CHAPTER IV
That the Earth and Mankind had an Original, and were not from Eternity: Prov’d against Aristotle. The first proposition of our Theory laid down, viz. That the Ante-diluvian Earth was of a different form and construction from the present. This is prov’d by Divine Authority, and from the nature and form of the Chaos, out of which the Earth was made.
WE are now to enquire into the Original of the Earth, and in what form it was built at first, that we may lay our foundation for the following Theory, deep and sure. It hath been the general opinion and consent of the Learned of
and that we may think nothing Eternal here, they tell us the Ages and Genealogies of their very Gods. The measures of Time for the common uses of life, the dividing it into Hours, with the Instruments for those purposes, are not of an unknown date: Even the Arts for preparing Food and Clothing, Medicines and medicaments, Building, Civil and Military, Letters and Writing, which are the foundations of the World Civil: These, with all their retinue of lesser Arts and Trades that belong to them, History and Tradition tell us, when they had their beginning, or were very imperfect; and how many of their Inventors and Inventresses were deifi’d. The World hath not stood so long but we can still run it up to those Artless Ages, when mortals liv’d by plain Nature; when there was but one Trade in the World, one Calling, to look to their Flocks; and afterwards to Till the Ground, when Nature grew less liberal: And may we not reasonably think this the beginning of Mankind, or very near it? If Man be a creature both naturally sagacious to find out its own conveniencies, and naturally sociable and inclin’d to live in a Community, a little time would make them find out and furnish themselves with what was necessary in these two kinds, for the conveniencies of single life, and the conveniencies of Societies; they would not have liv’d infinite Ages unprovided of them. If you say Necessity is the Mother of Arts and Inventions, and there was no necessity before, and therefore these things were so slowly invented. This is a good answer upon our supposition, that the World began but some Ages before these were found out, and was abundant with all things at first; and Men not very numerous, and therefore were not put so much to the use of their wits for living commodiously. But this is no answer upon their supposition; for if the World was Eternal and Men too, there were no first Ages, no new and fresh Earth; Men were never less numerous, nor the Earth more fruitful; and consequently there was never less necessity at any time than is now. This also brings to mind another argument against this opinion (viz.) from the gradual increase of Mankind. ’Tis certain the World was not so populous one or two thousand years since, as it is now, seeing ’tis observ’d, in particular Nations, that within the space of two or three hundred years, notwithstanding all casualties, the number of Men doubles. If then the Earth had stood from Everlasting, it had been over-stockt long ere this,
The words of the Apostle are these; For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old, and the Earth, consisting of Water, and by Water; or (as we render it) standing out of the Water, and in the Water; whereby the World that then was, being overflow’d with Water, perisht. But the Heavens and the Earth that are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserv’d unto Fire against the day of Judgment. We shall have occasion, it may be, hereafter to give a full illustration of these words; but at present we shall only take notice of this in general, that the Apostle here doth plainly intimate some difference that was between the Old World and the present World, in their form and constitution; or betwixt the Ante-diluvian and the present Earth, by reason of which difference, that was subject to perish by a Deluge, as this is subject to perish by Conflagration. And as this is the general Air and importance of this discourse of the Apostles, which every one at first sight would discover; so we may in several particular ways prove from it our first Proposition, which now we must return to; (viz.) That the form and constitution of the Ante-diluvian Earth was different from that of the present Earth. This may be infer’d from the Apostle's discourse, first, because he makes an opposition betwixt these two Earths, or these two natural Worlds; and that not only in respect of their fate, the one perishing by Water, as the other will perish by Fire, but also in respect of their different disposition and constitution leading to this different fate, for otherwise his fifth verse is superfluous, and his Inference in the sixth ungrounded; you see he premiseth in the fifth verse as the ground of his discourse, what the constitution of the Ante-diluvian Heavens and Earth was, and then infers from it in the sixth verse, that they therefore perisht in a Deluge of water. Now if they had been the same with ours, there had neither been any ground for making an opposition betwixt them, nor any ground of making a contrary inference as to their fate. Besides, in that he implies, that the constitution of the Ante-diluvian Earth was such, as made it subject to a Deluge; he shews, that it was different from the constitution of the present Earth; for the form of that is such, as makes it rather incapable of a Deluge, as we have shewn in the second Chapter. Then we are to observe further, that when he saith (verse 6.) that the first World perish’d in a Deluge, or was destroy’d by it; this is not to be understood of the Animate world only, Men and living Creatures, but of the Natural world, and the frame of it; for he had describ’d it before by the Heavens and the Earth, which make the Natural world. And the objection of the Atheists, or Deists rather, which he was to answer, proceeded upon the Natural world. And lastly, this perishing of the World in a Deluge, is set against, or compar’d with the perishing of the world in the Conflagration, when the frame of Nature will be dissolv’d. We must therefore, according to the tenor of the Apostle's arguing, suppose, that the Natural world was destroy’d or perisht in the Deluge; and seeing it did not perish as to matter and substance, it must be as to the form, frame, and composition of it, that it perisht; and consequently, the present Earth is of another form and
