fame thing may be, and not be at the Vol. VII. fame time: but tho' in cafe of Divine Revelation, I may believe that to be no contradiction, which feems to me to be a contradiction; yet I am not, without great neceffity and clear evidence, to offer violence to reason, and affront the faculty of Underftading which God hath endowed me withal, by entertaining any thing which seems to me to be a contradiction; which the Papifts do in the business of Tranfubftantiation, without any evidence of Revelation, and confequently without neceffity. 2. But if this were revealed in Scripture, that the fame thing may be and not be at the fame time, I could have no reason to believe that, because I could have no affurance, if that were true, that the Scriptures were a Divine Revelation, or that it were to be believed if it were; for if it were true, that the fame thing may be and not be, then a Divine Revelation may be no Divine Revelation, and when I am bound to believe a thing, I may be bound at the fame time not to believe it, and so all things would fall into uncertainty, and the foundation of of all affurance, and of all duty and obedience, both of Faith and Practice, Vol. VII would be taken away. The II. Objection is from the power of Creation, which is generally acknowledged to be a making of fomething out of nothing; now fay the Objectors, this feems as palpable a Contradiction as any thing elfe. Anf. To us indeed, who converse with material things, and never saw any thing made, but out of pre-exiftent matter, it is very hard to conceive how any thing fhould be created, that is, produced out of nothing: but every thing that is ftrange is not a contradiction. It is ftrange to us, and hard to conceive, that there fhould be fuch a thing as a Spirit, who never faw, nor can see any thing but matter; and yet we grant there are Spirits. It is hard to us to conceive how any thing should be made, but out of matter; and yet Spirit, if it were made of any thing pre-exiftent, cannot be made of matter: but if we will attend to those common dictates of Reafon, which every Man, whether he will or no, muft affent to, we may eafily understand Creation to be poffi Vel. VII. ble, and free from contradiction. For the clearing of this, I will proceed by thefe fteps. 1. The true Notion of Creation, is the bringing of fomething into Being, which before had no Being at all; for the Phrase of making fomething out of nothing, or out of no pre-exiftent matter, does mislead our Understandings into odd Conceits, as if nothing could be the material cause of something, or as if nothing could be what is material. 2. Every one muft grant, that fome thing is; for we fee that things are, however they came to be. 3. Every one muft that fomegrant, thing is of it felf, whether matter, of that Being which we call God. 4. Every one must grant, that that which was of it felf was always; for nothing can begin to be of it felf. 5. It is much more eafie to conceive how a thing that once was not, might fometime be brought into Being by another, than how a thing fhould be always of it felf; for that which once was not, is fuppofed to have fomething before it, by which it may be poffible, why not in all cafes? Unless we had fome certain way of Vol. VII, diftinguishing between feeming coiltradictions and real ones. And if we grant all contradictions poffible, then there is no reason to exempt these from the extent of the Divine Power; but we may fafely fay, that the Divine Power can make a thing to be and not to be at the fame time. To *this I anfwer, 1. I do not grant, that any thing that feems to me to be a contradiction, ought to be granted by me to be poffible, unless I have higher assurance and greater reason to believe it to be poffible, than I have to believe it to be a contradiction; for Example, Suppofe it were clearly revealed in Scripture, that two Bodies may be in the fame place at the fame time (which is not, nor any thing like it) then having a revelation for this, and no revelation that it is not a contradi &tion, I have higher affurance and greater reason to believe it is poffible, than that it is a contradiction; and confequently I have reafon to believe it is no contradiction, and that from thence it would not follow, that the. fame fame thing may be, and not be at the Vol. VII. fame time: but tho' in cafe of Divine Revelation, I may believe that to be no contradiction, which feems to me to be a contradiction; yet I am not, without great neceffity and clear evidence, to offer violence to reason, and affront the faculty of Understading which God hath endowed me withal, by entertaining any thing which seems to me to be a contradiction; which the Papifts do in the business of Tranfubftantiation, without any evidence of Revelation, and confequently without neceffity. 2. But if this were revealed in Scripture, that the fame thing may be and not be at the fame time, I could have no reason to believe that, because I could have no affurance, if that were true, that the Scriptures were a Divine Revelation, or that it were to be believed if it were; for if it were true, that the fame thing may be and not be, then a Divine Revelation may be no Divine Revelation, and when I am bound to believe a thing, I may be bound at the fame time not to believe it, and fo all things would fall into uncertainty, and the foundation of |