G 



ATHEIS M. 



.Vlici.m. ,j hom they believed to have 6prung, like them- 

 ,.i , from tin- air, or the ocean. 

 Sentiments like these we lind in the most ancient 

 poets of Greece. Tims Homer says, s:*s*>< &* 

 yif ii. mi ^MTi(s T9v>. 1 1 ' inct ; but 



he ascribes the same origin to gods and men, '-'.; 

 ifitht yty*<-i Sin $>mi r utSfvrtt. The scholiast 

 explain! iputtt, Y* rtu wm ytuv;. Aristophanes 

 says, that Love, the offspring of Night and Cliaos, ge- 

 nerated all the gods, as well as other animals, xfin^ct 

 }' vk it yiif ctixixrtn, ft it Ej({ <nutiji> ixxtr*. 1 in- 

 dar also says, 'E >?(, i> $t> yNf. We could quote 

 many other expressions from the poets, which even 

 t'ie ingenuity of Aristotle has failed to reconcile with 

 the principles of theism. Louginus, speaking of the 



fross ideas of the Deity conveyed by Homer, ac- 

 nowledges, that they arc completely atheistical 

 izis- Out, 



We are aware, however, that the same writers ap- 

 pear elsewhere to recognise a sovereign God, as the 

 father of all inferior divinities, and the ruler of na- 

 ture. Rut as the expressions of the poets are very 

 unsatisfactory, let us inquire how far the opinions of 

 the philosophers were rational and consistent. 



If we recur to the earliest times, we are compelled 

 to acknowledge, that the notions of the wise men, as 

 they were called, were at least as chimerical and false 

 as atheism itself: and in the more enlightened periods, 

 we are mortified to find, that though there were a 

 few who ascribed the formation of worlds to a Su- 

 preme Mind, there was not one who honoured him 

 as the original creator of matter itself. The sub- 

 stance of which all things are framed, was supposed, 

 by the theists, to be co-eternal with the prime mover, 

 who bestowed on it form, and life, and activity. In 

 vain do we look for the belief in a Being who gave 

 origin to all dependent existences ; and if the crea- 

 tion of matter itself i6 to be considered as an essential 

 attribute of the divinity, we must admit that it does 

 not seem to have entered into the conceptions of the 

 founders of any of the schools. It is perfectly evi- 

 dent, that Anaxagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, the three 

 greatest luminaries of Athens, held the eternity of 

 matter, and applied the incontrovertible axiom, no- 

 thing can proceed from nothing, to prove that to 

 the production of the present system, the pre-existence 

 of a material cause was not less necessary, than the 

 pre-existence of an omnipotent energy or mind. 



For an account of the opinions of other Grecian 

 theologists, we would willingly refer to Cicero's treatise 

 J)r Xvtur/t Dcomm ; but we must caution our readers 

 against relying implicitly on his authority. His enu- 

 meration is not complete, and his view of the different 

 systems is not only incorrect, but sometimes contra- 

 dictory. Neither can we vouch for the accuracy of 

 the laborious Cudworth, who, in his attempt to 

 overthrow the different atheistical hypotheses, was 

 anxious to avail himself of every expression in the 

 writings of the ancients which could be interpreted 

 U to support his peculiar system. Bayle and 

 Lord Bolingbroke have ; -iany observations on the 



bject, but they also had preconceived notions to 

 port* 



Till the time of Anaxagoras, the leaders of the Atheism. 

 Ionic school were atheists in the strictest sense of v - "v 

 the word. There is some doubt with regard to 

 Thai . - U;, S '' extremely ambiguous; 



but the tenets of his immediate followers, Anaximan- 

 der and Anaximenes, are decidedly hostile to the sup- 

 position, that mind was the first principle of things. 

 If there were gods, they were either air itself, or the 

 progeny of air. Diogenes Apolloniatcs held a simi- 

 lar opinion, which approached very nearly to the 

 hi of Spinoza. 



We shall only mention the names of Democritu'', 

 Leucippni, Diagoras, Protagoras, Epicurus, Theo- 

 doras, Strato of Lampsacus, Eumerus, Hippo, and 

 Bion of Borysthenes ; all of whom either rejected the 

 belief in God altogether, or insisted that it was un- 

 necessary to have recourse to this supposition in or- 

 der to account for the formation of things ; or at 

 least professed themselves unable to perceive any evi- 

 dences that a God exists. 



At a period equally ancient, Confucius, though he 

 spoke sometimes of the Spirit of Heaven, is general- 

 ly believed to have propagated an atheistical creed 

 among his followers, insomuch that from his time the 

 literati of China have been considered as a race of 

 atheists. It is alleged by others, that Foe, before his 

 death, revealed to a few disciples his secret doctrine, 

 that inanity and vacuity were the principles of all 

 things ; and this incomprehensible dogma having 

 transpired, is said to have given rise to the infidel no- 

 tions of the philosophers. Couplet the Jesuit en- 

 deavours to vindicate Confucius from the charge, and 

 Sir William Jones subscribes to the opinion of that 

 missionary ; but we must own, that neither in the 

 writings of Confucius, nor in the religious worship of 

 the people, is there any trace of a belief in a Supreme 

 God, or in any powers much superior to human be- 

 ings. Sir William Temple is said to have been a 

 follower of Confucius, and to have believed that this 

 world existed in its present form from all eternity. 



In modern times, the systems of Spinoza and 

 Hobbes have been the most remarkable. The fol- 

 lowers of the former call themselves Pantheists, as 

 they maintain God and the universe to be the same. 

 The most impious among them were Meier a phy- 

 sician, Lucas, also a physician, Count Boulainvillicrs, 

 and John Toland. 



Among modern atheists we may also mention 

 Barbara, the wife of the Emperor Sigismund, a 

 rare instance, says Bayle, of such an error being 

 maintained by a woman. Averroes, Campanella, the 

 Popes Leo X. and Clement VII., Caesalpinus, Des 

 Barrcaux, and Charron, have also been accused by 

 different writers ; but with what degree of justice, v. e 

 do not pretend to decide. We know well, that the 

 following persons suffered death for their perverted 

 zeal in endeavouring to disseminate atheistical prin- 

 ciples. Giordano Bruno, the author of many im- 

 pious works, was burnt at Rome in 1600.* Vanini 

 was burnt at Toulouse, in 1629, and to the last mo- 

 ment obstinately adhered to the profession of his un- 

 belief. Casimir Leszynski, a Polish knight, was 

 burnt at Warsaw in 16S9, and, after the body was 



* Iliict and othen h;\v sM, that Des Cartes borrowed many of his scntunests from this man. 



