Çhap.6. Thebeginning ofthings notfromChance, &c. Intrpdu&. pathy and confent is among them , that Tome excellent .and skilful one, hathmade this harmoniacal cònfent. 3. Of all things in the World, as Laws, Learning, Arts and thereff, the beginning as well of them , as of the Inventors of them, are known: for fo the Heathencon- fefs: And Pliaie hath written much in his natural Hiftory to this purpofe. Dio. domes Sicalto faith , that Laws came from the7ews , and order in Commonwealths from the Chaldeans: but this doubtlefs came alfo originally from God's People, and by humane reafon and different occafions was varied from the firftinftitution. ob ed. i. Now whereas they object ; that Ex nihilo nihil fit, ofnothing , can nothing be made. The anfwer to it is , Alia ejcandid° rei domfir, alia cumfatba e, i. Neuritnr yuifque in utero per umblicum, pofb partum per Of the condition ofthings in their creation dud after their creation. is different : AChild in the Mothers Belly is fed by the Navil, after the Birth by the Mouth: ob ;eá: ,. And for that they fay , that we know not, whether mortis thenatation, or M avens 401w. a. the Mover were firft , and therefore no beginning can be proved we fay , That we can no more certainty afßrní, whether thefyfoleordiaftale, the rilingor the fallingof pulfe were firft ; and yetweknow i ''that the pulle and the heart from whenceitcomcs had a beginning : and fo fay we of the Motion and Mover. Seeing then , that of every.thing a beginningtherç'was, itmuft needs be from oneof three three. t. From Chance, 2. Or fromNature, 3, Or fromGod. Reafons againft Chance. r. From Chance itcannot be.. For if.a Man travail througha Wildernefsor Defart place , and fee,aCottage o- Stye there , in his own reafon he would conceive, that fome body had been there to erect or fet it upt and that it came not to be there fortefort uito by chance. IfaMan fhould feea circumference or a tryangle (as,fbitiip_ pps did) upon theSea (hoe, he would foon imagine that force Artift or skilful Man had drawn it, and that it came not by chance. No more are we to afcribe the ma- kingof any thing to Fortune. For in our common talk; the Generation ofthings we attribute not .to Chance , but the corruption we call mifchance. As when we fee a Houle burnt, or the like, we ufe to call ita mifchançe. But things ofGene, rationand Invention, we afcribe to Art, or Counfel. In the ArgonantsofAppoüa- nius , the filly Countryman that taw the deft Ship arrive at Colchescould fay * S tef, it had fome skilful Pilot toguide 2. In fortuitio or things by chance there canbe no order obferved , no more than in tatting ofDice: but in the World there is a moli excellent order in all things, except in the actions of Men, which arecorrupt and confufed. 3. Chance and purpofe can never agree , for Fortune is defined to beprefer pro pofitxm betides and contrary to purpofe. If aMan do any thing of purpofe, it were abfurd to fay he did it by chance. But in the World there is a manifeft pur- pole : for there is an Rye, and that Eyebath its Object, that Object its Line, that Line its Medium and Species, and fo a Counfel and mutual defination So that it is not fromChance. Reafons againft Nature. a. The beginning was not fromNature, Ifitwere, then all things muff bere, duced to it , and there mull be a natural reafon given for all things. But this cannot be : for the Philofophers cannot give a reafon in Nature for the ebbing and flowing of the Sea. For the colours of the Rainbow. The ftrength of the neither chappe , which is able to knap to (under even Iron it felt; and yet bath avery weak upholder. For the heat of the Stomach, which confumeth any Meat, and yet hu?tech not it fell, nor any parts about it, and even the vertues, they make' them not all natural, but borne s,t., heroical and coming from God. sz. IfNature were the beginningof all things , then fhould nothing be done a- gainft Nature, becaufe nothing can oppofe it felf againft the chiefcaufe. And ifNature had that power of it felt to produce and let on work fo excellent a frame as the World is, it would beof as great force toprcferve and continue itscourte. But this it doth not, for we know that theSun Rood !till, atthe command of 7ofhu4 JoRit i o. ti. againft Natures courte, and the Sun had an Eclipfe in the full ofthe Moonagainft J uk, z3. 33. Nature at ourSaviours ?Milian., Seeing
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