The System of Nature, or, the Laws of the Moral and Physical World. Volume 2Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Religion
The System of Nature, or, the Laws of the Moral and Physical World. Volume 2
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Materialism; Philosophy and religion; Psychology
"This God," says he, "governs all, not as the soul of the world, but
as the lord and sovereign of all things. It is in consequence of
his sovereignty that he is called the Lord God, [Greek letters],
_pantokrator_, the universal emperor. Indeed the word God is relative
and relates itself with slaves; the Deity is the dominion or the
sovereignty of God, not over his own body, as those think who look upon
God as the soul of the world, but over slaves."
From this it will be seen that Newton, as well as the theologians, makes
the Divinity a pure spirit, who presides over the universe as a monarch,
as a lord paramount; that is to say, what man defines in earthly
governors, despot, absolute princes, powerful monarchs, whose
governments have no model but their own will, who exercise an unlimited
power over their subjects, transformed into slaves; whom they usually
compel to feel in a very grievous manner the weight of their authority.
But according to the ideas of Newton, the world has not existed from
eternity, the staves of God have been formed in the course of time; from
this it would be a just inference, that before the creation of the world
the god of Newton was a sovereign without subjects. Let us see if this
truly great philosopher is more in unison with himself in the subsequent
ideas which he delivers on this subject.
"The supreme God," he says, "is an eternal, infinite, and absolutely
perfect being; but however perfect a being may be, if he has no
sovereignty he is not the supreme God. The word God signifies Lord,
but every lord is not god; it is the sovereignty of the spiritual Being
which constitutes God; it is the true sovereignty which constitutes the
true God; it is the supreme sovereignty which constitutes the supreme
God; it is a false sovereignty which constitutes a false god. From true
sovereignty, it follows, that the true God is living, intelligent,
and powerful; and from his other perfections, it follows, that he is
supremely or sovereignly perfect. He is eternal, infinite, omniscient;
that is to say, he exists from eternity, and will never have an end; he
governs all, and he knows every thing that is done, or that can be done.
He is neither eternity nor infinity, but he is eternal and infinite; he
is not space or duration, but he exists and is present." The term here
used is _adest_, which appears to have been placed there to avoid saying
that God is contained in space.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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