4 s8 Chap. 6 Arguments toprove there is aGod. Introdu&. z., Buta better anfwer may be framed to this objeftion. Aman may proceed to a great degree of hardnefs ofheart, and blinding himfelf, yet this mlemuf}beob. natara de_ ferved, Specimen natant cujullibet, a nature optima futhendum 4, the rryal or effay o,am. of every mans nature or inclination is ever to be taken from off the'beft parts, and not of depraved nature. And Tully faith, If we will know what natureis molt uni- verfal in, man, we mutt takeour argument of what he is from the better fort of men; now there are forne forts of men fo addifted to the world and the fle(h, and the plea- fures of themboth, that they are fo loot and diffelute, that youcan no more judge what is naturally in them, than of the tafteof a fick man. But yet, though their hearts be fat, and they befotted as the Horfe and Mule, yet if God put his bit into their mouths, thofe natural fparks we fpeakoff, will break forth and darknefs will not be able to obfcure the light. And this is tobe teen in the worft of natures upon thefeoceaftons. r. If trouble and danger affail them, then, as the Perfráns in _fchylus that were routedatthe lake Strymon by theirenemies, and to avoid their fury, mutt needs pafs the Ice ready to be thawed with the Suns heat, or flaying be every oneput to (laugh- ter though beforethey held that there was noGod, yet then fell on their knees and prayed toGod to let the Ice bear them. z. If ficknefslay hold on them, then with Diogenes the,Atheiltical Philofopher be- ing tormented with the ftrangury, they will deceit their formerAtheifine. ab. 3. Or.laflly, if age come upon them, then with Cephalus ( as Plato hath it ) they Dere P willfay, while I wasyoung, and was toldof Styx and Acheron, I fcóffedat it, and thought there were no fuchplaces : now I am old, I begin to doubt and fay, what if there be fuch. So that we fee, that danger. ficknefs, and old age will drive men to confefs, that there is a God. 4 But another main argument is this. There are in us natural notions of God,. and of his effence, therefore we mutt of neceffity belimve.that there is a God. t. There is a power in the Soul which taketh notice of the difference between Gen 9. st, good and evil, againft Pyrrha, who faid, that there was nothing in it felt fimply good or evil. Chas, though auungodly man, yet thought it an uncomely thing for his fa 14. u. ther to lye as he did : there ;vas a power in him, to diftinguifh between decorum and indecorum, :good and evil. The Kingof Sodomwould recompence Abraham good a7. 41. for good. Efau would not kill hisbrother 7acob, while the days of mourning came, namely, whilehis Father lived. Abfalom, though in rebellion againil his Father,yet zSam, 16 '17' rebuked the fame wickedncfs in his friend Hufhai. And 3udas though he would betray. Mat.z5. at, his M,after, yet would notdo it inopen manner, but gave a privy token, quemmutque ofcolatmafuero, whomfoever I (hall kifs &c. So then, teeing the molt wicked and evil are defirous to feetn good, and ( though beingevil in themfelves ) reprehendit in others, it appearsplainly that there arc notions inour Souls to diftinguifh between good andevil. Now there mull be a ground for this diftinaion, and it is not of man, as Pyrrha Gen. 3. u. would have it : for then every thing which is at mans appointment, mutt begood or evil : but it mutt be from a nature above man, and fo it leadeth us to God, an un- changable nature. Who told thee that thou waft naked, faith God. 5. That therein a God, maybe found from a main part of our Soul, the Confci- x: ence which is called Gods deputy : which never fullers the wicked to beat peace or objeff. quiet within themfelves, but they. are ever troubled and tormented. And if they fay; sfw. that Confcience thusvexeth them,lefttheir fait be revealed ,and they thereby brought within the dangerof the Law. It may loon be anfwered. For let one of there commit fome great offence in the wildernefs, or in the dark, whereno man fees them, yet (hall he never be at reft, he (hall ha ve hisfarda verbera, as Pliny calls them, fecret whips and wounds; yea, he !hall be conftrained to reveal it himfelf, either in fleep or mrdnefs : or (as Plutarch (peaks of Beim) he (hall think, that the foulsof the air will bewrayit. Religion then, is not a devife, as they hold, or would have Mat.9. 35. it, neither (hall it be fo accounted, as long as they have Gods:deputy and vicegerent Ef,.66. 54: within them. Andour Saviour qúoteth this Text out of the Prophet to condemn fuch Atheifts. Vermis corms non morietsr. Their wormdieth not. Therefore there is a God. 6. Laftly to end this point. It is a manifeft argument to prove that there is a God
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