The next Advantage, Pyrophilus, that we mention’d the Knowledg of Nature to bring to the Minds of Men, is, That it therein excites and cherishes Devotion; Which when I say, Pyroph. I forget not that there are severall Divines (and some of them Eminent ones) that out of a Holy Jealousie (as they think) for Religion, labour to deterre men from addicting themselves to serious and thorough Enquiries into Nature, as from a Study unsafe for a Christian, and likely to end in Atheisme, by making it possible for Men (that I may propose to you their Objection as much to its Advantage as I can) to give themselves such an Account of all the Wonders of Nature, by the single Knowledg of Second Causes, as may bring them to disbelieve the Necessitie of a First. And certainly, Pyrophilus, if this Apprehension were well grounded, I should think the threatned Evill so considerable, that instead of inviting you to the Study of Naturall Philosophy, I should very earnestly Labour to Disswade you from it. For I, that had much rather have Men not Philosophers then not Christans, should be better content to see you ignore the Mysteries of Nature then deny the Author of it. But though the Zeale of their Intentions keep Me from harbouring any unfavourable Opinion of the Persons of these Men, yet the Prejudice that might redound from their Doctrine (if generally received) both to the Glory of God from the Creatures, and to the Empire of Man over them, forbids Me to leave their Opinion unanswer’d; though I am Sorry that the Necessity of Vindicating the Study I recommend to You from so Heinous a Crime as they have accus’d it of, will compel me to Theologize in a Philosophical Discours: Which that I may do, with as much Brevity as the Weight and Exigency of my Subject will permit, I shall Content my selfe onely in the Explication of my own Thoughts, to hint to you the grounds of Answering what is alledg’d against them.
And First, Pyrophilus, I must premise, That though it may be a Presumption in Man, (who to use a Scripture Expression, Is but of Yesterday, and knows Nothing, because his Dayes upon the Earth are but as a shadow) precisely and peremptorily to define all the Ends and Aimes of the Omniscient God in His Great Work of the Creation; Yet, (Job 8.9) perhaps, it will be no great venture to suppose that at least in the Creating of the Sublunary World, and the more Conspicuous Stars, two of God’s Principal Ends were, the Manifestation of His own Glory, and the Good of Men. (Prov. 16.4) For the First of these; The Lord hath made all things for himselfe, saies the Preacher; For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, saies the Apostle. And, Thou hast Created all things; and for Thy Pleasure they are and were Created, (Rom. 11.36) say the Twenty foure Prostrate Elders (Representatives, perhaps, of the whole Church of both Testaments, propagated by the Twelve Patriarchs, and the like number of Apostles) to their Creatour, which Truth, were it requisite, might be further confirmed by several other Texts, which to decline needlesse prolixity, I here forbear to insist on. Consonantly to this we hear the Psalmist Proclaiming that The Heavens Declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament sheweth his Handy-Works. To which purpose we may also observe, (Psal. 19.1) that though Man were not Created till the close of the Sixt Day (the Resident’s Arrival being Obligingly Suspended till the Palace was made ready to entertain Him) yet that none of God’s works might want Intelligent Spectators and Admirers, the Angels were Created the First Day, as Divines generally infer from the Words of God in Job; Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? and a little after; When the Morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy. (Job 31.5, 7) Where by the Morning Stars and Sons of God are suppos’d to be meant the newly Created Angels; one of whose earliest exercises was, it seems, to applaud the Creation, and take thence occasion to sing Hymnes to the Almighty Author of it. I should not, Pyrophilus, adde any thing further on this subject, but that having since the writing of these thoughts met with a Discourse of Seneca’s, very consonant to some of them, I suppose it may tend to your delight as well as to their advantage, if I present you some of the Truths you have seen in my courser Languag, drest up in his finer and happier Expressions. Curiosum nobis (saith he) natura ingenium dedit, & artis sibi pulchritudinísque conscia, spectatores nos tantis rerum spectaculis genuit,1 perditura fructum sui, si tam magna, tam clara tam subtiliter ducta, tam nitida & non uno genere formosa solitudini ostenderet; Ut scias illam spectari voluisse, non tantum aspici, vide quem locum nobis dedit; nec erexit tantummodo hominem, sed etiam ad contemplationem Viae facturum; ut ab ortu sidera in occasum labentia prosequi posset & vultum suum circumferre cum toto, Sublime illi fecit caput, & collo flexibili imposuit. Deinde sena per diem, sena per noctem signa produxit; nullam non partem sui explicuit, ut per haec quae obtulerat ejus oculis cupiditatem faceret etiam caeterorum: nec enim omnia nec tanta visimus quanta sunt, sed acies nostra aperit sibi investigando viam, & fundamenta veri jacit, ut inquisitio transeat ex apertis in obscura, & aliquid ipso Mundo inveniat Antiquius. And least you might be offended at his mentioning of Nature, and silence of God, give me leave to informe you, that about the close of the Chapter immediately preceding that, whence the Passage you come from Reading is transcrib’d, having spoken of the Enquiries of Philosophers into the Nature of the Universe, he adds, Haec qui contemplatur, quid Deo praestat? ne tanta ejus Opera sine teste sint.