Sean.CII. The Eternity of 'Ga. 76t and as if hé had fpoken too little of God , in Paying , that his Providence had been exercifed in all the Ages of the World, he tells us here in the Text , that he was before the World, and he made it ; he was from all Eternity, and fhould continue to all Eternity the fame. Before the mountains were brought forth ; the molt firm and durable parts of the World, the molt eminent and confpicuous ; Or ever thou hacl/i formed the earth and the world ; before any thing was created ; from everlafling to everlafling thou art God. In fpeaking of this Attribute , I fhall Firft, Give you the Explication of it. Secondly, Endeavour to prove that it doth belong to God, and ought to be at- tributed to the Divine Nature. thirdly, Draw fome Corollaries from the whole. Firi, For the Explication of it. Eternity is a duration without bounds or limits : Now there are two limits of duration, beginning and ending; that which bath always been is, without beginning that which always ú1all be is without ending. Now we may conceive of a thing always to have been, and the con- tinuance of its being now to ceafe , tho' there be no fuch thing in the World : And there are force things which have had a beginning of their Being, but (hall have no Erd, {hall always continue , as the Angels, and Spirits of Men. The firft of thefe the Schoolmen call Eternity, à parte ante, that is , duration without beginning ; this latter Eternity à parte poft, a duration without ending: But Eter- nity abfolutely taken comprehends both thefe , and lignifies an infinite duration which had no beginning, nor fhall have.any end ;fo that when we fay God is eter- nal, we mean, that he always was, and {hall be for ever ; that he had no begin- ning of Life, nor {hall have any end of Days ; but that, he is from everlafling to everlafling, as it is here in the Text. à parte ante, as to his having al- ways true indeed, that as to God's Eternity , been, the Scripture doth not give us any folitious account of it ; it only tells us in general , that God was before the worldwas , and-that he created it : It doth not defcend to gratify our curiofity , in giving us any account of what God did before he made the World, or how he entertain'd himfelf from all Eter- nity : It doth not give us any diftind account of his infinite duration.; for that had been impoffible for our finite underftandings to comprehend ; if we fhould have afcended upward millions of Ages, yet we fhould never have afcended to the top, never have arrived at the beginning of infinity ; therefore the Scripture, which was wrote to inftrud us in what was necefïary , and not to fatisfy our curiofity, tells us this, that God was from everlafting, before the world was made, and that he laid the foundations of it. that by the Eternity of God, you are to underftand theperpetual continuance of his being, without beginning or ending. I {hall not trouble you with the inconfiftent and unintelligible Notions of the . Schoolmen ; that it is duratio tota famul , in which we are not to conceiveany fucceflion, but to imagine it an inftant. We may as well conceive the Immenfity of God to be a point, as his Eternity to be an irritant : And as according to our manner of conceiving , we muft neceffarily fuppofe the Immenfity of God to be an infinite Expanfion of his Effence, a prefence of it to all places, and ima- ginable fpace ; fo muff we fuppofe the Eternity of God to be a perpetual conti- nuance, coexiflent to all imaginable fucceflion of Ages. Now how that can be together, which muft neceffarily be imagined to be coexiflent to fucceffions , let them that can conceive.' Secondly, for the proof of this, I fhall attempt it two ways,. I. From the Diélates of Natural Light and Reafon. II. From Scripture and Divine Revelation. r. From the Dictates of Natural Reafon. This Attribute of God is of all other leaft difputed among the Philofophers : Indeed all agree that God is a per- fetI and happy Being, but wherein that Happinefs and Perfection confifts, they differ exceedingly ; but all agree that God is Eternal, and are agreed what Eter- nity is, viz. a boundlefs duration: And however they did attribute a beginning Eeeee to
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