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PART I SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FUNDAMENTALS
1 SYSTEMS, ROLES, AND DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES 39
Need for Systems Analysis and Design 40
Roles of a Systems Analyst 40
Systems Analyst as Consultant 40
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 1.1 Healthy Hiring: Ecommerce Help Wanted 41
Systems Analyst as Supporting Expert 41 / Systems Analyst as Agent of Change 41 / Qualities of a Systems Analyst 42
The Systems Development Life Cycle 42
Identifying Problems, Opportunities, and Objectives 43 / Determining Human Information Requirements 43 / Analyzing System Needs 44
MAC A PPEAL 44
Designing the Recommended System 45 / Developing and Documenting Software 45 / Testing and Maintaining the System 45 / Implementing and Evaluating the System 45 / The Impact of Maintenance 46 / Using CASE Tools 47
The Agile Approach 48
Exploration 49 / Planning 49 / Iterations to the First Release 50 / Productionizing 50 / Maintenance 50
Object-Oriented Systems Analysis and Design 50
Object-Oriented Similarities to SDLC 50
Choosing Which Systems Development Method to Use 52
Developing Open Source Software 53
Why Organizations Participate in Open Source Communities 53 / The Role of the Analyst in Open Source Software 53
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 1 54
SUMMARY 54
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 55
REVIEW QUESTIONS 55
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 56
2 UNDERSTANDING AND MODELING ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS 57
Organizations as Systems 58
Interrelatedness and Interdependence of Systems 58
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 2.1 The E in Vitamin E Stands for Ecommerce 59
Virtual Organizations and Virtual Teams 59 / Taking a Systems Perspective 60 / Enterprise Systems: Viewing the Organization as a System 60
Depicting Systems Graphically 62
Systems and the Context-Level Data Flow Diagram 62 / Systems and the Entity-Relationship Model 63
Use Case Modeling 68
MAC APPEAL 69
Use Case Symbols 70 / Use Case Relationships 70 / Developing System Scope 71 / Developing Use Case Diagrams 72 / Developing Use Case Scenarios 72 / Use Case Levels 72 / Creating Use Case Descriptions 76 / Why Use Case Diagrams Are Helpful 77
Levels of Management 77
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 2.2 Where There’s Carbon, There’s a Copy 78
Implications for Information Systems Development 78
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 2.3 Pyramid Power 79
Collaborative Design 79
Organizational Culture 80
Technology’s Impact on Culture 80
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 2 81
SUMMARY 82
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 82
REVIEW QUESTIONS 82
PROBLEMS 83
GROUP PROJECTS 84
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 85
3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 86
Project Initiation 87
Problems in an Organization 87 / Defining the Problem 87
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 3.1 The Sweetest Sound I’ve Ever Sipped 88
Selection of Projects 91
Determining Feasibility 92
Determining Whether It Is Possible 92 / Estimating Workloads 93
Ascertaining Hardware and Software Needs 94
Inventorying Computer Hardware 94 / Evaluating Computer Hardware for Purchase 96 / Renting Time and Space in the Cloud 96 / Evaluation of Vendor Support for Computer Hardware 98 / Understanding the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Option 98 / Creating Custom Software 99
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 3.2 Veni, Vidi, Vendi, or, “I Came, I Saw, I Sold” 100
Purchasing COTS Software 100 / Using the Services of a SaaS Provider 101 / Evaluation of Vendor Support for Software and SaaS 102
Identifying, Forecasting, and Comparing Costs and Benefits 103
Forecasting 103 / Identifying Benefits and Costs 103
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 3.3 We’re Off to See the Wizards 104
Comparing Costs and Benefits 105
Managing Time and Activities 106
The Work Breakdown Structure 106 / Time Estimation Techniques 107
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 3.4 Food for Thought 109
Project Scheduling 109
Using Gantt Charts for Project Scheduling 110 / Using PERT Diagrams 111
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 4.5 Order in the Courts 162
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 4.2 163
SUMMARY 163
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 164
REVIEW QUESTIONS 165
PROBLEMS 165
GROUP PROJECTS 168
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 169
5 INFORMATION GATHERING: UNOBTRUSIVE METHODS
Sampling 171
170
The Need for Sampling 171 / Sampling Design 171 / The Sample Size Decision 173
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 10.3 Developing a Fine System That Was Long Overdue: Using Object-Oriented Analysis for the Ruminski Public Library System 332
Putting UML to Work 332
The Importance of Using UML for Modeling 334
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 10.4 C-Shore++ 335
SUMMARY 335
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 10 336
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 336
REVIEW QUESTIONS 337 PROBLEMS 337
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 338
Output Design Objectives 340
Designing Output to Serve the Intended Purpose 340 / Designing Output to Fit the User 340 / Delivering the Appropriate Quantity of Output 340 / Making Sure the Output Is Where It Is Needed 340 / Providing Output on Time 340 / Choosing the Right Output Method 341
Relating Output Content to Output Method 341
Output Technologies 341 / Factors to Consider When Choosing Output Technology 341
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 11.1 Your Cage or Mine? 344
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 11.2 A Right Way, a Wrong Way, and a Subway 346
Realizing How Output Bias Affects Users 347
Recognizing Bias in the Way Output Is Used 347 / Avoiding Bias in the Design of Output 348
Designing Printed Output 348
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 11.3 Should This Chart Be Barred? 349
Designing Output for Displays 350
Guidelines for Display Design 350 / Using Graphical Output in Screen Design 351 / Dashboards 351 / Infographics 353
Designing a Website 354
Responsive Web Design 355 / Flat Web Design 355 / General Guidelines for Designing Websites 356
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 11.4 Is Your Work a Grind? 357
Specific Guidelines for Website Design 358
MAC APPEAL 360
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 11.5 A Field Day 362
Web 2.0 Technologies 362
Social Media Design 363 Guidelines for Social Media Design 364
Designing Apps for Smartphones and Tablets 365
Set Up a Developer Account 366 / Choose a Development Process 366 / Be an Original 366 / Determine How You Will Price the App 366 / Follow the Rules 367 / Design Your Icon 367 / Choose an Appropriate Name for the App 367 / Design for a Variety of Devices 367 / Design the Output for the App 368 / Design the Output a Second Time for a Different Orientation 369 / Share a Prototype of Your Work 369 / Design the App’s Logic 369 / Design Movement 370 / Create the User Interface Using Gestures 370 / Protect Your Intellectual Property 370 / Market Your App 371
Output Production and XML 371 Ajax 373
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 11 374
SUMMARY 374
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 375
REVIEW QUESTIONS 375
PROBLEMS 376
GROUP PROJECTS 379
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 380
12 DESIGNING EFFECTIVE INPUT 381
Good Form Design 382
Making Forms Easy to Fill In 382 / Meeting the Intended Purpose 385 / Ensuring Accurate Completion 385 / Keeping Forms Attractive 385 / Controlling Business Forms 385
SUMMARY 442
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 443
REVIEW QUESTIONS 444
PROBLEMS 444
GROUP PROJECTS 446
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 446
14 HUMAN–COMPUTER INTERACTION AND UX DESIGN 448
Understanding Human–Computer Interaction 449
How Fit Affects Performance and Well-Being 449
Usability 450
Designing for the Cognitive Styles of Individual Users 451 / Physical Considerations in HCI Design 451 / Considering Human Limitations, Disabilities, and Design 452 / Implementing Good HCI Practices 452
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 14.1 School Spirit Comes in Many Sizes 453
Types of User Interface 453
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 14.2 I’d Rather Do It Myself 454
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 14.3 Don’t Slow Me Down 455
Form-Fill Interfaces 455 / Choosing and Evaluating Interfaces 456
UX Design 456
Five Designer Actions that Promote Good UX Design 458 / Five Designer Actions to Avoid in UX Design 458 / UX Design Guidelines: An Ecommerce Example 459 / Benefits of UX Design 460
Designing Interfaces for Smartphones and Tablets 460
Training Strategies 534 / Guidelines for Training 535
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 16.4 You Can Lead a Fish to Water . . . but You Can’t Make It
Drink 536
Conversion to a New System 537
Conversion Strategies 537 / Other Conversion Considerations 538 / Organizational Metaphors and Their Relationship to Successful Systems 538
Security Concerns for Traditional and Web-Based Systems 539
Physical Security 539 / Logical Security 540 / Behavioral Security 540 / Special Security Considerations for Ecommerce 541 / Privacy Considerations for Ecommerce 541 / Disaster Recovery Planning 542
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 16.5 The Sweet Smell of Success 543
Evaluation 544
Evaluation Techniques 544 / The Information System Utility Approach 544
CONSULTING OPPORTUNITY 16.6 Mopping Up with the New System 546
Evaluating Corporate Websites 546
HYPERCASE EXPERIENCE 16.2 547
SUMMARY 547
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES 548
REVIEW QUESTIONS 549
PROBLEMS 550
GROUP PROJECTS 552
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 552
GLOSSARY 553
ACRONYMS 561
INDEX 563
PREFACE
NEW TO THIS EDITION
The tenth edition of Systems Analysis and Design includes extensive changes inspired by the rapid changes in the IS field over the past four years, and they are included as a response to the thoughtful input of our audience of adopters, students, and academic reviewers. Many new and advanced features are integrated throughout this new edition. In particular:
• Innovative material on using responsive design to enable systems analysts and organizations to participate in open source communities (Chapter 1)
• New coverage of the importance of security considerations right from the outset of a systems project (Chapter 1)
• New material on work-sanctioned social media sites to create productive systems development subcultures and collaborative design (Chapter 2)
• Additional material on cloud computing as a platform choice for a systems development project (Chapter 3)
• Innovative material on listening to user stories to complement other interactive information gathering methods (Chapter 4)
• New material on text analytics software to examine unstructured, soft data from customers’ blogs, wikis, and social media sites to interpret qualitative material (Chapter 5)
• New and expanded content on agile methods including Scrum, Scrum planning poker, the product backlog, sprint cycle, and burndown charts (Chapter 6)
• New coverage on Kanban systems as they apply to software development (Chapter 6)
• Innovative coverage of DevOps as a cultural shift in the way to organize rapid systems development and operations (Chapter 6)
• Additional material on designing dashboards for decision makers using infographics (Chapter 11)
• New material on responsive Web design for websites that can be viewed on any device (Chapter 11)
• New material comparing and contrasting skeuomorphic design with flat design for websites (Chapter 11)
• Additional material on innovative guidelines for designing for social media (Chapter 11)
• New content on website design including use of navigational elements such as a hamburger icon and breadcrumb trail (Chapter 12)
• New material on the relationship of business intelligence to data warehouses, big data, and data analytics (Chapter 13)
• Additional coverage on database security and risk tradeoffs in securing databases (Chapter 13)
• Innovative material on developing and using blockchains to provide a verifiable electronic record for tracking any kind of business asset (Chapter 13)
• New content on UX design (user experience design) for developing customer-centered ecommerce website experiences (Chapter 14)
• Innovative coverage of designing virtual reality, augmented reality, and intelligent personal assistants (Chapter 14)
• Additional content on using QR codes for improved data entry (Chapter 15)
• Additional material on designing improved cloud security, privacy, and stability, especially for business continuity and disaster recovery (Chapter 16)
Discovering Diverse Content Through Random Scribd Documents
there is among them, as well as in the world, and then we must come to some supreme governor which presides over them. Judgments upon notorious offenders have been evident in all ages; the Scripture gives many instances. I shall only mention that of Herod Agrippa, which Josephus mentions.115 He receives the flattering applause of the people, and thought himself a God; but by the sudden stroke upon him, was forced by his torture to confess another. “I am God,” saith he, “in your account, but a higher calls me away; the will of the heavenly Deity is to be endured.” The angel of the Lord smote him. The judgment here was suited to the sin; he that would be a god, is eaten up of worms, the vilest creatures. Tully Hostilius, a Roman king, who counted it the most unroyal thing to be religious, or own any other God but his sword, was consumed himself, and his whole house, by lightning from heaven. Many things are unaccountable unless we have recourse to God. The strange revelations of murderers, that have most secretly committed their crimes; the making good some dreadful imprecations, which some wretches have used to confirm a lie, and immediately have been struck with that judgment they wished; the raising often unexpected persons to be instruments of vengeance on a sinful and perfidious nation; the overturning the deepest and surest counsels of men, when they have had a successful progress, and come to the very point of execution; the whole design of men’s preservation hath been beaten in pieces by some unforeseen circumstance, so that judgments have broken in upon them without control, and all their subtleties been outwitted; the strange crossing of some in their estates, though the most wise, industrious, and frugal persons, and that by strange and unexpected ways; and it is observable how often everything contributes to carry on a judgment intended, as if they rationally designed it: all those loudly proclaim a God in the world; if there were no God, there would be no sin; if no sin, there would be no punishment.
2. In miracles. The course of nature is uniform; and when it is put out of its course, it must be by some superior power invisible to the world; and by whatsoever invisible instruments they are
wrought, the efficacy of them must depend upon some first cause above nature. (Psalm lxxii. 18): “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things,” by himself and his sole power. That which cannot be the result of a natural cause, must be the result of something supernatural: what is beyond the reach of nature, is the effect of a power superior to nature; for it is quite against the order of nature, and is the elevation of something to such a pitch, which all nature could not advance it to. Nature cannot go beyond its own limits; if it be determined by another, as hath been formerly proved, it cannot lift itself above itself, without that power that so determined it. Natural agents act necessarily; the sun doth necessarily shine, fire doth necessarily burn: that cannot be the result of nature, which is above the ability of nature; that cannot be the work of nature which is against the order of nature; nature cannot do anything against itself, or invert its own course. We must own that such things have been, or we must accuse all the records of former ages to be a pack of lies; which whosoever doth, destroys the greatest and best part of human knowledge. The miracles mentioned in the Scripture, wrought by our Saviour, are acknowledged by the heathen, by the Jews at this day, though his greatest enemies. There is no dispute whether such things were wrought, “the dead raised,” the “blind restored to sight.” The heathens have acknowledged the miraculous eclipse of the sun at the passion of Christ, quite against the rule of nature, the moon being then in opposition to the sun; the propagation of Christianity contrary to the methods whereby other religions have been propagated, that in a few years the nations of the world should be sprinkled with this doctrine, and give in a greater catalogue of martyrs courting the devouring flames, than all the religions of the world. To this might be added, the strange hand that was over the Jews, the only people in the world professing the true God, that should so often be befriended by their conquerors, so as to rebuild their temple, though they were looked upon as a people apt to rebel. Dion and Seneca observe, that wherever they were transplanted, they prospered, and gave laws to the victors; so that this proves also the authority of the Scripture, the truth of christian
Alexander’s sight of Daniel’s prophecy concerning his victories moved him to spare Jerusalem. And are not the four monarchies plainly deciphered in that book, before the fourth rose up in the world? That power which foretells things beyond the reach of the wit of man, and orders all causes to bring about those predictions, must be an infinite power, the same that made the world, sustains it and governs all things in it according to his pleasure, and to bring about his own ends; and this being is God.
UseI.If atheism be a folly, it is then pernicious to the world and to the atheist himself. Wisdom is the band of human societies, the glory of man. Folly is the disturber of families, cities, nations; the disgrace of human nature.
First, It is pernicious to the world.
1. It would root out the foundations of government. It demolisheth all order in nations. The being of a God is the guard of the world: the sense of a God is the foundation of civil order: without this there is no tie upon the consciences of men. What force would there be in oaths for the decisions of controversies, what right could there be in appeals made to one that had no being? A city of atheists would be a heap of confusion; there could be no ground of any commerce, when all the sacred bands of it in the consciences of men were snapt asunder, which are torn to pieces and utterly destroyed by denying the existence of God. What magistrate could be secure in his standing? What private person could be secure in his right? Can that then be a truth that is destructive of all public good? If the atheist’s sentiment, that there were no God, were a truth, and the contrary that there were a God, were a falsity, it would then follow, that falsity made men good and serviceable to one another; that error were the foundation of all the beauty, and order, and outward felicity of the world, the fountain of all good to man.116 If there were no God, to believe there is one, would be an error; and to believe there is none, would be the greatest wisdom, because it would be the greatest truth. And then as it is the greatest
of the fool’s persuasion that there is no God. The perverting the ways of men, oppression and extortion, owe their rise to a forgetfulness of God (Jer. iii. 21): “They have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.” (Ezek. xxii. 12): “Thou hast greedily gained by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.” The whole earth would be filled with violence, all flesh would corrupt their way, as it was before the deluge, when probably atheism did abound more than idolatry; and if not a disowning the being, yet denying the providence of God by the posterity of Cain: those of the family of Seth only “calling upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. vi. 11, 12, compared with Gen. iv. 26).
The greatest sense of a Deity in any, hath been attended with the greatest innocence of life and usefulness to others; and a weaker sense hath been attended with a baser impurity. If there were no God, blasphemy would be praiseworthy; as the reproach of idols is praiseworthy, because we testify that there is no divinity in them.119 What can be more contemptible than that which hath no being? Sin would be only a false opinion of a violated law, and an offended deity. If such apprehensions prevail, what a wide door is opened to the worst of villanies! If there be no God, no respect is due to him; all the religion in the world is a trifle, and error; and thus the pillars of all human society, and that which hath made commonwealths to flourish, are blown away.
Secondly, It is pernicious to the atheist himself. If he fear no future punishment, he can never expect any future reward: all his hopes must be confined to a swinish and despicable manner of life, without any imaginations of so much as a drachm of reserved happiness. He is in a worse condition than the silliest animal, which hath something to please it in its life: whereas an atheist can have nothing here to give him a full content, no more than any other man in the world, and can have less satisfaction hereafter. He deposeth the noble end of his own being, which was to serve a God and have a satisfaction in him, to seek a God and be rewarded by him; and he that departs from his end, recedes from his own nature. All the
their impurities. A mere natural strength would easily discover that those they adored for gods, could not deserve that title, since their original was known, their uncleanness manifest and acknowledged by their worshippers. And probably it was so; since the Christians were termed ἄθεοι, because they acknowledged not their vain idols.123
I question whether there ever was, or can be in the world, an uninterrupted and internal denial of the being of God, or that men (unless we can suppose conscience utterly dead) can arrive to such a degree of impiety; for before they can stifle such sentiments in them (whatsoever they may assert), they must be utter strangers to the common conceptions of reason, and despoil themselves of their own humanity. He that dares to deny a God with his lips, yet sets up something or other as a God in his heart. Is it not lamentable that this sacred truth, consented to by all nations, which is the band of civil societies, the source of all order in the world, should be denied with a bare face, and disputed against in companies, and the glory of a wise Creator ascribed to an unintelligent nature, to blind chance? Are not such worse than heathens? They worshipped many gods, these none; they preserved a notion of God in the world under a disguise of images, these would banish him both from earth and heaven, and demolish the statutes of him in their own consciences; they degraded him, these would destroy him; they coupled creatures with him—(Rom. i. 25), “Who worshipped the creature with the Creator,” as it may most properly be rendered—and these would make him worse than the creature, a mere nothing. Earth is hereby become worse than hell. Atheism is a persuasion which finds no footing anywhere else. Hell, that receives such persons, in this point reforms them: they can never deny or doubt of his being, while they feel his strokes. The devil, that rejoices at their wickedness, knows them to be in an error; for he “believes, and trembles at the belief.”124 This is a forerunner of judgment. Boldness in sin is a presage of vengeance, especially when the honor of God is more particularly concerned therein; it tends to the overturning human
society, taking off the bridle from the wicked inclinations of men: and God appears not in such visible judgments against sin immediately committed against himself, as in the case of those sins that are destructive to human society. Besides, God, as Governor of the world, will uphold that, without which all his ordinances in the world would be useless. Atheism is point blank against all the glory of God in creation, and against all the glory of God in redemption, and pronounceth at one breath, both the Creator, and all acts of religion and divine institutions, useless and insignificant. Since most have had, one time or other, some risings of doubt, whether there be a God, though few do in expressions deny his being, it may not be unnecessary to propose some things for the further impressing this truth, and guarding themselves against such temptations.
1. It is utterly impossible to demonstrate there is no God. He can choose no medium, but will fall in as a proof for his existence, and a manifestation of his excellency, rather than against it. The pretences of the atheist are so ridiculous, that they are not worth the mentioning. They never saw God, and therefore know not how to believe such a being; they cannot comprehend him. He would not be a God, if he could fall within the narrow model of a human understanding; he would not be infinite, if he were comprehensible, or to be terminated by our sight. How small a thing must that be which is seen by a bodily eye, or grasped by a weak mind! If God were visible or comprehensible, he would be limited. Shall it be a sufficient demonstration from a blind man, that there is no fire in the room, because he sees it not, though he feel the warmth of it? The knowledge of the effect is sufficient to conclude the existence of the cause. Who ever saw his own life? Is it sufficient to deny a man lives, because he beholds not his life, and only knows it by his motion? He never saw his own soul, but knows he hath one by his thinking power. The air renders itself sensible to men in its operations, yet was never seen by the eye. If God should render himself visible, they might question as well as now, whether that which was so visible were God, or some delusion. If he should appear glorious, we can as little behold him in his majestic glory, as
an owl can behold the sun in its brightness: we should still but see him in his effects, as we do the sun by his beams. If he should show a new miracle, we should still see him but by his works; so we see him in his creatures, every one of which would be as great a miracle as any can be wrought, to one that had the first prospect of them. To require to see God, is to require that which is impossible (1 Tim. vi. 16): “He dwells in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” It is visible that he is, “for he covers himself with light as with a garment” (Psalm civ. 2); it is visible what he is, “for he makes darkness his secret place” (Psalm xviii. 11). Nothing more clear to the eye than light, and nothing more difficult to the understanding than the nature of it: as light is the first object obvious to the eye, so is God the first object obvious to the understanding. The arguments from nature do, with greater strength, evince his existence, than any pretences can manifest there is no God. No man can assure himself by any good reason there is none; for as for the likeness of events to him that is righteous, and him that is wicked; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not (Eccles. ix. 2): it is an argument for a reserve of judgment in another state, which every man’s conscience dictates to him, when the justice of God shall be glorified in another world, as much as his patience is in this.
2. Whosoever doubts of it, makes himself a mark, against which all the creatures fight. All the stars fought against Sisera for Israel: all the stars in heaven, and the dust on earth, fight for God against the atheist. He hath as many arguments against him as there are creatures in the whole compass of heaven and earth. He is most unreasonable, that denies or doubts of that whose image and shadow he sees round about him; he may sooner deny the sun that warms him, the moon that in night walks in her brightness, deny the fruits he enjoys from the earth, yea, and deny that he doth exist. He must tear his own conscience, fly from his own thoughts, be changed into the nature of a stone, which hath neither reason nor sense, before he can disengage himself from those arguments which evince the being of a God. He that would make the natural religion
professed in the world a mere romance, must give the lie to the common sense of mankind; he must be at an irreconcilable enmity with his own reason, resolve to hear nothing that it speaks, if he will not hear what it speaks in this case, with a greater evidence than it can ascertain anything else. God hath so settled himself in the reason of man, that he must vilify the noblest faculty God hath given him, and put off nature itself, before he can blot out the notion of a God.
3. No question but those that have been so bold as to deny that there was a God, have sometimes been much afraid they have been in an error, and have at least suspected there was a God, when some sudden prodigy hath presented itself to them, and roused their fears; and whatsoever sentiments they might have in their blinding prosperity, they have had other kind of motions in them in their stormy afflictions, and, like Jonah’s mariners, have been ready to cry to him for help, whom they disdained to own so much as in being, while they swam in their pleasures. The thoughts of a Deity cannot be so extinguished, but they will revive and rush upon a man, at least under some sharp affliction. Amazing judgments will make them question their own apprehensions. God sends some messengers to keep alive the apprehension of him as a Judge, while men resolve not to own or reverence him as a Governor. A man cannot but keep a scent of what was born with him; as a vessel that hath been seasoned first with a strong juice will preserve the scent of it, whatsoever liquors are afterwards put into it.
4. What is it for which such men rack their wits, to form notions that there is no God? Is it not that they would indulge some vicious habit, which hath gained the possession of their soul, which they know “cannot be favored by that holy God,” whose notion they would raze out?125 Is it not for some brutish affection, as degenerative of human nature, as derogatory to the glory of God; a lust as unmanly as sinful? The terrors of God are the effects of guilt; and therefore men would wear out the apprehensions of a Deity, that they might be brutish without control. They would fain believe
