A27004:794
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.
Answ. I speak in my argument of the species of man, and the objection speaketh only of some individuals: If there be no higher stature for any Chicken or Plant to grow up to, then that is the state of its perfection. Its natural inclination ⟨p. 141⟩to a perfecter state doth show that nature formed it for a perfecter state, and that such a state there is to be attained,1 however by accident it may be killed or cut down before it do attain it, which never befalleth all the kind, but some individuals. So I confess that by ill accidents (by sin) men may fall short of their natural perfection. But natures inclination showeth that there is such a state.
Answ. I speak in my argument of the species of man, and the objection speaketh only of some individuals: If there be no higher stature for any Chicken or Plant to grow up to, then that is the state of its perfection. Its natural inclination ⟨p. 141⟩to a perfecter state doth shew that nature formed it for a perfecter state, and that such a state there is to be attained,1 however by accident it may be killed or cut down before it do attain it, which never befalleth all the kind, but some individuals. So I confess that by ill accidents (by sin) men may fall short of their natural perfection. But natures inclination sheweth that there is such a state.
- 1Seneca Exist. •3. pag. (mihi) 673. saith, Miraris hominem ad Deos ire? Deus ad homines venit: immo (quod propius est) in homines venit: nulla sine Deo mens bona est: Semina in corporibus humanis divina dispersa sunt: quae si bonus cultor excipit, similia origini prodeunt; & paria his ex quibus orta sunt, surgunt: si malus, non aliter quàm humus sterilis ac palustris, necat; ac deinde create purgamenta pro frugibus. Beata vita est conveniens naturae suae: Quae non aliter contingere potest, quàm si primum sana mens est, & in perpetua possession sanitatis suae. Senec. de vita beat. c. 3.