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

Chap. I. nor goes to Nothing. 31'Praterea quacunque vetujiate amovet tetas.Si penitus permit, confumens mateiiam annetn,Unde ajiimale genus generatim in lumina vitaReddiuit Venus ? aut reMu5lum D^dala tellusUnde alit atque aiiget ? generatim pabida pr^ebens. Sec.Hand igitur penitus pereunt quacunque videntur,^ando aliud ex alio reficit natura ; nee ullamRem gigni patitur niji morte adjutam aliena.In which paflages, though it be plain, that Lucretius ^oxki not immediatelydrive at atheifm, and nothing elfe, but primarily at the eftablifhing ofa pecuhar kind of atomical phyfiology, upon which indeed theie Democriticksafterward endeavoured to graft atheifm -, yet to take away that fulpicion,wefhall in the next place fhew, that generally the other ancient Phyfiologcrsalfo, who were Theifts, did likewife build the ftrudure of their philofophyupon the fame foundation, ^zl nothing can ccme from nothing, nor go to nothing:as for example, Parmenides, Melijfus, Zeno, Xenophanes, Anaxagorasand Empedocles. Of Parmenides and Melijjus Arijiotle thus writes % kVeuih\y'ai&xi ^xmii iSi (ph'ifiStat tku o'jIuv' The}' fay that no real entity is eithergenerated or corrupted, that is, made anew out of nothing, or dcftroy'd to nothing.And Simplicius tells us % that Parmenides gave a notable reafon forthe confirmation of this aflertion, that nothing in nature could be made outof nothing, aiV/ai/ ts Sum ariulcof £^ il-J]^, yttn&xi to ytvojj.ivov, Sjsu^aj-w; o Ilap-(/.mSm isrporiS'lxEi', oAw? yxo (p^o-iv, tl ix rs [xri o]il@^, ti; n xttoxXv^xg-i; tk tote J/evt^aioTi iyiiiiTo, x\Xx fj-ri z^fiOTipo]) fi vn^or Becaufe if any thing be made out ofnothing, then there could be no caufe, why it foculd then be made, and neitherfooner nor later. Again Arifiotle •» tcftifies of Xcnophanes and Zeno, that theymade this a main principle of their philofophy, p-'i hSsyJ^xi j/i'i/sSai fj.riSh ex jx-a-J'fucV,! that it cannot be, that any thing fhould be made out of nothing : And ofthis Xenophanes, Sextus the philofopher tells us % that he held o-'i\ xj xci^fjixl!^SUg- That there tvas but one God, and that he ivas incorporeal, fpeakingthus of himOjti Si^xi; S'l/JiTOilrti' oac/ii^', bts vi;'/i,ua.Arijiotle ^ alfo writes in like manner concerning Empedocles,