PROPOSITION II.

PROVING THE EXISTENCE OF THE DIVINE BEING FROM THE NATURE OF SPACE.

[Proofs from Space-The more extensive the existence of any object or substance, the more perfect-Space exists -indivisible—every where the same-must inhere in an infinite Substance is eternal, &c.-cannot be an independent substance-must be a perfection-The Essence of which it is a perfection, infinite-an adequate perfection of the Substance in which it necessarily inheres—implies omnipresence-The Being of which it is a perfection, must exist in the full and perfect exercise and enjoyment of all its other perfections—must do so through every point of immensity and eternity—must be ever-living, spiritual, and immaterial-must be necessarily existent-must be eternal, immense, and immutable-Nothing contingent can necessarily inhere in this Substance.]

THE chain of reasoning, in this example, may run as follows:

1. Simple existence is preferable to non-existence. This is evident from creation and providence; from the rank that rational moral beings hold in the scale of creation in this world; from their hopes of immortality in the next; and more particularly, from the necessary existence of the Divine Being itself, which has been clearly proved in the foregoing proposition.

2. In proportion as existence is preferable to non-existence, the former must be a perfection, the latter an imperfection: the former positive, the latter negative. Simple existence is not an independent substance; but it distinguishes entity from nonentity: that which is positive, from that which is negative. It always presupposes an object, or an independent substance, in which it inheres; therefore it is the necessary foundation of all being and perfection, and must itself necessarily be a perfection. This position may be argued in a variety of ways; but still the foregoing conclusion will hold good, and appear infallible.

3. Simple existence cannot be an independent substance, because bare existence, in the abstract, is absolutely incapable of self-subsistence, and can have no attributes or perfections. But though not an independent substance in itself, yet it always supposes and implies some object, or some substance, and thus it may be said to comprehend all beings whatever; and thus far it must be considered as a perfection in every substance.

4. The more extensive the sphere of existence is, the more extensive is that perfection which existence implies, and really constitutes. This is evident from the extended influence of a man of great wealth, or a man of great authority: wealth, and power, may be said to extend the existence of their possessors. Something like

this

may also be argued from longevity; and the

whole may be exemplified by a king, a judge, a commander-in-chief, and, in a lower degree, the head of a family.

5. Whatever is necessary to constitute existence, must certainly exist, because that which does not or cannot exist, can be noways necessary to being, and can have no relation to an object, or to an independent substance; for if it could, existence and non-existence could be united in the very same being at the very same time, which is absurd and impossible.

6. Whatever is necessary to constitute existence must be a perfection, either inhering in the being that exists, or inhering in some other being, or substance, which is the cause of that existence, and upon which the former being must depend; and that in proportion as this perfection is necessary to existence, and also because this perfection actually exists.

7. Space is necessary to finite existence: all finite beings, whether material or spiritual, must exist in space: therefore space must exist, and it proves itself to be a perfection, so far as it is necessary to finite existence, although, in its abstract universal acceptation, it may not necessarily and essentially inhere as a perfection in any created being. In this view, we may consider space in the same manner in which we do knowledge, perception, conception, abstraction, as standing connected with a created or uncreated

intelligent being. Knowledge, in a created being, may be called created knowledge: the same may be said of perception, conception, abstraction, standing connected with a created being; these powers or faculties of the created mind may be denominated created. So space, standing connected with a created being, may be called created space; and standing connected with the uncreated being, may be called uncreated space. And as far as space is necessary to the exercise of knowledge, perception, conception, abstraction, by a created being; in like manner it is necessary to the exercise of knowledge, perception, conception, abstraction, by the uncreated Being. Created space, therefore, is necessary to the existence and operations of created beings; and uncreated space is necessary to the existence and operations of the uncreated Being. Hence, so far as it is necessary to finite existence, it must inhere either in finite substances, or in a Substance upon which finite beings depend for their existence. They cannot exist without it, but it may exist independently of them.

8. Abstract, uncreated space is indivisible, absolute, simple, and uniform in its nature; incapable of variety, or of diversity of its own existence. Wherever we suppose space to be, in its absolute and abstract existence, it is always the

Whatever thought we form of its existence, we find it always the same. Whatever

view we take of its existence, it is always the same; and whatever speculations we form concerning its existence, we still find it the very same; reaching farther than thought can extend, and defying limitation by finite intelligence.

9. Whatever space is at any one point, the very same it is at every other point. Whatever it is any where, that same it must be every where; because it is uniform, simple, absolute, indivis ible, and incapable of a diversity of existence, except in the view we have already taken of it as created and uncreated. This is as plain and certain as any demonstration, and presents an unbounded field to intellectual research, and exhibits a vast region to metaphysical investigation.

10. Space, we have already observed, proves itself to be a perfection, because it is necessary to the existence of finite beings; and it is constituted a perfection, because it is necessary and essential to the existence of the Infinite Being. And this perfection, or medium of finite existence, must primarily and necessarily inhere in finite objects, or finite substances, or in an infinite Substance, upon which all finite beings depend. And being uniform, indivisible, simple, and incapable of a diversity of existence abstractedly in itself, it must be a perfection wherever it exists; and in its own nature a perfection, extending in all directions without limitation. This carries the thoughts far beyond the sphere of