A Body of Divinity, Vol. 1 (of 4): Wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are explained and defended, being the substance of several lectures on the Assembly's Larger CatechismRidgley, Thomas
Religion
A Body of Divinity, Vol. 1 (of 4): Wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are explained and defended, being the substance of several lectures on the Assembly's Larger Catechism
“The conclusion which the _first_ examination of the watch, of its
works, construction, and movement suggested, was, that it must have
had, for the cause and author of that construction, an artificer, who
understood its mechanism, and designed its use. This conclusion is
invincible. A _second_ examination presents us with a new discovery.
The watch is found in the course of its movement to produce another
watch similar to itself: and not only so, but we perceive in it a
system of organization, separately calculated for that purpose. What
effect would this discovery have, or ought it to have, upon our former
inference? What, as hath already been said, but to increase, beyond
measure, our admiration of the skill, which had been employed in the
formation of such a machine? Or shall it, instead of this, all at once
turn us round to an opposite conclusion, _viz._ that no art or skill
whatever has been concerned in the business, although all other
evidences of art and skill remain as they were, and this last and
supreme piece of art be now added to the rest? Can this be maintained
without absurdity? Yet this is atheism.”
PALEY.
Footnote 11:
“The works of nature want only to be contemplated. When contemplated,
they have every thing in them which can astonish by their greatness;
for, of the vast scale of operation, through which our discoveries
carry us, at one end we see an intelligent Power arranging planetary
systems, fixing, for instance, the trajectory of _Saturn_, or
constructing a ring of a hundred thousand miles diameter, to surround
his body, and be suspended like a magnificent arch over the heads of
his inhabitants; and, at the other, bending a hooked tooth, concerting
and providing an appropriate mechanism, for the clasping and
reclasping of the filaments of the feather of a humming-bird. We have
proof, not only of both these works proceeding from an intelligent
agent, but of their proceeding from the same agent: for, in the first
place, we can trace an identity of plan, a connexion of system, from
Saturn to our own globe; and when arrived upon our own globe, we can,
in the second place, pursue the connexion through all the organized,
especially the animated, bodies, which it supports. We can observe
marks of a common relation, as well to one another, as to the elements
of which their habitation is composed. Therefore one mind hath
planned, or at least hath prescribed a general plan for, all these
productions. One being has been concerned in all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account