SECT. XXIII. And no way repugnant to Reason.
(c) Neither can we find any Argument drawn from Nature, which overthrows this an an-<82>cient and extensive Tradition: For all those Things which seem to us to be destroyed, are either destroyed by the Opposition of something more powerful than themselves, as Cold is destroyed by the greater Force of Heat; or by taking away the Subject upon which they depend, as the Magnitude of a Glass, by breaking it; or by the Defect of the <83> efficient Cause, as Light by the Absence of the Sun. But none of these can be applied to the Mind; not the first, because nothing can be conceived contrary to the Mind; nay, such is the peculiar Nature of it, that it is capable equally, and at the same time, of contrary Things in its
[print edition page 92]
own, that is, in an intellectual Manner. Not the second, because there is no Subject upon which the Nature of the Soul depends; (a) for if there were any, it would be a Humane Body; and that it is not so, appears from hence, that when the Strength of the Body fails by Action, the Mind only
[print edition page 93]
does not contract any Weariness by acting. (a) Also the Powers of the Body suffer by the too great Power of the Things, which are the Objects of them, as Sight by the Light of the Sun, (b) But the Mind is <84> rendred the more perfect, by how much the more excellent the Things are, about which it is conversant; as about Figures abstracted from Matter, and about universal Propositions. The Powers of the Body are exercised about those Things which are limited by Time and Place, but the Mind about that which is Infinite and Eternal. Therefore, since the Mind in its Operations does not depend upon the Body, so neither does its Existence depend upon it; for we cannot judge of the Nature of those Things which we do not see, but from their Operations. Neither has the third Method of being destroyed, any Place here: For there is no Efficient Cause from which the Mind continually flows: Not the Parents, because the Children live after they are dead. If we allow any Cause at all from whence the Mind flows, it can be no other than the first and universal Cause, which, as to its Power, can never fail; and as to its Will, that That should fail, that is, that God should will the Soul to be destroyed, this can never be proved by any Arguments.
[print edition page 94]
SECT. XXIV. But many Things favour it.
Nay, there are many not inconsiderable Arguments for the contrary; such as (a) the absolute Power every Man has over his own Actions; a <85> natural Desire of Immortality; the Power of Conscience, which comforts him when he has performed any good Actions, though never so difficult; and, on the contrary, (b) torments him when he has done any bad Thing, especially at the Approach of Death, as it were with a Sense of impending Judgment; (c) the Force of which, many times could not be extinguished by the worst of Tyrants, tho’ they have endeavoured it never so much; as appears by many Examples.
[print edition page 95]
SECT. XXV. From whence it follows, that the End of Man is Happiness after this Life.
If then the Soul be of such a Nature, as contains in it no Principles of Corruption; and God has given us many Tokens, by which we ought to <86> understand, that his Will is, it should remain after the Body; there can be no End of Man proposed more worthy of Him, than the Happiness of that State; and this is what Plato and the Pythagoreans said, (a) that the End of Man was to be made most like to God. Thus what Happiness is, and how to be secured, Men may make some Conjectures; but if there be any thing concerning it, revealed from God, that ought to be esteemed, most true and most certain.
SECT. XXVI. Which we must secure, by finding out the true Religion.
Now since the Christian Religion recommends itself above all others, whether we ought to give Credit to it or no, shall be the Business of the second Part of this Work to examine. <87>
[print edition page 96]
[print edition page 97]
Sect. I. That the Christian Religion is true.
The Design then of this second Book (after having put up our Petitions to Christ the King of Heaven, that he would afford us such Assistances of his holy Spirit, as may render us sufficient for so great a Business) is not to treat particularly of all the Opinions in Christianity; but only to show that the Christian Religion it self is most true and certain; which we attempt thus.
Sect. II. The Proof that there was such a Person as Jesus.
That Jesus of Nazareth formerly lived in Judaea in the Reign of Tiberius the Roman Emperor, is constantly acknowledged, not only by Christians dispersed all over the World, but also by all the Jews which now are, or have ever wrote since that time; the same is also testified by Heathens, that is, such as did not write either of the Jewish, or of the Christian Religion, (a) Suetonius, (b) <88> Tacitus, (c) Pliny the Younger, and many after these.
[print edition page 98]
That he died an ignominious Death.
That the same Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate, the President of Judaea, is acknowledged by all the same Christians, notwithstanding it might seem dishonourable to them who worship such a <89> Lord. (a) It is also acknowledged by the Jews, though they are not ignorant how much they lie under the Displeasure of the Christians, under whose Government they every where live, upon this Account, because their Ancestors were the Cause of Pilate’s doing it. Likewise the Heathen Writers we mentioned, have recorded the same to Posterity; (b) and a long Time after, the Acts of Pilate were extant, to which the Christians sometimes appealed. Neither did Julian, or other Opposers of Christianity, ever call it in Question. So that no History can be imagined more certain than this; which is confirmed by the Testimonies, I don’t say of so many Men, but of so many People, which differed from each other. (c) Notwithstanding
[print edition page 99]
which we find Him worshipped as Lord, throughout the most distant Countries of the World.
Sect. III. And yet, after his Death, was worshipped by wise Men.
And that, not only in our Age, or those immediately foregoing; but also even in the first, the Age next to that in which it was done, in the Reign of the Emperor Nero; at which time the forementioned Tacitus, and others attest, that very many were punished because they professed the Worship of Christ. <90>
Sect. IV. The Cause of which could be no other, but those Miracles which were done by him.
