All the sentiments of the human mind, gratitude, resentment, love,
friendship, approbation, blame, pity, emulation, envy, have a plain
reference to the state and situation of man, and are calculated for
preserving the existence and promoting the activity of such a being in
such circumstances. It seems, therefore, unreasonable to transfer such
sentiments to a supreme existence, or to suppose him actuated by them;
and the phenomena besides of the universe will not support us in such a
theory. All our ideas, derived from the senses, are confessedly false and
illusive; and cannot therefore be supposed to have place in a supreme
intelligence: And as the ideas of internal sentiment, added to those of
the external senses, compose the whole furniture of human understanding,
we may conclude, that none of the materials of thought are in any respect
similar in the human and in the divine intelligence. Now, as to the
manner of thinking; how can we make any comparison between them, or
suppose them any wise resembling? Our thought is fluctuating, uncertain,
fleeting, successive, and compounded; and were we to remove these
circumstances, we absolutely annihilate its essence, and it would in such
a case be an abuse of terms to apply to it the name of thought or reason.
At least if it appear more pious and respectful (as it really is) still
to retain these terms, when we mention the Supreme Being, we ought to
acknowledge, that their meaning, in that case, is totally
incomprehensible; and that the infirmities of our nature do not permit us
to reach any ideas which in the least correspond to the ineffable
sublimity of the Divine attributes.




PART 4