Читать книгу The Truth of the Christian Religion with Jean Le Clerc's Notes and Additions - Hugo Grotius - Страница 19
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To the Honourable
Hieronymus Bignonius, 1
His Majesty’s Sollicitor in the chief court of PARIS.
Sect. I. The Occasion of this Work.
You have frequently enquired of me, worthy Sir, (whom I know to be a Gentleman that highly deserves the Esteem of your Country, of the learned World, and, if you will allow me to say it, of myself also;) what the Substance of those Books is, which I wrote in defence of the Christian Religion, in my own Language.2 Nor do I wonder at your Enquiry; For you, who have with so great Judgment read every thing that is worth reading, cannot but be sensible with how much Philosophick Nicety (a) Raemundus Sebundus, with what entertain-<2>ing Dialogues Ludovicus Vives, and with how great Eloquence your Mornaeus, have illustrated this Matter. For which Reason it might seem more useful, to translate some
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of them into our own Language, than to undertake any thing new upon this Subject. But though I know not what Judgment others will pass upon me, yet have I very good Reason to hope that you, who are so fair and candid a Judge, will easily acquit me, if I should say, that after having read not only the fore-mentioned Writings, but also those that have been written by the Jews in behalf of the antient Jewish Dispensation, and those of Christians for Christianity, I chuse to make use of my own Judgment, such as it is; and to give my Mind that Liberty which at present is denied my Body; For I am persuaded that Truth is no other way to be defended but by Truth, and That such as the Mind is fully satisfied with; it being in vain to attempt to persuade others to that which you yourself are not convinced of: Wherefore I selected, both from the Antients and Moderns, what appeared to me most conclusive; leaving such Arguments as seemed of small Weight, and rejecting such Books as I knew to be spurious, or had Reason to suspect to be so. Those which I approved of, I explained and put in a regular Method, and in as popular a manner as I could, and likewise turned them into Verse, that they might the easier be remembred. For my Design was to undertake something which might be useful to my Countrymen, especially Seamen, that they might have an Opportunity to employ that Time which in long Voyages lies upon their <3> Hands, and is usually thrown away: Wherefore I began with an Encomium upon our Nation, which so far excells others in the Skill of Navigation; that by this means I might excite them to make use of this Art, as a peculiar Favour of Heaven; not only to their own Profit, but also to the propagating the Christian Religion: For they can never want Matter, but in their long Voyages they will every where meet either with Pagans as in China or Guinea; or Mahometans, as in the Turkish and Persian Empires, and in the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco; and also with Jews who are the professed Enemies of Christianity, and are dispersed over the greatest part of the World; And there are never wanting prophane Persons, who, upon occasion, are ready to scatter their Poison amongst the Weak and Simple, which Fear had forced them to conceal: Against all which Evils, my Desire was, to have my Countrymen well fortified; that they who have the best parts, might employ them in confuting Errors; and that the other would take heed of being seduced by them.
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Sect. II. That there is a God.
And that we may show that Religion is not a vain and empty thing; it shall be the Business of this first Book to lay the Foundation thereof in the Existence of the Deity: Which I prove in the following manner. That there are some Things which had a Beginning, is confessed on all Sides, and obvious to Sense: But these Things could not be the Cause of their own Existence; because that which has no Being, cannot act; for then it would have been before it was, which is impossible; whence it follows, that it derived its Being from something else: This is true not only of those Things which are now before our Eyes, or which we have formerly seen; but also of those things <4> out of which these have arisen, and so on, (a) till we arrive at some Cause, which never had any Beginning, but exists (as we say) necessarily, and not by Accident: Now this Being whatsoever it be (of whom we shall speak more fully by and by) is what we mean by the Deity, or God. Another Argument for the Proof of a Deity may be drawn from the plain Consent of all Nations, who have any Remains of Reason, any Sense of Good Manners, and are not wholly degenerated into Brutishness. For, Humane Inventions, which depend upon the arbitrary Will of Men, are not always the same every where, but are often changed; whereas there is no Place where this Notion is not to be found; nor has the Course of Time been able to alter it, (which is observed by (b) Aristotle himself, a Man not very credulous in these Matters;) wherefore we must assign it a Cause as extensive as all Mankind; and That can be no other than a Declaration from God himself, or a Tradition derived down from the first Parents of Mankind: If the former be granted, there needs
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no further Proof; if the latter, it is hard to give a good Reason why our first Parents should deliver to Posterity a Falsity in a Matter of so great <5> Moment. Moreover, if we look into those Parts of the World, which have been a long time known, or into those lately discovered; if they have not lost 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 Understandings; and, surely, these latter cannot all be deceived, nor the former be supposed to have found out something to impose upon each other with: Nor would it be of any force against this, 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 Profession; For considering how few they were, and that as soon as their Arguments were known, their Opinion was immediately exploded; it is evident, it did not proceed from the right use of that Reason which is common to all Men; but either from an Affectation of Novelty, like the Heathen Philosopher who contended that Snow was black; or from a corrupted Mind, which like a vitiated Palate, does not relish Things as they are: Especially since History and other Writings inform us, that the more vertuous any one is, the more carefully is this Notion of the Deity preserved by him: And it is further evident, that they who dissent from this antiently established Opinion, do it out of an ill Principle, and are such Persons whose Interest it is that there should be no God, that is, no Judge of human Actions; because whatever Hypotheses they have advanced of their own, whether an infinite Succession of Causes, without any Beginning; or a fortuitous Concourse of Atoms, or any other (a) it is attend-<6>ed with as great, if not greater Difficulties, and not at all more credible than what is already received; as is evident to any one that considers it ever so little. For that which some object, that they don’t believe
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a God, because they don’t see him; if they can see any thing, they may see how much it is beneath a Man, who has a Soul which he cannot see, to argue in this manner. Nor if we cannot fully comprehend the Nature of God, ought we therefore to deny that there is any such Being; for the Beasts don’t know of what sort Creatures Men are, and much less do they understand how Men, by their Reason, institute and govern Kingdoms, measure the Course of the Stars, and sail cross the Seas: These Things exceed their Reach: And hence Man, because he is placed by the Dignity of his Nature above the Beasts, and that not by himself, ought to infer; that He who gave him this Superiority above the Beasts, is as far advanced beyond Him, as He is beyond the Beasts; and that therefore there is a Nature, which, as it is more Excellent, so it exceeds his Comprehension.
Sect. III. That there is but one God.
Having proved the Existence of the Deity: we come next to his Attributes; the first whereof is, That there can be no more Gods than One. Which may be gathered from hence; because (as was before said) God exists necessarily, or is self-<7>existent. Now that which is necessary or self-existent, cannot be considered as of any Kind or Species of Beings, but as actually existing, (a) and is therefore a single Being: For if you imagine many Gods, you will see that necessary Existence belongs to none of them; nor can there be any Reason why two should rather be believed than three, or ten than five: Beside the Abundance of particular Things of the same kind, proceeds from the Fruitfulness of the Cause, in proportion to which more or less is produced; but God has no Cause, or Original. Further, particular different Things, are endued with peculiar Properties, by which they are distinguished from each other; which do not belong to God, who is a necessary Being. Neither do we find any Signs of many
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Gods; for this whole Universe makes but one World, in which there is but (a) One Thing that far exceeds the rest in Beauty; viz. the Sun; and in every Man there is but One Thing that governs, that is, the Mind: Moreover, if there could be two or more Gods, free Agents, acting according to their own Wills, they might will contrary to each other; and so One be hindered by the Other from effecting his Design; now a Possibility of being hindred is inconsistent with the Notion of God. <8>
Sect. IV. All Perfection is in God.
That we may come to the Knowledge of the other Attributes of God; we conceive all that is meant by Perfection, to be in Him, (I use the Latin Word Perfectio, as being the best that Tongue affords, and the same as the Greek τελειότης). Because whatever Perfection is in any Thing, either had a Beginning, or not; if it had no Beginning, it is the Perfection of God; if it had a Beginning, it must of necessity be from something else: And since none of those things that exist, are produced from nothing, it follows, that whatever Perfections are in the Effects, were first in the Cause, so that it could produce any thing endued with them; and consequently they are all in the first Cause. Neither can the first Cause ever be deprived of any of its Perfections: Not from any thing else; because that which is Eternal, does not depend upon any other thing, nor can it at all suffer from any thing that they can do: Nor from itself, because every Nature desires its own Perfection.
Sect. V. And in an infinite Degree.
To this must be added, that these Perfections are in God, in an infinite Degree: Because those Attributes that are finite, are therefore limited, because the Cause whence they proceed has communicated so much of them and no more; or else, because the Subject was capable of no more. But no other Nature communicated any of its Perfections to God; nor
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does he derive any thing from any One else, he being (as was said) necessary or self-existent. <9>
Sect. VI. That God is Eternal, Omnipotent, Omniscient and compleatly Good.
Now seeing it is very evident, that those Things which have Life are more perfect, than those which have not; and those which have a Power of Acting, than those which have none; those which have Understanding, than those which want it; those which are good, than those which are not so; it follows from what has been already said, that these Attributes belong to God, and that infinitely: Wherefore he is a living infinite God; that is eternal, of immense Power, and every way good without the least Defect.
Sect. VII. That God is the Cause of all Things.
Every Thing that is, derives its Existence from God; this follows from what has been already said. For we conclude that there is but One necessary self-existent Being; whence we collect, that all other Things sprung from a Being different from themselves: For those Things which are derived from something else, were all of them, either immediately in themselves, or mediately in their Causes, derived from Him who had no Beginning, that is, from God, as was before evinced. And this is not only evident to Reason, but in a manner to Sense too: For if we take a Survey of the admirable Structure of a Humane Body, both within and without; and see how every, even the most minute Part, hath its proper use, without any Design or Intention of the Parents, and with so great Exactness as the most excellent Philosophers and Physicians could never enough admire; it is a sufficient Demonstration that the Author of Nature is the most compleat Understanding. Of this a great deal may <10> be seen in (a) Galen, especially where he examines the Use of the Hands and Eyes; And
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the same may be observed in the Bodies of dumb Creatures; for the Figure and Situation of their Parts to a certain End, cannot be the Effect of any Power in Matter. As also in Plants and Herbs, which is accurately observed by the Philosophers. Strabo (a) excellently well takes notice hereof in the Position of Water, which, as to its Quality, is of a middle Nature betwixt Air and Earth, and ought to have been placed betwixt them, but is therefore interspersed and mixed with the Earth, lest its Fruitfulness, by which the Life of Man is preserved, should be hindred. Now it is the Property of intelligent Beings only to act with some View. Neither are particular Things appointed for their own peculiar Ends only, but for the Good of the Whole; as is plain in Water, which (b) contrary to its own Nature is raised upwards, <11> lest by a Vacuum there should be a Gap in the Structure of the Universe, which is upheld by the continued Union of its Parts. Now the Good of the Whole could not possibly be designed, nor a Power put into Things to tend towards it, but by an intelligent Being to whom the Universe is subject. There are moreover some Actions, even of the Beasts, so ordered and directed, as plainly discover them to be the Effects of some small degree of Reason: As is most manifest in Ants and Bees, and also in some others, which, before they have experienced them, will avoid Things hurtful, and seek those that are profitable to them.
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That this Power of searching out and distinguishing, is not properly in themselves, is apparent from hence, because they act always alike, and are unable to do other Things which don’t require more Pains; (a) wherefore they are acted upon by some foreign Reason; and what they do, must of necessity proceed from the Efficiency of that Reason impressed upon them: Which Reason is no other than what we call God. <12> Next, the Heavenly Constellations, but more especially those eminent ones, the Sun and Moon, have their Courses so exactly accommodated to the Fruitfulness of the Earth, and to the Health of Animals, that nothing can be imagined more convenient: For though otherwise, the most simple Motion had been along the Equator, yet are they directed in an oblique Circle, that the Benefit of them might extend to more Places of the Earth. And as other Animals are allowed the Use of the Earth; so Mankind are permitted to use those Animals, and can by the Power of his Reason tame the fiercest of them. Whence it was that the (b) Stoicks concluded that the World was made for the Sake of Man. But since the Power of Man does not extend so far as to compel the Heavenly Luminaries to serve Him, nor is it likely they should of their own accord submit themselves to him; hence it follows, that there is a superior Understanding, at whose Command those beautiful Bodies afford their perpetual Assistance to Man, who is placed so far beneath them: Which Understanding is none other
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than the Maker of the Stars and of the Universe. (a) The Eccentrick Motions of the Stars, and the Epicycles, as they term them, manifestly show, that they are not the Effects of Matter, but the Appointment of a free Agent; <13> and the same Assurance we have from the Position of the Stars, some in one Part of the Heavens, and some in another; and from the unequal Form of the Earth and Seas: Nor can we attribute the Motion of the Stars, in such a Direction, rather than another, to any thing else. The very Figure of the World, which is the most perfect, viz. round, inclosed in the Bosom of the Heavens, and placed in wonderful Order, sufficiently declares that these Things were not the Result of Chance, but the Appointment of the most excellent Understanding: For can any one be so foolish, as to expect any thing so accurate from Chance? He may as soon believe that pieces of Timber, and Stones, should frame themselves into a House; (b) or from Letters thrown at a venture, there should arise a Poem; when the Philosopher, who saw only some Geometrical Figures on the Sea-shore, thought them plain Indications of a Man’s having been there, such Things not looking as if they proceeded from Chance. Besides, that Mankind were not from Eternity, but date their Original from a certain Period of Time, is clear, as from other Arguments, so from the *Improvement of Arts, <14> and those desart Places, which came afterwards to be inhabited; and is further evidenced by the Lan-<15>guage
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of Islands, plainly derived from the neighbouring Continents. There are moreover certain Ordinances so universal amongst Men, that they don’t seem so much to owe their Institution to the Instinct of Nature, or the Deductions of plain Reason; as to a constant Tradition, scarce interrupted in any Place, either by Wickedness or Misfortune: <16> Of which sort were formerly Sacrifices, amongst holy Rites; and now Shame in Venereal Things, the Solemnity of Marriage, and the Abhorrence of Incest.
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Sect. VIII. The Objection concerning the Cause of Evil, answered.
Nor ought we to be in the least shaken in what has been said, because we see many Evils happen, the Original of which cannot be ascribed to God, who, as was affirmed of Him, is perfectly good. For when we say, that God is the Cause of all Things, we mean of all such Things as have a real Existence; which is no Reason why those Things themselves should not be the Cause of some Accidents, such as Actions are. God created Man, and some other Intelligences superior to Man, with a Liberty of Acting; which Liberty of Acting is not in itself Evil, but may be (a) the Cause of something that is Evil. And to make God the Author of Evils of this kind, which are called Moral Evils, is the highest Wickedness. But there are other Sorts of Evils, such as Loss or Pain inflicted upon a Person, which may be allowed to come from God, suppose for the Reformation <17> of the Man, or as a Punishment which his Sins deserve: For here is no Inconsistency with Goodness; but on the contrary, these proceed from Goodness itself, in the same manner as Physick, unpleasant to the Taste, does from a good Physician.
Sect. IX. Against Two Principles.
And here, by the way, we ought to reject their Opinion, who imagine that there are (b) two Active Principles, the one Good, and the other Evil.
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For from Two Principles, that are contradictory to each other, can arise no regular Order, but only Ruin and Destruction: Neither can there be a self-existent Being perfectly Evil, as there is One Self-existent perfectly Good: Because Evil is a Defect, which cannot reside but in something which has a Being; (a) and the very having a Being is to be reckoned amongst the Things which are Good.
Sect. X. That God governs the Universe.
That the World is governed by the Providence of God, is evident from hence: That not only Men, who are endued with Understanding; but Birds, and both Wild and Tame Beasts, (who are lead by Instinct, which serve them instead of Understanding) take care of, and provide for their Young. Which Perfection, as it is a Branch of Goodness, ought not to be excluded from God: And so much the rather, because He is All-wise, and All-powerful, and cannot but know every thing that is done, or is to be done, and with the greatest Fa-<18>cility direct and govern them; To which we may add, what was before hinted, concerning the Motion of particular Things, contrary to their own Nature, to promote the Good of the Whole.
Sect. XI. And the Affairs of this lower World.
And they are under a very great Mistake, who confine this Providence (b) to the Heavenly Bodies; As appears from the foregoing Reason, which holds as strong for all created Beings; and moreover from this Consideration, that there is an especial Regard had to (c) the Good of Man, in the
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Regulation of the Course of the Stars, as is confessed by the best Philosophers, and evident from Experience. And it is reasonable to conceive, that greater Care should be taken of that, for whose Sake the other was made, than of that which is only subservient to it.
Neither is Their Error less, (a) who allow the Universe to be governed by Him, but not the <19> particular Things in it. For if He were ignorant of any particular Thing (as some of them say,) He would not be thoroughly acquainted with himself. Neither will his Knowledge be Infinite (as we have before proved it to be) if it does not extend to Individuals. Now if God knows all Things, what should hinder his taking care of them; Especially since Individuals, as such, are appointed for some certain End, either Particular or General: And Things in General (which they themselves acknowledge to be preserved by God) cannot subsist but in their Individuals: So that if the Particulars be destroyed by Providence’s forsaking them, the Whole must be destroyed too.
Sect. XII. This is further proved by the Preservation of Empires.
The Preservation of Commonwealths hath been acknowledged, both by Philosophers and Historians, to be no mean Argument for the Divine Providence over Humane Affairs. First, in General; (b) because where
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ever good Order in Government and Obedience hath been once admitted, it has been always retained; and in particular, certain Forms of Government have continued for many Ages; as that of Kings among the Assyrians, Aegyptians and Franks; and that of Aristocracy among the Venetians. Now though Humane Wisdom may go a good way towards this; yet if it be duly considered, what a Multitude of wicked Men there are, how many external Evils, how liable Things are in their own Nature to change; we can hard-<20>ly imagine any Government should subsist so long without the peculiar Care of the Deity. And this is more visible where it has pleased God (a) to change the Government; For all Things (even those which do not depend upon Humane Prudence) succeed beyond their Wish (which they do not ordinarily in the variety of Humane Events) to those whom God has appointed Instruments for this Purpose, as it were destined by him; (suppose Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar the Dictator, (b) the Cingi amongst the Tartars, (c) Namcaa amongst the Chinese:) Which wonderful Agreeableness of Events, and all conspiring to a certain End, is a manifest Indication of a Provident Direction. For though a Man may now and then throw a particular Cast on a Die by Chance; yet if he should do it a hundred times together, every Body would conclude there was some Art in it.
But the most certain Proof of Divine Providence is from Miracles, and the Predictions we find in Histories: It is true indeed, that a great many of
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those Relations are fabulous; but there is no Reason to dis-believe those which are attested by credible Witnesses, to have been in their Time, Men whose Judgment and Integrity have never been called in question. For since God is All-<21>knowing and All-powerful, why should we think him not able to signify his Knowledge or his Resolution to Act, out of the ordinary Course of Nature, which is his Appointment, and subject to his Direction and Government? If any one should object against this, that inferior intelligent Agents may be the Cause of them, it is readily granted; and this tends to make us believe it the more easily of God: Beside, whatever of this Nature is done by such Beings, we conceive God does by them, or wisely permits them to do them; in the same manner as in well regulated Kingdoms, nothing is done otherwise than the Law directs, but by the Will of the Supreme Governor.
Now that some Miracles have really been seen, (though it should seem doubtful from the Credit of all other Histories) the Jewish Religion alone may easily convince us: which though it has been a long time destitute of Humane Assistance, nay exposed to Contempt and Mockery, yet it remains (a) to this very Day, in almost all parts of the World; <22> when
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(a) all other Religions (except the Christian, which is as it were the Perfection of the Jewish) have either disappeared as soon as they were forsaken by the Civil Power and Authority, (as all the Pagan Religions did;) or else they are yet maintained by the same Power as Mahometanism is: For if any one should ask, whence it is that the Jewish Religion hath taken so deep Root in the Minds of all the Hebrews, as never to be plucked out; there can be no other possible Cause assigned or imagined than this; That the present Jews received it from their Parents, and they from theirs, and so on, till you come to the Age in which Moses and Joshua lived; they received, I say, (b) by a certain and uninterrupted Tradition, the Miracles which were worked as in other Places, so more especially at their coming out of Aegypt, in their Journey, and at their Entrance into Canaan; of all which, their Ancestors themselves were Witnesses. Nor is it in the least credible, that a People of so obstinate a Disposition, could ever be persuaded any otherwise, to submit to a Law loaded with so many Rites and <23> Ceremonies; or that wise Men, amongst the many Distinctions of Religion which Humane Reason might invent, should chuse Circumcision; which could not be performed (c) without great Pain, and (d) was laughed at by all Strangers, and had nothing to recommend it but the Authority of God.
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Sect. XV. From the Truth and Antiquity of Moses.
This also gives the greatest Credit imaginable to the Writings of Moses, in which these Miracles are recorded to Posterity; not only because there was a settled Opinion and constant Tradition amongst the Jews, that this Moses was appointed by the express Command of God himself to be the Leader and Captain of this People; but also because (as is very evident) he did not make his own Glory and Advantage his principal Aim, because He himself relates those Errors of his own, which He could have concealed; and delivered the Regal and Sacerdotal Dignity to others, (permitting his own Posterity to be reduced only to common Levites.) All which plainly show, that he had no occasion to falsify in his History; as the Style of it further evinces, it being free from that Varnish and Colour, which uses to give Credit to Romances; and is very natural and easy, and agreeable to the Matter of which it treats. Moreover, another Argument for the undoubted Antiquity of Moses’s Writings, which no other Writings can pretend to, is this; That the Greeks (from whom all other Nations derived their Learning) own, that they (a) had their Letters from others; which
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Letters <24> of theirs, have the same Order, Name (a) and Shape, as the Syriack or Hebrew: And further still, the most antient (b) Attick Laws, from whence the <25> Roman were afterwards taken, owe their Original to the Law of Moses.
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Sect. XVI. From Foreign Testimonies.
To these we may add the Testimony of a great Number, who were Strangers to the Jewish Religion, which shows that the most ancient Tradition among all Nations, is exactly agreeable to the Relation of Moses. For his Description of the Original of the World, is almost the very same as in the (a) ancient Phoenician Histories which are tran-<26>slated by Philo Biblius
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from Sanchuniathon’s Col-<27><28>lection; and a good Part of it is to be found (a) among the Indians (b) and Egyptians; whence it is,
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<29><30> that, (a) in Linus, (b) Hesiod, and many other <31> Greek Writers, mention is made of a Chaos, (sig-<32>nified by some under the Name
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of an Egg,) and of the framing of Animals, and also of Man’s Formation after the Divine Image, and the Dominion given him over all living Creatures; which are to be seen in many Writers, particularly (a) in <33> Ovid,
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who transcribed them from the Greek. That <34> all Things were made by the Word of God, is <35> asserted by (a) Epicharmus, and (b) the
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Platonists; <36> and before them, by the most antient Writer, (I do not mean of those Hymns which go under his Name,) but of those Verses which were (a) of Old called Orpheus’s; not because Orpheus composed
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them, but because they contained his Doctrines. (a) And <37> Empedocles acknowledged, that the Sun was not the Original Light, but the Receptacle of Light, (the Storehouse and Vehicle of Fire, as the antient Christians express it.) (b) Aratus, and (c) Catullus thought the Divine Residence was above the starry Orb; in which, Homer says, there is a continual Light. (d) Thales taught from the antient Schools, That God was the oldest of Beings, because not Begotten; that the World was most beautiful, because the Workmanship of God; that Darkness was before Light, which latter we find (e) in Orpheus’s Verses, (f) and Hesiod; whence it was, that (g) the <38> Nations who were most tenacious of antient
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Customs, reckoned the Time by Nights. (a) Anaxagoras affirmed, that all Things were regulated by the Supreme Mind; (b) Aratus, that the <39> Stars were made by God; (c) Virgil, from the Greeks, that Life was infused
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into Things by the Spirit of God; (a) Hesiod, (b) Homer, <40> and (c)
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Callimachus, that Man was formed of Clay; lastly, (a) Maximus Tyrius asserts, that it <41> was a constant Tradition received by all Nations, that there was One Supreme God, the Cause of all Things. And we learn (b) from Josephus, (c) Philo, (d) Tibullus, (e) Clemens Alexandrinus, and (f)
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Lucian (for I need not mention the Hebrews) that the Memory of the Seven Days Work was preserved not only among the Greeks and Italians, by honouring the Seventh Day; but also (a) amongst the Celtae and Indians, who all measured the Time by Weeks; as we learn from (b) Philostratus, (c) Dion <42> Cassius, and Justin Martyr; and also (d) the most ancient Names of the Days. The Egyptians tell us, that at first Men led their Lives (e) in great Simplicity, (f) their Bodies being naked; whence arose the Poet’s Fiction of the Golden Age, famous among the Indians, (g)
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as Strabo remarks. (a) Mai-<43>monides takes notice, that (b) the History of Adam, of Eve, of the Tree, and of the Serpent, was extant amongst the idolatrous Indians in his Time: And there are many (c) Witnesses in our Age, who testify, that the same is still to be found amongst the Heathen dwelling in Peru, and the Phillippine Islands, People belonging to the same India; the Name of Adam amongst the Brachmans; and that it was reckoned (d) Six Thousand Years since the Creation of the World, by those of Siam. (e) Berosus in his History of Chaldea, Manethos in <44> his of Egypt, Hierom in his of Phoenicia, Hestiaeus, Hecataeus, Hillanicus in theirs of Greece; and Hesiod among the Poets; all assert, that the Lives of those who descended from the first Men, were almost a thousand Years in length; which is the less incredible, because the Historians of many
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Nations, (particularly (a) Pausanias and (b) Philostratus amongst the Greeks, and (c) Pliny amongst the <45> Romans) relate, that (d) Mens
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Bodies, upon opening their Sepulchres, were found to be much larger in old time. And (a) Catullus, after many of the <46> Greeks, relates, that divine Visions were made to Men before their great and manifold Crimes did as it were, hinder God and (b) those Spirits that attend him, from holding any Correspondence with Men. We almost every where (c) in the Greek and (d) Latin Historians, meet with the Savage Life of the Giants, mentioned by Moses. And it is very remarkable concerning the Deluge, that the Memory of almost all Nations ends in the History of it, even those Nations which were unknown till our Forefathers discovered them: (e) So that Varro calls all that the unknown Time. <47> And all those
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Things which we read in the Poets wrapped up in Fables, (a Liberty they allow themselves,) are delivered by the ancient Writers according to Truth and Reality, that is, agreeable to Moses; as you may see in Berosus’s (a) History of Chaldea, (b) Abydenus’s of <48><49> Assyria, (c) who mentions
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the Dove that was sent out of the Ark; and in Plutarch from the Greeks; (a) and in Lucian, who says, that in Hierapolis of <50> Syria, there
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was remaining a most antient History of the Ark, and of the preserving a few not only of Mankind, but also of other living Creatures. The same History was extant also in (a) Molo and in (b) Nicolaus Damascenus; which latter names the <51> Ark, which we also find in the History of Deucalion in Apollodorus: And many Spaniards affirm, that in several (c)
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Parts of America, as Cuba, Mecho acana, Nicaraga, is preserved the Memory of the Deluge, the saving alive of Animals, especially the Raven and Dove; and the Deluge it self in that Part called Golden Castile. (a) That Remark of Pliny’s, that Joppa was built before the Flood, discovers what Part of the Earth Men inhabited before the Flood. The Place where the Ark rested after the Deluge (b) on the Gordyaean Mountains, is evident from the constant Tradition of the Armenians from all past Ages down (c) to this <52> very Day. (d) Japhet, the Father of the Europeans, and from him, Jon, or, as they formerly pronounced it, (e) Javon of the Greeks, and
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(a) Hammon of the Africans, are Names to be seen in Moses, (b) and Josephus and others observe the like <53> Footsteps in the Names of other Places and Na-<54>tions. And which of the Poets is it, in which we
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<55><56> do not find mention made of the (a) Attempt to <57> climb
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the Heavens? (a) Diodorus Siculus, (b) Strabo, (c) <58> Tacitus, (d) Pliny,
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(a) Solinus speak of the Burning of Sodom. (b) Herodotus, Diodo-<59>rus (c),
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Strabo (a), Philo Byblius (b), testify the ancient Custom of Circumcision, which is confirmed by those Nations (c) descended from Abraham, not only Hebrews, but also (d) Idumaeans, <60> (e) Ismaelites, (f) and others.
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The History of <61> Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, agreeable with Moses, (a) was extant of old in (b) Philo Byblius out of Sanchuniathon, in (c) Berosus, (d) Hecataeus, (e) <62> Damascenus, (f) Arta panus, Eupolemus,
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Demetrius, and partly (a) in the antient Writers of the Orphick Verses; and something of it is still extant in (b) Justin, out of Trogus Pompeius. (c) By almost <63> all which, is related also the History of Moses, and his principal Acts. The Orphick Verses expressly mention (d) his being taken
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out of the Water, and the two Tables that were given him by God. To these we may add (a) Polemon. (b) And <64> several Things about his coming out of Egypt, from the Egyptian Writers, Manetho, Lysimachus, Chaeremon. Neither can any prudent Man think it at all credible, that Moses, (c) who had so many Enemies, not only of the Egyptians, but also of many other Nations, as the (d) Idumaeans, (e) Arabians, and (f) Phoenicians, would venture to relate any thing concerning the Creation of the World, or the Original of Things, which could be confuted by more antient Writings, or was contradictory to the antient and received Opinions:
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or that he would relate any thing of Matters in his own Time, that could be confuted by the Testimony of many <65> Persons then alive. (a) Diodorus Siculus, and (b) <66> Strabo, and (c) Pliny, (d) Tacitus, and after them (e) Dionysius Longinus, (concerning Loftiness of Speech) make
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mention of Moses. (a) Besides the <67> Talmudists, (b) Pliny, and (c) Apuleius, speak of Jamnes and Mambres, who resisted Moses in Egypt. (d) Some things there are in other Writers, and many things amongst the (e)
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Pythagoreans, <68> about the Law and Rites given by Moses, (a) Strabo and Justin, out of Trogus, remarkably testify concerning the Religion and Righteousness of the ancient Jews: So that there seems to be no need of mentioning what is found, or has formerly been found, of Joshua and others, agreeable to the Hebrew Books; seeing that whoever gives Credit to Moses (which it is a Shame for any one to refuse) cannot but believe those famous Miracles done by the Hand of God; which is the principal Thing here aimed at. Now that the Miracles of later Date, such as those of (b) Elijah, Elishah and others, should not be Counterfeit, there is this further Argument; that in those Times Judaea was become more known, and because of the Difference of Religion, was hated by the Neighbours, who could very easily confute the first <69> Rise of a Lie. The History of Jonah’s being three Days in the Whale’s Belly, is in (c) Lycophron, and
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Aeneas Gazaeus, only under the Name of Hercules, to advance whose Fame, every thing that was great and noble used to be related of him, as (a) Tacitus observes. Certainly nothing but the manifest Evidence of the History could compel Julian (who was as great an Enemy to the Jews as to the Christians) to confess (b) that there were some Men inspired by the Divine Spirit amongst the Jews, (c) and that Fire descended from Heaven, and consumed the Sacrifices of Moses and Elias. And here it is worthy of Ob-<70>servation, that there was not only very (d) severe Punishments threatned amongst the Hebrews, to any who should falsely assume the Gift of Prophecy; (e) but very many Kings, who by that means might have procured great Authority to themselves; and many learned men, (f) such as Esdras and others, dared not to assume this Honour to themselves; (g) nay, some Ages before Christ’s Time, no body dared to do it. Much
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less could so many thousand People be imposed upon, in avouching a constant and publick Miracle, I mean (a) <71> that of the Oracle, (b) which shined on the High Priest’s Breast, which is so firmly believed by all the Jews to have remained till the Destruction of the first Temple, that their Ancestors must of necessity be well assured of the Truth of it.
SECT. XVII. The same proved also from Predictions.
There is another Argument to prove the Providence of God, very like to this of Miracles, and no less powerful, drawn from the foretelling of future Events, which was very often and very expressly done amongst the Hebrews; such as the (c) Man’s being childless who should rebuild
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Jericho; the destroying the Altar of Bethel, by King Josiah by Name, (a) above three hundred Years be-<72>fore it came to pass; so also Isaiah foretold the (b) very Name and principal Acts of Cyrus; and Jeremiah the Event of the Siege of Jerusalem, after it was surrounded by the Chaldaeans; and Daniel (c) the Translation of the Empire from the Assyrians, to the Medes and Persians, and (d) from them to Alexander of Macedon, (e) whose Successors to part of his Kingdom should be the Posterity of Lagus and Seleucus, and what Evils the Hebrews should undergo from all these, particularly (f) the famous Antiochus, so very plainly, (g) that Porphyry, who compared the Graecian Histories extant in his Time with the Prophecies, could not make it out any other way, but by saying, that the Things ascribed to Daniel, were wrote after they came to pass; which is the same as if any one should deny that what is now extant under the Name of Virgil, and was always thought to be his, <73> was writ by him in Augustus’s Time. For there was never any more doubt amongst the Hebrews concerning the one, than there was amongst the Romans concerning the other. To all which may be added the many and express Oracles (h) amongst those
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of Mexico and Peru, which foretold the coming of the Spaniards into those Parts, and the Calamities that would follow.
(a) To this may be referred very many Dreams exactly agreeing with the Events, which both as to themselves and their Causes, were so utterly unknown to those that dreamed them, that they cannot without great Shamelessness be attributed to natural Causes; of which kind the best Writers afford us eminent Examples. (b) Tertullian has <74> made a Collection of them in his Book of the Soul; and (c) Ghosts have not only
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been seen, but also heard to speak, as we are told by those Historians who have been far from superstitious Credulity; and by Witnesses in our own Age, who lived in Sina, Mexico, and other Parts of America; neither ought we to pass by (a) that com-<75>mon Method of examining Persons Innocence by walking over red hot Plow-shares, viz. Fire Ordeal, mentioned in so many Histories of the German Nation, and in their very Laws.
SECT. XVIII. The Objection of Miracles not being seen now, answered.
Neither is there any Reason why any one should object against what has been said, because no such Miracles are now seen, nor no such Predictions heard. For it is sufficient to prove a Divine Providence, that there ever have been such. Which being once established, it will follow, that we ought to think God Almighty forbears them now, for as wise and prudent Reasons, as he before did them. Nor is it fit that the Laws given to the Universe for the natural Course of Things, and that what is future might be uncertain, should always, or without good Reason be suspended, but then only, when there was a sufficient Cause; as there was at that time when the Worship of the true God was banished almost out of the World,
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being confined only to a small Corner of it, viz. Judaea; and was to be defended from that Wickedness which surrounded it, by frequent Assistance. Or when the Christian Religion, con-<76>cerning which we shall afterwards particularly treat, was, by the Determination of God, to be spread all over the World.
SECT XIX. And of there being so much Wickedness.
Some Men are apt to doubt of a Divine Providence, because they see so much Wickedness practised, that the World is in a manner overwhelmed with it like a Deluge: Which they contend should be the Business of Divine Providence, if there were any, to hinder or suppress. But the Answer to such, is very easy. When God made Man a free agent, and at liberty to do well or ill, (reserving to himself alone a necessary and immutable Goodness) (a) it was not fit that he should put such a Restraint upon evil Actions, as was in-<77>consistent with this Liberty. But whatever Means of hindering them, were not repugnant to such Liberty; as establishing and promulging a Law, external and internal Warnings, together with Threatnings and Promises; none of these were neglected by God: Neither would he suffer the Effects of Wickedness to spread to the furthest;
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so that Government was never utterly subverted, nor the Knowledge of the Divine Laws entirely extinguished. And even those Crimes that were permitted, as we hinted before, were not without their Advantages, when made use of either to punish those who were equally wicked, or to chastise those who were slipt out of the way of Virtue, or else to procure some eminent Example of Patience and Constancy in those who had made a great Progress in Virtue. (a) Lastly, Even they themselves whose Crimes seemed to be overlooked for a time, were for the most part punished with a proportionable Punishment, that the Will of God might be executed against them, who acted contrary to his Will.
SECT. XX. And that so great, as to oppress good Men.
And if at any time Vice should go unpunished, or, which is wont to offend many weak Persons, some good Men, oppressed by the Fury of the Wicked, should not only lead a troublesome Life, but also undergo an infamous Death; we must not presently from hence conclude against a Divine Providence, which, as we have before ob-<78>served, is established by such strong Arguments; but rather, with the wisest Men, draw this following Inference:
SECT. XXI. This may be turned upon them, so as to prove that Souls survive Bodies.
That since God has a Regard to humane Actions, who is himself just; and yet these things come to pass in the mean time; we ought to expect a Judgment after this Life, lest either remarkable Wickedness should continue unpunished, or eminent Virtue go unrewarded and fail of Happiness.
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SECT. XXII. Which is confirmed by Tradition.
In (a) order to establish this, we must first shew that Souls remain after they are separated from their Bodies; which is a most ancient Tradition, derived from our first Parents (whence else could it come?) to almost all civilized People; as appears (b) from Homer’s Verses, (c) and from the Philosophers, not only the Greek, but also the ancient Gauls (d) which were called Druids, <79> (e) and the Indians called Brachmans, and from those Things which many Writers have related (f) concerning the Egyptians (g) and Thracians, and also of the Germans. And moreover concerning a Divine Judgment after this Life, we find many Things extant, not only
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among the Greeks, (a) but <80> also among the Egyptians (b) and Indians, as Strabo, Diogenes, Laertius, and (c) Plutarch tell us: To which we may add a Tradition that the World should be burnt, which was found of Old (d) in Hystaspes and the Sybils, and now also (e) in Ovid (f) and
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<81> Lucan, and amongst (a) the Indians in Siam; a Token of which, is the Sun’s approaching nearer to the Earth, (b) observed by Astronomers. So likewise upon the first going into the Canary Islands and America, and other distant Places, the same Opinion, concerning Souls and Judgment, was found there.
SECT. XXIII. And no way repugnant to Reason.
(c) Neither can we find any Argument drawn from Nature, which overthrows this an an-<82>cient and extensive Tradition: For all those Things which seem to us to be destroyed, are either destroyed by the Opposition of something more powerful than themselves, as Cold is destroyed by the greater Force of Heat; or by taking away the Subject upon which they depend, as the Magnitude of a Glass, by breaking it; or by the Defect of the <83> efficient Cause, as Light by the Absence of the Sun. But none of these can be applied to the Mind; not the first, because nothing can be conceived contrary to the Mind; nay, such is the peculiar Nature of it, that it is capable equally, and at the same time, of contrary Things in its
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own, that is, in an intellectual Manner. Not the second, because there is no Subject upon which the Nature of the Soul depends; (a) for if there were any, it would be a Humane Body; and that it is not so, appears from hence, that when the Strength of the Body fails by Action, the Mind only
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does not contract any Weariness by acting. (a) Also the Powers of the Body suffer by the too great Power of the Things, which are the Objects of them, as Sight by the Light of the Sun, (b) But the Mind is <84> rendred the more perfect, by how much the more excellent the Things are, about which it is conversant; as about Figures abstracted from Matter, and about universal Propositions. The Powers of the Body are exercised about those Things which are limited by Time and Place, but the Mind about that which is Infinite and Eternal. Therefore, since the Mind in its Operations does not depend upon the Body, so neither does its Existence depend upon it; for we cannot judge of the Nature of those Things which we do not see, but from their Operations. Neither has the third Method of being destroyed, any Place here: For there is no Efficient Cause from which the Mind continually flows: Not the Parents, because the Children live after they are dead. If we allow any Cause at all from whence the Mind flows, it can be no other than the first and universal Cause, which, as to its Power, can never fail; and as to its Will, that That should fail, that is, that God should will the Soul to be destroyed, this can never be proved by any Arguments.
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SECT. XXIV. But many Things favour it.
Nay, there are many not inconsiderable Arguments for the contrary; such as (a) the absolute Power every Man has over his own Actions; a <85> natural Desire of Immortality; the Power of Conscience, which comforts him when he has performed any good Actions, though never so difficult; and, on the contrary, (b) torments him when he has done any bad Thing, especially at the Approach of Death, as it were with a Sense of impending Judgment; (c) the Force of which, many times could not be extinguished by the worst of Tyrants, tho’ they have endeavoured it never so much; as appears by many Examples.
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SECT. XXV. From whence it follows, that the End of Man is Happiness after this Life.
If then the Soul be of such a Nature, as contains in it no Principles of Corruption; and God has given us many Tokens, by which we ought to <86> understand, that his Will is, it should remain after the Body; there can be no End of Man proposed more worthy of Him, than the Happiness of that State; and this is what Plato and the Pythagoreans said, (a) that the End of Man was to be made most like to God. Thus what Happiness is, and how to be secured, Men may make some Conjectures; but if there be any thing concerning it, revealed from God, that ought to be esteemed, most true and most certain.
SECT. XXVI. Which we must secure, by finding out the true Religion.
Now since the Christian Religion recommends itself above all others, whether we ought to give Credit to it or no, shall be the Business of the second Part of this Work to examine. <87>
