Redemption A divine poem, In Six Books. The three first demonstrate the Truth of the Christian Religion, The three last the Deity of Christ. To which is added, A Hymn to Christ the Redeemer. By Sir Richard Blackmore |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
[Book IV.]
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| V. |
| VI. |
 | Redemption |  |
179
[Book IV.]
THE ARGUMENT OF THE Fourth Book.
The Introduction, in which abundance of Objects
are enumerated, about whose existence
the mind has no doubt or hesitation, tho' the
causes why, and the manner how they exist,
surpass our comprehension. The province of
reason in many instances extends no farther
than to examine the evidence alleg'd to prove a
position true: If that be clear and conclusive our
Assent is justly demanded, tho' we cannot conceive
and explain, why, and how the thing is
so. Hence it is no argument against the
strict Divinity of the Son of God, that we
cannot penetrate the intrinsick nature of the
Divine Being, and declare the manner of Christ's
essential union with God the Father: For all
that finite reason can possibly do, when exercis'd
about an infinite object is to search
and weigh the proofs produc'd to shew
that any assertion is true which concerns his
incomprehensible Essence. The intrinsick nature
of God is known only to himself; whatever
therefore is discovered of it, must be disvered
only by divine revelation. The divinity of
Christ in the strictest sense revealed in the
sacred scriptures. Several texts cited for this
purpose. Clear and immediate deductions from
express Texts prov'd to be as conclusive and
canonical as those Texts themselves. The
great argument for Christ's divinity drawn
from his being stiled Creator or Maker of all
things manag'd at large.
180
See, all th' elated sects of Sages boast,
Their schools have arts and sciences ingross'd,
That they can Nature's wonders open lay
Her secret works, and winding walks display,
And to her dark recesses let in day;
In vain; the world's mysterious volumes mock
Scholastick search, nor can the wise unlock
By philosophick skill the hidden springs
Of Nature, to reveal the modes of things.
Their schools have arts and sciences ingross'd,
That they can Nature's wonders open lay
Her secret works, and winding walks display,
And to her dark recesses let in day;
181
Scholastick search, nor can the wise unlock
By philosophick skill the hidden springs
Of Nature, to reveal the modes of things.
Ye Colleges of learning, that abound
With heads for wit refin'd and sense renown'd,
Produce the man, who can the props unfold,
That the vast orb in fluid sky uphold,
And tell the force, by which their race begun,
And why in one determin'd way they run.
Declare, by what impulsive steady force
They move, and never deviate from their course:
And let us know, by what mechanic art
The earth and heavens are kept so long apart:
What order, what distinction still preserves,
And from her way why Nature never swerves,
Excepting, when obedient to the Cause
Of all things, she suspends her settled laws.
With heads for wit refin'd and sense renown'd,
Produce the man, who can the props unfold,
That the vast orb in fluid sky uphold,
And tell the force, by which their race begun,
And why in one determin'd way they run.
Declare, by what impulsive steady force
They move, and never deviate from their course:
And let us know, by what mechanic art
The earth and heavens are kept so long apart:
What order, what distinction still preserves,
And from her way why Nature never swerves,
182
Of all things, she suspends her settled laws.
What piercing wit can make the links appear,
By which material particles cohere?
Or can the hidden principle explain,
From whence of things the various classes gain
Specifick essence, and a different name;
Whence Beings individual nature claim,
And tho' still wasting, still remain the same.
How in its bed, and the dark womb of night
The growing gem is fill'd with heavenly light;
How sapphire stones etherial blue display,
What to the diamond gives its splendid ray,
And makes it rich with subterranean day.
Who can the forming of the meteors show?
What tools give shape to hail; what molds to snow?
Who can the chymick engineers declare,
That in their floating furnaces prepare
The curious fire-works temper'd in the air,
Are now to shoot the falling star employ'd
Now kindle harmless flames, that dance along the Void?
By which material particles cohere?
Or can the hidden principle explain,
From whence of things the various classes gain
Specifick essence, and a different name;
Whence Beings individual nature claim,
And tho' still wasting, still remain the same.
How in its bed, and the dark womb of night
The growing gem is fill'd with heavenly light;
How sapphire stones etherial blue display,
What to the diamond gives its splendid ray,
And makes it rich with subterranean day.
Who can the forming of the meteors show?
What tools give shape to hail; what molds to snow?
183
That in their floating furnaces prepare
The curious fire-works temper'd in the air,
Are now to shoot the falling star employ'd
Now kindle harmless flames, that dance along the Void?
Who can the secret of the clouds explain,
The way of winds, and manner of the rain?
How hoary frost is wrought, and by what skill
Th' alembicks of the air moist dews distill.
Ye learned schools, shew us the Sage profound
That can mysterious thunder's birth expound,
The voice of God, that shakes the wilderness,
And fills mankind with terror and distress;
Can tell the match, that fires the sulphur train
Which in dark prisons rolling clouds contain,
Whence forked flames exploded swiftly fly,
And with their crooked light reveal the sky.
The way of winds, and manner of the rain?
How hoary frost is wrought, and by what skill
Th' alembicks of the air moist dews distill.
Ye learned schools, shew us the Sage profound
That can mysterious thunder's birth expound,
The voice of God, that shakes the wilderness,
And fills mankind with terror and distress;
Can tell the match, that fires the sulphur train
Which in dark prisons rolling clouds contain,
184
And with their crooked light reveal the sky.
Is there a genius found, that can display
The principle of life, and shew the way,
How from the active goal it red'ning springs,
And runs thro' purple tubes its destin'd rings;
And tell us by what pow'rs th' unconscious soul
Of brutes the busy spirits can controll;
By what expression she can signify
Her will, and bid the swift wing'd envoys fly,
This way and that, and send their troops abroad
In vital duties thro' their nervous road,
To both unknown, and yet they constant find
The darksome passage by an impulse blind?
The principle of life, and shew the way,
How from the active goal it red'ning springs,
And runs thro' purple tubes its destin'd rings;
And tell us by what pow'rs th' unconscious soul
Of brutes the busy spirits can controll;
By what expression she can signify
Her will, and bid the swift wing'd envoys fly,
This way and that, and send their troops abroad
In vital duties thro' their nervous road,
To both unknown, and yet they constant find
The darksome passage by an impulse blind?
Who can the pencil, and the colouring art
Explain, that beauty exquisite impart
To painted flowers, where intercepted light,
By various windings vary'd, charms the sight;
Explain, that beauty exquisite impart
185
By various windings vary'd, charms the sight;
Where is the wit for piercing thoughts renown'd,
That has the manner of conception found?
How in the mass the sleeping vital spark
Awaken'd glows, and kindles in the dark?
What is the plastick energy, that frees
And amplifies the nerves, and by degrees
Unfolds the tender complicated threads,
Augments their size, and life increasing spreads,
That swells the art'ry, excavates the vein,
And forms the bones, the structure to sustain?
That has the manner of conception found?
How in the mass the sleeping vital spark
Awaken'd glows, and kindles in the dark?
What is the plastick energy, that frees
And amplifies the nerves, and by degrees
Unfolds the tender complicated threads,
Augments their size, and life increasing spreads,
That swells the art'ry, excavates the vein,
And forms the bones, the structure to sustain?
Where is th' inlighten'd school, that can declare
If human deathless souls ingenite are,
Or else infus'd; if this, say when, and how
Did first those pow'rs the lifeless mass endow?
Besides, if this opinion we embrace,
All men would being from creation trace,
And miracles must still supply the race;
And how can being men from men receive,
Who neither matter, form, nor union give?
If human deathless souls ingenite are,
Or else infus'd; if this, say when, and how
Did first those pow'rs the lifeless mass endow?
186
All men would being from creation trace,
And miracles must still supply the race;
And how can being men from men receive,
Who neither matter, form, nor union give?
Besides, if this be so, since we are sure,
That souls from God's pure hands must come forth pure,
Can bodies, which no moral blemish know,
To souls yet undefil'd infectious grow?
If both are spotless, let us know the way
How sin from parents you to sons convey?
How man is first of innocence bereav'd,
Born in pollution, and in sin conceiv'd?
But if on procreation minds rely,
And, as brute souls, increase and multiply,
Then spirits may to spirits being owe,
And from successive generation flow.
But how will this to living things agree,
Unorganiz'd, and from all matter free,
Which of their substance cannot give a part,
Nor have, to make from nothing, pow'r and art:
Or if they had such pow'r, the sequel see,
This would creation, not production be?
But if it be asserted, that the soul
Does not infus'd and made inform the whole,
Then human souls, tho' from all matter freed,
Must souls engender and prolifick breed
Others, or else from matter they proceed.
That souls from God's pure hands must come forth pure,
Can bodies, which no moral blemish know,
To souls yet undefil'd infectious grow?
If both are spotless, let us know the way
How sin from parents you to sons convey?
How man is first of innocence bereav'd,
Born in pollution, and in sin conceiv'd?
But if on procreation minds rely,
And, as brute souls, increase and multiply,
187
And from successive generation flow.
But how will this to living things agree,
Unorganiz'd, and from all matter free,
Which of their substance cannot give a part,
Nor have, to make from nothing, pow'r and art:
Or if they had such pow'r, the sequel see,
This would creation, not production be?
But if it be asserted, that the soul
Does not infus'd and made inform the whole,
Then human souls, tho' from all matter freed,
Must souls engender and prolifick breed
Others, or else from matter they proceed.
Say by what ties an incorporeal Mind
Is with a body vitally combin'd?
How to the soul are outward objects brought?
How is perception by their impulse wrought?
What is idea, phantasme, what is thought?
What curious artist can dissect the brain,
And shew in memory's stores the sleeping train
Of hoarded images? and who can tell
How each awaken'd from its little cell
Starts forth, and how the soul's command it hears
And soon on fancy's theatre appears?
Is with a body vitally combin'd?
188
How is perception by their impulse wrought?
What is idea, phantasme, what is thought?
What curious artist can dissect the brain,
And shew in memory's stores the sleeping train
Of hoarded images? and who can tell
How each awaken'd from its little cell
Starts forth, and how the soul's command it hears
And soon on fancy's theatre appears?
Where is the genius, that can comprehend
How immaterial souls themselves extend
To quicken molds of earth, and by what art
They animate and move each distant part!
How immaterial souls themselves extend
To quicken molds of earth, and by what art
They animate and move each distant part!
This World immense, so 'tis believ'd by all,
Except the atheist, at th' Almighty's call
Sprung from the lonesome walks of empty space;
And rear'd from nothing shew'd its beauteous face.
But now th' acute scholastick Sages name,
Who can th' idea of creation frame;
That can conceive, how hills, and seas and skies
From vacant night did into being rise.
How God can future things contingent see,
How unextended fill Immensity,
How he exists thro' all th' unbounded space,
All in the whole, and all in ev'ry place.
Nor does duration, which no limits bound,
The most exalted reason less confound,
What mind of this can a just image shew,
Or comprehend at one extensive view
Without succession everlasting age;
And time from this idea disengage?
Time, whose incessant streams their passage make
Thro' vast eternity's unflowing lake,
And thro' this standing gulph unmingled glide,
Till there they disembogue their ebbing tide,
When years and ages having run their race
Of th' unprogressive now disclose the face:
Yet we of things th' existence may defend,
Tho' their dark modes all reason's reach transcend.
Except the atheist, at th' Almighty's call
189
And rear'd from nothing shew'd its beauteous face.
But now th' acute scholastick Sages name,
Who can th' idea of creation frame;
That can conceive, how hills, and seas and skies
From vacant night did into being rise.
How God can future things contingent see,
How unextended fill Immensity,
How he exists thro' all th' unbounded space,
All in the whole, and all in ev'ry place.
Nor does duration, which no limits bound,
The most exalted reason less confound,
What mind of this can a just image shew,
Or comprehend at one extensive view
Without succession everlasting age;
And time from this idea disengage?
190
Thro' vast eternity's unflowing lake,
And thro' this standing gulph unmingled glide,
Till there they disembogue their ebbing tide,
When years and ages having run their race
Of th' unprogressive now disclose the face:
Yet we of things th' existence may defend,
Tho' their dark modes all reason's reach transcend.
Justly we ask, that men should understand
The evidence, that does assent demand;
But they are only bound to comprehend
Prevailing proof, while they can ne'er extend
Their lights so far, as fully to conceive
The object, which they cannot but believe.
Convinc'd by sense or reason we may own
Beings, whose modes or causes are unknown:
For evidence, as demonstration plain,
And proofs by light resistless may constrain
The mind to yield, and full assent allow;
Things are existent, tho' we know not how.
We therefore may believe, that pow'rs divine
And boundless, in the blest Redeemer shine,
And that th' almighty Father and the Son,
Distinct in person, are in substance one,
Tho' the sublimest wit would strive in vain
The mode of their blest union to explain,
Since the great mind does undiscovered dwell
In gulphs of glory unapproachable,
And since his being no set bounds restrain,
No understanding finite can explain
His nature, which had still remain'd conceal'd,
Had not himself the mystick truth reveal'd.
For his intrinsick essence can be shown
Only by God, to whom 'tis only known.
Hence what the volumes of his sacred word
By inspiration dictated record,
Compell'd by reason, firmly we believe,
Tho' we th' unequal object can't conceive.
But tho' we can't his essence understand,
Yet the severest reason will demand
Assent, to what Heav'ns oracles aver;
For following truth itself we cannot err.
The evidence, that does assent demand;
But they are only bound to comprehend
Prevailing proof, while they can ne'er extend
Their lights so far, as fully to conceive
The object, which they cannot but believe.
Convinc'd by sense or reason we may own
Beings, whose modes or causes are unknown:
191
And proofs by light resistless may constrain
The mind to yield, and full assent allow;
Things are existent, tho' we know not how.
We therefore may believe, that pow'rs divine
And boundless, in the blest Redeemer shine,
And that th' almighty Father and the Son,
Distinct in person, are in substance one,
Tho' the sublimest wit would strive in vain
The mode of their blest union to explain,
Since the great mind does undiscovered dwell
In gulphs of glory unapproachable,
And since his being no set bounds restrain,
No understanding finite can explain
His nature, which had still remain'd conceal'd,
Had not himself the mystick truth reveal'd.
For his intrinsick essence can be shown
Only by God, to whom 'tis only known.
192
By inspiration dictated record,
Compell'd by reason, firmly we believe,
Tho' we th' unequal object can't conceive.
But tho' we can't his essence understand,
Yet the severest reason will demand
Assent, to what Heav'ns oracles aver;
For following truth itself we cannot err.
Then let the champions who our creed disown,
And the Redeemer Lord, as God dethrone,
At Scripture's high unerring bar be try'd,
Let revelation's light the cause decide,
Let them their usual faithless arts employ,
Prevaricate and shuffle, and destroy
Clear obvious sense, now cloud or maim the phrase
Now change the text, and shift a thousand ways
They'll find their disingenuous turns are vain,
Nor will allusive frauds their cause sustain.
For since the books inspir'd in every part
Our Lord's supreme divinity assert,
Constrain'd by reason we that point embrace,
And, tho' we can't the cause and manner trace,
See, Evidence demonstrative will shew
That this important article is true.
And the Redeemer Lord, as God dethrone,
At Scripture's high unerring bar be try'd,
Let revelation's light the cause decide,
Let them their usual faithless arts employ,
Prevaricate and shuffle, and destroy
Clear obvious sense, now cloud or maim the phrase
Now change the text, and shift a thousand ways
193
Nor will allusive frauds their cause sustain.
For since the books inspir'd in every part
Our Lord's supreme divinity assert,
Constrain'd by reason we that point embrace,
And, tho' we can't the cause and manner trace,
See, Evidence demonstrative will shew
That this important article is true.
That God exists, is clear to reason's eye,
But his intrinsick Essence to descry
We on its feeble light in vain rely.
Who can to heights interminable strive?
To depths, that know no limits, who can dive?
Who can th' Eternal Being comprehend?
To boundless presence who his thoughts extend?
What he from Heav'n declares must be believ'd,
And as unerring oracles receiv'd;
Here our assent, right reason says, is due
For what essential truth affirms, is true,
Now by the sects, that bear the Saviour's name,
And his bright train of promis'd blessings claim,
The Scripture's sacred volumes are admir'd,
And own'd the works of holy men inspir'd,
To teach celestial knowledge, and display
Th' Almighty's will, and spread forth Christian day.
As they fall'n Nature's waning light restore,
So doctrines they declare unknown before,
Which to the Saviour's Deity relate,
And his blest kingdom's mediatorial state.
Then let the mind from prepossession free
Search these authentick registers, and see
What the acknowledged oracles record
Of the blest Son, the great Redeemer Lord.
'Tis there that he is Lord of Lords exprest,
He's Lord of hosts, and the great God confest.
Sublime expression, and majestick names!
Which the most High to him peculiar claims!
Titles, that he has still unrivall'd born,
And which no creature ever did adorn:
The awfull name Jehovah all must own
God does appropriate to himself alone;
But see the books inspir'd that cannot err,
This name to God confin'd on Christ confer.
Hence when our Savior Christ is call'd the Lord,
Jehovah in the Hebrew is the word,
Which does so oft occurr in sacred writ,
That all should this convincing proof admit,
Who see the name to Christ our Lord is giv'n,
Peculiar to the God of Earth and Heav'n.
But his intrinsick Essence to descry
We on its feeble light in vain rely.
Who can to heights interminable strive?
To depths, that know no limits, who can dive?
Who can th' Eternal Being comprehend?
To boundless presence who his thoughts extend?
What he from Heav'n declares must be believ'd,
And as unerring oracles receiv'd;
194
For what essential truth affirms, is true,
Now by the sects, that bear the Saviour's name,
And his bright train of promis'd blessings claim,
The Scripture's sacred volumes are admir'd,
And own'd the works of holy men inspir'd,
To teach celestial knowledge, and display
Th' Almighty's will, and spread forth Christian day.
As they fall'n Nature's waning light restore,
So doctrines they declare unknown before,
Which to the Saviour's Deity relate,
And his blest kingdom's mediatorial state.
Then let the mind from prepossession free
Search these authentick registers, and see
What the acknowledged oracles record
Of the blest Son, the great Redeemer Lord.
195
He's Lord of hosts, and the great God confest.
Sublime expression, and majestick names!
Which the most High to him peculiar claims!
Titles, that he has still unrivall'd born,
And which no creature ever did adorn:
The awfull name Jehovah all must own
God does appropriate to himself alone;
But see the books inspir'd that cannot err,
This name to God confin'd on Christ confer.
Hence when our Savior Christ is call'd the Lord,
Jehovah in the Hebrew is the word,
Which does so oft occurr in sacred writ,
That all should this convincing proof admit,
Who see the name to Christ our Lord is giv'n,
Peculiar to the God of Earth and Heav'n.
196
Mind what the prophet Joel does record,
They'll on Jehovah call, which is the word
Original, which here is render'd Lord.
This text th' Apostle does to Christ apply,
And on this truth we firmly may rely,
That he inspir'd knew well, that Christ might claim
Justly that incommunicable name
Of God, and therefore with him is the same.
This by the context is so clear, that he
That runs may read, and evidently see,
That Christ's the subject of the whole discourse
In this known place; tis then presumptuous force
And perfect outrage, to distort and strain,
To any other meaning texts so plain.
Besides remark, that when 'tis said, that they
Shall call upon his name, that is, shall pray
For his salvation, and his help implore,
Which in the Scripture sense is to adore,
This invocation of religious sort
Must plainly Christ's divinity import.
They'll on Jehovah call, which is the word
Original, which here is render'd Lord.
This text th' Apostle does to Christ apply,
And on this truth we firmly may rely,
That he inspir'd knew well, that Christ might claim
Justly that incommunicable name
Of God, and therefore with him is the same.
This by the context is so clear, that he
That runs may read, and evidently see,
That Christ's the subject of the whole discourse
In this known place; tis then presumptuous force
And perfect outrage, to distort and strain,
To any other meaning texts so plain.
Besides remark, that when 'tis said, that they
Shall call upon his name, that is, shall pray
197
Which in the Scripture sense is to adore,
This invocation of religious sort
Must plainly Christ's divinity import.
He over all is God for ever blest,
Words which have great Jehovah still confest.
The Arian chiefs are greatly hete perplext,
How to evade this clear decisive text.
But resolute to make it speak their sense,
With candor, honor, justice they dispence,
And give without a cause another word
And order foreign to divine record;
Then hardy cry, it should be thus exprest,
Is over all; be God for ever blest.
And this is all they modestly desire,
That they as Anti-arian texts require,
May here insert a word, a comma there,
To make them, what they never meant declare.
Of criticism how great is this abuse?
Give us of words this arbitrary use,
We'll any thing from any thing produce,
And by an over-ruling bold effort
From any text, what sense we please, extort.
How then are Arian Masters here distrest,
That to defend their cause are so much prest,
That they must change the words to God be blest
Must not the scheme of Arian Disputants
Be desp'rate judg'd, that such a refuge wants.
To alter thus the text to serve a cause,
Will indignation move, and not applause.
Words which have great Jehovah still confest.
The Arian chiefs are greatly hete perplext,
How to evade this clear decisive text.
But resolute to make it speak their sense,
With candor, honor, justice they dispence,
And give without a cause another word
And order foreign to divine record;
Then hardy cry, it should be thus exprest,
Is over all; be God for ever blest.
And this is all they modestly desire,
That they as Anti-arian texts require,
198
To make them, what they never meant declare.
Of criticism how great is this abuse?
Give us of words this arbitrary use,
We'll any thing from any thing produce,
And by an over-ruling bold effort
From any text, what sense we please, extort.
How then are Arian Masters here distrest,
That to defend their cause are so much prest,
That they must change the words to God be blest
Must not the scheme of Arian Disputants
Be desp'rate judg'd, that such a refuge wants.
To alter thus the text to serve a cause,
Will indignation move, and not applause.
Besides immediate inferences flow
From various pregnant texts, that plainly show
The Son of God by nature is divine,
Than which no truth can more conspicuous shine.
These first conclusions, which we clearly draw
From sacred Scripture by right reason's law,
No less than Scripture are canonical,
Nor do they short of demonstration fall.
The first deductions, that in arguing grow
From geometrick principles, we know,
Are scientifick, while they leave behind
No doubt, no fluctuation in the mind:
Nor can we greater certainty derive
From any proof, then such deductions give.
From various pregnant texts, that plainly show
199
Than which no truth can more conspicuous shine.
These first conclusions, which we clearly draw
From sacred Scripture by right reason's law,
No less than Scripture are canonical,
Nor do they short of demonstration fall.
The first deductions, that in arguing grow
From geometrick principles, we know,
Are scientifick, while they leave behind
No doubt, no fluctuation in the mind:
Nor can we greater certainty derive
From any proof, then such deductions give.
If first deductions, drawn from Scripture right,
Can't in the mind produce unerring light,
Then can the mind no certainty procure
Of any truths divine, nor can be sure
That there are sacred books, that they contain
The texts thence cited, nor their sense explain;
For these great points, they will be forc'd to grant,
To give them credit, will deductions want,
Since all religious doctrines ev'n inspir'd,
Are by the force of inference acquir'd.
That there are books by dictates from above
Compil'd and pen'd, we must by reason prove;
And that the texts are there oft cited thence,
We gather from the evidence of sense,
And argue thus; Our senses cannot err,
Hence we th' existence of these texts infer.
But since that maxim is fallacious found,
If not by various limitations bound,
And since the Roman Colleges believe,
The senses are deceiv'd, and oft deceive,
We must to farther demonstration fly,
And that the sense is fallible deny,
Which with restriction must be understood,
The object proper, and the organ good.
Then of our sense's truth we lay the stress
On God's great justice, love and faithfulness,
Which will not let him in delusion leave
Mankind, and give them senses, that deceive,
While 'tis our duty, where our senses guide
To follow, and to act, as they decide.
Can't in the mind produce unerring light,
Then can the mind no certainty procure
Of any truths divine, nor can be sure
200
The texts thence cited, nor their sense explain;
For these great points, they will be forc'd to grant,
To give them credit, will deductions want,
Since all religious doctrines ev'n inspir'd,
Are by the force of inference acquir'd.
That there are books by dictates from above
Compil'd and pen'd, we must by reason prove;
And that the texts are there oft cited thence,
We gather from the evidence of sense,
And argue thus; Our senses cannot err,
Hence we th' existence of these texts infer.
But since that maxim is fallacious found,
If not by various limitations bound,
And since the Roman Colleges believe,
The senses are deceiv'd, and oft deceive,
We must to farther demonstration fly,
And that the sense is fallible deny,
201
The object proper, and the organ good.
Then of our sense's truth we lay the stress
On God's great justice, love and faithfulness,
Which will not let him in delusion leave
Mankind, and give them senses, that deceive,
While 'tis our duty, where our senses guide
To follow, and to act, as they decide.
Besides 'tis certain, that by birth the blind,
That any texts exist, no way can find,
But by deductions to convince the mind.
They principles and clear conclusions need;
And to embrace that truth, must thus proceed:
“That all without a cause should us delude
“For the delusion's sake we must conclude
“Not possible, and therefore we agree,
“Those texts are extant, which we do not see.
That any texts exist, no way can find,
But by deductions to convince the mind.
They principles and clear conclusions need;
And to embrace that truth, must thus proceed:
“That all without a cause should us delude
“For the delusion's sake we must conclude
“Not possible, and therefore we agree,
“Those texts are extant, which we do not see.
202
That God exists, we by deductions draw,
And that he has reveal'd his will and law
In sacred books, which down thro ages brought
Preserve the doctrines, which the Saviour taught,
And are the same the holy penmen wrote.
If then the points we most important own
By argument and inference are known;
Should men for want of certainty complain
In consequences drawn from Scriptures plain?
To what the God of truth pronounces true
Tis impious not to think assent is due,
Tho' things sublime reveal'd surpass our reach,
Yet they are certain, so does reason teach,
And here does strictly unbelief forbid,
Clear is th' existence, tho' the mode be hid.
Then since each Christian is by duty bound
To search the sacred volumes, where are found
All points reveal'd from Heav'n, on which depend
Celestial bliss, and joys that never end,
'Tis clear the holy pages must contain
These points, conceiv'd in easy terms and plain,
Else will the vulgar reader read in vain.
Alike th' unletter'd, and the Sage may know,
That things exist, tho not the manner how.
And that he has reveal'd his will and law
In sacred books, which down thro ages brought
Preserve the doctrines, which the Saviour taught,
And are the same the holy penmen wrote.
If then the points we most important own
By argument and inference are known;
Should men for want of certainty complain
In consequences drawn from Scriptures plain?
To what the God of truth pronounces true
Tis impious not to think assent is due,
Tho' things sublime reveal'd surpass our reach,
Yet they are certain, so does reason teach,
And here does strictly unbelief forbid,
Clear is th' existence, tho' the mode be hid.
Then since each Christian is by duty bound
To search the sacred volumes, where are found
203
Celestial bliss, and joys that never end,
'Tis clear the holy pages must contain
These points, conceiv'd in easy terms and plain,
Else will the vulgar reader read in vain.
Alike th' unletter'd, and the Sage may know,
That things exist, tho not the manner how.
But while each Anti-trinitarian sect
The Scripture's clear and obvious sense reject,
Impatient of their light, they bold invent
Novel construction, and plain words torment
With critick engines, and with party rage
Force adverse texts for Arians to engage,
By this abuse of sacred writ they spread
False learning's fog o'er truth's celestial head,
They make all Scripture intricate appear,
And cloud with glosses, what before was clear.
If these are authoriz'd to fix their sense
On Scripture, they have form'd a fair pretence
To Heav'n, who take it thus by violence.
Wits, scholars, criticks, then will only go
To that blest place; men of conception low
And rude the learned way can never know.
To be a Christian one must long be bred
In letter'd schools, and fill his thoughtful head
With various tongues and sciences, and all
The subtile arts, for which plain Scriptures call,
That they the sense of Arians may confess,
Who texts by force into their service press.
But then what crowds of vulgar men are lost
That no scholastick acquisitions boast?
They, hapless fate! tho' not to vice enslav'd,
For want of critick learning can't be sav'd.
The Scripture's clear and obvious sense reject,
Impatient of their light, they bold invent
Novel construction, and plain words torment
With critick engines, and with party rage
Force adverse texts for Arians to engage,
By this abuse of sacred writ they spread
False learning's fog o'er truth's celestial head,
They make all Scripture intricate appear,
And cloud with glosses, what before was clear.
204
On Scripture, they have form'd a fair pretence
To Heav'n, who take it thus by violence.
Wits, scholars, criticks, then will only go
To that blest place; men of conception low
And rude the learned way can never know.
To be a Christian one must long be bred
In letter'd schools, and fill his thoughtful head
With various tongues and sciences, and all
The subtile arts, for which plain Scriptures call,
That they the sense of Arians may confess,
Who texts by force into their service press.
But then what crowds of vulgar men are lost
That no scholastick acquisitions boast?
They, hapless fate! tho' not to vice enslav'd,
For want of critick learning can't be sav'd.
205
The sect, that follow Arius as their head,
And those in thy proud schools, Socinus, bred
Their arbitrary sense on texts in vain
Impose, presumptuous error to sustain;
In vain to great and specious nonsense fly
And on false criticks labour'd shifts rely;
Perversely proud these men expound away
Scripture convincing as meridian day;
Then against force and violence exclaim,
And say, free-thinking is their generous aim;
But while as masters they the chair ascend,
And with an air dogmatical pretend
Texts to interpret, they impose their creed,
And not to argue, but to judge proceed.
Impatient of their easy genuine sense,
The tyrants with unnat'ral violence.
Rack and torment the Scriptures, to extort
Confessions, which their errors may support.
And those in thy proud schools, Socinus, bred
Their arbitrary sense on texts in vain
Impose, presumptuous error to sustain;
In vain to great and specious nonsense fly
And on false criticks labour'd shifts rely;
Perversely proud these men expound away
Scripture convincing as meridian day;
Then against force and violence exclaim,
And say, free-thinking is their generous aim;
But while as masters they the chair ascend,
And with an air dogmatical pretend
Texts to interpret, they impose their creed,
And not to argue, but to judge proceed.
Impatient of their easy genuine sense,
The tyrants with unnat'ral violence.
206
Confessions, which their errors may support.
No more the foe at distance we arraign,
But close the fight, and thus the charge maintain.
On his almighty pow'r, a stable ground,
The Son of God's divinity we found,
And from the books inspir'd, which cannot err,
We clearly his Omnipotence infer.
The Heav'ns, say they , were by his hands display'd,
And the foundations of the earth were laid,
That all things that are made, by him were made.
From the black gulphs of unencompass'd space,
Where desolation shews his wasteful face
Where unsubstantial night and silence dwelt
And never yet creative vigor felt,
This world immense did at his high command
Step ready forth, and up in being stand.
He the mixt parts distinguish'd, shap'd and rang'd
To beauteous order he confusion chang'd;
From strife and uproar crude creation freed.
Blended and form'd the elemental seed,
Till finish'd nature lovely did appear
In her full bloom, and charms consummate wear.
But close the fight, and thus the charge maintain.
On his almighty pow'r, a stable ground,
The Son of God's divinity we found,
And from the books inspir'd, which cannot err,
We clearly his Omnipotence infer.
The Heav'ns, say they , were by his hands display'd,
And the foundations of the earth were laid,
That all things that are made, by him were made.
From the black gulphs of unencompass'd space,
Where desolation shews his wasteful face
Where unsubstantial night and silence dwelt
And never yet creative vigor felt,
207
Step ready forth, and up in being stand.
He the mixt parts distinguish'd, shap'd and rang'd
To beauteous order he confusion chang'd;
From strife and uproar crude creation freed.
Blended and form'd the elemental seed,
Till finish'd nature lovely did appear
In her full bloom, and charms consummate wear.
If therefore revelation we receive,
We must our Lord's Almighty pow'r believe,
And thence his glorious deity confess,
And own him Lord and God supreme, unless
Capricious Sophists, who plain words pervert,
And a surprizing labour'd sense assert,
In points of vast importance must decide,
Instruct with fancies, and convince with pride.
We must our Lord's Almighty pow'r believe,
And thence his glorious deity confess,
And own him Lord and God supreme, unless
Capricious Sophists, who plain words pervert,
And a surprizing labour'd sense assert,
In points of vast importance must decide,
Instruct with fancies, and convince with pride.
208
But let us hear what Arian wits reply:
To shameful shifts they are compell'd to fly,
And say, that by such texts is only meant,
That he, the Son, was but an instrument,
Which in creation God most high employ'd,
When worlds unfinish'd fill'd the spacious Void.
But this is to affirm, and not to prove;
Does it not justly indignation move;
To hear the men, who master-talents boast,
As they all wit and judgment had engross'd,
On sacred writ a foreign sense impose,
And then presume to triumph o'er their foes?
Yet can no single argument suggest,
No glimpse of reason, why they wrack and wrest
The sacred oracles, but this, that they
Which on the mind convincing light display,
Must for convenience be explain'd away;
Else must their chiefs disarm'd submissive yield,
And to the conqueror leave th' inglorious field.
Spread with false learning, metaphysick dreams,
Waste expositions, incoherent schemes,
And ruin'd sophistry, disperst about,
Scholastick spoils, and shameful Arian rout.
To shameful shifts they are compell'd to fly,
And say, that by such texts is only meant,
That he, the Son, was but an instrument,
Which in creation God most high employ'd,
When worlds unfinish'd fill'd the spacious Void.
But this is to affirm, and not to prove;
Does it not justly indignation move;
To hear the men, who master-talents boast,
As they all wit and judgment had engross'd,
On sacred writ a foreign sense impose,
And then presume to triumph o'er their foes?
Yet can no single argument suggest,
No glimpse of reason, why they wrack and wrest
The sacred oracles, but this, that they
Which on the mind convincing light display,
Must for convenience be explain'd away;
209
And to the conqueror leave th' inglorious field.
Spread with false learning, metaphysick dreams,
Waste expositions, incoherent schemes,
And ruin'd sophistry, disperst about,
Scholastick spoils, and shameful Arian rout.
But how absurd, impertinent and gross
Is their precarious arbitrary gloss?
Say, do the Scriptures ever represent,
The Son of God as a meer instrument
In making heav'n and earth? their books peruse,
And find one text, that approbation shews
Of the forc'd meaning, which your authors use
This then is not to argue, but suppose,
Not to confute, but mock superior foes.
Sure they, who boldly such additions make
To sacred texts, or thence a portion take,
The solemn curse denounc'd on those defie,
Who lessen Scripture, or who more supplie.
Is their precarious arbitrary gloss?
Say, do the Scriptures ever represent,
The Son of God as a meer instrument
In making heav'n and earth? their books peruse,
And find one text, that approbation shews
Of the forc'd meaning, which your authors use
This then is not to argue, but suppose,
Not to confute, but mock superior foes.
Sure they, who boldly such additions make
To sacred texts, or thence a portion take,
210
Who lessen Scripture, or who more supplie.
Of critick art let these pretended lords,
Who still demand propriety of words,
Exhaust their learning, all their knowledge drain,
And their creating instrument explain.
Mechanical and unintelligent
Are proper notions to an instrument,
Which tho' an agent, yet to all it's known,
Acts by a foreign impulse, not its own.
If you should one of mind and choice possess'd,
Call Vice-Creator, this is sense confess'd,
But none a phrase absurder can invent
Than a free will'd and reas'ning instrument.
Creation is by all an act allow'd
Of will divine; now one the least endow'd
With reason, letters, and scholastick skill
Will grant us, that an instrumental will
Affronts ev'n common sense, and overthrows
The use of words, whence light instructive flows.
What authors can these learned criticks show,
That use this word as they presume to do?
Tis true, in vulgar speech 'tis often said,
That God such monarchs and such heroes made
His glorious instruments of doing good;
But 'tis as true, this must be understood
Not in a plain, but metaphorick sense,
A figure, which in diction did commence
From tools and engines of mechanick use,
By which the artist does his work produce.
Who still demand propriety of words,
Exhaust their learning, all their knowledge drain,
And their creating instrument explain.
Mechanical and unintelligent
Are proper notions to an instrument,
Which tho' an agent, yet to all it's known,
Acts by a foreign impulse, not its own.
If you should one of mind and choice possess'd,
Call Vice-Creator, this is sense confess'd,
But none a phrase absurder can invent
Than a free will'd and reas'ning instrument.
Creation is by all an act allow'd
Of will divine; now one the least endow'd
211
Will grant us, that an instrumental will
Affronts ev'n common sense, and overthrows
The use of words, whence light instructive flows.
What authors can these learned criticks show,
That use this word as they presume to do?
Tis true, in vulgar speech 'tis often said,
That God such monarchs and such heroes made
His glorious instruments of doing good;
But 'tis as true, this must be understood
Not in a plain, but metaphorick sense,
A figure, which in diction did commence
From tools and engines of mechanick use,
By which the artist does his work produce.
An instrument's a thing that workmen need,
Nor can their work without its help proceed.
Without the chizel can the sculptor hew
The marble stone? what can the painter do
Without his pencil? what are fishermen
Without their nets, and scribes without their pen?
And thus their tools should you from others take,
What works, what pieces could the artist make?
And sure our stiff antagonists will grant,
Th' Almighty pow'r no instrument did want,
No creature's force, no pow'rful engine's aid,
When he the heavens and earth, and all things made.
When God, collected in creating might,
Went forth, he bid the worlds arise from night,
And from the void call'd forth primæval light:
By his sole nod the orbs in Æther roll'd,
And the vast deep did confluent waters hold.
Th' expanded air its spacious bosom spread,
The vales sunk down, and mountains rear'd their head.
And that th' Almighty you will ready grant
In this great work did no assistance want
His Word with beings did the vacant fill:
And could an instrument assist creating will?
That appellation then to Christ applied
Is most absurd; so reason will decide.
Nor can their work without its help proceed.
212
The marble stone? what can the painter do
Without his pencil? what are fishermen
Without their nets, and scribes without their pen?
And thus their tools should you from others take,
What works, what pieces could the artist make?
And sure our stiff antagonists will grant,
Th' Almighty pow'r no instrument did want,
No creature's force, no pow'rful engine's aid,
When he the heavens and earth, and all things made.
When God, collected in creating might,
Went forth, he bid the worlds arise from night,
And from the void call'd forth primæval light:
By his sole nod the orbs in Æther roll'd,
And the vast deep did confluent waters hold.
213
The vales sunk down, and mountains rear'd their head.
And that th' Almighty you will ready grant
In this great work did no assistance want
His Word with beings did the vacant fill:
And could an instrument assist creating will?
That appellation then to Christ applied
Is most absurd; so reason will decide.
That Christ was not an instrumental cause,
In making all things, by right reason's laws,
Th' enquirer thus most clear conviction draws.
All things, it is reveal'd, for Christ were made,
Which never of an instrument was said;
That cannot be the final cause nor end,
Which in his Work the agent does intend.
Painters and sculptors do not pieces make
Or for the pencil's or the chizel's sake.
Do master-hands in architecture skill'd
The temple raise, or the proud palace build,
Or artists frame a clock-work, to diffuse
The glory of the instruments they use?
Do they to them direct their final aim,
Or to their own emolument or fame?
If Christ is then the end of all things, he
An instrument creative cannot be.
In making all things, by right reason's laws,
Th' enquirer thus most clear conviction draws.
All things, it is reveal'd, for Christ were made,
Which never of an instrument was said;
That cannot be the final cause nor end,
Which in his Work the agent does intend.
214
Or for the pencil's or the chizel's sake.
Do master-hands in architecture skill'd
The temple raise, or the proud palace build,
Or artists frame a clock-work, to diffuse
The glory of the instruments they use?
Do they to them direct their final aim,
Or to their own emolument or fame?
If Christ is then the end of all things, he
An instrument creative cannot be.
But now, if our opponents think it fit
The notion of an instrument to quit,
Apply'd to Christ, and will in this dispute,
A conscious Maker subaltern depute,
Who to obey th' Almighty's high command
Did form the earth, and Heav'n's wide roof expand
As Vice-creator; with what force we ask
Did he endow him for the mighty task?
Declare what pow'r God did communicate
To make a creature able to create?
Say, was it circumscrib'd or unconfin'd?
If circumscrib'd and finite is assign'd,
That will be insufficient to sustain
The labour of creation; for in vain
All finite pow'r combin'd would be employ'd
To raise up matter from the empty void,
To fill with beings unsubstantial space,
And build vast worlds on desolation's face;
The notion of an instrument to quit,
Apply'd to Christ, and will in this dispute,
A conscious Maker subaltern depute,
Who to obey th' Almighty's high command
Did form the earth, and Heav'n's wide roof expand
215
Did he endow him for the mighty task?
Declare what pow'r God did communicate
To make a creature able to create?
Say, was it circumscrib'd or unconfin'd?
If circumscrib'd and finite is assign'd,
That will be insufficient to sustain
The labour of creation; for in vain
All finite pow'r combin'd would be employ'd
To raise up matter from the empty void,
To fill with beings unsubstantial space,
And build vast worlds on desolation's face;
For to create from nothing must a hand
Endow'd with strength unlimited demand.
When in creation God exerts his might,
The opposition must be infinite;
From the term nothing
, where such acts commence,
To the term being, where they end, immense
And boundless distance is allow'd to be,
Which must employ creating energy:
Then since no measure can this distance mete,
Immensely is the difficulty great
To be subdu'd, and therefore must demand
A boundless pow'r, that nothing can withstand.
Endow'd with strength unlimited demand.
When in creation God exerts his might,
The opposition must be infinite;
216
To the term being, where they end, immense
And boundless distance is allow'd to be,
Which must employ creating energy:
Then since no measure can this distance mete,
Immensely is the difficulty great
To be subdu'd, and therefore must demand
A boundless pow'r, that nothing can withstand.
That pow'r creative must be infinite,
See we demonstrate thus with clearer light;
To Pow'r, whose objects are unbounded, we
Most justly may ascribe infinity;
For that, which can create, can all things do,
For what can pow'r to this superior shew?
And if it can do all things, you'll confess
The objects of that pow'r are numberless,
And therefore infinite; let Arians try
Their reason's strength, and make a fair reply.
See we demonstrate thus with clearer light;
To Pow'r, whose objects are unbounded, we
Most justly may ascribe infinity;
For that, which can create, can all things do,
For what can pow'r to this superior shew?
217
The objects of that pow'r are numberless,
And therefore infinite; let Arians try
Their reason's strength, and make a fair reply.
To make a being out of nothing grow
Is the chief act of pow'r, that God can show,
And if that action will not prove it, whence
Can we demonstrate God's Omnipotence?
Not all the signs and works prodigious done,
And miracles perform'd, since time begun,
Declare, were all united, greater might,
Than to call beings forth from empty night.
If in creation then th' enquiring mind
Can only finite pow'r exerted find,
Which never can infer Almightiness,
No works that high perfection can express:
Then this Divine Essential Attribute
Can ne'er be prov'd, nor set above dispute:
God, as to his Omnipotence, is left
Without a witness, since we are bereft
Of proper means, by which it may be known;
Since Gods of vigor limited are none.
Is the chief act of pow'r, that God can show,
And if that action will not prove it, whence
Can we demonstrate God's Omnipotence?
Not all the signs and works prodigious done,
And miracles perform'd, since time begun,
Declare, were all united, greater might,
Than to call beings forth from empty night.
If in creation then th' enquiring mind
Can only finite pow'r exerted find,
Which never can infer Almightiness,
No works that high perfection can express:
218
Can ne'er be prov'd, nor set above dispute:
God, as to his Omnipotence, is left
Without a witness, since we are bereft
Of proper means, by which it may be known;
Since Gods of vigor limited are none.
To prove a God, th' inspir'd Apostle brought
The works and wonders by creation wrought ;
And God himself, who gave to nature birth,
Stretch'd forth the heavens, and hung in air the earth;
This argument alleges to assert
His being, and idolatry subvert:
And inconclusive had such reas'ning been,
If all the vigour in creation seen
Were finite, whence no more can be allow'd,
Than that the great Creator was endow'd
With strong extensive energy and might,
Yet circumscrib'd and short of infinite:
And if th' alleg'd creation prov'd no more,
Men could not God Omnipotent adore,
Nor be compell'd to own th' Eternal Mind
Was in his operations unconfin'd;
And if his Pow'r Almighty be dismiss'd,
Can the Idea of a God subsist?
Thus if creation shews but finite pow'r,
And all his other works express no more,
Impossible it is by this wild scheme
To prove th' existence of a God supreme;
Then might the world refuse a God to own,
For he, who wants Omnipotence, is none.
Besides, this subject clearer yet to state,
The vast creation to annihilate,
Demands as great a pow'r as to create.
The agent here from being must proceed
To nothing, which will equal vigor need,
As when creating he from nothing went
To being, points, which are, as all consent,
At distance of a measureless extent.
The works and wonders by creation wrought ;
And God himself, who gave to nature birth,
Stretch'd forth the heavens, and hung in air the earth;
This argument alleges to assert
His being, and idolatry subvert:
And inconclusive had such reas'ning been,
If all the vigour in creation seen
219
Than that the great Creator was endow'd
With strong extensive energy and might,
Yet circumscrib'd and short of infinite:
And if th' alleg'd creation prov'd no more,
Men could not God Omnipotent adore,
Nor be compell'd to own th' Eternal Mind
Was in his operations unconfin'd;
And if his Pow'r Almighty be dismiss'd,
Can the Idea of a God subsist?
Thus if creation shews but finite pow'r,
And all his other works express no more,
Impossible it is by this wild scheme
To prove th' existence of a God supreme;
Then might the world refuse a God to own,
For he, who wants Omnipotence, is none.
220
The vast creation to annihilate,
Demands as great a pow'r as to create.
The agent here from being must proceed
To nothing, which will equal vigor need,
As when creating he from nothing went
To being, points, which are, as all consent,
At distance of a measureless extent.
We ask the Arian now, if God most high
Were pleas'd and thought it fit to nullify
And out of being blot all Nature's frame,
And bring it back to nothing, whence it came,
Whether our Lord he might not delegate
To sink the world, as well as to create?
If so, which they'll be forc'd to grant, we ask,
If God for this annihilating task
Would his deputed God supply with might
Confin'd and finite, or with infinite?
Not infinite, for that, as often said,
Can't to a finite creature be convey'd;
For finite beings unreceptive are
Of infinite, and should we here declare
That bounded things may boundless pow'r employ,
Each other those ideas would destroy.
But if they say, God would to Christ assign
For this great work a finite pow'r divine,
Then Christ by finite delegated might
May sink the World in empty void and night,
And be enabled to annihilate
Himself, as well as what he did create,
As under agent; this is plain, if we
To inconsistent Arian schemes agree.
Were pleas'd and thought it fit to nullify
And out of being blot all Nature's frame,
And bring it back to nothing, whence it came,
Whether our Lord he might not delegate
To sink the world, as well as to create?
If so, which they'll be forc'd to grant, we ask,
If God for this annihilating task
221
Confin'd and finite, or with infinite?
Not infinite, for that, as often said,
Can't to a finite creature be convey'd;
For finite beings unreceptive are
Of infinite, and should we here declare
That bounded things may boundless pow'r employ,
Each other those ideas would destroy.
But if they say, God would to Christ assign
For this great work a finite pow'r divine,
Then Christ by finite delegated might
May sink the World in empty void and night,
And be enabled to annihilate
Himself, as well as what he did create,
As under agent; this is plain, if we
To inconsistent Arian schemes agree.
222
But if our Arian disputants should say,
God did to Christ unbounded pow'r convey
T'enable him creation to display;
The Vice-creator must be then allow'd
To be with pow'r uncircumscrib'd endow'd,
And then a finite creature would contain
Infinity, and would itself sustain.
God did to Christ unbounded pow'r convey
T'enable him creation to display;
The Vice-creator must be then allow'd
To be with pow'r uncircumscrib'd endow'd,
And then a finite creature would contain
Infinity, and would itself sustain.
At any time were Christ Almighty, he
Must then for ever independent be;
Since he, who wanted no assistant once,
For ever all reliance will renounce,
For what can self-supporting pow'r o'erthrow?
Then independent once, and always so.
Must then for ever independent be;
Since he, who wanted no assistant once,
For ever all reliance will renounce,
For what can self-supporting pow'r o'erthrow?
Then independent once, and always so.
Another disputation we commence;
If God on Christ confer'd Omnipotence,
To make him able to create, we ask,
That we th' ambiguous Arian may unmask,
If God his own Omnipotence convey'd,
And thus his creature Christ Almighty made,
Or else another sep'rate from his own?
If they the first assert, 'tis plainly shown,
And may with clearest reason be aver'd,
That his Almighty pow'r to Christ transfer'd,
This Attribute Essential being gone,
God was no more, but Christ was God alone;
For God thus empty'd of himself, 'tis plain,
No longer could his Deity retain.
It boldly must affront ev'n vulgar sense,
To own a God without Omnipotence:
And could he part with that high Attribute,
And give it to another, who'll dispute
The consequence, that then he can't enjoy
That pow'r himself, but would himself destroy.
If God on Christ confer'd Omnipotence,
223
That we th' ambiguous Arian may unmask,
If God his own Omnipotence convey'd,
And thus his creature Christ Almighty made,
Or else another sep'rate from his own?
If they the first assert, 'tis plainly shown,
And may with clearest reason be aver'd,
That his Almighty pow'r to Christ transfer'd,
This Attribute Essential being gone,
God was no more, but Christ was God alone;
For God thus empty'd of himself, 'tis plain,
No longer could his Deity retain.
It boldly must affront ev'n vulgar sense,
To own a God without Omnipotence:
And could he part with that high Attribute,
And give it to another, who'll dispute
The consequence, that then he can't enjoy
That pow'r himself, but would himself destroy.
224
But if the Arian says in his defence,
That 'twas another vast Omnipotence
And not his own, that God on Christ confer'd,
Then two Almighties justly are infer'd:
That is, two Gods supreme must be allow'd
With sep'rate true Omnipotence endow'd:
Besides, if by another boundless might
Than God's, our Lord made creatures, we have right
To ask you, what it was, and whence it came,
And why it does that lofty title claim?
With thoughts sedate these sentiments revolve,
And as acute divines our questions solve.
That 'twas another vast Omnipotence
And not his own, that God on Christ confer'd,
Then two Almighties justly are infer'd:
That is, two Gods supreme must be allow'd
With sep'rate true Omnipotence endow'd:
Besides, if by another boundless might
Than God's, our Lord made creatures, we have right
To ask you, what it was, and whence it came,
And why it does that lofty title claim?
With thoughts sedate these sentiments revolve,
And as acute divines our questions solve.
These arguments attentively review'd,
Each judge impartial ready will conclude,
More is demanded than imparted might,
Feeble and low compar'd with infinite,
To rear the world from vacancy and night.
To make primæval light display its wings,
And cloath with Being unexistent things;
To bid Arch-angels out of nothing rise;
And with bright orbs immense adorn the skies:
And since that boundless virtue Christ express'd,
As in his vast creation is confess'd,
He does, as God supreme, our worship claim,
And tho distinct in person and in name
With the most high in Nature is the same.
Each judge impartial ready will conclude,
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Feeble and low compar'd with infinite,
To rear the world from vacancy and night.
To make primæval light display its wings,
And cloath with Being unexistent things;
To bid Arch-angels out of nothing rise;
And with bright orbs immense adorn the skies:
And since that boundless virtue Christ express'd,
As in his vast creation is confess'd,
He does, as God supreme, our worship claim,
And tho distinct in person and in name
With the most high in Nature is the same.
But if they dare assert in this debate,
That God did boundless might communicate,
To make a creature able to create,
They must confin'd capacity believe
Can unconfin'd Almighty Pow'r receive,
That is, that finite beings can contain
Divine perfection, which no bounds restrain,
In which position contradiction clear,
And as full day must evident appear:
Therefore to this right reason will assent,
God cannot creatures make Omnipotent.
If vigor and almighty energy
To creatures may communicated be,
Why not omniscience and immensity?
And then made beings essence may partake
Divine, and God may Gods his equals make,
Who must these unconfin'd perfections own,
Which, all assent, belong to God alone.
That God did boundless might communicate,
To make a creature able to create,
They must confin'd capacity believe
Can unconfin'd Almighty Pow'r receive,
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Divine perfection, which no bounds restrain,
In which position contradiction clear,
And as full day must evident appear:
Therefore to this right reason will assent,
God cannot creatures make Omnipotent.
If vigor and almighty energy
To creatures may communicated be,
Why not omniscience and immensity?
And then made beings essence may partake
Divine, and God may Gods his equals make,
Who must these unconfin'd perfections own,
Which, all assent, belong to God alone.
Besides in sacred Scripture we are told
That Christ does all things by his pow'r uphold
Then it must shine as light merldian clear,
That boundless vigor must in Christ inhere:
For to sustain all Nature must demand
An Uncreated and Almighty Hand,
That still must make an infinite effort
Of pow'r, the vast creation to support,
Which no less strength requires, than was employ'd
At first to rear it from the empty void:
Since Christ is then of boundless pow'r possess'd,
He must be God supreme, for ever bless'd,
For we have prov'd by demonstration plain
No finite thing can pow'r immense contain,
Fix'd here we stand, and all the force defy
Of Arian wit and empty sophistry.
That Christ does all things by his pow'r uphold
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That boundless vigor must in Christ inhere:
For to sustain all Nature must demand
An Uncreated and Almighty Hand,
That still must make an infinite effort
Of pow'r, the vast creation to support,
Which no less strength requires, than was employ'd
At first to rear it from the empty void:
Since Christ is then of boundless pow'r possess'd,
He must be God supreme, for ever bless'd,
For we have prov'd by demonstration plain
No finite thing can pow'r immense contain,
Fix'd here we stand, and all the force defy
Of Arian wit and empty sophistry.
Now let us hear, what on the Arian side
By searchers after truth may be replied:
God to th' Apostles they allege convey'd
Omnipotence Divine, which they display'd
In mighty wonders, miracles and signs
Recorded in the Scripture's sacred lines;
And, then they argue, hence we must believe,
That creatures can Almighty Pow'r receive
Transmitted to them from the God most high;
To this we ready answer, and deny
That any of th' Apostles works of might
Prov'd they exerted vigor infinite.
Tis true, that in their works appear'd a force,
That far surpasses Nature's usual course:
But let th' objectors any fact assign,
That argues boundless energy divine.
By searchers after truth may be replied:
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Omnipotence Divine, which they display'd
In mighty wonders, miracles and signs
Recorded in the Scripture's sacred lines;
And, then they argue, hence we must believe,
That creatures can Almighty Pow'r receive
Transmitted to them from the God most high;
To this we ready answer, and deny
That any of th' Apostles works of might
Prov'd they exerted vigor infinite.
Tis true, that in their works appear'd a force,
That far surpasses Nature's usual course:
But let th' objectors any fact assign,
That argues boundless energy divine.
That the Apostles rais'd the dead is true,
But how does that a Pow'r Almighty shew?
To warm cold veins, and such a vigor give,
As makes again a lifeless body live,
Is to the soul and body to restore
The vital union they enjoy'd before:
But ev'ry separation of the soul
Does not the man among the dead enroll;
Since Paul to heav'n caught up was in a doubt,
If he was in the body then or out;
Which proves, that souls, when from their bodies fled,
Not always leave them number'd with the dead:
For tho' their senses then are unemploy'd,
Life only is suspended not destroy'd.
Hence that disunion only death will show,
When souls reluctant from their bodies go,
Which are of no capacity possest
Or fitness to receive th' informing guest
Again, and live; nor can it be denied
That some are more, some less disqualified.
Now bodies, which their souls have newly left,
Are least of fitness to revive bereft,
Nor such a great repugnance shew, as those
Whose putrifying frame their graves enclose!
And those, which have to fish and beasts been meat
Or Canibals, who their own species eat,
Or which are born, as winds and storms convey,
From pole to pole, and in loose atoms stray,
An indisposition yet far greater show
To be reviv'd, and their first state to know.
If then in bodies to be rais'd we see
An opposition different in degree,
The highest must demand a greater pow'r,
It's plain, to overcome it than the lower:
Th' inferior pow'r then can't be infinite,
For 'tis exceeded by superior might:
Since this is certain, then the pow'r, behold,
That raises men new dead, and scarcely cold,
Is not of such superior kind, as when
The cleaving graves shall yield up moulder'd men,
And when the lakes and seas their dead resign
Commanded by Omnipotence Divine;
And those, whose atoms range the atmosphere;
Or to the hills and rocks, as parts, adhere,
Shall re-assemble at th' Almighty's call,
Take their old form, and into order fall,
Fit for returning souls, who at the sight
To join their old companions wing their flight.
And now, to draw this reas'ning close, you'll own,
The Prophets and th' Apostles rais'd alone
Those bodies, whence the soul was newly gone-
They never from the grave call'd forth the dead,
Who had the worm with putrefaction fed,
Nor did they ever ruin'd forms repair
Of bodies roaming thro' the sea or air:
The objects of their pow'r then, if compar'd
With other works more difficult and hard,
Must be inferior, then not infinite,
Which truth is clear by demonstration's light.
But how does that a Pow'r Almighty shew?
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As makes again a lifeless body live,
Is to the soul and body to restore
The vital union they enjoy'd before:
But ev'ry separation of the soul
Does not the man among the dead enroll;
Since Paul to heav'n caught up was in a doubt,
If he was in the body then or out;
Which proves, that souls, when from their bodies fled,
Not always leave them number'd with the dead:
For tho' their senses then are unemploy'd,
Life only is suspended not destroy'd.
Hence that disunion only death will show,
When souls reluctant from their bodies go,
Which are of no capacity possest
Or fitness to receive th' informing guest
Again, and live; nor can it be denied
That some are more, some less disqualified.
230
Are least of fitness to revive bereft,
Nor such a great repugnance shew, as those
Whose putrifying frame their graves enclose!
And those, which have to fish and beasts been meat
Or Canibals, who their own species eat,
Or which are born, as winds and storms convey,
From pole to pole, and in loose atoms stray,
An indisposition yet far greater show
To be reviv'd, and their first state to know.
If then in bodies to be rais'd we see
An opposition different in degree,
The highest must demand a greater pow'r,
It's plain, to overcome it than the lower:
Th' inferior pow'r then can't be infinite,
For 'tis exceeded by superior might:
Since this is certain, then the pow'r, behold,
That raises men new dead, and scarcely cold,
231
The cleaving graves shall yield up moulder'd men,
And when the lakes and seas their dead resign
Commanded by Omnipotence Divine;
And those, whose atoms range the atmosphere;
Or to the hills and rocks, as parts, adhere,
Shall re-assemble at th' Almighty's call,
Take their old form, and into order fall,
Fit for returning souls, who at the sight
To join their old companions wing their flight.
And now, to draw this reas'ning close, you'll own,
The Prophets and th' Apostles rais'd alone
Those bodies, whence the soul was newly gone-
They never from the grave call'd forth the dead,
Who had the worm with putrefaction fed,
Nor did they ever ruin'd forms repair
Of bodies roaming thro' the sea or air:
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With other works more difficult and hard,
Must be inferior, then not infinite,
Which truth is clear by demonstration's light.
See, when Elijah rais'd the widow's son
Life but few moments from the child was gone,
And when the prophet great Elisha wrought
A work of mighty pow'r, and gracious brought
The Shunamite's departed son to life,
He had but newly felt the dying strife.
So when th' Apostle Dorcas did restore
The woman was alive not long before:
And Eutychus, when rescu'd from the dead ,
Had life within him, as th' Apostle said,
Yet of restoring life no instances
We in the sacred volumes find, but these.
Bodies yet warm, or from corruption free
Rais'd from the dead shew pow'r of less degree,
Than that which ruin'd members can repair,
Sunk in the Sea, or scatter'd thro' the air;
And to the parts joyn'd in their ancient frame
Unite the soul, and make the man the same:
The first of these, as reason will agree,
By some superior Angel's ministry
May be perform'd, and they, all Christians know,
Are God's deputed agents here below:
At least the wisest Sage can never shew,
That this is what an Angel cannot do;
But to the last new being to restore
Demands omniscience and unbounded pow'r.
Yet is an action done by finite force,
That breaks thro Nature's customary course,
Or to amaz'd spectators does appear
A thing surpassing Nature's active sphere,
Strictly a wonder, miracle or sign,
Which proves that revelation is divine,
Which to confirm, that mighty work is wrought,
And for that end must be sufficient thought.
Life but few moments from the child was gone,
And when the prophet great Elisha wrought
A work of mighty pow'r, and gracious brought
The Shunamite's departed son to life,
He had but newly felt the dying strife.
So when th' Apostle Dorcas did restore
The woman was alive not long before:
And Eutychus, when rescu'd from the dead ,
Had life within him, as th' Apostle said,
Yet of restoring life no instances
We in the sacred volumes find, but these.
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Rais'd from the dead shew pow'r of less degree,
Than that which ruin'd members can repair,
Sunk in the Sea, or scatter'd thro' the air;
And to the parts joyn'd in their ancient frame
Unite the soul, and make the man the same:
The first of these, as reason will agree,
By some superior Angel's ministry
May be perform'd, and they, all Christians know,
Are God's deputed agents here below:
At least the wisest Sage can never shew,
That this is what an Angel cannot do;
But to the last new being to restore
Demands omniscience and unbounded pow'r.
Yet is an action done by finite force,
That breaks thro Nature's customary course,
Or to amaz'd spectators does appear
A thing surpassing Nature's active sphere,
234
Which proves that revelation is divine,
Which to confirm, that mighty work is wrought,
And for that end must be sufficient thought.
But now suppose the wonder-working might,
That did th' Apostles aid, was infinite,
Yet they declar'd, the pow'r that they had shown
In doing miracles, was not their own.
Still were the wonders, so they did proclaim,
Done by the pow'r of Christ, and in his name
And if that pow'r was infinite, 'tis clear
In the Redeemer Lord it did inhere,
Which he exerted when th' Apostles mind
To work some wonder was by him inclin'd;
And if with boundless might he was endow'd,
It must by reason's dictates be allow'd
That this divine perfection proves the Son
Was God most high, and with the Father one.
That did th' Apostles aid, was infinite,
Yet they declar'd, the pow'r that they had shown
In doing miracles, was not their own.
Still were the wonders, so they did proclaim,
Done by the pow'r of Christ, and in his name
And if that pow'r was infinite, 'tis clear
In the Redeemer Lord it did inhere,
Which he exerted when th' Apostles mind
To work some wonder was by him inclin'd;
And if with boundless might he was endow'd,
It must by reason's dictates be allow'd
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Was God most high, and with the Father one.
Should wranglers here allege, that Christ the Lord
When he to life the slumb'ring dead restor'd,
And wrought his other wonders with a word;
Could by those wonders make no just pretence
To an inherent vast omnipotence:
But that like Moses, delegate of heav'n
He gave a sign, and when that sign was giv'n,
God did exert his vigor infinite,
And wrought the wonder in the people's sight.
Scriptures express, we answer, make it plain,
That this suggestion groundless is and vain,
Th' Evangelist affirms , that Virtue went
Out from our Lord, when he benevolent
Wrought Miracles thro all the region round,
And made Judea with his fame resound.
And when the woman, who had long endur'd
An obstinate disease, at length was cur'd
By her clandestine touching of his vest,
While he was with a crowd surrounding prest,
Th' Apostle says, that Christ the force perceiv'd
To issue from him, which her flux reliev'd.
By which to all reflecting minds 'tis clear,
That wondrous virtue did in Christ inhere,
Which did in healing Miracles appear.
Besides, the Saviour said, that he had pow'r
To lay his life down, and his life restore,
Then must the pow'r of raising from the dead
Have been within him, as himself had said.
Tis evident from hence, as noon day light,
That the Redeemer's unresisted might
Did in himself remain, by which he wrought
Wonders and signs, his doctrine to promote.
When he to life the slumb'ring dead restor'd,
And wrought his other wonders with a word;
Could by those wonders make no just pretence
To an inherent vast omnipotence:
But that like Moses, delegate of heav'n
He gave a sign, and when that sign was giv'n,
God did exert his vigor infinite,
And wrought the wonder in the people's sight.
Scriptures express, we answer, make it plain,
That this suggestion groundless is and vain,
Th' Evangelist affirms , that Virtue went
Out from our Lord, when he benevolent
236
And made Judea with his fame resound.
And when the woman, who had long endur'd
An obstinate disease, at length was cur'd
By her clandestine touching of his vest,
While he was with a crowd surrounding prest,
Th' Apostle says, that Christ the force perceiv'd
To issue from him, which her flux reliev'd.
By which to all reflecting minds 'tis clear,
That wondrous virtue did in Christ inhere,
Which did in healing Miracles appear.
Besides, the Saviour said, that he had pow'r
To lay his life down, and his life restore,
Then must the pow'r of raising from the dead
Have been within him, as himself had said.
Tis evident from hence, as noon day light,
That the Redeemer's unresisted might
237
Wonders and signs, his doctrine to promote.
What course will now the shifting Arian take?
He must some new-devis'd objections make,
And all his past inept replies forsake.
Still will he grope in darkness for the way
Of truth divine, in such a blaze of day?
Still hope immortal reason to defeat
By baffled schemes and notions obsolete?
Notions so wild, that never to the brain
Could by the common road admission gain,
But by some parting in the head must find
A passage open to th' unguarded mind.
He must some new-devis'd objections make,
And all his past inept replies forsake.
Still will he grope in darkness for the way
Of truth divine, in such a blaze of day?
Still hope immortal reason to defeat
By baffled schemes and notions obsolete?
Notions so wild, that never to the brain
Could by the common road admission gain,
But by some parting in the head must find
A passage open to th' unguarded mind.
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