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
To conclude this: As when a man comes into a palace, built according
to the exactest rule of art, and with an unexceptionable conveniency
for the inhabitants, he would acknowledge both the being and skill
of the builder; so whosoever shall observe the disposition of all
the parts of the world, their connection, comeliness, the variety of
seasons, the swarms of different creatures, and the mutual offices
they render to one another, cannot conclude less, than that it was
contrived by an infinite skill, effected by infinite power, and
governed by infinite wisdom. None can imagine a ship to be orderly
conducted without a pilot; nor the parts of the world to perform their
several functions without a wise guide; considering the members of the
body cannot perform theirs, without the active presence of the soul.
The atheist, then, is a fool to deny that which every creature in his
constitution asserts, and thereby renders himself unable to give a
satisfactory account of that constant uniformity in the motions of
the creatures.
Thirdly, As the production and harmony, so particular creatures,
pursuing and attaining their ends, manifest that there is a God. All
particular creatures have natural instincts, which move them for some
end. The intending of an end is a property of a rational creature;
since the lower creatures cannot challenge that title, they must act
by the understanding and direction of another; and since man cannot
challenge the honor of inspiring the creatures with such instincts,
it must be ascribed to some nature infinitely above any creature in
understanding. No creature doth determine itself. Why do the fruits
and grain of the earth nourish us, when the earth which instrumentally
gives them that fitness, cannot nourish us, but because their several
ends are determined by one higher than the world?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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