A refutation of the atheistical notion of fate, or absolute necessity in a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, November the seventh, 1698 : being the eighth of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ... Harris, John, 1667?-1719. 1698 Approx. 49 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 15 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A45645 Wing H853 ESTC R15217 12337704 ocm 12337704 59821 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A45645) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 59821) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 741:14) A refutation of the atheistical notion of fate, or absolute necessity in a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, November the seventh, 1698 : being the eighth of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ... Harris, John, 1667?-1719. 28 p. Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin ..., London : 1698. This work is also found as the eighth part of the author's The atheistical objections against the being of a God and his attributes fairly considered and fully refuted : in eight sermons (Wing H845). Advertisement: p. 28. Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor. The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines. Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Bible. -- O.T. -- Jeremiah IX, 24 -- Sermons. Atheism -- Early works to 1800. 2005-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-03 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-04 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2005-04 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Refutation of the Atheistical Notion OF Fate , or Absolute Necessity . IN A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul , November the Seventh , 1698. BEING The Eighth of the LECTURE for that Year , Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle , Esq By JOHN HARRIS , M. A. and Fellow of the ROYAL-SOCIETY . LONDON , Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin , at the King 's - Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard , 1698. JEREM. ix . 24. Let him that glorieth , glory in this , that he understandeth and knoweth me , that I am the Lord , who exercise loving kindness , judgment and righteousness in the earth : for in these things do I delight , saith the Lord. I Did , in my last Discourse , begin to Speak to the Second Particular considerable in these Words , viz. An Account of some of those Attributes which God is here said to Exercise in the Earth , and in which he Delights . On which I did not think it necessary to Discourse particularly ; but from thence took an Occasion to Remove two Great Bars to the true Knowledge of God and of his Attributes , which Sceptical and Unbelieving Men had raised in the Way . Which were These : I. That there is in reality no such Thing as Moral Good or Evil : But that all Actions are in their own Nature indifferent . II. That all things are determined by absolute Fatality : And that God himself , and all Creatures whatsoever , are Necessary Agents , without having any Power of Choice , or any real Liberty in their Natures at all . The former of These I did then dispatch , plainly proving the Existence of Moral Good and Evil , and answering the Objections against it . I proceed now to speak to the latter ; which is an Objection that our Adversaries are very fond of , and do all of them , upon Occasion , have recourse to . And it is indeed a great Point gain'd if they could make it out , and will effectually destroy all manner of Religious Obligation , and all dread of Punishment for doing amiss . For as one observes on these Three things all Religion is founded : 1. That there is a God who made , presides over , and governeth all things . 2. That there are some things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in their own Natures good and just . 3. That there is also something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , something in our own Power to do , whereby we are Accountable for our Actions , and become guilty when we do amiss . But there can certainly be neither Good nor Evil in any Man's Actions , and no Rewards or Punishments can be the Consequents of them , if nothing at all be in our own Power , if whatever we act or commit , it is absolutely impossible for us to avoid acting or committing . Which yet must be the case , if , as they assert , Things are determined by absolute Fatality ; and that God himself and all Creatures whatsoever are necessary Agents , without having any Power of Choice , or any real Liberty in their Natures at all . I shall therefore at this Time , 1. Shew you that this is plainly their Assertion , from their own words . 2. I shall endeavour to shew the Groundlesness of of those Reasons on which they build their Hypothesis . And 3. from some Arguments , Establish the contrary Position of the Freedom and Liberty of Human Nature . 1. And that this is the Assertion of the Two great Atheistical Writers , is very plain , Mr. Hobbs declares himself to be of the Opinion , a That no Man can be free from Necessitation . That Nothing taketh beginning from it self , but from the Action of some other Immediate Agent without it self . And that therefore , when first a Man hath an Appetite or Will to something , to which immediately before he had no Appetite nor Will , the Cause of his Will is not the Will it self , but something else not in his own disposing . So that whereas it is out of Controversie that of Voluntary Actions the Will is the Necessary Cause , and by this which is said , the Will is also caused by other things whereof it disposeth not , it followeth , that Voluntary Actions have all of them Necessary Causes , and therefore are necessitated . b This ( saith he also ) is a certain Truth ; that there are Certain and Necessary Causes which make every Man to will what he willeth , Ib. p. 306. And then as to the Deity , I have already more than once taken notice , That Hobbs denies Him any Understanding , Sense , or Knowledge ; c and asserts him to be without any Ends or Designs in his Actions and Operations . Which plainly makes Him an Agent absolutely and physically Necessary ; as , indeed , follows also from the Notion of his Being Corporeal , which the same Writer every where maintains d . Spinoza also is very Express in this Matter , as I have already shewn e in some Measure . In mente ( saith he ) nulla est absoluta five libera voluntas ; sed Mens ad Hoc vel illud Volendum determinatur à Causà , quae etiam ab aliâ , & haec iterùm ab aliâ & sic in Infinitum f . And in another place , Voluntas non potest vocari Causa libera , sed Tantum necessaria . g And yet on another Occasion , and in another Book , he hath these words , Clarè & distinctè Intelligimus , si ad Nostram naturam attendamus , nos in nostris actionibus esse liberos , & de multis deliberare propter id solum , quod volumus a . Which is as plain and palpable a Contradiction to what he , with the same air of Assurance , delivers in other places , as can possibly be . Mr. Hobbs also cannot be acquitted from expresly contradicting himself as to this Point of Liberty and Necessity ; for he tells us in his Reasons for his Opinion ) b That he that reflecteth on himself cannot but be satisfied . That a Free Agent is he that can do if he will , and forbear if he will. And such an Agent he allows Man to be , and saith he hath proved it too . But how he will reconcile this with his Assertion that no Man can be free from Necessitation , and that all our Actions have Necessary Causes , and therefore are necessitated , I cannot imagine . As to Spinoza's Account of the Deity , in Reference to this Point , I have given a hint or two of it already . He makes God to be the same with Nature , or the Universe , to be Corporeal and an absolutely necessary Agent ; one who cannot possibly help doing as he doth ; one who hath no Power of Creation , nor doth act according to free Will c . But is Limited and Restrained to one constant Method of Acting by the Absolute Necessity of his Nature , or by his Infinite Power . And lest any one should misunderstand him so far , as to imagine that he means by this , that God is by the Excellency and Perfection of his Nature , in all his Operations exactly conformable to the Rules of Justice , Goodness and Right Reason ; He plainly excludes that Notion in these words ; Qui dicunt Deum omnia sub Ratione Boni agere , Hi aliquid extra Deum videntur ponere , quod à Deo non dependet , ad quod Deus tanquam ad Exemplar in Operando attendit , vel ad quod , tanquam ad certum scopum collimat : Quod profectò nihil aliud est quam Deum Fato subjicere a . Now , I think nothing can more shew the wicked Perversness of this Writer's Mind , than this Passage ; For he could not but know very well that when Divines assert the Deity to be Essentially and necessarily Good , they do not mean that Goodness is any thing Extrinsical to the Divine Nature , much less that it is something which hath no dependance upon it : but only that the Excellency and Perfection of his Nature is such , as that it is in every thing exactly conformable to Right Reason ; and therefore this was certainly a wilful Perversion of their Sense , set up on purpose to overthrow the Notion of Moral Goodness in the Deity . But how vain is it for him to tell us , that for the Deity to Act sub Ratione Boni , is for Him to be Subject to Fate , when at the same time he Himself Asserts , that God is in every respect a Necessary Agent , without any free Will , nay , without any Knowledge or Understanding in his Nature at all ? This is so plain a Demonstration , that it was his chief and Primary Design to banish out of Mens Minds the Notion of Moral Goodness , that nothing can be more : and therefore tho' he was resolved to Introduce absolute Necessity into all Actions both Divine and Human ; yet it should be such an one as should leave no Umbrage for any distinction between Good and Evil , or any Foundation for Rewards and Punishments . And in this Notion of Necessity , these Writers follow Democritus , Heraclitus , Leucippus , and that Atheistical Sect ; who maintain'd that there was Nothing in all Nature but Matter and Motion . And therefore when these Modern Writers assert that there is nothing in the Universe but Body , as they do , they run Fate farther than most of the Old Heathen Patrons of Necessity did . For there was none but the Democritick Sect , that supposed Fate to have a Power over the Will of Man ; and in this particular , even they were deserted by Epicurus ; as I observe below . The Pythagoreans , Platonists , and Stoicks agreed that the Mind of Man was free . And 't is well known that the Stoicks did in this Free Power of the Will of Man , found that arrogant Assertion of theirs , That a Wise Man was in one respect more excellent than the Gods ; for they were Good by the Necessity of their Nature and could not help it , whereas Man had a Power of being otherwise , and therefore was the more commendable for being so . There was , indeed , some of the Poets , and some few of the Philosophers too , who did subject the Gods themselves to Fate or Necessity . Thus Seneca in one place saith , Necessitas & Deos alligat ; Irrevocabilis Divina pariter ac Humana Cursus vehit . Ille ipse omnium Conditor ac Rector scripsit quidem Fata , sed sequitur , semper paret , semel jussit . Which Opinion is effectually refuted and exposed by Lucian , in that Dialogue of his called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . As also by Lactantius in his First Book De falsâ Religione , Chap. 11. But this , as I doubt not but Seneca and some others understood in a softer sense than at first sight it appears to have , so was it the Doctrine of but a few ; for generally the Heathens did fully believe that Prayers and Sacrifices would alter a Man's Fortune and Circumstances for the better ; that they would appease the Anger , and gain the Favour and Blessing of the Gods , and that Their Nature was not so absolutely Fatal and Necessary , but that they could freely deal with their Creatures according as they deserved at their hands . For we find Balbus the Stoick mentioned by Cicero , telling us , That the Nature of God would not be most Powerful and Excellent , if it were Subject to the same Necessity or Nature , Quâ Coelum , maria , terraeque reguntur : Nihil Enim est praestantius Deo , Nulli igitur est Naturae Obediens & Subjectus . So that these Writers tread in the Steps of the worst , and most Atheistical of the Heathen Philosophers , and maintain a more rigid Fate , and a more irresistible Necessity than most of them did . But , 2. I come next to shew the Groundlesness of those Reasons and Arguments on which these Men build their Hypothesis of Absolute Necessity . And first as to the Reasons of Mr. Hobbs . The Chief that he brings against the freedom of Human Actions are these , saith Mr. Hobbs , In all Deliberations and alternate Successions of Contrary Appetites , 't is the last only which we call Will ; this is immediately before the doing of any Action , or next before the doing of it become Impossible . Also , Nothing , saith he , can take beginning from it self , but must do it from the Action of some other immediate Agent without it ; if therefore a Man hath a Will to something , which he had not before : the Cause of his Willing is not the Will it self , but something else not in his own disposing . So that whereas 't is out of Controversie , that of Voluntary Actions the Will is the Necessary Cause ; and by this which is now said , the Will is also Caused by Other things whereof it disposeth not , it follows that Voluntary Actions have all of them Necessary Causes , and therefore are necessitated . Agen also , Every sufficient Cause , saith he , is a Necessary one , for if it did not produce its Effect necessarily , 't was because something was wanting to its Production , and then it was not sufficient . Now from hence it follows that whatsoever is produced , is produced Necessarily , and consequently all Voluntary Actions are Necessitated . And to define a Free Agent to be that , which when all things are present which are necessary to produce the Effect , can nevertheless not produce it , is Contradiction and Nonsense ; for 't is all one as to say the Cause may be sufficient ( i. e. ) Necessary , and yet the Effect shall not follow . This is the Substance of all Mr. Hobbs his Proof against Free Will ; in which , there are almost as many Mistakes as there are Sentences ; and from hence it plainly will appear , that either he had no clear Idea's of what he wrote about ; or else did designedly endeavour to perplex , darken and confound the Cause : For in the first place , He confounds the Power or Faculty of Willing in Man with the last act of Willing , or Determination after Deliberating . And consequently doth not distinguish between what the Schools would call Hypothetical and Absolute Necessity : which yet ought to be carefully done in the Point between us ; for an Agent may be free , and no doubt every Man is free to deliberate on , and to compare the Objects offered to his Choice , and yet not be so after he hath chosen . Then , indeed , Necessity comes in ; 't is impossible for any one to choose and not to choose , or to determine and not to determine ; and after the Election is made , no one ever supposed that a Man is free not to make it . And therefore if by the Will Mr. Hobbs means that last Act of Willing or Electing , which immediately precedes Acting , or which is next before the doing of a thing become impossible , as he expresseth himself ; he fights with his own shadow , and opposes that which no body ever denied : for no Man ever supposed Freedom and Determination to be the same thing ; but only that Man before he determined was free , whether he would determine so and so , or not . And accordingly he himself defines a voluntary Agent , to be him that hath not made an end of Deliberating a . Agen , 2. 'T is hard to know what he means here , by Nothing taking its beginning from it self : he is talking about Voluntary Actions , and about the freedom of Human Nature , and therefore should referr this to the Will of Man : but the Instances he afterwards produces , are of Contingent Things b , which are nothing at all to his purpose . But if this be spoken of the Will , what will it signifie ? I grant Nothing can take its beginning from itself ; the Will of Man took its beginning from God , and Voluntary Actions ( we say ) take their beginning from the Faculty or Power of Willing placed in our Souls : But what then ? doth it follow from thence , that those Actions we call Voluntary are Necessitated , because that they take their Original from that free Power of Election God hath placed in our Natures , and not from themselves ? I dare say , no one can see the consequence of this part of the Argument . And it will not in the least follow from hence , that the Cause of a Man's Willing , is not the Will it self ; but something else not in his own disposing : Which yet he boldly asserts . It is the Power of Willing , or that Faculty which we find in our selves , of being free ( in many Cases ) to Act or not Act , or to Act after such a particular manner , which is generally called the Will ; and this is commonly said to be free . Tho' I think ( as one hath observed ) a it is not so proper a way of Speaking , as to say , the Man is free . For besides that 't is not usual , nor indeed proper , to predicate one Faculty of another ; 't is hardly good sense to say the Will is free , in the manner now explain'd ; for that would be the same thing as to say , that a free Power is free ; whereas it is not the Power , but the Man that hath the Power , that is free . But however the Other way of Expression hath prevailed and doth do so , and I don't think any one is misled by it into Error ; for that which every body understands and means by saying the Will of Man is free , is , that Man hath in his Nature such a free Power , as is called his Will. Now from hence it will not follow that a Man is free whether he will Will , or not ; for he must Will someway , either to Act , or not to Act ; or to Act after such a particular manner . But it will follow , that when a Man hath made any particular Volition , or hath determined the Point whether he shall Act , or forbear to Act , he is then no longer at Liberty , as to this particular Case and Instant ; for the Determination is then actually made , and the Man no longer free not to make it . But this proves nothing at all against the Liberty or Freedom of the Mind of Man. Again , what doth Mr. Hobbs mean by the Will 's being the Necessary Cause of Voluntary Actions ? Doth he mean that the Will of Man must of Necessity act freely , and produce Actions voluntarily ; if he doth , we are agreed ; but if he means that the Will is previously necessitated in every Act of Volition to Will just as it doth , and could not possibly have willed otherwise ; this is to beg the Question , and to take for granted the great thing in Dispute ; 't is to call that out of Controversie , which is the only thing in Controversie ; which indeed , when a Man contradicts the Common Sense and Reason of Mankind , without Proof , is the best way of Proceeding . But that which looks most like an Argument for the Necessity of all Humane Actions , is this which he brings in the last place . That Cause ( saith he ) is a sufficient Cause which wanteth nothing requisite to produce its Effect , but such a Cause must also be a Necessary one ; for had it not necessarily produced its Effect , it must have been because something was wanting in it for that Purpose , and then it could not have been sufficient : So that whatever is produced , is produced necessarily ; for it could not have been at all without a sufficient ( or necessary ) Cause ; and therefore also , all Voluntary Actions are necessitated . Now all this proves to his Purpose ( I think ) just nothing at all : He proceeds on in his former Error of confounding the Act of Willing with the Power of Willing ; and of making Hypothetical the same with absolute Necessity ; for , not now to dispute what he saith of every sufficient Cause's being a Necessary one ; allowing that when ever any Volition or Determination is made , or when ever any Voluntary Action is done , that the Will of Man was a sufficient Cause to produce that Effect ; nay , that it did at last necessarily produce it ; he can inferr nothing from hence more than this ; That when the Will hath determined or willed , 't is no longer free to Will , or Nill that particular thing at that particular Instant ; which I don't believe any Body will ever , or ever did deny . But this will not prove at all that the Will was necessitated to make that Determination à Priori , and that it could have made no other ; which yet is what he means , and ought to have clearly made out . For the same Power or Faculty of Liberty , which enabled it to make that Determination , would have been a sufficient Cause for it to have made another contrary to it , or differing from it : and then when that had been made , it would have been as necessary as the former . And therefore that Definition of a Free Agent 's being that , which when all things are present which are needful to produce the Effect , can nevertheless not produce it , ( tho' I don't think it the best ) doth not , when rightly understood , imply any Contradiction , nor is it Nonsense at all . For the meaning of it is , That he is properly Free , who hath the Power of Determination in himself ; and when all Requisites are ready , so that nothing shall extrinsecally either hinder him from , or compel him to Act , can yet choose whether he will Act or not . Thus , if a Man hath Pen , Ink and Paper , and a place to write upon , his Hand well and at Liberty , and understands how to write ; he hath all things present that are needful to produce the Effect of Writing ; yet he can nevertheless not produce that Effect ; because he can choose after all , whether he will write or no. Mr. Hobbs defines a Free Agent to be him that can do if he will , and forbear if he will , and that Liberty is the absence of all external Impediments a ; which if he intended any thing by it , but to palliate a bad Cause , and to amuse the Person he wrote to , is as much Nonsense and Contradiction to what he himself advances about Necessity as is possible . For how a Man can be said to Act necessarily , that hath no external Impediments to hinder him , or Causes to compel him , but is free to Act if he will or forbear if he will , is what I believe no Man can possibly conceive . Thus we see plainly , that this great Patron of Necessity hath very little to say for his Darling Notion , and that he plainly contradicts and is Inconsistent with himself . Had he indeed dared speak out , and thought it time to declare his Opinion freely , he would , no doubt , have proceeded on other Grounds in this Point , and made use of Arguments more agreeable to his Set of Principles : which being allowed him , would have demonstrated an absolute Necessity of all things whatsoever . For he was a thorough Corporealist , and maintained that there was nothing more in Nature , but Matter and Motion ; which if it were true , it is most certain , that all Things and Actions must be inevitably Fatal and Necessary ; for ( as Mr. Lock well observes ) nothing but Thought or Willing , in a Spirit , can begin Motion . The Necessity therefore in such an Hypothesis would be the true Ancient Democritick Fate , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or , as Epicurus calls it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a through Material necessity Mechanically producing all Things : or the Fate of the Naturalists , who held nothing besides Matter and Motion . But this Notion , for some Reasons best known to himself , he did not think fit to insist on , when he wrote this Tract against the Liberty of Human Nature . Tho' his Successor Spinoza , with a little Variation did ; whose Arguments we must next consider . Spinoza , as I have formerly shewed , was an Absolute Corporealist as well as Mr. Hobbs ; but finding that Cogitation could never be accounted for from Matter and Motion only , he supposes Cogitation Essential to Matter ; and as he makes but one only Substance in the World , which is the Matter of All Things , or God ; so he supposes Cogitation to be one of the Essential Attributes of this Deity , as Extension is the other . And from hence he concludes , That all things , according to the Infinite variety of their several Natures , must necessarily flow from God or the whole , and must be just what they are , and cannot be , nor could not possibly have been , any otherwise a . He doth indeed Stile the Deity Causa Libera , and say he is only so b . But the reason he assigns for it , is only because nothing can compel him to , or hinder him from doing any Thing ; but he expresly denies him to have either Understanding or Free Will c . And he declares oftentimes , That all things flow from the Deity by as Absolute a Necessity , as that the Three Angles of a Triangle are equal to Two right ones . And then as to the Mind of Man , he gives this Reason why it cannot have any free Will ; Quia mens ad hoc , vel illud Volendum determinatur à Causâ , quae etiam ab alia , & haec iterum ab aliâ & sic in Infinitum d . The same thing also he asserts in another Place e , and from thence undertakes to prove also , that God cannot have any Free Will ; and withal saith , That Understanding and Will , as they are called , belong to the Nature of God , just as Motion and Rest. and other Natural Things do , which are absolutely determined to Operate just as they do , and cannot do otherwise a . This is the Argument of Spinoza , to prove that there is no such thing as freedom in the Nature of Man , but that he is determined in every thing by Absolute and Inevitable Necessity . And this Necessity also 't is plain according to him , is purely Physical and Mechanical . As to the Refutation of which , I think , I have already effectually removed the foundation on which it is all built , by proving that there are such Beings as Immaterial Substances , and that God himself is such an One , or a Spirit b . For all the Necessity Spinoza contends for , depends purely on his Notion of the Deity ; as appears sufficiently from what I have produced of his words . If therefore it be true , that God be an Immaterial Substance , a Being Distinct from Nature , or the Universe ; and the Creator and Producer of all things , ( as I think I have very clearly proved ) 't is most certain that the whole Chain of Spinoza's Argument for Necessity is broken to pieces . For the Reason he assigns for the necessary Operations of the Deity , are not the Perfections of his Nature determining him to Good and Just , Lovely and Reasonable things ; but that the Deity being Universal Nature , All things and Operations are Parts of him , and their several Ways and Manners of Acting and existing according to the necessary Laws of Motion and Mechanism , are his Understanding and Will : which Ignorant People , he saith , may perhaps take in a literal Sense , and think that God can properly Know or Will any thing ; but that in reality there is no such thing as Understanding or Free Will in God , since all things flow from Him by Inevitable Necessity . And if there be not any freedom in the Deity , that is in the whole , there can be none in Men , or in any other Beings , who are but Parts of him . If this indeed be true , that there is no other God but Nature ; then 't is easie to see that all things must be governed by absolute Fatality , and be in every respect Physically necessary ; there can then be no such thing as Contingency , or any Voluntary Actions ; and if we were sure of this , 't is indeed the greatest Ignorance and Folly in the World , to pretend to talk any thing about it . But on the other hand , if there be a Deity who is an Infinitely perfect Being , distinct from Nature : who Created all things by the Word of his Power , and for whose sole Pleasure they are and were Created , then none of those Consequences will follow ; but it will appear very reasonable to believe , that God hath still a Care and Providence over that World which he made at first : and that he delights to exercise loving Kindness , Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth ; as the Prophet here speaks : That he hath made some Creatures capable of Knowing and Understanding this , and who consequently have a free Power , as in other things , so of giving Praise and Glory to so Great and Wonderful a Being , nay , and of Glorying themselves in being capacitated to attain so Excellent a Knowledge . And that Man hath such a Power or Freedom of Will , in his Nature , is what I shall now proceed in the last place plainly to prove . 1. And the first Argument I shall make use of to demonstrate this , shall be the Experience of all Mankind . And this , one would think , should be of great Weight , and turn the Scale against all the Atheistical Metaphysicks in the World ; and so , no doubt it would , were it not wicked Mens Interest to advance the contrary Notion . Now that we have a free Power of deliberating , in many Cases , which way 't is best for us to proceed ; that we can act this way or that way , according as we like best ; and that we can often forbear whether we will Act at all , or not , is a Truth so clear and manifest , that we are ( I think ) almost as certain of it as we are of our own being and Existence ; and 't is an unimaginable thing how any Man can be perswaded that he hath no such Power a . Indeed , one may by Sophistical words , Metaphysical Terms , and abstruse Unintelligible Banter , be perhaps a little amused and confounded for the present . But that any one should by such a Jargon be persuaded out of his Senses , his Reason , and his Experience , and continue in that Opinion , is what I do believe never yet befel any Rational and Thinking Man. When Zeno brought his silly Sophistical Argument to prove there was no such thing as Motion ; his Antagonist thought it to no purpose to return an Answer to what plainly was contradictory to the common Sense of Mankind ; and therefore convinc'd him only , by getting up and Walking . And the very same Return will baffle and expose all the Pretended Arguments for Necessity . For 't is plain , He had a Power first whether he would have walked or not , he could have walked Five Turns , or Fifty ; he could have gone across the Room , or length-wise ; round it , or from Angle to Angle . And I dare say , no Sophistry or Metaphysicks whatever would have convinced him that none of these were in his Power , when he plainly found them all to be so ; any more than he was convinced a Body could not move out of its place , when he had seen and tried a Thousand times that it would . 'T is the same thing in reference to the Thoughts of our Minds , as it is in the Motions of our Bodies . We plainly find we have a Power in abundance of Cases , to preferr one thought before another , and to remove our Contemplation from one Notion or Idea to another : We can , in our Minds , compare and revolve over the several Objects of our Choice ; and we can oftentimes choose whether we will do this , or not ; and this Internal Freedom in Reference to our Thoughts and Idea's , we do as plainly perceive , and are as sure of , as we are that we can voluntarily move our Body or any part of it from place to place . And as I have plainly shewed you above , our Adversaries do grant and allow this when it is for their Turn . But they will say , tho' we seem to be free , and do think and perceive our selves to be so , yet in reality we are not ; and it is only our Ignorance of Things and Causes , which induces us to be of this mistaken Opinion a ; and the Idea of Liberty which Men have is this , that they know no Cause of their Actions ; for to say they depend on the Will , is to talk about what they do not understand , and to use words of which they have no Idea's at all . To which , I say , that I cannot but be of the Opinion that it is a good Rational way enough of Proceeding , to pronounce of things according as we do experience them to be , and to declare them to be that which we have all the Reason in the World to think and believe that they really are . And I think we may well enough own and be contented with the Charge of Ignorance here laid upon us . For the Case is thus : We think our selves free , because we plainly find and experiment our selves to be so in a Thousand Instances ; and this also these Penetrating Gentlemen sometimes , as I have shewed , do kindly allow ; and we are indeed wholly Ignorant of any Causes that do absolutely determine us to Action ; or which do necessitate us in what we do , previous to that free Power which we find in our selves ; so that plainly perceiving our selves to have this free Power , and being Ignorant of any true Reason why we should believe we are mistaken in what we perceive and know , we do , indeed , ( such is our Ignorance and Weakness ) embrace the Opinion that there is a Liberty of Action in Human Nature . And this free Power or Liberty which we find in us , we not being deep Metaphysicians , call the Will ; by which we understand , as I have shewed before , not any Particular Act of Volition , but the Power or Faculty of Willing . And since we plainly perceive that in many cases we are not determined to Action by any thing without us , but do choose or refuse , act or not act , according as we please ; and being withal grosly Ignorant of any Cause these Actions have , but what we find and perceive them to have , we call our free Will the Cause of these Actions , and say they depend on it : and yet after all , do we not find out , that we talk about what we do not understand , and use words that we have no Idea of . But our Adversaries , it seems , have a quite different rellish of things , they soar in a higher and more subtle Region , they will not condescend to speak common sense in this Matter ; Tho' they plainly understand , ( as they tell us ) that they are really free as to many Actions , and can deliberate whether they will do them or not , purely because they have a free Power so to do a ; tho' they are satisfied that they can act if they will , or forbear if they will b ; yet they say this is in reality a Mistake , and that there is no such thing as freedom after all , but that all Actions are absolutely necessitated . And as for the Power or Faculty which is vulgarly called the Will ; that sometimes is one thing sometimes another , according as they think fit to name it . Sometimes 't is an Act of Volition that follows the Ultimum dictamen Intellectûs , and sometimes 't is the Understanding itself c . Now 't is nothing but an Idea d , and by and by a meer Ens Rationis d , or an Imaginary Cause of Action , which Ignorant Men have fansied that they have in themselves e . So hard is it for Men that fly so high , to have a distinct view of any thing below . But I proceed , 2. To another Argument , for the freedom of Humane Nature ; and that is , the monstrous Absurdities and Consequences of the contrary Opinion . For the Assertion that all our Actions are necessitated , it perfectly destroys the Notions of Good and Evil , Rewards and Punishments , and of all manner of Obligation both to Divine and Human Laws : and consequently is the most Destructive Principle , that can be advanced , to the Good of Society . I have already proved that there is a Natural Distinction between Actions as to Good and Evil , that this is plainly discoverable by the Light of Reason , and that all Nations in all Ages of the World have been sensible of it ; and if this be proved , ( as I think it hath been ) we ought not to desert it , only because we can't readily solve all the Difficulties about the Freedom of the Will of Man , which a Sceptical Man may raise against it ; much less ought we to embrace an Opinion that perfectly Contradicts it ; as this of absolute Necessity certainly doth . For if all things and Actions whatever are absolutely Necessary , and cannot possibly be otherwise than they are ; there can be no such thing as Good or Evil , Right or Wrong , Honourable or Base , &c. And why should any Creatures trouble themselves about paying any Veneration to the Deity , if that he could not help making them just such as they are ? and if he hath absolutely necessitated them to do just as they do ? God hath , according to these Horrid Principles , no Natural Right to any Obedience from us , as a free Agent would , who had out of his own gracious Goodness bestowed so many Gifts and Mercies upon us . This Mr. Hobbs well knew , and therefore he tells us , That there is no Obedience due to God out of Gratitude to him for Creating or Preserving us , &c. a but what we pay him , is founded only in his Irresistible Power . And so likewise , as to Human Laws and the Good of the Government or Commonwealth where we are placed . No Man , according to these Abominable Tenets , hath any Obligation upon him to obey Rulers , to be just and honest in his Dealings , to be loving and merciful , helpful and beneficial to his Neighbours ; but he may Rebel , Murder , Rob , and Oppress , without being Subject to any guilt at all ; and if he can but escape Punishment from the Magistrate he is safe enough , and hath no reason to be disturbed in his own Mind ; for he can't help any of all this , he is under an absolute necessity of doing what he doth , and no one ought to blame him for it . Indeed , Spinoza says , That the Government may , if they think fit , put such a Man to Death ; but not because he is Guilty and deserves it , but because he is Mischievous and Dangerous to them , and therefore is to be feared . And when one wrote to him on this Point , alledging , that if the Will were not free , All Vice would be excusable ; he Answers , Quid inde a ? Nam homines mali non minus timendi sunt , nec minus perniciosi , quando necessariò mali sunt . By which he plainly allows that all Wickedness is excusable , tho' it be not always tolerable , as it is not when it becomes formidable . Fear is that which according to these Men doth every thing in the World , in this Case . A Subject pays Obedience to the Laws , not because he thinks himself bound in Conscience so to do , or because it is just and reasonable ; but because he is afraid of Punishment if he do not do it . And the Magistrates Punish an Offender , not because they think he hath committed any Fault , or is Guilty of any Crime properly speaking ; but because They are afraid of Him , and under an apprehension that he is likely to do them a Mischief . And thus a Man that is guilty of all manner of Immorality , an Assassinator of Princes , a Firer of Cities , a Betrayer of his Country , a Poisoner , Coiner , a Common Robber , or the most flagitious Villain that can be imagined , is as Innocent as a Saint from any guilt of Sin he hath upon him ; for he is necessitated to do what he doth , he can't help it , any more than another Man can , that acts virtuously , as 't is called : and therefore he may and ought to have as much Peace and Satisfaction in his own Mind , and as much Respect and Honour paid him from others too , provided they are not afraid of him , as ever any Man had . But will not such a Principle as this be the most mischievous and dangerous to Mankind that can possibly be ? Doth it not open a Door to all the Wickedness that can possibly enter into the Heart of Man to commit ? And consequently ought not all Governments to be afraid , as they themselves would express it , of Men that vent such Notions as these , so plainly contradictory to , and inconsistent with the Good of Human Society ? And as this is a most pernicious , so 't is the most Impudent and Daring Opinion that ever was advanced : for it charges all Mankind in all Ages of the World , with the most gross and palpable Folly that can be : For , besides that it gives the Lye to the Experience and certain Knowledge of every Body , as I shewed before ; it renders all Laws , and Rules of Action , and all the Sanctions of them , ridiculous : it makes all Advice and Exhortation useless , and to no purpose ; all Censure , Punishment and Reproof is Unjust and Unreasonable ; All Honours and Rewards it renders Unmerited ; And all Knowledge , Wisdom , Care and Circumspection , become by this means , the most foolish and unaccountable things in the World ; for if all things are governed by Absolute Fatality , any one may see that all these things signifie Nothing at all , but 't is plain , the Wisest Part of the World as they have been justly esteemed , are in reality the greatest Fools and most stupid Idiots that can be : for they encourage Men to act well , and discourage them from doing amiss , by Elaborate and Studied Methods , when after all , 't is impossible according to this Notion , that any one can possibly avoid doing just as he doth . Nor can I see how these wonderful Discoverers themselves , that have thus luckily found out that all Mankind are mistaken in thinking themselves Free , when they are not so ; I can't see , I say , how according to their own Notions they can be acquitted from being as Ignorant and Mistaken , and as arrant Fools as the rest of Mankind . For why do they write Books , and spin out such Elaborate Treatises as they fansie they do ? and why should they set themselves up above others , and expect Praise and Glory for their fine Thoughts and elevated Notions ? they can 't sure be so Ignorant as to expect to convince any Body , or to Proselyte any one over to their Opinion ? Can any Man help being of that Opinion he embraces ? if he can , he hath free Will , and is not necessitated to hold what he doth hold ; which destroys all they are so studiously advancing . But if he cannot alter his Opinion freely , but is absolutely necessitated to believe what he doth believe ; how ridiculous is it to pretend to Dispute or Argue in such a Case ? They will say , no doubt , that they are necessitated to write , and can't help it : But if the Government should Plead the same thing , for Punishing them for so doing ; they would , we know , make a large out-cry against Persecution , and the Infringement of that Native Liberty , that every Man hath to enjoy his own Opinion . For these Gentlemen make use of Liberty and Necessity , according as it best serves their purpose . When they commit Immoralities and Wicked Actions ; they then ought not to be punished either by God or Man , because they are necessitated to do it , and can't help it . But if a Government , judging such Notions destructive to the Good of Human Society , and contrary to the express Word of God , thinks fit to Prohibit the Propagation of them , and to Punish the Authors of them : How do these Men then Cry up the Liberty of Human Nature ? then every Man's Opinion ought to be free , no Compulsion must be used , every Man's Conscience is to be his Guide , and the like . But how ridiculously Vain is all this , according to these Principles ? Is not the Magistrate as much necessitated to Punish as they are to Offend ? and the Government to make Laws as they are to break them ? Oh by no means ! They would be free to Sin and to commit Wickedness , and then necessitated not to be Punished . They would have Men think them necessitated in all their Actions , so as to excuse them from blame , and they would have the Magistrate free to forbear Punishing them , tho' he think them never so guilty . That is , in short , they would do what they please , and no one should call them to an Account for it ; they would act like Fools , and yet be thought Wise Men ; they would proceed contrary to Reason , and yet have the Reputation of having Principles , and pursuing the Dictates of Reason and Truth : And they would build themselves a Reputation in the World by advancing Paradoxes contrary to the common Sense and Reason of Mankind : by pretending to a higher pitch of Knowledge than their Neighbours , and by calling all the rest of the World Fools and Ignorant . In a word they would say , with those in the Psalmist , We are they that ought to speak , who is Lord over us . This , I am fully perswaded , is what they aim at in all their Arguments and Objections against Religion , and particularly in the bustle that they make about this Point , of the Absolute Necessity of All Events and Actions . Which how weakly they Prove , and how contradictorily they Maintain , against the Common Sense and Experience of all Mankind , I think I have sufficiently shewn . FINIS . ADVERTISEMENT . REmarks upon some late Papers relating to the Universal Deluge , and to the Natural History of the Earth . By John Harris , M. A. and Fellow of the Royal-Society . In Octavo . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A45645-e220 Dr. Cudworth in Preface to his Intellectual System . a Hobbs Tripos , p. 297. b Ibid. p. 312. c Vid. Sermon V. p. 51. Serm. VI. p. 9. d Vid. Serm. V. p. 49. e Serm. V. p. 51. f Spinoza Op. Posthum . p. 85. g p. 28. a Princep . Philos. Cartes . Demonstrat . p. 103. b Hobbs Tripos , p. 314. c p. 29. Op. Posthum . and p. 33. 18. a Op. Posth . p. 32. a Tripos , p. 311. b Ibid. 315. a Mr. Lock , in his Essay of Humane Understanding . a Tripos , p. 314. a Ex necessitate Divinae naturae , Infinita Infinitis modis sequi debent . Op. Posthum . p. 16. 18. b p. 17. c p. 18. Tract . Theol. Polit. c. 4. p. 63. d Op. Posthum . p. 85. e p. 28. a p. 29. b Vid. Serm. 4 , & 5. a Had it not been a thing Undeniable that the Will of Man is free , and had not Epicurus , and his Follower Lucretius , very well known that it was a thing which every one could not but experience in Himself , he had certainly , as a very Learned Person observes ( Dr. Lucas Enquiry after Happiness , Vol. I. p. 156 , 157. ) followed his Old Master Democritus , and asserted the Mind of Man to be as necessarily and fatally moved by the strokes of his Atoms , as Natural and Irrational Bodies are . But this Opinion he was forced to desert , and to assert the Liberty of the Soul of Man ; and 't was to make this out according to his Senseless Hypothesis , that he Invented that Unaccountable Oblique Motion of his Atoms ; which Lucretius calls Exiguum Clinamen Principiorum . Lib. 2. a Falluntur homines quod se liberos esse putant , quae opinio in hoc solo consistit , quod suarum Actionum sint conscii , & Ignari Causarum à quibus determinantur . Haec ergo est eorum libertatis Idea quod suarum Actionum nuilam cognoscunt Causam . Nam quod aiunt humanas Actiones à Voluntate pendere verba sunt quorum nullam habent Ideam . Bapr . Spinoz . Op Posthum . p. 73. Vid. etiam , p. 37. a Spinozae Princip . Philos. Cartes Demonst. p. 103. b Hobbs Tripos , p. 314. c Spin. Op. Posth . p. 87 , 88. d Ibid. p. 399. d Ibid. p. 399. e p. 73. a Zeviath . p. 187. a Spinoz . Op. Posthum . p. 586