisible in whatsoever Corporeal place it Existeth doth always stand in need of a Body suitable to the Nature of that place respectively Which Body it sometimes beareth having Put Off that which before was necessary but is now Superfluous for the Following State and sometimes again Putting On something to what before it had now standing in need of some better Clothing to fit it for those more Pure Etherial and Heavenly places But in what there follows we conceive that Origen's sense having not been rightly understood his words have been altered and perverted and that the whole place ought to be read thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sense whereof iâ— this The Soul descending hither into Generation Put on first that Body which was useful for it whilst to continue in the Womb and then again afterward such a Body as was necessary for it to Live here upon the Earth in Again it having here a Two fold kind of Body the one of which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by St. Paul being a more Subtle Body which it had before the other the Superinduced Earthly House necessarily subservient to this Schenos here the Scripture Oracles affirm that the Earthly House of this Schenos shall be corrupted or dissolved but the Schenos it self Superindue or Put On a House not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens The same declaring that the Corruptible shall put on Incorruption and the Mortal Immortality Where it is plain that Origen takes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Paul 1 Cor. 5.1 for a Subtle Body which the Soul had before its Terrene Nativity and which Continues with it after death but in good men will at last Superindue or Put on without Death the Clothing of Immortality Neither can there be a better Commentary upon this place of Origen than those Excerpta out of Methodius the Martyr in Photius though seeming to be Vitiated also where as we conceive the sense of Origen and his Followers is first contained in those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That in St. Paul the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is One thing and the Earthly House of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Another thing and We that is our Souls a Third thing distinct from both And then it is further declared in this that follows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That this short Life of our Earthly Body being destroyed our Soul shall then have before the Resurrection a dwelling from God until we shall at last receive it renewed restored and so made an Incorruptible House Wherefore in this we groan desirous not to put off all Body but to put on Life or Immortality upon the Body which we shall then have For that House which is from Heaven That we desire to put on is Immortality Moreover that the Soul is not altogether Naked after Death the same Origen endeavours to confirm further from that of our Saviour concerning the Rich Man and Lazarus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Rich man Punished and the Poor man refreshed in Abraham 's bosome before the Coming of our Saviour and before the end of the world and therefore before the Resurrection plainly teaches that even now also after Death the Soul useth a Body He thinketh the same also to be further proved from the Visible Apparition of Samuel's Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Samuel also visibly appearing after Death maketh it manifest that his Soul was then clothed with a Body To which he adds in Photius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That the Exteriour Form and Figure of the Souls Body after Death doth resemble that of the Gross Terrestrial Body here in this Life All the Histories of Apparitions making Ghosts or the Souls of the Dead to appear in the same Form which their Bodies had before This therefore as was observed is that which Origen understands by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
that the Humane Soul it self is Vnextended and Indivisible from its Energies and Operations and that as well those of Sensation as of Intellection First therefore from External Sensations he Reasons in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which percieveth in us must of necessity be One thing and by One and the same Indivisible perceive all and that whether they be more things entring through several Organs of Sense as the many Qualities of one Substance or One Various and Multiform thing entring through the same Organ as the Countenance or Picture of a man For it is not One thing in us that perceives the Nose another thing the Eyes and another thing the Mouth but it is one and the self same thing that perceiveth all And when one thing enters through the Eye another through the Ear these also must of necessity come all at last to one Indivisible or else they could not be compared together nor one of them affirmed to be different from another The several Sentiments of them meeting no where together in One. He concludes therefore that this One thing in us that sensibly perceives all things may be resembled to the Centre of a Circle and the several Senses to Lines drawn from the Circumference which all meet in that one Centre Wherefore that which perceives and apprehends all things in us must needs be Really One and the very same that is Vnextended and Indivisible Which Argument is yet further pursued by him more particularly thus If that which sensibly perceiveth in us be Extended so as to have Distant Parts one without another then one of these Three things must needs be affirmed That either Every Part of this Extended Substance of the Soul perceives a Part of the Object only or every Part of it the Whole Object or else all comes to some One Point which alone perceives both the several Parts of the Object and the Whole all the other being but as Circumferential Lines leading to this Center Now of the Former of those Three Plotinus thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the Soul be a Magnitude then must it be divided together with the Sensible Object so that one Part of the Soul must perceive one Part of the Object and another another and nothing in It the Whole Sensible just as if I should have the sense of one thing and you of another Whereas it is plain by our Internal Sense That it is One and the Self same thing in us which perceives both the Parts and the Whole And of the Second he writeth in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But if every Part of the Extended Soul perceive the Whole Sensible Object since Magnitude is Infinitely Divisible there must be in every man Infinite Sensations and Images of one and the same Object Whereas we are Intimately Conscious to our selves That we have but only One Sensation of One Object at the same time And as for the Third and Last Part of the Disjunction That what Sensibly Perceives in every one is but One Single Point either Mathematical or Physical It is certain first that a Mathematical Point having neither Longitude Latitude nor Profundity is no Body nor Substance but only a Notion of our own Mind or a Mode of Conceiving in us And then as for a Physical Point or Minimum a Body so Little that there cannot possibly be any Less Plotinus asserting the Infinite Divisibility of Body here explodes the thing it self However he further intimates that If there were any such Physical Minimum or Absolutely Least Body or Extensum this could not possibly receive upon it a Distinct Representation and Delineation of all the several Parts of a Whole Visible Object at once as of the Eyes Nose Mouth c. in a man's Face or Picture or of the Particularities of an Edifice nor could such a Parvitude or Atom as this be the Cause of all Animal Motions And this was one of Aristotl's Arguments whereby he would prove Vnextended Incorporeals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the Soul were Indivisible as a Point how could it Perceive that which is Divisible that is take notice of all the Distinct Parts of any Extended Object and have a Description of the whole of them at once upon it self The Sum of the whole Argumentation is this That If the Soul be an Extended Substance then must it of necessity be either a Physical Point or Minimum the Least Extensum that can possibly be if there be any such Least and Body or Extension be not Infinitely Divisible or else it must consist of more such Physical Points joyned together As for the former of these it hath been already declared to be Impossible that one Single Atom or Smallest Point of Extension should be able distinctly to perceive all the variety of things to which might be added That to suppose every Soul to be but one Physical Minimum or Smallest Extensum is to imply such an Essential Difference in Matter or Extension as that some of the Points thereof should be Naturally devoid of all Life Sense and Vnderstanding and others again Naturally Sensitive and Rational Which Absurdity though it should be admitted yet would it be utterly Unconceivable how there should come to be One such Sensitive and Rational Atom in every man and no more and how this should constantly remain the same from Infancy to Old-Age whilst other Parts of Matter Transpire perpetually But as for the Latter If Souls be Extended Substances consisting of More Points one without another all Concurring in every Sensation then must every one of those Points either Perceive a Point and Part of the Object only or else the Whole Now if every Point of the Extended Soul Perceive only a Point of the Object then is there no One Thing in us that Perceives the Whole or which can compare one Part with another But if every Point of the Extended Soul Perceive the Whole Object at once consisting of many Parts then would there be Innumerable Perceptions of the same Object in every Sensation as many as there are Points in the Extended Soul And from both those Suppositions it would alike follow that no man is One Single Percipient or Person but that there are Innumerable distinct Percipients and Persons in every man Neither can there be any other Supposition made besides those Three forementioned as That the whole Extended Soul should Perceive both the Whole Sensible Object and All its several Parts no Part of this Soul in the mean time having any Perception at all by it self because the Whole of an Extended Being is nothing but All the Parts taken together and if none of those Parts have any Life Sense or Perception in them it is Impossible that there should be any in the Whole But in very truth to say that the Whole Soul Perceiveth all and no Part of it any thing is to acknowledge it not to be Extended but to be Indivisible which is the Thing that Plotinus
Generated from a Fortuitous Commixture of those Similar Atoms or the Qualities of Heat and Cold Moist and Dry and the like Contempered together And we confess that there is some probability for this Opinion Notwithstanding which because there is no Absolute certainty thereof and because all these Ancient Atheists agreed in this that Life and Vnderstanding are either First and Primary or else Secondary Qualities of Body Generable and Corruptible Therefore did we not think fit to Multiply Forms of Atheism but rather to make but one kind of Atheism of all this calling it indifferently Hylopathian or Anaximandrian The Second Atheistick Hypothesis is that Form of Atheism described Under the Sixth Head which likewise supposing Body to be the only Substance and the Principles thereof devoid of Life and Vnderstanding does reject all Real Qualities according to the Vulgar Notion of them and Generate all things whatsoever besides Matter meerly from the Combinations of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions or the Contextures of Vnqualified Atoms Life and Vnderstanding not excepted Which therefore according to them being no Simple Primitive and Primordial thing but Secondary Compounded and Derivative the meer Creature of Matter and Motion could not possibly be a God or First Principle in the Universe This is that Atomick Atheism called Democritical Leucippus and Democritus being the First Founders thereof For though there was before them another Atomology which made Vnqualified Atoms the Principles of all Bodies it supposing besides Body Substance Incorporeal yet were these as Laertius declareth the First that ever made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sensless Atoms the Principles of all things whatsoever even of Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind Indeed it cannot be denied but that from these Two Things granted That all is Body and That the Principles of Body are devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding it will follow unavoidably that there can be no Corporeal Deity Wherefore the Stoicks who professed to acknowledge no other Substance besides Body and yet nevertheless had a strong Perswasion of the Existence of a God or an Eternal Vnmade Mind the Maker of the whole World denied that other Proposition of the Atheistick Corporealists that the Principles of all Bodies were devoid of Life and Vnderstanding they asserting an Intellectual Fire Eternal and Vnmade the Maker of the whole Mundane System Which Postulatum of a Living Intellectual Body Eternal were it granted to these Stoicks yet could not this their Corporeal God notwithstanding be Absolutely Incorruptible as Origen often inculcateth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God to the Stoicks is a Body and therefore Mutable Alterable and Changeable and he would indeed be perfectly Corruptible were there any other Body to act upon him Wherefore he is only Happy in this that he wants a Corrupter or Destroyer And thus much was therefore rightly urged by the Atheistick Argumentator that no Corporeal Deity could be Absolutely in its own Nature Incorruptible nor otherwise than by Accident only Immortal because of its Divisibility For were there any other Matter without this World to make Inroads or Incursions upon it or to Disunite the Parts thereof the Life and Vnity of the Stoical Corporeal God must needs be Scattered and Destroyed And therefore of this Stoical God does the same Origen thus further write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The God of the Stoicks being a Body hath sometimes the whole for its Hegemonick in the Conflagration and sometimes only a part of the Mundane Matter For these Men were not able to reach to a clear Notion of the Deity as a Being every way Incorruptible Simple Vncompounded and Indivisible Notwithstanding which these Stoicks were not therefore to be ranked amongst the Atheists but far to be preferred before them and accounted only a kind of Imperfect Theists But we shall now make it evident that in both these Atheistick Corporealisms agreeing in those Two things That Body is the only Substance and That the Principles of Body are not Vital there is an Absolute Impossibility not only because as Aristotle objecteth they supposed no Active Principle but also because their bringing of Life and Understanding being Real Entities out of Dead and Sensless Matter is also the Bringing of Something out of Nothing And indeed the Atomick Atheist is here of the two rather the more Absurd and Unreasonable for as much as he discarding all Real Qualities and that for this very Reason because Nothing can come out of Nothing doth himself notwithstanding produce Life Sense and Vnderstanding Unquestionable Realities out of meer Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions that is indeed Out of Nothing Wherefore there being an Absolute Impossibility of both these Atheistick Hypotheses neither of which is able to salve the Phaenomenon of Life and Vnderstanding from that confessed Principle of theirs that Matter as such hath no Life nor Vnderstanding belonging to it it follows unavoydably that there must be some other Substance besides Body or Matter which is Essentially Vital and Intellectual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because all things cannot possibly have a Peregrine Adventitious and Borrowed Life but something in the Universe must needs have Life Naturally and Originally All Life cannot be meerly Accidental Generable and Corruptible producible out of nothing and Reducible to Nothing again but there must of Necessity be some Substantial Life Which Point That all Life is not a meer Accident but that there is Life Substantial hath been of late with much Reason and Judgment insisted upon the Urged by the Writer Of the Life of Nature Neither must there be only such a Substantial Life as is Naturally Immortal for the future but also such as is Eternal and was never Made all other Lives and Minds whatsoever none of which could possibly be Generated out of Matter being derived from this Eternal Vnmade Fountain of Life and Vnderstanding Which thing the Hylozoick Atheists being well aware of namely that there must of Necessity be both Substantial and Eternal Vnmade Life but supposing also Matter to be the only Substance thought themselves necessitated to attribute to all Matter as such Life and Vnderstanding though not Animalish and Conscious but Nâ—tural only they conceiving that from the Modification thereof alone by Organization all other Animalish Life not only the Sensitive in Brutes but also the Rational in Men was derived But this Hylozoick Atheism thus bringing all Conscious and Reflexive Life or Animality out of a Supposed Sensless Stupid and Inconscious Life of Nature in Matter and that meerly from a different Accidental Modification thereof or Contexture of Parts does again plainly bring Something out of Nothing which is an Absolute Impossibility Moreover this Hylozoick Atheism was long since and in the first Emersion thereof Solidly Confuted by the Atomick Atheists after this manner If Matter as such had Life Perception and Vnderstanding belonging to it then of Necessity must every Atom or Smallest Particle thereof be a Distinct Percipient by it self from whence it will follow
that there could not possibly be any such Men and Animals as now are Compounded out of them but every Man and Animal would be a Heap of Innumerable Percipients and have Innumerable Perceptions and Intellections whereas it is plain that there is but one Life and Vnderstanding one Soul or Mind one Perceiver or Thinker in every one And to say that these innumerable Particles of Matter Do all Confederate together that is to make every Man and Animal to be a Multitude or Common-wealth of Percipients and Persons as it were clubbing together is a thing so Absurd and Ridiculous that one would wonder the Hylozoists should not rather chuse to recant that their Fundamental Errour of the Life of Matter than endeavour to seek Shelter and Sanctuary for the same under such a Pretence For though Voluntary Agents and Persons may Many of them resign up their wills to One and by that means have all but as it were One Artificial Will yet can they not possibly resign up their Sense and Vnderstanding too so as to have all but one Artificial Life Sense and Understanding much less could this be done by Senseless Atoms or Particles of Matter supposed to be devoid of all Consciousness or Animality Besides which there have been other Arguments already suggested which do sufficiently Evince that Sense and Vnderstanding cannot possibly belong to Matter any way either Originally or Secondarily to which more may be added else where And now from these Two things That Life and Vnderstanding do not Essentially belong to Matter as such and that they cannot be Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter it is Demonstratively Certain that there must be some other Substance besides Body or Matter However the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheists taking it for granted that the First Principles of Body are devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding must either acknowledge a Necessity of some other Substance besides Body or else deny the Truth of that Axiom so much made use of by thâ—mselves That Nothing can come out of Nothing And this was our Second Vndertaking to shew that from the very Principles of the Atheistick Corporealism represented in the Fifth and Sixth Heads Incorporeal Substance is against those Atheists themselves Demonstrable Our Third and Last was this That there being undeniably Substance Incorporeal the Two next following Atheistick Argumentations built upon the contrary Supposition are therefore altogether Insignificant also and do no Execution at all The first of which being the Seventh Impugning only such a Soul of the World as is Generated out of Matter is not properly Directed against Theism neither but only such a Form of Atheism sometime before mentioned as indeed cometh nearest to Theism Which though concluding all things to have sprung Originally from Sensless Matter Night and Chaos yet supposes things from thence to have ascended Gradually to higher and higher perfection First Inanimate Bodies as the Elements then Birds and other Brute Animals according to the forementioned Aristophanick Tradition with which agreeth this of Lucretius Principio Genus Alituum variaeque Volucres Afterward Men and in the last place Gods and that not only the Animated Stars but Jupiter or a Soul of the world Generated also out of Night and Chaos as well as all other things We grant indeed that the True and Real Theists amongst the Ancient Pagans also held the World's Animation and whosoever denied the same were therefore accompted Absolute Atheists But the World's Animation in a larger Sense signifies no more than this That all things are not Dead about us but that there is a Living Sentient and Vnderstanding Nature Eternal that first Framed the World and still Presideth over it and it is certain that in this Sense all Theists whatsoever must hold the World's Animation But the Generality of Pagan Theists held the World's Animation also in a stricter Sense as if the World were Truly and Properly an Animal and therefore a God Compleated and made up of Soul and Body together as other Animals are Which Soul of this great World-Animal was to some of them the Highest or Supreme Deity but to others only a Secondary God they supposing an Abstract Mind Superiour to it But God's being the Soul of the World in this Latter Paganick Sense and the World 's being an Animal or a God are things Absolutely disclaimed and renounced by us However this Seventh Atheistick Argument is not directed against the Soul of the world in the Sense of the Paganick Theists neither this being as they think already Confuted but in the Sense of the Atheistick Theogonists not an Eternal Vnmade Soul or Mind but a Native and Generated One only such as resulted from the Disposition of Matter and Contexture of Atoms the Offspring of Night and Chaos the Atheists here pretending after their Confutation of the True and Genuine Theism to take away all Shadows thereof also and so to free Men from all manner of Fear of being obnoxious to any Understanding Being Superiour to themselves Wherefore we might here omit the Confutation of this Argument without any detriment at all to the Cause of Theism Nevertheless because this in General is an Atheistick Assertion That there is no Life and Vnderstanding presiding over the Whole World we shall briefly examine the Supposed Grounds thereof which alone will be a sufficient Confutation of it The First of them therefore is this that there is no other Substance in the world besides Body The Second That the Principles of Bodies are devoid of all Life and Vnderstanding and the Last That Life and Vnderstanding are but Accidents of Bodies resulting from such a Composition or Contexture of Atoms as produceth soft Flesh Blood and Brains in Bodies Organized and of Humane Form From all which the Conclusion is that there can be no Life and Vnderstanding in the Whole because it is not of Humane Form and Organized and hath no Blood and Brains But neither is Body the only Substance Nor are Life and Vnderstanding Accidents resulting from any Modification of Dead and Lifeless Matter Nor is Blood or Brains that which Vnderstandeth in us but an Incorporeal Soul or Mind Vitally united to a Terrestrial Organized Body which will then understand with far greater advantage when it comes to be Clothed with a Pure Spiritual and Heavenly One But there is in the Universe also a higher kind of Intellectual Animals which though consisting of Soul and Body likewise yet have neither Flesh nor Blood nor Brains nor Parts so Organized as ours are And the most Perfect Mind and Intellect of all is not the Soul of any Body but Complete in it self without such Vital Vnion and Sympathy with Matter We conclude therefore that this Passage of a Modern Writer We Worms cannot conceive how God can Vnderstand without Brains is Vox Pecudis the Language and Philosophy rather of Worms or Brute Animals then of Men. The next which is the Eighth Atheistick Argumentation is briefly this that whereas
any Art Mind or Vnderstanding and nâ—xt to these the Bodies of the Sun Moon and Stars and this Terrestrial Globe produced out of the foreâ—aid Inanimate Elements by Vnknowing Nature or Chance likewise without any Art Mind or God The Fortuitous Concourse of Similar or Dissimilar Atoms begetting this whole System and Compages of Heaven and Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But that afterwards Art or Mind and Vnderstanding being Generated also in the last place out of those same Sensless and Inanimate Bodies or Elements it rising up in certain Smaller Pieces of the Universe and Particular Concretions of Matter called Animals Mortal from Mortal things did produce certain other Ludicrous things which partake little of Truth and Reality but are meer Images Vmbrages and Imitations as Picture and Landskip c. but above all those Moral Differences of Just and Vnjust Honest and Dishonest the meer Figments of Political Art and Slight Vmbratil Things compared with Good and Evil Natural that consist in nothing but Agreement and Disagreement with Sense and Apppetite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as for Things Good and Honest those that are such by Nature differ from those which are such by Law but as for Just and Vnjust there is by Nature no such thing at all The Upshot and Conclusion of all is That there is no such Scale or Ladder in Nature as Theists and Metaphysicians suppose no Degrees of Real Perfection and Entity one above another as of Life and Sense above Inanimate Matter of Reason and Vnderstanding above Sense from whence it would be Inferred that the Order of things in Nature was in Way of Descent from Higher and Greater Perfection Downward to Lesser and Lower which is indeed to Introduce a God And that there is no such Scale or Ladder of Perfection and Entity they endeavour further to prove from hence because according to that Hypothesis it would follow that every the Smallest and most Contemptible Animal that could see the Sun had a Higher degree of Entity and Perfection in it than the Sun it self a thing ridiculously Absurd or else according to Cotta's Instance Idcircò Formicam anteponendam esse huic Pulcherimae Vrbi quòd in Vrbe Sensus sit nullus in Formica non modo Sensus sed etiam Mens Ratio Memoria That therefore every Ant or Pismire were far to be preferred before this most beautiful City of Rome because in the City there is no Sense whereas an Ant hath not only Sense but also Mind Reason and Memory that is a certain Sagacity superiour to Sense Wherefore they conclude that there is no such Scale or Ladder in Nature no such Climbing Stairs of Entity and Perfection one above another but that the whole Vniverse is One Flat and Level it being indeed all Nothing but the same Vniform Matter Under several Forms Dresses and Disguises or Variegated by Diversity of Accidental Modifications one of which is that of such Beings as have Phancy in them commonly called Animals which are but some of Sportful or Wanton Natures more trimly Artificial and Finer Gamaieus or Pretty Toys but by reason of this Phancy they have no Higher Degree of Entity and Perfection in them than is in Sensless Matter as they will also be all of them quickly transformed again into other seemingly dull Vnthinking and Inanimate Shapes Hitherto the Sense of Atheists But the Pretended Grounds of this Atheistick Doctrine or rather Madness have been already also confuted over and over again Knowledge and Vnderstanding is not a meer Passion from the thing Known Existing without the Knower because to Know and Vnderstand as Anaxagoras of old determined is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Master and Conquer the thing Known and consequently not meerly to Suffer from it or Passively to Lie Under it this being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Mastered and Conquered by it The Knowledge of Vniversal Theoremes in Sciences is not from the Force of the thing Known existing without the Knower but from the Active Power and Exerted Vigour or Strength of that which Knows Thus Severinus Boetius Videsne ut in cognoscendo cuncta Suâ potius Facultate quà m Eorum quae Cognoscuntur Vtantur Neque id injuria nam cum omne Judicium Judicantis Actus existat necesse est ut suam quisque Operam non ex Alienâ sed ex propriâ Potestate persiciat See you not how all things in Knowing use their own Power and Faculty rather than that of the thing Known For since Judgment is the Action of that which Judgeth every thing must of necessity perform its own Action by its own Power Strength and Faculty and not by that of another Sense it self is not a meer Passion or Reception of the Motion from Bodies without the Sentient for if it were so then would a Looking-Glass and Other Dead things See but it is a Perception of a Passion made upon the Body of the Sentient and therefore hath something of the Souls own Self-Activity in it But Vnderstanding and the Knowledge of Abstract Sciences is neither Primary Sense nor yet the Fading and Decaying Remainders of the Motions thereof but a Perception of another kind and more Inward than that of Sense not Sympathetical but Vnpassionate the Noemata of the Mind being things distinct from the Phantasmata of Sense and Imagination which are but a Kind of Confused Cogitations And though the Objects of Sense be only Singular Bodies Existing without the Sentient yet are not these Sensibles therefore the only Things and Cogitables but there are other Objects of Science or Intelligibles which the Mind Containeth within it Self That Dark Philosophy of some tending so directly to Atheism That there is Nothing in the Mind or Vnderstanding which was not First in Corporeal Sense and derived in way of Passion frrom Matter was both Elegantly and Solidly Confuted by Boetius his Philosophick Muse after this manner Quondam Porticus attulit Qui Sensus Imagines Credant Mentibus imprimi Mos est aequore paginae Pressas Figere literas Nihil motibus explicat Notis subdita Corporum Rerum reddit imagines Cernens omnia Notio Aut quae cognita dividit Alternumque legens iter Nunc decidit in Infima Veris falsa redarguit Longe Causa potentior Impressas patitur notas Et Vires Animi movens Cum vel Lux oculos ferit Tum Mentis Vigor excitus Ad Motus similes vocans Obscuros nimium Senes E Corporibus extimis Vt quondam Celeri stylo Quae nullas habeat notas Sed Mens si propriis vigens Sed tantum patiens jacet Cassasque in Speculi vicem Vnde haec sic animis viget Quae vis singula prospicit Quae divisa recolligit Nunc Summis Caput inserit Tum sese referens sibi Haec est Efficiens magis Quam quae Materiae modo Praecedit tamen Excitans Vivo in corpore Passio Vel Vox auribus instrepit Quas intus species tenet Notis applicat exteris
any thing nor any Real Entity destroyed all the Substance of Matter still remaining intirely the same without the least diminution and only Accidental Transformations thereof made All this is Really Nothing but Local Motion and there is no more Toyl nor Labour to an Inanimate Body in Motion than in Rest it being altogether as Natural for a Body to be Moved by something else as of it self to Rest. It is all nothing but Change of Figure Distance Site and Magnitude of Parts causing several Sensations Phancies and Apparitions in us And they who would have the meaning of this place to be That all such like Mutations and Alternate Vicissitudes in Inanimate Bodies shall at Length quite cease these Groaning in the mean time and travelling in Pain to be delivered from the Toylsome Labour of such Restless Motion and to be at Ease and Quiet by taking away all Motion thus out of a fond regard to the Ease and Quiet of Senseless Matter they would thereby ipso facto Petrifie the whole Corporeal Universe and Consequently the Bodies of Good Men also after the Resurrection and Congeal all into Rockie Marble or Adamant And as vain is that other Conceit of some that the whole Terrestrial Globe shall at last be Vitrified or turned into Transparent Crystal as if it also Groaned in the mean time for this For whatsoever Change shall be made of the World In the New Heaven and the New Earth to come it is Reasonable to think that it will not be made for the sake of the Sensless Matter or the Inanimate Bodies themselves to which all is alike but only for the Sake of Men and Animals the Living Spectators and Inhabitants thereof that it may be fitter both for their Vse and Delight Neither indeed can those words For the Creature it self shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God be understood of any other than Animals for as much as this Liberty of the Children of God here meant is their being Cloathed instead of Mortal with Immortal Bodies of which no other Creatures are Capable but only such as consist of Soul and Body And that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Whole Creation which is said afterwards to Groan and Travel in Pain together may be well understood of all That of the Creation which Can Groan or be Sensible of Evil or Misery Wherefore the Pythagorean would interpret this place of the Lower Animal Creation only which is Sensible of Good and Evil That as this was Unwillingly or against its own Inclination after the Fall of man or Lapse of Souls made subject to Vanity and the Bondage of Corruption Pain Misery and Death in those Gross Terrestrial Bodies In the manifestation of the Sons of God when they in stead of these Mortal Bodies shall be clothed with Celestial and Immortal ones then shall this Creature also have its certain share in the Felicity of that Glorious Time and partake in some Measure of such a Liberty by being Freed in like manner from these their Gross Terrestrial Bodies and now living only in Thin Aerial and Immortal ones and so a Period put to all their Miseries and Calamities by him who made not Death neither hath pleasure in the Destruction of the Living but Created whatsoever liveth to this end that it might have its Being and enjoy it self But however thus much is certain that Brute Animals in this place cannot be quite excluded because the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Whole Creation will not Suffer that and therefore a Pythagorist would conclude it a warrantable Inference from this Text of Scripture That that whole Rank in the Creation of Irrational Brutish Animals below Men shall not be utterly Annihilated in the Consummation of things or Future Renovation of the World quite strip'd of all this Furniture Men being then left alone in it but that there shall be a Continuation of this Species or Rank of Being And not only so neither as if there should still be a constant Succession of such Alternate Generations and Corruptions Productions or Births and Deaths of Brute Animals to all Eternity but also that the Individuals themselves shall continue the same for as much as otherwise there would be none at all delivered from the Bondage of Corruption And Lastly that these very Souls of Brutes which at this time Groan and Travel in Pain shall themselves be made partakers of that Liberty of the Children of God since otherwise they should be With Child or Parturient of Nothing Groaning not for themselves but others But enough of this Pythagorick Hypothesis which supposing all manner of Souls Sensitive as well as Rational to be Substantial things and therefore to have a Permanency after Death in their distinct Natures allows them certain Thin Aerial Ochemata or Vehicles to Subsist in when these Gross Terrestrial ones shall fail them But let these Aerial Vehicles of the Souls of Brutes go for a Whimsey or meer Figment nor let them be allowed to Act or Enliven any other than Terrestrial Bodies only by means whereof they must needs be immediately after Death quite Destitute of all Body they Subsisting nevertheless and not vanishing into Nothing because they are not meer Accidents but Substantial things We say that in this case though the Substances of them remain yet must they needs continue in a State of Insensibility and Inactivity unless perhaps they be again afterwards united to some other Terrestrial Bodies Because though Intellection be the Energie of the Rational Soul alone without the Concurrence of Body yet is the Energie of the Sensitive always Conjoyned with it Sense being as Aristotle hath rightly determined a Complication of Soul and Body together as Weaving is of the Weaver and Weaving Instruments Wherefore we say that if the Irrational and Sensitive Souls in Brutes being Substantial things also be after Death quite destitute of all Body then can they neither have Sense of any thing nor Act upon any thing but must continue for so long a time in a State of Insensibility and Inactivity Which is a thing therefore to be thought the less Impossible because no man can be certain that his own Soul in Sleep Lethargies and Apoplexies c. hath always an uninterrupted Consciousness of it self and that it was never without Thoughts even in the Mother 's Womb. However there is little Reason to doubt but that the Sensitive Souls of such Animals as Lie Dead or Asleep all the Winter and Revive or Awake again at the Approaching warmth of Summer do for that time continue in a State of Inactivity and Insensibility Upon which account though these Souls of Brutes may be said in one Sense to be Immortal because the Substance of them and the Root of life in them still remains yet may they in another Sense be said also to be Mortal as having the Exercise of that Life for a time at least quite suspended From whence it
Proclus also added other Phantastick Trinities of his own Page 625 627 Another Advantage of this Platonick Trinity extending to the present time perhaps not Vnintended also by Divine Providence to abate the Confidence of those Conceited Wits who so boldly decry the Trinity for Non-sense Absolute Contradiction to Reason and Impossibility when they shall find that the Best and Freest Wits amongst the Pagans though having no Scripture-Revelation to impose upon them were yet fond of this Hypothesis Page 627 And now it sufficiently appears That the Ancient Platonists and Pythagoreans were not to be taxed for Polytheists and Idolaters in giving Religious Worship to their Three Divine Hypostases One grand Design of Christianity to free the World from Idolatry and Creature-Worship And this the reason why the Ancient Fathers so zealously opposed Arianism because it thwarted that Design it Paganizing and Idolatrizing that which was intended for the Unpaganizing of the World One Remarkable Passage of Athanasius to this purpose Page 627 629 Where First Observable That Athanasius expresly affirmeth the Pagans to have Worshipped onely One Uncreated and Many Created Gods Thus Greg. Naz. That there was but One Divinity amongst the Pagans also And Irenaeus That they attributed the first place of the Deity to One Supreme God the Maker of this Universe And Secondly That to Athanasius and all those other Fathers who charged the Arians with Idolatry this was suppâ—sed not to consist in Worshipping Many Independent and Self-Existent Gods but in giving Religious Worship to Creatures As the Arians gâ—ve a Religious Worship to the Son or Word supposed by themselves to be but a Creature Page 629 630 But if Arians guilty of Polytheism or Idolatry for bestowing Religious Worship upon the Son or Word as a Creature though the Chief of Creatures and that by which all others were Made much more they guilty hereof who Religiously worshipped other Inferiour Beings Athanasius That no Creature the Object of Religious Worship and That the Orthodox worshipped the Divinity in the Humanity of our Saviour Christ. Nestorius branded with the name of a Man-worshipper Some suppose That necessary to Idolatry which is Impossible to Worship more then One as Omnipotent or with Mental Latria Page 630 632 And now have we sufficiently Answered the Objection against the Naturality of the Idea of God as including Oneliness in it from the Pagan Polytheism What farther here intended concerning the same as a Foundation for our Defence of Christianity differred to make room for a Confutation of all the Atheistick Arguments CHAP. V. A Particular Confutation of all the Atheistick Grounds THE First Atheistick Argument That there is no Idea of God That in Answer to this The Idea of God hath been already declared viz. A Perfect Understanding Being Unmade or Self-Existent from Eternity and the Cause of all other Things In which Nothing Unconceivable nor Contradictious Thâ—t these Confounded Atheists themselves who deny that there is any Idea of God at all must notwithstanding of necessity suppose the contrary because otherwise denying his Existence they should deny the Existence of Nothing And that they agree also with Theists in the same Idea The one denying the Existence of that which the other Asserteth Than an Understanding Nature is the Original of all things This Idea of God as containing Oneliness and Singularity in it not onely largely Defended and made good against that Objection from the Pagan Polytheism but also Proved that the Generality of Mankind have a Natural Prolepsis or Anticipation in their Minds concerning the Real and Actual Existence of such a Being Atheists but Monsters and Anomalies of mankind This a sufficient Confutation of the First Atheistick Argument Page 633 634 Nevertheless That Atheists may not Pretend any of their Strength to be Concealed all their Particular Exceptions against the Idea of God here Declared being Five Their First Exception That we can have no Ideâ— nor Thought of any thing not Subject to Sense much less any Evidence of the Existence thereof The Answer First That whereas the Atheists suppose Sense to be the Onely Knowledge or at least Original Knowledge Sense as such is not Knowledge or Understanding because if it were then every one that sees Light and Colours or feels Heat and Cold would understand Light and Colours Heat and Cold. Plainly proved also from that Atomick Philosophy which the Epicurean Atheists so much pretend to That there is a Higher Faculty of the Soul which Judges of Sense detects the Phantastry thereof resolves Sensible Things into Intelligible Principles c. No Passion able to make a Judgement either of it self or of other things The Confounded Democritus himself sometimes acknowledged Sense to be but Seeming and Phantasy and not to reach to the Absolute Truth and Reality of Things He therefore Exploded Qualities out of the Rank of Entities because Unintelligible concluding them to be but our Own Phantasms Vndeniably Evident that we have Idea's Notions and Thoughts of many things that never were in Sense and whereof we have no Genuine Phantasms Atheists attend not to their own Cogitations That Opinion That there is Nothing in the Understanding which was not before in Sense False and Atheistical Men having a Notion of a Perfect Understanding Being the Cause of all things as the Object of their Devotion the Atheists notwithstanding would here Perswade them that they have none and that the thing is a Non-Entity meerly because they have no Sensible Idea or Phantasm thereof And so may they as well prove not onely Reason and Understanding Appetite and Volition to be Non-Entities but also Phancy and Sense it self neither of these falling under Sense but onely the Objects of them Were God indeed Corporeal as some mistaken Theists suppose yet his Essence chiefly consisting in Mind and Understanding this of him could not possibly be subject to Sense But that there is also Substance Incorporeal which therefore in its own Nature is Insensible and that the Deity is such will be elsewhere Demonstrated Page 634 637 Though the Evidence of Singular Bodies Existing depend upon the Information of Sense yet the Certainty of this very Evidence not from Sense alone but a Complication of Reason and Understanding with it Sense Phantastical not reaching to the Absolute Truth of things and obnoxious to Delusion Our own Imaginations taken for Sensations and Realities in Sleep and by Melancholized persons when awake Atomick Atheists themselves assert the Existence of such things as they have no Sense of Atoms Membranes or Exuvious Images of Bodies nay Incorporeal Space If the Existence of Nothing to be acknowledged which falls not under Sense then not the Existence of Soul and Mind God the Great Mind that Rules the whole Universe whence our Imperfect Minds derived The Existence of that God whom no Eye can see Demonstrated by Reason from his Effects Page 637 638 The Second Atheistick Pretence against the Idea of God and his Existence from Theists own acknowledging Him to be
Existent Being is Contingent to be or not to be which a Contradiction The Absurdity of this will better appear if instead of Necessary Existence we put in Actuall No Theists can otherwise prove that a God though supposed to Exist might not Happen by Chance to Be. Nevertheless God or a Perfect Being not here Demonstrated à Priori when from its own Idea The Reader left to make a Judgment Page 723 724 A Progymnasma or Praelusory Attempt towards the proving of a God from his Idea as including Necessary Existence First From our having an Idea of a Perfect Being Implying no manner of Contradiction in it it follows that such a thing is Possible And from that Necessary Existence Included in this Idea added to the Possibility thereof it further follows that it Actually Is. A Necessary Existent Being if Possible Is because upon the supposition of its Non-Existence it would be Impossible for it ever to have been Not so in Contingent things A Perfect Being is either Impossible to have Been or else it Is. Were God Possible and yet Not He would not be a Necessary but Contingent Being However no Stress laid upon this Page 724 725 Another Plainer Argument for the Existence of a God from his Idea Whatsoever we can frame an Idea of in our Minds implying no Contradiction this either Actually Is or else if it Be Not is Possible to Be. But if God Be Not he is not Possible to Be. Therefore He Is. The Major before Proved That we cannot have an Idea of any thing which hath neither Actuall nor Possible Existence Page 725 A Further Ratiocination from the Idea of God as including Necessary Existence by certain Steps First Certain that something or other did Exist of It self from Eternity without Beginning Again Whatsoever did Exist of It self from Eternity did so Exist Naturally and Necessarily and therefore there is a Necessary Existent Being Thirdly Nothing could Exist of It self from Eternity Naturally and Necessarily but what contained Necessary Self-Existence in its Nature Lastly A Perfect Being and nothing else containeth Necessary Existence in its Nature Therefore It Is. An Appendix to this Argument That no Temporary Successive Being could be from Eternity without Beginning This Proved before Page 725 726 Again The Controversie betwixt Atheists and Theists First Clearly Stated from the Idea of God and then Satisfactorily Decided Premised That as every thing was not Made so neither was every thing Unmade Atheists agree in both The State of the Controversie betwixt Theists and Atheists Whether that which being it self Unmade was the Cause of all other things Made were the Most Perfect or the Most Imperfect Being A certain kind of Atheistick Theism or Theogonism which acknowledging a God or Soul of the World presiding over the Whole supposed him notwithstanding to have Emerged out of Night and Chaos that is to have been Generated out of Sensless Matter Page 726 728 The Controversie thus Stated easily Decided Certain That Lesser Perfection may be derived from Greater or from that which is Absolutely Perfect but Impossible That Greater Perfection and Higher Degrees of Entity should rise out of Lesser and Lower Things did not Ascend but Descend That Life and Sense may Naturally rise from the meer Modification of Dead and Sensless Matter as also Reason and Understanding from Sense the Philosophy of the Kingdom of Darkness The Hylozoists so Sensible of this that there must be some Substantial Unmade Life and Understanding that Atheizing they thought it Necessary to Attribute Life and Understanding to all Matter as such This Argument a Demonstration of the Impossibility of Atheism Page 728 729 The Controversie again more Particularly Stated from the Idea of God as including Mind and Understanding in it Viz. Whether all Mind were Made or Generated out of Senseless Matter or Whether there were an Eternal Unmade Mind the Maker of all This the Doctrine of Theists That Mind the Oldest of all things of Atheists That it is a Postnate thing Younger then the World and an Umbratile Image of Real Beings Page 729 The Controversie thus Stated again Decided Though it does not follow That if once there had been no Corporeal World or Matter there could never have been any yet is it certain That if once there had been no Life nor Mind there could never have been any Life or Mind Our Imperfect Minds not Of Themselves from Eternity and therefore Derived from a Perfect Unmade Mind Page 729 730 That Atheists think their chief strength to lie here in their Disproving a God from the Nature of Understanding and Knowledge According to them Things made Knowledge and not Knowledge Things All Mind and Understanding the Creature of Sensibles and a Phantastick Image of them and therefore no Mind their Creatour Thus does a Modern Writer conclude That Knowledge and Understanding is not to be Attributed to God because it implieth Dependence upon Things without which is all one as if he should have said That Sensless Matter is the most Perfect of all things and the Highest Numen Page 730 A Compendious Confutation of the Premised Atheistick Principles Knowledge not the Activity of Sensibles upon the Knower and his Passions Sensible things themselves not Known by the Passion or Phancy of Sense Knowledge not from the Force of the Thing Known but of the Knower Besides Phantasms of Singular Bodies Intelligible Idea's Vniversal A late Atheistick Paradox That Universals nothing but Names Axiomatical Truths in Abstract Sciences no Passion from Bodies by Sense nor yet gathered by Induction from Many Singulars we at once Perceiving it Impossible that they should be otherwise An Ingenious Observation of Aristotle's That could it be Perceived by Sense the Three Angles of a Triangle to be Equal to Two Right yet would not this be Science or Knowledge Properly so called which is of Universals First and from thence descends to Singulars Page 730 732 Again We have Conceptions of things Incorporeal as also of such Corporeals as never did Exist and whose Accuracy Sense could not reach to as a Perfect straight Line and Plain Superficies an Exact Triangle Circle or Sphear That we have a Power of framing Idea's of things that never were nor will be but onely Possible Page 732 Inferred from hence That Humane Science it self not the meer Image and Creature of Singular Sensibles but Proleptical to them and in order of Nature Before them But since there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligibles before Intellection the onely true Account of Knowledge and its Original is from a Perfect Omnipotent Being Comprehending it self and the Extent of its own Power or the Possibilities of all things their Relations and Immutable Truths And of this one Perfect Mind all Imperfect Minds Partake Page 732 733 Knowledge therefore in the Nature of it supposeth the Existence of a Perfect Omnipotent Being as its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Intelligible This Comprehending it self the First
of Nothing themselves bring Life Sense and Understanding out of Nothing in way of Causality That Opinion Thâ—t Cogitation is Nothing but Local Motion and Men themselves meer Machines Prodigious Sottishness or Intolerable Impudence Page 760 762 Very Observable here That Epicurus himself having a Mind to assert Contingent Liberty confesseth that he could not doe this unlesse there were some such thing in the Principles because Nothing can be made out of Nothing or Caused by Nothing and therefâ—re does he Ridiculously feign a Third Motion of Atoms to salve that Phaenomenon of Free-Will Wherefore he must needs be guilty of an Impossible Production of Something out of Nothing when he brings Soul and Mind out of Dead and Sensless Atoms Were there no Substantial and Eternal Life and Understanding in the Universe there could none have been ever Produced because it must have come from Nothing or been Made without a Cause That Dark Philosophy which Educes not onely Real Qualities and Substantial Forms but also Souls themselves at least Sensitive out of the Power of the Matter Educes them Out of Nothing or Makes them without a Cause and so prepares a direct way to Atheism Page 762 763 They who suppose Matter otherwise then by Motion and by a kind of Miraculous Efficiency to Produce Souls and Minds attribute that Creative Power to this Sensless and Unactive Matter which themselves deny to a Perfect Being as an Absolute Impossibility Thus have we Demonstrated the Impossibility and Nonsense of all Atheism from this very Principle That Nothing can be made from Nothing or without a Sufficient Cause Page 763 764 Wherefore If no Middle betwixt these Two but all things must either Spring from a God or Matter Then is this also a Demonstration of the Truth of Theism by Deduction to Impossible Either there is a God or else all things are derived from Dead and Sensless Matter But this Latter is Impossible Therefore a God Nevertheless that the Existence of a God may be further Directly Proved also from the same Principle rightly understood Nothing out of Nothing Causally or Nothing Caused by Nothing neither Efficiently nor Materially Page 764 By these Steps First That there was never Nothing but Something or other did Exist Of It Self from Eternity Vn-made and Independently upon any thing else Mathematically Certain from this Principle Nothing from Nothing Had there been once Nothing there could never have been Anything Again Whatsoever did Exist Of It Self from Eternity must have so Existed Necessarily and not by any Free-Will and Choice Certain therefore That there is Something Actually in Being whose Existence Is and always Was Necessary Now that which Exists Necessarily Of It Self must have Necessity of Existence in its Nature which Nothing but a Perfect Being hath Therefore there Is a Perfect Being and Nothing Else besides this did Exist Of It Self from Eternity but All other things whatsoever whether Souls or Matter were Made by it To suppose any thing to Exist Of It Self Necessarily that hath no Necessary Existence in its Nature is to suppose that Necessary Existence to have Come from Nothing Page 764 765 Three Reasons why some Theists have been so Staggering and Scepticall about the Necessary Self-Existence of Matter First From an Idiotical Conceit That because Artificiall Things cannot be made by men but Out of Prae-Existent Matter therefore Nothing by God or a Perfect Being can be otherwise Made Secondly Because some of them have supposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Incorporeal Hyle or First Matter Un-made an Opinion Older then Aristotle Whereas this Really Nothing but a Metaphysical Notion of the Potentiality or Possibility of Things respectively to the Deity Lastly Because some of them have conceived Body and Space to be Really the same thing and Space to be Positively Infinite Eternal and Necessarily Existent But if Space be not the Extension of the Deity it Self as some suppose but of Body onely considered Abstractly from This or That and therefore Immoveably then no sufficient Ground for the Positive Infinity or the Indefinity thereof as Cartesius Imagined we being certain of no more then this That be the World and its Space or Extension never so Great yet it might be still Greater and Greater Infinitely for which very Cause it could never be Positively Infinite This Possibility of more Body and Space further and further Indefinitely or Without End as also its Eternity mistaken for Actual Space and Distance Positively Infinite and Eternall Nor is there perhaps any such great Absurdity in the Finiteness of Actual Space and Distance according to this Hypothesis as some conceive Page 765 766 Moreover the Existence of a God may be further proved from this Common Notion Nothing from Nothing Causally not onely because were there no God that Idea which we hâ—ve of a Perfect Being must have Come from Nothing and be the Conception of Nothing but also all the other Intelligible Idea's of our Minds must have Come from Nothing likewise they being not Derived from Sense All Minds and their Intelligible Idea's by way of Participation from One Perfect Omnipotent Being Comprehending it Self Page 766 767 However Certain from this Principle Nothing from Nothing or Nothing Caused by Nothing That Souls and Minds could never have Emerged out of Dead and Sensless Matter or from Figures Sites and Motions and therefore must either have all Existed Of Themselves Necessarily from Eternity or else be Created by the Deity out of Nothing Prae-Existing Concluded That the Existence of a God is altogether as certain as That our Humane Souls did not all Exist from Eternity Of themselves Necessarily Thus is the Second Atheistick Argumentation against Omnipotence or Divine Creation from that False Principle Nothing out of Nothing in the Atheistick Sense which is That Nothing could be brought out of Non-Existence into Being or No Substance derive its Whole Being from another Substance but all was Self-Existent from Eternity abundantly Confuted It having been Demonstrated That unless there be a God or a Perfect Omnipotent Being and Creatour Something must have Come from Nothing in the Impossible Sense that is have been Caused by Nothing or Made without a Cause Page 767 SECT III. THE Six following Atheistick Argumentations driving at these Two things The Disproving First of an Incorporeal and then of a Corporeal Deity next taken all together In way of Answer to which Three Things First To Confute the Atheistick Argumentations against an Incoâ—poreal Deity being the Third and Fourth Secondly To Shew That from the very Principles of the Atheistick Corporealism in their Fifth and Sixth Arguments Incorporeal Substance is Demonstrable And Lastly That therefore the Two following Atheistick Arguments built upon the Contrary Supposition are also Insignificant Page 767 Before we come to the Atheistick Arguments against an Incorporeal Deity Premised That though all Corporealists be not Atheists yet Atheists universally meer Corporealists Thus Plato in his Sophist writing of those who maintained That Nature Generated all
but also from thence to Demonstrate the Impossibility of his Existence Though Modern Writers not so much aware hereof yet is the Controversy betwixt Theists and Atheists thus Stated by Plato Whether Soul and Mind Juniors to Sensless Matter and the Offspring thereof or else Substantiall Things and in Order of Nature Before it Accordingly Plato confuteth Atheism no otherwise then by proving Soul not to be Junior to Inanimate Matter and Generated out of the same Evident That Plato by Soul here understood not onely the Mundane Soul but also that Whole Rank of Beings called Soul and That no Life was Generated out of Matter Page 859 860 Those professed Christians who Generate Rationall Souls out of Sensless Matter plain Betrayers of the Cause of Theism Page 860 861 Nor is the Case much different as to others who though they professedly Generate onely Sensitive Souls yet making the Rationall but meer Blanks which have Nothing in them but what was Scribbled upon them by Sense and so Knowledge in its own Nature Junior to Sense and Sensibles Highly Gratify the Atheists hereby Page 861 If any Life and Cogitation may be Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter then can no good Reason be given why All should not be Life not partly Accidental partly Substantiall but either All Conscious Life Accidental Generable and Corruptible or else None at all ibid. The Doctrine of Reall Qualities Generable and Corruptible favourable to Atheism also And though the Atheistick Atomists Explode all the other Qualities Because Nothing can come from Nothing yet contradicting themselves again do they make Life and Understanding Reall Qualities Generated out of Matter or Caused by Nothing Page 861 862 There being a Seale or Ladder of Entities in Nature to Produce a Higher Rank of Beings out of a Lower as Life and Cogitation out of Matter and Magnitude is to Invert the Order of this Scale from Downwards to Upwards and so to lay a Foundation for Atheism Wherefore great Reason to maintain this Post against the Atheists That no Souls can be Generated out of Matter Page 862 863 The Grand Objection against the Substantiality of Sensitive Souls from that Consequence of their Permanent Subsistence after Death Cartesius so Sensible thereof that he would rather make Brutes to be Sensless Machines then allow them Substantiall Souls which he granted they must have if Thinking Beings What clearly Demonstrable by Reason not to be abandoned because attended with some Difficulties or seemingly Offensive Consequences Page 863 The Pythagorick Hypothesis That Souls all Created by God not in the Generation of Animals but in the Cosmogonia These therefore first Clothed with Thin and Subtile Bodies Aeriall or Aetheriall Ochemata wherein they Subsist both before their Ingress into Terrestriall Bodies and after their Egress out of them Thus Boëtius and Proclus Ammonius his Irrationall Demons Mortall Brutish Souls in Aeriall Bodies Since the First Creation no New Substantiall thing Made or Destroyed and therefore no Life This looked upon by Macrobius as a Great Truth Page 863 865 That the Pythagoreans would Endeavour to gain some Countenance for this Hypothesis from the Scripture Page 865 867 But if these Aeriall Vehicles of Brutish Souls be exploded for a Whimsey and none but Terrestriall Bodies allowed to them though after Death they will not Vanish into Nothing yet must they needs remain in a State of Insensibility and Inactivity till re-united to other Terrestriall Bodies Wherefore these in one Sense Mortall though in another Immortall Silk-worms dying and reviving in the Form of Butterflies made an Emblem of the Resurrection by Christian Theologers Page 867 868 But no Absolute Necessity That the Souls of Brutes though Substantiall should have a Permanent Subsistence after Death either in a State of Activity or Inactivity Because whatsoever Created by God may Possibly by him be Annihilated The Substantiality onely of the Rationall Soul Demonstrable by Reason or that it will not of it Self vanish into Nothing but not that it is Absolutely Impossible for it to be Annihilated The assurance of this Depending upon a Faith in the Divine Goodness Porphyrius his Assertion That Brutish Souls are Resolved into the Life of the Universe The whole Answer to this Objection against the Substantiality of Brutish Souls That they may notwithstanding Possibly be Annihilated in the Deaths of Animals as well as they were Created in their Generations but if they do Subsist without Aeriall Vehicles they must remain in a State of Inactivity and Insensibility Page 868 869 That this the Doctrine of the Ancient Pagan Theologers That no Life or Soul Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter but all Produced by the Deity as well as Matter Proved out of Virgil though sundry other Testimonies also might be added thereunto Page 869 870 The Hylozoick Atheists themselves so Sensible hereof That there must be some Substantiall and Unmade Life from whence the Lives and Minds of all Animals are Derived That they attribute the same to Matter and conclude That though the Modificated Lives of Animals and Men be Accidentall Generated and Corrupted yet the Fundamental Life of them is Substantiall and Incorruptible These also asserted a Knowledge before Sense and Vnderived from Sensibles Page 870 871 This Hylozoick Atheism again Confuted Absurd to suppose Knowledge and Understanding without Consciousness as also That the Substantiall and Fundamentall Life of Men and other Animals should never Perish and yet their Souls and Personalities Vanish into Nothing That no Organization can produce Consciousness These Atheists not able possibly to give an Account whence the Intelligible Objects and Idea's of this their Knowledge of Matter should spring This Hylozoick Atheism Nothing but the Crumbling of the Deity into Matter Page 871 Concluded That the Phaenomenon of Mind and Understanding can no way possibly be Salved by Atheists without a God but affordeth a Solid Demonstration of his Existence Page 871 872 SECT V. THERE now Remaining onely the Atheistick Objections against Providence their Queries and Arguments from Interests Their First Objection From the Frame of the World as Faulty Or Because Things are Ill Made that therefore not made by a God This directed against the Sense of the Ancient Theologers That God being a Perfect Mind therefore made the World after the Best manner Some Modern Theologers Deviating from this as if the Perfection of the Deity consisted not at all in Goodness but in Power and Arbitrary Will onely The Controversy betwixt these and Atheists but Whether Matter Fortuitously Moved or a Fortuitous Will Omnipotent be the Originall of all things No Ground of Faith in a meer Arbitrarious Deity To have a Will Vndetermined to Good no Liberty nor Soveraignty but Impotency God to Celsus the Head or President of the Righteous Nature This not onely the Sense of Origen but of the Ancient Christians in Generall Plotinus The Will of God Essentially That which Ought to be God an Impartiall Balance Weighing out Heaven and Earth The
and since too have done We see here that Plato expresly asserts a Substance distinct from Body which sometimes he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incorporeal Substance and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligible Substance in opposition to the other which he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sensible And it is plain to any one that hath had the least acquaintance with Plato's Philosophy that the whole Scope and Drift of it is to raise up mens Minds from Sense to a belief of Incorporeal Things as the most Excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he writes in another place For Incorporeal Things which are the greatest and most excellent things of all are saith he discoverable by Reason only and nothing else And his Subterraneous Cave so famously known and so elegantly described by him where he supposes men tied with their backs towards the Light placed at a great distance from them so that they could not turn about their Heads to it neither and therefore could see nothing but the shadows of certain Substances behind them projected from it which Shadows they concluded to be the only Substances and Realities and when they heard the Sounds made by those Bodies that were betwixt the Light and them or their reverberated Eccho's they imputed them to those shadows which they saw I say all this is a Description of the State of those Men who tak◠Body to be the only Real and Substantial thing in the World and to do all that is done in it and therefore often impute Sense Reason and Understanding to nothing but Blood and Brains in us XX. I might also shew in the next place how Aristotle did not at all dissent from Plato herein he plainly asserting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Substance beside Sensibles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Substance separable and also actually separated from Sensibles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Immoveable Nature or Essence subject to no Generation or Corruption adding that the Deity was to be sought for here Nay such a Substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as hath no Magnitude at all but is Impartible and Indivisible He also blaming Zeno not the Stoick who was Junior to Aristotle but an ancienter Philosopher of that Name for making God to be a Body in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zeno implicitly affirms God to be a Body whether he mean him to be the whole Corporeal Vniverse or some particular Body for if God were Incorporeal how could he be Spherical nor could he then either Move or Rest being not properly in any Place but if God be a Body then nothing hinders but that he may be moved From which and other Places of Aristotle it is plain enough also that he did suppose Incorporeal Substance to be Unextended and as such not to have Relation to any Place But this is a thing to be disputed afterwards Indeed some learned men conceive Aristotle to have reprehended Zeno without Cause and that Zeno made God to be a Sphear or Spherical in no other sence than Parmenides did in that known Verse of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherein he is understood to describe the Divine Eternity However it plainly appears from hence that according to Aristotle's sence God was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Incorporeal Substance distinct from the World XXI Now this Doctrine which Plato especially was famous for asserting that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incorporeal Substance and that the Souls of Men were such but principally the Deity Epicurus taking notice of it endeavoured with all his might to confute it arguing sometimes after this manner There can be no Incorporeal God as Plato maintained not only because no man can frame a Conception of an Incorporeal Substance but also because whatsoever is Incorporeal must needs want Sense and Prudence and Pleasure all which things are included in the Notion of God and therefore an Incorporeal Deity is a Contradiction And concerning the Soul of Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They who say that the Soul is Incorporeal in any other sence than as that word may be used to signifie a Subtil Body talk Vainly and Foolishly for then it could neither be able to Do nor Suffer any thing It could not Act upon any other thing because it could Touch nothing neither could it Suffer from any thing because it could not be Touch'd by any thing but it would be just like to Vacuum or Empty Space which can neither Do nor Suffer any thing but only yield Bodies a Passage through it From whence it is further evident that this Opinion was professedly maintained by some Philosophers before Epicurus his time XXII But Plato and Aristotle were not the first Inventors of it For it is certain that all those Philosophers who held the Immortality of the Humane Soul and a God distinct from this visible World and so properly the Creator of it and all its parts did really assert Incorporeal Substance For that a Corporeal Soul cannot be in its own Nature Immortal and Incorruptible is plain to every one's Understanding because of its parts being separable from one another and whosoever denies God to be Incorporeal if he make him any thing at all he must needs make him to be either the whole Corporeal World or else a part of it Wherefore if God be neither of these he must then be an Incorporeal Substance Now Plato was not the first who asserted these two things but they were both maintained by many Philosophers before him Pherecydes Syrus and Thales were two of the most ancient Philosophers among the Greeks and it is said of the former of them that by his Lectures and Disputes concerning the Immortality of the Soul he first drew off Pythagoras from another Course of life to the study of Philosophy Pherecydes Syrus saith Cicero Primus dixit animos hominum esse sempiternos And Thales in an Epistle directed to him congratulates his being the First that had designed to write to the Greeks concerning Divine Things which Thales also who was the Head of the Ionick Succession of Philosophers as Pythagoras of the Italick is joyned with Pythagoras and Plato by the Writer De Placitis Philosophorum after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these determined the Soul to be Incorporeal making it to be Naturally Self-moving or Self-active and an Intelligible Substance that is not Sensible Now he that determines the Soul to be Incorporeal must needs hold the Deity to be Incorporeal much more Aquam dixit Thales esse initium rerum saith Cicero Deum autem eam Mentem quae ex aqua cuncta fingeret Thales said that Water was the first Principle of all Corporeal things but that God was that Mind which formed all things out of Water For Thales was a Phoenician by Extraction and accordingly seemed to have received his two Principles from thence Water and the Divine Spirit moving upon the Waters The First whereof is thus
it self Real Entities and Substances are not Generated and Corrupted but only Modifications Wherefore these Ancients apprehended that there was a great difference betwixt the Souls of Men and Animals and the Forms and Qualities of other inanimate Bodies and consequently betwixt their several Productions Forasmuch as in the Generation of Inanimate Bodies there is no new real Entity acquired distinct from the Substance of the thing it self but only a peculiar Modification of it The Form of Stone or of Timber of Blood Flesh and Bone and such other Natural Bodies Generated is no more a distinct Substance or Entity from the Matter than the Form of an House Stool or Table is There is no more new Entity acquired in the Generation of Natural Bodies than there is in the Production of Artificial ones When Water is turn'd into Vapour Candle into Flame Flame into Smoak Grass into Milk Blood and Bones there is no more miraculous Production of Something out of Nothing than when Wool is made into cloth or Flax into Linnen when a rude and Unpolish'd Stone is hewen into a beautiful Statue when Brick Timber and Mortar that lay together before disorderly is brought into the Form of a stately Palace there being Nothing neither in one nor other of these but only a different Disposition and Modification of preexistent Matter Which Matter of the Universe is alwaies Substantially the same and neither more nor less but only Proteanly transformed into different Shapes Thus we see that the Generation of all Inanimate Bodies is nothing but the change of Accidents and Modifications the Substance being really the same both before and after But in the Generations of Men and Animals besides the new disposition of the Parts of Matter and its Organization there is also the Acquisition and Conjunction of another Real Entity or Substance distinct from the Matter which could not be Generated out of it but must needs come into it some other way Though there be no Substantial difference between a Stately House or Palace standing and all the Materials of the same ruinated and demolished but only a difference of Accidents and Modifications yet between a living Man and a dead Carcase there is besides the Accidental Modification of the Body another Substantial difference there being a Substantial Soul and Incorporeal Inhabitant dwelling in the one and acting of it which the other is now deserted of And it is very observable that Anaxagoras himself who made Bony and Fleshy Atoms Hot and Cold Red and Green and the like which he supposed to exist before Generations and after Corruptions alwaies immutably the same that so Nothing might come from Nothing and go to Nothing yet he did not make any Animalish Atoms Sensitive and Rational The Reason whereof could not be because he did not think Sense and Understanding to be as Real Entities as Hot and Cold Red and Green but because they could not be supposed to be Corporeal Forms and Qualities but must needs belong to another Substance that was Incorporeal And therefore Anaxagoras could not but acknowledge that all Souls and Lives did Prae and Post-exist by themselves as well as those Corporeal Forms and Qualities in his Similar Atoms XXX And now it is already manifest that from the same Principle of Reason before mentioned That Nothing of it self can come from Nothing nor go to Nothing the Ancient Philosophers were induced likewise to assert the Soul's Immortality together with its Incorporeity or Distinctness from the Body No substantial Entity ever vanisheth of it self into Nothing for if it did then in length of time all might come to be Nothing But the Soul is a Substantial Entity Really distinct from the body and not the mere Modification of it and therefore when a Man dies his Soul must still remain and continue to have a Being somewhere else in the Universe All the Changes that are in Nature are either Accidental Transformations and different Modifications of the same Substance or else they are Conjunctions and Separations or Anagrammatical Transpositions of things in the Universe the Substance of the whole remaining alwaies entirely the same The Generation and Corruption of Inanimate Bodies is but like the making of a House Stool or Table and the Unmaking or Marring of them again either different Modifications of one and the same Substance or else divers Mixtures and Separations Concretions and Secretions And the Generation and Corruption of Animals is likewise nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Conjunction of Souls together with such Particular Bodies and the Separation of them again from one another and so as it were the Anagrammatical Transposition of them in the Universe That Soul and Life that is now fled and gone from a lifeless Carcase is only a loss to that particular Body or Compages of Matter which by means thereof is now disanimated but it is no loss to the whole it being but Transposed in the Universe and lodged somewhere else XXXI It is also further evident that this same Principle which thus led the Ancients to hold the Souls Immortality or its Future Permanency after Death must needs determine them likewise to maintain its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Preexistence and consequently its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Transmigration For that which did preexist before the Generation of any Animal and was then somewhere else must needs Transmigrate into the Body of that Animal where now it is But as for that other Transmigration of Human Souls into the Bodies of Brutes though it cannot be denied but that many of these Ancients admitted it also yet Timaeus Locrus and divers others of the Pythagoreans rejected it any otherwise than as it might be taken for an Allegorical Description of that Beastly Transformation that is made of Mens Souls by Vice Aristotle tells us again agreeably to what was declared before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Ancient Philosophers were afraid of Nothing more than this one thing that any thing should be made out of Nothing Preexistent And therefore they must needs conclude that the Souls of all Animals Preexisted before their Generations And indeed it is a thing very well known that according to the Sence of Philosophers these two things were alwaies included together in that one opinion of the Soul's Immortality namely its Preexistence as well as its Postexistence Neither was there ever any of the Ancients before Christianity that held the Souls future Permanency after Death who did not likewise assert its Preexistence they clearly perceiving that if it were once granted that the Soul was Generated it could never be proved but that it might be also Corrupted And therefore the Assertors of the Souls Immortality commonly begun here first to prove its Pre-existence proceeding thence afterward to establish its Permanency after Death This is the Method used in Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Soul was somewhere before it came to exist in this present Humane Form and from thence it appears to
That Corporeal things could not be apprehended by us otherwise than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Sense and a kind of Spurious or Bastardly Reason that is that we could have no clear Conceptions of them in our Understanding And for the same reason Plato him-himself distinguisheth betwixt such things as are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comprehensible by the Vnderstanding with Reason and those which are only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which can only be apprehended by Opinion together with a certain Irrational Sence meaning plainly by the Latter Corporeal and Sensible things And accordingly the Platonists frequently take occasion from hence to enlarge themselves much in the disparagement of Corporeal things as being by Reason of that smallness of Entity that is in them below the Understanding and not having so much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essence as Generation which indeed is Fine Phancie Wherefore we must either with these Philosophers make Sensible things to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altogether Incomprehensible and Inconceivable by our Humane Understandings though they be able in the mean time clearly to conceive many things of a higher Nature or else we must entertain some kind of favourable Opinion concerning that which is the Ancientest of all Physiologies the Atomical or Mechanical which alone renders Sensible things Intelligible XL. The Second Advantage which this Atomical Physiology seems to have is this That it prepares an easie and clear way for the Demonstration of Incorporeal Substances by setling a Distinct Notion of Body He that will undertake to prove that there is something else in the World besides Body must first determine what Body is for otherwise he will go about to prove that there is something besides He-knows-not-what But now if all Body be made to consist of two Substantial Principles whereof one is Matter devoid of all Form and therefore of Quantity as well as Qualities from whence these Philosophers themselves conclude that it is Incorporeal the other Form which being devoid of all Matter must needs be Incorporeal likewise And thus Stobaeus sets down the joint Doctrine both of Plato and Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That in the same manner as Form alone separated from Matter is Incorporeal so neither is Matter alone the Form being separated from it Body But there is need of the joint concurrence of both these Matter and Form together to make up the Substance of Body Moreover if to Forms Qualities be likewise superadded of which it is consentaneously also resolved by the Platonists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Qualities are Incorporeal as if they were so many Spirits possessing Bodies I say in this way of Philosophizing the Notions of Body and Spirit Corporeal and Incorporeal are so confounded that it is Impossible to prove any thing at all concerning them Body it self being made Incorporeal and therefore every thing Incorporeal for whatsoever is wholly compounded and made up of Incorporeals must needs be it self also Incorporeal Furthermore according to this Doctrine of Matter Forms and Qualities in Body Life and Vnderstanding may be supposed to be certain Forms or Qualities of Body And then the Souls of men may be nothing else but Blood or Brains endued with the Qualities of Sense and Understanding or else some other more Subtle Sensitive and Rational Matter in us And the like may be said of God himself also That he is nothing but a certain Rational or Intellectual Subtle and Firie Body pervading the whole Universe or else that he is the Form of the whole Corporeal World together with the Matter making up but one Substance Which Conceits have been formerly entertained by the best of those Ancients who were captivated under that dark Infirmity of mind to think that there could be no other Substance besides Body But the ancient Atomical Philosophy setling a distinct Notion of Body that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Thing Impenetrably extended which hath nothing belonging to it but Magnitude Figure Site Rest and Motion without any Self-moving Power takes away all Confusion shews clearly how far Body can go where Incorporeal Substance begins as also that there must of necessity be such a Thing in the World Again this discovering not only that the Doctrine of Qualities had its Original from mens mistaking their own Phancies for Absolute Realities in Bodies themselves but also that the Doctrine of Matter and Form Sprung from another Fallacy or Deception of the Mind in taking Logical Notions and our Modes of Conceiving for Modes of Being and Real Entities in things without us It shewing likewise that because there is nothing else clearly intelligible in Body besides Magnitude Figure Site and Motion and their various Conjugations there can be no such Entities of Forms and Qualities really distinct from the Substance of Body makes it evident that Life Cogitation and Vnderstanding can be no Corporeal things but must needs be the Attributes of another kind of Substance distinct from Body XLI We have now clearly proved these two things First that the Physiology of the Ancients before not only Aristotle and Plato but also Democritus and Leucippus was Atomical or Mechanical Secondly that as there is no Inconsistency between the Atomical Physiology and Theology but indeed a Natural Cognation so the Ancient Atomists before Democritus were neither Atheists nor Corporealists but held the Incorporeity and Immortality of Souls together with a Deity distinct from the Corporeal World Wherefore the First and most Ancient Atomists did not make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they never endeavoured to make up an Entire Philosophy out of Atomology but the Doctrine of Atoms was to them onely one Part or Member of the whole Philosophick System they joining thereunto the Doctrine of Incorporeal Substance and Theology to make it up complete Accordingly as Aristotle hath declared in his Metaphysicks that the Ancient Philosophy consisted of these two Parts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Physiology and Theology or Metaphysicks Our Ancient Atomists never went about as the blundering Democritus afterwards did to build up a World out of mere Passive Bulk and Sluggish Matter without any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any Active Principles or Incorporeal Powers understanding well that thus they could not have so much as Motion Mechanism or Generation in it the Original of all that Motion that is in Bodies springing from something that is not Body that is from Incorporeal Substance And yet if Local Motion could have been supposed to have risen up or sprung in upon this Dead Lump and Mass of Matter no body knows how and without dependance upon any Incorporeal Being to have Actuated it Fortuitously these Ancient Atomists would still have thought it Impossible for the Corporeal World it self to be made up such as now it is by Fortuitous Mechanism without the Guidance of any higher Principle But they would have concluded
it the greatest Impudence or Madness for men to assert that Animals also consisted of mere Mechanism or that Life and Sense Reason and Understanding were really nothing else but Local Motion and consequently that themselves were but Machins and Automata Wherefore they joyned both Active and Passive Principles together the Corporeal and Incorporeal Nature Mechanism and Life Atomology and Pneumatology and from both these united they made up one entire System of Philosophy correspondent with and agreeable to the true and real World without them And this System of Philosophy thus consisting of the Doctrine of Incorporeal Substance whereof God is the Head together with the Atomical and Mechanical Physiology seems to have been the only Genuine Perfect and Complete XLII But it did not long continue thus for after a while this entire Body of Philosophy came to be Mangled and Dismembred some taking one Part of it alone and some another some snatching away the Atomical Physiology without the Pneumatology and Theology and others on the contrary taking the Theology and Doctrine of Incorporeals without the Atomical or Mechanical Physiology The former of these were Democritus Leucippus and Protagoras who took only the dead Carcase or Skeleton of the old Moschical Philosophy namely the Atomical Physiology the latter Plato and Aristotle who took indeed the better Part the Soul Spirit and Quintessence of it the Theology and Doctrine of Incorporeals but Unbodied and Devested of its most Proper and convenient Vehicle the Atomical Physiology whereby it became exposed to sundry Inconveniences XLIII We begin with Leucippus and Democritus Who being Atheistically inclined quickly perceived that they could not in the ordinary way of Physiologizing sufficiently secure themselves against a Deity nor effectually urge Atheism upon others forasmuch as Heraclitus and other Philosophers who held that all Substance was Body as well as themselves did notwithstanding assert a Corporeal Deity maintaining that the Form of the whole Corporeal World was God or else that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain kind of Body or Matter as for Example a Methodical and Rational Fire pervading as a Soul the whole Universe the particular Souls of men and Animals being but as it were so many pieces cut and sliced out of the great Mundane Soul so that according to them the whole Corporeal Universe or Mass of Body was one way or other a God a most Wise and Understanding Animal that did frame all Particularities within it self in the best manner possible and providently govern the same Wherefore those Atheists now apprehending upon what ticklish and uncertain Terms their Atheistical Philosophy then stood and how that those very Forms and Qualities and the Self-moving power of Body which were commonly made a Sanctuary for Atheism might notwithstanding chance to prove contrariwise the Latibulum and Asylum of a Deity and that a Corporeal God do what they could might lie lurking under them assaulting mens minds with doubtful Fears and Jealousies Understanding moreover that there was another kind of Physiology set on foot which banishing those Forms and Qualities of Body attributed nothing to it but Magnitude Figure Site and Motion without any Self-moving Power they seemed presently to apprehend some great Advantage to themselves and Cause from it and therefore greedily entertained this Atomical or Mechanical Physiology and violently cutting it off from that other part the Doctrine of Incorporeals which it was Naturally and Vitally united to endeavoured to serve their turns of it And now joining these two things together the Atomical Physiology which supposes that there is nothing in body but Magnitude Figure Site and Motion and that Prejudice or Prepossession of their own Minds that there was no other Substance in the World besides Body between them both they begat a certain Mongrel and Spurious Philosophy Atheistically-Atomical or Atomically-Atheistical But though we have so well proved that Leucippus and Democritus were not the first Inventors but only the Depravers and Adulterators of the Atomical Philosophy yet if any will notwithstanding obstinately contend that the first Invention thereof ought to be imputed to them the very Principles of their Atheism seeming to lead them naturally to this to strip and devest Body of all those Forms and Qualities it being otherwise Impossible for them surely and safely to exclude a Corporeal Deity yet so as that the Wit of these Atheists was also much to be admired in the managing and carrying on of those Principles in such a manner as to make up so Entire a System of Philosophy out of them all whose parts should be so coherent and consistent together We shall only say thus much That if those Atheists were the first Inventors of this Philosophy they were certainly very unhappy and unsuccessful in it whilst endeavouring by it to secure themselves from the Possibility and Danger of a Corporeal God they unawares laid a Foundation for the clear Demonstration of an Incorporeal one and were indeed so far from making up any such coherent Frame as is pretended that they were forced every where to contradict their own Principles so that Non-sence lies at the bottom of all and is interwoven throughout their whole Atheistical System And that we ought to take notice of the invincible power and Force of Truth prevailing irresistibly against all Endeavours to oppress it and how desperate the Cause of Atheism is when that very Atomical Hypothesis of theirs which they would erect and build up for a strong Castle to garrison themselves in proves a most Effectual Engine against themselves for the battering of all their Atheistical Structure down about their Ears XLIV Plato's Mutilation and Interpolation of the old Moschical Philosophy was a great deal more excusable when he took the Theology and Metaphysicks of it the whole Doctrine of Incorporeals and abandoned the Atomical or Mechanical way of Physiologizing Which in all Probability he did partly because those forementioned Atheists having so much abused that Philosophy adopting it as it were to themselves he thereupon began to entertain a Jealousie and Suspicion of it and partly because he was not of himself so inclinable to Physiology as Theology to the study of Corporeal as of Divine things which some think to be the reason why he did not attend to the Pythagorick System of the Corporeal World till late in his old Age. His Genius was such that he was Naturally more addicted to Idaea's than to Atoms to Formal and Final than to Material Causes To which may be added that the way of Physiologizing by Matter Forms and Qualities is a more Huffie and Phanciful thing than the other and lastly that the Atomical Physiology is more remote from Sense and vulgar Apprehension and therefore not so easily understood For which cause many learned Greeks of later times though they had read Epicurus his Works and perhaps Democritus his too yet they were not able to conceive how the Corporeal and Sensible Phaenomena could possibly be salved without
theirs That Theism is inconsistent with Civil Soveraignty it introducing a Fear greater than the Fear of the Leviathan And that any other Conscience allowed of besides the Civil Law being Private Judgment is ipso facto a Dissolution of the Body Politick and a Return to the State of Nature 22. The Atheists Conclusion from the former Premisses as set down in Plato and Lucretius That all things sprung Originally from Nature and Chance without any Mind or God that is proceeded from the Necessity of Material Motions undirected for Ends That Infinite Atoms devoid of Life and Sense moving in Infinite Space from Eternity by their fortuitous Rencounters and Intanglements produced the System of the whole Vniverse and as well Animate as Inanimate things I. HAving in the Former Chapter given an Account of the Genuine and Primitive Atomical Philosophy which may be called the Moschical we are in the next place to consider the Democritical that is the Atheized and Adulterated Atomology Which had its Origin from nothing else but the joyning of this Heterogeneous and Contradictious Principle to the Atomical Physiology That there is no other Substance in the World besides Body Now we say That that Philosophy which is thus compounded and made up of these Two things Atomicism and Corporealism complicated together is essentially Atheistical though neither of them alone be such For the Atomical Physiology as we have declared already is in its own Nature sufficiently repugnant to Atheism And it is possible for one who holds That there is Nothing in the world besides Body to be perswaded notwithstanding of a Corporeal Deity and that the world was at first framed and is still governed by an Vnderstanding Nature lodged in the Matter For thus some of these Corporealists have phancied The whole Universe it self to be a God that is an Vnderstanding and Wise Animal that ordered all things within it self after the Best manner possible and providently governed the same Indeed it cannot be denied but that this is a very great Infirmity of mind that such Persons lie under who are not able to conceive any other Substance besides Body by which is understood that which is Impenetrably Extended or else in Plato's Language which hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thrusts against other Bodies and resist◠their impulse or as others express it which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that so fills up place as to exclude any other Body or Substance from Coexisting with it therein and such must needs have not only very imperfect but also Spurious and false Conceptions of the Deity so long as they apprehend it to be thus Corporeal but yet it does not therefore follow that they must needs be accounted Atheists But whosoever holds these two Principles before mentioned together That there is no other Substance besides Body and That Body hath nothing else belonging to it but Magnitude Figure Site and Motion without Qualities I say whosoever is That confounded Thing of an Atomist and Corporealist jumbled together he is Essentially and Unavoidably that which is meant by an Atheist though he should in words never so much disclaim it because he must needs fetch the Original of all things from Sensless Matter whereas to assert a God is to maintain that all things sprung Originally from a Knowing and Vnderstanding Nature II. Epicurus who was one of those Mongrel Things before mentioned an Atomical-Corporealist or Corporeal-Atomist did notwithstanding profess to hold a Multifarious Rabble and Democracy of Gods such as though they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Humane Form yet were so Thin and Subtle as that Comparatively with our Terrestrial Bodies they might be called Incorporeal they having not so much Carnem as Quasi-carnem nor Sanguinem as Quasi-sanguinem a certain kind of Aereal or Ethereal Flesh and Blood which Gods of his were not to be supposed to exist any where within the World upon this pretence that there was no place in it fit to receive them Illud item non est ut possis credere Sedes Esse Deûm Sanctas in Mundi partibus ullis And therefore they must be imagined to Subsist in certain Intermundane Spaces and Vtopian Regions without the World the Deliciousness whereof is thus Elegantly described by the Poet Quas neque concutiunt Venti neque Nubila nimbis Adspergunt neque nix acri concreta pruinâ Cana cadens violat sempérque innubilus Aether Integit largè diffuso lumine ridet Whereunto was added that the chief Happiness of these Gods consisted in Omnium Vacatioue Munerum in freedom from all Business and Employment and doing nothing at all that so they might live a Soft and Delicate life And lastly it was pretended that though they had neither any thing to do with us nor we with them yet they ought to be worshipped by us for their own Excellent Natures sake and Happy State But whosoever had the least Sagacity in him could not but perceive that this Theology of Epicurus was but Romantical it being directly Contrary to his avowed and professed Principles to admitt of any other Being then what was Concreted of Atoms and consequently Corruptible and that he did this upon a Politick Account thereby to decline the Common Odium and those Dangers and Inconveniences which otherwise he might have incurred by a downright denial of a God to which purpose it accordingly served his turn Thus Posidonius rightly pronounced Nullos esse Deos Epicuro videri quaeque is de Diis immortalibus dixerit Invidiae detestandae gratiâ dixisse Though he was partly Jocular in it also it making no small Sport to him in this manner to delude and mock the credulous Vulgar Deos Jocandi causâ induxit Epicurus perlucidos perflabiles habitantes tanquam inter duos Lucos sic inter duos Mundos propter metum ruinarum However if Epicurus had been never so much in Earnest in all this yet by Gassendus his leave we should pronounce him to have been not a jot the less an Atheist so long as he maintained that the whole World was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without the ordering and direction of any Vnderstanding Being that was perfectly happy and immortal and fetcht the original of all things in the Universe even of Soul and Mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Sensless Atoms fortuitously moved He together with Democritus hereby making the World to be in the worst Sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Egge of the Night that is not the off-spring of Mind and Understanding but of dark Sensless Matter of Tohu and Bohu or Confused Chaos and deriving the Original of all the Perfections in the Universe from the most Imperfect Being and the lowest of all Entities than which nothing can be more Atheistical And as for those Romantick Monogrammous Gods of Epicurus had they been Seriously believed by him they could have been nothing else but a certain kind of Aerial and Spectrous Men living by themselves no Body knows where without the
Cogitantis It is a great Abuse that some Metaphysicians make of these Abstract Names because Cogitation can be considered alone without the consideration of Body therefore to conclude that it is not the Action or Accident of that Body that thinks but a Substance by it self And the same Writer elsewhere observes That it is upon this Ground that when a Man is dead and buried they say his Soul that is his Life can walk separated from his Body and is seen by night amongst the Graves By which means the Vulgar are confirmed in their Superstitious Belief of Ghosts Spirits Daemons Devils Fayries and Hob-goblins Invisible Powers and Agents called by several Names and that by those Persons whose work it ought to be rather to free men from such Superstition Which Belief at first had another Original not altogether unlike the former Namely from mens mistaking their own Phancies for Things Really existing without them For as in the sense of Vision men are commonly deceived in supposing the Image behind the Glass to be a Real thing existing without themselves whereas it is indeed nothing but their own Phancy In like manner when the Minds of Men strongly possess'd with Fear especially in the Dark raise up the Phantasms of Spectres Bug-bears or Affrightful Apparitions to them they think them to be Objects really existing without them and call them Ghosts and Spirits whilst they are indeed nothing but their own Phancies So the Phantasm or Phancy of a Deity which is indeed the Chief of all Spectres created by Fear has upon no other Accompt been taken for a Reality To this purpose a Modern Writer From the Fear that proceeds from the Ignorance it self of what it is that hath the Power to do men Good or Harm men are inclined to suppose and Feign to themselves several kinds of Powers Invisible and to stand in awe of their own Imaginations and in time of Distress to invoke them as also in the time of an expected good Success to give them thanks making the Creatures of their own Fancies their Gods Which though it be prudently spoken in the Plural Number that so it might be diverted and put off to the Heathen Gods yet he is very simple that does not perceive the reason of it to be the same concerning that one Deity which is now commonly worshipped and that therefore this also is but the Creature of Mens Fear and Phancie the Chief of all Phantastick Ghosts and Spectres as it were an Oberon or Prince of Fayries and Phancies This we say was the first Original of that Vulgar Belief of Invisible Powers Ghosts and Gods mens taking their own Phancies for Things really Existing without them And as for the Matter and Substance of these Ghosts they could not by their own natural Cogitation fall into any other Conceit but that it was the same with that which appeareth in a Dream to one that sleepeth or in a Looking-glass to one that is awake Thin Aerial Bodies which may appear and vanish when they please But the Opinion that such Spirits were Incorporeal and Immaterial could never enter into the minds of men by Nature Unabused by Doctrine but it sprung up from those deceiving and deceived Literati Scholasticks Philosophers and Theologers enchanting mens Understandings and making them believe that the Abstract Notions of Accidents and Essences could exist alone by themselves without the Bodies as certain Separate and Incorporeal Substances To Conclude therefore To make an Incorporeal Mind to be the Cause of all things is to make our own Phancie an Imaginary Ghost of the World to be a Reality and to suppose the mere Abstract Notion of an Accident and a Separate Essence to be not only an Absolute thing by it self and a Real Substance Incorporeal but also the first Original of all Substances and of whatsoever is in the Universe And this may be reckon'd for a Fourth Atheistick Ground IX Fifthly the Atheists pretend further to prove that there is no other Substance in the World besides Body as also from the Principles of Corporealism it self to evince that there can be no Corporeal Deity after this manner No man can devise any other Notion of Substance than that it is a thing Extended existing without the Mind not Imaginary but Real and Solid Magnitude For whatsoever is not Extended is Nowhere and Nothing So that Res Extensa is the only Substance the solid Basis and Substratum of all Now this is the very self-same thing with Body For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Resistence seems to be a necessary Consequence and Result from Extension and they that think otherwise can show no reason why Bodies may not also penetrate one another as some Corporealists think they do From whence it is inferred that Body or Matter is the only Substance of all things And whatsoever else is in the World that is all the Differences of Bodies are nothing but several Accidents and Modifications of this Extended Substance Body or Matter Which Accidents though they may be sometimes call'd by the names of Real Qualities and Forms and though there be different apprehensions concerning them amongst Philosophers yet generally they agree in this that there are these two Properties belonging to them First that none of them can subsist alone by themselves without Extended Substance or Matter as the Basis and Support of them And Secondly that they may be all destroyed without the Destruction of any Substance Now as Blackness and Whiteness Heat and Cold so likewise Life Sense and Understanding are such Accidents Modifications or Qualities of Body that can neither exist by themselves and may be destroyed without the Destruction of any Substance or Matter For if the Parts of the Body of any Living Animal be disunited and separated from one another or the Organical Disposition of the Matter alter'd those Accidents Forms or Qualities of Life and Understanding will presently vanish away to Nothings all the Substance of the Matter still remaining one where or other in the Universe entire and Nothing of it lost Wherefore the Substance of Matter and Body as distinguished from the Accidents is the only thing in the world that is Uncorruptible and Undestroyable And of this it is to be understood that Nothing can be made out of Nothing and Destroyed to Nothing i. e. that every entire thing that is Made or Generated must be made of some preexistent Matter which Matter was from Eternity Self-existent and Unmade and is also undestroyable and can never be reduc'd to Nothing It is not to be understood of the Accidents themselves that are all Makeable and Destroyable Generable and Corruptible Whatsoever is in the World is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matter so and so Modified or Qualified all which Modifications and Qualifications of Matter are in their own nature Destroyable and the Matter it self as the Basis of them not necessarily determin'd to this or that Accident is the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only Necessarily
Existent The Conclusion therefore is that no Animal no Living Understanding Body can be Absolutely and Essentially Incorruptible this being an Incommunicable Property of the Matter and therefore there can can be no Corporeal Deity the Original of all things Essentially Undestroyable Though the Stoicks imagined the whole Corporeal Universe to be an Animal or Deity yet this Corporeal God of theirs was only by Accident Incorruptible and Immortal because they supposed that there was no other Matter which existing without this World and making Inrodes upon it could disunite the Parts of it or disorder its Compages Which if there were the Life and Understanding of this Stoical God or great Mundane Animal as well as that of other Animals in like Cases must needs vanish into nothing Thus from the Principles of Corporealism it self it plainly follows that there can be no Corporeal Deity because the Deity is supposed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing that was never made and is Essentially Undestroyable which are the Privileges and Properties of nothing but Senseless Matter X. In the next place the Atheists undertake more effectually to confute that Corporeal God of the Stoicks and others from the Principles of the Atomical Philosophy in this manner All Corporeal Theists who assert that an Understanding Nature or Mind residing in the Matter of the whole Universe was the first Original of the Mundane System and did Intellectually frame it betray no small Ignorance of Philosophy and the Nature of Body in supposing Real Qualities besides Magnitude Figure Site and Motion as Simple and Primitive things to belong to it and that there was such a Quality or Faculty of Understanding in the Matter of the whole Universe coeternal with the same that was an Original thing Uncompounded and Underived from any thing else Now to suppose such Original Qualities and Powers which are Really Distinct from the Substance of Extended Matter and its Modifications of Divisibility Figure Site and Motion is Really to suppose so many Distinct Substances which therefore must needs be Incorporeal So that these Philosophers fall unawares into that very thing which they are so abhorrent from For this Quality or Faculty of Understanding in the Matter of the Universe Original and underiv'd from any other thing can be indeed nothing else but an Incorporeal Substance Epicurus suggested a Caution against this Vulgar Mistake concerning Qualities to this purpose Non sic cogitandae sunt Qualitates quasi sint quaedam per se existentes Naturae seu Substantiae siquidem id mente assequi non licet sed solummodo ut varii modi sese habendi Corporis considerandae sunt Body as such hath nothing else belonging to the Nature of it but what is included in the Idaea of Extended Substance Divisibility Figure Site Motion or Rest and the Results from the various Compositions of them causing different Phancies Wherefore as vulgar Philosophers make their first Matter which they cannot well tell what they mean by it because it receives all Qualities to be it self devoid of all Quality So we conclude that Atoms which are really the first Principles of all things have none of those Qualities in them which belong to compounded Bodies they are not absolutely of themselves Black or White Hot or Cold Moist or dry Bitter or Sweet all these things arising up afterwards from the various Aggregations and Contextures of them together with different Motions Which Lucretius confirms by this reason agreeable to the Tenour of the Atomical Philosophy That if there were any such Real Qualities in the first Principles then in the various Corruptions of Nature things would at last be all reduc'd to Nothing Immutabile enim quiddam superare necesse est Nè res ad Nihilum redigantur funditùs omnes Proinde Colore cave contingas semina rerum Nè tibi res redeant ad Nilum funditùs omnes Wherefore he concludes that it must not be thought that White things are made out of White Principles nor Black things out of Black Principles Nè ex Albis Alba rearis Principiis esse Aut ea quae nigrant nigro de semine nata Neve alium quemvis quaesunt induta colorem Proptereà gerere hunc credas quòd materiaï Corpora consimuli sint ejus tincta colore Nullus enim Color est omnino materiaï Corporibus neque par rebus neque denique dispar Adding that the same is to be resolved likewise concerning all other Sensible Qualities as well as Colours Sed nè fortè putes solospoliata colore Corpora prima manere etiam secreta Teporis Sunt ac Frigoris omnino CalidÃque Vaporis Et sonitu sterila Succo jejuna feruntur Nec jaciunt ullum proprio de corpore Odorem Lastly he tells us in like manner that the same is to be understood also concerning Life Sense and Understanding that there are no such simple Qualities or Natures in the first Principles out of which Animals are compounded but that these are in themselves altogether devoid of Life Sense and Understanding Nunc ea quae Sentire videmus cunque necesse ' st Ex Insensilibus tamen omnia confiteare Principiis constare neque id manifesta refutant Sed magìs ipsa manu ducunt credere cogunt Ex insensilibus quod dico Animalia gigni Quippe videre licet vivos existere vermes Stercore de tetro putrorem cum sibi nacta ' st Intempestivis ex imbribus humida tellus All Sensitive and Rational Animals are made of Irrational and Senseless Principles which is proved by Experience in that we see Worms are made out of putrified Dung moistned with immoderate Showers Some indeed who are no greater Friends to a Deity than our selves will needs have that Sense and Understanding that is in Animals and Men to be derived from an Antecedent Life and Understanding in the Matter But this cannot be because if Matter as such had Life and Understanding in it then every Atom of Matter must needs be a Distinct Percipient Animal and Intelligent Person by it self and it would be impossible for any such Men and Animals as now are to be compounded out of them because every Man would be Variorum Animalculorum Acervus a Heap of Innumerable Animals and Percipients Wherefore as all the other Qualities of Bodies so likewise Life Sense and Understanding arise from the different Contextures of Atoms devoid of all those Qualities or from the Composition of those simple Elements of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions in the same manner as from a few Letters variously compounded all that Infinite Variety of Syllables and Words is made Quin etiam refert nostris in versibus ipsis Cum quibus quali Positurâ contineantur Namque eadem Coelum Mare Terras Flumina Solem Significant eadem fruges arbusta animantes Sic ipsis in rebus item jam materiaï Intervalla viae connexus pondera plagae Concursus motus ordo Positura Figurae Cùm permutantur mutari res quoque
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
to be perswaded first that the Sensitive Soul in men as well as Brutes is merely Corporeal and then that there is a Material Plastick Life in the Seeds of all Plants and Animals whereby they do Artificially form themselves and from thence afterward to descend also further to Hylozoism that all matter as such hath a kind of Natural though not Animal Life in it in consideration whereof we ought not to Censure every Hylozoist professing to hold a Deity and a Rational Soul Immortal for a mere Disguised Atheist or Counterfeit Histrionical Theist III. But though every Hylozoist be not therefore necessarily an Atheist yet whosoever is an Hylozoist and Corporealist both together he that both holds the Life of Matter in the Sence before declared and also that there is no other Substance in the World besides Body and Matter cannot be excused from the Imputation of Atheism for Two Reasons First because though he derive the Original of all Things not from what is perfectly Dead and Stupid as the Atomick Atheist doth but from that which hath a kind of Life or Perception in it nay an Infallible Omniscience of whatsoever it self can Do or Suffer or of all its own Capabilities and Congruities which seems to bear some Semblance of a Deity yet all this being only in the way of Natural and not Animal Perception is indeed nothing but a Dull and Drowsie Plastick and Spermatick Life devoid of all Consciousness and Self-enjoyment The Hylozoists Nature is a piece of very Mysterious Non-sence a thing perfectly Wise without any Knowledge or Consciousness of it self Whereas a Deity according to the true Notion of it is such a Perfect Understanding Being as with full Consciousness and Self-enjoyment is completely Happy Secondly because the Hylozoick Corporealist supposing all Matter as such to have Life in it must needs make Infinite of those Lives forasmuch as every Atom of Matter has a Life of its own Coordinate and Independent on one another and consequently as many Independent first Principles no one Common Life or Mind ruling over the Whole Whereas to assert a God is to derive all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from some one Principle or to suppose one Perfect Living and Understanding Being to be the Original of all things and the Architect of the whole Universe Thus we see that the Hylozoick Corporealist is really an Atheist though carrying more the Semblance and Disguise of a Theist than other Atheists in that he attributes a kind of Life to Matter For indeed every Atheist must of necessity cast some of the Incommunicable Properties of the Deity more or less upon that which is not God namely Matter and they who do not attribute Life to it yet must needs bestow upon it Necessary Self-existence and make it the First Principle of all things which are the Peculiarities of the Deity The Numen which the Hylozoick Corporealist pays all his Devotions to is a certain blind Shee-god or Goddess called Nature or the Life of Matter which is a very great Mystery a thing that is Perfectly Wise and Infallibly Omniscient without any Knowledge or Consciousness at all Something like to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that vulgar Enigm or Riddle of Boys concerning an Eunuch striking a Bat A Man and not a Man Seeing and not Seeing did Strike and not Strike with a Stone and not a Stone a Bird and not a Bird c. The Difference being only this that this was a thing Intelligible but humoursomly expressed whereas the other seems to be perfect Non-sence being nothing but a misunderstanding of the Plastick Power as shall be showed afterwards IV. Now the First and Chief Assertour of this Hylozoick Atheism was as we conceive Strato Lampsacenus commonly called also Physicus that had been once an Auditor of Theophrastus and a famous Peripatetick but afterwards degenerated from a Genuine Peripatetick into a new-formed kind of Atheist For Velleius an Epicurean Atheist in Cicero reckoning up all the several sorts of Theists which had been in former times gives such a Character of this Strato as whereby he makes him to be a strange kind of Atheistical Theist or Divine Atheist if we may use such a contradictious Expression his words are these Nec audiendus Strato qui Physicus appellatur qui omnem Vim Divinam in Natura sitam esse censet quae Causas gignendi augendi minuendÃve habeat sed careat omni sensu Neither is Strato commonly called the Naturalist or Physiologist to be heard who places all Divinity in Nature as having within it self the Causes of all Generations Corruptions and Augmentations but without any manner of Sense Strato's Deity therefore was a certain Living and Active but Sensless Nature He did not fetch the Original of all things as the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists from a mere Fortuitous Motion of Atoms by means whereof he bore some slight Semblance of a Theist but yet he was a down-right Atheist for all that his God being no other than such a Life of Nature in Matter as was both devoid of Sense and Consciousness and also multiplied together with the several parts of it He is also in like manner described by Seneca in St. Augustine as a kind of Mongrel thing betwixt an Atheist and a Theist Ego feram aut Platonem aut Peripateticum Stratonem quorum alter Deum sine Corpore fecit alter sine Animo Shall I endure either Plato or the Peripatetick Strato whereof the one made God to be without a Body the other without a Mind In which words Seneca taxes these two Philosophers as guilty of two contrary Extremes Plato because he made God to be a pure Mind or a perfectly Incorporeal Being and Strato because he made him to be a Body without a Mind he acknowledging no other Deity than a certain Stupid and Plastick Life in all the several parts of Matter without Sense Wherefore this seems to be the only reason why Strato was thus sometimes reckoned amongst the Theists though he were indeed an Atheist because he dissented from that only form of Atheism then so vulgarly received the Democritick and Epicurean attributing a kind of Life to Nature and Matter V. And that Strato was thus an Atheist but of a different kind from Democritus may further appear from this Passage of Cicero's Strato Lampsacenus negat operâ Deorum se uti ad fabricandum Mundum quaecunque sint docet omnia esse Effecta Natura nec ut ille qui asperis laevibus hamatis uncinatÃsque Corporibus Concreta haec esse dicat interjecto Inani Somnia censet haec esse Democriti non docentis sed optantis Strato denies that he makes any use of a God for the fabricating of the World or the salving the Phaenomena thereof teaching all things to have been made by Nature but yet not in such a manner as he who affirmed them to be all Concreted out of certain
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
abhorrent soever they may otherwise seem to be from Enthusiasm and Revelations are notwithstanding really no better than a kind of Bewitched Enthusiasts and Blind Spiritati that are wholly ridden and acted by a dark narrow and captivated Principle of Life and to use their own Language In-blown by it and by it bereft even in Speculative things of all Free Reason and Understanding Nay they are Fanaticks too however that word seem to have a more peculiar respect to something of a Deity All Atheists being that Blind Goddess Natures Fanaticks XXX We have described four several Forms of Atheism First the Hylopathian or Anaximandrian that derives all things from Dead and Stupid Matter in the way of Qualities and Forms Generable and Corruptible Secondly the Atomical or Democritical which doth the same thing in the way of Atoms and Figures Thirdly the Cosmoplastick or Stoical Atheism which supposes one Plastick and Methodical but Sensless Nature to preside over the whole Corporeal Universe And lastly the Hylozoick or Stratonical that attributes to all Matter as such a certain Living and Energetick Nature but devoid of all Animality Sense and Consciousness And as we do not meet with any other Forms or Schemes of Atheism besides these Four so we conceive that there cannot easily be any other excogitated or devised and that upon these two following Considerations First because all Atheists are mere Corporealists that is acknowledge no other Substance besides Body or Matter For as there was never any yet known who asserting Incorporeal Substance did deny a Deity so neither can there be any reason why he that admits the former should exclude the later Again the same Dull and Earthly Disbelief or confounded Sottishness of Mind which makes men deny a God must needs incline them to deny all Incorporeal Substance also Wherefore as the Physicians speak of a certain Disease or Madness called Hydrophobia the Symptome of those that have been bitten by a mad Dog which makes them have a monstrous Antipathy to Water so all Atheists are possessed with a certain kind of Madness that may be called Pneumatophobia that makes them have an irrational but desperate Abhorrence from Spirits or Incorporeal Substances they being acted also at the same time with an Hylomania whereby they Madly dote upon Matter and Devoutly worship it as the only Numen The Second Consideration is this because as there are no Atheists but such as are mere Corporealists so all Corporealists are not to be accompted Atheists neither Those of them who notwithstanding they make all things to be Matter yet suppose an Intellectual Nature in that Matter to preside over the Corporeal Universe being in Reason and Charity to be exempted out of that number And there have been always some who though so strongly captivated under the power of gross Imagination as that an Incorporeal God seemed to them to be nothing but a God of Words as some of them call it a mere Empty Sound or Contradictious Expression Something and Nothing put together yet notwithstanding they have been possessed with a firm belief and perswasion of a Deity or that the System of the Universe depends upon one Perfect Understanding Being as the Head of it and thereupon have concluded that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain kind of Body or Matter is God The grossest and most sottish of all which Corporeal Theists seem to be those who contend that God is only one particular Piece of Organized Matter of Humane Form and Bigness which endued with Perfect Reason and Understanding exerciseth an Universal Dominion over all the rest Which Hypothesis however it hath been entertained by some of the Christian Profession both in former and later times yet it hath seemed very ridiculous even to many of those Heathen Philosophers themselves who were mere Corporealists such as the Stoicks who exploded it with a kind of Indignation contending earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That God though Corporeal yet must not be conceived to be of any Humane Shape And Xenophanes an Ancient Philosophick Poet expresseth the Childishness of this Conceit after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Oxen Lions Horses and Asses had all of them a Sense of a Deity and were able to Limn and Paint there is no question to be made but that each of these several Animals would paint God according to their respective Form Likeness and contend that he was of that shape no other But that other Corporeal Theism seems to be of the two rather more Generous and Gentile which supposes the whole World to be one Animal and God to be a certain Subtle and Etherial but Intellectual Matter pervading it as a Soul which was the Doctrine of others before the Stoicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippasus of Metapontus and Heraclitus the Ephesian supposed the Fiery and Etherial Matter of the World to be God However neither these Heracliticks and Stoicks nor yet the other Anthropomorphites are by us condemned for downright Atheists but rather look'd upon as a sort of Ignorant Childish and Vnskilful Theists Wherefore we see that Atheists are now reduced into a narrow Compass since none are concluded to be Atheists but such as are mere Corporealists and all Corporealists must not be condemned for Atheists neither but only those of them who assert that there is no Conscious Intellectual Nature presiding over the whole Universe For this is that which the Adepti in Atheism of what Form soever all agree in That the first Principle of the Universe is no Animalish Sentient and Conscious Nature but that all Animality Sense and Consciousness is a Secondary Derivative and Accidental thing Generable and Corruptible arising out of particular Concretions of Matter organized and dissolved together with them XXXI Now if the First Principle and Original of all things in the Universe be thus supposed to be Body or Matter devoid of all Animality Sense and Consciousness then it must of necessity be either perfectly Dead and Stupid and without all manner of Life or else endued with such a kind of Life only as is by some called Plastick Spermatical and Vegetative by others the Life of Nature or Natural Perception And those Atheists who derive all things from Dead and Stupid Matter must also needs do this either in the way of Qualities and Forms and these are the Anaximandrian Atheists or else in the way of Atoms and Figures which are the Democritical But those who make Matter endued with a Plastick Life to be the first Original of all things must needs suppose either One such Plastick and Spermatick Life only in the whole Mass of Matter or Corporeal Universe which are the Stoical Atheists or else all Matter as such to have Life and an Energetick Nature belonging to it though without any Animal Sense or Self-perception and consequently all the Particular Parts of Matter and every Totum by Continuity to have a
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
have any Whiteness or Blackness at all in it And therefore that the Stoical Atheists as well as the Stoical Theists do both alike deny Incorporeal Substance but in words only whilst they really admit the thing it self because One and the same Life ruling over all the distant parts of the Corporeal Universe must needs be an Incorporeal Substance it being all in the Whole and all acting upon every part and yet none of it in any part by it self for then it would be many and not one From all which it may be concluded That Atheism is a certain strange kind of Monster with Four Heads that are all of them perpetually biting tearing and devouring one another Now though these several Forms of Atheism do mutually destroy each other and none of them be really Considerable or Formidable in it self as to any strength of Reason which it hath yet as they are compared together among themselves so some of them may be more considerable than the rest For first as the Qualities and Forms of the Anaximandrian Atheist supposed to be really distinct from the Substances are things unintelligible in themselves so he cannot with any colour or pretence of Reason maintain the Natural Production of them out of Nothing and the Reduction of them again into Nothing and yet withstand a Divine Creation and Annihilation as an Impossibility Moreover the Anaximandrian Atheism is as it were swallowed up into the Democritick and further improved in it this latter carrying on the same Design with more seeming Artifice greater Plausibility of Wit and a more pompous Show of Something where indeed there is Nothing Upon which accompt it hath for many Ages past beaten the Anaximandrian Atheism in a manner quite off the Stage and reigned there alone So that the Democritick or Atomick Atheism seems to be much more considerable of the Two than the Anaximandrian or Hylopathian Again as for the two other Forms of Atheism if there were any Life at all in Matter as the First and Immediate Recipient of it then in reason this must needs be supposed to be after the same manner in it that all other Corporeal Qualities are in Bodies so as to be Divisible together with it and some of it be in every part of the Matter which is according to the Hypothesis of the Hylozoists Whereas on the contrary the Stoical Atheists supposing one Life only in the whole Mass of Matter after such a manner as that none of the parts of it by themselves should have any Life of their own do thereby no less than the Stoical Theists make this Life of theirs to be no Corporeal Quality or Form but an Incorporeal Substance which is to contradict their own Hypothesis From whence we may conclude that the Cosmo-plastick or Stoical Atheism is of the two less considerable than the Hylozoick or Stratonical Wherefore amongst these Four Forms of Atheism that have been propounded these Two the Atomick or Democritical and the Hylozoick or Stratonical are the Chief The former of which namely the Democritick Atheism admitting a true Notion of Body that according to the Doctrine of the first and most Ancient Atomists it is nothing but Resisting Bulk devoid of all manner of Life yet because it takes for granted that there is no other Substance in the World besides Body does therefore conclude that all Life and Vnderstanding in Animals and Men is Generated out of Dead and Stupid Matter though not as Qualities and Forms which is the Anaximandrian way but as resulting from the Contextures of Atoms or some peculiar Composition of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions and consequently that they are themselves really nothing else but Local Motion and Mechanism Which is a thing that sometime since was very Pertinently and Judiciously both observed and perstringed by the Learned Author of the Exercitatio Epistolica now a Reverend Bishop But the latter namely the Hylozoick though truly acknowledging on the contrary that Life Cogitation and Vnderstanding are Entities really distinct from Local Motion and Mechanism and that therefore they cannot be Generated out of Dead and Stupid Matter but must needs be somewhere in the World Originally Essentially and Fundamentally yet because they take it also for granted that there is no other Substance besides Matter do thereupon adulterate the Notion of Matter or Body blending and confounding it with Life as making them but two Inadequate Conceptions of Substance and concluding that all Matter and Substance as such hath Life and Perception or Vnderstanding Natural and Inconscious Essentially belonging to it and that Sense and Conscious Reason or Vnderstanding in Animals arises only from the Accidental Modification of this Fundamental Life of Matter by Organization We conclude therefore that if these Two Atheistick Hypotheses which are found to be the most Considerable be once Confuted the Reality of all Atheism will be ipso facto Confuted There being indeed nothing more requisite to a thorough Confutation of Atheism than the proving of these Two things First that Life and Vnderstanding are not Essential to Matter as such and Secondly that they can never possibly rise out of any Mixture or Modification of Dead and Stupid Matter whatsoever The reason of which Assertion is because all Atheists as was before observed are mere Corporealists of which there can be but these Two Sorts Either such as make Life to be Essential to Matter and therefore to be Ingenerable and Incorruptible or else such as suppose Life and Every thing besides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bare Substance of Matter or Extended Bulk to be merely Accidental Generable or Corruptible as rising out of some Mixture or Modification of it And as the Proving of those Two Things will overthrow all Atheism so it will likewise lay a clear Foundation for the demonstrating of a Deity distinct from the Corporeal World XXXV Now that Life and Perception or Vnderstanding should be Essential to Matter as such or that all Sensless Matter should be Perfectly and Infallibly wise though without Consciousness as to all its own Congruities and Capabilities which is the Doctrine of the Hylozoists This I say is an Hypothesis so Prodigiously Paradoxical and so Outragiously Wild as that very few men ever could have Atheistick Faith enough to swallow it down and digest it Wherefore this Hylozoick Atheism hath been very obscure ever since its first Emersion and hath found so few Fautors and Abettors that it hath look'd like a forlorn and deserted thing Neither indeed are there any Publick Monuments at all extant in which it is avowedly Maintained Stated and Reduced into any System Insomuch that we should not have taken any notice of it at this time as a Particular Form of Atheism nor have Conjured it up out of its Grave had we not Understood that Strato's Ghost had begun to walk of late and that among some Well-wishers to Atheism despairing in a manner of the Atomick Form this Hylozoick Hypothesis began already to
it self devoid of Knowledge and Vnderstanding we shall therefore endeavour to perswade the Possibility and facilitate the Belief of it by some other Instances and first by that of Habits particularly those Musical ones of Singing Playing upon Instruments and Dancing Which Habits direct every Motion of the Hand Voice and Body and prompt them readily without any Deliberation or Studied Consideration what the next following Note or Motion should be If you jogg a sleeping Musician and sing but the first Words of a Song to him which he had either himself composed or learnt before he will presently take it from you and that perhaps before he is thoroughly awake going on with it and singing out the remainder of the whole Song to the End Thus the Fingers of an exercised Lutonist and the Legs and whole Body of a skilful Dancer are directed to move Regularly and Orderly in a long Train and Series of Motions by those Artificial Habits in them which do not themselves at all comprehend those Laws and Rules of Musick or Harmony by which they are governed So that the same thing may be said of these Habits which was said before of Nature That they do not Know but only Do. And thus we see there is no Reason why this Plastick Nature which is supposed to move Body Regularly and Artificially should be thought to be an Absolute Impossibility since Habits do in like manner Gradually Evolve themselves in a long Train or Series of Regular and Artificial Motions readily prompting the doing of them without comprehending that Art and Reason by which they are directed The forementioned Philosopher illustrates the Seminary Reason and Plastick Nature of the Universe by this very Instance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Energy of Nature is Artificial as when a Dancer moves for a Dancer resembles this Artificial Life of Nature forasmuch as Art it self moves him and so moves him as being such a Life in him And agreeably to this Conceit the Ancient Mythologists represented the Nature of the Universe by Pan Playing upon a Pipe or Harp and being in love with the Nymph Eccho as if Nature did by a kind of Silent Melody make all the Parts of the Universe every where Daunce in measure Proportion it self being as it were in the mean time delighted and ravished with the Re-ecchoing of its own Harmony Habits are said to be an Adventitious and Acquired Nature and Nature was before defined by the Stoicks to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Habit so that there seems to be no other Difference between these two than this that whereas the One is Acquired by Teaching Industry and Exercise the other as was expressed by Hippocrates is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnlearned and Vntaught and may in some sence also be said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-taught though she be indeed always Inwardly Prompted Secretly Whispered into and Inspired by the Divine Art and Wisdom 14. Moreover that something may Act Artificially and for Ends without Comprehending the Reason of what it doth may be further evinced from those Natural Instincts that are in Animals which without Knowledge direct them to Act Regularly in Order both to their own Good and the Good of the Vniverse As for Example the Bees in Mellification and in framing their Combs and Hexagonial Cells the Spiders in spinning their Webs the Birds in building their Nests and many other Animals in such like Actions of theirs which would seem to argue a great Sagacity in them whereas notwithstanding as Aristotle observes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They do these things neither by Art nor by Counsel nor by any Deliberation of their own and therefore are not Masters of that Wisdom according to which they Act but only Passive to the Instincts and Impresses thereof upon them And indeed to affirm that Brute Animals do all these things by a Knowledge of their own and which themselves are Masters of and that without Deliberation and Consultation were to make them to be endued with a most Perfect Intellect far transcending that of Humane Reason whereas it is plain enough that Brutes are not above Consultation but Below it and that these Instincts of Nature in them are Nothing but a kind of Fate upon them 15. There is in the next place another Imperfection to be observed in the Plastick Nature that as it doth not comprehend the Reason of its own Action so neither is it Clearly and Expresly Conscious of what it doth in which Respect it doth not only fall short of Humane Art but even of that very Manner of Acting which is in Brutes themselves who though they do not Understand the Reason of those Actions that their Natural Instincts lead them to yet they are generally conceived to be Conscious of them and to do them by Phancy whereas the Plastick Nature in the Formation of Plants and Animals seems to have no Animal Fancie no Express 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Con-sense or Consciousness of what it doth Thus the often Commended Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature hath not so much as any Fancie in it As Intellection and Knowledge is a thing Superiour to Fancie so Fancie is Superiour to the Impress of Nature for Nature hath no Apprehension nor Conscious Perception of any thing In a Word Nature is a thing that hath no such Self-perception or Self-injoyment in it as Animals have 16. Now we are well aware that this is a Thing which the Narrow Principles of some late Philosophers will not admit of that there should be any Action distinct from Local Motion besides Expresly Conscious Cogitation For they making the first General Heads of all Entity to be Extension and Cogitation or Extended Being and Cogitative and then supposing that the Essence of Cogitation consists in Express Consciousness must needs by this means exclude such a Plastick Life of Nature as we speak of that is supposed to act without Animal Fancie or Express Consciousness Wherefore we conceive that the first Heads of Being ought rather to be expressed thus Resisting or Antitypous Extension and Life i.e. Internal Energy and Self-activity and then again that Life or Internal Self-activity is to be subdivided into such as either acts with express Consciousness and Synaesthesis or such as is without it the Latter of which is this Plastick Life of Nature So that there may be an Action distinct from Local Motion or a Vital Energy which is not accompanied with that Fancie or Consciousness that is in the Energies of the Animal Life that is there may be a simple Internal Energy or Vital Autokinesie which is without that Duplication that is included in the Nature of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 con-Con-sense and Consciousness which makes a Being to be Present with it self Attentive to its own Actions or Animadversive of them to perceive it self to Do or Suffer and to have a Fruition or Enjoyment of it self And indeed it must be granted that what moves Matter or
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-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
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
Prince of the World that is of the Eternal Intellect or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 24. Aristotle an Acknowledger of Many Gods he accounting the Stars such and yet an express Asserter of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Prince One Immoveable Mover 25. Cleanthes and Chrysippus Stoicks though they filled the whole Heaven Earth Air and Sea with Gods yet notwithstanding they acknowledged only One Gâ—d Immortal Jupiter all the rest being consumed into him in the Successive Conflagrations and afterwards made anew by him Cleanthes his excellent and devout Hymn to the Supreme God 26. Eâ—dless to cite all the Passages of the later Pagan Writers and Polytheists in which one Supreme God is asserted Excellent Discourses in some of them concerning the Deity particularly Plotinus Who though he derived all things even Matter it self from one Supreme Deity yet was a Contender for Many Gods 27. This not only the Opinion of Philosophers and Learned men but also the General Belief of the Pagan Vulgar that there was One Supreme God proved from Maximus Tyrius The Romans Deus Optimus Maximus The Paâ—ans when most serious spake of God singularly Kyrie Eleeson part of the Pagans Litany to the Supreme God The more civilizâ—d Pagans at this very day acknowledge one Supreme Deity the Maker of the World 28. Plutarch's Testimony that notwithstanding the variety of Paganick Religions and the different Names of Gods used in them yet One Reason Mind or Providence ordering all things and its Inferiour Ministers were alike every where Worshipped 29. Plain that the Pagan Theists must needs acknowledge One Supreme Deity because they generally believed the whole World to be One Animal gâ—vernâ—d by One Soul Some Pagans made this Soul of the World their Supreme God others an Abstract Mind Superiour to it 30. The Hebrew Doctors generally of this Perswasion that the Pagans worshipped one Supreme God and that all their other Gods were but Mediatours betwixt him and men 31. Lastly this confirmed from Scripture The Pagans Knew God Aratus his Jupiter and the Athenians Unknown God the True God 32. In order to a fuller Explication of the Pagan Theology and shewing the Occasion of its being misunderstood Three Heads requisite to be insisted on First that the Pagans worshipped One Supreme God under Many Names Secondly that besides this one God they worshipped also Many Gods which were indeed Inferiour Deities Subordinate to him Thirdly that they worshipped both the Supreme and inferiour Gods in Images Statues and Symbols sometimes abusively called also Gods First that the Supreme God amongst the Pagans was Polyonymous and worshipped under several Personal Names according to his several Attributes and the Manifestations of them his Gifts and Effects in the World 33. That upon the same accompt Things not Substantial were Personated and Deified by the Pagans and worshipped as so many several Names or Notions of One God 34. That as the whole Corporeal World Animated was supposed by some of the Pagans to be the Supreme God so he was worshipped in the several Parts and Members of it having Personal Names bestowed upon them as it were by Parcels and Piece-meal or by so many Inadequate Conceptions That some of the Pagans made the Corporeal World the Temple of God only but others the Body of God 35. The Second Head proposed that besides the One Supreme God under several Names the Pagans acknowledged and Worshipped also Many Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Made Gods Created intellectual Beings Superiour to Men. 36. The Pythagorick or Platonick Trinity of Divine Hypostases And the Higher of the Inferiour Deities according to this Hypothesis Nous Psyche and the whole Corporeal World with particular Noes and Henades 37. The other Inferiour Deities acknowledged as well by the Vulgar as Philosophers of Three Sorts First the Sun Moon and Stars and other greater Parts of the Vniverse Animated called Sensible Gods 38. Secondly their Inferiour Deities Invisible Ethereal and Aereal Animals called Daemons These appointed by the Supreme Deity to preside over Kingdoms Cities Places Persons and Things 39. The Last sort of the Pagan Inferiour Deities Heroes and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Men-gods Euemerus taxed by Plutarch for making all the Pagan Gods nothing but Dead Men. 40. The Third general Head proposed That the Pagans worshipped both the Supreme and Inferiour Gods in Images Statues and Symbols That first of all before Images and Temples Rude Stones and Pillars without Sculpture were erected for Religious Monuments and called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Bethels 41. That afterwards Images Statues and Symbols were used and housed in Temples These placed in the West-end of the Temples to face the East so that the Pagans entering worshipped towards the West One probable Occasion of the Ancient Christians Praying towards the East The Golden Calf made for a Symbolick Presence of the God of Israel 42. All the parts of the entire Pagan Religion represented together at once in Plato 43. That some late Writers not well understanding the Sence of Pagans have confounded all their Theology by supposing them to Worship the Inanimate parts of the World as such for Gods therefore distinguishing betwixt their Animal and their Natural Gods That no Corporeal thing was worshipped by the Pagans otherwise than either as being it self Animated with a Particular Soul of its own or as being part of the whole Animated World or as having Daemons presiding over it to whom the Worship was properly directed or Lastly as being Images or Symbols of Divine Things 44. That though the Egyptians be said to have Worshipped Brute Animals and were generally therefore condemned by the other Pagans yet the wiser of them used them only as Hieroglyphicks and Symbols 45. That the Pagans worshipped not only the Supreme God but also the Inferiour Deities by Material Sacrifices Sacrifices or Fire-offerings in their First and General Notion nothing else but Gifts and Signs of Gratitude and Appendices of Prayer But that Animal Sacrifices had afterwards a Particular Notion also of Expiation fastned on them whether by Divine Direction or Humane Agreement left undetermined 46. The Pagans Apology for the Three forementioned Things First for Worshipping one Supreme one God under Many Personal Names and that not only according to his several Attributes but also his several Manifestations Gifts and Effects in the Visible World With an Excuse for those Corporeal Theists who Worshipped the whole Animated World as the Supreme God and the several Parts of it under Personal Names as Living Members of him 47. Their Apology for Worshipping besides the One Supreme God Many Inferiour Deities That they Worshipping them only as Inferiour could not therefore be guilty of giving them that Honour which was proper to the Supreme That they Honour'd the Supreme God Incomparably above all That they put a Difference in their Sacrifices and that Material Sacrifices were not the proper Worship of the Supreme God but rather below him 48. Several Reasons of the Pagans for giving Religious Worship
Interpretation of his meaning there as this of Plutarch's inserts these very words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither must any such thing be supposed as if there were two Gods contrarily minded to one another turning the Heavens sometimes one way and sometimes another Which plain declaration of Plato's Sence being directly contrary to Plutarch's Interpretation and this Ditheistick Opinion might serve also for a sufficient Confutation of His Second Ground from the Tenth De Legibus as if Plato had there affirmed that there were Two Souls moving the Heavens the One Beneficent but the other Contrary because this would be all one as to assert Two Gods contrarily minded to one another Notwithstanding which for a fuller Answer thereunto we shall further add that this Philosopher did there First only distribute Souls in General into Good and Evil those Moral Differences Properly belonging to that rank of Beings called by him Souls and first emerging in them according to this Premised Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Soul is the Cause of Good and Evil Honest and Dishonest Just and Vnjust But then afterwards making Enquiry concerning the Soul of the World or Heaven what kind of Soul that was he positively concludes that it was no other than a Soul endued with all Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ath. Hosp. Since it is Soul that moves all things we must of necessity affirm that the Heaven or World is moved by some Soul or other adorning and disposing of it whether it be the Best Soul or the Contrary Clin. O Hospes it is certainly not Holy nor pious to conclude otherwise than that a Soul endued with all Vertue One or More moves the World And as for the last thing urged by Plutarch that before the World was made the Matter is said by Plato to have been Moved disorderly we conceive that that Philosopher did therein only adhere to that Vulgarly received Tradition which was Originally Mosaical that the First beginning of the Cosmopoeia was from a Chaos or Matter confusedly moved afterward brought into Order And now we think it plainly appears that there is no strength at all in any of Plutarch's forementioned Allegations nor any such Monster to be found any where in Plato as this Substantial Evil Principle or God a Wicked Soul or Demon Unmade and Self-existent from Eternity Opposite and Inimicous to the Good God sharing the Empire and Dominion of the World with him Which Opinion is really nothing else but the Deifying of the Devil or Prince of Evil Spirits making him a Corrival with God and entitling him to a Right of receiving Divine Honour and Worship And it is observable that Plutarch himself confesseth this Interpretation which he makes of Plato to be New and Paradoxical or an Invention of his own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such as because it was contrary to the Generally received Opinion of Platonists himself thought to stand in need of some Apology and Defence To which purpose therefore he adds again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will saith he declare mine own Opinion first concerning these things confirming it with Probabilities and as much as possibly I can aiding and assisting the Truth and Paradoxicalness thereof Moreover Proclus upon the Timaeus takes notice of no other Philosophers that ever imputed this Doctrine to Plato or indeed maintained any such Opinion of Two Substantial Principles of Good and Evil but only Plutarch and Atticus though I confess Chalcidius cites Numenius also to the same purpose Proclus his words are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarchus Cheronensis and Atticus maintain that before the Generation and Formation of the World there was Vnformed and disorderly Matter existing from Eternity together with a Maleficent Soul for whence say they could that Motion of the Matter in Plato 's Timaeus procede but from a Soul and if it were a Disorderly Motion it must then needs come from a Disorderly Soul And as Proclus tells us that this Opinion of theirs had been before confuted by Porphyrius and Jamblychus as that which was both Irrational and Impious so doth he there likewise himself briefly refel it in these Two Propositions First that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Soul is the Off-spring of God and there can be no Soul nor any thing else besides God Self-existing and Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is absurd to make Evil alike Eternal with Good for that which is Godless cannot be of like honour with God and equally Vnmade nor indeed can there be any thing at all positively opposite to God But because it may probably be here demanded What Account it was then possible for Plato to give of the Original of Evils so as not to impute them to God himself if he neither derived them from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnqualified Matter which Plutarch has plainly proved to be absurd nor yet from a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Irrational and Maleficent Soul of the World or Demon Self-existent from Eternity we shall therefore hereunto briefly reply That though that Philosopher derived not the Original of Evils from Vnqualified Matter nor from a Wicked Soul or Demon Vnmade yet did he not therefore impute them to God neither but as it seemeth to the Necessity of Imperfect Beings For as Timaeus Locrus had before Plato determined that the World was made by God and Necessity so does Plato himself accordingly declare in his Timaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Generation of this World is mixt and made up of a certain composition of Mind and Necessity both together yet so as that Mind doth also in some sence rule over Necessity Wherefore though according to Plato God be properly and directly the Cause of nothing else but Good yet the Necessity of these Lower Imperfect things does unavoidably give Being and Birth to Evils For First as to Moral Evils which are the Chiefest there is a Necessity that there should be Higher and Lower Inclinations in all Rational Beings Vitally United to Bodies and that as Autexousious or Free-willed they should have a Power of determining themselves more or less either way as there is also a Necessity that the same Liberty of Will essential to Rational Creatures which makes them capable of Praise and Reward should likewise put them in a Possibility of deserving Blame and Punishment Again as to the Evils of Pain and Inconvenience there seems to be a Necessity that Imperfect Terrestrial Animals which are capable of the Sense of Pleasure should in contrary Circumstances which will also sometimes happen by reason of the Inconsistency and Incompossibility of things be obnoxious to Displeasure and Pain And Lastly for the Evils of Corruptions and Dissolutions there is a plain Necessity that if there be Natural Generations in the World there should be also Corruptions according to that of Lucretius before cited Quando alid ex alio reficit Natura nec ullam Rem gigni patitur nisi Morte adjutam alienâ To all which
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
Philosophers after Thales and before Anaxagoras were generally Atheistical And indeed from them the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Naturalists came to be often used as Synonymous with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Atheists Now these Two are here condemned by Plutarch for Two Contrary Extremes the One who resolved all into Natural and Necessary Causes that is into Matter Motion and Qualities of Bodies leaving out the Divine Cause as guilty of Atheism the other who altogether neglecting the Natural and Necessary Causes of things resolved all into the Divine Cause as it were swallowing up all into God as guilty of a kind of Fanaticism And thus we see plainly that this was one Grand Arcanum of the Orphick Cabala and the ancient Greekish Theology That God is All things Some Fanaticks of Latter Times have made God to be All in a Gross Sence so as to take away all Real Distinction betwixt God and the Creature and indeed to allow no other Being besides God they supposing the Substance of every thing and even of all Inanimate Bodies to be the very Substance of God himself and all the variety of things that is in the World to be nothing but God under several Forms Appearances and Disguizes The Stoicks anciently made God to be All and All to be God in somewhat a different way they conceiving God properly to be the Active Principle of the whole Corporeal Universe which yet because they admitted of no Incorporeal Substance they supposed together with the Passive or the Matter to make up but one and the same complete Substance And others who acknowledged God to be an Incorporeal Substance distinct from the Matter have notwithstanding made All to be God also in a certain sence they supposing God to be nothing but a Soul of the World which together with the Matter made up all into One entire Divine Animal Now the Orphick Theologers cannot be charged with making God all in that First and Grosly-Fanatick Sence as if they took away all Real Distinction betwixt God and the Creature they so asserting God to be all as that notwithstanding they allowed other things to have Distinct Beings of their own Thus much appearing from that Riddle which in the Orphick Verses was proposed by the Maker of the World to Night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How can All things be One and yet Every thing have a distinct Being of its own Where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things One. or One all things seems to be the Supreme Deity or Divine Intellect as Proclus also interprets it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jupiter who conteineth the Vniverse and All things within himself Vnitively and Intellectually according to these Orphick Oracles gives a Particular Subsistence of their own also to all the Mundane Gods and other parts of the Vniverse And this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that fore-cited Orphick Verse Every thing apart by it self the whole Produced or Created Universe with all its Variety of things in it which yet are Orphically said to be God also in a certain other sence that shall be declared afterward Nor can the Orphick Theologers be charged with making God All in the Second Stoical Sence as if they denied all Incorporeal Substance they plainly asserting as Damascius and others particularly note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Incorporeal Deity But as for the Third way it is very true that the Orphick Theologers did frequently call the World The Body of God and its Several Parts His Members making the Whole Universe to be One Divine Animal Notwithstanding which they supposed not this Animated World to be the First and Highest God but either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Hermaick or Trismegistick Writers call it The Second God or else as Numenius and others of the Platonists speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Third God the Soul thereof being as well in the Orphick as it was in the Pythagorick and Platonick Trinity but the Third Hypostasis they supposing Two other Divine Hypostases Superiour thereunto which were perfectly Secrete from Matter Wherefore as to the Supreme Deity these Orphick Theologers made Him to be All things chiefly upon the Two following Accompts First because All things coming from God they inferred that therefore they were all conteined in Him and consequently were in a certain sence Himself thus much being declared in those Orphick Verses cited by Proclus and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Apuleius thus renders Namque Sinu Occultans dulces in luminis oras Cuncta tulit sacro versans sub pectore curas The Sence whereof is plainly this That God at first Hiding or Occultly conteining all things within himself did from thence display them and bring them forth into light or distinct Beings of their own and so make the World The Second is Because the World produced by God and really existing without him is not therefore quite cut off from him nor subsists alone by it self as a Dead Thing but is still Livingly united to him essentially Dependent on him always Supported and Upheld Quickned and Enlivened Acted and Pervaded by him according to that Orphick Passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God passes through and intimately pervades All things Now it is very true that some Christian Theologers also have made God to be All according to these Latter sences as when they affirm the whole World to be nothing else but Deum Explicatum God Expanded or Vnfolded and when they call the Creatures as St. Jerom and others often do Radios Deitatis the Rays of the Deity Nay the Scripture it self may seem to give some countenance also hereunto when it tells us That Of Him and Through Him and To Him are All things which in the Orphick Theology was thus expressed God is the Beginning and Middle and End of All things That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things were made in him as in the Orphick Verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things consist in him That In Him we Live and Move and have our Being That God doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quicken all things and that he ought to be made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All in All which supposeth him in some sence to be so Notwithstanding which this is a very Ticklish Point and easily lyable to Mistake and Abuse and as we conceive it was the mistake and abuse of this One Thing which was the Chief Ground and Original of the both Seeming and Real Polytheism not only of the Greekish and European but also of the Egyptian and other Pagans as will be more particularly declared afterwards They concluding that because God was All things and consequently All things God that therefore God ought to be Worshipped in All things that is in all the several Parts of the World and Things of Nature but especially in those Animated Intellectual Beings which are Superiour to Men.
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
maintain it in that forementioned Book De Iside so was it further cleared and made out as Damascius informs us by Two Famous Egyptian Philosophers Asclepiades and Heraiscus in certain writings of theirs that have been since lost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though Eudemus hath given us no certain account of the Egyptians yet the Egyptian Philosophers of latter times have declared the hidden truth of their Theology having found in some Egyptian Monuments that according to them there is one Principle of all things celebrated under the name of the Vnknown Darkness and this thrice repeated c. Moreover this is to be observed concerning these Egyptians that they are wont to divide and multiply things that are One and the Same And accordingly have they divided and multiplied the First intelligible or the One Supreme Deity into the Properties of Many Gods as any one may find that pleases to consult their writings I mean that of Heraiscus entitled the Vniversal Doctrine of the Egyptians and inscribed to Proclus the Philosopher and that Symphony or Harmony of the Egyptians with other Theologers begun to be written by Asclepiades and left imperfect Of which Work of Asclepiades the Egyptian Suidas also maketh mention upon the Word Heraiscus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Asclepiades having been more conversant with ancient Egyptian writings was more throughly instructed and exactly skilled in his Country Theology he having searched into the Principles thereof and all the consequences resulting from them as manifestly appeareth from those Hymns which he composed in praise of the Egyptian Gods and from that Tractate begun to be written by him but left unfinished which containeth The Symphony of all Theologies Now we say that Asclepiades his Symphony of all the Pagan Theologies and therefore of the Egyptian with the rest was their agreement in those Two Fundamentals expressed by Plutarch namely the worshipping of One Supreme and Vniversal Numen Reason and Providence governing all things and then of his Subservient Ministers the Instruments of Providence appointed by him over all the parts of the world Which being honoured under several Names and with different Rites and Ceremonies according to the Laws of the respective Countreys caused all that Diversity of Religions that was amongst them Both which Fundamental Points of the Pagan Theology were in like manner acknowledged by Symmachu's The First of them being thus expressed Aequum est quicquid omnes colunt Vnum putari That all Religions agreed in this the Worshipping of One and the same Supreme Numen and the Second thus Varios Custodes Vrbibus Mens Divina distribuit That the Divine Mind appointed divers Guardian and Tutelar Spirits under him unto Cities and Countries He there adding also that Suus cuique Mos est suum cuique Jus That every Nation had their peculiar Modes and Manners in worshipping of these and that these external differences in Religion ought not to be stood upon but every one to observe the Religion of his own Country Or else these Two Fundamental Points of the Pagan Theology may be thus expressed First that there is One Self-Originated Deity who was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Maker of the whole World Secondly That there are besides him Other Gods also to be Religiously worshipped that is Intellectual Beings superiour to men which were notwithstanding all Made or Created by that One Stobaeus thus declaring their sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the multitude of Gods is the work of the Demiurgus made by him together with the world XXIX And that the Pagan Theologers did thus generally acknowledge One Supreme and Vniversal Numen appears plainly from hence because they supposed the whole World to be an Animal Thus the Writer de Placitis Philos. and out of him Stobaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All others assert the World to be an Animal and governed by Providence only Leucippus Democritus and Epicurus and those who make Atoms and Vacuum the Principles of all things dissenting who neither acknowledge the World to be Animated nor yet to be governed by Providence but by an Irrational Nature Where by the way we may observe the Fraud and Juggling of Gassendus who takes occasion from hence highly to extol and applaud Epicurus as one who approached nearer to Christianity than all the other Philosophers in that he denied the World to be an Animal whereas according to the Language and Notions of those times to deny the Worlds Animation and to be an Atheist or to deny a God was one and the same thing because all the Pagans who then asserted Providence held the World also to be Animated neither did Epicurus deny the World's Animation upon any other account than this because he denied Providence And the Ground upon which this opinion of the Worlds Animation was built was such as might be obvious even to vulgar undererstandings and it is thus expressed by Plotinus according to the sence of the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is absurd to affirm that the Heaven or World is Inanimate or devoid of Life and Soul when we our selves who have but a part of the Mundane Body in us are endued with Soul For how could a Part have Life and Soul in it the Whole being Dead and inanimate Now if the whole world be One Animal then must it needs be Governed by One Soul and not by Many Which One Soul of the World and the whole Mundane Animal was by some of the Pagan Theologers as namely the Stoicks taken to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The First and Highest God of all Nevertheless others of the Pagan Theologers though asserting the World's Animation likewise yet would by no means allow the Mundane Soul to be the Supreme Deity they conceiving the First and Highest God to be an Abstract and Immovable Mind and not a Soul Thus the Panegyrist cited also by Gyraldus invokes the Supreme Deity doubtfully and cautiously as not knowing well what to call him whether Soul or Mind Te Summe rerum Sator cujus tot nomina sunt quot gentium linguas esse voluisti quem enim te ipse dici velis scire non possumus sive in te quaedam vis Mensque Divina est quae toto infusa mundo omnibus miscearis elementis sine ullo extrinsecus accedente vigoris impulsu per te ipse movearis sive aliqua supra omne Coelum potestas es quae hoc opus totum ex altiore Naturae arce despicias Te inquam oramus c. Thou Supreme Original of all things who hast as many Names as thou hast pleased there should be languages whether thou beest a certain Divine Force and Soul that infused into the whole world art mingled with all the Elements and without any External impulse moved from thy self or whether thou beest a Power Elevated above the Heavens which lookest down upon the whole work of Nature as from a higher Tower Thee
worshipping Many Vnmade Self-originated Deities as Partial Creators of the World or else in worshipping besides the Supreme God other Created Beings Superiour to Men Now Philo plainly understood the Pagan Polytheism after this latter way as may appear from this passage of his in his Book concerning the Confusion of Languages where speaking of the Supreme God the Maker and Lord of the whole World and of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Innumerable Assistent Powers both visible and invisible he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore some men being struck with admiration of both these Worlds the Visible and the Invisible have not only Deified the whole of them but also their several Parts as the Sun and the Moon and the whole Heaven they not scrupling to call these Gods Which Notion and Language of theirs Moses respected in those words of his Thou Lord the King of Gods he thereby declaring the transcendency of the Supreme God above all those his subjects called Gods To the same purpose Philo writeth also in his Commentary upon the Decalogue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore removing all such imposture Let us worship no Beings that are by Nature Brothers and Germane to us though endued with far more pure and immortal Essences than we are For all Created things as such have a kind of Germane and Brotherly Equality with one another the maker of all things being their common Father But let us deeply infix this first and most holy commandment in our breasts to acknowledge and worship One only Highest God And again afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who worship the Sun and the Moon and the whole Heaven and World and the Principal parts of them as Gods err in that they worship the Subjects of the Prince whereas the Prince alone ought to be worshipped Thus according to Philo the Pagan Polytheism consisted in giving Religious Worship besides the Supreme God to other Created understanding Beings and Parts of the World more pure and immortal than men Flavius Josephus in his Judaick Antiquities extolling Abraham's Wisdom and Piety writeth thus concerning him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some would understand in this manner that Abraham was the first who publickly declared that there was one God the Demiurgus or maker of the whole world as if all mankind besides at that time had supposed the world to have been made not by One but by Many Gods But the true meaning of those words is this That Abraham was the first who in that degenerate age publickly declared that the Maker of the whole world was the One only God and alone to be Religiously Worshipped accordingly as it follows afterwards in the same writer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom alone men ought to give honour and thanks And the reason hereof is there also set down 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because all those other beings that were then worshipped as Gods whatsoever any of them contributed to the happiness of mankind they did it not by their own power but by his appointment and command he instancing in the Sun and Moon and Earth and Sea which are all made and ordered by a higher power and providence by the force whereof they contribute to our utility As if he should have said That no Created Being ought to be Religiously worshipped but the Creator only And this agreeth with what we read in Scripture concerning Abraham that he called upon the Name of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The God of the whole World that is he worshipped no particular Created Beings as the other Pagans at that time did but only that Supreme Vniversal Numen which made and conteineth the whole World And thus Maimonides interprets that place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abraham began to teach that none ought to be Religiously Worshipped save only the God of the whole World Moreover the same Josephus afterwards in his Twelfth Book brings in Aristaeus who seems to have been a secret Proselyted Greek pleading with Ptolemaeus Philadelphus in behalf of the Jews and their Liberty after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It would well agree with your Goodness and Magnanimity to free the Jews from that miserable Captivity which they are under since the same God who governeth your Kingdom gave Laws to them as I have by diligent search found out For both They and we do alike worship the God who made all things we calling him Zene because he gives life to all Wherefore for the honour of that God whom they worship after a singular manner please you to indulge them the liberty of returning to their native country Where Aristaeus also according to the sence of Pagans thus concludes Know O King that I intercede not for these Jews as having any cognation with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but all men being the Workmanship of God and knowing that he is delighted with beneficence I therefore thus exhort you As for the latter Jewish Writers and Rabbins it is certain that the generality of them supposed the Pagans to have acknowledged One Supreme and Vniversal Numen and to have worshipped all their other Gods only as his Ministers or as Mediators between him and them Maimonides in Halacoth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 describeth the Rise of the Pagan Polytheism in the dayes of Enosh after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the days of Enosh the Sons of men grievously erred and the wisemen of that age became brutish even Enosh himself being in the number of them and their errour was this that since God had created the Stars and Spheres to govern the world and placing them on high had bestowed this honour upon them that they should be his Ministers and subservient Instruments men ought therefore to praise them honour them and worship them this being the pleasure of the Blessed God that men should magnifie and honour those whom himself hath magnified and honoured as a King will have his Ministers to be reverenced this honour redounding to himself Again the same Maimonides in the beginning of the Second Chapter of that Book writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Foundation of that Commandment against strange Worship now commonly called Idolatry is this that no man should worship any of the Creatures whatsoever neither Angel nor Sphere nor Star nor any of the four Elements nor any thing made out of them For though he that worships these things know that the Lord is God and Superiour to them all and worships those Creatures no otherwise than Enosh and the rest of that age did yet is he nevertheless guilty of Strange Worship or Idolatry And that after the times of Enosh also in succeeding ages the Polytheism of the Pagan Nations was no other than this the worshipping besides One Supreme God of other created Beings as the Ministers of his Providence and as Middles or Mediators betwixt Him and Men is declared likewise by Maimonides in his More
Summa Numinum Prima Coelitum Deorum Dearumque facies Vniformis cujus numen Vnicum multiformi specie ritu vaâ—io nomine multijugo totus veneratur Orbis as she plainly makes her self to be the Supreme Deity so doth she intimate that all the Gods Goddessâ—s were compendiously conteined in Her Alone and that she i.e. the Supreme God was worshipped under several personal Names with different rites over the whole Pagan World Moreover this is particularly noted concerning the Egyptians by Damascius the Philosopher that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They multiplied the First Intelligible or the Supreme Deity breaking and dividing the same into the Names and Properties of Many Gods Now the Egyptian Theology was in a manner the Pattern of all the rest but especially of those European Theologies of the Greeks and Romans Who likewise that they often Made Many Gods of One is evident from their bestowing so many Proper and Personal Names upon each of those Inferiour Gods of theirs The Sun and The Moon and The Earth The First whereof Usually called Apollo had therefore this Epithet of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly given to him the God with many Names Which many Proper Names of his Macrobius insisteth upon in his Saturnalia though probably making more of them than indeed they were And the Moon was not only so called but also Diana and Lucina and Hecate and otherwise insomuch that this Goddess also hath been stiled Polyonymous as well as her brother the Sun And Lastly the Earth besides those Honorary Titles of Bona Dea and Magna Dea and Mater Deorum The Good Goddess and the Great Goddess and the Mother of the Gods was multiplied by them into those Many Goddesses of Vesta and Rhea and Cybele and Ceres and Proserpina and Ops c. And for this cause was she thus described by Aeschylus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et Tellus Multorum Nominum Facies Vna Now if these Inferiour Gods of the Pagans had each of them so many Personal Names bestowed upon them much more might the Supreme God be Polyonymous amongst them and so indeed he was commonly stiled as that learned Grammarian Hesychius intimates upon that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they called the Monad thus and it was also the Epithet of Apollo where by the Monad according to the Pythagorick Language is meant the Supreme Deity which was thus stiled by the Pagans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Being that hath many Names And accordingly Cleanthes thus beginneth that forecited Hymn of his to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou most Glorious of all the Immortal Gods who art called by Many Names And Zeno his Master in Laertius expresly declareth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is called by many several Names according to his several Powers and Vertues whose Instances shall be afterwards taken notice of Thus also the Writer De Mundo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God though he be but one is Polyonymous and variously denominated from his several attributes and the effects produced by him Quaecunque voles saith Seneca illi Propria Nomina aptabis vim aliquam Effectumque Coelestium rerum continentia Tot Appellationes ejus possunt esse quot Munera You may give God whatsoever Proper Names you please so they signifie some force and effect of Heavenly things He may have as many Names as he hath Manifestations Offices and Gifts Macrobius also from the Authority of Virgil thus determines Vnius Dei Effectus Varios pro Variis censendos esse or as Vossius corrects it Censeri Numinibus That the Various Effects of One God were taken for Several Gods that is Expressed by Several Personal Names as he there affirmeth the Divers Vertues of the Sun to have given Names to Divers Gods because they gave occasion for the Sun to be called by Several Proper and Personal Names We shall conclude with that of Maximus Madaurensis before cited out of St. Austin Hujus Virtutes per Mundanum Opus diffusas Nos multis vocabulis invocamus quoniam Nomen ejus Proprium ignoramus Ita fit ut dum ejus quasi quaedam Membra carptim variis supplicationibus prosequimur Totum colere profectò videamur The Vertues of this One Supreme God diffused throughout the whole World we Pagans invoke under Many Several Names because we are ignorant what his Proper Name is Wherefore we thus worshipping his Several Divided Members must needs be judged to worship him Whole we leaving out nothing of him With which Latter words seemeth to agree that of the Poet wherein Jupiter thus bespeaks the other Gods Coelicolae Mea Membra Dei quos Nostra Potestas Officiis divisa facit Where it is plainly intimated that the Many Pagan Gods were but the Several Divided Members of the One Supreme Deity whether because according to the Stoical Sence the Real and Natural Gods were all but Parts of the Mundane Soul or else because all those other Phantastick Gods were nothing but Several Personal Names given to the Several Powers Vertues and Offices of the One Supreme Now the Several Names of God which the Writer De Mundo instanceth in to prove him Polyonymous are First of all such as these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Thunderer and Lightâ—er 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Giver of Rain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bestower of Fruits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Keeper of Cities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Mild and Placable under which Notion they sacrificed no Animals to him but only the Fruits of the Earth together with many other such Epithets as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and Lastly he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saviour and Assertour Answerably to which Jupiter had Many such Names given him also by the Latins as â—â—ctor Invictus Opitulus Stator the True meaning of which last according to Seneca was not that which the Historians pretend quod post Votum susceptum acies Romanorum fugientium stetit because once after Vows and Prayers offered to him the Flying Army of the Romans was made to stand Sed quod stant beneficio ejus Omnia but because all things by means of him Stand Firm and are Established For which same reason he was called also by them as St. Austin informs us Centupeda as it were standing Firm upon an Hundred Feet and Tigillus the Beam Prop and Supporter of the World He was stiled also by the Latins amongst other Titles Almus and Ruminus i. e. He that Nourisheth all things as it were with his Breasts Again that Writer De Mundo addeth another sort of Names which God was called by as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Necessity because he is an Immovable Essence though Cicero gives another reason for that appellation Interdum Deum Necessitatem appellant quia nihil aliter esse possit atque ab eo constitutum sit they sometimes call God Necessity because nothing can be
called God Now the forementioned Argumentation of St. Austin though it be good against the Pagans Civil Theology yet their other Arcane and Natural Theology was unconcerned in it that plainly acknowledging all to be but One God which for certain Reasons was worshipped under Several Names and with Different Rites Wherefore Janus and Jupiter being really but Different Names for One and the same Supreme God that conjecture of Salmasius seems very probable that the Romans derived their Janus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Aetolian Jupiter GENIVS was also another of the Twenty Select Roman Gods that this was likewise a Vniversal Numen containing the whole Nature of things appears from this of Festus Genium appellabant Deum qui vim obtineret rerum omnium genendarum They called that God who hath the Power of begetting or producing all things Genius And St. Austin also plainly declareth Genius to be the same with Jupiter that is to be but another Name for the One Supreme God Cum alio loco Varro dicit Genium esse Vniuscujusque animum rationalem talem autem Mundi Animum Deum esse ad hoc idem utique revocat ut tanquam Vniversalis Genius ipse Mundi Animus esse credatur Hic est igitur quem appellant Jovem And afterwards Restat ut eum Singulariter Excellenter dicant Deum Genium quem dicunt Mundi Animum ac per hoc Jovem When Varro elsewhere calleth the Rational Mind of every one a Genius and affirmeth such a Mind of the whole World to be God he plainly implieth that God is the Vniversal Genius of the world and that Genius and Jupiter are the same And though Genius be sometime used for the Mind of every man yet the God Genius spoken of by way of Excellency can be no other than the Mind of the whole world or Jupiter Again that CHRONOS or SATURN was no Particular Deity but the Vniversal Numen of the whole World is plainly affirmed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus where commending the Fertility of Italy he writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore it is no wonder if the Ancients thought this Country to be sacred to Saturn they supposing this God to be the Giver and Perfecter of all happiness to men whether we ought to call him Chronos as the Greeks will have it or Cronos as the Romans he being either way such a God as comprehends the Whole Nature of the world But the word Saturn was Hetrurian which Language was Originally Oriental and being derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Hidden so that by Saturn was meant that Hidden Principle of the Vniverse which containeth all things and he was therefore called by the Romans Deus Latius The Hidden God as the wife of Saturn in the Pontifical Books is Latia Saturni and the Land it self which in the Hetrurian Language was Saturnia is in the Roman Latium from whence the Inhabitants were called Latins which is as much as to say the Worshippers of the Hidden God Moreover that Saturn could not be inferiour to Jupiter according to the Fabulous Theology is plain from hence because he is therein said to have been his Father But then the Question will be how Saturn and Jupiter could be both of them One and the same Vniversal Numen To which there are several Answers For first Plato who propounds this Difficulty in his Craetylus solves it thus That by Jupiter here is to be understood the Soul of the World which according to his Theology was derived from a Perfect and Eternal Mind or Intellect which Chronos is interpreted to be as Chronos also depended upon Vranus or Coelus the Supreme Heavenly God or First Original Deity So that Plato here finds his Trinity of Divine Hypostases Archical and Vniversal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Vranus Chronos and Zeus or Coelus Saturn and Jupiter Others conceive that according to the plainer and more simple sence of Hesiod's Theogonia that Jupiter who together with Neptune and Pluto is said to have been the Son of Saturn was not the Supreme Deity nor the Soul of the World neither but only the Aether as Neptune was the Sea and Pluto the Earth All which are said to have been begotten by Chronos or Saturn the Son of Vranus that is as much as to say by the Hidden Vertue of the Supreme Heavenly God But the Writer De Mundo though making Jupiter to be the First and Supreme God yet taking Chronos to signifie Immensity of Duration or Eternity will have Jupiter to be the Son of Chronos in this sence because he doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continue from one Eternity to another so that Chronos and Zeus are to him in a manner one and the same thing But we are apt to think that no Ingenuous and learned Pagan who well understood the Natural Theology would deny but that the best Answer of all to this difficulty is this That there is no Coherent Sence to be made of all things in the Fabulous Theology St. Austin from Varro gives us this account of Saturn that it is he who produceth from himself continually the Hidden Seeds and Forms of things and reduceth or receiveth them again into himself which some think to have been the true meaning of that Fable concerning Saturn his devouring his Male-children because the Forms of these Corporeal things are perpetually destroyed whilst the Material Parts signified by the Femals still remain However it is plain that this was but another Pagan Adumbration of the Deity that being also sometimes thus defined by them as St. Austin likewise enforms us Sinus quidam Naturae in seipso continens omnia A certain Bosom or Deep Hollow and Inward Recess of Nature which conteineth within it self all things And St. Austin himself concludes that according to this Varronian Notion of Saturn likewise the Pagans Jupiter and Saturn were really but one and the same Numen De Civ D. L. 7. c. 13. Wherefore we may with good reason affirm that Saturn was another Name for the Supreme God amongst the Pagans it signifying that Secret and Hidden Power which comprehends pervades and supports the whole World and which produces the Seeds or Seminal Principles and Forms of all things from it self As also Vranus or Coelus was plainly yet another Name for the same Supreme Deity or the First Divine Hypostasis comprehending the whole In the next place though it be true that Minerva be sometimes taken for a Particular God or for God according to a Particular Manifestation of him in the Aether as shall be shewed afterwards yet was it often taken also for the Supreme God according to his most General Notion or as a Vniversal Numen diffusing himself through all things Thus hath it been already proved that Neith or Neithas was the same amongst the Egyptians that Athena amongst the Greeks and Minerva amongst the Latins which that it was a Vniversal Numen appears from that
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
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
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
accordingly Manilius Quâ pateat Mundum Divino Numine verti Atque Ipsum esse Deum Whereby it may appear the World to be Governed by a Divine Mind and also it self to be God As likewise Seneca the Philosopher Totum hoc quo continemur Vnum est Deus est This whole World within which we are contained is both One thing and God Which is not to be understood of the Meer Matter of the World as it is nothing but a Heap of Atoms or as endued with a Plastick and Sensless Nature only but of it as Animated by such a Soul as besides Sense was originally endued with perfect Understanding and as deriving all its Godship from thence For thus Varro in St. Austin declares both his own and the Stoical Sence concerning this Point Dicit idem Varro adhuc de Naturali Theologia praeloquens Deum se arbitrari esse Animam Mundi quem Graeci vocant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hunc ipsum Mundum esse Deum Sed sicut Hominem Sapientem cum sit ex Corpore Animo tamen ab Animo dici Sapientem ita Mundum Deum dici ab Animo cum sit ex Animo Corpore The same Varro discoursing concerning Natural Theology declareth that according to his own sence God is the Soul of the World which the Greeks call Cosmos and that this World it self is also God But that this is so to be understood that as a Wise man though consisting of Soul and Body yet is denominated Wise only from his Mind or Soul so the World is denominated God from its Mind or Soul only it consisting both of Mind and Body Now if the Whole Animated World be the Supreme God it plainly follows from thence that the Several Parts and Members thereof must be the Parts and Members of God and this was readily acknowledged by Seneca Membra sumus Corporis magni We are all Members of One great Body and Totum hoc Deus est Socii ejus Membra sumus This whole World is God and we are not only his Members but also his Fellows or Companions as if our Humane Souls had a certain kind of Fellowship also with that Great Soul of the Vniverse And accordingly the Soul of the World and the whole Mundane Animal was frequently worshipped by the Pagans in these its several Members the chief Parts of the World and the most important Things of Nature as it were by Piece-meal Nevertheless it doth not at all follow from thence that these were therefore to them Really so many Several Gods for then not only every Man and every Contemptible Animal every Plant and Herb and Pile of Grass every River and Hill and all things else whatsoever must be so many several Gods And that the Pagans themselves did not take them for such Origen observes against that Assertion of Celsus That if the Whole were God then the Several Parts thereof must needs be Gods or Divine too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From hence it would follow that not only Men must be Divine and Gods but also all Brute Animals too they being Parts of the World and Plants to boot Nay Rivers and Mountains and Seas being Parts of the World likewise if the Whole World be God must according to Celsus needs be Gods also Whereas the Greeks themselves will not affirm this but they would only call those Spirits or Demons which preside over these Rivers and Seas Gods Wherefore this Vniversal Assertion of Celsus is false even according to the Greeks themselves That if the whole be God then all the Parts thereof must needs be Divine or Gods It following from thence that Flyes and Gnats and Worms and all kind of Serpents and Birds and Fishes are all Divine Animals or Gods Which they themselves who assert the World to be God will not affirm Wherefore though it be true that the Pagans did many times Personate and Deifie the Chief Parts of the World and Things of Nature as well as they did the Several Powers and Vertues of the Mundane Soul diffused through the whole World yet did not the intelligent amongst them therefore look upon these as so many True and Proper Gods but only worship them as Parts and Members of One Great Mundane Animal or rather Worship the Soul of the whole World their Supreme Deity in them all as its various Manifestations This St. Austin intimates when writing against Faustus the Manichean he prefers even the Pagan Gods before the Manichean Jam verò Coelum Terra Mare Aer Sol Luna caetera sydera omnia haec manifesta oculis apparent atque ipsis sensibus praesto sunt Quae cum Pagani tanquam Deos colunt vel tanquam PARTES VNIVS MAGNI DEI nam universum Mundum quidam eorum putant MAXIMVM DEVM ea colunt quae sunt Vos autem cum ea colatis quae omninò non sunt propinquiores essetis Verae Pietati si saltem Pagani essetis qui Corpora colunt etsi non colenda tamen vera Now the Heaven Earth Sea and Air Sun Moon and Stars are Things all manifest and really present to our senses which when the Pagans Worship as Gods or as PARTS OF ONE GREAT GOD for some of them think the Whole World to be the GREATEST GOD they Worship things that are so that you worshipping things that are not would be nearer to true Piety than you are were you Pagans and worshipped Bodies too which though they ought not to be worshipped yet are they True and Real Things But this is further insisted upon by the same St. Austin in his Book De C. D. where after that large Enumeration of the Pagan Gods before set down he thus convinces their Folly in worshipping the Several Divided Members Parts and Powers of the One Great God after that manner Personated Haec omnia quae dixi quaecunque non dixi non enim omnia dicenda arbitratus sum Hi omnes Dii Deaeque sit Vnus Jupiter sive sint ut quidam volunt omnia ista Partes ejus sive Virtutes ejus sicut eis videtur quibus eum placet esse Mundi Animum quae sententia velut magnorum multorumque Doctorum est Haec inquam si ita sint quod quale sit nondum interim quaero Quid perderent si Vnum Deum colerent prudentiori Compendio Quid enim ejus contemneretur cum ipse coleretur Si autem metuendum sit nè Praetermissae sive Neglectae Partes ejus irascerentur non ergo ut volunt velut Vnius Animantis haec tota vita est quae Omnes simul continet Deos quasi Suas VIRTVTES vel MEMBRA vel PARTES sed suam quaeque Pars habet vitam à caeteris separatam si praeter alteram irasci altera potest alia placari alia concitari Si autem dicitur Omnia simul id est Totum ipsum Jovem potuisse offendi si PARTES ejus non etiam
singillatim minutatimque colerentur stultè dicitur Nulla quippe earum praetermitteretur cum ipse Vnus qui haberet Omnia coleretur All these things which we have now said and many more which we have not said for we did not think fit to mention all All these Gods and Goddesses let them be One and the same Jupiter whether they will have them to be his PARTS or his POWERS and VERTVES according to the sence of those who think God to be the Soul or Mind of the Whole World which is the opinion of many and great Doctors This I say if it be so which what it is we will not now examine What would these Pagans lose if in a more prudent compendium they should worship One only God For what of him could be despised when his whole self was worshipped But if they fear left his PARTS pretermitted or neglected should be angry or take offence then is it not as they pretend the Life of One Great Animal which at once conteins all the Gods as his VERTVES or MEMBERS or PARTS but every Part hath its own Life by it self separate from the rest since One of them may be angry when another is pleased and the contrary But if it should be said that all together that is the whole Jupiter might be offended if his Parts were not worshipped all of them Severally and Singly this would be foolishly said because none of the Parts can be pretermitted when He that hath All is Worshipped Thus do the Pagans in Athanasius also declare that they did not worship the several Parts of the World as Really so many True and Proper Gods but only as the Parts or Members of their One Supreme God that Great Mundane Animal or Whole Animated World taken all together as one thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the Pagans themselves will acknowledge that the Divided Parts of the World taken severally are but indigent and imperfect things nevertheless do they contend that as they are by them joyned all together into One Great Body enlivened by one Soul so is the whole of them truly and properly God And now we think it is sufficiently evident that though these Pagans Verbally Personated and Deified not only the several Powers and Vertues of the One Supreme God or Mundane Soul diffused thoroughout the whole World but also the several Parts of the World it self and the Natures of Things yet their meaning herein was not to make these in themselves really so many several True and Proper Gods much less Independent Ones but to worship One Supreme God which to them was the whole Animated World in those his several Parts and Members as it were by Piece-meal or under so many Inadequate Conceptions The Pagans therefore were plainly Divided in their Natural Theology as to their opinions concerning the Supreme God some of them conceiving him to be nothing Higher than a Mundane Soul Whereas others of them to use Origen's Language did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Transcend all the sensible Nature and thinking God not at all to be seated there look'd for him above all Corporeal things Now the Former of these Pagans worshipped the whole Corporeal World as the Body of God but the Latter of them though they had Higher thoughts of God than as a Mundane Soul yet supposing Him to have been the Cause of all things and so at first to have Conteined all things within himself as likewise that the World after it was made was not Cut off from him nor subsisted alone by it self as a Dead Thing but was Closely united to him and Livingly dependent on him these I say though they did not take the World to be God or the Body of God yet did they also look upon it as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that which was Divine and Sacred and supposed that God was to be worshipped in All or that the whole World was to be worshipped as his Image or Temple Thus Plutarch though much disliking the Deifying of Inanimate Things doth himself nevertheless approve of worshipping God in the whole Corporeal World he affirming it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a most Holy and most God-becoming Temple And the ancient Persians or Magi who by no means would allow of worshipping God in any Artificial Temples made with mens hands did notwithstanding thus worship God Sub Dio and upon the Tops of Mountains in the whole Corporeal World as his Natural Temple as Cicero testifieth Nec sequor Magos Persarum quibus auctoribus Xerxes inflammasse Templa Graeciae dicitur quod Parietibus includerent Deos quibus omnia deberent esse patentia ac libera quorumque hic Mundus Omnis Templum esset Domicilium Neither do I adhere to the Persian Magi by whose suggestion and perswasion Xerxes is said to have burnt all the Temples of the Greeks because they enclosed and shut up their Gods within walls to whom all things ought to be open and free and whose Temple and Habitation this whole World is And therefore when Diogenes Laertius writeth thus of these Magi that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make Fire and Earth and Water to be Gods but condemn all Statues and Images we conceive the meaning hereof to be no other than this that as they worshipped God in no Temple save only that of the whole World so neither did they allow any other Statues of Images of him than the Things of Nature and Parts of the World such as Fire and Earth and Water called therefore by them in this sence and no other Gods For thus are they clearly represented by Clemens Alexandrinus and that according to the express Testimony of Dino 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dinon affirmeth that the Persian Magi sacrificed under the open Heavens they accounting Fire and Water to be the only Statues and Images of the Gods For I would not here conceal their ignorance neither who thinking to avoid One Errour fall into another whilest they allow not Wood and Stones to be the Images of the Gods as the Greeks do nor Ichneumones and Ibides as the Egyptians but only Fire and Water as Philosophers Which difference betwixt the Pagan Theologers that some of them look'd upon the whole World as God or as the Body of God others only as the Image or the Temple of God is thus taken notice of by Macrobius upon Scipio's Dream where the World was called a Temple Benè autem Vniversus Mundus Dei Templum vocatur propter illos qui aestimant nihil esse aliud Deum nisi Coelum ipsum Caelestia ista quae cernimus Ideò ut Summi Omnipotentiam Dei ostenderet posse vix intelligi nunquam posse videri quicquid humano subjicitur aspectui Templum ejus vocavit ut qui haec veneratur ut Templa cultum tamen maximum debeat Conditori sciatque quisquis in usum Templi hujus inducitur ritu sibi vivendum Sacerdotis The whole World is well calledhere the Temple of God
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
betwixt their Second and Third Hypostasis so do they Debase the Deity therein too much confound God and the Creature together laying a Foundation not only for Cosmo-Latry or World-Idolatry in general but also for the grossest and most sottish of all Idolatries the worshipping of the Inanimate Parts of the World themselves in pretence as Parts and Members of this great Mundane Animal and Sensible God It is true indeed that Origen and some others of the ancient Christian Writers have supposed that God may be said in some sence to be the Soul of the World Thus in that Book Peri Archοn Sicut Corpus nostrum unum ex multis Membris aptatum est ab una Anima continetur ita Vniversum Mundum velut Animal quoddam Immane opinandum puto quod quasi ab una Animâ Virtute Dei ac Ratione teneatur Quod etiam à Sanctâ Scripturâ indicari arbitror per illud quod dictum est per Prophetam Nonne Coelum Terram ego repleo dicit Dominus Coelum mihi Sedes Terra autem Scabellum pedum meorum Et quod Salvator cum ait non esse jurandum neque per Coelum quia Sedes Dei est neque per Terram quia Scabellum pedum ejus Sed illud quod ait Paulus Quoniam in ipso Vivimus Movemur Sumus Quomodo enim in Deo Vivimus Movemur Sumus nisi quod in Virtute suâ Vniversum constringit continet Mundum As our own Body is made up of many Members and conteined by One Soul so do I conceive that the whole World is to be looked upon as One huge great Animal which is conteined as it were by One Soul the Vertue and Reason of God And so much seems to be intimated by the Scripture in sundry places as in that of the Prophet Do not I fill Heaven and Earth And again Heaven is my Throne and the Earth my Footstool And in that of our Saviour Swear not at all neither by Heaven because it is the Throne of God nor by the Earth because it is his Footstool And lastly in that of Paul to the Athenians For in him we Live and Move and have our Being For how can we be said to Live and Move and have our Being in God unless because he by his Vertue and Power does Constringe and Contein the whole World And how can Heaven be the Throne of God and the Earth his Footstool unless his Vertue and Power fill all things both in Heaven and Earth Nevertheless God is here said by Origen to be but Quasi-Anima As it were The Soul of the World As if he should have said That all the Perfection of a Soul is to be attributed to God in respect of the World he Quickening and Enlivening all things as much as if he were the Very Soul of it and all the Parts thereof were his Living Members And perhaps the whole Deity ought not to be look'd upon according to Aristotle's Notion thereof meerly as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Immovable Essence for then it is not conceivable how it could either Act upon the World or be Sensible of any thing therein or to what purpose any Devotional Addresses should be made by us to such an Vnaffectible Inflexible Rockie and Adamantine Being Wherefore all the Perfection of a Mundane Soul may perhaps be attributed to God in some sence and he called Quasi-Anima Mundi As it were the Soul thereof Though St. Cyprian would have this properly to belong to the Third Hypostasis or Person of the Christian Trinity viz. The Holy Ghost But there is something of Imperfection also plainly cleaving and adhering to this Notion of a Mundane Soul besides something of Paganity likewise necessarily consequent thereupon which cannot be admitted by us Wherefore God or the Third Divine Hypostasis cannot be called the Soul of the World in this sence as if it were so Immersed thereinto and so Passive from it as our Soul is Immersed into and Passive from its Body Nor as if the World and this Soul together made up one Entire Animal each Part whereof were incomplete alone by it self And that God or the Third Hypostasis of the Christian Trinity is not to be accounted in this Sence properly the Soul of the World according to Origen himself we may learn from these words of his Solius Dei id est Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Naturae id proprium est ut sine Materiali Substantia absque ulla Corporeae adjectionis societate intelligatur subsistere It is proper to the Nature of God alone that is of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost to subsist without any Material Substance or Body Vitally Vnited to it Where Origen affirming that all Created Souls and Spirits whatsoever have always some Body or other Vitally Vnited to them and that it is the Property only of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity not to be Vitally Vnited to any Body as the Soul thereof whether this Assertion of his be true or no which is a thing not here to be discussed he does plainly hereby declare that God or the Third Hypostasis of the Trinity is not to be accounted in a true and proper sence the Soul of the World And it is certain that the more Refined Platonists were themselves also of this Perswasion and that their Third God or Divine Hypostasis was neither the Whole World as supposed to be Animated nor yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Immediate Soul of this Mundane Animal but only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Supermundane Soul that is such a thing as though it Preside over the Whole World and take Cognizance of all things in it yet is not properly an Essential Part of that Mundane Animal but a Being Elevated above the same For thus Proclus plainly affirmeth not only of Amelius but also of Porphyrius himself who likewise pretended to follow Plotinus therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After Amelius Porphyrius thinking to agree with Plotinus calls the Supermundane Soul the Immediate Opificer or Maker of the World and that Mind or Intellect to which it is converted not the Opificer himself but the Paradigm thereof And though Proclus there make a question whether or no this was Plotinus his true meaning yet Porphyrius is most to be credited herein he having had such an intimate acquaintance with him Wherefore according to these Three Platonist Plotinus Amelius and Porphyrius the Third Hypostasis of the Platonick Trinity is neither the World nor the Immediate Soul of the Mundane Animal but a certain Supermundane Soul which also was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Opificer and Creator of the World and therefore no Creature Now the Corporeal World being supposed by these Platonists also to be an Animal they must therefore needs acknowledge a Double Soul one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Immediate Soul of this Mundane Animal and another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
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
School thither who because there is but one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Self-Originated Being would unskilfully conclude that the Word or Son of God must therefore needs be a Creature Thus in his Book concerning the Decrees of the Nicene Council 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Arians borrowing the word Agennetos from the Pagans who acknowledge only One such make that a pretence to rank the Word or Son of God who is the Creator of all amongst Creatures or things Made Whereas they ought to have learn'd the right signification of that word Agennetos from those very Platonists who gave it them Who though acknowledging their Second Hypostasis of Nous or Intellect to be derived from the first called Tagathon and their Third Hypostasis or Psyche from the Second nevertheless doubt not to affirm them both to be Ageneta or Vncreated knowing well that hereby they detract nothing from the Majesty of the First from whom these Two are derived Wherefore the Arians either ought so to speak as the Platonists do or else to say nothing at all concerning these things which they are ignorant of In which words of Athanasius there is a plain distinction made betwixt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Vnbegotten and Vncreated and the Second Person of the Trinity the Son or Word of God though acknowledged by him not to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnbegotten he being Begotten of the Father who is the only Agennetos yet is he here said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vncreated he declaring the Platonists thus to have affirmed the Second and Third Hypostases of their Trinity not to be Creatures but Vncreated Which Signal Testimony of Athanasius concerning the Platonick Trinity is a great Vindication of the same We might here further add St. Austin's Confession also that God the Father and God the Son were by the Platonists acknowledged in like manner as by the Christians though concerning the Holy Ghost he observes some difference betwixt Plotinus and Porphyrius in that the Former did Postponere Animae Naturam Paterno Intellectui the Latter Interponere Plotinus did Postpone his Psyche or Soul after the Paternal Intellect but Porphyrius Interponed it betwixt the Father and the Son as a Middle between both It was before observed that St. Cyril of Alexandria affirmeth nothing to be wanting to the Platonick Trinity but only that Homoousiotes of his and some other Fathers in that Age that they should not only all be God or Vncreated but also Three Coequal Individuals under the same Ultimate Species as Three Individual Men he conceiving that Gradual Subordination that is in the Platonick Trinity to be a certain tang of Arianism Nevertheless he thus concludeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Plato notwithstanding was not altogether ignorant of the Truth but that he had the knowledge of the Only begotten Son of God as likewise of the Holy Ghost called by him Psyche and that he would have every way expressed himself rightly had he not been afraid of Anitus and Melitus and that Poyson which Socrates drunk Now whether this were a Fault or no in the Platonists that they did not suppose their Hypostases to be Three Individuals under the same Ultimate Species we leave to others to judge We might here add the Testimony of Chalcidius because he is unquestionably concluded to have been a Christian though his Language indeed be too much Paganical when he calls the Three Divine Hypostases a Chief a Second and a Third God Istius rei dispositio talis mente concipienda est Originem quidem rerum esse Summum Ineffabilem Deum post Providentiam ejus Secundum Deum Latorem Legis utriusque Vitae tam Aeternae quam Temporariae Tertium esse porro Substantiam que Secunda Mens Intellectusque dicitur quasi quaedam Custos Legis Aeternae His Subjectas esse Rationabiles Animas Legi Obsequentes Ministras verò Potestates c. Ergo Summus Deus jubet Secundus ordinat Tertius intimat Animae verò Legem agâ—nt This thing is to be conceived after this manner That the First Original of Things is the Supreme and Ineffable God after his Providence a Second God the Establisher of the Law of Life both Eternal and Temporary And the Third which is also a Substance and called a Second Mind or Intellect is a certain Keeper of this Eternal Law Vnder these Three are Rational Souls Subject to that Law together with the Ministerial Powers c. So that the Sovereign or Supreme God Commands the Second Orders and the Third executes But Souls are Subject to the Law Where Chalcidius though seeming indeed rather more a Platonist than a Christian yet acknowledgeth no such Beings as Henades and Noes but only Three Divine Hypostases and under them Rational Souls But we shall conclude with the Testimony of Theodoret in his Book De Principio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plotinus and Numenius explaining Plato 's Sence declare him to have asserted Three Super-Temporals or Eternals Good Mind or Intellect and the Soul of the Vniverse he calling that Tagathon which to us is Father that Mind or Intellect which to us is Son or Word and that Psyche or a Power Animating and Enlivening all things which our Scriptures call the Holy Ghost And these things saith he were by Plato purloined from the Philosophy and Theology of the Hebrews Wherefore we cannot but take notice here of a Wonderful Providence of Almighty God that this Doctrine of a Trinity of Divine Hypostases should find such Admittance and Entertainment in the Pagan World and be received by the wisest of all their Philosophers before the times of Christianity thereby to prepare a more easie way for the Reception of Christianity amongst the Learned Pagans Which that it proved successful accordingly is undeniably evident from the Monuments of Antiquity And the Juniour Platonists who were most opposite and adverse to Christianity became at length so sensible hereof that besides their other Adulterations of the Trinity before mentioned for the countenancing of their Polytheism and Idolatry they did in all probability for this very reason quite innovate change and pervert the whole Cabala and no longer acknowledge a Trinity but either a Quaternity or a Quinary or more of Divine Hypostases They first of all contending that before the Trinity there was another Supreme and Highest Hypostasis not to be reckoned with the others but standing alone by himself And we conceive the first Innovator in this kind to have been Jamblichus who in his Egyptian Mysteries where he seems to make the Egyptian Theology to agree with his own Hypotheses writeth in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Before those things which truly are and the Principles of all there is One God Superiour to the First God and King Immovable and always remaining in the Solitude of his own Vnity there being nothing Intelligible nor any thing else mingled with him but he being the
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
Animals the True and Proper Cause of Motion or the Determination thereof at least is not the Matter it self Organized but the Soul either as Cogitative or Plastickly-Self Active Vitally united thereunto and Naturally Ruling over it But in the whole World it is either God himsel◠Originally impressing a certain Quantity of Motion upon the Matter of the Universe and constantly conserving the same according to that of the Sripture In him we Live Move which seems to have been the Sence also of that Noble Agrigentine Poet and Philosopher when he described God to be only A Pure or Holy Mind that with swift thoughts agitates the whole World or else it is Instrumentally an Inferiour Created Spirit Soul or Life of Nature that is a Subordinate Hylarchical Principle which hath a Power of Moving Matter Regularly according to the Direction of a Superiour Perfect Mind And thus do we see again that Ignorance of Causes is the Seed of Atheism and not of Theism no Atheists being able to assign a true Cause of Motion the Knowledge whereof plainly leadeth to a God Furthermore those Atheists who acknowledge no other Principle of things but Sensless Matter Fortuitously moved must needs be Ignorant also of the Cause of that Grand Phaenomenon called by Aristotle the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Well and Fit in Nature that is of the most Artificial Frame of the whole Mundane System in General and of the Bodies of Animals in Particular together with the Conspiring Harmony of all For they who boasted themselves able to give Natural Causes of all things whatsoever without a God can give no other Cause at all of this Phaenomenon but only that the World Happened by Chance to be thus made as it is Now they who make Fortune and Chance to be the only Cause of this so Admirable Phaenomenon the most Regular and Artificial Frame and Harmony of the Vniverse they either make the meer Absence and Want of a Cause to be a Cause Fortune and Chance being nothing else but the Absence or want of an Intending Cause Or else do they make their own Ignorance of a Cause and They know not How to be a Cause as the Author of the Leviathan interprets the meaning hereof Many times saith he men put for Cause of Natural Events their own Ignorance but disguised in other words as when they say that Fortune is the Cause of things Contingent that is of things whereof they know no Cause Or they affirm against all Reason one Contrary to be the Cause of another as Confusion to be the Cause of Order Pulchritude and Harmony Chance and Fortune to be the Cause of Art and Skill Folly and Nonsence the Cause of the most Wise and Regular Contrivance Or Lastly they deny it to have any Cause at all since they deny an Intending Cause and there cannot Possibly be any other Cause of Artificialness and Conspiring Harmony than Mind and Wisdom Councel and Contrivance But because the Atheists here make some Pretences for this their Ignorance we shall not conceal any of them but bring them all to light to the end that we may discover their Weakness and Foolery First therefore they Pretend that the World is not so Artificially and Well made but that it might have been made much Better and that there are many Faults and Flaws to be found therein from whence they would infer that it was not made by a God he being supposed by Theists to be no Bungler but a Perfect Mind or a Being Infinitely Good and Wise who therefore should have made all things for the Best But this being already set down by it self as a Twelfth Atheistick Objection against a Deity we must reserve the Confutation thereof for its proper place Only we shall observe thus much here by the way That those Theists of Later times who either because they Fancy a meer Arbitary Deity or because their Faith in the Divine Goodness is but weak or because they Judge of things according to their own Private Appetites and Selfish Passions and not with a Free Uncaptivated Vniversality of Mind and an Impartial Regard to the Good of the Whole or because they look only upon the Present Scene of things and take not in the Future into consideration nor have a Comprehensive View of the whole Plot of Divine Providence together or lastly because we Mortals do all stand upon too Low a Ground to take a commanding view and Prospect upon the whole Frame of things and our shallow Understandings are not able to fathom the Depths of the Divine Wisdom nor trace all the Methods and Designs of Providence grant That the World might have been made much Better than now it is which indeed is all one as to say that it is Not Well made these Neoterick Christians I say seem hereby to give a much greater advantage to the Atheists than the Pagan Theists themselves heretofore did who stood their Ground and generously maintained against them that Mind being the Maker of all things and not Fortune or Chance nor Arbitary Self-will and Irational Humour Omnipotent the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is Absolutely the Best in every case so far as the Necessity of things would admit and in compliance with the Good of the Whole was the Measure and Rule both of Nature and Providence Again the Atomick Atheists further alledge that though there be many things in the world which serve well for Vses yet it does not at all follow that therefore they were made Intentionally and Designedly for those Vses because though things Happen by Chance to be so or so Made yet may they serve for something or other afterward and have their several Vses Consequent Wherefore all the things of Nature Happened say they by Chance to be so made as they are and their several Uses notwithstanding were Consequent or Following thereupon Thus the Epicurean Poet Nil ideo natum est in Corpore ut Vti Possemus sed quod Natum est id procreat Vsum. Nothing in mans Body was made out of design for any Vse but all the several Parts thereof happening to be so made as they are their Vses were Consequent thereupon In like manner the Old Atheistick Philosophers in Aristotle concluded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Former Teeth were made by Material or Mechanical Necessity Thin and Sharp by means whereof they became fit for Cutting but the Jaw-Teeth Thick and Broad whereby they became Vseful for the Grinding of Food But neither of them were Intended to be such for the sake of these Vses but Happened by Chance only And the like concerning all the other Parts of the Body which seem to be made for Ends. Accordingly the same Aristotle represents the sence of those ancient Atheists concerning the other Parts of the Universe or Things of Nature that they were all likewise made such by the Necessity of Material or Mechanical Motions Vndirected and yet had nevertheless their several
observed by the way that this Proclus though he were a Superstitious Pagan much addicted to the Multiplying of Gods Subordinate to one Supreme or a Bigotick Polytheist who had a humour of Deifying almost every thing and therefore would have this Nature forsooth to be called a Gooddess too yet does he declare it not to be properly such but Abusively only viz. because it was no Intellectual Thing as he saith the Bodies of the Sun Moon and Stars supposed to be Animated were called Gods too they being the Statues of the Gods This is the meaning of those Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature is a God or Goddess not as having Godship properly belonging to it â—ut as the Divine Bodies are called Gods because they are Statues of the Gods Wherefore we cannot otherwise conclude concerning these our Mechanick Theists who will thus needs derive all Corporeal things from a Dead and Stupid Nature or from the Necessary Motions of Senslâ—ss Matter without the Direction of any Mind or Intention for Ends and Good but that they are indeed Cousin-Germans to Atheists or possessed in a Degree with a kind of Atheistick Enthusiasm or Fanaticism they being so far forth Inspired with a Spirit of Infidelity which is the Spirit of Atheism But these Mechanick Theists are again counterballanced by another sort of Atheists not Mechanical nor Fortuitous namely the Hylozoists who are unquestionably convinced that Opera Naturae sunt Opera Intelligentiae that the Works of Nature are Works of Vnderstanding and that the Original of these Corporeal things was not Dead and Stupid Matter Fortuitously moved upon which account Strato derided Democritus his Rough and Smooth Crooked and Hooky Atoms as meer Dreams and Dotages But these notwithstanding because they would not admit of any other Substance besides Matter suppose Life and Perception Essentially to belong to all Matter as such whereby it hath a Perfect Knowledge of whatsoever it self could Do or Suffer though without Animal-consciousness and can Form it self to the Best advantage sometimes improving it self by Organization to Sense in Brutes and to Reason and Reflexive Understanding in Men. Wherefore according to the Principles of these Hylozoists there is not any need of a God at all that is of one Perfect Mind or Vnderstanding Being presiding over the whole world they concluding accordingly the Opinion of a God to be only a Mistaking of the Inadequate Conception of Matter in General its Life and Energetick Nature taken alone Abstractly for a Complete Substance by it self Nevertheless these Hylozoick Atheists are no way able by this Hypothesis of theirs neither to salve that Phaenomenon of the Regularity and Harmony of the whole Universe because every Part of Matter being according to them a Distinct Percipient by it self whose knowledge extendeth only to its own Concernment and there being no one thing presiding over all the things of the whole World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which all things are Co-ordered together could never have fallen into One such Agreeing and Conspiring Harmony And as for those other Cosmo-Plastick Atheists who suppose the whole World to be as it were but One Huge Plant Tree or Vegetable or to have One Spermatick Plastick and Artificial Nature only Orderly and Methodically disposing the whole but without Sense and Vnderstanding these can no way do the business neither that is salve the forementioned Phaenomenon it being utterly Impossible that there should be any such Artificial and Regular Nature otherwise than as derived from and depending upon a Perfect Mind or Wisdom And thus do we see plainly that no Atheists whatsoever can Salve the Phaenomena of Naâ—ure and this Particularly of the Regular Frame and Harmony of the Vniverse and that true Philosophy or the Knowledge of Causes Necessarily leadeth to a God But besides these Phaenomena of Cogitation or Soul and Mind in Animals Local Motion in Bodies and the Artificial Frame of things for Ends and Vses together with the Conspiring Harmony of the Whole which can no way be Salved without a Deity We might here further add that the Fortuitous that is the Anaximandrian and Democritick Atheists who Universally asserted the Novity of this Mundane System were not able to give any tolerable account neither of the First Beginning of Men and those Greater Animals that are no otherwise begotten than in the way of Generation by the Commixture of Male and Female Aristotle in his Book of the Generation of Animals writeth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Men and Fourfooted Animals were ever Generated out of the Earth as some affirm it may be probably conceived to have been one of these Two ways either that they were Produced as Worms out of Putrefaction or else Formed in certain Eggs growing out of the Earth And then after a while he concludes again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That if there were any Beginning of the Generation of all Animals it is reasonable to think it to have been one of these Two forementioned wayes It is well known that Aristotle though a Theist elsewhere asserteth the World's Eternity according to which Hypothesis of his there was never any First Male nor Female in any kind of Animals but one begat another Infinitely without any Beginning a thing utterly repugnant to our Humane Faculties that are never able to frame any Conception of such an Infinity of Number and Time and of a Succesive Generation from Eternity But here Aristotle himself seems staggering or Sceptical about it If Men were ever Generated out of the Earth and If there were any Beginning of the Generation of Animals As he doth also in his Topicks propound it for an Instance of a thing Disputable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whether the World were Eternal or no he ranking it amongst those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Those Great things for which we can give no certain Reason one way nor other Now saith he If the World had a Beginning and If Men were once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earth-Born then must they have been in all probability either Generated as Worms out of Putrefaction or else out of Eggs he supposing it seems those Eggs to have grown out of the Earth But the Generality of Atheists in Aristotle's time as well as Theists denying this Eternity of the Mundane System as not so agreeable with their Hypothesis because so Constant and Invariable an Order in the World from Eternity hath not such an appearance or semblance of Chance nor can be easily supposed to have been without the Providence of a Perfect Mind presiding over it and Senior to it as Aristotle conceived in Nature though not in Time They therefore in all Probability concluded likewise Men at First to have been Generated One of these Two ways either out of Putrefaction or from Eggs and this by the Fortuitous Motion of Matter without the Providence or Direction of any Deity But after Aristotle Epicurus Phancied those First Men and other Animals to
no Determinate Thing or else nothing but meer Bulk or Resisting and Divisible Magnitude to come out of Nothing and to go to Nothing Thus does Aristotle in a place before cited declare the Atheistick Sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are Certain men who affirm that Nothing is Vnmade but All things Generated or Made Whose Sense is afterwards more distinctly thus proposed by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That all other things are Generated and Flow and none of them firmly Is they being perpetually Educed out of Nothing and Reduced to Nothing but that there is only One thing which remaineth namely that out of which all the other are Made by the Transformation thereof Which One thing to wit Matter as the same Aristotle further adds they affirmed to be the Only Substance and from Eternity Vnmade but all other things whatsoever being but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passions Affections and Dispositions thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be Generated and Corrupted Infinitely that is to be Produced out of Nothing or Non-Existence and Reduced again to Nothing without end And doubtless this is the True meaning of that Passage in Plato's Tenth De Legibus not understood by the Latine Interpreters where being to represent the Atheistick Hypothesis of the System of the Vniverse he discovereth their Grand Arcanum and that which they accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The wisest and most mysterious of all Doctrines after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain men affirm that All things are Made and Have been Made and will be Made some by Nature and some by Art and some by Fortune or Chance For unquestionably here Plato's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain men affirm that All things are Generated or Made c. is the very same with Aristotle's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certain men affirm that there is Nothing Vnmade but that All things are Made or Generated And perhaps this of Aristotles was taken out of that of Plato's Which yet nevertheless is so to be understood as it is afterwards explained by Aristotle All things whatsoever the bare Substance of Matter only excepted Wherefore it is certain that either there is no Real Entity in the Whole World besides the Bare Substance of Matter that is besides Divisible and Separable Extension or Resisting Magnitude and Consequently that Life and Cogitation Sense and Consciousness Reason and Vnderstanding all our own Minds and Personalities are no Real Entities or else that there are according to the Atheistick Hypothesis Real Entities Produced out of Nothing and Reduced to Nothing again Whereas Theiâ—tâ— suppose all the Greatest Perfections in the Universe as Life and Vnderstanding to have been Eternal and Vnmade in a Perfect Being the Deity and neither brought out of Nothing or Non Existence nor Reducâ—ble to Nothing only Imperfect Beings to have been Made out of Noâ—hing or Produced out of Non Existence by this one Perfect Being or Deity the Atheists on the contrary supposing the Lowest and most Imperfâ—ct of all Beings Matter Bulk or Divisible and Resisting Extension to be the Only Self-Existent and Vnmade Thing conclude all the Greatest Perfections in the Universe Life Cogitation and Vnderstanding to be Made out of Nothing or Non-Existence as also to be reduced to Nothing again Indeed the Hylozoick Atheists being Sensible somewhat of this Inconvenience of making all Life and Vnderstanding Out of Nothing and that there must of Necessity be some Fundamental Life and Perception which is not Accidental but Substantial and which was never Generated and cannot be Corrupted hâ—ve therefore attributed a kind of Life and Perception to all Matter as such Notwiâ—hstanding which even these also for as much as they deny to Mâ—tter Animal Sense and Consciousness suppose all Animal Life or Sense and Conscious Vnderstanding to be Generated and Corrupted â—roduced out of Nothing and Reduced to Nothing again Neither can Life Cogitation and Vnderstanding be reckonâ—d amongst the Mâ—des of Mâ—tter that is of Mâ—gnitude or Divisible and Antâ—typous Extension since they may be Conceived without the same whereas Modes cannot be conceived without their Substance Standing Sitting and Walking cannot be Conceived without a Body and that fiâ—ly Organizâ—d too and therefore are they Nothing but different Modes of such a Body When that Humane Body which before did Stand doth afterwards Sit or Walk no man can think that there is the Miraâ—ulous Production of any New Real Entity out of Nothing nor when the same Matter which was Square or Cubical is made Spherical or Cylindrical Bâ—t when there is Life and Vnderstâ—nding which was not before then is there unquestionably a new Real Entity Produced But the Dâ—mocritick and Epicurean Atheists themselves according to the Tenor of the Atomick Physiology acknowledge no other Modes of Matter or Body but only more or less Magnitude of Parts Figure Site Motion or Rest. And upon this very account do they explode Qualities considered as Entities really distinct from these Modes because in the Generation and Alteration of them there would be Real Entities mâ—de Out of Nothing or without a Cause whereupon they Resolve these Qualities into Mechanism and Fancy But Life Cogitation and Vnderstanding are things which have more Real Entity in them and can no way be Salved by Mechanism and Phancy wherefore undoubtedly they are no Modes of Matter or Body but Attributes of another kind of Substance Incorporeal All Cogitative Beings especially Humane Souls and Personalities are unquestionably Substantial Things and yet do the Atheists bring these and consequently Themselves out of Nothing or Non-Existence and Reduce them to Nothing again The Conclusion is that these very Atheists who contend against Theists that Nothing can be Made out of Nothing do themselves bring All things out of Nothing or Non Existence and perpetually Reduce them to Nothing again according to whose Principles as once there was no Life nor Vnderstanding at all in the Universe so may there be none again They who deny a God because there can be no Creative Power belonging to Any Thing do themselves notwithstanding attribute to Matter though a meer Passive Sluggish and Vnactive thing a Creative Power of Things Substantial as Humane Souls and Persona-ities out of Nothing And thus is that Formidable Argument of the Atheists that there can be no God because Nothing can be made out of Nothing not only proved to be False but also Retorted upon these Atheists themselves they bringing all things besides Sensless and Vnqualified Matter out of Nothing We have now declared First in what sense this Proposition is unquestionably True that Nothing can be Made out of Nothing or Come from Nothing viz. Causally That Nothing which before was Not could afterward be Made without a Cause and a Sufficient Cause Or more Particularly these Three ways First that Nothing which before was Not could afterward be brought into Being by It self or without an Efficient Cause Secondly that Nothing which once was Not could be Made or Produced
of Sense and Vnderstanding or the Entities of Soul and Mind could never have Resulted from any Modifications of Sensless Matter whatsoever Wherefore since it is Mathematically certain that our Humane Souls and Persons could not Possibly have been Generated out of Matter one of these Two things will undeniably follow That Either they must all have Existed Of Themselves from Eternity Vnmade or Else have been Created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of an Antecedent Non-Existence by a Perfect Vnderstanding Being Vnmade or atleast have Derived their whole Substance from it So that it is altogether as certain that there is a God as that our Humane Souls and Persons did not all Exist from Eternity Of Themselves And that there must be some Eternal Vnmade Mind hath been already Demonstrated also from the same Principle Nothing out of Nothing Thus have We abundantly Confuted the Second Atheistick Argumentation that there can be no Omnipotence nor Divine Creation because Nothing can be Made out of Nothing we having plainly shewed that this very Principle in the True Sense thereof affordeth a Demonstration for the Contrary THe Six following Atheistick Argumentations driving at these Two things First the Disproving of an Incorporeal and then of a Corporeal Deity From both which the Atheists conceive it must follow of necessity that there can be none at all we shall take them all together and in order to the Confutation of them perform these Three Things First we shall Answer the Atheistick Argumentations against an Incorporeal Deity contained in the Third and Fourth Heads Secondly we shall shew that from the very Principles of the Atheistick Corporealism as represented in the Fifth and Sixth Heads Incorporeal Substance is Demonstrable And Lastly That there being undeniably Incorporeal Substance the Two following Atheistick Argumentations also against a Corporeal Deity in the Seventh and Eighth Sections prove altogether Insignificant We begin with the First of these To shew the Invalidity of the Atheistick Argumentations against an Incorporeal Deity It hath been already observed That though all Corporealists be not therefore of necessity Atheists yet Atheists universally have been Corporealists this being always their First and Grand Postulatum That there is no other Substance besides Body Thus Plato long ago declared Concerning them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They contend strongly that that only really Is which is Tangible or Can Resist their Touch concluding Body and Substance to be one and the self-same thing And if any one should affirm that there is any thing Incorporeal they will presently cry him down and not hear a word more from him For there can be no doubt but that the Persons here intended by Plato were those very Atheists which himself spake of afterward in the same Dialogue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whether shall we assent to that Opinion nâ—w adays entertained by so many That Nature Generateth all things from a certain Fortuitous Cause without the direction of any Mind or Vnderstanding or rather that it produceth them according to Reason and Knowledge proceeding from God Indeed the Philosopher there tells us that some of these Atheistick Persons began then to be somewhat ashamed of making Prudence and Justice and other Moral Vertues Corporeal Things or Bodys 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though they affirm concerning the Soul it self that this seems to them to be Corporeal yet concerning Prudence and those other Vertues mentioned some have now scarcely the Confidence to maintain these to be either Bodies or Nothing But this saith he was indeed no less than the quite Giving up of the Cause of Atheism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because if it be but once granted that there is never so little Incorporeal this will be sufficient to overthrow the Atheistiek Foundation Wherefore he concludes that such as these were but Mongrel and Imperfect Atheists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For they who are thorough-paced and Genuine Atheists indeed will bogle at neither of those forementioned things but contend that whatsoever they cannot grasp with their hands is altogether Nothing That is that there is no other Substance nor Entity in the World but only Body that which is Tangible or Resists the Touch. Aristotle also representeth the Atheistick Hypothesis after the same manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They affirm that Matter or Body is all the Substance that is and that all other things are but the Passions and Affections thereof And again in his Metaphysicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These men maintain All to be One and that there is but one Only Nature as the Matter of all things and this Corporeal or endued with Magnitude And now we see plainly that the ancient Atheists were of the very same mind with these in our Days that Body or that which is Tangible and Divisible is the Only Substantial Thing from whence it follows that an Incorporeal Substance would be the same with an Incorporeal Body i. e. an Impossibility and that there can be no Incorporeal Deity But in the Management of this Cause there hath been some Disagreement amongst the Atheists themselves For First the Democriticks and Epicureans though consenting with all the other Atheists in this That whatsoever was Vnextended and devoid of Magnitude was therefore Nothing so that there could neither be any Substance nor Accident or Mode of any Substance Vnextended did notwithstanding distinguish concerning a Double Nature First That which is so Extended as to be Impenetrable and Tangible or Resist the Touch which is Body And Secondly That which is Extended also but Penetrably and Intangibly which is Space or Vacuum a Nature according to them really distinct from Body and the only Incorporeal Thing that is Now since this Space which is the only Incorporeal can neither Do nor Suffer any thing but only give Place or Room to Bodies to Subsist in or Pass thorough therefore can there not be any Active Vnderstanding Incorporeal Deity This is the Argumentation of the Democritick Atheists To which we Reply That if Space be indeed a Nature distinct from Body and a Thing Really Incorporeal as they pretend then will it undeniably follow from this very Principle of theirs that there must be Incorporeal Substance and this Space being supposed by them also to be Infinite an Infinite Incorporeal Deity Because if Space be not the Extension of Body nor an Affection thereof then must it of necessity be either an Accident Existing alone by it self without a Substance which is Impossible or else the Extension or Affection of some other Incorporeal Substance that is Infinite But here will Gassendus step in to help out his good Friends the Democriticks and Epicureans at a dead Lift and undertake to maintain that though Space be indeed an Incorporeal Thing yet it would neither follow of necessity from thence that it is an Incorporeal Substance or Affection thereof nor yet that it is an Accident Existing alone by it self without a Substance because this Space is really neither Accident nor
opinion seems so Strange and Paradoxical and lies under so great Prejudices we shall in the next place show how these ancient Incorporealists endeavoured to acquit themselves in repelling the several Efforts and Plausibilities made against it The First whereof is this That to suppose Incorporeal Substances Vnextended and Indivisible is to make them Absolute Parvitudes and by means of that to render them all even the Deity it self contemptible since they must of necessity be either Physical Minimums that cannot Actually be Divided further by reason of their Littleness if there be any such thing or else meer Mathematical Points which are not so much as Mentally Divisible so that Thousands of these Incorporeal Substances or Spirits might Dance together at once upon a Needles Point To which it was long since thus Replied by Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and all other Incorporeal Substances are not so Indivisible as if they were Parvitudes or Little things as Physical points for so would they still be Mathematically Divisible nor yet as if they were Mathematical Points neither which indeed are no Bodies nor Substances but only The Termini of a Line And neither of these wayes could the Deity Congruere with the world nor Souls with their respective Bodies so as to be all present with the whole of them Again he writeth particularly concerning the Deity thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is not so Indivisible as if he were the Smallest or Least of things for he is the Greatest of all not in respect of Magnitude but of Power Moreover as he is Indivisible so is he also to be acknowledged Infinite not as if he were either a Magnitude or a Number which could never be past thorough but because his Power is Incomprehensible Moreover the same Philosopher condemneth this for a Vulgar Errour proceeding from Sense and Imagination that whatsoever is Vnextended and Indistant must therefore needs be Little he affirming on the contrary the Vulgar to be much mistaken as to True Greatness and Littleness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We commonly looking upon this Sensible world as Great wonder how that Indivisible and Unextended Nature of the Deity can every where comply and be present with it Whereas that which is Vulgarly called Great is indeed Little and that which is thus Imagined to be Little is indeed Great For as much as the whole of This diffuseth it self through every part of the other or rather this whole Corporeal Vniverse in every one of its parts findeth that Whole and Entire and therefore Greater than it self To the same purpose also Porphyrius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Deity which is the only true Being is neither Great nor Little For as much as Great and Little properly belong to Corporeal Bulk or Magnitude but it exceedeth both the Greatness of every thing that is Great and the Littleness of whatsoever is Little it being more Indivisible and more One with it self than any thing that is Little and more Powerful than any thing that is Great So that it is above both the Greatest and the Least it being found all one and the same by every Greatest and every Smallest thing participating thereof Wherefore you must neither look upon God as the Greatest thing that is in a way of Quantity for then you may well doubt how being the Greatest He can be all of him present with every Least thing neither diminished nor contracted nor yet must you Look upon him as the Least thing neither for if you do so then will you be at a loss again how being the Least thing he can be present with all the Greatest Bulks neither Multiplied nor Augmented In a word the Sum of their Answer amounts to this that an Incorporeal Vnextended Deity is neither a Physical Point because this hath Distance in it and is Mentally Divisible nor yet a Mathematical One because This though having neither Magnitude nor Substance in it hath notwithstanding Site and Position a Point being according to Aristotle a Monad having Site and Position It is not to be conceived as a Parvitude or very Little thing because then it could not Congruere with all the Greatest things nor yet as a Great thing in a way of Quantity and Extension because then it could not be All of it Present to every Least thing Nor does True Greatness consist in a way of Bulk or Magnitude all Magnitude being but Little since there can be no Infinite Magnitude and no Finite Magnitude can have Infinite Power as Aristotle before urged And to conclude though some who are far from Atheists may make themselves merry with that Conceit of Thousands of Spirits dancing at once upon a Needles Point and though the Atheists may endeavour to Rogue and Ridicule all Incorporeal Substance in that manner yet does this run upon a clear Mistake of the Hypothesis and make nothing at all against it for as much as an Vnextended Substance is neither any Parvitude as is here supposed because it hath no Magnitude at all nor hath it any Place or Site or Local Motion properly belonging to it and therefore can neither Dance upon a Needles Point nor any where else But in the next place it is further Objected That What is neither Great nor Little what possesses no Space and hath no Place nor Site amongst Bodies must therefore needs be an Absolute Non-Entity for as much as Magnitude or Extension are the very Essence of Being or Entity as such so that there can be neither Substance nor Accident Unextended Now since whatsoever is Extended is Bodily there can therefore be no other Substance besides Body nor any thing Incorporeal otherwise then as that word may be taken for a Thin and Subtile Body in which Sense Fire was by some in Aristotle said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The most Incorporeal of all the Elements and Aristotle himself useth the word in the same manner when he affirmeth that all Philosophers did define the Soul by Three things Motion Sense and Incorporiety several of those there mentioned by him understanding the Soul to be no otherwise Incorporeal than as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Thin and Subtle Body In answer to which Objection we may remember that Plato in the passage before cited declareth this to be but a Vulgar Errour that whatsoever doth not take up Space and is in no Place is Nothing He Intimateing the Original hereof to have sprung from men's adhering too much to those Lower Faculties of Sense and Imagination which are able to conceive Nothing but what is Corporeal And accordingly Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sense indeed which we attending to disbelieve these things tells us of Here and There but Reason dictates that Here and There is so to be understood of the Deity not as if it were Extendedly Here and There but because every Extended thing and the several Parts of the World partake every
Subtle Body such as Wind or Vapour Air or Aether it is certain that according to the Principles of the most ancient Atomick Philosophy before it was Atheized there being no such Real Quality of Subtlety or Tenuity because this is altogether Vnintelligible but this Difference arising wholly from Motion Dividing the Insensible Parts and every way Agitating the same together with a certain Contexture of those Parts it is not Impossible but that the Finest and most Subtle Body that is might become as Gross Hard Heavy and Opake as Flesh Earth Stones Lead or Iron and again that the Grossest of these Bodies by Motion and a Different Contexture of Parts might not only be Crystalized but also become as Thin Soft and Fluid as the Finest Aether So that there is no Specifick Difference betwixt a Thick and Thin a Gross and Fine an Opake and Pellucide and Hard and Soft Body but Accidental only and therefore is there no reason why Life and Vnderstanding should be thought to belong to the one rather than to the other of them Besides which the Reasons of the ancient Incorporealists afterwards to be produced will Evince that the Humane Soul and Mind cannot possibly be any Body whatsoever though never so Fine Thin and Subtle whose Parts are by Motion Dividable and Separable from one another But it is further Objected against this Vnextended Nature of Incorporeal Substances as they are said to be All in the Whole and all in every Part of that Body which they are united to or Act upon that this is an Absolute Contradiction and Impossibility because if the Whole of the Deity be in this One Point of Matter then can there be Nothing at all of it in the Next adjoyning but that must needs be another Whole and Nothing the same with the former In like manner if the whole Humane Soul be in this one Part of the Organized Body then can there be none at all of it in any other Part thereof and so not the Whole in the Whole To which Objection the ancient Incorporealists made this Twofold Reply First in way of Concession That this is indeed an Absolute Contradiction for an Extended Substance or Body to be All of it in every one Part or Point of that Space which the whole occupieth Thus Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is Impossible for a Body or Extended Substance to be one and the same All of it in every Part of that Space which it possesses and for every Part thereof to be the same with the Whole But Secondly as for an Vnextended and Indistant Substance which hath no Parts one without another it is so far from Being a Contradiction that it should be All of it in every Part of that Body which it Acts upon that it is Impossible it should be otherwise only a Part in a Part thereof so that an Equal Quantity of both should Co-Exist together because this is to suppose an Vnextended Substance to be Extended We say it is Contradictious to the Nature of that Substance which is supposed to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devoid of Magnitude and of Quantity and of Parts Indistant and Indivisible that it should be otherwise United to or Conjoyned with an Extended Body then after this way which is look'd upon as such Conjuring namely that the Whole of it should be present with and Act upon every Part thereof Thus Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Form of Doctrine concerning Incorporeals is necessarily taken from the thing it self Viz. the nature of them as Vnextended and hath Nothing in it Aliene from that Essence as confounding the Corporeal Nature therewith Whatsoever is Vnextended and Indistant cannot possibly Co-Exist with an Extended Substance Point by Point and Part by Part but it must of necessity be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All of it one and the same Numerically that is like it self Vndividedly in every Part of that which it Acts upon Wherefore the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this Form when it is said that the Whole Deity is in every Part of the World and the Whole Soul in every Part of the Body is not to be taken in a Positive sense for a Whole consisting of Parts one without another but in a Negative only for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Whole Vndivided so that the meaning thereof is no more than this that the Deity is not Dividedly in the World nor the Soul Dividedly in the Body a Part here and a Part There but The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every where All of it Vndividedly Thus again Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If therefore God be every where it cannot possibly be that he should be so Dividedly because then himself would not be every where but only a Part of him Here and a Part of him There throughout the whole World himself being not one Vndivided Thing Moreover this would be all one as if a Magnitude were Cut and Divided into many Parts every one of which Parts could not be that whole Magnitude Lastly this would be the very same as to make God a Body Now if these things be Impossible then must that so much Disbelievd thing look'd upon as such a Puzzling Griphus or rather as Contradictious Non-sense be an Undoubted Truth according to the Common Notions of mankind that God is Every where to wit that He is All of him the same Whole Undividedly Every where The sum of all is That though it be an Absolute Contradiction for a Body or Quantum to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All of it in every Part of that Space which the Whole is in yet it is no Contradiction at all for an Vnextended and Indistant Being to be All of it Vndividedly in every Part of that Body it Acts upon but on the contrary it would be statly Contradictious to it to say that it is only Part of it in a Part this being to Divide an Indivisible thing into Parts The Fourth and Last Objection against Incorporeal and Vnextended Substance is from that Illocality and Immobility which will follow thereupon of Humane Souls and other Finite Particular Spirits such as Demons or Angels That this is not only in it self very Absurd to suppose these Finite and Particular Beings to be thus Illocal and Immoveable No where and Every where from whence it would seem to follow that they might Act the whole Corporeal Vniverse or take cognizance of all things therein Every where but also that this Conceit is Contradictious to the Very Principles of Religionists themselves and plainly Confuted by the same they acknowledging Universally that Humane Souls at Death departing out of this Body do Locally move from thence into a certain other Place Called Hades Hell or Inferi Now the Latter Part of this Objection is First to be Answered And this is indeed a thing which the ancient Asserters of Incorporeal Substance as Vnextended were not unaware
of That the Vulgarly Received Tradition of Humane Souls after Death going into Hades might be Objected against them For the Satisfying whereof Plotinus suggesteth these Two Things First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That if by Hades be meant nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Invisible as many times it is then is there no more signified by the Souls going into Hades than it s no longer being Vitally united to this Earthy Body and but Acting apart by it self and so hath it nothing of Place necessarily included in it Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But if by Hades be understood a Certain Worser Place as sometimes it also is What wonder is this since now where our Body is there in the same place is our Soul said to be also But you will Reply how can this be when there is now no longer any Body left We Answer that if the Idol of the Soul be not quite Separated from it Why should not the Soul it self be said to be there also where its Idol is Where by the Idol of the Soul Plotinus seems to mean an Airy or Spirituous Body Quickned and Vitalized by the Soul adhering to it after death But when the same Philosopher supposes this very Idol of the Soul to be also Separable from it and that so as to subsist apart by it self too this going alone into Hades or the Worser Place whilst that liveth only in the Intelligible World where there is no Place nor Distance lodged in the Naked Deity having nothing at all of Body hanging about it and being now not A Part but the Whole and so Situate nether here nor there in this High Flight of his he is at once both Absurdly Paradoxical in dividing the Life of the Soul as it were into Two and forgat the Doctrine of his own School which as himself elsewhere intimateth was this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Our Soul though it shall quit this Body yet shall it never be disunited from all Body Wherefore Porphyrius answering the same Objection though he were otherwise much addicted to Plotinus and here uses his Language too yet does he in this depart from him adhering to the ancient Pythagorick Tradition which as will appear afterwards was this That Humane Souls are always Vnited to some Body or other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Souls being here upon Earth saith he is not its moving up and down upon it after the manner of Bodies but it s Presiding over a Body which moveth upon the Earth so is its being in Hades nothing but its presiding over that Idol or Enlivened Vaporoâ—â— Body whose Nature it is to be in a Place and which is of a Dark Subsistence Wherefore if Hades be taken for a Subterraneous and Dark Place yet may the Soul nevertheless be said to go into Hades because when it quits this Gross Earthy Body a more Spirituous and Subtle Body collected from the Spheres or Elements doth still accompany it Which Spirit being Moist and Heavy and naturally descending to the Subterraneous places the Soul it self may be said in this sense to go Vnder the Earth also with it not as if the Substance thereof passed from One Place to Another but because of its Relation and Vital Vnion to a Body which does so Where Porphyrius addeth contrary to the Sense of Plotinus That the Soul is never quite Naked of all Body but hath alway some Body or other joyned with it suitable and agreeable to its own present Disposition either a Purer or Impurer one But that at its first Quitting this Gross Earthly Body the Spirituous Body which accompanieth iâ— as its Vehicle must needs go away Fouled and Incrassated with the gross Vapours and steams thereof till the Soul afterwards by Degrees Purging it self this becometh at length A Dry Splendour which hath no Mysty Obscurity nor casteth any Shadow But because this Doctrine of the Ancient Incorporealists concerning the Humane Souls being always after Death United to some Body or other is more fully declared by Philoponus then by any other that we have yet met withal we shall here excerp some Passages out of him about it First therefore he declareth this for his own opinion agreeable to the Sense of the best Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Rational Soul as to its Energie is separable from all Body but the Irrational Part or Life thereof is Separable only from this Gross Body and not from all Body whatsoever but hath after Death a Spirituous or Aiery Body in which it acteth This I say is a True Opinion as shall be afterwards proved by us And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Irrational Life of the Soul hath not all its Being in this Gross Earthy Body but remaineth after the Souls Departure out of it having for its Vehicle and Subject the Spirituous Body Which it self is also compounded out of the Four Elements but receiveth its Denomination from the Predominant Part to wit Air as this Gross Body of ours is called Earthy from what is most Predominant therein Thus do we see that according to Philoponus the Humane Soul after Death does not meerly exercise its Rational Powers and think only of Metaphysical and Mathematical Notions Abstract things which are neither in Time nor Place but exerciseth also its Lower Sensitive and Irrational Faculties which it could not possibly do were it not then Vitally United to some Body and this Body then accompanying the Soul he calls Pneumatical that is not Spiritual in the scripture-Scripture-Sense but Spirituous Vaporous or Airy Let us therefore in the next place see what Rational Account Philoponus can give of this Doctrine of the Antients and of his Own Opinion agreeably thereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Humane Soul in those who are not Purged and Cleansed in this Life after its departure out of this Body is acknowledged or rather Demonstrated to go into Hades there to receive Punishment for its evil Actions past For Providence does not only take Care of our Being but also of our Well-Being Therefore is the Soul though lapsed into a Preter-Natural State yet not neglected by Providence but hath a Convenient Care taken of it in order to its Recovery And since Sinning had its Original from the Desire of Pleasure it must of necessity be Cured by Pain For here also Contraries are the Cures of Contraries Therefore the Soul being to be Purged is Punished and Pained in those Subterraneous Judicatories and Prisons in order to its Amendment But if the Soul be Incorporeal it is Impossible for it to Suffer How then can it be Punished There must of Necessity be some Body joyned with it Which being immoderately Constringed or Agitated Concreted or Secreted and Discordantly Moved by Heat and Cold or the like may make the Soul sensible of Pain by reason of Sympathy as it is here in this Life What Body therefore is that which is then Conjoyned with the Soul after the dissolution
of that Earthy Body into its Elements Certainly it can be no other than this Pneumatical or Spirituous Body which we now speak of For in this are Seated as their Subject the Irascible and Concupiscible Passions and they are inseparable from the same nor could they be in the Soul disunited from all Body And that Soul which is freed from these would be forthwith freed from Generation nor would it be concerned in those Subterraneous Judicatories and Prisons but be carried up aloft to the higher Celestial Regions c. After which he endeavours further to confirm this Opinion from the Vulgar Phaenomena 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Furthermore that there is such a Pneumatical Spirituous Vaporous or Airy Body which accompanieth Souls Vnpurged after Death is evident also from the Phaenomena themselves For what account can otherwise be given of those Spectres or Phantasms which appear Shadow-like about Graves or Sepulchres since the Soul it self is neither of any Figure nor yet at all Visible Wherefore these Ancients say that Impure Souls after their departure out of this Body wander here up and down for a certain space in their Spirituous Vaporous and Airy Body appearing about Sepulchres and haunting their former Habitations For which cause there is great reason that we should take care of Living Well as also of abstaining from a Fouler and Grosser diet these Ancients telling us likewise that this Spirituous Body of ours being fouled and incrassated by Evil Diet is apt to render the Soul in this Life also more Obnoxious to the Disturbances of Passions And here Philoponus goes on to gratifie us with a further Account of some other of the Opinions of these Ancients concerning this Spirituous or Airy Body accompanying the Soul after Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They further add that there is Something of the Plantal and Plastick Life also Exercised by the Soul in those Spirituous or Airy Bodies after Death they being Nourished too though not after the same manner as these Gross Earthy Bodies of ours are here but by Vapours and that not by Parts or Organs but throughout the Whole of them as Sponges they imbibing every where those Vapours For which cause they who are wise will in this Life also take care of using a Thinner and Dryer Diet that so that Spirituous Body which we have also at this present time within our Grosser Body may not be Clogged and Incrassed but Attenuated Over and above which those Ancients made use of Catharms or Purgations to the same end and purpose also For as this Earthy Body is washed by Water so is that Spirituous Body Cleansed by Cathartick Vapours some of these Vapours being Nutritive others Purgative Moreover these Ancients further declared concerning this Spirituous Body that it was not Organized but did the Whole of it in every Part throughout exercise all Functions of Sense the Soul Hearing and Seeing and Perceiving all Sensibles by it every where For which Cause Aristotle himself affirmeth in his Metaphysicks That there is properly but One Sense and but One Sensory He by this One Sensory meaning the Spirit or Subtle Airy Body in which the Sensitive Power doth all of it through the Whole immediately apprehend all Variety of Sensibles And if it be demanded How it comes then to pass that this Spirit appears Organized in Sepulchres and most commonly of Humane Form but sometimes in the Form of some other Animals to this those Ancients Replied That their appearing so frequently in Humane Form proceedeth from their being Incrassated with Evil Diet and then as it were stamped upon with the Form of this Exteriour Ambient Body in which they are as Crystal is Formed and Coloured like to those things which it is fastned in or Reflects the Image of them And that their having sometimes other different Forms proceedeth from the Phantastick Power of the Soul it self which can at pleasure transform this Spirituous Body into any shape For being Airy when it is Condensed and Fixed it becometh Visible and again Invisible and Vanishing out of Sight when it is Expanded and Rarefied Now from these Passages cited out of Philoponus it further appeareth that the Ancient Asserters of the Souls Immortality did not suppose Humane Souls after Death to be quite strip'd Stark Naked from all Body but that the Generality of Souls had then a certain Spirituous Vaporous or Airy Body accompanying them though in different Degrees of Purity or Impurity Respectively to themselves As also that they conceived this Spirituous Body or at least something of it to hang about the Soul also here in this Life before Death as its Interiour Indument or Vestment which also then sticks to it when that other Gross Earthly Part of the Body is by Death put off as an Outer Garment And some have been inclinable to think by reason of certain Historick Phaenomena these Two to be things so distinct that it is not Impossible for this Spirituous Body together with the Soul to be Locally separated from the other Grosser Body for some time before Death and without it And indeed thus much canâ—ot be denied that our Soul Acteth not Immediatly only upon Bones Flesh and Brains and other such like Gross Parts of this Body but first and chiefly upon the Animal Spirits as the Immediate Instruments of Sense and Phancy and that by whose Vigour and Activity the other Heavy and Unwieldy Bulk of the Body is so nimbly Moved And therefore we know no reason but we may assent here to that of Porphyrius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Blood is the Food and Nourishment of the Spirit that is that Subtle Body called the Animal Spirits and that this Spirit is the Vehicle of the Soul or the more Immediate Seat of Life Nevertheless the same Philoponus there addeth that according to these Ancients besides the Terrestial Body and this Spirituous and Airy Body too there is yet a Third kind of Body of a Higher Rank then either of the Former peculiarly belonging to such Souls after Death as are Purged and Cleansed from Corporeal Affections Lusts and Passions called by them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. A Luciform and Celestial and Ethereal Body The Soul saith he continueth either in the Terrestrial or the Aereal Body so long 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vntil that having Purged it self it be carried aloft and freed from Generation And then doth it put off both the Irascible and Concupisciple Passions at once together with this Second Vehicle or Body which we call Spirituous Wherefore these Ancients say that there is another Heavenly Body always conjoyned with the Soul and Eternal which they call Luciform and Star-like For it being a Mundane thing must of necessity have some Part of the World as a Province allotted to it which it may administer And since it is always Moveable and ought always to Act it must have a
and them Thus Pletho declares their Sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By this Etherial Body is our Humane Soul Connected with its Mortal Body the whole thereof being Implicated with the whole Vital Spirit of the Embryo for as much as this it self is a Spirit also But long before Pletho was this Doctrine declared and asserted by Galen as agreeable both to Plato's and his own sense He first Premising that the Immediate Organ or Instrument of Sight was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Luciform and Ethereal Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Wherefore we may reasonably affirm that the Organ of Sight is a Luciform or Etherial Body as that of Hearing is Aerial that of Smelling Vaporous that of Tast Moist or Watery and That of Touch Earthy like being perceived by like And He accordingly thus understanding those Known Verses of Empedocles which as Aristotle otherwise interprets them are Nonsense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And this was that which Empedocles meant to signifie in those famous Verses of his it being certain that by the most Earthy of our Senses the Touch we perceive the Earthy Nature of Sensibles and by the most Luciform viz. that of Sight the Passions of Light by that which is Aerial Sounds by that which is Moist and Sponge-like Tasts and Lastly by the Organ of Smelling which is the Extremity of those Former Cavities of the Brain as replenished with Vapours Odours After which he writeth of the Essence or Substance of the Soul in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if we should now declare any thing concerning the Essence or Substance of the Soul we must needs affirm one or other of these Two things That either it self is this Luciform and Etherial Body which the Stoicks whether they will or no by consequence will be brought unto as also Aristotle himself or else that the Soul is it self an Incorporeal Substance but that this Luciform Etherial Body is its First Vehicle by which as a Middle it communicates with the other Bodies Wherefore we must say that this Etherial Lucid Body is Extended throughout the whole Brain whence is that Luciform Spirit derived that is the Immediate Instrument of Sight Now from hence it was that these Philosophers besides the Moral Purgation of the Soul and the Intellectual or Philosophical recommended very much a Mystical or Telestick way of Purifying this Etherial Body in us by Dyet and Catharms Thus the forementioned Hierocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Since to our Lucid or Splendid Body this Gross Mortal Body is come by way of Accession we ought to Purifie the Former also and free it from Sympathy with the Latter And again afterwards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Together with the Purgations of the Rational Soul the Purification of the Luciform or Etherial Vehicle is also to be regarded that this being made Light and Alate or Wingy might no way hinder the Souls Ascent upward But he that endeavours to Purifie the Mind only neglecting the Body applies not himself to the whole Man Whereupon he concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I therefore call this the Telestick or Mystick Operation which is Conversant about the Purgation of the Lucid or Etherial Vehicle And whereas Philosophy was by Plato and Socrates Defined to be a Continual Exercise of Dying which yet Pliny thought to be nothing but an Hypochondriacal or Atrabilarian Distemper in them in those words of his which Salmasius and other Criticks can by no means understand Est etiam quidam Morbus Per Sapientiam Mori That the Dying by Wisdom or Philosophy is also but a certain kind of Bodily Disease or Over-grown Melancholy Though they supposed this principally to consist in a Moral Dying to Corporeal Lusts and Passions yet was the design thereof partly Mystical and Telestick also it driving at this further thing that when they should put off this Terrestrial Body they might at once Dye also to the Spirituous or Aerial and then their Soul have nothing left hanging about it but only the Pure Etherial Body its Light winged Chariot which in Virgil's Language is Purumque relinqui Aethereum Sensum atque Aurai Simplicis Ignem Notwithstanding which the Pythagoreans and Platonists seem not to have been all of them of this Perswasion that the same Numerical Etherial Body which the Soul was at first Created with continueth still about it and adhereth to it Inseparably to all Eternity during its Descents into other Grosser Bodies but rather to have supposed that according to the Moral Disposition of the Soul it always finds or makes a Cognate and Suitable Body Correspondently Pure or Impure and consequently that by Moral Vertue and Philosophy it might again recover that Celestial Body which was lost by its Fall and Descent hither This seemeth to have been Porphyrius his sense in these words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 However the Soul be in it self affected so does it alwaies find a Body suitable and agreeable to its present Disposition and therefore to the Purged Souls does Naturally accrue a Body that comes next to Immateriality that is an Etherial one And probably Plato was of the same Mind when he affirmed the Soul to be alwaies in a Body but sometimes of one kind and sometimes of another Now from what hath been declared it appeareth already that the most Ancient Asserters of the Incorporiety and Immortality of the Humane Soul supposed it notwithstanding to be Always Conjoyned with a Body Thus Hierocles plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Rational Nature having alwaies a Cognate Body so proceeded from the Demiurgus as that neither it self is Body nor yet can it be without Body but though it self be Incorporeal yet its whole Form notwithstanding is Terminated in a Body Accordingly whereunto the Definition which he gives of a Man is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Rational Soul together with a Cognate Immortal Body he concluding there afterwards that this Enlivened Terrestrial Body or Mortal man is nothing but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Image of The True man or an Accession thereunto which is therefore Separable from the same Neither doth he affirm this only of Humane Souls but also of all other Rational Beings whatsoever Below the Supreme Deity and Above Men that they always Naturally Actuate a Body Wherefore a Demon or Angel which words are used as Synonymous by Hierocles is also Defined by him after the same manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Rational Soul together with a Lucid Body And accordingly Proclus upon Plato's Timaeus affirmeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That every Demon Superiour to our Humane Souls hath both an Intellectual Soul and an Ethereal Vehicle the Entireness thereof being made up or Compounded of these Two things So that there is hardly any other Difference left betwixt Demons or Angels and Men according to these Philosophers but only this That the Former are Lapsable into Aereal Bodies only
not that the Soul Is a Body but that it Hath a Body after Death conjoyned with it and that of the same Form and Figure with that Body which it had before here in this Life Plenissimè autem Dominus docuit non solum perseverare non de corpore in corpus transgredientes animas sed Characterem corporis in quo etiam adaptantur custodire eundem Et meminisse eas Operum quae egerunt hîc à quibus cessaverunt in Enarratione quae scribitur de Divite de Lazaro qui refrigerabatur in Sinu Abrahae in qua ait Divitem cognoscere Lazarum post mortem Et manere in suo ordine unumquemque ipsorum Our Lord hath most plainly taught us that Souls do not only continue after Death without passing out of one Body into another but also that they keep the Character of Body wherein they are then also adapted the same which they had before as likewise that they remember the Actions and Omissions of their Life past in that Enarration which is written concerning the Rich Man and Lazarus who was refreshed in Abraham 's bosom wherein he affirmeth the Rich Man to have known both Lazarus and Abraham after Death as also each of them to remain in their own Order And thus again in the following Chapter Per haec manifestissimè declaratum est Perseverare Animas non de corpore in corpus Exire habere Hominis Figuram ut etiam cognoscantur meminisse eorum quae hic sint Dignam Habitationem Vnamquamque Gentem percipere etiam antè Judicium By these things it is most manifestly declared that Souls do both Persevere after Death and that they do not Transmigrate out of one Body into another and that they have a Humane Figure or Shape whereby they may be known as also that they remember the things here upon the Earth and their own Actions and Lastly that each kind of Good and Bad have their distinct and suitable Habitations assigned them even before the Judgment Now that Irenaeus did not here mean that Souls are themselves Bodily Substances and consequently have a certain Character Form and Figure of their own but only that they have certain Bodies conjoyned with them which are Figurate is First of all evident from the words themselves Characterem corporis in quo etiam adaptantur custodire Eundem The Natural Sense whereof is this That they keep the Character of Body wherein they are then also adapted after Death the same with that which these Bodies before had here in this Life And it is further manifest from hence because he else where plainly declareth Souls themselves to be Incorporeal as in his Fifth Book and Seventh Chapter Flatus autem Vitae Incorporalis est But the breath of Life is Incorporeal Furthermore Origen was not only of the same Perswasion that Souls after Death had certain Subtle Bodies united to them and that those Bodies of theirs had the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Characterizing Form which these their Terrestrial Bodies before had but also thinks that this together with the Souls Immortality may be sufficiently proved from the frequent Apparitions of Ghosts or Departed Souls in way of opposition to Celsus endeavouring to invalidate the Scripture Testimonies concerning the Apparitions of our Saviour Christ and Imputing them either to Magical Imposture or Fanatick Phrenzy or the Disciples mistaking their own Dreams and Phancies for Visions and Sensations after the Epicurean way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though this might seem to have been smartly opposed by Celsus yet are those very Apparitions of Ghosts notwithstanding a sufficient Argument or Proof of a certain Necessary Opinion that Souls do subsist after Death Neither did Plato vainly conclude the Immortality and Permanency of the Soul besides other things from those Shadow-like Phantasms of the Dead that have appeared to many about Graves and Monuments Whereupon he giveth this further account of these Apparitions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For these Apparitions of the Dead are not meer Groundless Imaginations but they proceed from Souls themselves really remaining and surviving after Death and subsisting in that which is called a Luciform Body Where notwithstanding Origen takes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or Luciform Body in a Larger Sense than the Greek Philosophers were wont to do namely so as to comprehend under it that Aiery or Vaporous Body also which belongeth to Vnpurged Souls who do therein most frequently appear after Death whereas it is thought proper to the Purged Souls to be cloathed with the Luciform Body only Besides which the same Origen tells us that the Thing which St. Thomas the Apostle disbelieved was not our Saviour's appearing after Death as if he had thought it Impossible for Ghosts or Souls departed Visibly to appear but only his Rising and Appearing in that same Solid Body which had been before Crucified and was laid in the Sepulchre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thomas also as well as the other Apostles assented to the woman affirming that she had seen Jesus as not thinking it at all Impossible for the Soul of a Dead man to be Seen but he did not believe him to have Risen and Appeared in that self same Solid Body which before he lived In for which cause he said not only Vnless I see him but added also And Vnless I shall put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe Where again Origen subjoyns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These things were said by Thomas not as doubting at all but that the Body of a Soul departed to wit Condensed might be seen with the Eyes of Sense every way resembling that Form which it had before in this Life both in respect of Bigness Figure Colour and Voice and oftentimes also in the same Customary garments Wherefore according to Origen the Jews were at that time Generally possessed with this Opinion that Souls after Death had certain Bodies united to them wherein they might Visibly appear neither is that of any great moment to the contrary which a Learned Critick objecteth that Josephus writing of their Opinions maketh no mention hereof he omitting besides this other Considerable Dogmata of theirs also as that of the Resurrection However this at least is certain from hence that Origen himself took it for granted that Humane Souls departed were not altogether Naked or Unclothed but Clothed with a certain Subtle Body wherein they could also Visibly appear and that in their pristine Form Moreover it might be here observed also that when upon our Saviour's first Apparition to his Disciples it is said that they were affrighted as supposing they had seen a Spirit our Saviour does not tell them that a Spirit or Ghost had no Body at all wherein it could Visibly appear but as rather taking that for granted that a Spirit had no Flesh and Bones no
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
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Paul not this Gross Terrestial Body but a certain Middle Body betwixt it and the Heavenly which the Soul after Death carries away with it Now this Opinion of the Learned Origens was never reckoned up by the Ancient Fathers or his greatest Adversaries in the Catalogue of his Errours nor does Methodius the Martyr who was so great an Anti-Origenist where he mentions this Origenick Opinion in Photius seem to tax it otherwise then as Platonically Implying the Soul to be Incorporeal Methodius himself on the contrary contending not that the Soul Hath a Body conjoyned with it after Death as a distinct thing from it but that it self Is a Body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is alone is praised as Incorporeal and Invisible but Souls are made by him who is the Father of all things Intellectual Bodies ornamentally branched out as it were into Members distinguishable by Reason and having the same Form and Signature with the outward Body Whence is it that in Hades or Hell we Read of a Tongue and a Finger and other Members not as if there then were another Invisible Body Coexisting with shese Souls but because the Souls themselves are in their own Nature when strip'd naked of all Clothing according to their very Essence such We say therefore if one of these two Opinions must needs be entertained that either the Soul it self Is a Body or else that it Hath a Body after Death the Latter of them which was Origens ought certainly much to be preferr'd before the Former whether held in Tertullian's sense that all Substance and consequently God himself is Body or else in that of Methodius that all Created Substance is such God alone being Incorporeal But we have already showed that Origen was not Singular in this Opinion Irenaeus before him having asserted the same thing that Souls after Death are Adapted to certain Bodies where the word in the Greek probably was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which have the same Character with these Terrestrial ones and Philoponus after him who was no Pagan but Christian Philosopher Dogmatizing in like manner We might here add that Joannes Thessalonicensis in that Dialogue of his read in the Seventh Synod seemeth to have been of the same Perswasion also when he affirmeth of Souls as well as Angels and Demons that they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Often seen by many Sensibly in the Form of their own Bodies However it is a thing which Psellus took for granted where speaking of Devils Insinuating their Temptations into mens Souls by affecting immediately the Phantastick Spirit he writeth after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When one man speaks to another from afar off he must if he would be heard make a loud cry or noise whereas if he stood near to him he might softly whisper into his ear But could he immediately approach to the Spirit or Subtle Body of the Soul he should not then need so much as to make a Whisper but might silently and without noise communicate whatsoever thoughts of his own to him by Motions made thereupon And this is said to be the way that Souls going out of these Bodies converse together they communicating their thoughts to one another without any Noise For Psellus here plainly supposeth Souls after Death to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a certain Subtle Body adhering to them by Motions upon which they may silently converse with each other It is true indeed that St. Austin in his Twelfth Book De Genesi ad Literam does not himself close with this Opinion of the Souls Having a Body after Death but much less of its Being a Body nevertheless does he seem to leave every man to his own Liberty therein in these words Si autem Quaeritur dum Anima de Corpore exierit Vtrum ad aliqua loca Corporalia feratur an ad Incorporalia Corporalibus similia an verò nec ad ipsa sed ad illud quod Corporibus Similitudinibus Corporum est Excellentius Citò quidem responderim ad Corporalia loca eam vel non ferri nisi cum aliquo Corpore vel non localiter ferri Jam utrum habeat aliquod Corpus Ostendat qui Potest Ego autem non puto Spiritalem enim arbitror esse non Corporalem ad spiritalia vero pro meritis fertur aut ad Loca Poenalia similia Corporibus But if it be demanded when the Soul goes out of this Body whether it be carried into any Corporal Places or to Incorporals like to Corporals or else to neither but to that which is more excellent than both Bodies and the likenesses of Bodies the Answer is ready that it cannot be carried to Corporal Places or not Locally carried any whither without a Body Now whether the Soul have some Body when it goes out of this Body let them that can show but for my part I think otherwise For I suppose the Soul to be Spiritual and not Corporal and that after Death it is either carried to Spiritual things or else to Penal Places like to Bodies such as have been represented to some in Extasies c. Where St. Austin himself seems to think the Punishment of Souls after Death and before the Resurrection to be Phantastical or only in Imagination Whereas there could not be then so much as Phantastick Punishments neither nor any Imagination at all in Souls without a Body if that Doctrine of Aristotle's be true that Phancy or Imagination is nothing else but a Weaker Sense that is a thing which results from a Complication of Soul and Body both together But it is observable that in the forecited place that which St. Austin chiefly opposed was the Souls Being a Body as Tertullian Methodius and others had asserted but as for its Having a Body he saith only this Ostendat qui potest Let him that can shew it He granting in the mean time that the Soul cannot be Locally carried any whither at all after Death nor indeed be in any place without a Body However the same St. Austin as he elsewhere condemneth the Opinion of those who would take the Fire of Hell Metaphorically acknowledging it to be Real and Corporeal so does he somewhere think it not improbable but after Death and before the Resurrection the Souls of men may suffer from a certain Fire for the consuming and burning up of their dross Post istius sanè Corporis Mortem donec ad illum Veniatur qui post Resurrectionem Corporum futurus est Damnationis Remunerationis Vltimus Dies Si hoc temporis Intervallo Ejusmodi Ignem dicuntur perpeti quem non sentiant illi qui non habuerint tales mores amores in hujus Corporis Vitâ ut Eorum Ligna Faenum Stipula Consumantur alii vero sentiunt qui ejusmodi secum aedificiae portaverunt c. non redarguo quia forsitan Verum est If in this Interval of Time
betwixt the Death of the Body and the Resurrection or Day of Judgment the Souls of the Dead be said to suffer such a Fire as can do no Execution upon those who have no Wood Hay nor Stuble to burn up but shall be felt by such as have made such Buildings or Superstructures c. I reprehend it not because perhaps it is True The Opinion here mentioned is thus Expressed by Origen in his Fifth Book against Celsus which very place St. Austin seems to have had respect to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Celsus did not understand That this Fire as well according to the Hebrews and Christians as to some of the Greeks will be Purgatory to the World as also to every one of those persons who stand in need of such Punishment and Remedy by Fire which Fire can do no Execution upon those who have no combustible Matter in them but will be felt by such as in the Moral structure of their Thoughts Words and Actions have built up Wood Hay and Stuble Now since Souls cannot suffer from Fire nor any thing else in way of Sense or Pain without being Vitally Vnited to some Body we may conclude that St. Austin when he wrote this was not altogether abhorrent from Souls having Bodies after Death Hitherto have we declared How the Ancient Asserters of Incorporeal Substance as Vnextended did repel the Assaults of Atheists and Corporealists made against it but especially How they quitted themselves of that Absurdity of the Illocality and Immobility of Finite Created Spirits by Supposing them always to be Vitally Vnited to some Bodies and consequently by the Locality of those their respective Bodies determined to Here and There according to that of Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our Soul stands in need of a Body in order to Local Motions We shall in the next place declare what Grounds of Reason there were which induced those Ancients to assert and maintain a thing so repugnant to Sense and Imagination and consequently to all Vulgar Apprehension as a Substance in it self Vnextended Indistant and Indivisible or Devoid of Magnitude and Parts Wherein we shall only represent the Sense of these Ancient Incorporealists so far as we can to the best advantage in order to their Vindication against Atheists and Materialists our selves in the mean time not asserting any thing but leaving every one that can to make his own Judgment and so either to close with this or that other following Hypothesis of Extended Incorporeals Now it is here observable That it was a thing formerly taken for granted on both sides as well by the Asserters as the Deniers of Incorporeal Substance That there is but One kind of Extension only and Consequently that whatsoever hath Magnitude and Parts or One Thing Without Another is not only Intellectually and Logically but also Really and Physically Divisible or Discerpible as likewise Antitypous and Impenetrable so that it cannot Coexist with a Body in the same Place from whence it follows that whatsoever Arguments do evince That there is some other Substance besides Body the same do therefore Demonstrate according to the Sense of these Ancients as well Corporealists as Incorporealists that there is Something Vnextended it being supposed by them both alike that whatsoever is Extended is Body Nevertheless we shall here principally propound such Considerations of theirs as tend directly to Prove That there is something Vnextendedly Incorporeal And that an Vnextended Deity is no Impossible Idea to wit from hence because there is something Vnextended even in our very Selves Where not to repeat the forementioned Ratiocinacion of Simplicius That whatsoever can Act and Reflect upon its Whole Self cannot possibly be Extended nor have Parts Distant from one another Plotinus first argues after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What then will they say who contend that the Soul is a Body or Extended whether or no will they grant concerning every Part of the Soul in the same Body as that of it which is in the Foot and that in the Hand and that in the Brain c. and again every Part of those Parts that each of them is Soul such as the Whole If this be consented to then is it plain that Magnitude or such a Quantity would confer nothing at all to the Essence of the Soul as it would do were it an Extended Thing but the Whole would be in many Parts or Places which is a thing that cannot possibly belong to Body That the same Whole should be in more and That a Part should be what the whole is But if they will not grant every Part of their Extended Soul to be Soul then according to them must the Soul be Made up and Compounded of Soul-less Things Which Argument is else where again thus propounded by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If every one of the Parts of this Extended Soul or Mind have Life in it then would any one of them alone be sufficient But to say that though none of the Parts alone bave Life in them yet the Conjunction of them altogether maketh Life is absurd it being impossible that Life and Soul should result from a Congeries of Lifeless and Souless things or that Mindless things put together should beget Mind The sum of this Argumentation is this That either every part of an Extended Soul is Soul and of an Extended Mind Mind or not Now if no Part of a Soul as supposed to be Extended alone be Soul or have Life and Mind in it then is it certain that the Whole resulting from all the Parts could have no Life nor Mind because Nothing can Causally come from Nothing It is true indeed that Corporeal Qualities and Forms according to the Atomick Physiology result from a Composition and Contexture of Atoms or Parts each of which taken alone by themselves have nothing of that Quality or Form in them Ne ex Albis Alba rearis Aut ea quae Nigrant nigro de Semine nata You are not to think that White things are made out of White principles nor Black things out of Black but the Reason of the difference here is plain because these Qualities and Forms are not Entities Really distinct from the Magnitude Figure Site and Motion of Parts but only such a Composition of them as cause different Phancies in us but Life and Vnderstanding Soul and Mind are Entities Really distinct from Magnitude Figure Site and Motion of Parts they are neither meer Phancies nor Syllables of things but Simple and Vncompounded Realities But if every supposed Part of a Soul be Soul and of a Mind Mind then would all the rest of it besides any One Part be Superfluous or indeed every supposed Part thereof would be the Same with the Whole from whence it follows that it could not be Extended or have any Real Parts at all since no Part of an Extended thing can possibly be the Same with the Whole Again the same Philosopher endeavours further to prove
things which belong to Bodies be Vnextended then must the Substances of Souls and Minds themselves be Vnextended also Thus Plotinus of Mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mind is not Distant from it self and indeed were it so it could not be One thing as it is but Many every Conceivable Part of Distant and Extended Substance being a Substance by it self And the same is to be said of the Humane Soul though it Act upon Distant Parts of that Body which it is united to that it self notwithstanding is not Scattered out into Distance nor Dispersed into Multiplicity nor Infinitely Divisible because then it would not be One Single Substance or Monade but a Heap of Substances Soul is no more Divisible than Life of which the forementioned Philosopher thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Will you divide a Life into two then the whole of it being but a Life the half thereof cannot be a Life Lastly if Soul and Mind and the things belonging to them as Life and Cogitation Vnderstanding and Wisdom c. be Out-spread into Distance having one Part without another then can there be no Good Reason given why they should not be as well Really and Physically as Intellectually Divisible and One Part of them Separable from another since as Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In all Magnitude or Extension This is One thing and That Another At least no Theist ought to deny but that the Divine Power could Cleave or Divide a Thought together with the Soul wherein it is into Many Pieces and remove them to the Greatest Distances from one another for as much as this implies no manner of Contradiction and whatsoever is Conceivable by us may be done by Infinite Power in which case neither of them alone would be Soul or Mind Life or Thought but all put together make up one entire Mind Soul Life and Thought Wherefore the Sense of the Ancient Incorporealists seems to have been as follows That there are in Nature Two Kinds of Substances specifically Differing from one another The First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bulks or Tumours a meer Passive Thing The Second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-Active Powers or Vertues or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Energetick Nature The Former of these is nothing else but Magnitude or Extension not as an Abstract Notion of the Mind but as a Thing Really Existing without it For when it is called Res Extensa the meaning is not as if the Res were One thing and the Extension thereof Another but that it is Extension or Distance Really Existing or the Thing thereof without the Mind and not the Notion Now this in the Nature of it is Nothing but Aliud Extra Aliud One thing without Another and therefore perfect Alterity Disunity and Divisibility So that no Extensum whatsoever of any Sensible Bigness is Truly and Really One Substance but a Multitude or Heap of Substances as Many as there are Parts into which it is Divisible Moreover one Part of this Magnitude always Standing Without another it is an Essential Property thereof to be Antitypous or Impenetrable that is to Justle or Shoulder out all other Extended Substance from Penetrating into it and Co-Existing with it so as to Possess and take up the same Room or Space One yard of Distance or of Length Breadth and Thickness cannot possibly be added to another without making the Whole Extension Double to what it was before since one of them must of necessity stand without the other One Magnitude cannot Imbibe or Swallow up another nor can there be any Penetration of Dimensions Moreover Magnitude or Extension as such is meer Outside or Outwardness it hath nothing Within no Self Active Power or Vertue all its Activity being either Keeping out or Hindering any other Extended Thing from Penetrating into it which yet it doth meerly by its being Extended and therefore not so much by any Physical Efficiency as a Logical Necessity or else Local Motion to which it is also but Passive no Body or Extension as such being able to Move it self or Act upon it self Wherefore were there no other Substance in the World besides this Magnitude or Extension there could be no Motion or Action at all in it no Life Cogitation Consciousness No Intellection Appetite or Volition which things do yet make up the Greatest part of the Universe but all would be a dead Heap or Lump nor could any one Substance Penetrate another and Co-Exist in the same Place with it From whence it follows of necessity that besides this Outside Bulky Extension and Tumourous Magnitude there must be another kind of Entity whose Essential Attribute or Character is Life Self-Activity or Cogitation Which first that it is not a meer Mode or Accident of Magnitude and Extension is plain from hence because Cogitation may be as well Conceived without Extension as Extension without Cogitation whereas no Mode of any thing can be Conceived without that whereof it is a Mode And since there is unquestionably much more of Entity in Life and Cogitation than there is in meer Extension or Magnitude which is the Lowest of all Being and next to Nothing it must needs be Imputed to the meer Delusion and Imposture of Imagination that men are so prone to think this Extension or Magnitude to be the only Substance and all other things besides the meer Accidents thereof Generable out of it and Corruptible again into it For though that Secondary and Participated Life as it is called in the Bodies of Animals be indeed a meer Accident and such as may be Present or Absent without the Destruction of its Subject yet can there be no Reason given why the Primary and Original Life it self should not be as well a Substantial Thing as meer Extension and Magnitude Again that Extension and Life or Cogitation are not Two Inadequate Conceptions neither of one and the self same Substance considered brokenly and by piecemeal as if either all Extension had Life and Cogitation Essentially belonging to it as the Hylozoists conclude or at least all Life and Cogitation had Extension and consequently all Souls and Minds and even the Deity it self were either Extended Life and Cogitation or Living and Thinking Extension there being nothing in Nature Unextended but Extension the only Entity so that whatsoever is devoid thereof is ipso facto Absolutely Nothing This I say will also appear from hence because as hath been already declared we cannot Conceive a Life or Mind or Thought nor any thing at all belonging to a Cogitative Being as such as Wisdom Folly Vertue Vice c. to be Extended into Length Breadth and Thickness and to be Mensurable by Inches Feet and Yards From whence it may be concluded that Extension and Life or Cogitation are no Inadequate Conceptions of One and the self same thing since they cannot be Complicated together into one but that they are distinct Substances from each other Lives and Minds are such Tight and Compact Things in themselves and
if no Body from Eternity was Ever able to Move it self and yet there must of necessity be some Active Cause of that Motion which is in the World since it could not Cause it self then is there unquestionably some Other Substance besides Body which having a Power of Moving Matter was the First Cause of Motion it Self being Vnmoved Moreover it is certain from hence also That there is another Species of Action distinct from Local Motion and such as is not Heterochinesie but Autochinesie or Self-Activity For since the Local Motion of Body is Essentially Heterochinesie not Caused by the Substance it self Moving but by something else Acting upon it that Action by which Local Motion is First Caused cannot be it self Local Motion but must be Autochinesie or Self-Activity That which is not a Passion from any other Agent but springs from the immediate Agent it self which Species of Action is called Cogitation All the Local Motion that is in the World was First Caused by some Cogitative or Thinking Being which not Acted upon by any thing without it nor at all Locally Moved but only Mentally is the Immoveable Mover of the Heaven or Vortices So that Cogitation is in Order of Nature before Local Motion and Incorporeal before Corporeal Substance the Former having a Natural Imperium upon the Latter And now have we not only Confuted the Ninth Atheistick Argument from Motion but also Demonstrated against the Democritick Atheists from their own Principle that there is an Incorporeal and Cogitative Substance the First Immoveable Mover of the Heavens and Vortices that is an Incorporeal Deity But the Democritick Atheist will yet make a futher Attempt to prove that there can be Nothing Self-Moving or Self-Active and that no Thinking Being could be a First Cause He laying his Foundation in this Principle That Nothing taketh its Beginning from it self but from the Action of some other Agent without it From whence he would infer that Cogitation it self is Heterochinesie the Passion of the Thinker and the Action of something without it no Cogitation ever rising up of it self without a Cause and that Cogitation is indeed Nothing but Local Motion or Mechanism and all Living Vnderstanding Beings Machines Moved from without and then make this Conclusion That therefore no Vnderstanding Being could possibly be a First Cause He further adding also that no Vnderstanding Being as such can be Perfectly Happy neither as the Deity is supposed to be because Dependent upon Something without it and this is the Tenth Atheistick Argumentation Where we shall First consider that which the Democritick Atheist makes his Fundamental Principle or Common Notion to disprove all Autochinesie or Self-Activity by That Nothing taketh Beginning from it self but from the Action of some other thing without it Which Axiom if it be Understood of Substantial Things then is it indeed acknowledged by us to be unquestionably true it being the same with this That No Substance which once was not could ever possibly cause it self or bring it self into Being but must take its Beginning from the Action of something else but then it will make Nothing at all against Theism As it is likewise True That No Action whatsoever and therefore no Cogitation taketh Beginning from it self or causeth it self to be but is always produced by some Substantial Agent but this will no way advantage the Atheist neither Wherefore if he would direct his Force against Theism he ought to understand this Proposition thus That No Action whatsoever taketh Beginning from the Immediate Agent which is the Subject of it but from the Action of some other thing without it or That Nothing can Move or Act otherwise then as it is Moved and Acted upon by something else But this is only to beg the Question or to Prove the thing in Dispute Identically That Nothing is Self-Active because Nothing can Act from it self Whereas it is in the mean time undeniably certain That there could not possibly be any Motion or Action at all in the Universe were there not something Self-Moving or Self-Active for as much as otherwise all that Motion or Action would be a Passion from Nothing and be Made without a Cause And whereas the Atheists would further prove that no Cogitation Taketh its Beginning from the Thinker but always from the Action of some other thing without it after this manner Because it is Conceivable why This Cogitation rather then that should start up at any time were there not some Cause for it without the Thinker Here in the first place we freely grant that our Humane Cogitations are indeed commonly Occasioned by the Incursions of Sensible Objects upon us as also that the Concatenations of those Thoughts and Phantasms in us which are distinguished from Sensations whether we be asleep or awake do many times depend upon Corporeal and Mechanical Causes in the Brain Notwithstanding which that all our Cogitations are Obtruded and Imposed upon us from without and that there is no Transition in our Thoughts at any time but such as had been before in Sense which the Democritick Atheist averrs this is a Thing which we absolutely deny For had we no Mastery at all over our Thoughts but they were all like Tennis Balls Bandied and Struck upon us as it were by Rackets from without then could we not steadily and constantly carry on any Designs and Purposes of Life But on the contrary that of Aristotle's is most true as will be elsewhere further Proved that Man and all Rational Beings are in some sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Principle of Actions subordinate to the Deity which they could not possibly be were they not also a Principle of Cogitations and had some Command over them but these were all as much determined by Causes without as the Motions of the Weathercock are The Rational Soul is it self an Active and Bubling Fountain of Thoughts that perpetual and Restless Desire which is as Natural and Essential to us as our very Life Continually Raising up and Protruding New and New Ones in us which are as it were Offered to us Besides which we have also a further Self Recollective Power and a Power of Determining and Fixing our Mind and Intention upon some certain Objects and of Ranging our Thoughts accordingly But the Atheist is here also to be taught yet a Further Lesson that an Absolutely Perfect Mind such as the Deity is supposed to be doth not as Aristotle writeth of it g d = fo Sometimes Vnderstand and sometime not Vnderstand it being Ignorant of Nothing nor Syllogizing about any thing but comprehending all Intelligibles with their Relations and Verities at once within it self and its Essence and Energie being the same Which Notion if it be above the Dull Capacity of Atheists who measure all Perfection by their own Scantling this is a thing that We cannot help But as for that Prodigious Paradox of Atheists that Cogitation it self is nothing but Local Motion or Mechanism we
not Made out of Fleshy Particles nor Bone out of Bony as Anaxagoras of old dreamed so may Life as they conceive be as well Made out of Lifeless Principles and Mind out of that which hath no Mind or Vnderstanding at all in it just as Syllables Pronounceable do result from Combinations of Letters some of which are Mutes and cannot by themselves be Pronounced at all others but Semi-Vocal And from hence do these Atheists Infer that there could be no Eternal Vnmade Life or Mind nor any that is Immortal or Incorruptible since upon the Dissolution of that Compages or Contexture of Matter from whence they Result they must needs Vanish into Nothing Wherefore according to them there hath probably sometime heretofore been no Life nor Vnderstanding at all in the Universe and there may Possibly be None again From whence the Conclusion is That Mind and Vnderstanding is no God or Principle in the Vniverse it being Essentially Factitious Native and Corruptible or as they express it in Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mortal from Mortal things as also That the Souls of men cannot subsist Separately after Death and walk up and down in Airy Bodies no more than the Form of a House or Tree after the Dissolution thereof can subsist by it self Separately or appear in some other Body But all this Foolery of Atheists hath been already Confuted we having before shewed that Life and Vnderstanding are Active Powers Vigours and Perfections that could never possibly result from meer Passive Bulk or Dead and Sensless Matter however Modified and Compounded because Nothing can come Effectively from Nothing Neither is there any Consequence at all in this that because Flesh is not made out of Fleshy Principles nor Bone out of Bony Red out of Red things nor Green out of Green therefore Life and Vnderstanding may as well be Compounded out of things Dead and Sensless because these are no Syllables or Complexions as the others are nor can either the Qualities of Heat and Cold Moist and Dry or else Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions however Combined together as Letters Spell them out and make them up but they are Simple and Primitive things And accordingly it hath been proved that there must of necessity be some Eternal Vnmade Life and Mind For though there be no necessity that there should be any Eternal Vnmade Red or Green because Red and Green may be Made out of things not Red nor Green they and all other Corporeal Qualities so called being but several Contextures of Matter or Combinations of Magnitudes Figures Sites and Motions causing those several Phancies in us and though there be no necessity that there should be Eternal Motion because if there were once no Motion at all in Matter but all Bodies Rested yet might Motion have been Produced by a Self Moving or Self Active Principle And Lastly though there be no necessity that there should be Eternal Vnmade Matter or Body neither because had there been once no Body at all yet might it be Made or Produced by a Perfect Omnipotent Incorporeal Being nevertheless is there an Absolute Necessity that there should be Eternal Vnmade Life and Mind because were there once no Life nor Mind at all these could never have been produced out of Matter altogether Lifeless and Mindless And though the Form of a House cannot possibly Exist Separately from the Matter and Substance thereof it being a Meer Accidental Thing resulting from such a Compages of Stone Timber and Morter yet are Humane Souls and Minds no such Accidental Forms of Compounded Matter but Active Substantial things that may therefore subsist Separately from these Bodies and Enliven other Bodies of a different Contexture And however some that are no Atheists be over prone to conceive Life Sense Cogitation and Consciousness in Brutes to be Generated out of Dead Sensless and Vnthinking Matter they being disposed thereunto by certain Mistaken Principles and ill Methods of Philosophy nevertheless is this unquestionably in it self a Seed of Atheism because if any Life Cogitation and Consciousness may be Produced out of Dead and Sensless Matter then can no Philosophy hinder but that all might have been so But the Democritick Atheists will yet venture further to deny that there is any thing in Nature Self-Moving or Self-Active but that whatsoever Moveth and Acteth was before Moved by something else and Made to Act thereby and again that from some other thing and So backward Infinitely from whence it would follow that there is no First in the Order of Causes but an Endless Retro-Infinity But as this is all one as to Affirm that there is no such thing at all as Life in the World but that the Universe is a Compages of Dead and Stupid Matter so has this Infinity in the Order of Causes been already exploded for an Absolute Impossibility Nevertheless the Atheists will here advance yet an Higber Paradox That all Action whatsoever and therefore Cogitation Phancy and Consciousness it self is Really Nothing else but Local Motion and Consequently not only Brute-Animals but also Men themselves meer Machins Which is an equal either Sottishness or Impudence as to assert a Triangle to be a Square or a Sphere a Cube Number to be Figure or any thing else to be any thing and it is Really all one as to affirm that there is indeed no such thing in our selves as Cogitation there being no other Action in Nature but Local Motion and Mechanism Furthermore the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists Universally agree in this that not only Sensations but also all the Cogitations of the Mind are the meer Passions of the Thinker and the Actions of Bodies Existing without upon him though they do not all declare themselves after the same manner herein For First the Democriticks conclude that Sense is Caused by certain Grosser Corporeal Effluvia streaming from the Surfaces of Bodies Continually and entering through the Nerves But that all other Cogitations of the Mind and mens either sleeping or waking Imaginations proceed from another sort of Simulachra Idols and Images of a more Fine and Subtle Contexture coming into the Brain not through those open Tubes or Channels of the Nerves but immediately through all the smaller Pores of the Body so that as we never have sense of Any thing but by means of those Grosser Corporeal Images obtruding themselves upon the Nerves so have we not the least Cogitation at any Time in our Mind neither which was not Caused by those Finer Corporeal Images and Exuvious Membranes or Effluvia rushing upon the Brain or Contexture of the Soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leucippus and Democritus determined that as well Noesis as Aisthesis Mental Cogitation as External Sensation was Caused by certain Corporeal Idols coming from Bodies without since neither Sensation nor Cogitation could otherwise possibly be produced And thus does Laertius also represent the sense of these Atheistick Philosophers that the Effluvia from Bodies called Idols were the only Causes
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
appears that there is no Reason at all for that Fear and Suspition of some That if the Souls of Brutes be Substantial and continue in Being after Death they must therefore needs go either to Heaven or Hell But as for that Supposed Possibility of their awakening again afterwards in some other Terrestial Bodies this seemeth to be no more than what is found by dayly Experience in the Course of Nature when the Silk-worm and other Worms dying are transformed into Butterflies For there is little Reason to doubt but that the same Soul which before Acted the Body of the Silk-worm doth afterward Act that of the Butterfly upon which account it is that this hath been made by Christian Theologers an Emblem of the Resurrection Hitherto have we declared Two several Opinions concerning the Substantial Souls of Brutes supposed therefore to have a Permanent Subsistence after Death one of Plato's and the Pythagorean's that when they are devested of these Gross Terrestrial Bodies they Live and have a Sense of themselves in Thin Aerial ones The other of such as Exploding these Aerial Vehicles of Brutes and allowing them none but Terrestrial Bodies affirm the Substances of them Surviving Death to continue in a State of Inactivity and Insensibility Sleep Silence or Stupor But now to say the Truth there is no Absolute Necessity that these Souls of Brutes because Substantial should therefore have a Permanent Subsistence after Death to all Eternity Because though it be True that no Substance once Created by God will of it self ever vanish into nothing yet is it true also that whatsoever was Created by God out of Nothing may possibly by him be Annihilated and Reduced to nothing again Wherefore when it is said that the Immortality of the Humane Soul is Demonstrable by Natural Reason the meaning hereof is no more than this that its Substantiality is so Demonstrable from whence it follows that it will Naturally no more perish or vanish into Nothing than the Substance of Matter it self and not that it is Impossible either for it or Matter by Divine Power to be Annihilated Wherefore the assurance that we have of our own Souls Immortality must depend upon something else besides their Substantiality namely a Faith also in the Divine Goodness that he will conserve in Being or not Annihilate all such Substances Created by him whose Permanent Subsistence is neither Inconsistent with his own Attributes nor the Good of the Vniverse as this of Rational Souls unquestionably is not they having both Morality and Liberty of Will and thereby being capable of Rewards and Punishments and Consequently Fit Objects for the Divine Justice to display it self upon But for ought we can be certain the case may be otherwise as to the Souls of Brute Animals devoid both of Morality and Liberty of Will and therefore Uncapable of Reward and Punishment That though they will not Naturally of themselves vanish into Nothing yet having been Created by God in the Generations of the Respective Animals and had some enjoyment of themselves for a time they may by him again be as well Annihilated in their Deaths and Corruptions and if this be Absolutely the Best then doubtless is it so And to this seemeth agreeable the Opinion of Porphyrius amongst the Philosophers when he affirmed every Irrational Power or Soul to be resolved into the Life of the Whole that is Retracted and Resumed into the Deity and so Annihilated as to its Creaturely Nature Though possibly there may be another Interpretation of that Philosophers meaning here Viz. That all the Sensitive Souls of Brutes are Really but one and the same Mundane Soul as it were Out-flowing and variously Displaying it self and Acting upon all the several parts of Matter that are capable to receive it but at their Deaths retiring again back into it self But we have Sufficiently retunded the Force of that Objection against the Ingenerability of all Souls and the Substantiality of those of Brutes also from their consequent Permanence after Death we having shewed That notwithstanding this their Substantiality there is no Absolute Necessity of their Perpetuity after Death and Permanency to all Eternity or else that if they do continue to Subsist God Annihilating no Substance unless they have Aerial Vehicles to Act they must remain in a State of Inactivity and Insensibility Silence or Sleep Now therefore if no Souls no Life nor Cogitation could possibly be ever Generated out of Dead and Sensless Matter they being not meer Accidents but Substantial things which must in this case have come from Nothing then either all Souls Existed of themselves from Eternity or else there must of Necessity be some Eternal Vnmade Life and Mind from whence all the other Lives and Minds were derived And that this was the Doctrine of the Ancient Theists That no Soul or Mind no Life or Vnderstanding was ever Generated out of Matter but all Produced by the Deity the Sole Fountain of Life and Understanding might be here proved were it needful at large by sundry Testimonies but it may sufficiently appear from those Verses of Virgil First in his Sixth Aenead where after he had spoken of God as a Spirit and Mind diffused thorough out the whole world he addeth Inde hominum pecudumque genus Vitaeque Volantum Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore Pontus That from thence are the Lives of all Men and Beasts Birds flying in the Air and Monsters swimming in the Sea And again in his Georgicks where after these words Deum namque ire per omnes Terrasque Tractusque Maris Coelumque profundum That God passeth through all Tracts of Earths Seas and Heavens He subjoyneth Hinc Pecudes Armenta Viros genus omne Ferarum Quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere Vitas Scilicet huc Reddi deinde Resoluta Referri Omnia nec Morti esse locum And from Hence not only Men but also all manner of Brute Animals and Beasts when produced into this world do every one derive their Lives or Souls as also at their Deaths they render the same back again to him in whose hand or custody they remain undestroyed so that there is no place any where in the world left for Death This was therefore undoubtedly the Genuine Doctrine of the Ancient Theists however some of late have Deviated and Swerved from it That no Life was Generated out of Matter but all Created by the Deity or Derived from it the Sole Fountain of Lives and Souls And it is a Truth so evident That Life being Substantial and not a meer Accidental thing Generated and Corrupted there must therefore of Necessity be Some Eternal Vnmade Life and Mind from whence all other Lives and Minds are derived That the Hylozoick Atheists themselves in this far wiser than the Atomicks were fully convinced thereof Nevertheless being strongly possessed with that Atheistick Prejudice that there is no other Substance besides Body they Attribute this first Original Vnmade Life and Understanding to
all Matter as such but without Animal Consciousness as an Essential part thereof or Inadequate Conception of it From which Fundamental Life of Nature in Matter Modified by Organization they phancy the Lives of all Animals and Men to have proceeded So that though the Modificated Lives of Animals and Men as such according to them be Accidental things Generated and Corrupted produced out of Nothing and reduced to Nothing again yet this Fundamental Life of Matter which is the Basis upon which they stand being Substantial is also Eternal and Incorruptible These Hylozoists therefore to avoid a Deity Suppose every Atom of Sensless Matter to have been from all Eternity Infallibly Omniscient that is to know all things without either Errour or Ignorance and to have a Knowledge before Sense and Vnderived from Sensibles quite contrary to the Doctrine of the Atomick Atheists who make all Knowledge Sense or the Product thereof though without any Animal Consciousness and Self Perception But as nothing can be more Prodigiously Absurd than thus to attribute Infallible Omniscience to every Atom of Matter so is it also directly Contradictious to suppose Perfect Knowledge Wisdom or Vnderstanding without any Consciousness or Self Perception Consciousness being Essential to Cogitation as also that the Substantial and Fundamental Life in men and other Animals should never Perish and yet Notwithstanding their Souls and Personalities in Death utterly vanish into Nothing Moreover this Hypothesis can never possibly Salve the Phaenomenon of Men and Animals neither not only because no Organization or Modification of Matter whatsoever could ever produce Consciousness and Self Perception in what was before Inconscious but also because every Smallest Atom thereof being supposed to be a Percipient by it self and to have a Perfect Life and Vnderstanding of its own there must be in every one Man and Animal not one but a Heap or Commonwealth of innumerable Percipients Lastly whereas these Hylozoick Atheists make every Atom of Matter Omniscient but nothing at all Omnipotent or assert Perfect Knowledge without any Perfect Power a Knowledge without Sense and Vnderived from Sensibles we demand of them where the Intelligibles or Objects of this Knowledge are and whence the Ideas thereof are derived for since they proceed not in a way of Passion from Sensibles Existing without nor could result from those Atoms neither as Comprehending themselves they must needs Come from Nothing and many of them at least be the Conceptions of Nothing There cannot possibly be any other Original by the wit of man devised of Knowledge and Vnderstanding than from an Absolutely Perfect and Omnipotent Being Comprehending it self and the Extent of its own Infinite Power or all Possibilities of things that is all Intelligibles But there can be but One such Omnipotent Being and therefore no more than One Original and Eternal Vnmade Mind from whence all the other Minds are Derived Wherefore this Hylozoick Atheism is nothing but the Breaking and Crumbling of the Simple Deity One Perfect Understanding Being into Matter and all the several Atoms of it And now have we made it manifest that these Atheists are so far from being able to disprove a God from this Topick of Cogitation Knowledge or Vnderstanding that they cannot possibly Salve the Phaenomenon thereof without a God it indeed affording Invincible Arguments of his Existence For First If no Life or Cogitation Soul or Mind can possibly Spring out of Matter or Body devoid of Life and Vnderstanding and which is nothing but a Thing Extended into Length Breadth and Thickness then is it so far from being True that all Life and Vnderstanding is Junior to Sensless Matter and the Off-spring thereof that of necessity either all Lives and Souls were Self-Existent from Eternity or else there must be One Perfect Vnmade Life and Mind from whence all other Imperfect ones were derived there must be an Eternal Knowledge before Sense and Sensibles which is that that hath printed the Stamps and Signatures of it self upon the Matter of the whole world Indeed nothing can be more certain than this that all Knowledge and Vnderstanding in Our selves is not a meer Passion from Singular Sensibles or Bodies Existing without us as the forementioned Atheists also conclude from whence they would again Infer that Knowledge as such is in its own Nature Junior to Sensibles and the meer Creature of them and Consequently no Creator There being nothing which comes to us from the Objects of Sense without but Only Local Motion and Pressure and there being other Objects of the Mind besides Singular Sensibles not only all Vniversals but also such Intelligibles as never were nor can be in Sense Now if our Humane Knowledge and Vnderstanding be not a Passion from things Existing without us then can it have no other Original than in way of Participation from a Perfect Mind the Mind of an Infinitely Fecund and Powerful Being comprehending It self and in It self all things all the Possibilities of things before they were Made their Respects and the Verities belonging to them So that a Perfect Omnipotent Being together with the Possibilities of things contained in it is the First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Intelligible or Object of Mind and Vnderstanding by which all other Singulars are Understood And were there no such Perfect Infinitely Fecund and Powerful Being there could have been no Mind or Understanding at all As also were there no Perfect Mind viz. That of an Omnipotent Being Comprehending It self and all Possibilities of things vertually contained in it all the Knowledge and Intelligible Ideas of our Imperfect Minds must needs have Sprung from Nothing And thus is the Existence of a God again Demonstrated from that Phaenomenon of Knowledge or Vnderstanding HAving quite Routed and Vanquished the Atheists Main Body we shall now blow away the Remainder of their weaker and scattered Forces viz. Their Objections against Providence their Queries and their Arguments from Interest with a Breath or two Their First Objection is against Providence as to the Fabrick of the World from the Faultiness of the Mundane System Intellectually considered and in Order to Ends Quia tantâ stat Praedita Culpâ That Because it is so Ill-Made therefore it could not be made by a God Where the Atheist takes it for granted that whosoever asserts a God or a Perfect Mind to be the Original of all things does therefore ipso facto suppose All things to be Well Made and as they Should be And this doubtless was the Sense of all the Ancient Theologers however some Modern Theists deviate there from these Concluding the Perfection of the Deity not at all to consist in Goodness but in Power and Arbitrary Will only As if to have a Will determined by a Rule or Reason of Good were the Virtue of Weak Impotent and Obnoxious Beings only or of such as have a Superior over them to give Law to them that is of Creatures but the Prerogative of a Being Irresistibly Powerful
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
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
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
Aether Animated or the subtle Fiery Substance that pervadeth all things the God of the Heracliticks and Stoicks or the Sun the Cleanthaean God Page 455 456 Though Macrobius refer so many of the Pagan Gods to the Sun and doubtless himself lookt upon it as a Great God yet does he deny it to be Omnipotentissimum Deum the Most Omnipotent God of all he asserting a Trinity of Divine Hypostases Superiour to it in the Platonick way Page 456 457 That the Persians themselves the most Notorious Sun-worshippers did notwithstanding acknowledge a Deity Superiour to it and the Maker thereof proved from Eubulus As also that the Persians Countrey-Jupiter was not the Sun confirmed from Herodotus Xenophon Plutarch and Curtius Cyrus his Lord God of Heaven who commanded him to build him a house at Jerusalem the same with the God of the Jews Page 458 That as besides the Scythians the Ethiopians in Strabo and other Barbarian Nations anciently acknowledged One Sovereign Deity so is this the Belief of the generality of the Pagan World to this very day Page 458 459 XXVIII Besides Themistius and Symmachus asserting One and the same Thing to be worshipped in all Religions though after different ways and that God Almighty was not displeased with this Variety of his Worship Plutarch's Memorable Testimony That as the same Sun Moon and Stars are common to all so were the same Gods And that not onely the Egyptians but also all other Pagan Nations worshipped One Reason and Providence ordering all together with its Inferiour Subservient Powers and Ministers though with different Rites and Symbols Page 459 460 Titus Livius also of the same Perswasion That the Same Immortal Gods were Worshipped every where namely One Supreme and his Inferiour Ministers however the Diversity of Rites made them seem Different Page 460 Two Egyptian Philosophers Heraiscus and Asclepiades professedly insisting upon the same thing not onely as to the Egyptians but also the other Pagan Nations the Latter of them Asclepiades having written a Book Entitled The Symphony or Harmony of all Theologies or Religions To wit in these Two Fundamentalls That there is One Supreme God and besides him Other Inferiour Gods his Subservient Ministers to be worshipped From whence Symmachus and other Pagans concluded That the Differences of Religion were not to be scrupulously stood upon but every man ought to worship God according to the Law and Religion of his own Country The Pagans Sense thus declared by Stobaeus That the Multitude of Gods is the work of the Demiurgus made by Him together with the World Page 461 XXIX That the Pagan Theists must needs acknowledge One Supreme Deity further Evident from hence Because they generally believed the whole World to be One Animal Actuated and Governed by One Soul To deny the Worlds Animation and to be an Atheist all one in the sense of the Ancient Pagans Against Gassendus that Epicurus denyed the Worlds Animation upon no other account but onely because he denyed a Providential Deity This whole Animated World or the Soul thereof to the Stoicks and others The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The First and Highest God Page 462 Other Pagan Theologers who though asserting likewise the Worlds Animation and a Mundane Soul yet would not allow this to be the Supreme Deity they conceiving the First and Highest God to be no Soul but an Abstract and Immoveable Mind Superiour to it And to these the Animated World and Mundane Soul but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Second God Page 463 But the Generality of those who went Higher than the Soul of the World acknowledged also a Principle Superior to Mind or Intellect called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The One and The Good and so asserted a Trinity of Divine Hypostases Subordinate Monad Mind and Soul So that the Animated World or Soul thereof was to some of these but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Third God ibid. The Pagans whether holding Soul or Mind or Monad to be the Highest acknowledged onely One in each of those severall Kinds as the Head of all and so always reduced the Multiplicity of things to a Unity or under a Monarchy Page 464 Observed That to the Pagan Theologers Vniversally the World was no Dead Thing or meer Machin and Automaton but had Life or Soul diffused thorough it all Those being taxed by Aristotle as Atheists who made the world to consist of nothing but Monads or Atoms Dead and Inanimate Nor was it quite Cut off from the Supreme Deity how much soever Elevated above the same the Forementioned Trinity of Monad Mind and Soul being supposed to be most intimately united together and indeed all but One Entire Divinity Displayed in the World and Supporting the same Page 464 465 XXX The Sense of the Hebrews in this Controversy That according to Philo the Pagan Polytheism consisted not in worshipping Many Independent Gods and Partial Creators of the World but besides the One Supreme other Created Beings Superior to men Page 465 466 That the same also was the Sense of Flavius Josephus according to whom This the Doctrine of Abraham That the Supreme God was alone to be Religiously Worshipped and no Created thing with him Aristaeus his Assertion in Josephus That the Jews and Greeks worshipped one and the same Supreme God called by the Greeks Zene as giving Life to all Page 466 467 The Latter Rabbinical Writers generally of this Perswasion That the Pagans acknowledging One Supreme and Universal Numen worshipped all their Other Gods as his Ministers or as Mediators and Intercessors betwixt him and them And this Condemned by them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strange Worship or Idolatry The first Commandment thus interpreted by Maimonides and Baal Ikkarim Thou shalt not set up besides me any Inferiour Gods as Mediators nor Religiously Worship my Ministers or Attendants The Miscarriage of Solomon and other Kings of Israel and Judah This That believing the Existence of the One Supreme God they thought it was for his Honour that his Ministers also should be worshipped Abravanel his Ten Species of Idolatry all of them but so Many several Modes of Creature-Worship and no mention amongst them made of many Independent Gods Page 467 c. Certain Places of Scripture also Interpreted by Rabbinical Writers to this purpose That the Pagan Nations generally acknowledged One Sovereign Numen Page 469 470 The Jews though agreeing with the Greeks and other Pagans in this That the Stars were all Animated nevertheless denyed them any Religious Worship Page 470 471 XXXI This same thing plainly confirmed from the New Testament That the Gentiles or Pagans however Polytheists and Idolaters were not Vnacquainted with the True God First from the Epistle to the Romans where that which is Knowable of God is said to have been manifest amongst the Pagans and they to have Known God though they did not Glorify him as God but hold the Truth in Unrighteousness by reason of their Polytheism and Idolatry
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
such as made the World to be the Third God Such a Trinity a Confounding of God and Creature together Page 551 552 And that this an Adulterated Notion of the Trinity evident from hence because no Reason why these Philosophers should stop here since the Sun Moon and Stars and their other Generated Gods differ not in Kind but onely in Degree from the World Page 552 Neither will this excuse them that they understood this chiefly of the Soul of the World Since if there were such a Mundane Soul as together with the VVorld made up One Animal this it self must needs be a Creature also ibid. This probably the Reason why Philo though acknowledging the Divine Word as a Second God and Second Cause yet no-where speaketh of a Third God lest he should thereby seem to Deify the whole Created World Though he call God also in some Sense the Soul of the World too whether meaning thereby his First or his Second God So that Philo seems to have acknowledged onely a Duality and not a Trinity of Divine Hypostases Page 552 553 Another Depravation of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theology of Divine Tradition or Cabbala of the Trinity That some of these Platonists and Pythagoreans concluding all those several Idea's of the Divine Intellect or Archetypall World to be so many distinct Substances Animals and Gods have thereby made their Second Hypostasis not One but a Heap of Innumerable Gods and Hypostases and consequently destroyed their Trinity Page 553 Though Philo again here Platonized so far as to suppose an Incorporeal Heaven and Earth and an Intelligible Sun Moon and Stars to have been made before the Corporeal and Sensible yet does he no-where declare them to be so many distinct Substances and Animals much less Gods but on the contrary censures that for Pagan Idolatry This Pretence of worshipping the Divine Idea's in all Sensible things that which gave Sanctuary and Protection to the Foulest and Sottishest of all the Pagan Idolatries The Egyptians worshipping Brute Animals thus and the Greeks the Parts of the World Inanimate and Natures of Things Page 554 A Third Depravation or Adulteration of the Divine Cabbala of the Trinity by Proclus and other latter Platonists asserting an innumerable Company of Henades Particular Unities Superiour to the First Nous or Intellect their Second Hypostasis as also innumerable Noes Substantiall Minds or Intellects Superiour to the First Psyche their Third Hypostasis Page 555 These Noes seem to be asserted by Plotinus also as likewise the Henades and Agathotetes were by Simplicius Page 555 556 A Swarm of Innumerable Pagan Gods from hence besides their Intelligible Gods or Idea's Particular Henades and Noes Unities and Intellects ibid. Now since these Particular Henades and Noes of theirs must needs be Creatures the Trinity of Proclus and such others nothing but a Scale or Ladder of Nature wherein God and the Creature are Confounded together the Juncture or Commissure betwixt them being no-where discernible as if they differ'd onely in Degrees A gross Mistake and Adulteration of the Ancient Cabbala of the Trinity Page 556 557 This that Platonick or rather Pseudo-Platonick Trinity by us opposed to the Christian viz. such a Trinity as confounds the Differences betwixt God and the Creature bringing the Deity by degrees down lower and lower and at length scattering it into all the Animated Parts of the World A Foundation for Infinite Polytheism Cosmolatry or World-Idolatry and Creature-Worship Hence the Platonists and Pythagoreans the Fittest men to be Champions for Paganism against Christianity Page 557 558 Concerning the Christian Trinity Three things to be Observed First that it is not a Trinity of meer Names and Words nor Logicall Notions or Inadequate Conceptions of God this Doctrine having been condemned by the Christian Church in Sabellius and others but a Trinity of Hypostases Subsistences or Persons Page 558 559 The Second thing Observable in the Christian Trinity That though the Second Hypostasis thereof were Begotten from the First and the Third Proceedeth both from the First and Second yet neither of them Creatures First because not made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or from an Antecedent Non-existence brought forth into Being but both of them Coeternall with the Father Secondly because all Necessarily existent and Un-Annihilable Thirdly because all of them Universall or Infinite and Creatours of all other Particular Beings Page 559 The Third Observable as to the Christian Trinity That the Three Hypostases thereof are all Truly and Really One God not onely by Reason of Agreement of Will but also of a Mutuall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Permeation of each other and Inexistence Though no Instance of the like Unity to be found elsewhere in Nature yet since two distinct Substances Corporeal and Incorporeal make one Man and Person in our Selves much more may Three Divine Hypostases be One God ibid. Though much of Mystery in the Christian Trinity yet nothing of plain Contradiction to Reason therein that is no Nonsense and Impossibility The Ill Design of those who represent the Christian Trinity as absolutely Contradictious to Reason that they may thereby debauch mens Vnderstandings and make them swallow down other things which unquestionably are such Page 560 The Christian Trinity much more agreeable to Reason then the Pseudo-Platonick in the Three Particulars before mentioned First its making their Third Hypostasis the Animated World or Mundane Soul Which not onely too great a Leap betwixt the Second and Third but also a gross Debasement of the Deity and Confounding it with the Creature a Foundation for World-Idolatry and worshipping Inanimate Things as Parts and Members of God ibid. God to Origen but Quasi Anima Mundi As it were the Soul of the World and not Truly and Properly such All the Perfection of this Notion to be attributed to God but not the Imperfection thereof Page 560 561 Certain that according to the more refined Platonists their Third Divine Hypostasis not a Mundane but Supra-mundane Soul and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Opificer of the whole World So to Amelius Porphyrius and Plotinus A Double Soul of the World to Plato likewise The Third Hypostasis to these no Creature but a Creatour Page 562 So in their Second Particular whereby the forementioned Pseudo-Platonick Trinity no Trinity its making all the Idea's and Archetypal Paradigms of things so many Hypostases Animals and Gods This a Monstrous Extravagancy Not to be doubted but that Plato well understood these Idea's to be Nothing but Noemata or Conceptions of the Divine Mind existing no-where apart by themselves however called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Essences or Substances because not such Accidental and Evanid things as our Humane Thoughts are they being the Standing and Eternall Objects of all Science As also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Animals to signify that they were not meer Dead Forms as Pictures upon Paper or Carved Statues And thus did not onely Amelius understand S. John
Incomprehensible from whence they infer him to be a Non-Entity Here perhaps it may be Granted in a right Sense that whatsoever is altogether Unconceivable is either in It self or at least to Vs Nothing How that of Protagoras That Every man is the measure of all things to himself in his Sense false Whatsoever any man 's shallow understanding cannot clearly comprehend not therefore to be presently expunged out of the Catalogue of Beings Nevertheless according to Aristotle the Soul and Mind in a manner All things This a Crystalline Globe or Notional World that hath some Image in it of whatsoever is contained in the Real Globe of Being Page 638 But this Absolutely False That whatsoever cannot be fully Comprehended by us is therefore utterly Unconceivable and consequently Nothing For we cannot fully Comprehend Our selves nor have such an Adequate Conception of any Substance as perfectly to Master and Conquer the same That of the Scepticks so far True That there is Something Incomprehensible in the Essence of Every thing even of Body it self Truth Bigger then our Minds Proper to God Almighty who alone is wise perfectly to Comprehend the Essences of all things But it follows not from hence that therefore we have no Idea nor Conception at all of any thing We may have a Notion or Idea of a Perfect Being though we cannot fully Comprehend the same by Our Imperfect Minds as we may See and Touch a Mountain though we cannot Enclasp it all round within our Arms. This therefore a False Theorem of the Atheists That whatsoever cannot be fully Comprehended by Mens Imperfect Vnderstandings is an Absolute Non-Entity Page 638 639 Though God more Incomprehensible then other Things because of his Transcendent Perfection yet hath he also more of Conceptibility as the Sun though dazling our Sight yet hath more of Visibility also then any other Object The Dark Incomprehensibility of the Deity like the Azure Obscurity of the Transparent Aether not any thing Absolutely in it self but onely Relative to us Page 639 640 This Incomprehensibility of the Deity so far from being an Argument against its Existence that certain on the Contrary were there Nothing Incomprehensible to our Imperfect Minds there could be no God Every thing Apprehended by some Internal Congruity The Scantness and Imperfection of our Narrow Understandings must needs make them Asymmetral or Incommensurate to what Absolutely Perfect Page 640 Nature it self Intimates That there is Something Vastly Bigger then our Mind and Thoughts by those Passions Implanted in us of Devout Veneration Adoration and Admiration with Ecstasie and Pleasing Horrour That of the Deity which cannot enter into the Narrow Vessels of our Minds must be otherwise apprehended by their being Plunged into it or Swallowed up and Lost in it We have a Notion or Conception of a Perfect Being though we cannot fully Comprehend the same because our selves being Imperfect must needs be Incommensurate thereunto Thus no Reason at all in the Second Atheistick Pretence against the Idea of God and his Existence from his Confessed Incomprehensibility ibid. The Third follows That Infinity supposed to be Essentiall to the Deity is a thing Perfectly Unconceivable and therefore an Impossibility and Non-Entity Some Passages of a Modern Writer to this purpose The meaning of them That there is Nothing of Philosophick Truth in the Idea or Attributes of God nor any other Sense in the words then onely to signify the Veneration and Astonishment of mens own Minds That the word Infinite signifies Nothing in the Thing it self so called but onely the Inability of our Understandings and Admiration And since God by Theists is denied to be Finite but cannot be Infinite therefore an Unconceivable Nothing Thus another Learned Well-willer to Atheism That we have no Idea of Infinite and therefore not of God Which in the Language of Atheists all one as to say that He is a Non-Entity Page 640 641 Answer This Argument That there can be nothing Infinite and therefore no God proper to the Modern and Neoterick Atheists onely but Repugnant to the Sense of the Ancients Anaximander's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Infinite Matter though Melissus his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the True Deity Formerly both Theists and Atheists agreed in this That there must be Something or other Infinite either an Infinite Mind or Infinite Matter The ancient Atheists also asserted a Numericall Infinity of Worlds Thus do Atheists Confute or Contradict Atheists Page 641 642 That the Modern Atheists do no less Contradict Plain Reason also and their very Selves then they do their Predecessours when they would disprove a God from hence Because there can be Nothing Infinite For First Certain that there was something or other Infinite in Duration or Eternal without Beginning Because If there had been once Nothing there could never have been Any thing But hardly any Atheists can be so Sottish as in good earnest to think there was once Nothing at all but afterward Sensless Matter Happened to Be. Notorious Impudence in them who assert the Eternity of Matter to make this an Argument against the Existence of a God Because Infinite Duration without Beginning an Impossibility Page 642 643 A Concession to the Atheists of these Two Things That we neither have a Phantasm of any Infinite because there was never any in Sense and that Infinity is not fully Comprehensible by Finite Understandings neither But since Mathematically Certain That there was something Infinite in Duration Demonstrated from hence against Atheists That there is Something Really Existing which we have neither any Phantasm of nor yet can fully Comprehend in our Minds ibid. Further Granted That as for Infinity of Number Magnitude and Time without beginning as we have no Phantasm nor full Comprehension of them so have we neither any Intelligible Idea Notion or Conception From whence it may be Concluded That they are Non-Entities Number Infinite in Aristotle onely in a Negative Sense because we can never come to an End thereof by Addition For which very Reason also there cannot possibly be any Number Positively Infinite since One or More may always be Added No Magnitude so Great neither but that a Greater may be Supposed By Infinite Space to be Vnderstood Nothing but a Possibility of more and more Body further and further Infinitely by Divine Power or that the World could never be made so Great as that God was not able to make it still Greater This Potential Infinity or Indefinity of Body seems to be mistaken for an Actual Infinity of Space Lastly no Infinity of Time Past because then there must needs be Time Past which never was Present An Argument of a Modern Writer Reason therefore Concludes neither the World nor Time to have been Infinite in Past Duration Page 643 644 Here will the Atheist think he has got a Great Advantage for disproving the Existence of a God Thâ—y who thus take away the Eternity of the World taking away also the Eternity of a God As
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
Modifications thereof Causing Different Phancies in us and this an Anomoeomery or Dissimilar Atomology the Atoms thereof being Devoid of Qualities Those Simple Elements or Letters in Nature's Alphabet out of which variously Combined these Philosophers Spelled out or Compounded all the Syllables and Words or Complexions of Corporeall Things Nothing but Figure Site Motion Rest and Magnitude of Parts Were Qualities and Forms Reall Entities distinct from these and not Prae-Existing as Anaxagoras dreamed they must then have come from Nothing in Naturall Generations which Impossible Page 742 743 Another Improvement of this Principle Nothing out of Nothing made by the Italick Philosophers That the Souls of Animals especially Humane since they could not Possibly result from the meer Modifications of Matter Figure Site Motion c. were not Produced in Generations nor Annihilated in Deaths and Corruptions but being Substantiall things did Prae and Post Exist This set down as the Controversy betwixt Atheists and Theists in Lucretius Whether Souls were Generated or Insinuated into Bodies Generations and Corruptions of Animals to these Pythagoreans but Anagrammatical Transpositions That those Philosophers who asserted the Prae-Existence and Ingenerability of Souls did not therefore Suppose them to have been Self-Existent and Uncreated but derived them all from the Deity Thus Proclus though maintaining the Eternity of Souls with the World The Ingenerability of Souls in Plato's Timaeus no more then this that they were not Generated out of Matter and for this Cause also were they called Principles in the same Sense as Matter was so accounted Souls therefore to Plato Created by God though not In the Generation of Animals but Before Page 743 745 Saint Austine himself Sometime Staggering and Sceptical in the Point of Prae-Existence That we have a Philosophick Certainty of no more then this That Souls were Created by God out of Nothing Prae-Existing some time or other either In Generations or Before them That unless Brutes be meer Machines the Reason the same also concerning Brutish Souls That these not Generated out of Matter but Created sometime or other by the Deity as well as the Matter of their Bodies was Page 745 That all these Three Forementioned Particulars wherein it is True that Nothing can Possibly come from Nothing are reducible to this One Generall Proposition That Nothing can be Caused by Nothing which will no way clash with the Divine Omnipotence or Creative Power as shall be shewed afterwards but Confirm the same But those same words Nothing out of Nothing may carry another Sense when that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Out of Nothing is not taken Causally but onely to signify the Terminus A Quo the Term From which or an Antecedent Non-Existence and then the meaning thereof will be That Nothing which before was Not could afterwards by any Power whatsoever be brought into Being And this the Sense of the Democritick and Epicurean Objectors viz. That no Reall Entity can be Made or Brought out of Non-Existence into Being and therefore the Creative Power of Theists an Impossibility ibid. Our Second Undertaking in way of Answer hereunto To shew That Nothing out of Nothing in this Sense is False as also That were it True yet it would make no more against Theism then it doth against Atheism and therefore ought not to be used by Atheists as an Argument against a God If this Vniversally True That Nothing at all which once was Not could ever be bâ—ought into Being then could there be no Making nor Causing at all no Motion nor Action Mutation or Generation But our selves have a Power of Producing New Cogitation in our Minds and New Motion in our Bodies Wherefore Atheists forced to restrain this Proposition to Substantialls onely And here some Deceived with the Equivocation in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Out of Nothing which may be taken either Causally or else to signify the Term From Which that is From an Antecedent Non-Existence they confounding both these together whereof the First onely True the Latter False Again Others Staggered with the Plausibility of this Proposition Partly because no Artificiall thing as a House or Garment can be made by Men but out of Prae-Existing Matter and Partly because Ancient Physiologers maintained the same also concerning Naturall Generations That no New Reall Entity or Substance could be therein Produced and Lastly because it is certain that no Imperfect Created Being can Create any New Substance They being therefore apt to measure all Power whatsoever by these Scantlings But as easy for a Perfect Being to Create a World Matter and all Out of Nothing in this Sense that is out of an Antecedent Non-Existence as for us to Create a Thought or to Move a Finger or for the Sun to send out Rays For an Imperfect Substance which once was Not to be brought into Being by God this not Impossible in any of the Forementioned Senses He having not onely Infinitely Greater Perfection but also Sufficient Productive or Emanative Power True That Infinite Power cannot doe things in their own Nature Impossible but Nothing thus Impossible but what Contradictious and though a Contradiction for any thing at the same time to Be and Not Be yet none at all for an Imperfect Being which is in its Nature Contingent to Existence after it had Not been to Be. Wherefore since the making of a Substance to Be which was not Before is no way Contradictious nor consequently in its own Nature Impossible it must needs be an Object of Perfect Power Page 746 748 Furthermore If no Reall Entity or Substance could possibly be brought out of Non-Existence into Being then must the Reason hereof be Because no Substance can Derive its Whole Being from another Substance But from hence it would follow That whatsoever is Substantiall did not onely Exist from Eternity but also Of It Self Independently upon any thing else Whereas First The Prae-Eternity of Temporary Beings not agreeable to Reason and then To suppose Imperfect Substances to have Existed Of Themselves and Necessarily is to suppose Something to come from Nothing in the Impossible Sense they having no Necessary Self-Existence in their Nature As they who affirm all Substance to be Body and no Body to be able to Move it Self though supposing Motion to have been from Eternity yet make this Motion to Come from Nothing or be Caused by Nothing What in its Nature Contingently Possible to Be or Not Be could not Exist Of It Self but must Derive its Being from Something else which Necessarily Existeth Plato's Distinction therefore betwixt Two kinds of Substances must needs be admitted That which always Is and was never Made and That which is Made or had a Beginning Page 748 749 Lastly If this True that No Substance Makeable or Producible it would not onely follow from thence as the Epicurean Atheist supposes that Matter but also that all Souls at least Humane did Exist Of Themselves from Eternity Independently upon any thing else it being Impossible that Mind or Soul should
be a Modification of Sensless Matter or Result from Figures Sites Motions and Magnitudes Humane Souls Substantiall and therefore according to this Doctrine must have been Never Made whereas Atheists stifly deny both their Prae and Post-Existence Those Pagan Theists who held the Eternity of Humane Minds supposed them notwithstanding to have Depended upon the Deity as their Cause Before Proved That there can be but One Understanding Being Self-Existent If Humane Souls Depend upon the Deity as their Cause then Doubtless Matter also Page 749 750 A Common but Great Mistake That no Pagan Theist ever acknowledged any Creative Power out of Nothing or else That God was the Cause of any Substance Plato's Definition of Effective Power in General and his Affirmation That the Divine Efficiency is that whereby things are Made after they had Not been Certain That he did not understand this of the Production of Souls out of Matter he supposing them to be Before Matter and therefore Made by God out of Nothing Prae-Existing All Philosophers who held the Immortality and Incorporeity of the Soul asserted it to have been Caused by God either in Time or from Eternity Plutarch's Singularity here Vnquestionable That the Platonists supposed One Substance to receive its whole Being from Another in that they derive their Second Hypostasis or Substance though Eternal from the First and their Third from Both and all Inferiour Ranks of Beings from all Three Plotinus Porphyrius Iamblichus Hierocles Proclus and Others derived Matter from the Deity Thus the Chaldee Oracles and the old Egyptian or Hermaick Theology also according to Iamblichus Those Platonists who supposed the World and Souls Eternal conceived them to have received their Being as much from the Deity as if Made in Time Page 750 752 Having now Disproved this Proposition Nothing out of Nothing in the Atheistick Sense viz. That no Substance was Caused or Derived its Being from Another but whatsoever is Substantial did Exist Of It self from Eternity Independently we are in the next place to make it appear also That were it True it would no more oppose Theism then it doth Atheism Falshoods though not Truths may Disagree Plutarch the Stoicks and Others who made God the Creatour of no Substance though not Genuine yet Zealous Theists But the Ancient Atheists both in Plato and Aristotle Generated and Corrupted All things that is Produced All things out of Nothing or Non-Existence and Reduced them into Nothing again the bare Substance of Matter onely Excepted The same done by the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists themselves the Makers of this Objection though according to the Principles of their own Atomick Physiology it is Impossible that Life and Unerstanding Soul and Mind should be meer Modifications of Matter As Theists give a Creative Power of All out of Nothing to the Deity so do Atheists to Passive and Dead Mattâ—r Wherefore this can be no Argument against Theism it Equally opposing Atheism Page 752 756 An Anacephalaeosis wherein Observable That Cicero makes De Nihilo fieri and Sine Causa To be made out of Nothing and to be made without a Cause One and the Self-same thing as also that he doth not Confine this to the Material Cause onely Our Third and Last Undertaking To Prove that Atheists Produce Real Entities out of Nothing in the First Impossible Sense that is Without a Cause Page 756 757 A Brief Synopsis of Atheism That Matter being the onely Substance is therefore the onely Un-made Thing and That whatsoever else is in the World besides the Bare Substance thereof was Made out of Matter or Produced from that alone Page 757 The First Argument When Atheists affirm Matter to be the onely Substance and all things to be Made out of that they Suppose all to be Made without an Efficient Cause which is to bring them from Nothing in an Impossible Sense Though Something may be Made without a Material Cause Prae-Existing yet cannot any thing Possibly be Made without an Efficient Cause Wherefore if there be any thing Made which was Not before there must of Necessity be besides Matter some other Substance as the Active Efficient Cause thereof The Atheistick Hypothesis supposes Things to be Made without any Active or Effective Principle Whereas the Epicurean Atheists Attribute the Efficiency of all to Local Motion and yet deny Matter or Body their onely Substance a Self-moving Power They hereby make all the Motion that is in the World to have been Without a Cause or to Come from Nothing all Action without an Agent all Efficiency without an Efficient Page 758 Again Should we grant these Atheists Motion without a Cause yet could not Dead and Sensless Matter together with Motion ever beget Life Sense and Understanding because this would be Something out of Nothing in way of Causality Local Motion onely Châ—nging the Modifications of Matter as Figure Place Site and Disposition of Parts Hence also those Spurious Theists Confuted who Conclude God to have done no more in the Making of the World then a Carpenter doth in the Building of a House upon this Pretence That Nothing can be made out of Nothing and yet suppose him to Make Souls out of Dead and Sensless Matter which is to bring them from Nothing in way of Causality Page 758 759 Declared before That the Ancient Italicks and Pythagoricks Proved in this manner That Souls could not possibly be Generated out of Matter because Nothing can come from Nothing in way of Causality The Subterfuge of the Atheistick Ionicks out of Aristotle That Matter being the onely Substance and Life Sense and Unâ—erstanding Nothing but the Passions Affections and Dispositions thereof the Production of them out of Matter no Production of any new Reall Entity Page 759 Answer Atheists taking it for granted That there is no other Substance besides Body or Matter therefore falsly conclude Life Sense and Understanding to be Accidents or Modes of Matter they being indeed the Modes or Attributes of Substance Incorporeal and Self-Active A Mode That which cannot be Conceived without the Thing whereof it is a Mode but Life and Cogitation may be Conceived without Corporeal Extension and indeed cannot be Conceived with it Page 759 760 The chief Occasion of this Errour from Qualities and Forms as Because the Quality of Heat and Form of Fire may be Generated out of Matter therefore Life Cogitation and Understanding also But the Atomick Atheists themselves Explode Qualities as things Really distinct from the Figure Site and Motion of Parts for this very reason Because Nothing can be made out of Nothing Causally The Vulgar Opinion of such Real Qualities in Bodies onely from mens mistaking their own Phancies Apparitions Passions Affections and Seemings for things Really Existing without them That in these Qualities which is distinct from the Figure Site and Motion of Parts not the Accidents and Modifications of Matter but of Our own Souls The Atomick Atheists infinitely Absurd when exploding Qualities because Nothing can come out
Difference of Matter Page 781 The Third Argument against Un-Extended Substance That to be All in the Whole and All in every Part a Contradiction and Impossibility This Granted by Plotinus to be True of Bodies or that which is Extended That it cannot be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but Impossible that what hath no Parts should be a Part here and a Part there Wherefore the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Whole in the Whole and Whole in every Part to be taken onely in a Negative Sense for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Undivided The Whole Undivided Deity Every-where and not a Part of it Here onely and a Part There Page 782 783 The Last Objection is against the Illocality and Immobility of Finite Created Spirits and Humane Souls onely That this not onely Absurd but also Contrary to that Generally Received Tradition amongst Theists of Souls Moving Locally after Death into another Place called Hades Two Answers of Plotinus to this First That by Hades may be meant onely the Invisible or the Soul 's Acting without the Body Secondly That if by Hades be Meant a Worser place the Soul may be said to be there where its Idol is But when this same Philosopher supposeth the Soul in Good men to be separable also from this Idol he departeth from the Genuine Cabbala of his own School That Souls alwaies united to some Body or other This asserted here by Porphyrius That the Soul is never quite naked of all Body and therefore may be said to be there wheresoever its Body is Page 784 785 Some Excerptions out of Philoponus wherein the Doctrine of the Ancients concerning the Soul's Spirituous or Airy Body after Death is Largely declared Page 785 787 Intimated here by Philoponus That according to some of these Ancients the Soul hath such a Spirituous Body here in this Life as its Interiour Indument which then adheres to it when its Outer Garment is stript off by Death An Opinion of some That the Soul may in this Spirituous Body leave its Grosser Body for some time without Death True That our Soul doth not immediately Act upon Bones and Flesh but certain Thin and Subtile Spirits the Instruments of Sense and Motion Of which Porphyrius thus The Bloud is the Food of the Spirit and the Spirit the Vehicle of the Soul Page 787 788 The same Philoponus further Addeth That according to the Ancients besides both the Terrestrial and this Spirituous or Airy Body there is yet a Third kind of Body peculiar to such as are Souls as are more thoroughly purged after Death called by them a Luciform and Heavenly and Aetherial and Starre-like Body Of this Proclus also upon the Timaeus who affirmeth it to be Un-organized as likewise Hierocles This called the Thin Vehicle of the Soul in the Chaldee Oracles according to Psellus and Pletho By Hierocles a Spiritual Body in a Sense agreeable to that of the Scripture by Synesius the Divine Body This Distinction of Two Interiour Vehicles or Tunicles of the Soul besides the Terrestrial Body called by Plato the Ostreaceous no Invention of Latter Platonists since Christianity it being plainly insisted upon by Virgil though commonly not Vnderstood Page 788 790 That many of these Platonists and Pythagoreans supposed the Soul in its First Creation when Made pure by God to be Clothed with this Luciform and Heavenly Body which also did alwaies Inseparably adhere to it in its After-Descents into the Aërial and Terrestrial though Fouled and Obscured Thus Pletho And the same Intimated by Galen when he calls this the First Vehicle of the Soul Hence was it that besides the Moral and Intellectual Purgation of the Soul they recommended also a Mystical or Telestick way of Purifying the Aetherial Vehicle by Diet and Catharms This much Insisted on by Hierocles What Pliny's Dying By Wisedom or the Philosophick Death Page 790 792 But this not the Opinion of all That the Same Numerical Aetherial Body always adhereth to the Soul but onely that it every where either Finds or Makes a Body suitable to it self Thus Porphyrius Plato also seems to have been of that Perswasion Page 792 793 This Affirmed by Hierocles to have been the Genuine Cabbala of the Ancient Pythagoreans which Plato afterwards followed Hierocles his Definition of a Man A Rational Soul together with a Cognate Immortal Body he declaring This enlivened Terrestrial Body to be but the Idol or Image of the True man or an Accession to him This therefore the Answer of the Ancient Incorporealists to that Objection against the Illocality and Immobility of Created Incorporeals That these being all Naturally Vnited to Some Body or other may be thus said to be in a Place and Locally Moved And That it does not follow that because Created Incorporeals are Un-extended they might therefore inform the whole Corporeal Universe Page 793 794 That it would be no Impertinent Digression here To Compare the forementioned Pythagorick Cabbala with the Doctrine of Christianity and to consider their Agreement or Disagreement First therefore A Clear Agreement of these most Religious Philosophers with Christianity in this That the Highest Happiness and Perfection of Humane Nature consisteth not in a Separate State of Souls Un-united to any Body as some High-flown Persons have Conceited Thus Plotinus who sometimes runs as much into the other Extream in supposing Humane Souls to Animate not onely the Bodies of Brutes but also of Plants Thus also Maimonides amongst the Jews and therefore suspected for denying the Resurrection His Iggereth Teman written purposely to purge himself of this Suspicion The Allegorizers of the Resurrection and of the Life to come Page 794 795 Again Christianity Correspondeth with the Philosophick Cabbala concerning Humane Souls in this That their Happiness consisteth not in Conjunction with such Gross Terrestrial Bodies as these we now have Scripture as well as Philosophy complaining of them as a Heavy Load and Burthen to the Soul which therefore not to be taken up again at the Resurrection Such a Resurrection as this called by Plotinus a Resurrection to Another Sleep The Difference betwixt the Resurrection-Body and this Present Body in Scripture The Resurrection-Body of the Just as that of the Philosophick Cabbala Immortal and Eternal Glorious and Lucid Star-like and Spiritual Heavenly and Angelical Not this Gross Fleshly Body Guilded and Varnished over in the outside onely but Changed throughout This the Resurrection of Life in Scripture Emphatically called The Resurrection Our Souls Strangers and Pilgrims in these Terrestrial Bodies Their proper Home and Country the Heavenly Body That the Grossest Body that is according to Philosophy may meerly by Motion be brought into the Purity and Tenuity of the Finest Aether Page 795 799 But whether Humane Souls after Death alwaies Vnited to some Body or else quite Naked from all Body till the Resurrection not so Explicitly determined in Christianity Souls after Death Live unto God According to Origen This a Priviledge Proper to the Deity to Live and
Act alone without Vital Union with any Body If Natural to the Soul to Enliven a Body then not probable that it should be kept so long in an Unnatural State of Separation Page 799 800 Again Probable from Scripture That wicked Souls after Death have Punishment of Sense or Pain besides Remorse of Conscience which not easily Conceivable How they should have without Bodies Thus Tertullian He adding That Men have the same Shape or Effigies after this Life which they had here Though indeed he drive the business too far so as to make the Soul it self to be a Body Figurate and Colourate Page 800 801 But Irenaeus plainly supposed the Soul after Death being Incorporeal to be Adapted to a Body such as has the same Character and Figure with its Body here in this Life Page 801 802 Origen also of this Perswasion That Souls after Death have certain Subtile Bodies retaining the same Characterizing Form which their Terrestrial Bodies had His Opinion That Apparitions of the Dead are from the Souls themselves surviving in that which is called a Luciform Body As also that Saint Thomas did not doubt but that the Body of a Soul departed might appear every way like the Former onely be disbelieved our Saviour's appearing in the Same Solid Body which he had before Death Page 802 804 Our Saviour telling his Disciples That a Spirit had no Flesh and Bones that is no Solid Body as himself then had seems to Imply them to have Thinner Bodies which they may Visibly Appear in Thus in Apollonius is Touch made the Sign to distinguish a Ghost Appearing from a Living Man Our Saviour's Body after his Resurrection according to Origen in a Middle State betwixt This Gross or Solid Body of ours and That of a Ghost Page 804 A place of Scripture which as interpreted by the Fathers would Naturally Imply the Soul of our Saviour after Death not to have been quite Naked of all Body but to have had a Corporeal Spirit Moses and Elias Visibly appearing to our Saviour had therefore True Bodies Page 804 805 That the Regenerate here in this Life have a certain Earnest of their Future Inheritance which is their Spiritual or Heavenly Body Gathered from Scripture by Irenaeus and Novatian Which Praelibations of the Spiritual Body cannot so well consist with a Perfect Separation from all Body after Death till the Day of Judgement Page 805 806 This Opinion of Irenaeus Origen and others supposed by them not at all to Clash with the Christian Article of the Resurrection Nothing in this Point determined by us Page 806 The Last thing in the Pythagorick Cabbala That Daemons or Angels and indeed all Created Understanding Beings consist as well as Men of Soul and Body Incorporeal and Corporeal Vnited together Thus Hierocles Vniversally of all the Rational Nature and that no Incorporeal Substance besides the Supreme Deity is Compleat without the Conjunction of a Body God the Onely Incorporeal in this Sense and not a Mundane but Supra-Mundane Soul Page 806 808 Origen's full Agreement with this Old Pythagorick Cabbala That Rational Creatures are neither Body nor yet without Body but Incorporeal Substances having a Corporeal Indument Page 808 809 Origen misrepresented by Huetius as asserting Angels not to Have Bodies but to Be Bodies whereas he plainly acknowledged the Humane Soul to be Incorporeal and Angels also to have Souls He proveth Incorporeal Creatures from the Scriptures which though themselves not Bodies yet always Use Bodies Whereas the Deity is neither Body nor yet clothed with a Body as the Proper Soul thereof Page 809 810 Some of the Fathers so far from supposing Angels altogether Incorporeal that they ran into the other Extream and concluded them altogether Corporeal that is to be All Body and Nothing else The Middle betwixt both these the Origenick and Phythagorick Hypothesis That they consist of Incorporeal and Corporeal Substance Soul and Body Joyned together The Generality of the Ancient Fathers for neither of those Extreams That they did not suppose Angels to be perfectly Unbodied Spirits Evident from their affirming Devils as the Greek Philosophers did Demons to be Delighted with the Nidours of Sacrifices as having their Vapourous Bodies or Airy Vehicles refreshed thereby Thus Porphyrius and before him Celsus Amongst the Christians besides Origen Justin Athenagoras Tatianus c. S. Basil concerning the Bodies of Demons or Devils being Nourished with Vapours not by Organs but throughout their whole Substance Page 810 812 Several of the Fathers plainly asserting both Devils and Angels to consist of Soul and Body Incorporeal and Corporeal Substance Joyned together Saint Austine Claudianus Mamertus Fulgentius Joannes Thessalonicensis and Psellus who Philosophizeth much concerning this Page 812 814 That some of the Ancients when they called Angels Incorporeal understood Nothing else thereby but onely that they had not Grosse but Subtile Bodies Page 814 815 The Fathers though herein Happening to Agree with the Philosophick Cabbala yet seemed to have been led thereunto by Scripture As from that of our Saviour They who shall obtain the Resurrection of the Dead shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Equal to the Angels that is according to Saint Austine shall have Angelical Bodies From that of Saint Jude That Angels Sinning lost their Own Proper Dwelling-House that is their Heavenly Body called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Saint Paul which made them Fit Inhabitants of the Heavenly Regions and thereupon Cast down into the Lower Tartarus interpreted by Saint Austine to be this Caliginous Air or Atmo-Sphear of the Earth Again From that Fire said to have been Prepared for the Devils which being not to be taken Metaphorically therefore as Psellus concludeth Implies them to be Bodied because an Incorporeal Substance alone and not Vitally Vnited to any Body cannot be Tormented with Fire Page 815 817 Now if all Created Incorporeals Superiour to Men be Souls vitally Vnited to Bodies and never quite Separate from all Body then Probable that Humane Souls after Death not quite Naked from all Body as if they could Live and Act compleatly without it a Priviledge Superiour to that of Angels and proper to the Deity Nor is it at all Conceivable How Imperfect Beings could have Sense and Imagination without Bodies Origen Contra Celsum Our Soul in its own Nature Incorporeal alwaies Standeth in need of a Body suitable to the place wherein it is And accordingly Sometimes Putteth Off what it had before and Sometimes again Putteth On something New Where the following words being vitiated Origen's Genuine Sense restored Evident that Origen distinguisheth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in S. Paul Translated Tabernacle from the Earthly House he understanding by the former a Thin Spirituous Body which is a Middle betwixt the Earthly and the Heavenly and which the Soul remaineth still clothed with after Death This Opinion of Origen's That the Soul after Death not quite Separate from all Body never reckoned up in the Catalogue of his Errours Origen not Taxed
Before in Sense The Humane Soul a Principle of Actions and therefore also of Cogitations This a Bubbling Fountain of Thoughts But that there is such a Perfect Mind as at once Comprehends all Truth and was Before Sensibles Page 845 846 This a Prodigious Paradox and Falsity of Atheists That Cogitation Local Motion and Thinking Beings Machines Here a Correction of what we wrote before P. 761 and a Change of our Opinion upon further Consideration That not onely a Modern Writer but also the Ancient Atheistick Atomists did conclude Cogitation to be Really nothing else but Local Motion Nevertheless these men troubled with the Phancy of Cogitation which because they cannot make Local Motion they would persuade us to be no Reality or Nothing Atheists aware That if there be any Action besides Locall Motion there must then be some other Substance acknowledged besides Body They who make Cogitation Local Motion and Men Machines no more to be disputed with then Sensless Machines Page 846 847 To Affirm That no Understanding Being can be Happy nor a God because Dependent upon Something without it all one as to Affirm That Sensless Matter is the Most Perfect of all things and That Knowledge as such speaking Imperfection is but a Whiffling and Phantastick thing But of this more afterwards Thus the Tenth Atheistick Argument Confuted Page 847 Another Atheistick Argument From the Nature of Knowledge and Understanding That the World could not be made by an Underding Being Because there was no Knowledge before Things which are the Objects of it and the onely Things are Sensibles which Knowledge a Passion from Therefore all Mind as such a Creature and none a Creatour ibid. This already fully Answered Page 729 and so forwards Where Proved That Singular Bodies are not the Onely Things and Objects of the Mind but that it containeth its Intelligibles within it Self And That Knowledge is Archetypall to the World and the Maker of All. So the Existence of a God Demonstrable from the Nature of Knowledge and Understanding Page 847 848 That the Atheists can no more Salve the Phaenomenon of Cogitation then that of Locall Motion Evident from their Many Hallucinations concerning it whereof a Catalogue subjoyned First That all Life and Understanding a meer Accidentall thing Generable and Corruptible and no Life nor Mind Substantiall or Essentiall This before Confuted Page 848 Again That Life and Mind no Simple and Primitive Natures but Compounded Syllables of things and therefore none Immortall nor Incorruptible Answer That Life and Understanding are Active Powers and could never result from meer Passive Bulk nor can any Composition of Dead and Sensless Matter possibly beget Life and Understanding Though no Necessity That there should be any Eternal Unmade Red or Green because these might be Made out of things not Red nor Green nor That there should be Eternal Motion because Motion might be produced from a Self-Active Principle nor That there should be any Eternall Unmade Matter because were there none it might notwithstanding be Created by a Perfect Incorporeal Being yet an Absolute Necessity of Eternal Unmade Life and Mind because had there been once none there could never have been any Page 848 849 Another Atheistick Hallucination That there is Nothing of Self-Activity in Cogitation nor any thing could Act otherwise then as it is Made to Act by Something else This to bring all Action from Nothing or to suppose it without a Cause Page 849 850 Another Madness of theirs already mentioned That Cogitation Locall Motion and Thinking Beings Machines This Equall Sottishness or Impudence as to affirm Number to be Figure c. Page 850 Another Paradox of the Epicurean and Democritick Atheists That Mentall Cogitation as well as Sensation the meer Passions of the Thinker and the Actions of Bodies Existing without him Some of them supposing Thoughts to be Caused by certain Finer Images then Sensations Others than they are the Remainders of the Motions of Sense formerly made Answer That Sensation it self is not a meer Corporeal Passion but the Perception of a Passion in a way of Phancy much less Mental Cogitations such and least of all Volitions Page 850 851 But Consentaneously hereunto these Atheists Determine all Knowledge and Understanding to be Really the same thing with Sense From whence follow Two Absurdities First That there can be no such thing as Errour because all Passion is True Passion and all Sense True Sense that is True Seeming and Appearance This Absurdity owned by Protagoras Epicurus Endeavoured to avoid this but in vain and contradictiously to his own Principles Page 851 852 A Second Absurdity consequent thereupon That there is no Absolute Truth nor Falsehood but all Knowledge Private and Relative and nothing but Opinion This freely owned likewise by Protagoras Sometimes also by Democritus Who therefore but a Blunderer neither in the Atomick Philosophy which plainly Supposes a Higher Faculty of Reason and Understanding that judges of Sense and discovers the Phantastry thereof it reaching to Absolute Truth Page 852 853 Another Atheistick Errour That Singular Bodies are the onely Objects of Mentall Conception as well as of Sensation This imputed by Aristotle to Democritus and Protagoras But sufficiently before Confuted Page 853 854 The better to maintain this Paradox Added by a Modern Atheistick Writer as his own Invention That Universals are Nothing else but Names by which Many Singular Bodies are called Axiomes or Propositions the Addition and Substraction of Names and Syllogistick Reasoning the reckoning the Consequences of them and that therefore besides the Passions of Sense we know Nothing at all of any thing but onely the Names by which it is Called Whence it would follow That Geometricall Truths not the same in Greek and in Latine c. Page 854 That the Atheists according to these premised Principles endeavour to Depreciate Knowledge and Understanding as that which speaks no Higher Perfection then is in Sensless Matter Thus the Atheists in Plato make it but a Ludicrous Umbratile and Evanid thing the meer Image of Bodies the onely Realities Their Design in this to take away the Scale or Ladder of Entities Page 855 856 All the Grounds of this again briefly Confuted and Particularly that Opinion so much favouring Atheism That there is Nothing in the Understanding which was not Before in Sense out of Boëtius Just and Unjust Greater Realities in Nature then Hard and Soft c. Vnquestionably a Scale or Ladder of Entities and therefore Certain that the Order of Things must be in way of Descent from Higher Perfection to Lower and not of Ascent from Lower to Higher The Steps of this Ladder not Infinite the Foot thereof Inanimate Matter the Head a Perfect Omnipotent Being Comprehending in It self all Possibilities of Things Mind by Nature Lord over all and Sovereign King of Heaven and Earth Page 856 859 The Reason why we so much Insist upon this Because Atheists Pretend not onely to Salve the Phaenomenon of Cogitation without a God
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
Polity of men all happy and speaking the same Language Or else as Theopompus himself represented their sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That in conclusion Hades shall be utterly abolished and then men shall be perfectly happy their Bodies neither needing food nor casting any shadow That God which contrived this whole Scene of things resting only for the present a certain season which is not long to him but like the intermission of sleep to men For since an Unmade and Self-existent Evil Demon such as that of Plutarch's and the Manicheans could never be utterly abolished or destroyed it seems rather probable that these Persian Magi did in their Arimanius either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 personate Evil only as we suppose the Egyptians to have done in Typhon or else understand a Satanical Power by it notwithstanding which they might possibly sacrifice thereunto as the Greeks did to Evil Demons for its Appeasement and Mitigation or else as worshipping the Deity it self in the Ministers of its Wrath and Vengeance However from what hath been declared we conceive it does sufficiently appear that this Ditheistick Doctrine of a Good and Evil God or a Good God and Evil Demon both Self-existent asserted by Plutarch and the Manicheans was never so universally received amongst the Pagans as the same Plutarch pretendeth Which thing may be yet further evidenced from hence because the Manicheans professed themselves not to have derived this Opinion from the Pagans nor to be a Subdivision under them or Schism from them but a quite different Sect by themselves Thus Faustus in St. Augustine Pagani Bona Mila Tetra Splendida Perpetua Caduca Mutabilia Certa Corporalia Divina Vnum habere Principium dogmatizant His ego valde contraria censeo qui Bonis omnibus Principium fateor Deum Contrariis verò Hylen sic enim Mali Principium Naturam Theologus noster appellat The Pagans dogmatize that Good and Evil things Foul and Splendid Perishing and Perpetual Corporeal and Divine do all alike procede from the same Principle Whereas we think far otherwise that God is the Principle of all Good but Hyle or the Evil Demon of the contrary which names our Theologer Manes confounds together And afterwards Faustus there again determines that there were indeed but Two Sects of Religion in the World really distinct from one another viz. Paganism and Manicheism From whence it may be concluded that this Doctrine of Two Active Principles of Good and Evil was not then look'd upon as the Generally received Doctrine of the Pagans Wherefore it seems reasonable to think that Plutarch's imputing it so Universally to them was either out of Design thereby to gain the better countenance and authority to a Conceit which himself was fond of or else because he being deeply tinctured as it were with the Suffusions of it every thing which he look'd upon seem'd to him coloured with it And indeed for ought we can yet learn this Plutarchus Chaeronensis Numenius and Atticus were the only Greek Philosophers who ever in Publick Writings positively asserted any such Opinion And probably S. Athanasius is to be understood of These when in his Oration Contra Gentes he writes thus concerning this Opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some of the Greeks wandring out of the right way and ignorant of Christ have determined Evil to be a Real Entity by it self erring upon two accounts because they must of necessity either suppose God not to be the Maker of all Things if Evil have a Nature and Essence by it self and yet be not made by him or else that he is the Maker and Cause of Evil whereas it is impossible that he who is Essentially Good should produce the Contrary After which that Father speaks also of some degenerate Christians who fell into the same Error 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some Hereticks forsaking the Ecclesiastical Doctrine and making shipwrak of the Faith have in like manner fasly attributed a Real Nature and Essence to Evil. Of which Hereticks there were several Sects before the Manicheans sometime taken notice of and censur'd by Pagan Philosophers themselves as by Celsus where he charges Christians with holding this Opinion that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An Execrable God contrary to the Great God and by Plotinus writing a whole Book against such Christians the 9th of his Second Ennead which by Porphyrius was inscribed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Against the Gnosticks But if notwithstanding all that we have hitherto said to the contrary that which Plutarch so much contends for should be granted to be true that the Pagan Theologers generally asserted Two Self-existent Principles a Good God and an Evil Soul or Demon and no more it would unavoidably follow from thence that all those other Gods which they worshipped were not look'd upon by them as so Many Vnmade Self-existent Beings because then they should have acknowledged so many First Principles However it is certain that if Plutarch believed his own Writings he must of necessity take it for granted that none of the Pagan Gods those Two Principles of Good and Evil only excepted were by their Theologers accounted Vnmade or Self-existent Beings And as to Plutarch himself it is unquestionably manifest that though he were a Pagan and a Worshipper of all those Many Gods of theirs but especially amongst the rest of the Delian Apollo whose Priest he declares himself to have been yet he supposed them all except only one Good God and another Evil Soul of the World to be no Selfexistent Deities but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Generated or Created Gods only And the same is to be affirmed of all his Pagan Followers as also of the Manicheans forasmuch as they besides their Good and Evil God the only Unmade Self-existent Beings acknowledged by them worshipped also Innumerable other Deities Hitherto we have not been able to find amongst the Pagans any who asserted a Multitude of Vnmade Self-existent Deities but on the contrary we shall now find One who took notice of this Opinion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many Principles so far forth as to confute it and that is Aristotle who was not occasioned to do that neither because it was a Doctrine then Generally Received but only because he had a mind odiously to impute such a thing to the Pythagoreans and Platonists they making Idea's sometimes called also Numbers in a certain sence the Principles of things Nevertheless the Opinion it self is well confuted by that Philosopher from the Phaenomena after this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who say that Mathematical Number is the First and suppose one Principle of one thing and another of another would make the whole World to be like an incoherent and disagreeing Poem where things do not all mutually contribute to one another nor conspire together to make up one Sence and Harmony But the contrary saith he is most evident in the World and therefore their cannot be Many Principles but only
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of all the Motions Passions and Affections and even the very Volitions of the Soul So that as we could not have the least Sensation Imagination nor Conception of any thing otherwise than from those Corporeal Effluvia rushing upon us from Bodies without and begetting the same in us at such a time so neither could we have any Passion Appetite or Volition which we were not in like manner Corporeally Passive to And this was the Ground of the Democritick Fate or Necessity of all Humane Actions maintained by them in opposition to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Liberty of Will which cannot be conceived without Self Activity and something of Contingency They supposing Humane Volitions also as well as all the other Cogitations to be Mechanically Caused and Necessitated from those Effluvious Images of Bodies coming in upon the Willers And however Epicurus sometime pretended to Assert Liberty of Will against Democritus yet forgetting himself did he also here securely Philosophize after the very same manner Nunc age quae moveant Animum res accipe paucis Quae veniunt veniant in Mentem percipe paucis Principiò hoc dico Rerum Simulachra vagari c. But others there were amongst the Ancient Atomists who could not conceive Sensations themselves to be thus Caused by Corporeal Effluvia or Exuvious Membranes streaming from Bodies Continually and that for Divers Reasons alledged by them but only by a Pressure from them upon the Optick Nerve by Reason of a Tension of the Intermedious Air or Aether being that which is called Light whereby the distant Object is Touched and Felt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were by a Staff Which Hypothesis concerning the Corporeal Part of Sense is indeed much more Ingenious and agreeable to Reason than the Former But the Atheizers of this Atomology as they supposed Sense to be Nothing else but such a Pressure from Bodies without so did they conclude Imagination and Mental Cogitation to be but the Reliques and Remainders of those Motions of Sense formerly Made and Conserved afterwards in the Brain like the Tremulous Vibrations of a Clock or Bell after the striking of the Hammer or the Rouling of the Waves after that the Wind is ceased Melting Fading and Decaying insensibly by degrees So that according to these Knowledge and Vnderstanding is Nothing but Fading and Decaying Sense and all our Volitions but Mechanick Motions caused from the Actions or Trusions of Bodies upon us Now though it be true that in Sensation there is alwayes a Passion Antecedent made upon the Body of the Sentient from without yet is not Sensation it self this very Passion but a Perception of that Passion much less can Mental Conceptions be said to be the Action of Bodies without and the meer Passion of the Thinker and least of all Volitions such there being plainly here something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In our own Power by means whereof we become a Principle of Actions accordingly deserving Commendation or Blame that is something of Self-Activity Again according to the Democritick and Epicurean Atheists all Knowledge and Vnderstanding is Really the same thing with Sense the Difference between these Two to some of them being only this That what is commonly called Sense is Primary and Original Knowledge and Knowledge but Secondary or Fading and Decaying Sense but to others that Sense is Caused by those more Vigorous Idols or Effluvia from Bodies intromitted through the Nerves but Vnderstanding and Knowledge by those more Weak and Thin Vmbratile and Evanid ones that penetrate the other smaller Pores of the Body so that both ways Vnderstanding and Knowledge will be but a Weaker Sense Now from this Doctrine of the Atheistick Atomists that all Conception and Cogitation of the Mind whatsoever is Nothing else but Sense and Passion from Bodies without this Absurdity first of all follows unavoidably that there cannot possibly be any Errour or False Judgment because it is certain that all Passion is True Passion and all Sense or Seeming and Appearance True Seeming and Appearance Wherefore though some Sense and Passion may be more Obscure than other yet can there be none False it self being the very Essence of Truth And thus Protagoras one of these Atheistick Atomists having First asserted That Knowledge is Nothing else but Sense did thereupon admit this as a Necessary Consequence That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Opinion is True because it is Nothing but Seeming and Appearance and every Seeming and Appearance is truly such and because it is not possible for any one to Opine that which is Not or to Think otherwise than he Suffers Wherefore Epicurus being Sensible of this Inconvenience endeavoured to Salve this Phaenomenon of Errour and False Opinion or Judgement consistently with his own Principles after this manner That though all Knowledge be Sense and all Sense True yet may Errour arise notwithstanding Ex Animi Opinatu From the Opination of the Mind adding something of its own over and above to the Passion and Phansie of Sense But herein he shamefully contradicts himself For if the Mind in Judging and Opining can Superadd any thing of its own over and above to what it Suffers then is it not a meer Passive Thing but must needs have a Self-Active Power of its own and consequently will prove also Incorporeal because no Body can Act otherwise than it Suffers or is Made to Act by something else without it We conclude therefore That since there is such a thing as Errour or False Judgement all Cogitations of the Mind cannot be meer Passions but there must be something of Self-Activity in the Soul it Self by means whereof it can give its Assent to things not clearly Perceived and so Err. Again from this Atheistick Opinion That all Knowledge is Nothing else but Sense either Primary or Secundary it follows also That there is no Absolute Truth nor Falshood and that Knowledge is of a Private Nature Relative and Phantastical only or meer Seeming that is Nothing but Opinion because Sense is plainly Seeming Phantasie and Appearance a Private thing and Relative to the Sentient only And here also did Protagoras according to his wonted Freedom admit this Consequence That Knowledge being Sense there was no Absoluteness at all therein and That nothing was True otherwise than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To this and to that man so Thinking That every man did but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opine only his Own things That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every man was the Measure of Things and Truth to himself and Lastly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That whatsoever Seemed to every one was True to him to whom it Seemed Neither could Democritus himself though a man of more discretion than Protagoras dissemble this Consequence from the same Principle asserted by him that Understanding is Phantastical and Knowledge but Opinion he owning it sometimes before he was aware as in these words of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We ought to
Spectators of a Picture who condemn the Limner because he hath not put bright Colours every where whereas he had suited his Colours to every part respectively giving to each such as belonged to it Or else are we like those who would blame a Comedy or Tragedy because they were not all Kings or Heroes that acted in it but some Servants and Rustick Clowns introduced also talking after their Rude fashion Whereas the Dramatick Poem would neither be Compleat nor Elegant and Delightful were all those Worser Parts taken out of it Again We cannot certainly conclude that the Works of God and his Creation do not transcend those narrow Limits which Vulgar Opinion and Imagination sets them that commonly terminates the Universe but a little above the Clouds or at most supposes the Fixed Stars being all fastned in One Solid Sphere to be the Utmost Wall or Arched Roof and Rowling Circumference thereof Much less ought we upon such Groundless Suppositions to infer That the World might therefore have been made much Better than it is because it might have been much more Roomy and Capacious We explode the Atheistick Infinity of Distant Worlds nor can we admit that Cartesian seemingly more Modest Indefinite Extension of one Corporeal Universe which yet really according to that Philosophers meaning hath Nullos Fines no Bounds nor Limits at all For We perswade our selves that the Corporeal World is as Uncapable of a Positive Infinity of Magnitude as it is of Time there being no Magnitude so Great but that more still might be Added to it Nevertheless as we cannot possibly Imagine the Sun to be a Quarter or an Hundredth Part so big as we know it to be so much more may the whole Corporeal Vniverse far transcend those narrow Bounds which our Imagination would circumscribe it in The New Celestial Phaenomena and the late Improvements of Astronomy and Philosophy made thereupon render it so probable that even this Dull Earth of ours is a Planet and the Sun a Fixed Star in the Centre of that Vortex wherein it moves that many have shrewdly suspected that there are other Habitable Globes besides this Earth of ours which may be Sayled round about in a year or two as also more Suns with their respective Planets than One. However the Distance of all the Fixed Stars from us being so Vast that the Diameter of the Great Orb makes no discernible Parallax in the Site of them from whence it is also probable that the other Fixed Stars are likewise vastly distant from one another This I say widens the Corporeal Vniverse to us and makes those Flammantia Moenia Mundi as Lucretius calls them Those Flaming Walls of the World to fly away before us Now it is not reasonable to think that all this Immense Vastness should lie Waste Desert and Vninhabited and have nothing in it that could Praise the Creator thereof save only this One Small Spot of Earth In my Father's House saith our Saviour are Many Mansions And Baruch Chap. 3. appointed by our Church to be read publickly O Israel how great is the House of God and how large is the place of his Possession Great and hath no End High and Vnmeasurable Which yet we understand not of an Absolute Infinity but only such an Immense Vastness as far transcends Vulgar Opinion and Imagination We shall add but one thing more That to make a right Judgment of the Ways of Providence and the Justice thereof as to the Oeconomy of mankind we must look both Forwards and Backwards or besides the Present not only upon the Future but also the Past Time Which Rule is likewise thus set down by Plotinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither is that Doctrine of the Ancients to be neglected that to give an Account of Providence we ought to look back upon former Periods as well as forward to What is Future Indeed he and those other Philosophers who were Religious understood this so as to conclude a Pre-Existent State of all Particular Souls wherein they were at first Created by God Pure but by the Abuse of their own Liberty Degenerated to be a Necessary Hypothesis for the Salving that Phaenomenon of the Depraved State of Mankind in general here in this Life And not only so but they endeavoured in like manner to give an account also of those Different Conditions of Particular Persons as to Morality from their Infancy and their other different Fates here deriving them all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from their several Demeanors heretofore in a Pre-Existent State And there have not wanted Christian Doctors who have complied with these Philosophers in both But our Common Christianity only agrees thus far as to suppose a Kind of Imputative Pre-Exstence in Adam in whom all were created Pure and so consequently involved in his after miscarriage to salve the Pravity of Humane Nature upon which account we are all said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Nature Children of Wrath. But as for the different Conditions of Persons and their several Fates more disadvantageous to some than others this indeed the Generality of Christian Doctors have been content to resolve only into an Occult but Just Providence And thus does Origen himself sometimes modestly pass it over As in his Third Book against Celsus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It happeneth to many so to have been brought up from their very Childhood as that by one means or other they could have no opportunity at all of thinking of the Better things c. And it is very probable that there are Causes of these things in the Reasons of Providence though they do not easily fall under Humane Notice But there is yet a Third Atheistick Objection against Providence behind That is is impossible any One Being should Animadvert and Order all things in the Distant places of the world at once and were this possible yet would such Infinite Negotiosity be very Vneasie and Distractious to it and altogether Inconsistent with Happinâ—ss Nor wâ—â—ld a Being Irresistibly Powerful concern it self in the Good or Welfare of any thing else it standing in Need of nothing and all Benevoleâ—ce and Good will arising from Indigency and Imbecillity Wherefore such a Being would wholy be taken up in the Enjoyment of it self and its own Happiness utterly Regardless of all other things To which the Reply is First That though our selves and all Created Beings have but a Finite Animadversion and Narrow Sphere of Activity yet does it not therefore follow that the Case must be the same with the Deity supposed to be a Being Infinitely Perfect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hath no manner of Defect either of Knowledge or Power in it But this is a meer Idolum Specus an Idol of the Cave or Den Men Measuring the Deity by their own Scantling and Narrowness And indeed were there Nothing at all but what we our selves could fully Comprehend there could be no God Were the Sun an Animal and had Life
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