The Publisher to the Reader.

But now, regarding those principles or passages in his philosophy that are more uniquely his own, there is nothing more alienated from the spirit original: "Genius" of the Scripture and the service of theology than they are. For fuller satisfaction, and for the sake of the pleasantness original: "suavity" of the concepts, let us test a few.

It is a grand principle with him that wherever we cannot help but conceive of an extension or expansion, we must likewise necessarily conceive that there is matter. Therefore, because we cannot help but conceive of an indefinite space extended all around us, we cannot help but conceive of matter extended everywhere. This plainly implies that we cannot help but conceive that matter exists, regardless of what else exists. From this it follows that the existence of matter is necessary in itself and independent of God, because in its very notion or idea, it cannot be conceived of as non-existent; we are unable to imagine anything other than an indefinite extension all around us. How this will agree with the absolute perfection of God, or what kind of sound meaning it will provide for the first verse of Genesis "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.", I leave to anyone to guess.

Again, it is an equally admitted principle with him that matter alone—with the degree of motion that is supposed to exist now in the universe—will produce all the phenomena original: "Phænomena" of the world: the sun, moon, and stars, air, water, earth, plants, animals, and the bodies of men, in the exact order and organization in which they are found. This principle in his philosophy must certainly prove to be a very poor original: "inept" interpreter of Romans 1:19–20 The text cites verse 26, but the context refers to the famous passage on natural theology in verses 19–20., where the eternal power and Godhead are said clearly to be seen by the things that are made, so much so that the Gentiles were thereby without excuse. But if the Cartesian philosophy The philosophy of René Descartes. is true, it was only their ignorance that prevented them from excusing themselves. For they might have said that all these things might come to pass by matter and mere mechanical...