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?©, 1596-1650

"The Selections from the Principles of Philosophy"


XXV. That we must believe all that God has revealed, although it
may surpass the reach of our faculties.
Thus, if perhaps God reveal to us or others, matters concerning
himself which surpass the natural powers of our mind, such as the
mysteries of the incarnation and of the trinity, we will not refuse
to believe them, although we may not clearly understand them; nor
will we be in any way surprised to find in the immensity of his
nature, or even in what he has created, many things that exceed our
comprehension.
XXVI. That it is not needful to enter into disputes [Footnote: "to
essay to comprehend the infinite."--FRENCH.] regarding the infinite,
but merely to hold all that in which we can find no limits as
indefinite, such as the extension of the world, the divisibility of
the parts of matter, the number of the stars, etc.
We will thus never embarrass ourselves by disputes about the
infinite, seeing it would be absurd for us who are finite to
undertake to determine anything regarding it, and thus as it were to
limit it by endeavouring to comprehend it. We will accordingly give
ourselves no concern to reply to those who demand whether the half
of an infinite line is also infinite, and whether an infinite number
is even or odd, and the like, because it is only such as imagine
their minds to be infinite who seem bound to entertain questions of
this sort.


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