^a6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III. 



CHAP. XII. 



\the Materia Prima a fuhjeEl of mojl ahjlrufe /peculation^ — mnre ab- 

 Jlrufe than that of- the Trinity. — Its exiflcnce admitted by all the 

 Antient Ph'ilofophers^ — called by them ^vXt; ; — held to be different 

 from Bod)\ having none of the quauties of Body. — Timazui calis 

 it the Mother^ and Idea the Father^ of Body. — Being neither Mind 

 nor Body., it can only be comprehended >.oyKr^u) vo&oc. — // is hot 

 treated of by Modern Philofophy^ which has not analyfed farther 

 than to the four Elements. — Though none of thefe^ it muf be fome- 

 ihing common to them all., and convertible to every one of them, as 

 they change into one another. — // is a Proteus-like fubfance ;~ not 

 to be very accurately defned; — is at the lower extremity of the chain 

 of being. — Neither the lowejl nor highejl extremity ccmprehenfible by 

 lis, — Two que/} ions in Theology fated : — Did this ftf matter pro- 

 ceed from Deity ^ Or if it did 7iof^ Is it impious to maintain that a 

 thiu^., not derived from him.^ can exif from all eternity f —Anfiter 

 to frft quefion — // did not. — Rea/ons in fupport of the author s 

 opinion. — The fecond quefion conftdered—No impiety in the fuppofi- 

 firjji, — The /luthfjr fupported by Antient Philo/ophy in his opinions 

 en thefe two quefions., — by Mofes — by Timaus — ajid by Ariftotlc, 



IN 



