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

Thatbutand«q8 Antifthenes his One Natural God. Book I.cic cc N D. treatife, is faid to have affirmed, EJe populares deos multos^ fed naturalemL. I • [^-ip unum ', though there were many popular gods, yet there was but one natural>^'"J Cod: or, as it is exprefifed in L«/J/(j«/i«j, Unmn ej]e naturalem Deum, quamvisDt:iraD.c.\\,gcntes i3 urbes fuos habeant populares \ "That there was but one natural God,though nations and cities had their feveralpopular ones. Wherefore Velleius theEpicurean in Cicero ' quarrels with this Antijlhenes, as one, who deftroyed thenature oi the gods, becaufe he denied a mukitude of independent deities,luch as Epicurus pretended to afTert. For this oi Antijlhenes is not fo to beiinderftood, as if he had therein defigned to take away all the inferiour godsof the Pagans, which had he at all attempted, he would doubtlefs have beenaccounted an Atheifb, as well as Anaxagoras was -, his meaning was, onlyto interpret the theology of the Pagans concerning thofe other gods of theirs,that were or might be look'd upon as abfolute and independent ; that thefe,though many popular gods, yet indeed were but one and the fame naturalGod, called by feveral names. -As for example, when the Greeks wor-Ihipped Zeus, the Latins Jovis, the Egyptians Hamnion, the BabyloniansBel, the Scythians Papp^us ; thefe were indeed many popular gods, andyet nevertht lefs all but one and the fame natural God. So again, when in thefelf-famc Pagan cities and countries, the refpedive laws thereof made mentionof feveral gods, as fuprcme and abfolute in their feveral territories, as Jupiterin the heavenf ,Juno in the air, Neptune in the fea ; or as being chief infeveral kinds of funftions, as Minerva for learning, Bellona for war, fcfr.(for this Ariftotle takes notice of in his book againd Zeno ^, y.xTx tou do/aoi/,TToAAa xpc-iVlijf (zAa/iAcju o\ S-£o1, That according to the laws of cities and countries^me god was beji for one thing, and atiother for another) Antiflhenes here declaredconcerning thefe alfo, that they were indeed many popular, or civilgods, but all really one and the fame natural God.ITo Antiflhenes might be added Diogenes Sinopen/ts,of whom it is recordedby Laertius "', that obferving a woman too lliperftitioufly worfhipping theftatue or image ofa god, endeavouring to abate her fuperftition, he thus befpakeher ; »h suAa?-^, u yljvou, jj-r, ttots ©£« oVu&eu ej-ut©-' (Travia yxp irtv xutS7rA7ia») a.^ttfAov!i>7n; ; Take you not tare, O woman, of not behaving your felfunfeem'y, in the fight of that God, whofianis behindyou ; for all things arefull of him : thereby giving her occaiion, more to mind and regard thatfupreme and univerfal Numen, that filleth the whole world and is everywhere,XXIII. It hath been frequently affirmed, that Socrates Axed a. murtyr (orone only God, in oppofition to thofe many gods of the Pagans -,Tertullian^,for one, writeth thus of him, Propterea damnatus i?/? Socrates, quiadeos deflruebat ; Socrates was therefore condemned to die, becaufe he defiroyedthe gods. And indeed x.\izx Socrates aifcrted one fuprcme God, the makerand governour of the whole world, is a thing not at all to be doubted. Inhis« Dc Namr. Dcor. Lib. I. Cap. ^1(1. 3 Lib. VI. fegm. 57. p. ri5-p. 2S