unless it was suppos'd that there was Time before it; whereas Time was
one of those things which belong'd to the World, and was inseparable
from it; and therefore the World could not be suppos'd to be later than
Time. Then he consider'd, that a Thing Created must needs have a
Creator: And if so, Why did this Creator make the World now, and not as
well before? Was it because of any new Chance which happen'd to him?
That could not be; for there was nothing existent besides himself. Was
it then upon the Account of any Change in his own Nature? But what
should cause that Change? Thus he continued for several Years, arguing
_pro_ and _con_ about this Matter; and a great many Arguments offer'd
themselves on both sides, so that neither of these two Opinions in his
Judgment over-balanc'd the other.

Sec. 55. This put him to a great deal of trouble, which made him begin to
consider with himself, what were the Consequences which did follow from
each of these Opinions, and that perhaps they might be both alike. And
he perceiv'd, that if he held that the World was created in Time, and
existed after a total Privation, it would necessarily follow from
thence, that it could not exist of it self, without the help of some
Agent to produce it. And that this Agent must needs be such an one as
cannot be apprehended by our Senses; for if he should be the Object of
Sense, he must: be _Body_, and if _Body_, then a Part of the World, and
consequently a Created Being; such an one, as would have stood in need
of some other Cause to create him: and if that second Creator was
_Body_, he would depend upon a, third, and that third upon upon a
fourth, and so _ad infinitum_, which is absurd. Since therefore the
World stands in need of an incorporeal Creator: And since the Creator
thereof is really incorporeal, 'tis impossible for us to apprehend him
by any of our Senses; for we perceive nothing by the help of them, but
_Body_, or such Accidents as adhere to _Bodies_: And because he cannot
be perceiv'd by the Senses, it is impossible he should be apprehended by
the Imagination; for the Imagination does only represent to us the Forms
of things in their absence, which we have before learn'd by our Senses.
And since he is not _Body_, we must not attribute to him any of the
Properties of _Body_; the first of which is Extension, from which he is
free, as also from all those Properties of Bodies which flow from it.
And seeing that he is the Maker of the Worl