The Works of the Late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Volume 8J. Johnson, 1809 - Great Britain |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 100
Page 3
... mankind were polytheists and idolaters from the beginning . Thus he might re- ceive too some other theological ... mankind , in order to preserve among mankind the knowledge of B 2 " himself " himself in his unity : " or this , OF ESSAYS . 3.
... mankind were polytheists and idolaters from the beginning . Thus he might re- ceive too some other theological ... mankind , in order to preserve among mankind the knowledge of B 2 " himself " himself in his unity : " or this , OF ESSAYS . 3.
Page 9
... mankind would reach the perfection of their nature , and be as happy as they are by this made capable of being ; but that the culture of their reason , the improvement of their knowledge , and every thing that tends to the perfection of ...
... mankind would reach the perfection of their nature , and be as happy as they are by this made capable of being ; but that the culture of their reason , the improvement of their knowledge , and every thing that tends to the perfection of ...
Page 10
... mankind , to give stronger sanctions to the law of nature , and to be subservient to government , have served , in all ages , to very different purposes . They have promoted false conceptions of the deity ; they have substi- tuted ...
... mankind , to give stronger sanctions to the law of nature , and to be subservient to government , have served , in all ages , to very different purposes . They have promoted false conceptions of the deity ; they have substi- tuted ...
Page 13
... mankind , ran into one of these extremes . They either screened him from human sight by the interposition of mediating , interceding , atoning beings : or , fierce and cruel themselves , they re- presented him hating without reason ...
... mankind , ran into one of these extremes . They either screened him from human sight by the interposition of mediating , interceding , atoning beings : or , fierce and cruel themselves , they re- presented him hating without reason ...
Page 16
... mankind is such as we feel , and as we are apt to complain that it is .. XXIII . WE may assure , from fact , that this has been the divine œconomy , and leave those men to as- sume from imagination what this economy has or should have ...
... mankind is such as we feel , and as we are apt to complain that it is .. XXIII . WE may assure , from fact , that this has been the divine œconomy , and leave those men to as- sume from imagination what this economy has or should have ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
absurd according affirm agreeable all-perfect ancient animals appear Arcesilaus artificial theology ascribe assert assumed atheists attri authority believe christian church Clarke conceive constitution creatures dæmons doctrine effect employed Epicurus errour established eternal reason existence fantastick final cause former future God's gods happiness heathen philosophers human hypothesis ideas imagine infinite wisdom instance intuitive knowledge Israelites Jews Judaism justice kind knowledge Lactantius law of nature less mankind manner matter means ment metaphysical mind misery moral attributes natural religion natural theology necessary notions objects observation occasion opinion particular providences passions perfections phænomena physical and moral Plato Plutarch polytheism pretend principles proofs prove publick purpose Pythagoras reason of things reasoners à priori reconcile reformation repugnant revelation rewards and punishments scheme second Alcibiades sense Socrates sophism superstition suppose Supreme taught tion true truth Tully ture unjust virtue wherein whole
Popular passages
Page 209 - We have the ideas of a square, a circle, and equality ; and yet, perhaps, shall never be able to find a circle equal to a square, and certainly know that it is so. We have the ideas of matter and thinking, but possibly shall never be able to know whether any mere material being thinks or no...
Page 213 - As the dealings of very wise," he says, and we may add, of very just and good men, " are sometimes founded upon maxims, and admit justifications not obvious nor penetrable by vulgar conceit, so may God act according to rules of wisdom and justice which it may be quite impossible by our faculties to apprehend, or with our means to descry. As there are natural modes of being and operation .... so there may be prudential and moral rules of proceeding, far above our reach .... peculiar objects of divine...
Page 376 - ... but content myself to be governed by the dictates of nature, and am, therefore, in no danger of becoming atheistical, superstitious, or sceptical, I should have no difficulty which to choose, if the option was proposed to me, to exist after death, or to die whole, as it has been called. Be there two worlds, or be there twenty, the same God is the God of all, and wherever we are, we are equally in his power. Far from fearing my Creator, that all-perfect Being whom I adore, I should fear to be...
Page 209 - We have the ideas of matter and thinking, but possibly shall never be able to know whether any mere material being thinks or no;* it being impossible for us, by the contemplation of our own ideas, without revelation, to discover whether Omnipotency has not given to some systems of matter fitly disposed, a power to perceive and think, or else joined and fixed to matter so disposed a thinking immaterial substance...
Page 231 - It is not only true but obvious, that man is connected by his nature, and, therefore, by the design of the Author of all nature with the whole tribe of animals, and so closely with some of them that the distance between his intellectual faculties and theirs, which constitutes as really, though not so sensibly as figure, the difference of species, appears, in many instances, small, and would, probably, appear still less, if we had the means of knowing their motives, as we have of observing their actions.
Page 370 - Governor of the universe, in whom we live, and move, and have our being, has been tried, convicted, and condemned, for his government of the world, on the general principles of human justice ; like the governor of a province, or any other inferior magistrate.
Page 177 - The universe is an immense aggregate of systems. Every one of these, if we may judge by our own, contains several; and every one of these again, if we may judge by our own, is made up of a multitude of different modes of being animated and inanimated, thinking and unthinking, rational and irrational, different natures...
Page 164 - Bolingbroke also observes, that " the doctrine of rewards and punishments in a future state has so great a tendency to enforce the civil laws, and to restrain the vices of men, that reason which (as he pretends) cannot decide for it on principles of natural theology, will not decide against it on principles of good policy.
Page 345 - Nature, is no doubt, and as that may be which supposes these providences exercised in a manner agreeable to these laws. That the world is fitted in many respects to be the habitation of men, or that men are fitted for this habitation, is true. But will it follow, even from the first, that the world therefore was made for the sake of man, any more, than it will follow...
Page 278 - The truth is, that we have not in philosophical speculation, in any history except that of the Bible, nor in our own experience, sufficient grounds to establish the doctrine of particular providences...