Published in 1731 under the name John Noon, Thomas Bayes demonstrates that Gods purpose in creation was to provide his creatures happiness. Written as an answer to nay-saying John Balguy in his paper "Divine Rectitude," Bayes shows the inconsistency of Balguy's position that God is self-serving, and that saying God is not "amiable and lovely, he no longer remains the object of our trust and confidence..." (Balguy argues that God punishes "just because.") This is a must-read for anyone who feels bewildered about Gods intentions toward his creation. I think you'll find the common sense refreshing. Bayes was first a theologian, he was a "Nonconformist" which meant he didn't agree with the Church of Englands position on the Divine Right of Kings, and that in the pursuit of freedom that arms against tyranny was wrong. Bayes convincingly argues that God's design and intent for his creatures is to enjoy the happiness he has designed for them. He ably answers why, then, is not everyone happy? Bayes as a probablist, evidently was striving to show God's hand acting in everyday events. It could be argued it's a shame that his theorems are being used for "data mining" in His creatures private lives. The OCR'd version uses page numbers in parenthesis for easy reference to the original scan; old English type for internal "s" replaces the original "f" of the time period.