A27004:294
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural…
The reasons of the Christian religion the first part, of godliness, proving by natural evidence the being of God ... : the second part, of Christianity, proving by evidence supernatural and natural, the certain truth of the Christian belief ... / by Richard Baxter ... ; also an appendix defending the soul's immortality against the Somatists or Epicureans and other pseudo-philosophers.
London: printed by R. White for Fran. Titon, 1667
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. The several parts of Government are necessary, therefore Government is necessary. From all the parts of Government ⟨p. 40⟩to the whole, 1is an unquestionable consequence. It is necessary that man have Duty prescribed and imposed; else man shall have nothing which he ought to do: Take away Duty, and we are good for nothing, nor have any employment fit for reason: And take away all Reward and Punishment, and you take away Duty in effect; experience teacheth us that it will not be done, for a rational agent will have ends and motives for what he doth.
- 1Si leges abregantur & curvis licentia faciendi quicquid voluerit data sit, non solum Respub. pessum ibit, sed nec quicquam intererit inter nostram & ferarum vitam. Demest. Or. 2. cont. Aristog.
2. From the imbecility of our younger state: so weak is our infant understanding,1 and so strong our sensitive inclination, that if Parents should leave all their Children ungoverned, abused Reason would make man worse than beasts.
- 1Bonis legibus, honestorum studiorum aemalatione pia, •emperans, justa, & re bellica praestans civitas redditur. Dio•. H•l. c. l. 4.