The Existence and Attributes of God, Volumes 1 and 2Charnock, Stephen
Religion
The Existence and Attributes of God, Volumes 1 and 2
Charnock, Stephen
God (Christianity) -- Attributes; Providence and government of God -- Christianity
The apostle resolves it (Rom. i. 19, 20), “The invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that
they are without excuse.” They know, or might know, by the things
that were made, the eternity and power of God; their sense might take
a circuit about every object, and their minds collect the being and
something of the perfections of the Deity. The first discourse of
the mind upon the sight of a delicate piece of workmanship, is the
conclusion of the being of an artificer, and the admiration of his
skill and industry. The apostle doth not say, the invisible things
of God are _believed_, or they have an opinion of them, but they are
_seen_, and _clearly seen_. They are like crystal glasses, which give
a clear representation of the existence of a Deity, like that mirror,
reported to be in a temple in Arcadia, which represented to the
spectator, not his own face, but the image of that deity which he
worshipped. The whole world is like a looking‑glass, which, whole
and entire, represents the image of God, and every broken piece of
it, every little shred of a creature doth the like; not only the
great ones, elephants and the leviathan, but ants, flies, worms, whose
bodies rather than names we know: the greater cattle and the creeping
things (Gen. i. 24); not naming there any intermediate creature, to
direct us to view him in the smaller letters, as well as the greater
characters of the world. His name is “glorious,” and his attributes
are excellent “in all the earth;”[43] in every creature, as the glory
of the sun is in every beam and smaller flash; he is seen in every
insect, in every spire of grass. The voice of the Creator is in
the most contemptible creature. The apostle adds, that they are so
clearly seen, that men are inexcusable if they have not some knowledge
of God by them; if they might not certainly know them, they might
have some excuse: so that his existence is not only probably, but
demonstratively proved from the things of the world.[44]
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