Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the moral law and the covenants, from the…Vindiciae legis, or, A vindication of the morall law and the covenants, from the…

The first Question, Whether a man can by the light of Nature, ¹and by the consideration of the creatures, come to know there is a God? This is denied by Socinians and others. Indeed Bellarmine chargeth tenets to this effect upon Calvin, but that which the Protestant Authors hold, is, that he may indeed have a knowledge that there is a God, but what this God is, whether he be one, and what his attributes are, they cannot so reach to. Nihil Deo notius, nihil ignotius: otherwise, they say, there is no natural Atheist in opinion, though many in affections, desiring there were no God. As Tully argueth, let us take heed, how we bring this opinion into the world, that there is a God, lest hereby we bring a great slavery and fear upon our selves. Are there not ⟨p. 77⟩many Politicians have too much of this poison in their hearts? But of this more anon. Only that there is such a knowledge natural, appeareth by some places: as first, Rom. 1. 19. [Greek or Hebrew], That which may be known of God: for there are some things, that by Nature could never be known, as the Trinity and Incarnation of Christ. Now this knowledge is by the book of the creatures. This whole universe may be called the lay-mens book; Rebus pro speculo utamur, we may see the power and wisdom of God in them. Tully hath a good comparison: As a man that seeth and readeth a book, and observeth how every letter is put together to make an harmonious sense, must needs gather, that all those letters did not fall together by chance, but that there was a wise author in the composing of them: so it's in the world, which is [Greek or Hebrew], none can think such a sweet compagination of all the parts of it should come together merely accidentally. It's said to be the speech of one Antony, much spoken of in Ecclesiastical story, that he called the world a great volume, and the heaven, and water, and earth were the pages and leaves; the stars and living creatures were the letters in those pages: and how glorious a letter is the Sun, when Eudoxus said, he was made only to behold it? The ways and arguments by which Naturalists have proved this, have not been by demonstrations à priori, for that is impossible; but by the effects. As a man that cannot see the Sun in it self, it is so dazzling, doth look upon it in a basin of water: thus we who cannot know God in himself, know him in the creatures.