Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

No Perfection is wanting to God; but an unbounded Essence is a Perfection; a limited one is an Imperfection. Tho' it be a Perfection in a man to be Wise, yet it is an Imperfection that his Wisdom cannot rule all the things that concern him; tho' it be a Perfection to be present in a place where his affairs lye, yet is it his Imperfection that he cannot be present every where, in the midst of all his Concerns; if any man could be so, it would be universally owned as a prime Perfection in him above others; Is that which would be a Perfection in man, to be denied to God^*? as that which hath life, is more perfect than that which hath not life; and that which hath sense is more perfect than that which hath only life, as the Plants have; and what hath reason, is more perfect than that which hath only life and sense, as the Beasts have; so what is every where, is more perfect than that which is bounded in some narrow confines; if a Power of motion be more excellent than to be Bed-rid; and swiftness in a Creature, be a more excellent endowment than to be slow and Snail like; Then to be every where without motion, is unconceivably a greater excellency than to be every where successively by motion. God sets forth his readiness to help his People and punish his Enemies; or his Omnipresence, by swiftness, or flying upon the Wings of the Wind²: the Wind is in every part of the Air, where it blows; it cannot be said that it is in this or that Point of the Air where you feel it, so as to exclude it from another part of the Air where you are not; it seems to possess all at once.

No Perfection is wanting to God; but an unbounded Essence is a Perfection; a limited one is an Imperfection. Tho' it be a Perfection in a man to be Wise, yet it is an Imperfection that his Wisdom cannot rule all the things that concern him; tho' it be a Perfection to be present in a place where his affairs lye, yet is it his Imperfection that he cannot be present every where, in the midst of all his Concerns; if any man could be so, it would be universally own'd as a prime Perfection in him above others; Is that which would be a Perfection in man, to be deny'd to God^*? as that which hath life, is more perfect than that which hath not life; and that which hath sense is more perfect than that which hath only life, as the Plants have; and what hath reason, is more perfect than that which hath only life and sense, as the Beasts have; so what is every where, is more perfect than that which is bounded in some narrow confines; if a Power of motion be more excellent than to be Bed-rid; and swiftness in a Creature, be a more excellent endowment than to be slow and Snail like; Then to be every where without motion, is unconceivably a greater excellency than to be every where successively by motion. God sets forth his readiness to help his People and punish his Enemies; or his Omnipresence, by swiftness, or flying upon the Wings of the Wind