more uieful, to tranflate Ibme of them into our own Language, than to undertake any thing new upon this Subject. But though I know not what Judgment others will pafs upon rne, yet have I very good Reafon to hope that you, who are fo fair and candid a Judge, will eafily acquit me, if I lliould fay; that after having read not only the fore- mentioned Writings, but alfo thofe that have been written by the Jews in behalf of the antient Jcwijh Difpenfation, and thofe of Chriftians for ChriiHanity, Ichufe to make ufe of my own Judgment, fuch a^jiilic^isin and to give my Mind that Liberty which at prefent is denied my Body •, For I am pcrfuaded that Truth is no other way to be defended but by Truth, and ^hat fuch as the Mind is fully fatisfied with j it being in vain to attempt to perfuade others to that which you yourfelf are not convinced of: Wherefore I feleded, both from the Antients and Moderns, what appeared to me mod conclufive; leaving fuch Arguments as feeriied of fmall Weight, and rejedling fuch Books as I knew to be fpurious, or had Reafon to fufpe6l to be fo. Thofe which I approved of, I explained and put iii a regular Method, and in as popular a manner as I could, and likewife turned them into Verfe, that they might the eafier be rem em bred. For my Defign was to undertake fomething which might be ufeful to my Country men, efpecially Seamen; that they might have an Opportunity to employ that Time which in long Voyages lies upon their ^b^ii iLi\t, Flands, liglon. efpecially in Frer^ch and rowed foin him: So that tiie Englijh; moved thereto by the Glory of f j pious ard necelTa-Eximple of Gro/Zi/j, whom they ryaMethol of Writing, chiefimitated, and fometimes bor- ly redounds to him. he Clerc.
Sed:. 2. the Chriftian Religion, j Hands, and is ufually thrown away: Wherefore I began with an Encomium upon our Nation,, which fo far excel Is others in the Skill of Naviga-^* tion; that by this means I might excite them to make ufe of this Art, as a peculiar Favour of Heaven; not only to their own Profit, but alfo to the propagating the Chriftian Religion: For they can never want Matter, but in their long Voyages will every where m^et either with Pagans as in China or Guinea •, or Mahometans^ as in the Turkijh and Per/tan Empires, and in the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco; and alfo s^'whjews^ who are the profeiTed Enemies of Chriftianity, and are difperfed over the greateft part of the World •, And there are never wanting prophane Perlbns, who, upon occafion, are ready to fcatter their Poifonamongft the Weak and Simple, which Fear had forced them to conceal: Againit all which Evils, my Defire was, to have my Countrymen well fortified; that they who have the beft parts, might employ them in confuting Errors •, and that the Other would take heed of being feduced by them..uj>.j.
, ■ Sed. II. That there is a Godf r^ '» And that we may fhow that ReligiGn is not a vain and empty thing; it fliall be the Bufinefs of this firft: Book, to lay the Foundation thereof in the Exiftence of the Deity: Which I prove in the following manner. That there are fome Things which had a Beginning, is confelTed on all Sides, and obvious to Senfe: But thefe Things could not be the Caufe of their own Exiftence -, becaufe that which has no Being, cannot ad: ^ for then it would have been before it was^, which is impoftible j whence it follows, that it derived its Being from fomething elfe: This is true not only of tliofe Things which are now before our Eyes, or which we have formerly fepp'; fciu-^'i'^f^ qf //^^ 4 Of the Truth of Book I.
out of which thefe have arifen, and fo on, {a) till we arrive at fome Caufe, which never had any Beginning, but exifts (as we fay) ntceflarily, and not by Accident: Now this Being whatsoever it be (of wliom we (liall fpeak more fully by and by) is what we mean by the Deity, or God. Another Argument for the Proof of a Deity, may be drawn from the plain Confent of all Nations, who have any Remains of Reafon, any Senfe of Good Manners, and are not wholly degenerated into Brutifhnefs. For, Human Inventions, which depend upon the arbitrary Will of Men, are not always the fame every where, but are often changed; whereas there is no Place where this Notion is not to be found; nor has the Courfe of Time been able to alter it, (which is obferved by {b) Ariftotk himfelf, a Man not very credulous in thefe Matters \) wherefore we muft alTign it a Caufe as cxtenfive as all Mankind \ and That can be no (Other than a Declaration from God himfelf, or a 'j^Tradition derived down from the fifll Parents of Mankind: If the former be granted, there needs -no further Proof; if the latter, it is hard to give a good Reafon w^hy our firft Parents fhould deliver to. Pofterity a Falfity in a Matter of fo greac -::jyv---:j:.,;.,:i O'.. •,..:.'...: Mo- 'iCau/tff ^c.} Kecaufe as their after relating the Fables of the cnarjnein of ipeaking is, there Gods, he i^as thefe Words, "can be no fuch thing as going " Which if any one rightly onfor ever; forof thofeThings ** diftinguiihes, he will keep ^'hich had a Ee^^inning, either •* wholly to this as the princi- ■1 there is fome iirll Caufe, or ■ ** pall'hing; that to believe i..theie is none. If it be denied " the Gods to be the firft "/that there is any firll Caufe; ** Beings, is a divine "JVuth: ^^/ihenthbfe Things which had a ** and that tho' Arts and Sci- ^ Beginning, were without a *' ences have probably been Caufe; and confequently exill- ' ♦* often loft, and revived; ed or came oat of nothing of ** yet this Opinion hath been the ml'elycs, which is ablurd. ** prefer.ved as a Reliil to thi$ he Clerc.. *♦ very Time." he CUrc.
Sedt. 2. the Chrijliah Keligion. 5 Moment. Moreover, if we look into thofe Parts of the World, which have been a long time known, or into thofe lately difcovered •, if they have not loft the common Principles of Human Nature, (as was faid befpre) this Truth immediately appears; as well amongft the more dull Nations, as amongft thofe who are quicker, and have better Underftandings •, and, furely, thefe latter cannot all be deceived, nor the former be fuppofed to have found out fomcthing to impofe upon each other with: Nor would it be of any force againft this^ if it fhould be urged, that there have been a few Perfons in many Ages who did not believe a God, or at leaft made fuch a ProtelTion; For confidering how few they were, and that as foon as their Arguments were known, their Opinion was immediately exploded; it is evident, it -did not proceed from the right ufe of that Reafon which is common to all Men; but either frora an AfFedation of Novelty, like the heathen Philofopher who contended that Snow was black; or from a corrupted Mind, which like a vitiated Palate, does not reiilh Things as they are: Efpecially fince Hiftory and other Writings inform us, that the more virtuous any one is, the more carefully is this Notion of the Deity preferved by him: And it is further evident, that they who dilTent from this antiently eftabliflied Opinion, do it put of an ill Principle, and arc fuch Perfons, /whofe Interefi it is t|iat there iliould be no God, that is, no Judge of human Actions; becaufe whatever Hypothefes they have advanced of their own, whether an infinite Succeftlon of Caufes, without any Beginning; or a fortuitous Concourfe of Atoms, or any other, {a) it is attend- {a) It It attended ^xith as faid, and that not faflily,' that |-?Ya/,&:.3 G/-5/;wmighthave there are much grer.tef Diffi- • culties 6 Of the Truth of Book I.
cd with as great, if not greater Difficulties, and not at all more credible than what is already received •, as is evident to any one that confiders it ever fo little. For that which fome obje6l, that they don't believe a God, becaule they don't fee him; if they can fee any thing, they may fee how tnuch it is beneath a Man, who has a Soul which '•'he cannot fee, to argue in this manner. Nor if ■'we cannot fully comprehend the Nature o^ God^ ought we therefore to deny that there is any fiich Being •, for the Benfts don't know what fort Creatures Men are, and much lefs do they under-■;ftand how Men, by their Reafon, inftitute and ^v'govern Kingdoms, meafure the Courfe of the ^iStars, and fail crofs the Seas: Thefe Things ex--^ceed their Reach: *i^hd HtnCt Man, becaufe he is •placed by the Dignity of his Nature above the ^-'^.JBeafis/znd that not by himfelf, ought to infer; 'that He who gave him this Superiority above the "^,Beafts, is as far advanced beyond Him, as He is ^^beyond the Beajls -, and that therefore there is a Nature, which, as it is mOre E^^cellent, fo it exceeds his Comprehenfidn.
'- Se&. III. That there is but one God, Having proved the Exiflence of the Deity: we come next to his Attributes; the firft whereof 3S, That there can be no more Gods than One. Which may be gathered from hence; becaufe (as was before faid) God exills neceflarily, or is felfcultie'^fn\ft^Opiiri"onsofthore, monftrated; amongft whom is who would have the World to the eminent and learned Dr be eterj^al, or always to have Ralph Cudnvorth, who wrote been: fuch as. that it mud ib.t^ EnglfJhTxQditx^tOf the inhave come out of nothing bri/ ttlle^ual Sj/Iem of the Vnifelf or that it arofe from the 'verfe: There are aifo other fortuitous Concourl'e ofJ/or^u; very excellent V.nglijh Divines Opinions full of manifeil Con- and Natural Philofophers. Le trad ictions, as many fince Gri?- Clerc, tiui's Time have exadly dc- Seft. 3- ^'^^ Chrijlimi Religion, 1.7 exiftent. Now that which is tiecejfary ox felf-exijient^ cannot be confidered as of any Kind or Species of Beings, but as adtually exifting, {a) and is therefore a fingle Being: For if you imagine many Gods, you will fee that necejfary Exifterice belongs to none of them •, nor can there be any Reafoii why two fhould rather be believed than three, or ten than five: Befide the Abundance of particular Things of the fame kind, proceeds from the Fruitfulnefs of the Caufe, in proportion to which more or lefs is produced; but God has no Caufe, or Original. Further, particular different Things, are endued with peculiar Properties, by which they are diftinguifhed from each other; which do not belong to God, whp i^ a ppcelTary B.eing. Neither do we find any Signs of many Gods; for this whole Univerfe makes but one World, in which there is but.(^)P;^^ Thing that far exceeds the reft in Beauty •, viz. the Sun; ^^d in every Man there is but One fhing that goverps, that,is, the Mind: Moreover^ iff h^r^ cqulfi. ^be' ,two or more Gods, free Agents, adling according to their own Wills, they iiii^ht njoill cpntrary toeach other; and fo One be hindered by the 0/^^r; from effeding his Defign •, now a Po0ibility of being hindred is inconfiftent with the Notion of , \^) And is therefore a Jingle teU'-exiJlencei \xx^^^ Beings &c.] Bat a great many ' 'fdrce/'may Hnd""it 'at tne bcfingle Beir/gS; are a great many ginning of Dr ^ani, Glefke% individual Beings; this Argu- Boyle's Le^ures. ment therefore might have.. \b)One /Thing that^ff^r^exbeen omitLed, without any de- ". ceed^^ &c..] At leall to the.Inhiitriment to ib good a Oiul'e.^,l>itant3 of this pur ^o/^r 5^)7/ ^-w Le Clerc. -.. ',,;, ji,fi/^V ^V'^ ^ow term It); as t|\ore Whoever woul'<I fee tteAr^-VJi^r^ Centers the ^^^^^^ are to gument for the Unity ofGod^'^/.t^^^r'^Jij^^^zfil ^,.|f^ (^lerc. drawn from his m^j[r^^ '^^^s^M^i^w^:^iuoiv - - 8 Of the Truth of Book L.
^. Sed. IV. All Perfemon is in God.
That we may come to the Knowledge of the other Attributes of God; we conceive all that is meant by Perfeoiion^ to be in Him (I ufe the Latin Word Perfeoilo^ as being the beft that Tongue affords, and the fame as the Greek TeX£{OT»??)A Becaufe whatever Perfection is in any Thing, either had a Beginning, or notj if it had no Beginning, it is the Perftdion of God •, if it had a Beginning, it muft of necefiity be from fomething elfc: And fince none of thofe things that exift, are produced from nothing; it follows, that whatever PerfeEiiom are in the Effeds, were firft in the Caufe, fo that it could produce any thing endued with them •, and confequently they are all in the firft Caufe. Neither can the firft Caufe ever be deprived of any of its Perfedions: Not from any thing t\{t \ becaufe that which is Eternal, does not depend upon any other thing •, nor can it -at all fuffer from any thing that they can do i-i Nor from itfelf,. becaufe, ^qyery Native de fires its own Perfeaion. ■- - -.' - va Dt^vrnh s^i> ■ ■' T o thi$»i muft bC; addedj that thefe Perfecflions ' are in God, ii^^n., in finite Degree: Becaufe thofe Attributes that are finitCj are therefore limited, be7i caufe the Caufe whe^iCQ they proceed,.has copnmunicated fo much, pfn item ^n^i no mpge •,;0r elfe, becaufe the Subjedl was capable of no more. But, no other Nature communicated any of its Perfections to God.; por does he derive any thing from any One elfe, he being fas wa^faHl).neceifary or ieKr^ifenC: _._.,^_. ^.,.:,V ^lom isHi ai oiwsH io lOn Sedl. VI. ^J:fat God is Eternal^ Omnipotent ^ Omni" -.. T,m| >M fcient^ and compleatly Good, Now feeing it is very evident, that thofe Things which have £//>, are more perfe<5^, than thofe which have not •, and thofe which have a Power of Actings than thofe who have none *, thofe which have Underftanding^ than thofe which want it •, thofe which are good, than thofe which are not fo -, it follows, from what has been already faid, that thefe Attributes belong to God, and that infinitely: Wherefore he is a liviytg infinite God; that is eternal^ of immenfe Power^ and every way good^ without the lead Defe6b.
■^Sea. VII. "That God ls\the Caufe of all iVnigs.
Eve r y Thing that is, derives its Exiflence from God •, this follows from what has been already faid. For we conclude, that there is but One neccfiary felf-exiftent Being -, whence we colled, that all other Things fprung from a Being different from themfelves: For thofe Things which are derived from fomething clfe, were all of them, either immediately in themfelves, or mediately in their Caufes, derived from Him who had no Beginning, that is, from God, as was before evinced. And this is not only evident to Reafon, but in a manner to Senfe too: For if we take a Survey of the admirable Structure of a Human Body, both within and without 5 and fee how every, even the moft minute Part, hath its proper ufe, without any Defign or Intention of the Parents, and with fo great Exadnefs, as the moft excellent Philofophers' and Phyficians could never enough admire; it is a fufficient Demonftration that the Author of Nature is the moft (ompleat Underfianding, Of this a great deal may be lo Of the Truth of Book I.
be feen in {a) Galen^ efpecially where he examines the Ufe of the Hands and Eyes: And the fame may be obferved in the Bodies of dumb Creatures •, for the Figure and Situation of their Parts to a certain End, cannot be the EfFedl of any Power in Matter. As alfo in Plants and Herbs, which is accurately obferved by the Philofophers. Strabo {b) excellently well takes notice hereof in the Pofition of Water, which, as to its Quality, is of a middle Nature betwixt Air and Earth, and ought to have been placed betwixt them, but is therefore interfperfed and mixed with the Earth, left its Fruitfuinefs, by which the Life of Man is preferved, fhould be hindred. Now it is the Property of intelligent Beings only to a6{: with fome View. Neither are particular Things appointed for their own peculiar Ends only, but for the Good of the Whole *, as is plain in Water, which {c) contrary to its, own Nature is raifed.upwards, _,,,.,,;,..„-. ■,,,..left cli. lo. Which Place is highly worth reading, but too long to be inferted. But many later Divines and Natural Phifophers in England have explained thefe Things more accurately. Ls Clerc.
[h) Straho, Sec ]'Book XVII. Where afcer he - had diilinguifhed betwixt the Works of Nature, that is, the material World and tho(e of Pro^vidcnce, he adds; '^ After the Earth ** Wasfurrounded with Water, *• becaafe iVIan was not made ' ** to dwell in the Water, but •* belongs partly to the Earth, '" and partly to the Air. and **ftands in great need of light; " (Providence) has caufed ma- *' ny Eminences and Cavities *' in the Earth, that in tiiefc.
f' tlie iV^ater^ or..the, grgateil '* Wrt of it, might be receiv- " ed; whereby that parr of •* the Earth under it might be *' covered,; and t.hat by the *' other, the Earth might, be *' advanced to cpvcr the Wa- '* ter, except what is of Ufe *' for Men, Animals, and /* Plants." /¥he fame kath been obferved by Rabbi, Jebuda Lenjita^ and Abenejdrny amongft the Jeutjs, and St Chryfofiom in his qth Homily of Statues, among. Chrifljans.
(f) Contrary to its own Nature, Sec ] This was borrowed from the Peripatetick Philofophy, by this great Man; which luppofed the Water in a Pump.to afcend for fear of a Vacuum; wher«is it is now granted by all, to be done by the Seft. 7. the Chrijiian Religion. 1 1 ieft by a Vacuum there fhould be a Gap in the Strudure of the Univerle, which is uphdd by the continued Union of its Parts. Now the Good of the ¥/hole could not polTibly be defigned, nor a Power pur into Things to tend towards it, but by an inteUigent Being, to whom the Univerfe is fubje(51:. There are moreover fome Adlions, even of the Beads, fo ordered and direded, as plainly difcover them to be the Effc6ts of fome fmall degree of Reafon: As is moft manifeft in Ants and Bees, and alfo in fome others, which, before they have experienced them, will avoid Things hurtful, and feek thofe that are profitable to them. That this Power of fearching out and diftinguiftiing, is not properly in themfelves, is apparent from hence, becaufe they a6b always alike, and are unable to do other Things which don't require more Pains; [a) wherefore; they are aded upon by fome foreign Reafon -, and "what they do, muft of neceflity proceed from the Efficiency of that Reafon imprelTed upon them: Which Reafon is no other than what we call God.
Next, Next, the Preflure of the Air. But by the Laws of Gravitation, as the Moderns explain them, the Order of the Univerfe, and the Wifdom of its Creator, is no lefs confpicuous Le Clerc. [a] Wherefore they are aSled upon, &c ] No, they are done by the Soul of thofe Bealls, •whi'ch is fo far reafonable, as to be able to do fuch Things, and not others. Otherwife God himfelf, would a(5l in them inftead of a Soul, which a good Philofopherwill hardly be perfuaded of. Nothing hinders but that there may be a great many Ranks of fenfible and intelligent Natures, the lowefl of which may be in the Bodies of Brute Creatures; for no Body I think, really believes with Ren. Cartes, that Brutes are mere corporeal Machines. But you will fay, when Brute Creatures die, what becomes of their Souls? That indeed I know not, but it is neverthelcfs true that Souls refide in them. There is no neceflity that we ftiould know all Things, nor are we therefore prefently to deny any thing, becaufe we cannot give account of it. We are to receive thofe Things that are evident, and be content to be ignorant of thofe Things S^hich we cannot know. Ls }k 1 2 Of the Truth of. Book I.
Next the Heavenly Conflellations, but more efpe-. cially.thofe eminent ones, the Sun and Moon, have their Courfes fo exactly accommodated to the Fruitfulnefs of the Earth, and to the Health of Animals, that nothing can be imagined more convenient: For though otherwife, the mod fimple Motion had been along the Equator, yet are they direded in an oblique Circle, that the Benefit of them might extend to more Places of the Earth. And as othe;* Animals are allowed the Ufe of the Earth •, fo Mankind are permitted to ufe thofc Animals, and can by the Power of his Reafon tame the fierceft of them. Whence it was that the {a) Stoicks concluded that the World was made for the Sake of Man. But fince the Power of Man does not extend fo far as to compel the Heavenly Luminaries to ferve Him, nor is it likely they fhould of their own accord fubmit themfelves to him \ hence it follows, that there is a fuperior Underftanding^ at whofe Command thofe beautiful Bodies afford their perpetual AlTiflance to Man, who is placed fo far beneath them: Which Underftanding is none other than the Maker of the Stars and of the Univerfe. {b) The Eccentrick Motions of the Stars, and the Epicycles, as they term them, manifeftly fhow, that they are not the Effeds of Matter, ' {a)The^:toickscrj}icluded,Scz.^ the Efficacy of tTic.Divine S*e TuUy in hh firll Book ot Powtr, is equally Teen in the Offices, p.nd his fecOnd of'tke 'cpnf^ant Modpn of the Planets Nature of the Gods. '•'•:-'^- "''JJi Eilipfes, about the Sun [b) The Eccenf rick Motion, thVotigh the moft fluid Vor- ^c ] This Argument is leatn- tex; in fuch a manner as not cdly handled by Maimonides, to recede from, or approach jn his DuSlor DuhitarJium, to their Centre, more than Part 11 c. 4- And if you 'their wonted Limits, but alfjppofe die Earth to be moved, ways cut the Sun's Equator at 't amounts to the fame thing liUe Obliquity: Le Clerc. Sir in orher Words.. Ifanc Nezvton has demonllrat- Ibid. Thefe and fome of the ed chnt there are no fuch Forfollowing Things are accord- trxesy but that their Motions ir>g to the vulgar Opinion, are better explained vviiliQiiC wiiich ib now exploded j but them.
\ Matter, but the Appointment of a free Agent; and the fame AlTurance we have from the Pofition of the Stars, fome in one Part of the Heavens, and fome in another; and from the unequal Form of the Earth. and Seas: Nor can we attribute the Motion of the Stars, in fuch a Diredlion, rather than another, to any thing elfe. The very Jhigure of the World, which is the moft perfect, viz. round, and all the Parts of it inclofed, as it were, in the Bofom of the Heavens, and placed in wonderful Order, fufliciently declare, that thefe Things were not the Refult of Chance, but the Appointment of the moft excellent Underftanding: For can any one be fo foolilh, as to exped: any thing fo accurate from Chance? He may as foon believe, that pieces of Timber, and Stones, ihould frame themfeives into a Houfe; {a) or that from Letters thrown at a venture, there fhould arifc a Poem; when the Philofo* pher, who faw only fome Geometrical Figures on the Sea- (ho re, thought them plain Indications of a Man's having been there, fuch Things not looking as if they proceeded from Chance. Befides, that Mankind were not from Eternity, but date their Original from a certain Period of Time, is clear, as from ©ther- Arguments, foiiioffi'i^iei^lnnpravemenc {a) Into a Houfe, Sec ] or And a little after', T/je World Ship, or Engine. nmnifejiiy irr.pco-Jes every Da\\ * The Impro'vement of ArtSy. and groavs nvifer than if ivas, &c.] Tertuiiian treats of this Thefe two Arguments caufed Matter, from Hiftory, in Jiis Jlrifiotle\ Opinion, (who Book concerning the Soul, Sed..\vo,utd not allow Mankind any 30. IFe fnd [{d.ys he) in ifU Beginning) to be rejeded b>' -.Commentaries, efpeciuliy of the the, learned Hiitorian?, efpe-Antiquitiei of Mertythat Man- cially the Epicureans. La--kind increafe by Degrees, &C. cretlus, Book V.
If Heauen and Earth had no Original^ ' Ho^v is it, that before the "^rrojati If ar.
No Poets Jung of Memorable ''Ihings; But Deeds of Hero'' s dydfo oft nxiith them; And no 'where. Monuments rats'' d to their Praife?
%his fhews the World is young and lateiy madt* ' ' Wbena 14 Of tk Truth of Book L of Arts, and thofe defart Places, which came afterwards Whence Wis that Arts are e'very Day encreas'd^ * » Orfrejh reneived i and Ships fo much mpro<ved. And Mujick, to delight the Ear.
With a great deal more to the fame purpofe.
Virgil, Eclogue VI. ■' From thefe Jirji Frinciples All 'Things arofe, hence fprung the tender World, And in his Georgicks. Ufe firji produced thofe various Arts <vje fee^ By fmall degrees; this taitght the Hujhandman To plonv andfo^jj his Fields; from the hard Flint To fetch the hidden Sparks; then Men began With hollonx) Boats to crofs the Stream; Pihis CaWd Hyades and Pleides, their SignSt '■' ' • '■^' And Charles V Wain: Then Sportfmen fpread their Nets To catch <vuild Beajis^ and Dogs purfud their Game. Some drain the Ri<vers, arid fame feek the Main^ Stretching their Nets to inclofe the finny Prey: Others ivith Iron Forge ivhet Infiruments To clea've the yielding Woody Then Arts arofe.
Horace, Book I. Sat. III. When firfl Mankind began to fpread the Earth, hike Animals denjoid of Speech y they fir o've With utmofi Strength of Hands, for Dens and Acorns;;] Fro?n thence to Clubs, and then to Arms they came. Taught by Experience; ''Till Words exprefs'd Their Meaning, and ganje proper Names to Things: Then ended Wars; Cities ivere built y andhanjo^'wefe^rtiadefor Thie^veSy Adulterers, atid Rogues. ^, Pliny in his third Book of fore Appetite and Paffionfvjay-Natural Hiftory, about the Be- ed them, linjed ^without Bribes, ^xnnm^; Wherefore I ^vould be and 'without Iniquity i and fo underfioody as the Words them- needed not to be refirained from fel^ves fignify, ^without the flou- E<vil by Punifhment: Neither rifh of Men; and as they 'were did they fiand in need of Reunderfiood at the Beginning, be- luard, every one naturally purfore any great Exploits voere fuing Virtue \ for fo long as noperformed. The fame Author thing nvas defined contrary to affirms, that the Hercinlan Morality, they nuanted not to be Wood (in Germany) wascoaival refirained by Fear: But after with the World, Book XVI. they laid afide Equity; andVi-Seneca, in Lad ant ins, "'TIS not olence and Ambition fucceeded a Thoufand Tears fince Wifdom in the Room of Honefiy and Huhad a Beginning. Tacitus\ mility \ then began that Poller Annals III. ThefirfiMen,be- nuhicb has alwayi continued amongfi Se6l. 7* the Chrijlian Religion. 15 terwards to be inhabited •, and is further evidenced by the Language of Iflands, plainly derived from the neighbouring Continents. There are moreover certain Ordinances fo univerfal amongft Men, that they of Maggots, or to ha^ve come from Eggs. After his Explication of each of thefe. He adds, If therefore Anirnahhad any Beginnings it is manifeft it muji be one of thefe tnvo ivays. The hme.JriJiotie, in the Firll oihA^Topicks, Chap. XI. There are fome ^ejiions agaittfi tvhich 'very goodArgumetUs may be brought; {it being <very doubtful ivhich fide is in the rights there being great Probability on either hand,) tve ha-ve no Certainty of them: and tho" they be of great njjeight^ nve find it niery difficult to determine the Caufe and Manner of their Exijlence', asforlnjlance, ^whether the World n,vere from Eternity, or no: For fuch Things as thefe are dif put able ^ And again, difputingabout the fame thing in his FirllBookof the Heavens, Chap. lo. VFhat ff^all be faid, 'Txill be the more credible, if nve allonv the Difputanfs Arguments their due ^weight. Trt//^^ therefore did well not to pafs by this, where he brings his Reafons for the Belief of the Scriptures, That tvhat they deliver concerning the Creation of the Uni-verfe, is k-vel to every onz's Capacity, If you take VldtOy tor the World's having a Beginning, and Ariflotle fof its having had none; yoa will have feen both the Jev/iih and Chriftian Opinions.
viongjl fome People. But others immediatelyy or at leaf after they grenv nxeary of Kings, preferred a legal Go^jernment. And Arijlotle could not fully perfuade himfelf, any more than others, of the truth of his own Hypothefis, that Mankind never had any Beginning. For he fpeaks very doubtfully of the Matter in many places, as Mofes Maimonides obferves in his Du6ior Dubitantiurn, Fart II. In the Prologue to his Second Book, concerning the Heavens, he calls his Pofition, only a Perfuafion, and not a Demonftration; and there is a Saying of the fame Philofopher in the third Book of the Soul; Chap. III. That Perfuafion is a Confequence of Opinion. But his principal Argument is drawn from the Abfurdity of the contrary Opinion, "which fuppofes the Heavens and the Univerfe not to be created, but generated; which is inconfillent. Book XI. of his Metaphyficks,, Chap, 8. he fays, Uis 'very likely that Arts have 6ft en beenlofl, andi?t-vented again. And in the lall Chap, of the Third Book of the Generation of Animals, he has thefe Words, It ^voould not be afoolijh ConjeSIure concerning the fir ft Rife of Men, and Beafts, if any 6ne fijould imagine, that of oldtheyfprung out of the Earth one of thefe ttvo luays, either after thi^ Manner 1 6 Of the "Truth of Book L they don't feem io much to owe their Inftitution to the Inftind of Nature, or the Dedudlions of plain Reafon -, as to a conftant Tradition, fcarce interrupted in any Place, either by Wickednefs or Miffortune: Of which fort were formerly Sacrifices, amongft holy Rites; and now Shame in Venereal Things, the Solemnity of Marriage, and the Abhorrence of Inceft.
^^di. VIII. Hhe Ohje^ion concerning the Caiife of Evil^ anfwered.
Nor ought we to be in the leall fhaken in what has been faid, becaufe we fee many Evils happen, the Original of which cannot be afcribed to God, who, as was affirmed of Him, is perfedly good. For when we fay, that God is the Caufe of all Things, we mean of all fuch Things as have a real Exiftence •, which is no Reafon why thofe Things themfelves jfhould not be the Cauie of fome Accidents, fuch as Adions are. God created Man, and fome other Intelligences fuperior to Man, with a Liberty of A6ling; which Liberty of Adting is not in itfelf Evil, but may be {a) the Caufe of fomething that is Evil. And to make God the Author of Evils of this kind, which are called Moral Evils, is the higheft Wickednefs. But there are other Sorts {a) The Caufe of fome thing eft Power of the Creator, God that is E'vi/, &c ] God indeed was unwilling to prevent thofe forefaw, that free Agents Jnconveniencies which proceed would abufe their Liberty, and from the Mutability of their that many natural and moral Nature; becaufe He can a- Evils would arife from hence; mend them as He pleafes, to yet did not this hinder him all Eternity; in fuch a manfrom permitting fuch Abufe, ner as is agreeable to his own nnd the Confequences thereof; Goodnefs, tho' he has not yet any more than it hindred his revealed it to us. Concerning creating Beings endued with which we have largely treated fuch Liberty, '^i he Reafon is in French, in a Book wrote aplain. Becaufe a free Agent be- gainft P^/. 5^^-/^, the feeming ing the moll Excellent Crea- Advocate of the Manichees, lure, which difcovers the high- he Clerc, Sed::'^, lo. the CfMfttan 'Religion. ly Sorts of Evils, fuch as Lofs or Pain infli6i:cd upon a Perfon, which may be allowed to come from God, fuppofe for the Reiormation of the M^n, or as a Pumlhment which his Sins deferve: For here is no Inconfiftency with Goodnefs $ But on the contrary, thefe proceed from Goodneis itfelf, in the fame manner ^s PhyOck, iinple^farlt to the Tafte, does from a good Phyfician.
And here, by the way, we ought to rejedl their Opinion^ who imagine that there are {a) two Adlive Principles, the one Good, and the other Evil. For from Two Principles^ that are contradidlbry to each other, can arile no regular Order, but only Ruin and Deftrudlion: Neither can there be a lelf-exiftent Being perfedtly Evil, as there is One Self-€xiftent perfedly Good: Becaufe Evil is a Defcdl, which cannot refide but in fomething which has a Being; {h) and the very having a Being is to be teckoned amongft the Things which are Good.
Se6l. X. That Goli governs t'h'e Univerfe.
That the World is governed by the Providence bf God, is evident from hence: That not only Men, who are endued with Underftanding 5 but Birds, and both Wild and Tame Beafls, (who are lead by Inflinft, which fer-t^e them inftead of Underftanding) take Care ^/, and provide for their Young. Which Perfections as it is a Branch of Goodnefs, ought not to be excluded from God: And fo rhuch the rather, becaufe He is All- wife, and All-powerful, and cannot but know every thing that C is {a) Two aUtve Principles, Author) was fpeaking ofmoral &c.] This has refpe^ to the an- and not of natural Good. I: cient Difciples of Zoroajlres, had therefore been better to and to the Manichees. Le Clerc have forborn fuch khid of Rea- (b) And the 'very haviftg a fonir.g. Le Cierc. ^iing^ &c.] But here, (the J 3 Of the "Truth of Book I.
is done, or is to be done, and with the greatell Facility dired and govern them •, To which we mayadd, what was before hinted, concerning the Motion of particular Things, contrary to their own Nature, to promote the Good of the Whole.
Sedl. XL And the Affairs of this lower World.
And They are under a very great Miflake, who confine this Providence {a) to the Heavenly Bodies; As appears from the foregoing Reafon, which holds as ftrong for all created Beings i and moreover from this Confideration, that there is an efpecial Regard had to {h) the Good of Man, in the Regulation of theCourfe of the Stars, as is confefTed by the beft Phiiofophers, and evident from Experience. And it is reafonable to conceive, that greater Care fhould be taken of ihat^ for whofe Sake the other was made, than of that which is only fubfervient to it.
And the Particulars in it.
-Neither is their Error lefs, {c) who allow the Univerfe to be governed by Him, but not the parti- [a] To the Heavenly Botlies^ it was made upon our account; &c ] This was the Opinion unlefs we can imagine that oi Arijiotle. See P/utarcD con- Chance provided every Thing cerning the Opinions of the that is neceflary for us; which