SerlTl. CXL. rertcd and proved 2ÓS tourfe of Nature, that there fhould be any return from a perfe& Privation to a Habit, and that a Body pettedly dead fhould be reftored to Life again : But for all this, no Man that believes aGod, who made theWorld, and this Natu- ral Frame ofThings, but mutt think it very reafonable to believe, that he tan do Things far above the Power ofany Thing that he hath made. III. This Queftiòn implies thatit is not a Thing incredible to natural Reafon, that God fhould be able to raife the Dead. I do not fay, that bynatural Light we can difcover that God will raife the Dead ; for that depending meerly upon the Will of God, can no otherwife be certainly known than by Divine Revela- tion : But that God can do this, is not at all incredible to natural Reafon. And this is fufficiently implied in the Queftion which St. Paul asks, in which he ap- pears to Fefins and Agrippa, neither of them Chriftians, Why /bould it be thought k Thing incredible with you, that God fhould raife the Dead ? And why fhould he ap- peal to them concerning the Credibility of this Matter, if it be a Thing incredi- ble to natural Reafon ? That it is not, I (hall firft endeavour to prove, and then toanfwer the chiefOb- je&ions againft the Poffibility of it. And I prove it thus : It is not incredible to natural Reafon, that God made the World, and all the Creatures in it; that Mankind is his Ofspring5 and that he gives us Life and Breath, and allThings. This was acknowledged and firmly be- lieved by many of the Heathen. And indeed, who ever believes that theBeing of God may be known by natural Light, mutt grant, that it maybe known by thenatural Light of Reafon, that God made the World ; becaufeone of the chief Arguments for the Being of a God, is taken from thofe vifibleEffe&s of Wifdom, and Power, and Goodnefs, which we fee in the Frame of the World: Now he that can do the greater, can undoubtedly do the lets; he that made all Things of Nothing, can much more raife a Bodyout of the Duft ; he who at firft gave Life to fo many inanimate Beings, can eafily reftore that which is dead to Life again. It is an excellent Saying of one of the 7ewifb Rabbles : That he who " made that which was not, to be, can certainly make that which once was, to " be again." This bath theForce of a Demonftration; for no Man that believes that God hath done the one, can make any Doubt, but that he can if he pleafe do the other. This feems to be fo very clear, that they muff be ftrong Obje&ions indeed, that can render it incredible. There ire but two that I know of, that are of any Confideration, and I (hall not be afraid to reprefent them to you with their utmoft Advantage ; and they are thefe : Firfá, Againft the Refurre&ion in general : It is pretended impoffible, after the Bodies of Men are refolved intoDuft, to recolle& all the difperfed Parts, and bring them together, to be united into one Body. The Second is levell'd againft theRefurre&ion in fome particular Inftances, and pretends it to be impoffible in fome Cafes only, viz. When that which was the Matter of one Man's Body, does afterwards become the Matter of another Man's Body; in which Cafe, fay they, it is impoffible that both thefe fhould, at theRe- furre&ion, each have their ownBody. The Difficultyof both thefeObje&ions, is perfe&ly avoided by thofewho hold, that it is not neceffary that our Bodies at the Refurre&ion fhould confift of the very fame Parts of Matter that they did before ; there being no fuch great Diffe- rence between one Parcel of Duft and another; neither in refpe& of the Power of God, which can as eafily command this Parcel of Duft as that, to become a livingBody, and being united to the Soul, to rife up and walk: So that the Mi- racle of the Refurre&ion will be all one in the main, whether our Bodies be made ofthevery fame Matter they were before, or not. Nor will there be any Diffe- rence as to us ; for whatever Matter our Bodies be made of, when they are once re-united to our Souls, they will be then as much our own, as if they had been made of the very fame Matter of which they confifted before. Betides that, the Change 4
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