A27004:660
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.
§. 43. Thus hath Reason showed us the end and highest felicity of man, in his highest duty; To Know God, to Love him and Delight in him in the fullest Perfection, and to be Loved by him, and be fully pleasing to him, as herein bearing his Image, is the felicity, and the ultimate end of man. LOVE is mans final act, excited by the fullest Knowledge, and God so beheld and enjoyed in his Love to us, is the final Object. And here the Soul must seek its Rest.
§. 43. Thus hath Reason shewed us the end and highest felicity of man, in his highest duty; To Know God, to Love him and Delight in him in the fullest Perfection, and to be Loved by him, and be fully pleasing to him, as herein bearing his Image, is the felicity, and the ultimate end of man. LOVE is mans final act, excited by the fullest Knowledge, and God so beheld and enjoyed in his Love to us, is the final Object. And here the Soul must seek its Rest.
Obj. But quae supra nos nihil ad nos: God indeed is near to Angels, but he hath made them our Benefactors, and they have committed it to inferior Causes: there must be suitableness as well as excellency to win love: 1we find no suitableness between our hearts and God. And therefore we believe not that we were made for any such employment. And we see that the far greatest part of mankind are as averse to this life of Holiness as our selves; and therefore we cannot think but that it is quite above the nature of man, and not the work and end which he was made for.
Obj. But quae supra nos nihil ad nos: God indeed is near to Angels, but he hath made them our Benefactors, and they have committed it to inferiour Causes: there must be suitableness as well as excellency to win love: 1we find no suitableness between our hearts and God. And therefore we believe not that we were made for any such employment. And we see that the far greatest part of mankind are as averse to this life of Holiness as our selves; and therefore we cannot think but that it is quite above the nature of man, and not the work and end which he was made for.