1223. The language above quoted does not involve the idea that Newton owed his idea of God to the Bible, or that he considered him as having any person, much less that he consisted of three persons. He makes no allusion to Christ or to the Scriptures. His opinions are quite reconcilable with Theism, but incompatible with the existence of the Trinity. _On God and his Attributes, by Seneca._ 1224. “Great respect is due to universal opinion. We consider common assent an evidence of truth. That there are Gods, we are convinced, among other proofs, from the fact that the belief in their existence is natural to man. No nation has been found so brutal as to be entirely without religion. 1225. “We begin to know God from his works. What is God? All that you see, and all that you do not see. In what does the nature of God and man differ? The best part of man is his mind; in God there is nothing but mind. He is pure spirit. Many names are applicable to him. Do you call him Fate? You do not err. He it is upon whom every thing depends. The cause of causes. Do you call him Providence? You are right. It is by his appointment that this world is so arranged that it performs without confusion the part assigned to it. Do you call him Nature? You do not sin. It is he from whom all things are produced. 1226. “You may properly apply to God any name expressive of celestial power. All his benefits may give rise to distinctive appellations. Thus he is called Father, Hercules, Mercury, &c. Father, because he is truly the Father of all; Hercules, because he is omnipotent; Mercury, because he is pure Reason, the principle of science, of order, and of harmony. 1227. “Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, are all names of _one_ God, expressive of his various attributes, and are qualities of the one mind; _whichever of them you love, you love God_. Known unto God are all his works. 1228. “Whatever is to happen is present with him. What to us is sudden and unexpected, has by him been foreseen and _provided_ for. 1229. “A wise man does not change his opinion, how much less God! As a river does not flow back, or stop in its course, _so the order of nature is governed by fixed laws, which are nothing less than divine decrees_.