cavils of Atheists, Libertines, and Freethinkers of all denominations.




PART 2



I must own, CLEANTHES, said DEMEA, that nothing can more surprise me,
than the light in which you have all along put this argument. By the
whole tenor of your discourse, one would imagine that you were
maintaining the Being of a God, against the cavils of Atheists and
Infidels; and were necessitated to become a champion for that fundamental
principle of all religion. But this, I hope, is not by any means a
question among us. No man, no man at least of common sense, I am
persuaded, ever entertained a serious doubt with regard to a truth so
certain and self-evident. The question is not concerning the being, but
the nature of God. This, I affirm, from the infirmities of human
understanding, to be altogether incomprehensible and unknown to us. The
essence of that supreme Mind, his attributes, the manner of his
existence, the very nature of his duration; these, and every particular
which regards so divine a Being, are mysterious to men. Finite, weak, and
blind creatures, we ought to humble ourselves in his august presence;
and, conscious of our frailties, adore in silence his infinite
perfections, which eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man to conceive. They are covered in a deep
cloud from human curiosity. It is profaneness to attempt penetrating
through these sacred obscurities. And, next to the impiety of denying his
existence, is the temerity of prying into his nature and essence, decrees