Amongst the several sorts of Atheists , who have deny'd the necessity of admitting one first independent Being , or Cause of all Things , which we call GOD , and have endeavour'd to solve the Phaenomena of the Universe , without recourse to Him ; they may all ( if I mistake not ) be reduced to those , who have first of all not scrupled to affirm an Eternity of Successions in the Generation of Mankind , as well à parte ante as à parte post , or in the same ( as much incomprehensible ) sence that the Universal Systeme with its constituent parts , Bodies animate and inanimate , has been from all Eternity as we find it now , and shall for ever so continue . Or , Secondly , To those who perceiving the Absurdities of such a multiply'd Eternity , have thought fit to acknowledge a Beginning of all Things ; but rather than ascribe this mighty Work of Creation to a Divine Energy , will have every portion of the Mundane Matter , under whatever form , shape or texture , nay even the Body of Man himself however curiously contriv'd , to be the result of nothing more , than an unguided shuffling of sensless Atoms , after numberless occursions and conflicts with each other , at length happening into that beautiful Order and Harmony of the World . There are others who ascribe our Origine to the Effect either of an Astral or Solar Influence upon Matter duly modify'd : but these are such gross Figments , that I shall take no notice of their repugnancy , or spend time in setting upon their Confutation .

Which of these Hypotheses may best please you I know not , nor indeed when I consider , can I perswade my self , that you heartily espouse either ; since I impute your Incredulity rather to an unbecoming Negligence or careless Supinity , than to any reasonable Objection you can make against the Mosaic History of the Creation . I shall endeavour as briefly as I know how , to display some of those gross Absurdities and palpable Contradictions , which attend this Notion , that Mankind has thus eternally subsisted in infinite Generations already past ; which being proved a downright falshood , you will perceive that they had their rise from one primitive Couple : from hence I will proceed in such other Methods , as may be most likely to lay open the Falsity of all other Opinions , unless that which grounds the World's Genesis , upon the Power of Almighty God .

The Thoughts of a very great Philosopher , as well as a Divine , upon this Argument run parallel with my own , and therefore I shall take the liberty to deliver them in his words .

Mr. Bently's third Sermon at the Lecture which was ●ounded by the honourable 〈…〉 Infinite Generations of Men ( you say ) are already past and gone . But whatsoever is now past was once actually present . So that each of these infinite Generations was once in its turn actually present ; therefore all except one Generation were once future , and not in Being , which destroys the very Supposition : for either that one Generation must it s●lf have been infinite , which is nonsense , or it was the finite beginning of infinite Generations between it self and us , which is infinitely terminated at both ends .

Again , Infinite past Generations of Men have been once actually present , therefore there may be some one Man of them given , that was at infinite distance from us now ; therefore that Man's Son likewise ( suppose forty years younger than his Father ) was either at infinite distance from us , or at finite : if that Son too was at infinite distance from us , then one Infinite is longer by forty years than another , which is absurd , if at finite , then forty years added to finite makes it infinite , which is absurd as the other .

The number of Men that are already dead and gone is infinite , as you say , but the number of the several parts of the Bodies of those Men , must necessarily be much greater than the number of the Men themselves ; and at this rate we shall have one infinite number twice , ten times , and thousands of times as great as another : which is a notorious Contradiction . And thus we see that 't is impossible in it self , that any successive Duration should be actually and positively infinite , or have infinite Successions already gone and past .

Sixth Sermon . But farther , That the present or a like frame of the World hath not subsisted from everlasting : We will readily concede that a Thing may be truly Eternal , tho' its duration be terminated at one end : for so we affirm human Souls to be immortal , tho' there was a time when they were nothing : and therefore their infinite duration will always be bounded at one extreme by that first beginning of Existence : So that for ought appears as yet , you may say the Revolutions of the Earth , and other Planets about the Sun , tho' they be limited at one end by the present Revolution , may nevertheless have been infinite and eternal , without any beginning ; but then we must consider , that this duration of human Souls is only potentially infinite , for their Eternity consists only in an endless capacity of Continuance without ever ceasing to be , in a boundless Futurity that can never be exhausted ; or all of it be past and present : but their duration can never be positively or actually Eternal , because it is most manifest that no Moment can ever be assigned , wherein it shall be true that such a Soul hath then actually sustained an infinite duration : for that supposed infinite duration will by the very Supposition be limited at two Extremes , tho' never so remote asunder , and consequently must needs be finite . Wherefore the true Nature and Notion of a Soul's eternity is this , That the future Moments of its Duration can never be all past and present , but still there will be a futurity and potentiality of More for ever and ever . So that we evidently perceive from this Instance of a Soul , that whatever successive duration shall be bounded at one end , and be all past and present , must come infinitely short of Infinity ; which necessarily evinceth that this or a like World can never have been Eternal , or that there cannot have been infinite past Revolutions of a Planet about a Sun : for this supposed Infinity is terminated at one Extreme , by the present Revolution , and all the other Revolutions are confessedly past , so that the whole Duration is bounded at one end , and all past and present , and therefore cannot have been infinite . This will also shew us the vast difference betwixt the false successive Eternity backwards , and the real one to come : for consider the present Revolution of the Earth , as the Bound and Confine of them both , God Almighty , if he so pleaseth , may continue this Motion to perpetuity , in infinite Revolutions to come , because Futurity is inexhaustible , and can never be all spent , and run out by past and present Moments : but then if we look backwards from this present Revolution , we do apprehend the impossibility of infinite Revolutions on that side , because all are already past , and so were once actually present ; and consequently are finite by the Argument before . For surely we cannot conceive a pretariteness ( if I may so speak ) still backwards in infinitum , that never was present , as we can an endless Futurity that never will be present : so that tho' one is potentially infinite , yet nevertheless the other is positively finite . And tho' this reasoning doth necessarily conclude against the past infinite duration of all successive Motion and mutable Beings , yet doth it not affect the Eternal Existence of the Adorable Divinity , in whose invariable Nature there is no past nor future , who is Omnipresent not only as to space , but as to duration : and with respect to such Omnipresence it is certain and manifest , that Succession and Motion are more Impossibilities , and repugnant in the very terms .

Thus doth the Atheists Hypothesis , touching the Eternity of the World , absolutely destroy and confute it self . For let us suppose some infinite Revolution of the Earth about the Sun , to be already gone and expired , I take it to be self-evident , that if none of those past Revolutions have been infinite Ages ago , all the Revolutions put together cannot make up the Duration of infinite Ages ; it follows therefore from this Supposition , that there may be some One assignable Revolution among them , that is at an infinite distance from the present ; but it is self-evident likewise , that no one past Revolution can be infinitely distant from the present ; for then an infinite or unbounded duration , may be bounded at two Extremes , by two annual Revolutions , which is absurd , and a Contradiction .

And again , upon the same Supposition of an Eternal past Duration of the World , and of infinite annual Revolutions of the Earth about the Sun ; I would ask concerning the Monthly Revolutions of the Moon about the Earth , or the Diurnal ones of the Earth upon its Axis , both which by the very Hypothesis are coaeval with the former , Whether these also have been finite or infinite ? Not finite to be sure , because th●n a finite number would be greater then an infinite , as 12 or 365 are greater than a Unite . Nor infinite neither , for then two or three Infinites would exceed one another , as a year exceeds a Month , or both exceed a Day : So that both ways the Supposition is repugnant and impossible .

These Difficulties , as I have already intimated , cannot be reasonably apply'd to the Eternal Duration of the Supreme Power ; for tho' we cannot comprehend Eternity and Infinity , yet we understand what They are not , and something we are sure must have existed from Eternity , because all things could not emerge from nothing : So that if this Prae-existent Eternity is not compatible with a successive Duration , as we clearly and distinctly perceive that it is not , then something ( tho' infinitely above our finite Comprehensions ) must have had an Identical , invariable continuance from all Eternity : which Being is what we call God ; for as his Nature is perfect and immutable , without the least shadow of Change , so his Eternal Duration is permanent and invisible , not measurable by Time and Motion , nor to be computed by number of successive Moments .

Third Sermon at ●●les ●●●ture . But this Opinion of Infinite Generations , is repugnant likewise to Matter of Fact . 'T is a Truth beyond opposition , That the Universal Species of Mankind has had a gradual Increase notwithstanding what War and Famine , Pestilence , Floods , Conflagrations , and other Causes , may at certain Periods of Time , have interrupted and retarded it . This is manifest from the History of the Jewish Nation , from the Account of the Roman Census , and from the Registers of our own Country , where the proportion of Births to Burials , is found upon observation to be yearly as fifty to forty : Now if Mankind do increase ( though never so slowly , but one Couple suppose in an Age ) 't is enough to evince the falshood of infinite Generations already expir'd : for tho' the Atheist should contend that there were Ten thousand million Couple of Mankind now in being ( that we may allow him multitude enough ) 't is but going back so many Ages , and we descend to one single Original Pair : and 't is all one in respect of Eternal Duration yet behind , whether we begin the World so many millions of Ages ago , or date it from the late Aera of about Six thousand years : which recent Beginning is , I think , sufficiently establisht , from the known Original of Empires and Kingdoms , and from the late Invention of Arts and Sciences : whereas , if infinite Ages of Mankind had already preceded , there could nothing have been left to be invented or improved by the successful Industry and Curiosity of our own . The Circulation of the Blood , and the Weight and Spring of the Air ( which is as it were the Vital Pulse , and the great Circulation of Nature , and of more importance in all Physiology than any one Invention since the beginning of Science ) had never lain hidden so many Myriads of Generations , and been reserv'd for a late happy discovery by two great Luminaries of this Island .

I hope , from what has been said , you may gain ( if not undoubted satisfaction ) at least some certain knowledge , that this Notion of Infinite past Generations , or the World's Eternity , is so far from bearing the Test of a Reasonable Inquisition , that the very Supposition is void of Sence , and a palpable Contradiction .

The Atomical Hypothesis of a fortuitous Jumble , without any Intelligent Being to direct the Portions of the Mundane Matter , into their several Forms , is a Fancy no less extravagant ; a Whimsy so unaccountable , that ( in the words of a great Man ) there is nothing more wonderful to imagine , unless this , That it should ever enter into the heart of Man . The better to confute this , together with those other Opinions of the Astral and Solar Influence , I have here borrowed a Scheme of fair and reasonable Argumentation , from the Judicious Mr. Lock , such an one I hope as will extort a Confession from you , that there must unavoidably be admitted a first Cause of all things , and that the same can be no other than a most Intelligent as well as Powerful Being .

1. Tho' God has given us ( says that learned Man ) no innate Idea's of himself ; tho' he has stamped no original Characters on our Minds , Mr. Lock 's Essay of Humane Understanding . wherein we may read his Being ; yet having furnisht us with those Faculties our Minds are endow'd with , he hath not left himself without witness , since we have Sense , Perception and Reason , and cannot want a clear proof of Him , as long as we carry our selves about us ; nor can we justly complain of our Ignorance in this great Point , since He has so plentifully provided us with the Means to discover and know Him , so far as is necessary to the end of our Being , and the great Concernment of our Happiness . But tho' this be the most obvious Truth that Reason discovers , and tho' its Evidence be ( if I mistake not ) equal to mathematical Certainty ; yet it requires Thought and Attention , and the Mind must apply it self to a regular Deduction of it , from some part of our intuitive Knowledge , or else we shall be as uncertain and ignorant of this as of other Propositions , which are in themselves capable of clear demonstration . To show therefore that we are capable of knowing , i. e. being certain that there is a God , and how we may come by this Certainty , I think we need go no farther than our selves , and that undoubted Knowledge we have of our own Existence .

2. I think it is beyond question , that Man has a clear Perception of his own Being ; he knows certainly that he Exists , and that he is something : He that can doubt whether he be any thing , or no , I speak no more to , than I would argue with pure Nothing , or endeavour to convince Non-Entity that it were something . If any one pretend to be so sceptical , as to deny his own Existence ( for really to doubt of it is manifestly impossible ) let him ( for me ) enjoy his beloved Happiness of being Nothing , until Hunger or some other Pain , convince him of the contrary . This I think I may take for a Truth , of which every ones certain Knowledge assures him , beyond the liberty of doubting , viz. That he is something that actually Exists .

3. In the next place , Man knows by an Intuitive knowledge the Certainty that bare Nothing can no more produce any real Being , than it can be equal to two right Angles . If a Man knows not that Non-Entity , or the Absence of all Being , cannot be equal to two right Angles , it is impossible that he should know any Demonstration in Euclid . If therefore we know there is some real Being , and that Non-Entity cannot produce any real Being , it is an evident Demonstration that from Eternity there has been something ; since what was from Eternity had a Beginning , and what had a Beginning must be produced from something else .

4. Next , It is evident that what had its Being and Beginning from another , must also have all that which is in , and belongs to its Being to another too : all the Power it has must be owing to , and received from the same Source . This Eternal Source then of all Being , Being must also be the Source and Original of all Power , and so this Eternal Being must be also the most powerful .

5. Again , A Man finds in himself Perception and Knowledge , we have then got one step farther , and we are certain now that there is not only some Being , but some knowing Intelligent Being in the World . There was a time then when there was no knowing Being , and when Knowledge began to be , or else there has been also a knowing Being from Eternity . If it be said there was a time when no Being had any Knowledge , when that Eternal Being was void of all Understanding ; I reply , That then it was impossible there should ever have been any Knowledge ; it being as impossible that things wholly void of Knowledge , and operating blindly without any Perception , should produce a knowing Being , as it is impossible that a Triangle should make it self three Angles bigger than two right ones : for it is as repugnant to the Idea of sensless Matter , that it should put into it self Sense , Perception and Knowledge , as it is repugnant to the Idea of a Triangle , that it should put into it self greater Angles than two right ones .

6. Thus from the Consideration of our Selves , and what we infallibly find in our own Constitutions , our Reason leads us to the knowledge of this certain and evident Truth , That there is an eternal , most powerful , and most knowing Being , which whether any one will please to call God , it matters not , the thing is evident , and from this Idea duly considered , will easily be deduced all those other Attributes we ought to ascribe to this Eternal Being . If nevertheless any one should be found so senslesly arrogant , as to suppose Man alone knowing and wise , but yet the Product of meer Ignorance and Chance , and that all the rest of the Universe is acted only by that blind Hap-hazard , I shall leave with him that very rational and emphatical Rebuke of Tully , Lib. 2. de Leg. to be consider'd leisurely : Quid est enim verius , quam neminem esse oportere tam stulte arrogantem , ut in se Mentem & Rationem putet inesse , in Coelo Mundóque non putet ? aut ea quae vix summâ Ingenij ratione comprehendat , nulla ratione moveri putet ? Or that of the Philosopher , Egregie mentiuntur qui dicunt non esse Deum , etiamsi enim interdiu negant Noctu tamen & sibi dubitant .

From what has been said , it is plain to me , we have a more certain knowledge of the Existence of a God , than of any thing our Senses have not immediately discovered to us : Nay , I presume I may say that we more certainly know that there is a God , than that there is any thing else without us . When I say we know , I mean that there is such a Knowledge within our reach , which we cannot miss , if we will but apply our Minds to that , as we do to several other Enquiries .

7. How far the Idea of a most perfect Being , which a Man may frame in his Mind , does or does not prove the Existence of a God , I will not here examine ; for in the different make of Mens Tempers and application of their Thoughts , some Arguments prevail more on one , and some on another , for the confirmation of the same Truth . But yet I think this I may say , that it is an ill way of establishing this Truth , and silencing Atheists , to lay the whole stress of so important a Point as this , upon that sole foundation , and take some Mens having that Idea of God in their Minds ( for 't is evident some Men have none , and some worse than none , and the most very indifferent ) for the only proof of a Deity , and out of an over-fondness of that darling Invention , cashier , or at least endeavour to invalidate all other Arguments , and forbid us to hearken to those proofs , as being weak or fallacious , which our own Existence , and the sensible parts of the Universe offer so clearly and cogently to our Thoughts , that I deem it impossible for a considering Man to withstand them : for I judge it as certain and clear a Truth as can any where be delivered , that the invisible things of God are clearly seen from the Creation of the World , being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead .