Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_003.TXT

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some years ago {16}, they appear to have some sense of a
Supreme Being, and of inferior deities. They express
a superstitious joy at new and full moons; and it is said
they pray to a Being that dwells above; and offer sacri-
fice of the best things they have, with eyes lifted up to
heaven {17}. And later discoveries of other nations, shew
the contrary to what has been asserted of them; which
assertions have arose either from want of intimate know-
ledge of them, and familiar acquaintance with them, or
from their dissolute, wicked, and irreligious lives; when,
by conversing with them, it appears that they have a
notion of the sun, or sky, or something or another being
a sort of deity. Thus it has been observed of the Green-
landers {18}, that \*"they had neither a religion nor idolatrous
"worship; nor so much as any ceremonies to be perceived
"tending to it: hence the first missionaries entertained a
"supposition, that there was not the least trace to be found
"among them of any conception of a divine Being, espe-
"cially as they had no word to express him by. But when
"they came to understand their language better, they found
"quite the reverse to be true, from the notions they had,
"though very vague and various, concerning the soul, and
"concerning spirits; and also from their anxious solicitude
"about the state after death. And not only so, but they
"could plainly gather from a free dialogue they had with
"some perfectly wild Greenlanders, that their ancestors
"must have believed a supreme Being, and did render him
"some service; which their posterity neglected by little
"and little, the further they were removed from more wise
"and civilised nations; till at last they lost every just con-
"ception of the Deity; yet, after all, it is manifest, that
"a faint idea of a divine Being lies concealed in the minds
"even of this people, because they directly assent, without
"any objection, to the doctrine of a God, and his attri-
"butes."\*  And as to what is concluded from the irre-
ligious lives of the inhabitants of some nations, we need
not be sent to Africa and America for such atheists as
these; we have enough of them in our own nation; and
I was just ready to say, we are a nation of atheists in this
sense: and, indeed, all men in an unregenerate state, be
they Jews or Gentiles, or live where they may, they are
\~ayeoi\~, %atheists%; as the apostle calls them, \\#Eph 2:12\\
they are \*"without God in the world, being alienated
from the life of God,"\* \\#Eph 4:18\\ otherwise there is such
a general sense of Deity in mankind; and such a natural
inclination to religion, of some sort or another, though
ever so bad, that some have thought that man should
rather be defined as a religious than a rational animal.
I take no notice of the holy angels, who worship God
continually; nor of the devils, who believe there is one
God and tremble; my argument being only concerned
with men.
\*@2.The second argument shall be taken from the law
and light of nature; or from the general instinct in men,
or impress of Deity on the mind of every man; that is,
as soon as he begins to have the exercise of his rational
powers, he thinks and speaks of God, and assents to the
Being of a God. This follows upon the former, and is
to be proved by it; for as Cicero {19} says, \*"The consent
of all nations in any thing, is to be reckoned the law of
nature."\*  And since all nations agree in the belief of a
Deity, that must be a part of the law of nature, inscribed
on the heart of every man. Seneca {20} makes use of this
to prove there is a God; \*"because,"\* says he, \*"an opinion
or sense of Deity, is %implanted% in the minds of all men."\*
And so likewise Cicero, as observed before; and who
calls them the notions of Deity implanted and innate.
And whoever believes the Mosaic account of the creation
of man, cannot doubt of this being his case, when first
created; since he is said to be made in the image, and
after the likeness of God; for the image of God surely
could not be impressed upon him, without having the
knowledge of him implanted in him; and though man
by sinning has greatly come short of this image and
glory of God, yet this light of nature is not wholly ob-
scured, nor the law of nature entirely obliterated in him;
there are some remains of it. There are some indeed
among us, who deny there are any innate ideas in the
minds of men, and particularly concerning God: but to
such writers and reasoners I pay but little regard; when
the inspired apostle assures us, that even the Gentiles,
destitute of the law of Moses, have %the work of the law
written in their hearts%, \\#Ro 2:15\\ which, as it regards
duty to God, as well as man, necessarily supposes the
knowledge of him; as well as of the difference between
good and evil, as founded upon his nature and will: and
though this light of nature is not sufficient to lead men, in
their present state, to a true spiritual and saving knowledge
of God; yet it furnishes them with such a sense of him,
as puts them upon seeking him; \*"if haply they may feel
and grope after him, and find him,"\* \\#Ac 17:27\\. These
notices of a divine Being do not flow from the previous
instructions of parents and others; but from a natural
instinct; at most, they are only drawn forth by instruc-
tion and teaching; \*"that there is a Deity,"\* Velleius, the
Epicurean, says {21}, \*"nature itself has impressed the notion
of on the minds of all men; for what nation, or sort of
men,"\* adds he, \*"that has not a certain anticipation of it
without being taught it,"\* or before taught it, as Julian {22}
expresses it: nor do these notices take their rise from
state policy; or are the effects of that originally: if this
was the case, if it was the contrivance of politicians to
keep men in awe, and under subjection, it must be the
contrivance of one man, or more united together. If of
one, say, who is the man? in what age he lived, and
where? and what is his name, or his son's name? If of
more, say, when and where they existed? and who they
were that met together? and where they formed this
scheme? And let it be accounted for; if it can, that such
a number of sage and wise men, who have been in the
world; that no man should be able to get into the secret,
and detect the fallacy and discover it, and free men from
the imposition. Besides, these notices appeared before
any scheme of politics was formed; or kings or civil
magistrates were in being. Plato {23} has refuted this no-
tion; and represents it as a very pestilent one, both in


{16} See Dr. Watts's Strength and Weakness of human Reason, in
Vol. II. of his works, p. 262, &c.
{17} See Ovington's Voyage to Surat, p. 489, 498. and Dampier's
Voyages, Vol. I. p. 541.
{18} Crantz's History of Greenland, Vol. 1. b. 3. ch. 5. p. 197, 198.
{19} Ut supra.
{20} Ut Supra.
{21} Apud Ciceron. de Natura Deorum, 1. 1.
{22} Apud Grotium de jure Belli, 1. 2. c. 20. s. 45. Annotat. in ibid. p. 334.
{23} De Legibus, 1. 10. p. 948.