A27004:774
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
Part 1 › Chapter 14: That there is a Life of Retribution after this.
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.
2. To the matter: That these desires are not from a deluded fantasy, but the work of God I prove: 1. In that I have fully proved them already to be our Duty, by the ⟨p. 136⟩Law of Nature:1 To love God with all the heart and might, and consequently to desire to love him, and please him, and enjoy him in perfection, that is in the utmost of our capacity, is a proved duty. 2. In that the Best men are the possessors of it; And the more all other Virtues and Obedience do abound, the more this aboundeth. And the more any are vicious, impious, sensual, worldly, the less they have of these desires after God. 3. They increase in the use of holy means appointed by God: and they decay by evil means. All sin is against it, and all obedience doth promote it. 4. It is found most suitable to the tendency of our faculties, as their only perfection: The only true advancement of Reason, and rectitude and felicity of the Will. If it be not by God,2 that the Love and Desires of God are kindled in us, then no good is to be ascribed unto God: For we have here no greater good.
2. To the matter: That these desires are not from a deluded fantasie, but the work of God I prove: 1. In that I have fully proved them already to be our Duty, by the ⟨p. 136⟩Law of Nature:1 To love God with all the heart and might, and consequently to desire to love him, and please him, and enjoy him in perfection, that is in the utmost of our capacity, is a proved duty. 2. In that the Best men are the possessors of it; And the more all other Virtues and Obedience do abound, the more this aboundeth. And the more any are vicious, impious, sensual, worldly, the less they have of these desires after God. 3. They encrease in the use of holy means appointed by God: and they decay by evil means. All sin is against it, and all obedience doth promote it. 4. It is found most suitable to the tendency of our faculties, as their only perfection: The only true advancement of Reason, and rectitude and felicity of the Will. If it be not by God,