wherein all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted, and

200 *That Omnipotence is included Book T.unmade mind, ruling over the matter, and fo make fenflefs matter the foleoriginal of all things. And this is certainly moft agreeable to commonapprehenfions ; for Democrilus and Epicurus would never have been condemnedfor Atheifts merely for aflcrting eternal felf-exiftent atoms, nomore than Anaxngoras and Archelaus were, (who maintained the fixme thing)had they nor a'fo denied that other principle of theirs, a perfed mind, andconcluded, that the world was made, fj^nSivog Six-ri-AovIo; rt Smtx^kij-vj^s tw Trao-avi'XP'^o;ju,K;«a!3ioT»i7« )ait dp^xctrix;, without (he ordering and difpofal of any un~derjlanding being, that bad all happinefs with incorruptibility."VIII. The mie and proper idea of God, in its mofl: contrafted form^ isthis,a being ahfohteiy perfeEi \ for this is that alone, to which neccflutry exiftenceis efTential, and of which it is demonftrable. Now, as abfolureperftdlion includes in it all that belongs to the Deity, fo does it not onlycomprehend (befides neceffary exiftence) perfeft knowledge or underftanding,but alfo omni-caufality and omnipotence (in the full extent of it;)otherwife called infinite power. God is not only ^wov apirw, and animansquo nihil in omni natura prajlantius, as the Materiarian Theifts defcribedhim, the bejl living being; nor, as Zeno Eleates^ called him, y-firtrm ttmIuv,the moji powerful of all things ; but he is alio Trxfy.ccclyic^ and T-xxlon^xru^^ andTrai/lffcuVio?, abfolutely omnipotent, and infinitely pozverful : and therefore neithermatter, nor any thing elfe, can exift of itfelf independently upon God ;but he is the fole principle and fource, from which all things are derived.But becaufe this infinite power is a thing, which the Atheifts quarrelmuch withal, as if it were altogether unintelligible, and therefore impoffible; we fhall here briefly declare the fenfe of it, and render it (as wethink) eafily intelligible or conceivable, in thefe two following fteps :Firft, that by infinite power is meant nothing elfe but perfeft power, orelfe, as SimpUcius calls it, oK-n Svvxy.ig, a whole and entire power, fuch ashath no allay and mixture of impotency, nor any defedl of power mingledwith it. And then again, that this perfeft power (which is alfo the famewith infinite) is really nothing elfe but a power of producing and doingall whatfoever is conceivable, and which does not imply a contradiition ;.for conception is the only meafure of power and its e.'itent, as fnall be/hewed more fully in due place.Now, here we think fit to obferve, that the Pagan Theifts did themfelvesalfo vulgarly acknowledge omnipotence as an attribute of the Deity jwhich might be proved from fundry pafliiges of their writings :Homer. Od.