Part 1, Section 1

ANd first, The Excellency and Sublimity of the Object we are invited to contemplate, is such, that none that does truly acknowledge a Deity can deny, but that there is no Speculation, whose Object is comparable in point of Nobleness, to the Nature and Attributes of God. The Souls of inquisitive men are commonly so curious, to learn the Nature and Condition of Spirits, as that the over-greedy desire to discover so much as That there are other Spiritual Substances besides the Souls of Men, has prevail’d with too many to try forbidden ways of attaining satisfaction; and many have chosen rather to venture the putting themselves within the power of Daemons, than remain ignorant whether or no there are any such Beings: As I have learned by the private acknowledgments made me of such unhappy (though not unsuccessful) Attempts, by divers learned men (both of other Professions, and that of Physick,) who themselves made them in differing places, and were persons neither Timerous nor Superstitious: (But this onely upon the By.) And certainly that man must have as Wrong as Mean a Notion of the Deity, and must but very little consider the Nature and Attributes of that infinitely perfect Being, and as little the Nature and infirmities of Man, who can imagine the Divine Perfections to be Subjects, whose investigation a man may (inculpably) despise, or be so much as fully sufficient for. Not onely the Scripture tells us,¹ That his Greatness is incomprehensible,² and his wisdom is inscrutable; That he humbles himself to look into (or upon) the Heavens and the Earth; and, That not onely this or that man, (Isa. 40.15) but all the Nations of the World are, in comparison of him, but like the small Drop of a Bucket, or the smaller Dust of a Ballance: But even the Heathen Philosopher, who wrote that eloquent Book De Mundo, ascrib’d to Aristotle in his riper years, speaks of the Power, and Wisdom, and Amiableness of God, in terms little less lofty, though necessarily inferiour to so infinitely Sublime a Subject; which they that think they can, especially without Revelation, sufficiently understand, do very little understand themselves.

But perhaps your Friend will object, That to the knowledge of God there needs no other then Natural Theology; and I readily confess, being warranted by an Apostle, that the […],³ was not unknown to the Heathen Philosophers; and that so much knowledge of God is attainable by the light of Nature, duly employ’d, as to encourage men to exercise themselves more than most of them do in that noblest of Studies, and render their being no Proficients in it, injurious to themselves as well as to their Maker. But notwithstanding this, as God knows Himself infinitely better then purblind Man knows Him, so the Informations He is pleased to vouchsafe us, touching His own Nature and Attributes, are exceedingly preferable to any account, that we can give our selves of Him, without Him. And methinks, the differing Prospects we may have of Heaven, may not ill adumbrate to us the differing Discoveries that may be made of the Attributes of its Maker. For as, though a man may with his naked eye see Heaven to be a very glorious Object, enobled with radiant Stars of several sorts; yet when his eye is assisted with a good Telescope, he can not onely discover a number of Stars (Fix’d and Wandring) which his naked eye would never have shown him; but those Planets which he could see before, will appear to him much bigger, and more distinct: So, although bare Reason well improv’d will suffice to make a man behold many glorious Attributes in the Deity; yet the same Reason, when assisted by Revelation, may enable a man to discover far more Excellencies in God, and perceive them, he contemplated before, far greater and more distinctly. And to shew how much a dim Eye, illuminated by the Scriptures, is able to discover of the Divine Perfections, and how unobvious they are to the most piercing Philosophical Eyes, that enjoy but the dim light of Nature; we need but consider, how much more suitable Conceptions and Expressions concerning God are to be met with in the Writings of those Fishermen and others, that penn’d the New Testament, and those illiterate Christians that received it, than amongst the most Civiliz’d Nations of the World (such as anciently the Greeks and Romans, and now the Chineses and East-Indians) and among the eminentest of the Wise-men and Philosophers themselves, (as Aristotle, Homer, Hesiod, Epicurus, and others.)

Besides that the Book of Scripture discloses to us much more of the Attributes of God, than the Book of Nature; there is another Object of our Study, for which we must be entirely beholding to Theology: For though we may know something of the Nature of God by the Light of Reason, yet we must owe the knowledge of His Will, or Positive Laws, to His own Revelation. And we may ghess, how curious great Princes and wise Men have been to inform themselves of the Constitutions established by wise and eminent Legislators; partly by the frequent Travels of the Ancient Sages and Philosophers into Forreign Countries, to observe their Laws and Government, as well as bring home their Learning; and partly by those Royal and Sumptuous Expences, at which that Great and Learned Monarch Ptolomeus Philadelphus stuck not to procure an Authentick Copy of the Law of Moses, whom he considered but as an eminent Legislator. But certainly That, and other Laws recorded in the Bible, cannot but appear more noble and worthy Objects of Curiosity to us Christians, who know them to proceed from an Omniscient Deity, who being the Authour of Mankind, as well as of the rest of the Universe, cannot but have a far perfecter knowledge of the Nature of Man, than any other of the Law-givers, or all of them put together can be conceived to have had.

But there is a farther Discovery of Divine Matters, wherewith we are also gratified by Theology: For besides what the Scripture teaches us of the Nature and the Will of God, it contains divers Historical Accounts (if I may so call them) of His Thoughts and Actions. The Great Alexander thought himself nobly employ’d, when he read of the Grecian Actions in Homer’s Verses; and, To know the Sentiments of great and wise Persons, upon particular occasions, is a curiosity so laudable, and so worthy of· an Inquisitive Soul, that the Southern Queen has been more prais’d than admir’d, for coming from the remoter parts of the Earth, to hear the Wisdom of Solomon. Now the Scripture does in many places give our Curiosity a nobler Employment, and thereby a higher Satisfaction, than the King of Macedon, or the Queen of Sheba could enjoy; for in many places it does, with great clearness and ingenuity, give us accounts of what God Himself hath declar’d of His own Thoughts, of divers particular Persons and Things, and relates, what He that knows and commands all things, was pleas’d to say & do upon particular Occasions. Of this sort of Passages are the things recorded to have been said by God to Noah,⁴ about the sinful Worlds ruine, and that Just Man’s preservation;⁵ and to Moses in the case of the Daughters of Zelophehad. And of this sort are the Conferences, mentioned to have pass’d betwixt God and Abimelech,⁶ concerning Abraham’s Wife; betwixt God and Abraham touching the destruction of Sodom;⁷ betwixt God and Solomon, about that Kings happy choice; betwixt God and Jonah, about the Fate of the greatest City of the World: And above all these, those two strange and matchless Passages, the one in the first Book of Kings,⁸ touching the seducing Spirit that undertook to seduce Ahab’s Prophets; and the other, that yet more wonderful Relation of what pas’d betwixt God and Satan,⁹ wherein the Deity vouchsafes not onely to Praise, but (if I may so speak with reverence) to Glory in a Mortal. And the being admitted to the knowledge of these Transactions of another World (if I may so call them) wherein God has been pleased to disclose himself so very much, is an advantage afforded us by the Scripture, of so noble a Nature, and so unattainable by the utmost improvement we our selves can make of our own Reason, that, did the Scripture contain nothing else that were very Considerable, yet that Book would highly deserve our Curiosity and Gratitude.

And on this occasion, I must by no means leave unobserv’d another Advantage that we have from some Discourses made us in the Bible; since it too highly concerns us, not to be a very Great one; and it is, That the Scripture declares to us the Judgment, that God is pleas’d to make of some particular Men, upon the Estimate of their Life and Deportment. For though Reason alone, and the Grounds of Religion in general, may satisfie us in some measure, that God is Good and Merciful, and therefore ‘tis likely he may Pardon the sins and frailties of Men, and accept of their Imperfect Services; yet, besides that we do not know, whether He will Pardon, unless we have His Promise of it; besides this (I say) though by vertue of general Revelation, such as is pretended to in divers Religions, we may be assured, that God will accept, forgive, and reward those that sincerely obey him,¹⁰ and perform the Conditions of the Covenant, whether it be Express, or Implicite, that he vouchsafes to make with them; yet since ‘tis He that is the Judge of the Performance of the Conditions, and of the sincerity of the Person; and since He is Omniscient, and a […],¹¹ and so may know more Ill of us, than even we know of our selves; a concerned Conscience may rationally doubt,¹² whether in Gods Estimate any particular man was so sincere as to be accepted. But when He Himself is pleas’d to give Elogiums (if I may with due respect so style them) to David, Job, Noah, Daniel, &c. whilst they were alive, and to others after they were dead, (and consequently having finished their Course, were pass’d into an Irreversible state) we may learn with Comfort, both that the Performance of such an Obedience as God will accept, is a thing really Practicable by Men; and that even great sins and misdemeanors are not (if seasonably repented of) certain evidences, that a man shall never be Happy in the future Life. And it seems to be for such an use of consolation to Frail men (but not at all to encourage Licentious ones) that the Lapses of holy Persons are so frequently recorded in the Scriptures. And bating those Divine Writings, I know no Books in the world, nor all of them put together, that can give a considering Christian, who has due apprehensions of the Inexpressible Happiness or Misery of an Immortal state in Heaven or in Hell, so great and well grounded a Consolation, as may be deriv’d from three or four lines in St. John’s Apocalypse,¹³ where he says, That he saw in Heaven a great multitude, not to be numbred, of all Nations, and Tribes, and People, and Tongues, standing before the Throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white Robes, with Palms (the Ensigns of Victory) in their hands; and the Praises of God and of the Lamb in their mouthes. For from thence we may learn, that Heaven is not reserv’d onely for Prophets, and Apostles, and Martyrs, and such extraordinary Persons, whose Sanctity the Church admires, but that through Gods goodness, multitudes of his more Imperfect Servants have access thither.

Though the Infinite Perfections and Prerogatives of the Deity be such, that Theology it self can no more than Philosophy afford us another Object for our Studies, any thing near so Sublime and Excellent, as what it discloses to us of God; yet Divinity favours us with some other Discoveries, namely, about Angels, the Universe, and our own Souls, which though they must needs be inferiour to the knowledge of God Himself, are, for the nobleness of their Objects, or for their Importance, highly preferable to any that Natural Philosophy has been able to afford its Votaries.

But before I proceed to name any more particulars, disclos’d to us by Revelation, ‘twill be requisite, for the prevention or removal of a Prejudice, to mind you, that we should not make our Estimates of the worth of the things we owe to Revelation, by the Impressions they are wont now to make upon Us Christians, who learned divers of them in our Catechisms, and perhaps have several times met with most of the Rest in Sermons, or Theological Books. For ‘tis not to be admir’d, that we should not be strongly affected at the mention of those Truths, which (how valuable soever in themselves) were for the most part taught us when we were either Children, or too Youthful to discern and prize their Excellency and Importance. So that though afterwards they were presented to our riper understanding, yet their being by that time become familiar, and our not remembring that we ignor’d them, kept them from making any vigorous Impressions on Us. Whereas if the same things had been (with Circumstances evincing their Truth) discover’d to some Heathen Philosopher, or other vertuous and inquisitive Man, who valu’d important Truths, and had nothing but his own Reason to attain them with, he would questionless have receiv’d them with wonder and joy. Which to induce us to suppose we have sundry Instances, both in the Records of the Primitive Times, and in the recent Relations of the Conversion of men to Christianity among the People of China, Japan, and other Literate Nations. For though bare Reason cannot discover these Truths, yet when Revelation has once sufficiently propos’d them to Her, she can readily embrace, and highly value divers of them; which being here intimated once for all, I now advance to name some of the Revelations themselves.

And first, as for Angels, I will not now question, whether bare Reason can arrive at so much as to assure us, That there are such Beings in Rerum Naturâ. For though Reason may assure, that their Existence is not Impossible, and perhaps too not improbable; yet I doubt, whether ‘twere to meer Ratiocination, or clear Experience, or any thing else but Revelation, convey’d to them by imperfect Tradition, that those Heathen Philosophers, who believ’d that there were separate Spirits other than Humane, ow’d that perswasion. And particularly as to Good Angels, I doubt, whether those Antient Sages had any cogent Reasons, or any convincing Historical Proofs, or, in short, any one unquestionable Evidence of any kind, to satisfie a wary person so much as of the being (much less to give a farther account) of those Excellent Spirits.¹⁴ Whereas Theology is enabled by the Scripture to inform us, that not onely there are such Spirits, but a vast multitude of them; That they were made by God and Christ, and are Immortal, and propagate not their Species; and that these Spirits have their chief Residence in Heaven, and enjoy the Vision of God, whom they constantly praise, and punctually obey, without having sinn’d against him; That also these Good Angels are very Intelligent Beings, and of so great power, that One of them was able in a night to destroy a vast Army; That they have Degrees among themselves, are Enemies to the Devils, and fight against them; That they can assume Bodies shap’d like ours, and yet disappear in a trice; That they are sometimes employ’d about Humane affairs, and that not onely for the welfare of Empires and Kingdomes, but to protect and rescue single Good men. And though they are wont to appear in a dazling Splendor, and an astonishing Majesty, yet they are All of them ministring Spirits, employ’d for the good of the designed Heirs of Salvation.¹⁵ And they do not onely refuse mens Adoration, and admonish them to pay it unto God; but, as they are in a sense made by Jesus Christ, who was true Man as well as God; so they do not onely worship him,¹⁶ and call him simply, as his own Followers were were wont to do, The Lord, but stile themselves Fellow servants to his Disciples.

And as for the other Angels, though the Gentiles, as well Philosophers as others, were commonly so far mistaken about them, as to adore them for true Gods,¹⁷ and yet many of them to doubt whether they were immortal; the Scripture informs us, that they are not Self-originated, but created Beings; That however a great part of Mankind worships them, they are wicked and impure Spirits, Enemies to Mankind, and Seducers of our first Parents to their Ruine; That though they beget and promote confusion among men, yet they have some Order among themselves, as having one Chief, or Leader; That they are evil Spirits, not by Nature, but Apostacy; That their power is very limited,¹⁸ insomuch that a Legion of them cannot invade so contemptible a thing as a Herd of Swine, without particular leave from God;¹⁹ That not onely Good Angels, but Good Men, may, by resisting them, put them to flight, and the sincere Christians that worsted them here, will be among those that shall judge them hereafter;²⁰ That their being immortal, will make their misery so too; That they do themselves believe and tremble at those Truths, they would perswade men to reject; and That they are so far from being able to confer that Happiness, which their Worshippers expect from them, that themselves are wretched creatures,²¹ reserv’d in chains of darkness to the judgment of the great Day; at which they shall be doom’d to suffer everlasting torments, in the company of those wicked men that they shall have prevail’d on.

We may farther consider, That as to things Corporeal themselves, which the Naturalist challenges as his peculiar Theme, we may name particulars, and those of the most comprehensive nature, and greatest Importance, whose knowledge the Naturalist must owe to Theology. Of which Truths I shall content my self to give a few instances in the World it self, or the universal Aggregate of things Corporeal; that being look’d upon as the noblest and chiefest Object, that the Physicks afford us to contemplate.

And first, Those that admit the Truths reveal’d by Theology, do generally allow, that God is not onely the Author, but Creator of the World. I am not ignorant of what Anaxagoras taught, of what he call’d […] — (and Tully mentions) in the production of the World; and that what many other Grecians afterwards taught of the Worlds Aeternity, is peculiarly due to Aristotle, who does little less then brag, that all the Philosophers that preceded him were of another mind. Nor will I here examine (which I else-where do) whether, and how far by Arguments meerly Physical, the Creation of the World may be evinc’d. But whether or no meer Natural Reason can reach so sublime a Truth; yet it seems not that it did actually, where it was not excited by Revelation-Discovery. For though many of the antient Philosophers believ’d the World to have had a Beginning, yet they all took it for granted, that Matter had none; nor does any of them, that I know of, seem to have so much as imagin’d, that any Substance could be produced out of Nothing. Those that ascribe much more to God than Aristotle, make Him to have given Form onely, not Matter, to the World, and to have but contriv’d the pre-existent Matter into this orderly Systeme we call the Universe.

Next, whereas very many of the Philosophers that succeeded Aristotle, suppose the World to have been Aeternal; and those that believ’d it to have been produc’d, had not the confidence to pretend to the knowing how old it was; unless it were some extravagant ambitious People, such as those fabulous Chaldaeans, whose fond account reach’d up to 40000 or 50000 years: Theology teaches us, that the World is very far from being so old by 30 or 40 thousand years as they, and by very many Ages, as divers others have presum’d; and does, from the Scripture, give us such an account of the age of the World, that it has set us certain Limits, within which so long a Duration may be bounded, without mistaking in our Reckoning. Whereas Philosophy leaves us to the vastness of Indeterminate Duration, without any certain Limits at all.

The Time likewise, and the Order, and divers other Circumstances of the Manner, wherein the Fabrick of the World was compleated, we owe to Revelation; bare Reason being evidently unable to inform us of Particulars that preceded the Origine of the first Man; and though I do not think Religion so much concern’d, as many do, in their Opinion and Practise, that would deduce particular Theorems of Natural Philosophy from this or that Expression of a Book, that seems rather design’d to instruct us about Spiritual than Corporeal things. I see no just reason to embrace their Opinion, that would so turn the two first Chapters of Genesis into an Allegory, as to overthrow the Literal and Historical sense of them. And though I take the Scripture to be mainly design’d to teach us nobler and better Truths, than those of Philosophy; yet I am not forward to condemn those, who think the beginning of Genesis contains divers particulars, in reference to the Origine of things, which though not unwarily, or alone to be urg’d in Physicks, may yet afford very considerable Hints to an attentive and inquisitive Peruser.

And as for the Duration of the World, which was by the old Philosophers held to be Interminable, and of which the Stoicks Opinion, that the World shall be destroyed by fire (which they held from the Jews) was Physically precarious; Theology teaches us expresly from Divine Revelation,²² that the present course of Nature shall not last always, but that one Day this world (or at least this Vortex of ours) shall either be Abolished by Annihilation, or (which seems far more probable) be Innovated, and, as it were, Transfigur’d,²³ and that by the Intervention of that Fire, which shall dissolve and destroy the present frame of Nature: So that either way, the present state of things (as well Naturall as Political) shall have an end.

And as Theology affords us these Informations about the Creatures in general; so touching the chiefest and noblest of the visible ones, Men, Revelation discovers very plainly divers very important things, where Reason must needs be in the dark.

And first, touching the Body of Man; The Epicureans attributed its Original, as that of all things else, to the Casual Concourse of Atoms; and the Stoicks absurdly and injuriously enough (but much more pardonably than their follower herein, Mr. Hobbs) would have Men to spring up like Mushrooms out of the ground; and whereas other Philosophers maintain conceits about it, too wild to be here recited; the Book of Genesis assures us,²⁴ that the Body of Man was first form’d by God in a peculiar manner, of a Terrestrial Matter; and ‘tis there described, as having been perfected before the Soul was united to it. And as Theology thus teaches us, how the Body of Man had its first beginning; so it likewise assures us, what shall become of the Body after death,²⁵ though bare Natural Reason will scarce be pretended to reach to so abstruse and difficult an Article as that of a Resurrection; which, when propos’d by St. Paul,²⁶ produc’d among the Athenian Philosophers nothing else but wonder or laughter.

Not to mention, that Theology teaches us divers other things about the Origine and Condition of Mens Bodies;²⁷ as, That all Mankind is the Off-spring of One Man and one Woman; That the first Woman was not made of the same Matter, nor after the same Manner as the first Man, but was afterwards taken from his side; That both Adam and Eve were not,²⁸ as many Epicureans and other Philosophers fanci’d that the first men were, first Infants; whence they did, as we do, grow by degrees to be mature and compleat Humane Persons, but were made so all at once;²⁹ and, That hereafter, as all mens Bodies shall rise again, so they shall all (or at least all those of the just) be kept from ever dying a second time.

And as for the Humane Soul, though I willingly grant, that much may be deduc’d from the Light of Reason onely, touching its Existence, Properties, and Duration; yet Divine Revelation teaches it us with more clearness, and with greater Authority; as, sure, he that made our Souls, and upholds them, can best know what they are, and how long he will have them last. And as the Scripture expresly teaches us, that the Rational Soul is distinct from the Body,³⁰ as not being to be destroy’d by those very Enemies that kill the Body; so about the Origine of this Immortal Soul (about which Philosophers can give us but wide and precarious conjectures) Theology assures us, that the Soul of man had not such an Origination, as those of other Animals,³¹ but was Gods own immediate Workmanship, and was united to the Body already form’d: And yet not so united,³² but that upon their Divorce, she will survive, and pass into a state, in which Death shall have no power over her.

I expect you will here object, that for the knowledge of the Perpetual Duration of separate Souls, we need not be beholding to the Scripture, since the Immortality of the Soul may be sufficiently prov’d by the sole Light of Nature, and particularly has been demonstrated by your great Des Cartes. But you must give me leave to tell you, that, besides that a matter of that weight and concernment cannot be too well prov’d, and consequently ought to procure a welcome for all good Mediums of Probation; besides this, I say, I doubt many Cartesians do, as well as others, mistake, both the difficulty under consideration, and the scope of Des Cartes’s Discourse. For I grant, that by Natural Philosophy alone, the Immortality of the Soul may be prov’d against its usual Enemies, Atheists and Epicureans. For the ground, upon which these men think it mortal, being, That ‘tis not a true substance, but onely a modification of Body, which consequently must perish, when the frame or structure of the Body, whereto it belongs, is dissolv’d: Their ground being this, I say, if we can prove by some Intellectual Operations of the Rational Soul, which Matter, however modifi’d, cannot reach, That it is a Substance distinct from the Humane Body, there is no reason, why the Dissolution of the Latter should infer the Destruction of the Former, which is a simple Substance, and as real a Substance as Matter it self, which yet the Adversaries affirm to be Indestructible. But though by the Mental Operations of the Rational Soul, and perhaps by other Mediums it may, against the Epicureans, and other meer Naturalists, who will not allow God to have any thing to do in the case, be prov’d to be Immortal in the sense newly propos’d; yet the same Proofs will not evince, that absolutely it shall never cease to be · if we dispute with Philosophers, who admit, as the Cartesians and many others do, that God is the sole Creator and Preserver of all things. For how are we sure but that God may have so ordain’d, That, though the Soul of Man, by the continuance of his ordinary and upholding Concourse, may survive the Body, yet, as ‘tis generally believ’d, not to be created till it be just to be infus’d into the Body; so it shall be annihilated when it parts with the Body, God withdrawing at death that supporting influence, which alone kept it from relapsing to its first Nothing. Whence it may appear, that notwithstanding the Physical proofs of the Spirituality and separableness of the Humane Soul, we are yet much beholding to Divine Revelation for assuring us, that its Duration shall be endless. And now to make good what I was intimating above, concerning the Cartesians, and the scope of Des Cartes’s Demonstration, I shall appeal to no other than his own Expressions to evince, that he consider’d this matter for the main as we have done, and pretended to demonstrate, that the Soul is a Distinct Substance from the Body; but not that absolutely speaking it is Immortal. Cur (answers that excellent Author) de immortalitate Animae nihil scripserim,³³ jam dixi in Synopsi mearum Meditationum. Quod ejus ab omni corpore distinctionem satis probaverim, supra ostendi. Quod vero additis, Ex distinctione Animae á corpore non sequi ejus Immortalitatem, quia nihilominus dici potest, illam à Deo talis naturae factam esse, ut ejus Duratio simul cum Duratione vitae corporeae finiatur, fateor á me refelli non posse. Neque enim tantum mihi assumo ut quicquam de iis quae à libera Dei voluntate dependent, humanae rationis vi determinare aggrediar. Docet Naturalis cognitio, &c. Sed si de absoluta Dei potestate quaeratur, an forte decreverit, ut humanae animae iisdem Temporibus esse desinant, quibus Corpora quae illis adjunxit; solius Dei est, respondere. And if he would not assume to demonstrate by Natural Reason, so much as the Existence of the Soul after death, unless upon a supposition; we may well presume, that he would less take upon him to determine, what shall be the condition of that Soul after it leaves the Body. And that you may not doubt of this, I will give you for it his own confession, as he freely writ it in a private Letter to that Admirable Lady, the Princess Elizabeth, first Daughter to Frederick King of Bohemia, who seems to have desir’d his Opinion on that important Question, about which he sends her this Answer, Pour ce qui, &c. i. e. As to the State of the Soul after this Life, my knowledge of it is far inferiour to that of Monsieur (he means Sir Kenelm) Digby. For, setting aside that which Religion teaches us of it, I confess, that by mee[…] Natural Reason we may indeed make many conjectures to our own advantage, and have fair Hopes, but not any Assurance: And accordingly in the next clause he gives the imprudence, of quitting what is certain for an uncertainty, as the cause why, according to Natural Reason, we are never to seek Death.

Nor do I wonder he should be of that mind. For all that meer Reason can demonstrate, may be reduced to these two things; One, that the Rational Soul, being an Incorporeal Substance, there is no necessity that it should perish with the Body; so that, if God have not otherwise appointed, the Soul may survive the Body, and last for ever: The other, that the Nature of the Soul, according to Des Cartes, consisting in its being a Substance that thinks, we may conclude, that, though it be by death separate from the Body, it will nevertheless retain the power of thinking. But now, whether either of these two things, or both, be sufficient to endear the state of separation after death, to a considering man, I think may be justly question’d. For, Immortality or Perseverance in Duration, simply consider’d, is rather a thing presuppos’d to, or a requisite of, Felicity, than a part of it; and being in it self an adiaphorous thing, assumes the nature of the state or condition to which ‘tis joyn’d, and does not make that state happy or miserable, but makes the possessors of it more happy or more miserable than otherwise they would be. And though some School-men, upon Aery Metaphysical Notions, would have men think it is more eligible to be wretched, than not to be at all; yet we may oppose to their speculative subtilties the sentiments of Mankind, and the far more considerable Testimony of the Saviour of Mankind· who speaking of the Disciple that betray’d him, says,³⁴ That it had been good for that man if he had never been born. And Eternity is generally conceived to aggravate no less the miseries of Hell, than it heightens the joys of Heaven. And here we may consider, first, That meer Reason cannot so much as assure us absolutely, that the Soul shall survive the Body: For the Truth of which we have not onely Cartesius’s Confession, lately recited, but a probable Argument, drawn from the nature of the thing, since, as the Body and Soul were brought together, not by any meer Physical Agents, and since their Association and Union whilst they continued together, was made upon Conditions that depended solely upon Gods free and arbitrary Institution; so, for ought Reason can secure us of, one of the Conditions of that Association may be, That the Body and Soul should not survive each other. Secondly, supposing that the Soul be permitted to outlive the Body, meer Reason cannot inform us what will become of her in her separate state, whether she will be vitally united to any other kind of Body or Vehicle; and if to some, of what kind that will be, and upon what terms the Union will be made. For possibly she may be united to an unorganiz’d, or very imperfectly organiz’d, Body, wherein she cannot exercise the same Functions she did in her Humane Body. As we see, that even in this Life the Souls of Natural Fools are united to Bodies, wherein they cannot discourse, or at least cannot Philosophize. And ‘tis plain, that some Souls are introduc’d into Bodies, which, by reason of Paralytical and other Diseases, they are unable to move, though that does not always hinder them from being obnoxious to feel pain. So that, for ought we naturally know, a Humane Soul, separated from the Body, may be united to such a portion of Matter, that she may neither have the power to move it, nor the advantage of receiving any agreeable Informations by its interventions, having upon the account of that Union no other sense than that of pain. But let us now consider what will follow, if I should grant that the Soul will not be made miserable, by being thus wretchedly matched. Suppose we then, that she be left free to enjoy what belongs to her own nature: That being onely the Power of always thinking, it may well be doubted, whether th’exercise of that Power wil suffice to make her happy. You will perchance easily believe, that I love as well as another to entertain my self with my own thoughts, and to enjoy them undisturbed by visits, and other avocations; I would, onely accompanied by a Servant and a Book, go to dine at an Inn upon a Road, to enjoy my thoughts the more freely for that day. But yet, I think, the most contemplative men would, at least in time, grow weary of thinking, if they received no supply of Objects from without, by Reading, Seeing, or Conversing; and if they also wanted the opportunity of executing their thoughts, by moving the Members of their Bodies, or of imparting them, either by Discoursing, or Writing of Books, or by making of Experiments. On this occasion I remember, that I knew a Gentleman, who was, in Spain, for a State-crime, which yet he thought an Heroick action, kept close prisoner for a year in a place, where though he had allowed him a Diet not unfit for a Person of Note, as he was; yet he was not permitted the benefit of any Light, either of the Day or Candles, and was not accosted by any humane creature, save at certain times by the Jaylor, that brought him meat and drink, but was strictly forbidden to converse with him. Now though this Gentleman by his discourse appear’d to be a man of a lively humour, yet being ask’d by me, how he could do to pass the time in that sad solitude, he confessed to me, that, though he had the liberty of walking too and fro in his Prison, and though by often recalling into his mind all the adventures and other passages of his former life, and by several ways combining and diversifying his Thoughts, he endeavoured to give his mind as much variety of employment as he was able; yet that would not serve his turn, but he was often reduc’d, by drinking large draughts of Wine, and then casting himself upon his bed, to endeavour to drown that Melancholly, which the want of new objects cast him into. And I can easily admit, he found a great deal of difference between the sense he had of thinking when he was at liberty, and that which he had when he was confin’d to that employment, whose delightfulness, like fire, cannot last long, when it is, as his was, denied both fuel and vent. And, in a word, though I most readily grant, that Thinking interwoven with Conversation and Action, may be a very pleasant way of passing ones Time, yet Man being by nature a sociable creature, I fear, that alone would be a dry and wearisome Imployment to spend Eternity in.

Before I proceed to the next Section, I must not omit to take notice, That though the brevity I propos’d to my self, keeps me from discoursing of any Theological Subjects, save what I have touch’d upon about the Divine Attributes, and the things I have mention’d about the Universe in general, and the Humane Soul; yet there are divers other things, knowable by the help of Revelation, and not without it, that are of so noble and sublime a Nature, that the greatest Wits may find their best Abilities both fully exercis’d, and highly gratifi’d by making Enquiries into them. I shall not name for proof of this the Adorable Mystery of the Trinity, wherein ‘tis acknowledg’d, that the most soaring Speculators are wont to be pos’d, or to loose themselves: But I shall rather mention the Redemption of Mankind, and the Decrees of God concerning Men. For though these seem to be less out of the Ken of our Natural Faculties; yet ‘tis into some things that belong to the former of them, that the Scripture tells us, The Angels desire to pry;³⁵ and ‘twas the consideration of the latter of them, that made one that had been caught up into the Mansion of the Angels,³⁶ amazedly cry out, […], &c.

Not are these the onely things that the Scripture it self terms Mysteries, though, for brevities sake, instead of specifying any of them, I shall content my self to represent to you in general; that, since Gods wisdom is boundless, it may, sure, have more ways than one to display it self. And though the material World be full of the Productions of his Wisdom; yet that hinders not but that the Scripture may be enobled with many excellent Impresses, and, as it were, Signatures of the same Attribute. For, as I was beginning to say, it cannot but be highly injurious to the Deity, in whom all other True Perfections, as well as Omniscience, are both united and transcendent, to think, that he can contrive no ways to disclose his Perfections, besides the ordering of Matter and Motion, and cannot otherwise deserve to be the Object of Mens studies, and their Admiration, than in the capacity of a Creator.

And I think, I might safely add, that besides these Grand and Mysterious Points I came from mentioning, there are many other noble and important things, wherein unassisted Reason leaves us in the dark; which though not so clearly reveal’d in the Scripture, are yet in an inviting measure discover’d there, and consequently deserve the indagation of a Curious and Philosophical Soul. Shall we not think it worth enquiring, whether the Satisfaction of Christ was necessary to appease the Justice of God, and purchase Redemption for Mankind? Or whether God, as Absolute and Supreme Governour of the World, might have freely remitted the Penalties of sin? Shall we not think it worth the inquiring, upon what Account, and upon what Terms, the Justification of Men […]wards God is transacted, especially considering how much it imports us to know, and how perplexedly a Doctrine, not in it self abstruse, is wont to be delivered? Shall not we inquire, whether or no the Souls of Men, before they were united to their Bodies, pre-existed in a happier state, as many of the Ancient and Modern Jews and Platonists, and (besides Origen) some Learned Men of our times do believe· And shall not we be curious to know, whether, when the Soul leaves the Body, it do immediately pass to Heaven or Hell (as ‘tis commonly believed,) or for want of Organs be laid, as it were, asleep in an insensible and unactive state, till it recover the Body at the Resurrection? (as many Socinians and others maintain:) Or whether it be conveyed into secret Recesses, where, though it be in a good or bad condition, according to what it did in the Body, ‘tis yet repriev’d from the flames of Hell, and restrain’d from the Beatifick Vision till the Day of Judgment? (which seems to have been the opinion of many, if not most of the Primitive Fathers and Christians.) Shall not we be curious to know, whether at that great Decretory Day, this vast Fabrick of the World, which all confess must have its frame quite shatter’d, shall be suffer’d to relapse into its first Nothing, (as several Divines assert;) or shall be, after its Dissolution, renew’d to a better state, and, as it were, Transfigur’d? And shall not we inquire, whether or no in that future state of things, which shall never have an end,³⁷ we shall know one another? (as Adam, when he awak’d out of his profound sleep, knew Eve whom he never saw before;) and whether those Personal Friendships and Affections, we had for one another here, and the pathetick Consideration of the Relations (as of Father and Son, Husband and Wife, Chaste Mistris and Virtuous Lover, Prince and Subject,) on which many of them were grounded, shall continue? Or whether all those things, as antiquated and slight, shall be obliterated, and, as it were, swallowed up? (as the former Relation of a Cousin a great way off, is scarce at all consider’d, when the Persons come so to change their state, as to be united by the strict Bonds of Marriage.)

But ‘twere tedious to propose all the other Points, whereof the Divine takes cognizance, that highly merit an inquisitive mans curiosity; and about which, all the Writings of the old Greek and other Heathen Philosophers put together, will give us far less information, than the single Volume of Canonical Scripture. I foresee indeed, that it may nevertheless be objected, that in some of these Inquiries, Revelation incumbers Reason, by delivering things, which Reason is obliged to make its Hypothesis consistent with. But, besides that this cannot be so much as pretended of all; if you consider how much unassisted Reason leaves us in the dark about these matters, wherein she has not been able to frame so much as probable determinations, especially in comparison of those probabilities that Reason can deduce from what it finds one way or other delivered in the Scripture: If you consider this, I say, you will, I presume, allow me to say, That the revealed Truths, which Reason is obliged to comply with, if they be burdens to it, are but such Burdens as Feathers are to a Hawk, which instead of hindring his flight by their weight, enable him to soar toward Heaven, and take a larger prospect of things, than, if he had not feathers, he could possibly do.

And on this occasion, Sir, the greater Reverence I owe to the Scripture it self, than to its Expositors, prevails upon me to tell you freely, that you will not do right, either to Theology, or (the greatest Repository of its Truths) the Bible; if you imagine that there are no considerable Additions to be made to the Theological Discoveries we have already, nor no clearer Expositions of many Texts of Scripture, or better Reflections on that matchless Book, than are to be met with in the generality of Commentators, or of Preachers, without excepting the Antient Fathers themselves. For, there being in my opinion two things requisite, to qualifie a Commentator to do right to his Theme, a competency of Critical Knowledge, and a Concern for the Honour and Interest of Christianity in general, assisted by a good Judgment to discern and select those things that may most conduce to it; I doubt, there are not many Expositors, as they are call’d, of the Scripture, that are not deficient in the former or the latter of these particulars, and I wish there be not too many that are defective in both.

That the knowledge of at least Greek and Hebrew is requisite to him, that takes upon him to expound Writings penn’d Originally in those Languages, if the nature of the thing did not manifest it, you might easily be perswaded to believe, by considering with what gross mistakes the Ignorance of Languages has oftentimes blemish’d not onely the Interpretations of the School-men and others, but even those of the Venerable Fathers of the Church. For though generally they were worthy men, and highly to be regarded, as the grand Witnesses of the Doctrines and Government of the antient Churches; most of them very pious, many of them very eloquent, and some of them (especially the two Criticks, Origen and Jerom) very Learned; yet so few of the Greek Fathers were skill’d in Hebrew, and so few of the Latin Fathers either in Hebrew or Greek, that many of their Homilies, and even Comments, leave hard Texts as obscure as they found them; and, sometimes misled by bad Translations, they give them senses exceeding wide of the True: So that many times in their Writings they appear to be far better Divines then Commentators, and in an excellent Discourse upon a Text, you shall find but a very poor Exposition of it. Many of their Eloquent and devout Sermons being much better Encomiasts of the Divine Mysteries they treat of, than Unvailers. And though some Modern Translations deserve the Praise of being very useful, and less unaccurate than those which the Latine Fathers us’d; yet when I read the Scriptures (especially some Books of the Old Testament) in their Originals, I confess I cannot but sometimes wonder, what came into the mind of some, even of our Modern Translators, that they should so much Mistake, and sometimes Injure certain Texts as they do; and I am prone to think, that there is scarce a Chapter in the Bible (especially that part of it which is written in Hebrew) that may not be better Translated, and Consequently more to the Credit of the Book it self.

This Credit it misses of, not onely by mens want of sufficient Skill in Critical Learning, but (to come to the second Member of our late Division) for want of their having Judgment enough to observe, and Concern enough to propose those things in the Scripture, and in Theology, that tend to the Reputation of either. For I fear there are too many, both Commentators and other Divines, that (though otherwise perhaps pious men) having espous’d a Church or Party, and an Aversion from all Dissenters, are solicitous when they peruse the Scripture, to take notice chiefly, if not onely (I mean in points Speculative) of those things, that may either suggest Arguments against their Adversaries, or Answers to their Objections. But I meet with much fewer than I could wish,³⁸ who make it their Business to search the Scriptures for those things (such as unheeded Prophecies, over-look’d Mysteries, and strange Harmonies) which being clearly and judiciously proposed, may make that Book appear worthy of the high extraction it challenges (and consequently of the veneration of Considering men) and who are sollicitous to Discern and Make out, in the way of Governing and of Saving Men, reveal’d by God, so excellent an Oeconomy, and such deep Contrivances, and wise Dispensations, as may bring credit to Religion, not so much as ‘tis Roman, or Protestant, or Socinian, but as ‘tis Christian. But (as I intimated before) these good affections for the repute of Religion in general, are to be assisted by a deep Judgment. For men that want either That, or a good Stock of Critical Learning, may easily over-see the best Observations (which usually are not Obvious) or propose as Mysteries, things that are either not Grounded, or not Weighty enough; and so (notwithstanding their good meaning) may bring a Disparagement upon what they desire to Recommend. And I am willing to grant, that ‘tis rather for want of good Skill and good Judgment, than good Will, that there are so few that have been careful to do right to the Reputation of the Scripture, as well as to its Sense. And indeed when I consider, how much more to the Advantage of those Sacred Writings, and of Christian Theology in general, divers Texts have been explain’d and discours’d of by the Excellent Grotius, by Episcopius, Masius, Mr. Mede, and Sir Francis Bacon, and some other Late great Wits (to name now no Living ones) in their several kinds; than the same places have been handled by vulgar Expositors, and other Divines: And when I remember too, that none of these newly named Worthies was at once a great Philosopher, and a great Critick; (the three first being not so well vers’d in Philosophical Learning, and the last being unacquainted with the Eastern Tongues:) I cannot but hope, that when it shall please God to stir up persons of a Philosophical Genius, well furnish’d with Critical Learning, and the Principles of true Philosophy, and shall give them a hearty Concern for the Advancement of his Truths; these men, by exercising upon Theological matters, that Inquisitiveness and Sagacity that has made in our Age such a happy Progress in Philosophical ones, will make Explications and Discoveries, that will justifie more than I have said in praise of the study of our Religion and the Divine Books that contain the Articles of it. For these want not Excellencies, but onely skilful Unvailers. And if I do not tell you, that you should no more measure the Wisdom of God couch’d in the Bible, by the Glosses or Systems of common Expositors and Preachers, than Estimate the Wisdome he has express’d in the contrivance of the World by Magirus’s or Eustachius’s Physicks; yet I shall not scruple to say, That you should as little think, that there are no more Mysteries in the Books of Scripture, besides those that the School-Divines and Vulgar Commentators have taken notice of, and unfolded; as that there are no other Mysteries in the Book of Nature, than those which the same School-men (who have taken upon them to interpret Aristotle and Nature too) have observ’d and explain’d. All the fine things, that Poets, Orators, and even Lovers have Hyperbolically said in praise of the Beauty of Eyes, will nothing near so much recommend them to a Philosophers esteem, as the sight of one Eye skilfully dissected, or the unadorn’d Account given of its Structure, and the admirable uses of its several parts, in Scheiner’s Oculus, and Des-Cartes’s Excellent Dioptricks. And though I do not think my self bound to acquiesce in, and admire every thing that is propos’d as Mysterious and Rare by many Interpreters and Preachers; yet I think, I may safely compare several things in the Books we call the Scripture, to several others in that of Nature, in (at least) one regard. For, though I do not believe all the Wonders, that Pliny, Aelian, Porta, and other Writers of that stamp, relate of the Generation of Animals; yet by perusing such faithful and accurate accounts, as sometimes Galen, De usu Partium, sometimes Vesalius, sometimes our Harvey (de Ovo) and our later Anatomists, and sometimes other true Naturalists, give of the Generation of Animals, and of the admirable Structure of their Bodies, especially those of Men, and such other parts of Zoology, as Pliny, and the other Writers I nam’d with him, could make nothing considerable of; by perusing these (I say) I receive more pleasure and satisfaction, and am induc’d more to admire the works of Nature, than by all their Romantic and Superficial Narratives. And thus (to apply this to our present Subject) a close and critical account of the more vail’d and pregnant parts of Scripture, and Theological Matters, with such Reflections on them, as their Nature and Collation would suggest to a Philosophical, as well as Critical, Speculator, would far better please a Rational Considerer, and give him a higher, as well as a better grounded, Veneration for the things explain’d, than a great many of those sleighter or ill-founded Remarks, wherewith the Expositions and Discourses of Superficial Writers, though never so florid or witty, gain the applause of the less discerning sort of men.

And here, on this occasion, I shall venture to add, that I despair not, but that a further use may be made of the Scripture, than either our Divines or Philosophers seem to have thought on. Some few Theologues indeed have got the name of Supralapsarians, for venturing to look back beyond the Fall of Adam for God’s Decrees of Election and Reprobation. But, besides that their boldness has been dislik’d by the generality of Divines, as well as other Christians, the Object of their Speculation is much too narrow to be any thing near and adequate to such an Hypothesis as I mean. For me-thinks, that the Encyclopedia’s and Pansophia’s, that even men of an elevated Genius have aimed at, are not diffus’d enough to comprehend all that the Reason of a Man, improv’d by Philosophy, and elevated by the Revelations already extant in the Scripture, may, by the help of free Ratiocination, and the hints contain’d in those pregnant. Writings (with those assistances of God’s Spirit, which he is still ready to vouchsafe to them that duly seek them,) attain unto in this life. The Gospel comprises indeed, and unfolds the whole Mystery of Man’s Redemption,³⁹ as far forth as ‘tis necessary to be known for our Salvation: And the Corpusculariùm or Mechanical Philosophy, strives to deduce all the Phoenomena of Nature from Adiaphorous Matter, and Local Motion. But neither the Fundamental Doctrine of Christianity, nor that of the Powers and Effects of Matter and Motion, seems to be more than an Epicycle (if I may so call it) of the Great and Universal System of God’s Contrivances, and makes but a part of the more general Theory of things, knowable by the Light of Nature, improv’d by the Information of the Scriptures: So that both these Doctrines, though very general, in respect of the subordinate parts of Theology and Philosophy, seem to be but members of the Universal Hypothesis, whose Objects, I conceive, to be the Nature, Counsels, and Works of God, as far as they are discoverable by us (for I say not to us) in this Life.

For those, to whom God has vouchsafed the priviledge of mature Reason, seem not to enlarge their thoughts enough, if they think, that the Omniscient and Almighty God has bounded the Operations of his Power, and Wisdom, and Goodness, to the Exercise that may be given them for some Ages, by the Production and Government of Matter and Motion, and of the Inhabitants of the Terrestrial Globe, which we know to be but a Physical Point in comparison of that Portion of Universal Matter, which we have already discover’d.

For I account, that there are four grand Communities of Creatures, whereof things meerly Corporeal make but one; the other three, differing from these, are distinct also from one another. Of the first sort are the Race of Mankind, where Intellectual Beings are vitally associated with Gross and Organical Bodies. The second are Daemons, or evil Angels; and the third, good Angels; (whether in each of those two kinds of Spirits, the Rational Beings be perfectly free from all union with Matter, though never so fine and subtile; or whether they be united to Vehicles, not Gross, but Spirituous, and ordinarily invisible to Us.)

Nor may we think, because Angels and Devils are two names quickly utter’d, and those Spirits are seldome or never seen by us, there are therefore but few of them, and the Speculation of them is not considerable. For, as their Excellency is great, (as we shall by and by shew) so for their number, they are represented in Scripture as an Heavenly Host, standing on the right and left hand of the Throne of God.⁴⁰ And of the good Angels, our Saviour Speaks of having more than twelve Legions of them at his command. Nay, the Prophet Daniel saith, that to the Antient of days,⁴¹ no less than millions ministred unto him, and hundreds of millions stood before him. And of the evil Angels the Gospel informs us, that enough to call them a Legion (which you know is usually reckon’d,⁴² at a moderate rate· to consist of betwixt six and seven thousand) possess’d one single man. For my part, when I consider, that matter, how vastly extended, and how curiously shap’d soever, is but a brute thing, that is onely capable of Local motion and its effects and consequents on other Bodies, or the Brain of man, without being capable of any True, or at least any Intellectual, Perception, or true Love or Hatred; and when I consider the Rational Soul as an immaterial and immortal Being, that bears the Image of its Divine Maker, being indow’d with a capacious Intellect, and a Will that no Creature can force: I am by these Considerations dispos’d to think the Soul of Man a nobler and more valuable Being, than the whole Corporeal World; which though I readily acknowledge it to be admirably contriv’d, and worthy of the Almighty and Omniscient Author, yet it consists but of an Aggregate of Portions of brute Matter, variously shap’d and connected by Local Motion (as Dow, and Roles, and Loves, and Cakes, and Vermicelli, Wafers, and Pie-crust, are all of them diversified Meal;) but without any knowledge either of their own Nature, or of that of their Author, or of that of their Fellow-creatures. And as the Rational Soul is somewhat more noble and wonderful, than any thing meerly Corporeal, how vast soever it can be, and is of a more excellent Nature, than the curiousest piece of Mechanism in the world, the Humane Body; so to enquire what shall become of it, and what Fates it is like to undergo hereafter, does better deserve a man’s Curiosity, than to know what shall befall the Corporeal Universe, and might justly have been to Nebuchadnezzar a more desirable part of knowledge, than that he was so troubled for want of,⁴³ when it was adumbrated to him in the mysterious Dream, that contain’d the Characters and Fates of the four Great Monarchies of the World. And as man is intrusted with a Will of his own, whereas all material things move onely as they are mov’d, and have no self-determining power, on whose account they can resist the Will of God; and as also of Angels, at least some Orders of them, are of a higher Quality (if I may so speak) than Humane Souls; so ‘tis very probable, that in the Government of Angels, whether good or bad, that are Intellectual Voluntary Agents, there is requir’d and employ’d far greater displays of Gods Wisdom, Power, and Goodness, than in the guidance of Adiaphorous Matter; and the method of God’s Conduct in the Government of these, is a far nobler Object for men’s Contemplation, than the Laws, according to which the parts of Matter hit against, and justle, one another, and the effects or results of such Motions.

And accordingly we find in Scripture, that, whereas about the production of the material World, and the setting of the frame of Nature, God employ’d onely a few commanding Words, which speedily had their full effects; to govern the Race of Mankind, even in order to their own Happiness, he employ’d not onely Laws and Commands, but Revelations, Miracles, Promises, Threats, Exhortations, Mercies, Judgments, and divers other Methods and Means; and yet oftentimes, when he might well say,⁴⁴ as he did once by his Prophet, What could I have done more to my Vineyard that I have not done it? he had just cause to expostulate as he did in the same place, Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? and to complain of men, as by that very Prophet he did even of Israel,⁴⁵ I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people. But not to wander too far in this digression; what we have said of Men, may render it probable, that the grand Attributes of God are more signally exercis’d, and made more conspicuous in the making and governing of each of the three Intellectual Communities, than in the framing and upholding the Community of meer bodily things. And since all Immaterial Substances are for that reason naturally Immortal, and the Universal Matter is believ’d so too, possibly those Revolutions, that will happen after the Day of Judgment, wherein though probably not the Matter, yet that state and constitution of it, on whose account it is This World, will be destroyed, and make way for quite new Frames and Sets of things corporeal, and the Beings that compose each of these Intellectual Communities, will, in those numberless Ages they shall last, travel through I know not how many successive changes and adventures; perhaps, I say, these things will no less display, and bring glory, to the Divine Attributes, than the Contrivance of the world, and the Oeconomy of Man’s Salvation, though these be (and that worthily) the Objects of the Naturalists and the Divines Contemplation. And there are some passages in the Prophetical part of the Scripture, and especially in the Book of the Apocalypse, which, as they seem to intimate, that as God will perform great and noble things, which Mechanical Philosophy never reach’d to, and which the generality of Divines seem not to have thought of; so divers of those great things may be, in some measure, discover’d by an attentive Searcher into the Scriptures, and that so much to the advantage of the devout Indagator, that St. John, near the beginning of his Revelations, pronounces them happy, that read the matters contain’d in this Prophecy, and⁴⁶ observe the things written therein. Which implies, that by heedful comparing together the Indications couched in those Prophetick Writings, with Events and Occurrences in the Affairs of the World, and the Church, we may discover much of the admirable Oeconomy of Providence in the Governing of both: And I am prone to think, the early discoveries of such great and important things, to be in Gods account no mean vouchsafements, not onely because of the title of Happy is here given to him that attains them, but because the two persons, to whom the great discoveries of this kind were made, I mean, the Prophet Daniel and St. John, the first is by the Angel said to be, on that account, a person highly favour’d; and the other is in the Gospel represented as our Saviour’s beloved Disciple. And you will the more easily think the foreknowledge of the Divine Dispensations gatherable from Scripture to be highly valuable, if you consider, that, according to St. Paul, those very Angels that are call’d Principalities and Powers in heavenly places,⁴⁷ learnt by the Church some abstruse points of the manifold wisdom of God. But I must no longer indulge Speculations, that would carry my Curiosity beyond the bounds of time it self, and therefore beyond those that ought to be plac’d to this occasional excursion.

And yet, as on the one side, I shall not allow my self the presumption of framing conjectures about those remote Dispensations, which will not, most of them, have a beginning before this world shall have an end; so on the other side I would not discourage you, or any pious Inquirer, from endeavouring to advance in the knowledge of those Attributes of God, that may successfully be studied, without prying into the Secrets of the future.

And here, Sir, let me freely confess to you, that I am apt to think, that, if men were not wanting to Gods glory, and their own satisfaction, there would be far more Discoveries made, than are yet attain’d to, of the Divine Attributes. When we consider the most simple or uncompounded Essence of God, we may easily be perswaded, that what belongs to Any of His Attributes (some of which thinking men generally admire) must be an Object of Enquiry exceeding Noble, and worthy of our knowledge. And yet the abstruseness of this knowledge is not in All particulars so invincible, but that I strongly hope, a Philosophical Eye, illustrated by the Revelations extant in the Scripture, may pierce a great deal farther than has yet been done, into those mysterious Subjects, which are too often (perhaps out of a mistaken Reverence) so poorly handled by Divines and Schoolmen, that not onely what they have taught, is not worthy of God (for that’s a necessary, and therefore excusable, deficiency) but too frequently it is not worthy of Men, I mean, of Rational Creatures, that take upon them to treat of such high Points, and instruct others about them. And I question not but your Friend will the less scruple at this, if he call to mind those new and handsome Notions about some of the Attributes of God, that his Master Cartesius, though but moderately vers’d in the Scriptures, has presented us with. Nor do I doubt but that a much greater progress might be made in the Discovery of Subjects, where, though we can never know all, we may still know farther, if Speculative Genius’s would propose to themselves particular Doubts and Enquiries about particular Attributes, and frame and examine Hypotheses, establish Theorems, draw Corollaries; and (in short) apply to this study the same sagacity, affiduity, and attention of mind, which they often imploy about Inquiries of a very much inferiour nature; insomuch as Des-Cartes (how profound a Geometrician soever he were) confesses in one of his Epistles, that he employ’d no less then six weeks to find the solution of a Problem or question of Pappus. And Pythagoras was so addicted to, and concern’d for Geometrical Speculations, that when he had found that famous Proposition, which makes the 47th. in Euclid’s I. Book, he is recorded to have offer’d a Hecatomb, to express his joy and gratitude for the Discovery: which yet was but of one Property of one sort of Right-lin’d Triangles. And certainly if Christian Philosophers did rightly estimate, how noble and fertile Subjects the Divine Attributes are, they would find in them wherewithall to Exercise their best parts, as well as to Recompence the Imployment of them. But because what I would disswade, does not perhaps proceed onely from Laziness, but from a Mistake; as if there were little to be known of so Incomprehensible an Object as God, save that in General all his Attributes are like himself, Infinite, and consequently not to be fully Known by Humane Understandings, because They are Finite; I shall add, that though it be true, that by Reason of God’s Infinity, we cannot Comprehend him, that is, have a full and adequate knowledge of him; yet we may not onely know very many things concerning him, but, which is more, may make an Endless Progress in that Knowledge. As, no doubt, Pythagoras (newly mention’d) knew very well what a Triangle was, and was acquainted with divers of its Properties and Affections before he discover’d that famous One. And though since him, Euclid, Archimedes, and other Geometricians have demonstrated, I know not how many other Affections of the same Figure, yet they have not to this day Exhausted the Subject: And possibly, I, (who pretend not to be a Mathematician) may now and then in managing certain Aequations I had occasion for, have lighted upon some Theorems about Triangles, that occurr’d not to any of them. The Divine Attributes are such fruitful Themes, and so worthy of our Admiration, that the whole Fabrick of the Universe, and all the Phenomena exhibited in it, are but Imperfect Expressions of Gods Wisdom, and some few of his other Attributes. And I do not much marvel, that the Angels themselves are represented in Scripture as imploy’d in Adoring God,⁴⁸ and Admiring his Perfections. For even they being but Finite, can frame but inadequate Conceptions of Him; and consequently must Endeavour by many of them to make amends for the Incompleatness of every one of them; which yet they can never but Imperfectly do. And yet Gods Infinity can but very improperly be made a Discouragement of our Enquiries into his Nature and Attributes. For (not now to examine whether Infinity, though express’d by a Negative word, be not a Positive thing in God) we may, notwithstanding his Infinity, discover as much of him as our Nature is capable of knowing: And what harm is it to him that is drinking in a River, that he cannot drink up all the water, if he have liberty fully to quench his thirst, and take in as much Liquor as his stomack can contain. Infinity therefore should not hinder us from a Generous Ambition to learn as much as we can of an Object, whose being Infinite does but make our knowledge of it the more noble and desirable, which indeed it is in such a degree, that we need not wonder that the Angels are represented as never weary of their Employment of contemplating and praising God. For, as I lately intimated, that they can have but inadequate Idea’s of those boundless Perfections, and by no number of those Idea’s can arrive to make amends for the Incompleatness of them; so it need not seem strange that in fresh Discoveries of new Parts (if I may so call them) of the same Object, it being such a one, they should find nobler and happier Entertainments than any where else variety could afford them.

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← The Introduction · Contents · Part 1, Section 2 →

Footnotes

1. Ps. 145. ↩

2. Ps. 147.5. Ps. 113.6. ↩

3. Rom. j.19. ↩

4. Genes. vj. ↩

5. Numb. xxvij.7. ↩

6. Genes. xx. ↩

7. Genes. xviij. 1 Kings iij. Jonah iv. ↩

8. 1 Kings· xxij. from ver. 19. to ver. 24. ↩

9. Job j.6, 7, &c. Job ij.3. ↩

10. See Heb. v.9. Psal. ciij.17, 18. ↩

11. Acts j.21. ↩

12. 1 Joh. iij.20. ↩

13. Revel. vij.9. ↩

14. Matth. xxvj. 53. Dan. vij.10. Joh. j.3. Heb. j.7. Luke xx.35, 36. Col. j.16. Matth. xxiv.36. Mark xiij.32. Matth. xviij.10. Isa. vj.2, 3 Matth. vj.10. 2 Sam. xiv.20. Mark xiij.32. 2 King. xix.35. 1 Thess. iv.16. Jude ix. Dan. x.13, 21. Col. j.16. Revel. xij.7. Acts xij.7, 8, 9, 10. Dan. x.13. Acts xij.11. 2 Kings vj.17. Luke xxiv.4. ↩

15. Judg. xiij.6. Heb. j.14. Revel. xix.10. Revel. xxij.9. ↩

16. Matth. xxviij.6. Revel. xix.10. ↩

17. Joh. j.3 Coloss. j.16. Matth. viij.7. Luke iv.33. Joh. viij, 34. 1 Pet. v.8. 2 Cor. xj.3. Revel. xij.9. Revel. xij.7. Matth. xxv.41. 1 Joh. iij.8. ↩

18. Jude 6. Mark v.9, 10, 13. ↩

19. Jam. iv.7. 1 Pet. v.9. ↩

20. 1 Cor. vj.3. Matth. xxv.41. Jam. ij.19. ↩

21. 2 Pet. ij.4. Jude 6, 13. Matth. xxv.41. ↩

22. […]. Jam. iij.6. ↩

23. 2 Pet. iij.[…], 10, 13. ↩

24. Gen. ij.7. ↩

25. Acts xxiv.15. ↩

26. Acts xvij.20, 32. ↩

27. Gen. ij. Acts xvij.26. ↩

28. Gen. ij.21, 22. ↩

29. Acts xxv.15. Luke xx.35, 36. ↩

30. Matth. x.28. ↩

31. Gen. ij 7. Zek. xij.1. ↩

32. Luke xx.35, 36. Matt. xxv.46. ↩

33. D[…]s Cartes Responsione ad Objectiones secundas, pag. m. 95. ↩

34. Mark xiv.21. ↩

35. 1 Pet. j.12. ↩

36. Rom. xj.33. ↩

37. Gen. ij.21, 22, 23. ↩

38. […]. Joh. v.39. ↩

39. Acts xx.27. ↩

40. Matth. xxvj.53. ↩

41. Dan. vij.10. ↩

42. Mark v.9. Luke viij.30. ↩

43. Dan. ij.31, 32, &c. ↩

44. Isa. v.4. ↩

45. Isa. lxv.2. ↩

46. Rev. j.3. To render the Original word (observe, or) watch, rather than keep, seems more congruous to the sense of the Text, and is a Criticism suggested to me by an eminent Mathematician as well as Divine, who took notice, that the word […] is us’d by the Greeks as a term of Art, to express the Astronomical Observation of Eclipses, Planetary Conjunctions, Oppositions, and other Celestial Phaenomena. ↩

47. […]. Ephis. iij.10· ↩

48. Isa. vj.2, 3. Luke ij.13, 14. Revel. v.11, 12. ↩