Veneer on Article I: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

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Si

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From the Idea or Notion of a God, which im- plies something that neceffariiy exists, or must B be

>^Y>sJ

1 8 J?t Exposition on the

Article L fog of itself : From the Consent of all civilized Nations ^ very few, if any, having ever been fo brutifh as to deny it : From the Creation of the World, and the Order and Ufefulnefs of its several Parts : From the Force of Conscience, which reproves us when we do ill, and com- mends us when we do well : From Prophecies and Miracles, which could not have been, if there had not been a God.

Having thus prefcnted the Reader with a Sketch of the Arguments which are generally urged to prove the Being of a God, I shall, as briefly and clearly as 1 can, enlarge upon them in their proper Order. And, i. That there are Ibme Thinsis which had a Beginning, is con- felTed on all Sides, and obvious to Sense. We fee with our Eyes that all living Creatures, all Herbs and Plants, &c. produce their several Kinds : And as these are acknowledg’d to have had a Beginning, which are now before our Eyes, or which we have formerly beheld ; fo likewise are those out of which these have arisen, and {o on, till v/e arrive at fome Cauie which never had any Beginning, but exists neceffarily, as we fay, and not by Accident ; and this Being, whatsoever it be, is what we mean by God. For there can be no such thing as going on for ever, for of those Things which had a Beginning, either there is fbme first Cause, or there is none : If it be denied that there is any first Cause, then those Things which had a Beginning were without a Cau(e, and consequently existed or came out of Nothing, of Themselves, which Nobody, I believe, will afTert, and no serious Writer will endeavour to refute.

2. A S

T/jirty-Nhie Articles. 19

Article I.

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ihould appear, as Mr. Locke would have it, that

it is not io universal on the Side of those who

helie’ve in Gcd^ aS mofl Writers have pretended,

yet it will not be denied but that we have the

plain Conient of all Nations, who have any

tolerable Remains of Reason, any Sense of

good Manners, and are not wholly degenerated

into Brutiflinefs. Human Inventions, which

depend upon the arbitrary Will of Men, are

not the fame in moft Times, and in moll: Places,

but are often changed ; whereas there is, by

the Confeflion of all Men, hardly any Place

where the Notion of a God is not to be found -

nor hath the Course of Time been able to alter

it, which is obferved by Arifiotle himfelf, a

Man not very credulous in thefe Matters, who

tells us in the nth Book of his Metaphyficks’

Chap. 5. ’ That if any one rightly diilinguiflies,

he will keep wholly to this as the chief Thing ^

’ that to believe the Gods to be the first Beings

’ is a Divine Truth; and that tho’ Arts and

’ Sciences have probably been often loft and

’ revived, yet this Opinion hath been preserved

’ as a Relick to this very Time.’ We must

therefore affign a Cause to it, which will extend

to all Mankind ; and that can be no other than

a Declaration from God himfelf, or a ^r^Jition

derived down from our first Parents. If the

former be granted, there needs no further Proof ;

if the latter, ‘tis hard to give a good Reason

why our first Parents fnould deliver to Pofterity

a Falfity, in a Matter of fo great Moment.

Moreover, if we look into those Parts of the World which have been a long time known, or into those which have been but lately dif-

B 2 ’ cover’d, ^

2 0 Jn Exppfition on the

cover’d, if they have not loft the common Principles of human Nature, as was said before, this Truth immediately appears, as well amongst the more dull Nations, as amongst those who are quicker and have better Under- standings, and even amongst such as did not appear when first diicover’d to have had the least Commerce or Correipondence with any other People whatioever ; witness the Natives of the IFeft-Indies^ when first vi Cited by the Europeans. Nor would it be of any Force against this Argument, if it should be urged, that there have been a few Persons in many Ages, who did not believe a God, or at least made such a Profeflion , for considering how few they were, and that as loon as their Argu- ments were known, their Opinions v/ere im- mediately exploded, it is evident it did not proceed from the right Ufe of that Reason which is common to all Men ; but either from an Aifedation of Novelty, like the Heathen Philosopher, who contended that Snow was black, or from a corrupted Mind, which, like a vitiated Palate, does not relifti Things as they are, especially fmce History and other Writings inform us that the more virtuous any one is, the more diligently is this Notion of the Deity preserved by him : And it is further evident, that they who diftent from this antiently efta- blifh’d Opinion, do it out of an ill Principle, and are such Persons whole Interest it is that there should be no God, that is, no Judge of Human Adlions ; because whatever Hypotheses they have advanced of their own, are attended with much greater Difficulties, and far \gCs cre- dible than what is already received, as is evident to any one that considers them ever fo little, and will fully appear hereafter j for I shall at

present

Thirty l^hie Articles. 2 \

present wave the Argument which is taken Ifff • from the Creation of the IVorkl and the - Order and Ufefulnefs of its fen:eral Parts and pais on,

3. To that which is taken from the Force of Conscience ijchich repronjes us when we do lll and commends ns when we do IVell. All Men, as the Apolllc argues, Kom. ii. 15. are a Law unto themfel’ves and have the V\ ork of the Law written in their Hearts, the’r Conscience also bearing Witness, and their ‘I houghcs the mean while accusing, or elie excufing one ano- ther. They feel a Comfort in thole virtuous Ad:ions which they find themselves to have wrought according to their Kule a Sting and secret Remorfefor that Part of their Behaviour which hath been tainted with Wicked ness and Vice. Nay, those who strive most to deny a God, and to obliterate all Sense of Divinity out of their Souls, have not been least len- fible of this Remembrancer in their Breads. ‘Tis true, indeed, that a filfe Opinion of God, and a fuperilitious Perfuafion, which hath no- thing of the true God in it, may breed a Re- merle of Conscience in those who think it true, and therefore fome may from hence colled; that the Force of Conscience is only grounded upon an Opinion of a Deity, and that this Opinion may be false. But if it be a Truth, as the wifefl Writers of mofl different Perfuafions, and the Experience of all Sorts of Perfbns of most various Inclinations, do agree, that the Remorse of Conscience can never be oblite- rated, then it rather proveth than fuppofeth an Opinion of a Divinity, and withal an Opi- mon fo well grounded, that it triumphs over all the little Cavil? of profligate apd atheiftical Men,

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12 J?i Exposition on the

Artk:le I. in Spight of the greatest Prejudice and Par- tiality, and even when they themselves are made Judges ; fo that that Man which most peremptorily denieth the Existence of a God, is Himself a very strong Argument that there is one. Let Caligula profeis himself an Atheist, and with that Profeilion hide his Head, or run under his Bed, when the Thunder strikes his Ears, and the Lightnins; flafhcs in his Eyes , thofc terrible W^orks of Nature putting him in Mind of the Power, and his own Guilt of the Justice of God, for what he weakly denies //; his wilful Opinion^ he more strongly alTerts in bis in’vcluntary Ailicn ; fo that a Deity will either be granted or extorted, and where it is not acknowledged, it v/ill be manifested. But unhappy and contemptible is that Man who denies him to himself, and proves him to others, and will not acknowledge his Existence, tho’ he cannot be ignorant of his Power, and can- not but inform the World, that tho’ it be most for his Interest that there should be no God, yet he cannot bring his Reason to aifert that there is none. In a Word, as the taking of Infinite Goodness and Mercy into our Notion of a God, is an Argument that Fear is the Effe6l, not the Cause of our believing in God ; ib the Force of Conscience in great Men in all Ages, proves Religion to be no Invention of Statefmen.

4. The last Argument which I have proposed to urge, in order to prove the Being of a God, is taken from Prophecies and Miracles, which, as I have fa id before, could not have been, if there had not been a God. For they jQiew, that there is a Being which feeth into Futurity ; that it forefees such Things as are to come to

pass.

ThWiy-Wme Articles. 25

pais, and hath Power to accomplish whatfbever Article I. he is pleased to foretell to make natural Causes OTN and the common Occurrences of Life fubfer- vient to his Purpose, or to ad without and above them both. And, i. As to Prophecies or the foretelling of future Events, it’s as ma- nifeft, as a Thing of this Nature can poffibly be, that it was very frequent amongst the He- hrews by the Ministry of the Prophets, who were authorized by God to acquaint bis People upon Ibme Occasions what he intended to do. Thus Jojloua foretold, that the Man who re- built Jericho Ihould be Childleis * : j\nd the Man of God that came from Judah foretold the destroying the Altar of Bethel by King Josiah above Three Hundred Years before it came to pais f. So aifo Isaiah foretold the very Name and principal Ads of Cyrus ; and Je- remiah the Event of the Siege of Jerusalem after it was surrounded by xhcChaldeans t j And Daniel the Translation of the Empire from the Asyrians to the Medes and Perfiaiis §, and from them to Alexander of Macedon ], whose Suc- celTors to Part of his Kingdom should be the Pofterity of Lagiis and Seleiiciis , and what Evils the Hebrews should undergo from all these.

• Compare 7^;‘Zv/^ vi. i6. with i Kings yM. 34.

f Compare* I Kings xiii. with the tenth Book and fifth Chapter of jose^hus’s Antient History, and with 2 Kings xxiii. I f, f^c.

^ See Isaiah xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix, and iil. And Jer. xx^:i^ and Hi.

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II See the forecited Chap. ii. 32, 99.— vii.6. viii-f, ^, 7.

8, 2i.-^x. 20 xi. 3,4.

B 4 parti-

24 ^^^ Exposition on the

x-v particularly the famous Antiochus \j fb very y plainly, that Porphyry who compared the Grecian Hiilories extant in his Time, with the Prophecies of Daniel had nothing to objedt, but that the Things ascribed to him, were written after they came to pais which is the lame as if any one should deny that what is now extant under the Name of Virgil and was always thought to be his, was writ by him in the Time of Augufltis. For there was never any more doubt amongst the Hebrews con- cerning the one, than there was amongst the Romans concerning the other. 2. As to Mira des, I grant, indeed, that many have been imposed upon by fabulous Relations , but it will not follow from hence that we are to disbelieve all Accounts of Miracles whatsoever. There are a great many Lyes in History, yet we are not for that Reason to condemn all History. The Testimonies of Men, even in Courts of Judicature, are frequently false, and yet the wiieft of Men are obliged to depend upon them, when they are not attended with the So- lemnity of an Oath. Let the Miracles then which are ascribed to Mahomet by his Fol- lowers, and those v/hich have been of late Years pretended to by the Church of Kovie be ridiculed as they deserve , but fb well is the Credit of Moses guarded by the Confiftency of his Relations, by the Countenance which the most antient Writers of different Perfua- fion5 have given to several of his Narrations, that to destroy his Credit, as an Historian, is a Task which I believe no rational Man, and I

f Compare Chap, vii, viii, xii. with Jofefhus Book x. Chap. xii. and Book xii. Chap. xi. and Book i. Chap, i.

Thirty ‘Nine Article?. 25

am sure no modest Man, will undertake. The Article I. Miracles of our BlelTed Saviour were pro- -‘""VJ muJged, either by the Patients on whom they were wrought, or by the common People that were Speculators : The former, as they could not be deceived themselves, but must needs know whether they were cured or no ; fo ‘tis hard to conceive what Design they could have to deceive others. Many, indeed, have pre- tended Impotency as a Motive of Compaflion, but what could they gain by owning a Cure which they had not ? As for the Speculators, as the Multitude adds to their Credibility, Qt being morally impoflible that fo many Ihould at once be deluded in a Matter ib obvious to their Senses) fo does it alio acquit them from Fraud and Combination. Cheats and Forgeries are always hatch’d in the Dark, in close Ca- bals, and private Juneo’s. That Five Thou- iand Men at one Time, and Four Thousand at another, ihould confpire to fay, that they were miraculouily fed, when they were not, and all prove true to the Fiction, and not betray it j is a Thing as irrational to be fuppofed, as im- poiTible to be parallel’d : Besides, if we admit it poffible that fo many could have joined in the Deceit, yet what imaginable End could they have in it ? Had their Lye been iubiervient to the Designs of fome potent Prince, that might have rewarded it, there had been fome Temp- tation : but what could they expec5l from one that bad not where to lay his Head ? Upon all theie Considerations, there appears not the leail Shadow of Probability, that either those particular Persons who published the Cures they had received, or thoie Multitudes who were WitneiTes and Divulgcrs of those or his other Miracles, could do it upon any fmiiler Design,

or

26 Jn Exposition on the

Article I. qj. indeed Upon any other Motive but Gratitude ""^•-^""''''i''''^ and Admiration.

I F it be urged that our fuppofing these Mi- racles to be done by the Power of God, is begging the Question, and that they might, for ought we know, be done by a Sort of in- telligent Beings,- superior to Man, but vastly inferior to such a Being as we conceive Al- mighty God to be ^ my Answer is. That if this were the Cafe, it seems very strange that those Beings should, in several Ages of the World, give the ftrongeft Credentials to those Nvho have maintain’d the contrary Opinion ; and likewise that if loose and atheiftical Men pretend to argue in this Manner, they must, whether they will or not, be charged with run- ning from one Extreme to another, from Atheism to Polytheifm, from afferting that there is no God, to saying that there are many. For if (as such as make ufe of the Objedlion must fuppofe) there are several Beings who can foresee Things to come, and diredt the ordinary Affairs of the World, in such a Manner, that what they foresee and foretel shall certainly come to pass, and withal fufpend and alter the Course of Nature, and ad: beside it or above it at Pleasure, let them fhew what Difference there is betwixt such a Notion and the Divinity of the Heathens, on which I doubt not they have been as zjitty as ever they were on any Thing that either Jews or Chriflians have profeffed to believe f-

f See Te.irfon on the Creed, Article L Wilkins’s Natural Religion, Book I. Chap. IV, V, VI. Stilling fleet’s Origines Sacr^z, Book III. Chap. I, II. Grotius de Veritate Religionis Chri/tiam, Lib. I. Chap. 11. Tillotfon on Job xxviii. 2.S.

That

Tiyirty-Wine Articles. 27

Article L

That there is but one God, appears from !fQ;. I Cor. viii. 4. where St. Paul tells us, hat there q is none other God but One. Sr. Ignatius in his Epiftle to the Magnefians tells us. That there is one God, who manifests himself by Jesus Christ his Son, who is his Eternal Word. There is one God who is Lord of all, &th St. Cyprian , nor v/ill his sublime Greatness Be Uol. Vm, admit of a Partaker or Partner, since ‘tis alone poflelTed of all Power. That there is none other God but one, faithjuftin Martyr is thefirft Didate of true Religion *. The fame likewise appears from the very Nature of God, who is a Being of infinite Perfection : Whereas if there were two Gods, they might poflibly claih and disagree, which would be an Evidence of Frailty 3 and therefore inconfiftent with infinite Perfedion. And farther, one God there must be, and ‘tis neceifary there should be one ; but there’s no Occasion or Necejflity for more t-

Again, it is not poflible there should be Uvf.- more such Infinite Beings than one ; because they must either have different Perfections, or the fame , neither of which is confiftent with the most obvious Notion of God, that he is a Being of all pojjible PerfeBions. To fiippofe two Gods, with different Perfcions fome be- longing to one, and fome to another, will plainly prove that neither of them can be God because neither of them have all pofHble Per-

• Ad Gyacos Cohortatio, Page 54.

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fedlioiis.

2 8 u4n Expofltion on the

Article I. fedions. To fuppofe two Gods of the fame and equal Perfeions would likewise prove that neither of them can be God, that is, not abfb- lutely perfect, because it is not (6 great a Pri- vilege to have the fame equal Perfections with another, and in a Kind of Partnership, as to be alone and superior above all others. And to fiippofe one of them, whether of different or the fame Kinds of Perfection with the other, but only in an inferior Degree may sufficiently evince that one of them is not properly God, because not Supreme. And tho* Polytheifm, or the Belief of many Gods, did fo generally prevail among the Heathen yet the wiser and most considerate Perfbns amongst them, have in all Ages acknowledg’d one Supreme Deity. The Egyptians of old, tho’ of all others the most infamous for their Multiplicity of Gods yet did affert one Maker and chief Governor of the World, under whom they fuppofed several subordinate Deities, who, as his De- puties, presided over several Parts of the Universe.

The first Occasion of thefc leffer Deities was probably from a Desire that Men had to express their Gratitude to, and to honour the Memories of such Heroical Persons, as in those first and rudtr Ages of the World, had, either by their Inuentious or their Prowess been highly beneficial to Mankind or to their own Countries ; who thereupon were for such publick Services thought fit to be advanced to the highest Honour after their Deaths, and ad- mitted, in a subordinate Way, to fome Share of the Government of the World, especially in taking Care of the Welfare of their refpedive Countries. And to this doth the Apoflle seem

to

TJ/irty-Nine Articles. 29

to allude, i Cor, viii. 4, 6. where he faith, IVe Article I. know there is no other God hut one • for tho there -“V he that are called Gods both in Heaven and iji Earth (as there be Gods 7nany and Lords many J hit to us there is but one God the Father of I whom are all “things and we in him.

There are many Atteftations among the Heathen Writers concerning this Attribute, the Unity of the Godhead. It is observed, that Orpheus was the first among them that wrote concerning the Genealogy of the Gods, where he reduces them to the Number of Three Hundred and Sixty. But he was afterwards fo fenfible of this impious Folly, that he writes a particular Difcourfe to his Son Mufxus and his other Friends, wherein he doth solemnly recant these wild absurd Fables, profefTing to them that he thought himself obliged to redify thele Errors and Abuses, which his former Poem might have occasion’d. And here he doth in the firll Place admonilh them, that there is lut one God of himself and none bejides Fm 4/ ff7 ctuTo-i’iii, by whom all Things are made, ‘and upon whom they depend. And then he goes on to fhew, that God is invisible, and yet fees and knows all Things -, that as he is mer- ciful, fo is he just, being the Author of those Judgments which befal wicked Men, with fe- veral other Things to this Purpose. And tho’ Ho77?er do too often follow Orpheus in these Ficftions, concerning a Multitude of Deities, yet when he is most serious he fuppoies but one, 4/j mess.vQ- i?zy. Let there be one Lord : So Sophocles,

iti Isiv QiU

‘Inhere

3 o An Exposition on the

Article I.

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S o Pythagoras^ and several others after him, ftile God by the Name of Monas or Umty. It is commonly laid that Socrates was put to Death for his endeavouring to undeceive his Country- men in that Vanity they were addidled to, of worshipping a Multitude of Deities , and that this made the Writers after him more fhy in /Ipeaking their Thoughts about this Matter : But tho’ Plato do in fome Places (for fear of incurring the fame Danger) seem to favour this popular Error, by defending Polytheifm^ yet he acknowledges these subordinate Deities to be begotten , and he lays it down in another Place as a Principle, that whatever is begotten is corruptible^ and therefore incapable of being properly a God.

HIEROCLES^ in his Comment upon Py- thagoraSs Golden Verses^ stiles him ©so? ©swr, God of Gods^ the only Maker of all Things.

AKIAN^ in his Diflertations on Epi5letus^ afTures us, that in his Time (which was about 1 20 Years after Chri ft) it was an usual Form ^ in the Prayers of the Heathen, to fay, Kt/p/g

khimov^ Lord have Mercy upon us ; whereby they acknowledged the Unity of that God to whom their Prayers were diredled : which Clause is thought to be from that Usage taken into the Liturgies of the Christians. So far then as the Consent of the wifeft and best Men, in former Times, is of any Authority^ {o far is this At- tribute rendered highly credible.

I

Thirty- Wme Articles. 5 1

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• in their Opinions about other Matters, yet in ’ this they all agree, that there is one God, the

• King and Father of All, under whom there ’ are subordinate Deities, his Offspring, who

• are admitted to fbme Share of Government

• with him. In this the Grecian confents with ’ the Barbarian^ the Inhabitants of the Con- ’ tinent with the Islanders, the Wife with the ’ Unwise.’ Max. “tyr. Dijfert. I.

The Attributes of Living and True vtod ha Living ascribed to God, i fhefA. 9. Te turned to c-od'''''''''''' from Idols to serve the Li’ving and I’rue God. His being Everlasting is proved from that Do- Theonity of xology of St. Paul’s i iin. i. 1 7. Now unto the King Eterjial Immortal Iwvifible. the only wife God he Honour .y and Glory . for ever and euer Amen. And Reason tells us, that he must be Eternal, because he is the first Cause of all Things, and fo could not be produced from any other Cause, or from Nothing ; for No- thing can never of itself produce any Thing : And that which springs not from another Cause, must always be. That God is without a Body, appears from John iv. 24. God is aGcdh asph-it Spirit. and they that worjhip him nmft worfJjip him in Spirit and in fruth. The Form or Shape of God, faith fheophilus of Antioch is in- effable, and beyond ExprefBon, and cannot be leen by Flefhly Eyes : For he is, as to his Glory, InaccefHble j as to his Greatness, In- comprehenfible ; as to his Height, not to be Arrived at as to his Power, not to be Com- pared with 5 as to his Wisdom, not to be In- ftruded ; as to his Holiness, Inimitable ; as to his doing Good, not capable of Flatterv. AXAtitoiii.

I

Jn Eipofition on the

I A D D, that a Spiritual Substance tyicch a Bodily one j and therefore, if God were a Bo- dily Subflance, Angels and the Souls of Men would excel him. And besides, all Matter is in itielf naturally unadiive, and void of Motion 3 and every Thing receives Motion diredly or indirectly from God, who is the first Mover of all Things.

Godis without From what hath been (aid, it likewise fol-

Tarts. lows, that he is without Parts ; if this were not

true, a God that is infinite would fill all Places

in fuch a Manner, that there would be no

Room for any other bodily Substance.

And without

VaJions.

That he is without Paffions, may be argued from Psalm cii. 26, 27. bey Jhall peripij hut thou JJoalt endure : Tea all of them Jhall wax eld like a Garment ; as a Vcjiure JJjalt thou change them and they Jloall he changed. But thou art the fame and thy Tears [ball have no E’fid. For the Word PafTion, in Stri6lnefs of Speech, signifies Suffering ; and in this Place it signifies God’s Reception of fome Impulse stronger than himselF, and which he cannot refift 5 as when a Man is affedled with Joy, Grief, Anger, c. But inafmuch as all Things are of fo frail a Nature in Comparilbn with God, no Objeds can have Force enough to influence him againfl his Will.

Nor is it pofTible that any perfe6l Being as God is, should willingly suffer himself to be^ influenced by any Thing like the PaHions of weak, fickle, and inconf>ant Man, for this would take off from his Perfedion, which cannot be diminished, and withal take away the

Foundation

T/jirty^Nhie Artlchs* ^^

Foundation of all Religion, Love, and Fear, Article I. Affiance and Worship, in which Men would y\J be very much difcourag’d, if they could not certainly rely upon God, but were in Doubt that he might vary like Men, when their Paflions ebb and flow, and as this or that Pallion prevails more or less. “Tis true, indeed, that Paflions are aicribed to God in several Places of Scripture : Thus he is said to have repented that he had made Man on the Earthy and that it grieved him at his Hearty Gen. vi. 5, 6. But this is ipoken of God by a Figure called Anthropopathia by which human PafHons, for our better Apprehension, are afcrib’d to God, and whereby we arc to understand, that as Man, when he repents, changeth his Ad, fb God, when he changeth his Ad, is said to re- pent 3 for, ftridly speaking, God is not a Man that he fljoitld lye or the Son of Man that he jhould repent : hath he said, and floall he not do it ? or hath he spoken and foall he not make it good ? Numb, xxiii. 19. i Sajn. xv. 29. Heh. vi. 18. I’itus i. 2. 1 hope this m.ay iuffice for a Key to all those Places of Scripture, where either Parts or Paflions, or any Adions like those of Men, are ascribed to Godt-

God’s infinite Power is declared,?. xix. 26. in these Words But with God all things are poffible. t. Clement of Kome expreffes himself to the fame Purpose • There is nothing, faith ’ he, impoffible with God j by the Word of his Majefly he made all Things, and by a ’ Word can deflroy them all again * ’

:^ mikins’s Natural Religion, Chap, VIII. Fear/on on the Creed, Art. VI. t £0. ad Cor, G. XXVII.

C His

The wisdom of God.

34 Jn Exposition on the

Article I.

His Infinite Wifclonfi appears from Tfalra cxlvii. 5. Great is our Lord^ and of great Tower y his Underfianding is infinite. And from the ad- mirable Order and Ufe of Things ^ and, finally, from the various EfFe6ts of Divine Provi- dence f.

The Goodness of The Infinite Goodness of God may be proved from Luke xviii. 19. And Jesus [aid unto him IVhy callejl thou me Good ? None is Good faue one that is Gody (that is, absolutely and infinitely Good.) For in a limited Sense, Ibme Men have been declared good, iz. Joseph the fuppofed Father of our Bleffed Saviour, and the Apostle Barnabas c. The Goodness of God appears likewise from the Creation and Preiervation of all Things ; but above all, from the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Chriil t-

GodtheCreator T H A T God is the Maker of all Things, cftheUnivrfe. yifible and Invisible, is alTerted Col i. 16. For hy him ‘ere all things created that are in Heaven ajid that are in Earthy Vtfihle and Jnvifihle ; whether they he thrones or Domi- nhnsj or VrincipaUties or Powers : All things were created hy him and for him. With those who do not believe the Scriptures, I argue thus : The late Invention of Arts and Sciences, is an Argument that the World is not Eternal ;

f IVilkins’s Natural Religion, Chap. VI. 9. Bjtfs JVifdom of God manifested in his V/orks of the Creation. Sherlock of Troiidmcey Chap. VIII.

as

Thirty-lSIhie Articles. 5 5

33 likcwife are iuch Countries as have been Article I. lately diicover’d, and found not cultivated ; OOPn*^ and all Histories, the moil antient of which reach but a few Years back. Seneca ailures us, That there was not above a Thousand Years since the Beginning of Arts and Sciences, to the Time wherein he lived. There is scarce any one of them fo antient, but that the Original and first Inventors of them are re- corded in Story. Nor is there any Nation in the World, n-ow accounted civil, but in the Memory /“of Books were utterly rude and bar- barous. ^ It is but a little above Two Hundred Years fmce, that one half of the World which is now known, lay undifcover’d, and nobody can be ignorant what a Cond’tion it was found in, how barbarous and unciviiiz’d its Inhabitants were, and how much Industry was requisite to be made ufe of by such as removed from these Parts of the World, before they could, with any tolerable Conveniency, fettle themselves among them. ‘Tis likewile very probable that a coniiderable Part of the World, remains un- known to this very Day. As to Histories, that of Moses is generally acknowledg’d to be the ilioft antient, and was always eiteem’d of great Authority, even amongst those Heathens who do not believe it to be divinely inspired : And there is no Man of Learning, but must allow to it (at least) the ordinary Credit of other antient Histories, especially if he consider what Ground there is for the Credibility of it, from the Divinity of the darker Times, which is made up of fome imperfedt Traditions and Al- lufions relating to those particular Stories which are more diftindlly fet down in the Writings of Moses • fo that as we must remark that Moses gives a plain, brief, unaffected, and credible C 2 Account

An Exposition on the

Account of the Creation of the World, and of the most remarkable PalTages of the first Ages , fb likewise must we observe that the most an- tient Remains of Heathen IVrlters are copied from his Writings : Whereas, if the World were Eternal, why were not these Things and Countries found out before ? And why do our most antient Histories reach no farther back ? It follows, therefore, that the ‘v’orld was made. That it iliould be made by Chance, considering the exad Order, Harmony, and Beauty of it, is impoluble and ridiculous to fuppole : And fmce it had a Maker, whom can we fuppofe capable of making it befidesGod ?

I T hath been urged by way of Answer to this, that the famous Actions of former Times were always recorded, and Arts and Sciences w ere of antienter Date than we affert, but that univerial Deluges have Time after Time swept away all Books, and all the Inhabitants of the World, except two or three, by which it hath been reduced to that Simplicity which Moses and other Historians make mention of This is the only Refuge that one Sort of Atheists have to fly to, when they are prefs’d with these and the like Arguments. Thele Men are dif- tinguiih’d by the Name o£ Ariftctelian A.t\Q:^s^ becauie they endeavour to maintain that the World is Eternal, and coniequently was not created. But they cannot poftibly escape this way. For these universal Inundations must either be natural or supernatural. If they be supernatural, (as any Man that considers well the Frame of the World, and how hard it is to give a natural Reason of them, would be inclined to think) then indeed it is easy to con- ceive how a few of Mankind, and no more,

jQiouId

Thirty ‘ISlhie Articles. 37

fiiould escape ; because this will depend upon Article I.

the Fleafure of that superior Being, which is ^-/“V^^

[…]

But this is to give up the main Point contended

for, and to own that there is a God. But if

they be natural, which the Atheifb must fay,

then there is nothing to restrain them from a

total Dcftrudion, not only of Mankind, but

of all the Beasts of the Earth. This the Atheist

cannot deny, not only to be very poflible, but

exceeding probable, because he grants it to have

come {o near the Matter, that but very few

escaped, and no doubt with great Difficulty.

Now it is the greatest Wonder in the World,

that a Thing, (according to his own Suppofi-

tion) fb likely to happen, should never have

fallen out in an infinite Duration. Will any

Man have the Face to fay, that a Thing is likely,

which did never yet happen from all Eternity ?

One would think that not only whatever is

probable, but whatever can poffibly happen,

should be brought about in that Space : fo that

if Mankind had been from Eternity, it had in

all Probability, I had almoft faid, been de-

ftroy’d from all Eternity 3 but I may confidently

lay, long since ruin’d.

I F it be objeded, in the second Place, that the EpicureanHyoitis or at least Part of it, is not fo easily exploded as we may imagine, and that it is not fo impolTible and fo ridiculous to fuppofe that the World was made by Chance, as we have afferted, little more than the bare producing it, will certainly overturn it in the Opinion of any reasonable Man. The Patrons of this Hyp6thesis fuppofe the Matter of which the World is conflituted to be Eternal, and of itself 5 and then an infinite empty Space for the

C 3 infinite

3 8 j4n Exposition on the

Article I. infinite little Parts of this Matter (which they yy call Atoms) to move and play in ; and that these being always in Motion, did, after infinite Trials and Encounters, without any Counsel oi: Design, and without the Difpofal and Contri- vance of any wife and intelligent Being, at lad, by a lucky Casualty, entangle and fettle them- selves in this beautiful and regular Frame of the World which we now fee. And that the Earth, being at first in its full Vigour and Fruit- fulnefs, did then bring forth Men and all other Sorts of Li’Vr/ig Creatures as it does Plants now.

Now I appeal to any Man of common Sense, whether any Thing can be more unrcafonable, than obftinately to impute an Effedt to Chance^ which carries in the very Face of it, all the Arguments and Chara6lers of a wife Defio^7t and Contri-va?ice ? Was ever any considerable Work, in which there was required great Variety of Parts, and a regular and orderly Difpofition of those Parts, done by Chance ? Will Chance fit Means to Ends^ and that in Ten Thousand In- fiances, and not fail in any one ? How often might a Man, after he hath jumbled a Set of Letters together, fling them out upon the Ground, before they would fill into an exadi; Poem, or fb much as make a good Difcourfe in Profe ? And may not a little Book be as easily made by Chance, as this great Volume of the World ? How long might a. Man be in fprinkling Colours upon Canvas with a careless Hand, before they would happen to make the exad Pidure of a Man ? And is Man more easily made by Chance than his Pidure ? How long might a Company of Men, deprived of their Sight, be fent out from the leveral remote Parts of this

Kingdom5

TVirly-Wine Articles. 39

Kingdom, wander up and down, before they Article I.

[…]

Rank and File in the exadl Order of an Army ?

And yet this is much more easy to be imagin’d,

than how the innumerable blind Parts of Matter

fhould rendezvous themfelves into a IVorld.

A Man that casts his Eyes upon fome stately

and magnificent Building, might with as good

Reason maintain (yea, much better, considering

the vast Difference betwixt that little Stru^ure^

and the huge Fabrick of the World) that it

was never contrived or built by Man, but that

the Materials happily met together, and ranged

themfelves into that delicate Order in which we

fee them now compared. In a Word, to

afcribe the Creation of the World to Chance,

and the Frodudion of Men to the firil Fruit-

fulnefs of the Earth, without fo much as one

Inftance in any Age or Hiftory to countenance

it, is a Suppofition fo monstrous at first Sight,

that one cannot sufficiently admire that the

Wickednefs and Confidence of fo m^any, have

made it neceflary to fay any thing about it.

But we mufl not diffemble that this is the weakest Part of the Epicurean Hypothesis, and that the Patrons of it have several Things to fay further in Justification of their not be- lieving that the World was made by an in- telligent Being, much less fo good a Being as God is represented to be, ^iz. The Frame and Difpofition of several parts of the Earth, to- gether with several Things that are exceeding great Plagues, or tKo, Nuifances and Inconve- niences to Mankind. That which the Earth affords, either for the Nece/fities or Pleasures of Life, is not allowed by them as an Argument for the Being of a God, but yet these Flaws,

C 4 as

40 Jn Eypofition on the

Article I. as they are fuppofed to be, are expefted to ysJ pals for a very good one against it. But let nie ask any reafbnable Man, why Nature as well as Art may not juftly be looked upon as the more valuable, for being the more various, and for having Foils and Shades to fet off her Beauties, Ornaments, Perfediions, and Con- veniences to the best Advantage ? Whether any Man’s Discretion or Goodness ought to be called in Queilion, merely for building a more commodious Seat in one Part of the World, than he hath in the other, or for being kinder to the Servants of the one Place, than to those of the other, if nobody be injured, and the whole Management of his Affairs belongs to himself alone ” W’ hether it may not be rea- fonable for Almighty God to make Ufe of what Methods he pleases to chaftife or punish the Wickedncis of a sinful People Whether he be not at Liberty to embitter our pleasant Draughts of Pleasure, left we should take too much Delight in them ? Whether he may not, if he thinks fit, by Bcafts of Prey, Vermin and the like, teach us Caution and Circum- fpc6lion, Industry, Neatnefs and Cleanliness ? Or lailly, whether it be not better to have such Volcano’s or places that vomit out Fire, Sc. from the Bowels of the Earth, as Mount tna and Mount Vefiroius than to have the Country around them burnt up and destroy’d for want of such Discharges? If lels than an Intelligent Being made the World ; nay, if it was not made by a Being of infinitely greater Under- flanding than we are, how comes it to pass that Art is fb exceedingly magnified and extolled, if it do but in Ibme tolerable Degree produce the Pidure or Image of what is Natural ? Why cannot Uie Whole of Mankind put together,

fwrnifh

Thirty-Nine Articles. 41

furnish us even with a Blade of Grass, or the Article I. fmallcft Infed, any otherwise than by natural VO’N Production ? And what can we conclude from hence, and from the Consideration of the whole Creation put together, but that it was God tbat stretched out the Heavens like a Curtain and laid the Foundations of the Earthy and fet Bounds to the IVaters that they JJoould 72ot turn again to cover it , that fendeth the Springs into the Vallies which run among the Hills to give Drink to every Beast of the Ftcld and to quench the Ihtrft of the wild Affes i that watereth the Hills from his Chambers and fatisfieth the Earth with the Fruit of his Works ? Who can forbear saying, that ‘tis God that caufcth the Grass to grow for the Cattle and Herb for the Service of Many that he may Wing forth Food out of the Earth ; and iVine that maketh, glad the Heart of Man and Oil to make his Face to floine and Bread which firengtheneth Mans Heart ? Who can restrain himself from proceeding in the W’ ords of the Pfalmifi in the Psalm here referred to ? I’he rees of the Lord are full of Sap : the Cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted where the Birds make their Nests : as for the Stork the Fir-trees are her House, he high Hills are a Refuge for the Wild Goats and the Rocks for the Comes, He appointeth the Moon for Seasons • the Sun kmweth his going down, hou makefi Darkness and it ‘is Night : wherein all the Beafis of the Forest do creep forth, he young Lions roar after their Prey andfeek their Meat from God, uhe Sun arifeth they gather themselves together and lay them down in their Bens. Man goeth forth to his Work and to his Labour until the Evening, O Lord,, how manifold are thy Works ! In Wifdo7n haft thou made them all : the Earth is full of thy

Riches^

4^ ^n Exposition on the

/yj ches. So is the great and wide Sea, wherein ” are things creeping innumerable, loth [mall and great Beasts. I’here go the Ships, and there is that Leviathan, whom thou haft made to play therein, hefe wait all upon thee: that thou may eft give the?n their Meat in due Season. hat thou give ft them, they gather: thou openeft thy Hand, they are filled with good, T’hou hide ft thy Face, they are troubled-, thou takeft away their Breath, they die and return to their Dust. Pfal. civ. I might here consider one Objecaion more, which the Epicurean Scheme hath fur- nillied us with, but I shall rather chufe to take Notice of it under the next Head, which treats more profeffedly of God’s Providence in the Government of the World §.

Cod the Fre- T H A T God is the Prcfcrvcr of all Things, fervrofall is alTertcd, Col. i. 17. And he is before all Things, things, and by him all “things confift. God hath

no need of any Thing, faith ^ Irenceus, inafmuch as he made every Thing by his Word and Spirit 3 inafmuch as all Things are governed by him, and receive their Being from him. For inafmuch as nothing exists neceifarily, and of itself, besides God • it follows, that all Things must and do depend on him f.

For without entering into a long Diicourle upon this Point, we may easily, and, indeed, dearly, iliuflrate it by the fmgle Instance of Ourselves. No Man that is honestly difpofed, can help feeing, and acknowledging, that to

[…]

pre-

Thirty-Nine Articles. 45

preserve a Man alive in the Midst of fo many Article i. Chances, Dangers, and Hoftili ties as this World -“YXJ is fo very fjll of, is as great a Miracle as to create him ; and that to prelerve him from rushing into Nothing, and at first to draw him up from Nothing, are equally the Iffucs of an Almighty Power. The Objections which have been offered against this Way of Reasoning, […] First, That it is beneath a Being, fo infinitely fevfeCf as Almighty God is confclfed to be, to concern himself with us, or our Affairs, or any Thing here below , and that the Trouble and Uneafmels, which his condelcending fo far as to govern the World, would neceifarily occasion, must be inconfiftent with that infinite Happniefs which we fuppofe him to be in Poffellion of To which I answer. That God himself is the best Judge of what is worthy of his Nature, and what not. That though a Thing may, strictly speaking, be beneath his tranfcendant Greatneis, beneath the Dignity and Excellency of his Nature, yet we are no more to circum- scribe his Humility, than we are to ccafe adoring both that and zW other Instances of his Mercy and Goodneis, That ‘tis far from being impro- bable, that he that made the World is not above governing it. And finally. That the fuppofing him to be Omnifcient or All-knowing, and Omnipotent or Almighty, leaves no Room for imagining, that the Governing as many Worlds as there are Sands upon the Sea-shore, can occasion him the least Trouble or Uncafmefs : So great a Distance and Difference is there be- twixt poor finite Creatures, and their infinitely great and powerful Creator ! But the great Objedion of all is taken from that common • Observation ; Good Men are oppreffed with Trouble and Misery, fubjed: to all the Rage

and

44 ^^^ Exposition 07i the

Article I. and Violence of the Wicked, whilst the Impious \yy swell with the Glories, and revel in the Delights of Life : And here it must be confefTed, that though it doth ibmetimes please God to inter- pose visibly in Behalf of the Righteous, and to wound the Head of his Enemies and the hairy Scalp of such an one as goeth on in his Wickednefs and in such a manner, that ‘tis easy to perceive that it is his Work; yet generally speaking, there is no knowing Love or Hatred by all that is hefore us ; all i’hings come alike to all and there is one Event to the Righteous and to the IVicked. This hath been the Occasion of many folicitous Difquifitions and Diiputes, and hath constantly proved a Stumbling-Block, which even good Men have found fome Difficulty to get over ; fo that we read not only of Dia- gorass resolving to tarn Atheist, because he did not fee immediate Vengeance take hold of a perjured Peribn, and consume him ; and of Ariftophanesh saying, that the Gods took no Care of Things here below, because prosperous VilUans difira5fed his very Soul - but even of the Holy Pfalmift’s being staggered with Re- fledions of this kind. For he tells us in the 73d Psalm hat his Feet were almost gone and his ‘readings had well nigh fiippcd ; for he was grieved at the Fooliflj when he faw the Prosperity of the IVicked : until he went into the Sanuary ; then understood he the E7td of these Men, And the Method that he takes to clear up the Diffi- culty, is by observing, First, That wicked Men are fuifered to be great and powerful, and to continue in their Impiety for a considerable Time; that the Justice of God maybe the more remarkable in their Punishment, ver. 18, 19, 20. Instances of this Kind are, Pharaoh Adonihezek and Nebuchadnezzar, in Sacred

History ;

Article I.

Thirty-lSIhie Articles, 45

Hlftory ; and of Bejjus and Belfus in Frophane. Theformer of these (Bejfus) having murdered Darius and taken upon himself the Pomp and State of a King, was at last taken and ordered for Execution by Alexander in the Place where he had committed the Fad. The latter had killed his own Father, and for a long time con- cealed it, but fancying at last that the Birds of the Air reproached him with it, and com- plaining that they bore false Witness against him, was thereupon apprehended and executed. Secondly, He lends us, ‘ver. 24. to look for Retribution in another World, when we fail of it here. And in like manner the Divinity of Heathens, as well as Christians, alTures us, that there will be an exad: and impartial Judgment hereafter, when it will appear, that God is far from winking at, or approving of the Behaviour of the Wicked, or defpifmg or negleding the Suffer- ings and Hardfliips of the Pighteous, when all seeming Inequalities will be adjusted, and all the Riddles of his Providence explained and cleared. To this we may add. Thirdly, That another Reason why God does not immediately punish wicked xMen is, that they may have time to become better ; that his Goodness as St. Paul expreffeth himself, may lead them to Repentance. Rom, ii. 4. And here Plutarch brings Exam- ples of such, whose Age was as glorious as their Youth was infamous. If Mtltiades faith he, had been destroyed whilst he adted the Part of a Tyrant ; if Cimoti in his Incest, or hemtftocles in his Debaucheries, what had become of Mara- thon Erymedon and Dianhnn of the Liberty and Glory of the Athenians ? Fourthly and lastly. Another Reason why the Wicked are sometimes spared, is, that they may be Scourges to others, and execute just Judgment on Men

of

4^ Jn Eipofition on the

Article I. of their Own Principles. This is the Cafe of Ky’sj Tyrants and outragious Conquerors -, such were the Kings of Ajfyria Egypt and Babylon to the Children of Benjamin and Judah ; such was Fhalaris to the Agr’tgentmes , such Pompey and Cxfar to the Romans when Vidlory had made them swell beyond their due Bounds, and Pride and Luxury fled from other Countries upon the Wings of their triumphing Eagles; such was Alexander to the Persian Softnefs ; and if we look Abroad, Ten thousand Instances occur and prefs upon us.

There areThrec T H o u G H, as we have proved before, there Ferfins in the is but One God, yet there are Three Persons in the Godhead of the Father, &c. as appears from Mat. xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore j and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father Son and the Holy Ghost. From 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 1’he Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God. and the Cummunion of the Holy Ghost be with you allj Amen. And from John V. 7. For there are ‘Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father., the IVord and the Holy Ghofi., and these Three are One. That these three Persons are of one Substance, Power, and Eternity, is evident, because such Attributes and Divine Honours are afcribcd to them in Scrip-

Godhead<

These Three Co-equal and Co-eternal.

ture.

as ought

not to be ascribed to any other Being besides God, as will appear hereafter ; at the present Jet us hear what the Fathers fay of the Bodrine: Have we not one God, laitji S. Clement o Rome and one Christ, and one Spirit ol Grace ? Be fubjed: to your Bishop, faith S. hnatius as the Apostles were to Christ,

• Bpiji. ad Cor. C. XLVI,

to

Thirty ‘Wine Articles.

to the Father, and to the Spirit *. Him, and his Son proceeding from him, and the Spirit of Prophecy, we worship and adore, faith Jujlin Martyr f. From him, and by him, laith Athe^ nagoras^ were all Things made ; there being one Father, and one Son, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, by the Unity and Power of the Spirit §. And again t. Who would give Credit to such a Calumny, when he hears those branded with the Name of Atheists^ who acknowledge God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost, declaring their Power in Unity, and Difference in Order ?

The Connexion of the Father in the Son, laith ertulUan and of the Son in the Com- forter, makes Three joining together, which proceed one from another. The Three, who are one Thing, are not one Person ; and there- fore, ‘tis laid, I and the Father are One, with regard to the Unity of Substance, and not the Singularity of Number . Again, this is made a chief Article of the JewiJJj Faith, That you fo believe one God, as not to join the Son, or the Holy Ghost with him : For what is there between them and us, besides this Difference ? And what is the Scope and Drift of the Gospel, which is the Substance of the New Tefta- ment, appealing to the Law and the Prophets until John if the Father, Son, and Spirit, which are believed to be Three, do not appear

• Epifi, ad Magnef.

t Apol I. C. VI.

4: Page 1 1 .

II Adv. Fraxeam, C. XXV.

to

Article I.

Jn Exposition on the

to be One God ” ? By these Words, Go and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost S. Cyprian tells us, that oar Saviour in- fmuated, that there was a Trinity, in the Name of which the Nations were to be baptized f.

• Tertul. adv. Praxeam, C. XXXI.

[…]

Article

JhiYty-Wiiie Articles.

4P

Notes

• See Chap. ii. 33, 40. — vii. 7, 19, 2q, 24, — viii. 22, — x./,6, 7, 8,9, loj II, 12, i3,^c.
• : Sherlock of Providence, Chap. VII. Wilkin s’s Natural Religio-n, Book I. Chap. X. Art of Co7ite7itment, §. 3, 4. Scofs Chrifiian Life, Part II. Vol. II. p. 24-2.
• Fearfori on the Creed, Art. 1. Wilkins’s Nat. Rel. B. I. C. V. Stillingfieefs Ong. Sacr. Lib. III. C. II. Tillotfon on Job xxviii. 28.
• Adv. Hdr. lib. 1. C. xix.
• Legatio pro Chrijioy p. lo,