spirituall inheritance but only grace by the true Iesus And therefore the Saint Rabbi sayth That because Christ shall saue folke therefore he shall be called Iesus and because he shall be both God and Man therfore he shall be called Emanuell that is to say God with vs. And in another place The Gentyles sayth he shall call him Iesus And he draweth this name out of the nine and fortith Chapter of Genesis by a certeyne rule of the Cabale which they terme Notariak by taking the first letters of the wordes Iabho schilo velo which make the word Ieschu and likewise of these wordes in the 72. Psalme Ijnnur schemo veijthbarecu and also of these in the 96. Psalme iagnaloz sadai vecol all which are texts that are ment expresly of the Messias Although I force not of these their doings yet haue I alledged them against them selues because it is their custome to shewe the cunning of the arte of their Cabale And after the same maner haue the Machabies also their name that is to wit of the first Letters of the words of this their deuice Mi camocha baelim Iehouah that is to say Which of the Gods is like thee ô Iehouah That the name Iesus should bee reuealed vnto them it is no strange matter considering that in the third fourth bookes of Esdras Iesus Christ the sonne of God is named expresly and diuers tymes and the tyme of his comming precisely set downe according to Daniels wéekes For although the Iewes account those bookes for Apocriphase the Primatiue Church hath not graunted the like authoritie to them as to the other Canonicall bookes yet is it a cléere case that they were written afore the comming of Iesus Christ of whome neuerthelesse they speake by name Now the Scripture promised also a Foreronner that should come afore the manifesting of the Messias to the world For Malachie sayth Behold I send my Ambassadour to make way before him and by and by after shall the Lord whom you seeke enter into his Temple And in the next Chapter following he is called Elias by reason of the lykenesse of their offices and this text as I haue shewed afore is vnderstood by them concerning the Messias And soothly we haue certeine footestepes thereof in these words of the Gospel The Scrybes say that Elias must first come And in another place Art thou Christ or Elias or one of the Prophets A little afore that Christ disclosed himself Iohn the Baptist stoode vp in Israell and was followed by such a multitude of people that all the greate ones grudged at him and he is the same man whō by way of prerogatiue the Chronicle of the Iewes calleth Rabbi Iohanan the greate Preest Concerning this Iohn the Baptist forasmuch as they suspect our Gospel let them beléeue their owne Storywriter There was sayeth he a very good Man that exhorted the Iewes to vertue and specially to Godlynes and vpryght dealing inuiting them to a cleannesse both of body and mynd by baptim But when Herod perceyued that great multitudes of people followed him which to his seeming were at his commaundment to auoyd insurrections he put him in prison where anon after he cut of his head And therefore it was the common opinion that when Herods army was afterward ouercome and vtterly put to the swoord it was through Gods iustiudgement for putting of Iohn Baptist vniustly to death By this witnesse of Iosephus we sée what his office was namely to preache repentance and to Baptize or as Malachie sayth to turne the heartes of the Fathers to their Children and the heartes of the Children to their Fathers But the thing which we haue chiefly to note here is that hauing the people at commaundement yet when Iesus came he gaue Iesus place and humbled himselfe to him and yeelded him the glory the which thing man beeing led by affection of man would neuer haue done Insomuch that after that Iesus had once shewed himselfe the Disciples of this greate maister shewed not themselues as his disciples any more and that was because his trayning and teaching of them was not for himselfe but for Iesus And as touching the peculiar act of Baptizing it seemeth that the Leuites wayted for some speciall thing vpon it in that they asked of Iohn How happeneth it that thou Baptizest if thou bee neither Christ nor Elias the Prophet But let vs come now to treate of the lyfe of Iesus not according to our Gospells but according to such Histories as the Iewes themselues cannot denie and what els is it than the verie body of the shadowes of the old testament and the very pith and substance of the words that were spoken afore concerning the Messias Let vs call to rememberance to what end he came namely to saue Mankind and the nature of his Kingdome how it is holy and spirituall Whereof are all his Preachings but of the forgiuenesse of sinnes and of the Kingdome of Heauen his Disciples were alwayes importunate vppon him in asking him Lord when wilt thou set vp the Kingdom of Israel agein In sted of contenting their fancyes he answereth them concerning the Kingdome of Heauen They Imagined some Empyre of Cyrus or Alexander that their Nation might haue bene honored of all other nations of the earth One of them would néedes haue sit on his right hand and another on his left What answereth he to this Nay saith he whosoeuer will be greatest let him be the leaft and if I béeing your Maister be as a Seruant among you what ought you to bee Yee shal be brought before Magistrates that is farre from reigning Ye shall be persecuted imprisoned tormented and crucifyed that is farre of from triumphing I wil giue you to vnderstand how great things ye be to suffer for my names sake that is very farre from parting of Countryes Yet notwithstanding happy shall you bee when you suffer these things and he that holdeth out to the end shal be saued Who can imagine any temporall thing in this kingdome whereof the first and last Lesson is that a man to saue his lyfe must lose it and to become happy must wed himselfe to wretchednes The people followe him for the miracles which hee woorketh and the Iewes deny not but he did very greate ones But let vs see wherto they tended He fed a greate multitude of people in the wildernes with a feawe Loaues This miracle was matter enough for him to haue hild them with long talke but he preacheth vnto them of the heauenly bread which feedeth vnto euerlasting life Also hee healeth all sicke and diseased folke that come vnto him howbeit to shewe that that was but an appendant or rather an income to that for the which he came Thy sinnes sayth he be forgiuen thee To be short from Abrahams Well hee directeth the Woman of Samaria to the Fountaine of lyfe Béeing shewed the goodly buildings of Hierusalem and of the
from a Tower which way it standeth in the darke wherin we now be to the end we may call to God for helpe and euer after make thither ward with all our whole hart Particularly against the Atheists and Epicures we will bring themselues the world the creatures therein for witnesses For those are the Recordes which they best loue and most beleeue from the which they be lothest to depart Against the false naturalists that is to say professors of the knowledge of nature and naturall things I will alledge nature it selfe the Sectes that haue sought out nature such writers in euery Sect as they hold for chiefe Disciples Interpreters and Anatomists or Decipherets of nature as Pyt hagoras Plato Aristotle the Academikes and peripatetikes both old and new and speciallie such as haue most stoutly defended their owne Philosophie and impugned our doctrine as Iamblich Plotin Porphirie Procle Simplice and such others whose depositions or rather oppositions against vs I thinke men will wonder at Against the Iewes I will produce the old Testament for that is the Scripture where to their fathers trusted and for the which they haue suffered death whereby they assure themselues of life And for the interpreting thereof I will alledge their Paraphrasts those which translated it into the Greeke and Chaldey tongues afore the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. For they were Iewes borne of the notablest men among them chosen by publike authoritie to translate it and at that time reason was not so intangled with passions as it hath bene since Also I will alledge their ancient doctors dispersed as well in their Cabales as in their Talmud which are their bookes of greatest authoritie and most credit And diuerse times I will interlace the Commentaries of their late writers which generally haue bene most contrarie to the Christen doctrine whom notwithstanding the truth hath compelled seuerally to agree in expounding the Texts whereon the same is chiefly grounded Now in these allegations I shall sometimes be long and peraduenture tedious to the Reader whome manifest reason shall haue satisfied alreadie so as to his seeming there needed not so manie testimonies But I pray him to beleeue that in this longnesse of mine I straine my nature to apply myselfe to all men knowing that some like better of Reasons and othersome of Testimonies and that all men notwithstanding that they make more account of the one than of the other are best satisfied by both when they see both reason authorised by witnesses for that is as much to say as that many men had one selfe same reason and also Recordes declared by reason for that is as much to say as that credit is not giuen to the outward person but to the diuine thing which the person hath within him that is to wit to Reason Herewithall I thought also that all men haue not either the meane to come by all bookes or the leysure to read them whose labour I haue by that meane eased And oftentimes I am driuen to doo that in one Chapter whereof others haue made whole volumes To conclude I pray the Reader first to read this booke throughout for without mounting by degrees a man cannot attaine to high things and the breaking of a ladders steale casteth a man backe maketh the thing wearisome which was easie Secondly I desire him to bring his wit rather than his will to the reading thereof For foredeemings and foresetled opinions doo bring in bondage the reason of them that haue best wits wheras notwithstanding it belongeth not to the will to ouerrule the wit but to the wit to guide the will Thirdly and most of all I beseech him to beare alwaie in mind that I am a man and among men one of the least that is to say that if I satisfie him not in all points my reason attaineth not eueriewhere so far as truth doth to the end that mine ignorance and weakenesse preiudice not the case mine vndertaking whereof in good sooth is not vpon trust of mine owne wit or of mine owne abilitie but vpon assured trust of the cleernesse soundnesse substantialnesse and soothnesse thereof Now God vouchsafe to shead out his blessing vpon this worke and by the furtherance thereof to glad them that beleeue to confirme them that wauer to confute them which go about to shake downe his doctrine This is the onely pleasure that I desire the onely fruit which I seeke of my labour And to say the truth I feele alreadie some effect and contentment thereof in my hart But lette vs praie him also to vouchsafe in our daies to touch our stonie harts with the forceâ— of his spirit and with his owne finger to plant his doctrine so deeply in them as it may take roote and bringâ— foorth fruit For certesse it is Gods worke to perswade and win men albeit that to counsell them yea and to mooue them seemeth in some sort to lie in man The Summes of the Chapters That there is a God and that all men agree in the Godhead That there is but onely one God That the wisedome of the world acknowdelged one onely God What it is that man is able to comprehend concerning God That in the one substance of God there are three persons which we call the Trinitie That the Philosophie of olde time agreed to the doctrine of the Trinitie That the world had a beginning When the world had his beginning That the wisdome of the world acknowledged the creation of the world That God created the world of nothing that is to say without any matter substance or stuffe whereof to make it That God by his prouidence gouerneth the world and all things therein That all the euill which is or which seemeth to bee in the worlde is subiect to Gods prouidence That mans wisedome hath acknowledged Gods prouidence and howe the same wadeth betweene destinie and fortune That mans soule is immortall That the immortalitie of the soule hath bene taught by the auncient Philosophers and beleeued by all nations That mans nature is corrupted and hee himselfe fallen from his first originall by what meanes That the men of olde time are of accorde with vs concerning mans corruption and the cause thereof That God is the souereigne welfare of man therefore that the chiefe shootanker of maÌ„ ought to be to return vnto god That the wisest of all ages are of accorde that God is the chiefe shootanker and souereigne welfare of man The true Religion is the way to atteine to that shootanker souereigne welfare and what are the markes thereof That the true God was worshipped in Israel which is the 1. mark of true religionâ— That the Gods which were woâ—shipped by the heathen were men consecrated or canonized to posteritie That the Spirites which made men to woorship them vnder the names of those men were wicked spirites that is to saye fiendes or diuels That in Israel Gods worde was the Rule of his Seruice
GOD according to which rule God will be serued and that God was serued in Israell and no where els The Rule which we seeke must néedes be found in Israell too For as it is vnpossible that it should be elsewhere because the true God was not anywhere els so is it not possible that it should not bee there forasmuch as there was one there and that the true God also was there Now therefore the people of Israell had alwaies certeine bookes which we call the Byble or old Testament which bookes they reuerenced and followed as the very word of GOD whereby he hath shewed vnto men after what maner he will bee serued and worshipped And those bookes haue bene kept continually from tyme to tyme euen since the creation of the world and they haue bene of such authoritie among the true Israelites that they beléeued not any other bookes and for the maintenauce of them haue indured warres oppressions banishments remouings deaths and slaughters which are such things as are not to bee found among other Nations notwithstanding that the Law-makers of other Nations in giuing them their lawes made them beléeue that they procéeded from the Gods because it was a thing as good as graunted among al men that the setting doune of rules for Religion and for mans Soulehealth belōged only vnto God And therefore wee might well gather this conclusion whereof the premises are proued heretofore That there is but one true God one true Religion one true Rule of seruing God reuealed by and from the true God And that this true God was not knowne and worshipped elswhere than among the people of Israell Unto Israell then was the sayd word reuealed and that word must néedes be the Byble or olde Testament whereby the Israelites were taught the seruice of God But forasmuch as wee haue to doe with folke that will sooner be driuen to silence by arguments than perswaded by reason to beléeue as though it stoode God on hand to perswade them for his honor and not them to beléeue for their own welfare I will by the Readers leaue set forth this matter at large First of all forasmuch as there is a Seruice of God to bée had and that seruice should rather bée a misseruice than a Seruice if it were not according to his will and his will cannot be conceiued of vs by coniectures but must be manifested vnto vs by his word I aske them vpon their conscience if they were to discerne that word from all others by what markes they would knowe it that they might not be deceiued This word say I is the rule of Gods seruice and the way of welfare Unto this seruice is man bound from his very creation and it is the marke whereat hee ought to shoote from his very birth Will it not then bee one good marke of this word if it be auncienter than all other Lawes and Rules than all other words than all inuentions of man And will it not be another good marke if it tend to none other end than the glorifying of God and the sauing of mankind If say I it withdrawe man from all other things to leade him to God and to turne him out of all bypathes how great pleasure so euer there be in them to leade him to saluation Nay I say yet more If we find things in the Scripture which no Creature could euer haue foretold or spoken things which could neuer haue come into any mans mind things not onely aboue but also against our nature Will any man bee so wilfull and so very an enemy to his owne welfare as not to yéeld and agrée when he seeth both the hand the signe and the Seale of God In déede I vndertake a matter beyond my abilitie but yet the higher it is the more will GOD ayde mee with his grace And first of all forasmuch as the worlde was made for man and man for God and man could neuer be without true Religion nor true Religion without the word of God I demaund of the great Nations and florishing kingdomes that haue giuen Lawes to all the world and among whom the liberall sciences artes and learning haue bene most renowmed whither any one of them is to be found that hath had a Lawe set downe in writing concerning the true Seruice of the true God Yea or one worde either right or wrong that hath bin beléeued to procéede from him I meane from the only one euerlasting GOD the maker of Heauen and Earth Also I demaund of them whither among the Assyrians Persians Greekes and Romanes a man shall find an Historie of Religion deduced from the first beginning of the world and continued so on from tyme to tyme and from age to age And on the contrarie part whether there be any Heathen man which is not driuen to confesse that the very latest writer of our Byble is of more antiquitie than the auncientest authors that are renoumed among the Gentiles And whether that little which the Gentiles haue learned concerning God be not borowed from other men and finally whether in matters of religion they haue not walked by groping without light and without any direction This matter is handled at large by diuers auncient writers Neuerthelesse for the ease of them which cannot reade them all I will gather them here together in feawe words The Byble beginning at the creation of the world of man leadeth vs from tyme to tyme and from Father to Sonne euen vnto Christ. It deliuereth vs a diuision of men into Gentiles and Israelites into Idolaters and true worshippers of the Souereine God and their comming togither ageine into one after a certeine time and by a meane appoynted euerlastingly to that end by God And the writers thereof are Moyses Iosua the Chronicles of the Iudges and Kings the Prophetes euery of them in his time Daniell Nehemias and Esdras of whome euen these latest were about thrée thousand and sixehundred yéeres after the creation and yet were they afore any Chronicles of the worlde were in the residue of the world I desire all the Antiquaries of this time which make so greate account of the antiquitie of the Greekes and Romanes or of an old Coyne or of a whetherbeaten Piller or of a halfeaten Epitaphe what find they like vnto that Esdras is the latest in the Canon of the Hebrewe writers and yet liued he afore the tyme that Socrates taught in Athens And what rule of Religion was there among the Greekes of his tyme who condemned him for speaking of the onely one GOD At the same tyme were Pythagoras Thales Xenophanes and the seuen Sages which haue borne so great fame in Greece who in their whole life tyme haue sayd some good words concerning maners and conuersation among men but as for God they haue spoken nothing of him but dreamingly nor deemed of him but ouerthwartly nor knowen aught of him but that little which they learned of the AEgiptians Thither went Orpheus Homere
and to the world Soothly wee may well say therefore that the Scriptures are verily of Gods inspiring which haue so expresse resemblances of him and so contrarie to the hand stampe print and writing of the whole world The xxv Chapter That through out the whole processe of the Byble or old Testament there are things which cannot proceede but from God WE haue lerned heretofore by perusing the vniuersall world that all things tend too Godds glorie by the examining of man that his onely and whole welfare is to cleaue vnto GOD. Now therefore fith we sée that the Scriptures preache vnto vs the same thing that wee haue read both in the world and in ourselues ought it not to be a good proofe to vs that he which made both the World and man hath also made the Scriptures to rule them by And that he which hath spoken to all Nations by his Creatures hath also voutsafed too shewe himselfe more nerely too them by his Scriptures Agein séeing that the Scriptures commaund vs to loue God with all our hart and that the Creatures haue heretofore declared vs to be bound thereto so as the Creatures teache the self-same thing which the Scriptures commaund what can we say but that both those bookes haue one selfesame author Howbeit forasmuch as our eyes be so daseled by our fall that the Creatures were vnto vs as a clasped booke or as a thing written in Cyphers God to apply himself to the weaknesse of our sight hath giuen vs his Scriptures and that forasmuch as our wills are wholly turned from him it behoued vs to be comaunded our owne welfare which were we according to our first creation we should couet and followe earnestly at the only sight of the first booke But forasmuch as it may still be sayd that these bookes are rather the woorks of good men and of such as feared God than of God himself let vs sée if they haue not in them some proper and peculiar markes of Gods spirit I meane such as no creature can be partaker of but by inspiration from God For like as in his dooings there are certeine miracles wherein euen the wickeddest acknowledge the finger of God So in his words or Scriptures there may vndoubtedly bee some such thing as cannot procéede but from God himselfe Let vs begin at the Style In mens affayres we haue two sorts of writing The inferiour sort and men of equalitie indeuer to perswade folke by apparant reasons for they knowe they haue no authoritie to giue them credite But Princes will of their mere authoritie looke to bée beléeued whatsoeuer they say for they thinke they haue the world at their commaundement and that they may speak what they list and they suppose it to bee some derogation to them to alledge any reason Also in humane Sciences the case is all one For the Phisition is beléeued of his Patient without alledging why but of an other Phisition he is not so Likewise the Schoolemaister is beléeued of the Scholer yea euen in things which were disputable for him with one of his fellowes So much more therefore shall this rule take place in matters diuine which surmount both the vnderstanding of the learner and the skill of the Teacher himselfe Againe we see how the Philosophers doe mount vp from things euidently knowne to things lesse knowne and from Grounds and Principles to Conclusions And therefore Aristotle intending to proue that there is a God made a whole score of bookes of it and Plato speaking of things diuine will haue the auncient Oracles to be beleeued and not his owne sayings which argeweth that euen by nature men knowe well that they deserue not to bee beléeued further foorth than they make proof no not euen in the least things and therefore that they bee worthie to be laughed at if they thinke their sayings to be authoritie in matters diuine Now then sith it is so that the Style is such both of all men in their common discourses and of all the Philosophers in high matters what shal the Author of our Byble bee whose will and meaning is to bee beléeued vppon his bare worde euen in the things which excéede both the naturall beléefe of such as heare them and the vnderstanding of all men which take vpon them to speake of them GOD created Heauen and Earth Man is falne from his originall state by sinne If thou beest a man that sayest it who will beléeue thee vnlesse thou prooue it And yet notwithstanding it appeareth that hee wrate it to bee beléeued for hee commaundeth it to bee beléeued Therefore his speaking is of authoritie and not by perswasion Yet notwithstanding no body is beléeued vpon his bare word sauing in things which lye in his own power and his owne knowledge Whosoeuer then in things surmounting man I meane in matters concerning GOD and mans saluation will looke to bee beléeued of authoritie only because he sayes it yea and to be more beléeued without proofe than others vpon proof must néedes be the Prince and Father of man and not a man Now who sees not this course kept throughout all the Scriptures and yet where is there any one Syllogisme or Demonstration in them sauing such as these which soothly be more firme than any Syllogisme and more néedefull than any Demonstration namely The Lord hath sayde it and it is doone the Lord hath spoken it and he will be beléeues And what other booke find we which proceedeth after that maner howbeit that some deceiuers haue long time since presumed to immitate the same Also we haue many bookes of maners written by the Heathen How procéede they against Uice or how deale they with Uertue They define they distinguish they dispute of the generall and of the vnderkind of the meane and of the extremes It is spoken say they from one Countermatch to another And if they offend the Lawes of Logicke they be afrayd of reproof The Lawes of God speake a little more plainly He that stealeth shall pay fowerfold He that killeth shal be punished with death Which is as much to say as that the authoritie of the one dependeth vpon their power the authority of the other dependeth vpon their proof To be short euen our spéeche extendeth ordinarily no further than our power and therefore the Teacher speaketh after another maner then the Learner the Prince than the Subiect and the Senatour than the Orator What maner a booke then I pray you is this which speaketh to all men alike to Kings as to Subiectes to Greate as to small to old as to yong to learned as to vnlearned sauing that it surmounteth the capacitie of the one as well as of the other neyther intreating nor perswading any man but absolutely bidding or forbidding al men Nother which more is doth it say to any man Thou shalt liue as a recluce within the precinct of thyne owne house all thy life long or thou shalt lye in continual prison but
Christes Manhood But by and by after he sayth And in his daies Iuda shall bee saued and behold the name whereby he shal be called shal be Iehouah the Euerlasting our Rightuousnesse Heere againe is the foresayd vncommunicable name of God which the Iewes doe so greatly reuerence Yet notwithstanding the thréescore and ten Interpreters who were all Iewes vnderstood it so And Ionathas interpreteth it of Christ in both respects As touching the latter Rabbines who will needes correct the text and in stead of ijkreo doe set downe ijkra to the intent that the sence might be He that calleth him shall bee the Euerlasting I report me to all their owne Grammarians whether it be not both a corrupting and a racking of the text And truely in the thrée and thirtie Chapter the Prophet sayth the same thing in diuers words wherevnto this forgerie cannot be applyed That is the cause why Rabbi Abba vppon the Lamentations of Ieremie demaundeth what shal be the name of the Messias and afterward answereth Iehouah schemo the Euerlasting is his name And to that purpose alledgeth he the selfesame texts of Ieremies And the Commentarie vpon the Psalmes sayth Seeing that none of the Subiects of a King of flesh and blud that is to say of a temporall King is called by his name that is to say King How happeneth it that God imparteth his owne name to the Messias and what name is that Soothly Iehouah is his name according to this saying The man of warre Iehouah that is to say the Euerlasting is his name And Rabbi Moyses Hadarsan expounding this saying of Sophonie to call vppon the name of the Euerlasting saith thus Here Iehouah is nothing els but the King the Messias or the anoynted King And the same thing is repeated in the selfesame words in the Thalmud And wheras some to disappoynt vs of the consequence of these texts doe say that in Ezechiel Hierusalem is called by that name where it is sayd thus Iehouah schammah that is to say the Euerlasting is there that is to say the Euerlasting hath chosen his dwelling place in Hierusalem They by chaunging the Hebrew vowels doe make him to say Iehouah schemo that is to say the Euerlasting is his name But besides the consent of all Copies repugning to this vnshamefastnesse Ionathas can assoyle the case who translateth it expresly God hath placed his Godhead there Now besides the sayd texts which shewe that the Iewes of old tyme wayted for a Messias that should be both God and Man we haue also great tokens thereof in those fewe writings of theirs which remayne dispersed here there notwithstanding that the Iewes hide theÌ„ from vs or els corrupt them as much as they can The Commentarie vppon the Psalmes sayth Because the Gentyles ceasse not to aske of vs where is our God the time shal come that God wil sit among the Righteous so as they shal be able to point him out with their fingar And whereas it is so often sayd I will walke among you it is all one say they as if a King should go walke in his Gardyne with his Gardiner his Gardiner should alwaies shrink behind him and the King should say shrinke not backe for â—o I am lyke thee euen so will GOD walke among vs in his Gardyne of pleasure in tyme to come And therefore another sayth that the Euerlasting shall one day bee as a brother of Iacob that is to say in the tyme of the Messias according to this saying of the Ballet I would fayne that thou wast to me as a brother And the Commentarie vppon the Ballet sayth in another place That God himself who is the Husband of the Church should come in his owne persone to marrie her Uppon the xxv of Leuiticus where mention is made of one brother that redéemeth out another in the yéere of Iubilee many make an Allegorie that that brother is Christ. And the Commentarie affirming the same sayth that Israell shal be redeemed of God who shall come in his owne beeing and that Israell shall no more bee brought in bondage And vppon Genesis Rabbi Moyses Hadarsan alledging this saying of the Psalme I will shew him the Saluation of God sayth thus This is one of the Texts of Scripture of greatest weight that the Saluation of Israel is the Saluation of God For God wil be the pryce and payment of Israels Raunsom lyke as if man hauing but a little Corne of the second Croppe should redeeme the same Hereof came this Tradition that God left some portion vnperfect on the Northside to the intent that if any reported himselfe to be God hee should fill vp that want and that thereby his Godhead should be knowen And all men knowe that ordinarily by the North they ment the Euill which should be remedied by the Messias But the Cabilists were farre more spirituall in this behalfe than the Thalmudists And first of all Rabbi Simeon ben Iohai in his Commentaries vpon Genesis in the language of Hierusalem saith that the feare or mercie of the Lord should take a body in the Wombe of a Woman and be Crowned King the auncient of dayes for euer And that it was decreed that a holy body and a woman should be incorporated togither and for proof whereof he alledgeth an auncient booke whereof he tooke it the same should bée accomplished in the third age that is to say in the third Period of the Church and that then the higher world should by the said holy body be vnited to the inferiour world so as God should bee sanctified beneath as well as aboue and the holy Ghost should come as out of a sheathe that is to say should be shewed foorth openly and that all this is but one namely the Euerlasting himself And to be short that the Woman of whom the holy word should take his body and out of whom the sayd faythfull was to come should be holy and blessed aboue all other women Now it appeareth that hereby he ment the Incarnation of the Messias For in the Talmud the Schoole of Rabbi Hamina being demaunded the name of the Messias answered Hamina that is to say Mercy is his name And in the Prophetes they betoken the Messias by the name of mercie Another Cabilist sayth That sinne shal be brought to ende by the Messias who shal be the power of God euen by the spirit of wisedome wherewith he shal be filled And another sayth that the misterie of Messias the King is that his operation coÌ„sisteth wholly in he vau and iod he which is the misterie of the seuenth day that is to say in calmenesse of mynd without force and that his name whole together shal be composed of these letters to wit Iehouah the Euerlasting But the holy Rabbi vpon the 9. Chapter of Esay where Christ is called the euerlasting father playeth the Philosopher yet further
vpoÌ„ the letters of that name Like as the letter he sayth he is made of daleth and vau as appeareth by the shapes of those letters so shall the Messias be of the nature of Man and of the nature of God And like as the double he coÌ„sisteth of a double daleth and two vaus so bee there two Sonships in the Messias that is to say two sorts of beeing Sonne the one in respect that he is the Sonne of GOD the other in respect that he is the Sonne of a Prophetisse as it is sayd in Esay 8. And as those shapes are distinct in one selfesame letter and yet are both one letter so shal the natures of Christ or the Messias be distinct and yet shall make but one Christ. I stand not vppon the foundation which he taketh of the letters which I make none account of but the onely thing which I meane to gather both by this text and by the former texts and by all others that may bee gotten together is that the expectation of the Iewes in old tyme was of a Messias that should bee both God and Man and that they haue not bin able to race it out of their bookes to this day for all the diligence that they could vse in that behalfe And for asmuch as I haue sayd that in God there bee three persones in one substance the Father the Sunne and the holy Ghost it followeth that wee must sée which of these thrée the Churche of Israell wayted that the Messias should be And as we haue found it méete that hee by whom God created vs to wit the sonne or the woord should be the meane to create vs now agein so also shall we find by the Scripture that the same second person is he that was promised In Genesis the Messias is called Silo and promised to be of the stocke of Iuda Now the woord Silo sayeth Kimhi signifieth the Sonne of him and is deryued of a woord which signifieth a womans Afterbirth as they terme it which thing is not to be passed ouer lyghtly And therefore Dauid repeateth and expoundeth the same promise in these woords I wil be his Father sayeth the Lord and he shal be my Sonne And in the lxxxix Psalme he addeth I will make him my firstbegotten and souereine of al the Kings of the earth which word Rabbi Nathan expoundeth concerning the Messias and thus doth Dauid himself expound it in the second Psalme The Lord hath sayd vnto me thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee And ageine Kisse the Sonne ô ye Kings Rulers of the Earth and happy be they which put their trust in him Surely it appeareth that in all that text he speaketh of the Sonne of God and not of the sonne of a man For otherwise he that hath sayd vnto vs Cuâ—sed be hee that trusteth in man and a foole is he that leaneth vppon the Princes of the earth would not say vnto vs Blessed are thei that put their trust in him But yet further Rabbi Selomoh the sonne of Iarchi and Aben Esra as much enemyes as they be vnto vs also do witnesse that the sayd Psalme was vnderstoode in old time to concerne the Messias neither do they themselues expound it otherwise Insomuch that Aben Esra sayeth expresly that Bar signifieth a Sonne in that place as well as in the xxxj Chapter of the Prouerbes And the exposition of the Iewes vppon that Psalme is that there God resembleth a King that would destroy a â—oune in his anger if he were not pacified by his sonne In the lxxij Psalme where the reigning of the Messias is manifestly descrybed His name sayeth he shall continew for euer his name shal be euerlasting as long as the Sonne indureth Am the Hebrew woord Ijnnon which he vseth commeth of the woord Nin. Which signifieth a Sonne as if a man would say Sonned or Sunnified In the Commentarie vpon the fowerscore and thirtéenth Psalme these woords Thy throne is from euerlasting to euerlasting are expounded to concerne the Messias And the paraphrast which is reported to be Rabbi Ioseph the blynd agreeth thereunto And in the Talmud the Schoole of Rabbi Ianai being asked the name of the Messias answereth Innon is his name for it is sayd in the Psalme before the Sonne was in the sky Innon is his name Esay Ieremie and Zacharie in the texts aforealledged do call him Impe and in all those places the Caldee paraphrast translateth it the Lords Anoynted and Iosua the sonne of Leuie sayeth that Impe is his name But least wee should thinke that this Impe were but an Impe of Dauid he is called there the Lords Impe the Impe of the Euerlasting and the Euerlasting himself Now there is not a nearer nor a properer metaphor thaÌ„ to terme a sonne an Impe or an Impe a sonne This sonne we call moreouer the woord wherein the Iewes dissent not from vs. In the xlv of Esay it is sayd Israell shal be saued by Iehouah that is to say by the Euerlasting with endlesse saluation which saying Ionathas translateth by the woord of the Lorde In Ose I will saue the house of Israel sayeth the Lord by the Lord their God which saying the sayd Ionathas translateth By the woord of the Lord their God and so foorth ordinarily in all other lyke texts And it is not to be douted but that by the sayd woord they ment the Messias For in the Hundred and tenth Psalme which as they themselues affirme conteyneth the misteries of the Messias vpon these words the Lord sayd vnto my Lord c. Ionathas saieth The Lord said vnto his woord sit thou on my ryght hand And Rabbi Isaac Arama vppon Genesis expounding this text of the Hundred and seuen and fortith Psalme The Lord sent foorth his woord and they were settled or as others translate it were healed sayeth eâ—mesâ—â— that this woord is the Messias Yea and Rabbi Simeon the sonne of Iohai the cheef of the Cabalists wryting vppon Genesis and by the way expouÌ„ding there these words of Iob yet notwithstanding I shall see my God in my flesh sayeth that the mercie which proceedeth from the highest wisdome of God shal be crowned by the woord and take flesh of a woman But let vs heare Philo the Iewe vpon this point Hardly can I say sayeth he what tyme is appoynted for the returne of the banished Iewes For men hold opinion that it shal be at the death of a hygh preest which as some think is at hande and as othersome thinke is farre hence â—â—t my opinion is that this high preest shal be the word or speâ—â—h of God cleere from sinne aswell willing as vnwilling who to his father hath GOD the father of all and to his mother hath the wisedome wherby al things in the world were created And therefore his head shall be anoynted with Oyle his Maiestie shall shead forth beames of light
Which of all these things resembleth the thing that commeth thereof eyther in substance or in shape or in quantitie or in qualitie To be short what straungenesse is there in this Of a handfull of Earth God made thée and all the Earth of nothing and of a handfull will he make thée new ageine This body of thine which in time past was not is of his making this body which one day shall ceasse to be he wil one day make new agein Uerily this doctrine was common to all true Iewes and among all the Teachers of the Lawe who had gathered it out of the old Testament as we reade in Iosephus and in the Acts of the Apostles for they agrée fully with S. Paule in that behalf And in the Talmud there are infinite places thereof Also the Alcorane which is borrowed of their Rabbines is full of this Doctrine And as concerning the Heathen of old tyme Zoroastres sayd that one day there shal be a generall rysing ageine of all the dead Theopompus a Disciple of Aristotles doth the lyke and noman in old tyme sayeth AEnaeas of Gaza did once geynsay them The Stoiks hild opinion that after a certeine tyme there should bée an vniuersall burning of the World which wée call Doomesday and that immediatly after all things should be set in their perfect state ageine as they were at the first and it was the opinion of Crysippus in his booke of Prouidence translated by Lucane the Stoik which new state Varro calleth Palingenesian that is to say a Regeneration Rebegetting or New birth Platosaith expresly that mens Soules shall returne into their bodyes The Astrologers following Albumazar vphold that when the Starres come home ageine euery one into his first place all things shal bée sette ageine in their first originall state both men Beastes Trées and all other Creatures which opinion euen Arethmetick alone sheweth to bee absurd in Astrologie and the best learned men reiect it Neuerthelesse it bewrayeth our beastlynes which do attribute such power to the Starres to defeate the maker of them thereof As touching the iudgement which the Sonne of God shall giue after the sayd Resurection although the same were not foretold by the Prophets of old time and by so many verses of the Sibills and finally by the mouth of Iesus and his Apostles surely Gods giuing of his Lawe not to the outward man but to the inward nor to our déedes onely but also to our thoughts sheweth sufficiently without other proofe that there is another Iudge than the Magistrats of this world to iudge vs and another Iudgment than their iudgement to be lookedfor as whose iudgment here procéedeth but to the outward déede and by proofes of witnesses and therefore cannot in any wise pearce into the hart to discerne what is within Neither would our owne cōsciences sumon vs so often as they do if we were not to appeare before other than men For sith it is the Soule that cheefely receyueth the Commaundement and cheefely breaketh it it is the Soule that must come to examination and tryall which cannot be done in this world wherein there is but a shadowe of Iustice and whose Lawes and Iudges extend no further than the outter side And therefore wee see that the auncient Rabines speake very often of this General Iudgment and which more is do attribute it to the Messias saying Feare not God for your Iudge For your Iudge is your owne fellow citizen your owne kinsman and your owne brother All the auntient Gentyles haue spoken so of this Iudgement which they say shall bee giuen in another lyfe in the féeld of truthe whereuppon shall followe eyther endlesse lyfe or endlesse death as I haue shewed afore Yea and it séemeth that by the lending of their auncient Oracles which were a kynd of Cabale they passed yet further For they called their greate and souereine God by the name of Iupiter and gaue the iudging of mens Soules to his Sonne Minos the King and Lawegiuer and not vnto Apollo Mercurie or any other as who should say they ment that the Iudge of the World should be the Sonne of God and yet there withall a ryghtuouse man that is to say the Mediator God and man I hope I haue now shewed the truenesse and substantialnesse of the Christian Religion and the vanitie and wickednesse of all other Religions Of the which Christian Religion the Primitiue Churche for a Badge and comfort to the Christians hath made a Sūme which we call the Créede of the Apostles For we beleeue in God the Father Almyghty maker of Heauen and Earth c. To beléeue in him is to trust in him to trust in him is to hope for all good things at his hand but vayne were our hope if it reached no further than to this present world Now I haue declared heretofore that there is but only one God that the same God created the world for man and man for his owne glorie and both of them of nothing That he guydeth them by his Prouidence the one according to nature which is a steady and suresettled Lawe prescribed by him to the World and the other according to wit and will which he hath giuen him so that which way so euer man take he frameth him alwayes to his holy will to such end as he hath appoynted That man is immortall and created to leade an endlesse lyfe that in that lyfe is the souereine welfare or good which alonly can content mans will and satisfie his wit and therefore that he must tend and indeuer thither with all his heart and bend all the powers of his wit to that end And to be short that the meane for man to atteine thereunto is to serue the true God with al his hart with all his Soule and with all his strength that is to say to vow all his thoughts wordes and déedes to the glorie of God But I sayd also that man is falne from his Originall through the pryde and disobedience of the first man whereuppon hath followed frowardnes in his will and ignorance in his wit Ignorance making him vnable to discerne his owne welfare and frowardnes turning him away from it yea euen when it is shewed him and making him vnwoorthy to atteyne to it and finally causing him to abuse his abilities and powers to all euill and so consequently plunging him in the gulf of al miserie both according to his owne desert and according to the Iustice of God Whereuppon it insueth that man is forlorne in himself vnlesse God recouer him by his mercy blind except God inlyghten him ageine vtterly Lame to the doing of any good and to the atteynement of any good vntill Gods grace do releeue him And therefore I sayd That he hath left vs a Religion for a guyde A Religion that turneth vs from all Creatures as which are but vanitie and conuerteth vs to him the only Creator of Heauen and
coÌ„pany with thy wyfe Man is both Soule body In Man are three Abilitieâ— of Soule The Body and the Soule be not one selfsame thing That the Soule is a substance Bodilesse Vnmateriall The Soule hath beeing of it selâ— Plutark in his treâ—yâ—e why God deferreth the punishment of the wicked Vncorruptible What is death Cleuâ— lib. 1. Three lyues iâ— Man Obiections The opinion of the Men of old tyme. The beleefe of the Patriarkes c. The wise Men of Egipt Hermes in his Poemander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hermes in his Poemander cap. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hermes in his Esculapius AEnaeas Gaz. concerning the immortalitie of the Soule Ghaâ—deans The Greekes Pherecydes Assyrium vulgo nascetur Amonium Phocylides Sybill Pindar in the second song of his Olympiads Homer in the Funeralles of his Iliads Pythagoras Heraâ—litus as he is reported by Philo. Epicharmus as he is reported by Clement of Aleâ—andria Thales Anaxagoras Diogenes and Zeâ—o Epicurus Lucretius Socrates Plato and XenophoÌ„ Plato in his Timaeus Plato in his Timaeus and in his third booke of a Comonweale Plato in his Phoedon in his matter of state in his Alâ—ibiades and in the tenth booke of his Comonweale Plato in his fifth booke of Lawes Aristotle in his second booke of liuiÌ„g things Aristotle in the third book of the Soule Aristotle in his tenth booke of moralles Michael of Ephesus vpon Aristotles Moralles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In his second booke of the Soule In the last booke of the parts of beasts In the tenth of his Supernaturalles In his first booke of matters of state The opinion of the Latin writers Cicero in his first booke of his Tusculane Questions in his booke of Comfort Cicero in his second booke of the Nature of the Gods and in his fust booke of Lawes In Scipioes dreame Ouid in his first booke of Metamorphosis Seneca writing to Gallio and to Lucillus Seneca concerning the Lady Martiaze SoÌ„ne and the shortnesse of this life In his Questions and in his hooke of Comfort Fauorinus The common opinion of all nations Porphyrius in his 4. booke of Abstinence Which with their owne hands made the fire to burne their bodies in and sawe aliue the kindled flame that should consume their Skinne Gebeleizie that is to say Register or Giuer of caze rest Gebeleizie that is to say Register or Giuer of caze rest Plutarke in his treatise of the flow punishing of the wicked The opinion of the later Philosophers Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simplicius Plotinus Plotin lib. 1. Ennead 4. coÌ„cerning the Beeing of the Soule lib. 2. cap. 1. lib. 3. cap. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. lib. 4 cap. 11. the seauenth book throughout Plotinus in his booke of the Sences of Memorie En. 4. lib. 3. and in his booke of doubts concerning the Soule chap. 26. 27. Alexander of Aphrodise in his bookes of the Soule In his second booke of Problemes Galen in his booke of the Manners of the Soule In his booke of the doctrine of Hippocrates and Plato In his booke of Conception The vniuersall consent In the AlcoraÌ„ Azo 25. and 42. It appeareth by the storyes or the East and West Indyes Ageinst Auerrhoes Let the Reader beare these termes their significations in Mynd for al the discourse here ensewing Auerhoes vppon Aristotles third booke of the Soule Aristotle in his second booke of the Soule Aristotle in his first booke of the Soule Aristotle in his â— booke of Supernaturalls Aristotle in his third booke of of the Soule Against Alexander of Aphrodise Mans corruption appeereth in his respect to Godward The sonne of the earth In respect of the World In respect of Man Man in respect of himself Diodorus lib. 4. Herodotus in his Clio. Austin in his woork of the Citie of God lib. 14. Chap. 17. and 18. * The Catopleb and also the Cockatryce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whence mans corruption coÌ„meth How long ago corruption came into maÌ„ The Conscience of Sinne. The opinion of the Auncient Philosophers Aristotle Theophrast Plato in his Phedrus Empedocles and Pythagoras Philolaus Pherecydes alledged by Origen against Cellus Hermes in his Poemander Zoroastres Gemistus Hierocles the Stoic against Athâ—â—â—ts Plutarke in his booke of Morall vertue and in his booke of the mutuall loue betweene Parents and their Children and That Beastes haue Reason Plotin Enn. 3. lib. 2. Also Enn. 1. lib. 6 Cap. 5. Also Enn. 1. lib. 8. Cap. 14. Enn. 6. lib. 9 Cap. 9. Plotin lib. 1. Enn. 5. Cap. 1. Plotin Enn. 1. lib. 8. Cap. 4. Plotin Enn. 3 lib. 5. Cap. 5. Enn. 3. lib. 3. Cap 4. Plotin Eun. 1. lib. 8. Cap. 14. lid 3. Cap. 4 S. Austin in the Citie of God lib. 10. Cap. 23. and 32. Porphyrius in his booke which sheweth how to do the things that are to be conceyued alonly by reason and vnderstanding Also in his third booke of Abstinence Proclus concerning the Soule and concerning the Feend cap. 4. Simplicius vppon Epictus Vniuersall consent Agathias in his secoÌ„d book of the Persian Warres The generall Historie of the Indyes ca. 122. Obiections Things are said to be good either by cause they come to good end or were purposed to a good end Mannes end or amingpoynt and his welfare consist or rest both in one thing The Markâ—â— whereby to knowe the amingpoynt and welfare of Man The world is not the end to which man was made God is the end or Marke that Man ameth aâ— The false ends and the false Welfares Riches Honor. Powre Authoritie and Soucreintie The vtmost end â—â—uerein good of Man are not in himself Beautie Helth Bodily Pleasure Voluptuousenes or Sensualitie Vertue Policiâ— Wisdome or Religiousnes Faith or Beleef Agazel in the beginning of his Supernaturalles Austin in his xix booke and first cap. of the Citie of God The Epicures Antisthenes answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stoiks The Peripatetikes or walkers Aristotle in his Moralles lib. 5 Porphyr in his first booke of the Soule to Byrithius and Anebon The Academiks Plato in his Common-weale lib. 10. In his Epinomis In his Theeteâ—â—s Laertius in the life of Plato-Plato in his Phoedon Aristotle in his booke of the World And in his Morals and in his first booke of the Heauens The Philosophers of old tyme. Pythagoras Mercurius Trif megistus otherwise called Hermes Zoroastres Plutarke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iamblichus Plotin Enn. 1. lib. 4. cap. 15. 16. Plotin Enn. 6. lib. 9. Cap. 10. Porphyrius in his worke of abstinence lib. 1. cap. 2. Porphyrius concerning the Soule to Byrithius and Anebo the AEgiptian Simplicius vpon the Naturalles and vppon Epictetus Vpon these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alexander in his booke of Prouidence cyted by Cyâ—illus The ends both of the good of the bad In their booke of shame concealed Hermes Trismegistus in his Poemander Orpheus Pythagoras Pindarus Diphiluâ— Sibylla 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tat is to say they