1 The testimonies of a first cause of all beings, namely God, from the light of nature...': First, The existence of all beings in their respective kinds, denote that there must be a being who produced them into existence; for all evidencies of the most minute sort declare, that nothing must produce nothing; hence without a something of a certain kind, nothing of that kind can remain: there can be no branch without a stock or stem; no fruit without a tree; uo stream without a fountain; no effect without a cause, Thus all nature have ever declared their origin from their preceding cause. Upon this principle therefore it appears, that after any retrogression till the mind be lost in the chain of connection, that there must have been a producing cause; otherwise it would be making existences out of non-existence, which at one glance is quite absurd: and as it thus clear that there must have been a creative cause of all, before they could have had being, so it is clear that the being by whom all were produced must have had being before all others; and that he therefore was before all existences, and therefore above all; who being denominated the God, is God over and above all beings. Secondly, All visible beings are as dependant for their continued beings, as they were upon their kind for their last cause of beings, and therefore can no longer continue in being than they have their supplies of support; yea, all, both animate and inanimate can have no life or being beyond their supplies from the earth, either directly or indirectly; and the earth is dependant on man for its supply of plants, seeds, and cultivations; the fish also are dependant upon water for their continuation.Thus all comprehensive beings are dependant for their beings and productions; nor do they therefore manifest any self-existent qualities, but are thus dependant upon each other. And as all are alike dependant, one of such beings could not have created the others, nor itself; they therefore owe their cause and support to, and dependance upon, an independant being, who is known by the Almighty God, &c... Moreover, the dependance of all beings upon God is as clear from the impossibility of any being able to live at its own command ; since it is clear that all, the most flourishing, yea maukind themselves, who are above all in wisdom and dominion, are not able to live at their own wills, but must die; the contrary of which would be the case if they were independant, for then they could live at their own pleasure, according to their independance: the same is as clear of the heavenly bodies, since they can only exist in their limited distances from each other, and their limited orbits; and are thus dependant for their sphere of actions or motions. And as they all thus declare their absoJute dependance, so there must be a being on whom they are dependant; since there must always be a being on whom any can depend, before any such depandance can take place: and that Being being denominated God, is the God on whom all beings do depend. In the third place, it is as clear from the fore : going what God is in himself, as it is that he existed before all things or beings, as their creative cause and support, and comptroller. Thus, as kinds depend upon kinds for their being, aind depend upon the higher orders of creation for their order and support, none of which could have been had there been no existence before. So all at their first existence were dependant upon a substance, otherwise they could not have been; because it is an eternal impossibility for any something to have come from nothing, the one, nothing, being contrary to something: and that substance from which all came (as much so as kind comes from kind) was the will or power of God over all, as aforesaid: God therefore is an uncreated substance, from whom all substances came. I would by the way remark, that I have too often read and heard it said, that all things came from nothing, which has been a great tool in the hands of the atheist; for he has very properly observed, that in all united nature it has ever been clear that nothing could produce nothing, not something. This being an error should ever be avoided, by declaring all existences did not come from nothing, even by the God of all, but that they were produced by and from his undeniable substance, as that something from which all things came; therefore I again say that all beings came from his auscen substance, who, by his infinite goodness has made all beings-some to be seen only, and others to be felt and used; he therefore is a real substance, though not seen with our eyes. Fourthly, God is not only a substance, as just stated, but he is also an uncreated substance; for as aforesaid, the Being who was before all so as to create and support all, could in that case have none before him, otherwise he would not have been the first; and having none before him, noue 'could possibly create him; he therefore is the uncreated substance of all substances. It is evident from the foregoing God is eternal too with uncreated existence; for he who had none before him, but who therefore was and is the first of all existences, must be not only uncreated therefore, but also eternal; since to be uncreated is to be without beginning, which is therefore without any date of being, and which is the true nature of the meaning of eterual; God therefore is both an uncreated and eternal substance. 1 Fifthly, God is as evidently omnipotent as he is an uncreated and eternal substance: for a being who never had a beginning, but who is eternal, and who created and supports all possible existences, must in that case have power over all, otherwise he could not have had them under his power to form them into existences; since it is, as ever has been clear, that no known being can form or produce mechanical substance without power so to do, by their being below the dominion or power of the producer, but who denotes power adequate to make into form by the act of doing so; and to form into existences all possible beings, denotes all power over such existences in the act of forming them; and all power over all is all might over all; and all might is the true nature of the meaning of omnipotence; God therefore is almighty or omnipotent also. Sixthly, God is as evidently unbounded or infinite in knowledge or wisdom, as he is an uncreated, eternal, and omnipotent substance; for he who produced all beings, and supports them in their respective kinds and order in all space, must know the said kinds and |