688 Of God's Omniprefencc. Obj,J, An{w, for Prefervation, as the Philofopher fpeaks, is nothing elfe but a continutd and a prolonged Cr_eation. Now he cannot. create any thing at a diftance from it, bccaufe no Cr~ature ts fit to convey a Creauve AGhon, a!Sd becanfe alfo wha-evcr Venue or Power is in God it is his EfiCnce ; therefore if he create or prefcrve by his Power he creates and preferves immediately by his Effence,and fo hisEffence muft be what~ foever his Operations are. But God exifts not only in the World, but infinitely beyond the World alfo, that may be demonftrated thus : r. Firft, From the Inftnitcnefs of his Nature and Ejfence. 2. Secondly, From the lnfiniteneji of his Perfeffions. Arg. 1. Firft, From the lnfinitenefs of God's Nature or Effcnce, , That Nature which is infinite, cannot be bounded or limited; but God's Nature is infinite there~ fore it .'~~not _be bounded;_ but if G?d w~re only_pre[ent in the ~·Vorld ~nd did ~ot ex'tft mfimtely beyond u, then hts Bemg and Nature could not be infinite as a Spirit is infinite; therefore if God fhould be included in the World, he would alfo be but infinite as the World. Arg. 2: Se_co.ndly? From the Inftnitenefs. of ~;; Per[etfiom, we ~a~ argue thus: That whteh IS tnfin_ttcly perfeCt:! muft ~e mfinuel~ grc~t, but SJod ~ mfinitely perfect; fo that there Is ~o P7rfeChon whtch we can tmagme but JS ertuncntly in God, therefore he muft be tnfi.o1tely great, fo as there can be no fpacc which we can imagine, but he muft be prefent in it: But we can imagine <ID infini te fpace beyond this World, therefore God is there, becaufe there is no PerfeCtion imaginable which God hath not. Whatever is infinitely perfect, muft be infinitelY great as appears from this, becaufe the greater a thing is, the more perfeCl it is of that f~me kind, as a great piece of Gold is more excellent than a lefs; and therefore from this PerfeClion of God, it appears, that he is every· tvhire, he being all Perfedion, (2.) Arg. 2. As iris demonftrated from God)s lnfinitenefs and Perfcaion fo likewife from his Almighty Power, God can create another World greater t1ban this, even in that imaginary fpace which we can conceive beyond this World· therefore certainly God is now exiftent there. ' (3.) A't· 3· God's Omniprefence may may be argued from the Eternity ofGod, God was infinitely exiftent before the Creation of the World, fince he is Eternal, and the World but Temporal; the World bath flood only but fame few Thoufands ofYe~rs, and befor~ th~ 5=re~tion of the World there was ~othing but God; .and God exllled eternally In hunfelt; therefore, though beyond thiS World there be nothing, yet God will be there aaually exifting in that fame imaginary fpace be· yond this \Vorld, as he did exift in an imaginary fpace before this World was created. Thus I have done with the Propofitions, and the Confirmation of them by the rational Arguments, thofe things that relate to the Philo{ophical Part of the 'Text, for informing of the Judgment in the Notion of that ftupendious Attribute of God's Omniprefcnce, · · I !hall now come to anfwer fame Objeaions: The firft is taken from thofe Scrip~ tures where it fecms to be implied, that God moves from place to place, as in Gen. 18. 21. where the Lord faith, concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, I wi/J go down now a'ftd fee whether they have done altogether, according to the cry of it, which i; come unto me. And in Hab. 3· 3· it is there faid, God Cl{me from Temfm, tmd the Holy One from Mount Paran, &c. Now thefe places which fpeak of going to, and departing from places, fecm to oppofe God's Ubiquity, becaufe Motion is inconfiftent with God's Omniprefence. 1 anfwer: Thefe and the like Scripturn are not to be taken properly and 1itera1ly, but as accommodate to our capacity and conception, even as Parents, when they fpeak to their , little Children, will fometimes lifp and babble in their LanP"urge; fo God oftentimes condefcends to us in fpeaking our Language, for the declaringofthofc things which are· far above our reach. But you will fay, how are fuch Places to be underftood? I anfwer, When God is faid to come unto, or to depart from any Place or Perfon, nothing elfe muft be underftood thereby, but a declaring or not declaring hirnfelf ro be prefent, as Men, wl1en they manifcfr themfelves prefent, they do it by moving hither or thither; fo God1 to accom· modatc himfelf thereunto, when he manifefts his Prefence any where, he tells us, that he goes thither; and when that Manifeftation ceafeth, he tells us he departs thence, though he was always there prefent, both before and after that M~nifeftatton,
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