The Works of the Late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Volume 8J. Johnson, 1809 - Great Britain |
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Page 3
... manner what Infinite Power might have done in several , " that " it was necessary God should separate a chosen 86 people from the rest of mankind , in order to preserve among mankind the knowledge of B 2 " himself " himself in his unity ...
... manner what Infinite Power might have done in several , " that " it was necessary God should separate a chosen 86 people from the rest of mankind , in order to preserve among mankind the knowledge of B 2 " himself " himself in his unity ...
Page 5
... manner and degree , in which this punishment was to be inflicted , stands good ; for if we can believe God to have been a king , " we can never believe him to have been such a king as he is described , nor to have given such laws as ...
... manner and degree , in which this punishment was to be inflicted , stands good ; for if we can believe God to have been a king , " we can never believe him to have been such a king as he is described , nor to have given such laws as ...
Page 6
... manner of stating facts , as well as of arguing , may be made ; but these are more than enough , to show in one instance more , and by the way , into how low a form the greatest writers fall , when they they attempt to reconcile to ...
... manner of stating facts , as well as of arguing , may be made ; but these are more than enough , to show in one instance more , and by the way , into how low a form the greatest writers fall , when they they attempt to reconcile to ...
Page 12
... manners , the measure of all things , might very easily conclude , that the several parts of this machine were made , and the several motions of it were directed , by different intelligencies . This opinion too might grow up to be ...
... manners , the measure of all things , might very easily conclude , that the several parts of this machine were made , and the several motions of it were directed , by different intelligencies . This opinion too might grow up to be ...
Page 22
... manner from the nature and attri- butes of God is the very first and most neces- sary thing of all . His and their approbation of the reasoning of pagan theists , in consequence of this first and most necessary thing of all , would not ...
... manner from the nature and attri- butes of God is the very first and most neces- sary thing of all . His and their approbation of the reasoning of pagan theists , in consequence of this first and most necessary thing of all , would not ...
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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...