But by Tully it is exprest a great deale more fauourably But yet by this his seeming doubtfulnes the Athenians were so incensed that they mulcted him with exile and decreed that his bookes should be publiquely burned And yet that Protagoras was not a pure Atheist we may probably gather by two Arguments out of that description of his life which is written by Laertius The first of them that he maketh precationem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Prayer and Inuocation to be the first fundamentall part of an Oration which I haue formerly shewed to haue bene put in practice by all the most renowned Orators Therefore he could not thinke that there was no God For he would neuer pray to nothing If he had bene perswaded that the name of God were but an idle name and that there were no thing that were answerable to it he would neuer bestow his prayers vpon it Againe among his workes there was one of his Bookes inscribed De ijs que sunt apud inferos Now if he thought that there were Inferi he must needs thinke that there were Superi For Infra and Supra haue so necessary a relation that the one of them can neither stand nor yet be vnderstood without the other And therefore in admitting of the one he must needs admit of both As Socrates plainely proueth If there be Damones there must needs be Deus Eiusdem viri est Daemonia simul Diuina putare It necessarily belongeth vnto the same man that will beleeue there be Deuills to beleeue that ther is a God And as Mornaeus reporteth vnto the same purpose Legimus quibusdam qui non nisi visa crederent arte Magica Daemonas exhibitos his conspectis Deum etiam credidisse As we reade of some men who would beleeue nothing but what they haue seene that Deuills being shewed them by the power of Art Magicke they then presently beleeued That there was a God So that for any thing that hath hitherto bene sayd Protagoras was no Atheist he was not a denier but a doubter of the gods at the most Now doubting implieth not Atheisme For diuers of the Propheâ—s themselues haue sometimes doubted Iob in one place doubteth of Gods al-seeing prouidence How should not the times be hid from the Almighty And Dauid in another place doubteth of his Iustice and vprightnes Verily I haue Alenseâ— my heart in vaine and washed my hands in vaine This doubting might argue their weake faith in God especially for the present but it could not conclude their denying of God And no more could it in him especially his other writings implying that he beleeued him Let vs yet proceed further and consider of Euemerus who was condemned for an Atheist no lesse then Diagoras whose opinion Theodoret affirmeth to haue bene prophanam indeitatem a prophane denying of God coupling him with Diagoras and Theodorus the most infamed of the Atheists But yet it appeareth that his crime was not a generall denying of all Gods but only a denying of the heathen gods and an affirming of them to haue bene but men as Saint Augustine noteth of him affirming that he had imprinted into Virgil the same opinion by reading him So then Euemerus his Atheisme was no more but this that he affirmed of Saturne Iupiter Hercules and thâ— rest whom the Heathens adored and worshipped for their gods that they were indeed no gods but either mighty Kings and Emperours or great Captaines by Land or great Admiralls by sea or such like great persons in their times And this he sayth he read with his owne eyes written in Golden letters among the Pancheans and Triphilians Whose report though Plutarch there doth seeke to discredit imagining the name of Triphilians to be but a trifling and an imaginary name there being no such Triphilians in the world yet therein indeed he discrediteth himselfe For Strabo both affirmeth that there was such a Nation and describeth the place of their habitation and giueth a reason of that appellation Yea and Lactantius giueth credit to the relation of Euemerus and affirmeth that Enntus followed his authority in his History So that from hence there lyeth no exception no not against his relation much lesse against his opinion Which was indeed a most true one For if that opinion were Atheisme then were all Christians Atheists who confidently hold that the gods of the Heathen were no better then men Nay then were the greatest part of the heathen themselues Atheists especially the wisest part of them For they did al of them hold the same opinion And though they durst not openly publish it yet did they certainly beleeue it now then they would secretly confesse it where they might securely do it As appeareth by that letter which King Alexander sent vnto his mother Wherein he reporteth that in a priuate conference with an Aegyptian-Priest he secretly confessed vnto him that those whom they worshipped for their gods yet were indeed but men Yea and Athenagoras affirmeth that diuers of them confessed as much vnto Herodotus Herodotus Alexander Philippi filius in Epistola ad Matrem qui vtique in diuer sis ciuitatibus Aegypti Heliopoli Memphi Thebis in colloquium cum Sacerdotibus venisse dicuntur homines illos fuisse ex ijs se cognouisse aiunt Which Herodotus himselfe expressely confesseth Deos in Aegypto fuisse Principes That the gods of the Aegyptians were but their Kings Yea and Tully vnder the same benedicity telleth Marcus Brutus That all those whom they worshipped as Gods in heauen yet had bene in their times but only men vpon earthâ— and that this he might safely impart vnto him because he was initiated into the secrets of their mysteries Quid totum propè coelum nonnè humano genere completum est Si verò scrutari vetera ex ijs quae Scriptores Graeciae prodiderunt eruere coner ipsi illi maiorum Gentium Dij qui habentur hinc a nobis profecti in câ—elum reperientur Quare quorum demonstrantur sepulchra in Graecia reminiscere quoniam es initiatus quae tradantur mysterijs tum denique quà m hoc latè pateat intelliges The whole heauen is in a maÌ„ner replenished with men And if we would search out Antiquities gather those secrets together that haue bin bewrayed by the Greekes vnto vs we should find that euen the greatest of all the gods haue from vs beene translated into the heauens Wherefore remember but with your selfe whose Sepulchers the Greekes shew vs for you are now initiated into the mysteries and then you shall perceiue how farre this truth stretcheth Which obseruation that here he deliuereth so couertly is expressed by Xenophon a great deale more openly For he apertly professeth that Saturne Iupiter and Hercules were but men and that euery country had both a Saturne a Iupiter and a Hercules of their owne the first King in euery nation being
esse est metu vacare The end of mens not beleeuing a God is to be free from feare And for the attaining of these two ends that hee may not serue and that he may not feare will the Atheists needes beleeue euen beyond all beleefe fide sine fide That there is no God For no man would euer ingage himselfe in Atheisme so odious and so detestable an opinion but onely to free himself from seruing fearing But indeed he is greatly deceiued in theÌ„ both vtterly frustrated of his hoped end For no man serueth more no man feareth so much So that he manifestly proueth by both these two means that he thinks There is a God by which he seeks to proue that he thinks there is none And so as the Orator obserueth of Philo the Academick In idipsum se induit quod timebat He tâ—rusteth his head into the very same snarewhich before he feared So that he may truly say with Iob a farre more holy man The thing that I greatly feared is falâ—e vpon me and that whiâ—h I was afraid of is come vnto me 2 For the first end of the Atheist which is Non seruire there is nothing more certaine then that the Atheist entertaineth his impious opinion especially for this end that so he may attaine to be A free man and not either to serue or to obserue any other man no nor any God neither As it euidently appeareth in Pherecides Syrus who shamed not to glory but his glory was his shame That he had neuer serued any of the gods all his life and yet hâ—d alwayes led a very pleasant and merry life So that this was the end which hee aymed at in his impiety that he might not liue seruilely as he accounted that he should if he worshipped any God reckoning Piety to be Seruility which is indeed cleane contrary* It is the onely true Liberty For as S. Paule testifieth Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty And their impious Liberty is indeed true Seruility according to that of S. Peter Whilst they promise to others liberty they themselues are the seruants of corruption And the Holy Ghost addes a reason For of whom a may is ouercome of the same is he brought in bondage They make themselues seruants vnto all the corrupt fancies of their owne addle heads and to all the corrupt desires of their owne idle bellies For these two bee the Atheists chiefe and principall maisters whom they serue with more base and abiect seruility then euer â—ny slaue serued in the cruellest captiuity And well may they be so For according to the Paradoxe of the Stoicks mentioned by the Orator Omnes improbi serui All wicked men are slaues They that will not serue God himselfe who is their onely true maister are giuen ouer by Gods iustice to serue two other Maisters exacting vile seruices The Ambition of vaine glory and the lusts of their owne bellie Two most vniust imperious maisters insulting and dominering ouer them as ouer slaues commanding enjoyning them euery base thing yet inforcing them to obey them with no lesse exactions then the Egyptian taske-masters The first of them compelling them as it were to gather straw by seruing the vaine breath of the peoples fond applause the other of them compelling them to labour in the Brick-kilne by seruing the burning lusts of their own wicked bellies thus detaining them in more then Egyptian slauishnes So that in their declining of the seruice of God they gaine not that freedome which they hoped and propounded but fall into that thraldome which they desired to auoyd as Saint Augustine hath truly and wisely obserued Nego esse quenquam istorum qui nihil colendum existimant qui non aut carnalibus gaudijs subditus sit aut potentiam vanam foueat aut spectac ulo aliquo delectatus insaniat Ita nescientes diligunt temporalia vt inde beatâ—tudâ—nem expectent His autem rebus quibus quisque beatus vult effici seruiat necesse est velit nolit There is none of all those men which desire to serue nothing but that he either serueth his owne carnall desires or his vaine ambitions or his giddy pleasures So louing these outward and temporall things that they thinke to finde in them a perfect happines Now euery man sâ—rueth all those things will he nill he whereby he is in hope to attaine vnto felicity Concluding in the same place that Sua sibi vitia dominari patiuntur vellibidine vel superbia vel curio sitate damnati They suffer euen their owne vices to dominere and rule ouer them their lust and their pride and their curious ambition And this as Saint Paul teacheth falleth out by the hand of Gods most iust vengeance that They who refuse to serue their Creator should by him be giuen ouer vnto their vile affections yea euen into a reprobate sense to serue their owne lusts and vncleannesse and all manner of vnrighteousnesse fornication wickednesse couetousnesse maliciousnesse enuy debate deceite and a number of such like which euen there hee reckoneth vp And therefore the Atheist is very farre from that supposed libertie which in choosing of his Atheisme he promised vnto himselfe being thereby made a seruant not onely of many Maisters but also of most base and vnworthy Maisters Turpissimus seruus Dominorum turpiorum a most base seruant of more baser Masters 3 But yet more particularly of Vaine-glory and of Luxury These two aboue all the rest are most serued by the Atheist For first for Vaine-glory It is noted by the Orator that of all sorts of men there is none of them transported with the winde of ambition more greatly then those persons which haue beene of greatest name among the Philosophers Who euen in those Bookes which they haue written against Vâ—ine-glory as openly condemning it yet haue added their owne names as secretly affectiâ—â— it Aâ—d therefore Tertullian giueth them deserued titles when he calleth the Philosophers but Gloriae animalia and Famae negociatores The Creatures of ambition and the Traders for a name Vnto which two Hierom addeth that they be Vilia popularis aurae mancipia The base Slaues of the Peoples praise But yet of all the Philosophers I doe not finde any so infinitely possessed with the winde of Vâ—ine-glory as those men that haue bene most possessed with Atheisme as we may see for an instance in Bion of Boristhenes Who seeing that by all his Lectures of Atheisme he could not gaine so much as one Disciple to follow him that he might not seeme so vtterly deserted and despised he hired a company of Saylers to follow him vp and downe in the habit of Scholers through the chiefe streets of the Towne and with them hee went ietting towards the Schooles as if he had bin followed with a great traine of Disciples Now what a miserable seruant of Ambition was this man that durst thus
to be nothing els but god and that by the Platonists owne doctrine Animam mande dicunt esse Mentem perfectamque sapientiam quem Deum appellant So Plutarch Mens est Deus That soule is God And againe Democritus ait Deum in igne globoso esse mundi animam Democritus sayth that God in the fiery globe is the soule of the world Yea and Virgil speaking of that Mens or Spirit which giueth motion vnto the heauens he giueth such a description of it as an agree to no Spirit but to the Spirit of God Principio Coelum ae terras Campo'sque liquentes Lucentémque globum Luna Titaniaque astra Spiritus intùs alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem He saith the Heauens the Earth the Waters and the Stars Receiue their Motions and whate're they are From an internall Spirit which th' Eternall is That vnto all of them their Motion giu's Now what Spirit can this be in all those great Creatures but onely the Spirit of God their Creator Of whom the prophet Ieremie affirmeth that hee filleth both Heauen and Earth And the Wiseman in the Booke of Wisedom That he not onely filleth them but also maintayneth them answering to Virgils-alit This Spirit that made those Creatures doth also guide their motions And their mouing in so exact both a number measure and order doth evidently show That God himselfe is their Mouer That God himselfe is their Mouer Whom euen the Heathen imagined to be delighted which their dauncing in such an order before him Yea and that something too much as the Tragick seemes to chalenge him Cur tibi tanta est cura perennâ—s Agitare vias aetheris alti Why art thou so much taken vp oh why In those perpetuall motions of the sky Yea and euen among vs Christians that renowned Poet Bartas though hee goe not so farre yet he affirmes that sacred Harmonie And numbrie law did then accompanie Th' Almighty most When first his ordinance Appointed Earth to rest and Heauen to daunce 4 And therefore diuers of them as they ascribe a rythmicall motion vnto the Starres so doe they an harmonicall vnto the Heauens ymagining that their mouing produceth the melodie of an excellent sweete tune So that they make the Starres to be Dauncers and the Heauens to be Musitians An opinion which of old hath hung in the heads and troubled the braines of many learned men yea and that not onely among the Heathen Philosophers but also euen among our Christian Divines The first Author and inuenter of which conceited imagination was the Philosopher Pythagoras Who broched his opinion with such felicitie happinesse that he wonne vnto his part diuers of the most ancient and best leaned Philosophers as Plutarch reporteth Plato whose learning Tullie so much admireth that hee calleth him The God of all Philosophers Deum Philosophorum he affirmeth of the Heauens that Euery one of them hath sitting vpon it a Sweet-singing Syren carolling-out a most pleasant and melodious song agreeing with the motion of her owne peculier heauen Which Syren though it sing of it selfe but one single part yet all of them together being eight in number for so many Heauens were onely held by the Ancients doe make an excellent Song consisting of eight parts wherein they still modulate their Songs a greeable with the motions of the eight coelestiall Spheres Which opinion of Platoes is not only allowed by Macrobius but he also affirmeth of this Syrens Song that it is a Psalme composed in the praise of God Yea and he proueth his assertion out of the very name of a Syren which signifieth as he saith as much as Deo canens A singer unto God But Maximus Tyrius he affirmeth of the Heauens that without any such helpe of those coelestiall Syrens they make a most sweete harmonie euen by their proper motions wherein they doe Omnes symmetriae numeros implere contrarióque nisu diuinum sonum perficere They by their contrary mouing doe fill vp all the parts of a most Divine and heauenly Song Which hee affirmeth to be most pleasant vnto the eares of God though it cannot be heard by the eares of men Yea and the Sages of the Greekes insinuate also as much by placing of Orpheus his harpe in Heauen implying in the seauen strings of his well turned harpe that sweete tune and harmonie which is made in heauen by the diuers motions of the seauen planets as Lucian interprets it Vnto which his opinion there may seeme to be a kinde of allusion in the Booke of Iob as the Text in the vulgar translation is rendered Concentum Coeli quis dormire facâ—et Who shall make the Harmony of the Heauens to sleepe For so likewise the Diuines of Doway translate it Pliny indeede as concerning this Harmony doth write somewhat doubtfully whether there be in truth any such thing or no suspending his owne opinion with Non facilè dixerim So that as hee doth not defend it for a veritie so doth he not againe deny it as a falsity but leaueth it as vncertaine Whose doubting of it he being of so acute and inquiring a wit is rather a credit then a discredit vnto it But much more is Aristotles deriding of it because in the end hee was forced to retract in For though in his Booke De Coelo he confute it and make in a manner but a scoffe and scorne of it yet in his booke De Mundo he alloweth of it and confesseth it to be the proper worke of God For there hee sayth expresly that God doth In mundo rerum omnium concentum continere That hee keepeth that Harmony which is to be found in all the seuerall parts of the world And so likewise Tully although in one place hee doe scoffe at this Harmony that Mundus should ad harmoniam canere That the World should sing vnto a tune yet in another place hee not onely subscribeth vnto it but also ascribeth vnto the working of it all those benigne gracious influences which from the Heauens descend vpon these inferior bodies Stellarum tantus est concentus ex dissimilimis motibus vt cùm summa Saturni refrigeret media Martis incendat His interiecta Iouis illustret temperet infraque Martem duae Soli obediant Sol ipse mundum omnem sua luce compleat ab eoque Luna illuminata grauidates partus afferat maturitatemque gignendi There is so great an Harmony and concent of the Starres arising from the diuersity of their motions that as Saturne cooleth so Mars heateth and Iupiter which is betweene them hee tempereth them both The other two Planets which are below Mars are both of them obedient vnto the Sunne which filleth the whole world with the cheerefull light of it Wherewith it illumining the body of the Moone by it giueth power of increase and generation Concluding with these words his former obseruation
ATHEOMASTIX Clearing foure Truthes Against Atheists and Infidels 1. That There is a God 2. That There is but one God 3. That Iehouah our God is that one God 4. That The Holy Scripture is the Word of that God All of them proued by Naturall Reasons and Secular Authorities for the reducing of Infidels and by Scriptures and Fathers for the confirming of Christians By the R. Reuerend Father in God MARTIN FOTHERBY late Bishop of Salisbury The Contents followes next after the Preface Psalme 14. 1. The Foole hath sayd in his heart There is no God Romanes 1. 20. But The invisible things of God that is his eternall Power and God-head are seene by the Creation of the World being considered in his workes LONDON Printed by Nicholas Okes dwelling in Foster-Lane 1622. TO THE RIGHT HONOrable Knight Sr. ROBERT NAVNTON Principall Secretary to the Kings Maiestie and of his most Honorable Priuie Councell all Happinesse answerable to his Vertue and Worthinesse MOST worthy Syrâ— you cannot but remember that from the first beginning of our old acquaintance I haue alwayes made you the Aristarchus of my writings The exactnesse of whole iudgement I haue euer found so pleasingly tempered with Sharp and Sweet that to the one of these your sharpenesse in discerning the least escapes and errors there could nothing more be added of the other your sweetnesse in pardoning the greatest there could nothing more be required The recordation of which mixture hath giuen me now the boldnesse notwithstanding the greatnesse of your affaires wherewith I euer find you pressed yet to offer vnto your censure this vnperfect worke as matter of contemplation for your more reserued time wherein I nothing doubt but you haue your oft returnes to meditations of this kind The heads which I haue proiected in this worke to be discussed are all of them such as though most needefull to be beleeued yet least laboured in by Diuines to further our beleefe and therefore the most subiect both to question and doubting Especially with men of the sharpest witts the greatest spirits and the richest endowments whom Nature hath prepared for the search of the highest and most difficult matters These men out of the penetrating and diuiding nature of their firie wits doe trouble themselues with many Quaere's and doubts in all these foure Positions which neuer creepe into the heads of simpler and vnlearned persons framing sometimes such Obiections as to which they themselues cannot giue good and sufficient Answeres but are ipsi sibi respondentes inferiores as it was sayd of Chrysippus euen for this very cause For the better helpe of which men and to rid them out of the snares of their owne curiosities wherewith they oftentimes intangle themselues and to preuent that they doe not ipsi se compungere suis acuminibus that they wound not themselues with the sharpe needles points of their owne pricking wits I haue done the best I could to ioyne my helpe with theirs by answering all Obiections which I could coniecture might any way trouble their sciences or Consciences For this so meane a worke I affect no great Patronage Satis magnum alter alteri the atrum sumus Your loue is the greatest which I haue euer found ready to couer my greatest wants The summitie of my ambition is that as you haue giuen a noble testimony vnto the world of the incomparable faithfulnesse of your loue towards me so I might yeeld a returne of my like fidelity of thankefulnesse toward you Your gracious acceptance of this mine imperfect worke shall be a brazen wall vnto mee against the maleuolous disposition of all detracting spirits Your Honors eternally obliged friend to serue you MARâ—â—N SARVM The Preface to the Reader expressing the Reason of the whole Worke. IT is not so much of mans owne free election as of Gods speciall disposition that euery man in his writing is particularly addicted vnto the handling of this or that Argument Not all vnto one for so all but one should be left vnhandlâ—â— â—nd the world of many excellent knowledges bereaued but some vnto one and some vnto another that we might not lacke instruction in any profitable matter Diversis etenim gaudet Natura ministris Vt fieri diversa queant ornantia Terras Neâ— patitur cunctos ad eandem curreremetam Sed varias iubet ire vias variosque labores Suscipere vt vario cultu sit pulchrior orbis Saith the Christian Poet Nature herselfe delights herselfe in sundry instruments That sundry things be done to deck the Earth with Ornaments Nor suffers she her seruants all should runne one single race But will 's the walke of euery one frame in a diuers pace That diuers wayes and diuers works the world might better grace Yea and euen the very Heathen doe likewise confesse this to be the proper worke of Gods gracious prouidence calling euery man to that wherein he best foreseeth him most able to doe good and yet not inforcing but inducing him to doe it Eam enim mentem Dij singulis dant vt communes vtilitates in medium afferant saith the Athenian Orator Yea he illustrateth his position by example of himself there That God had put into his mind to make that present Oration for the generall good of the whole Greekish Nation ascribing that his inclination not vnto his owne selfe-motion but vnto Gods prouidence disposing his affection And so likewise doth Plutarch his Intellige non sine efficacitate coeâ—stium vel me nunc scribere isthaec velte quic quid agis eo modo agere quo agis And so likewise doth Galen of his booke De vsu partium Deus aliquâ—s iussit primum scribere declarationem eius ille ipse novit me scire ascribing all his writing vnto Gods inward commanding who knew best his ability to write of that argument Which is indeed a very true ascription yea and much truer in spirituall matters than it is in any ciuill For therein it is most euident that The same Spirit that hath giuen to euery man his gift hath also assigned vnto euery man his taske calling one vnto one Argument and another to another and euery one to serue his Church with those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and graces which he hath bestowed vpon him for that purpose And this we may plainely see euen in those holy Instruments that haue been the writers of the holy Scriptures how as God had endowed them with their seueral gifts so he likewise appointed them to their seueral works calling some of them to the writing aâ— holy Histories as Moses Ioshua c. some of heauenly Mysteries as Daniel Iohn c. some of Hymnes as Dauid in Psalmes and Salomon in his Song some of Prophecies as Isaj Ieremie c. and some of Morall and Ciuill Precepts as Salomon in his Prouerbs euery one entertaining both a different matter and handling the same in a differing manner yet not by his owne election but by
they beleeue nothing The greatnesse of mens wits sharpneth many of them on to see all things prooued by arguments and demonstrated vnto sense The Scriptures with many haue lost their authority and are thought onely fit for the ignorant and idiote The World now swelling with an opinion of learning though it be indeede in such men but onely an opinion yea and that a very false one For as the Apostle S. Paul hath very truely censured them Wherein they professe themselues to be wise therein they doe shew themselues to be fooles there being nothing more foolish then either not to beleeue that there is a God who yet may visibly be seene by the creation of the world or to beleeue that the world was neuer created because we see not visibly the first creation of it This though such vaine men doe conceite and accompt to be their wisedome yet is it indeed their palpable folly yea and that not onely in the Apostle Pauls iudgement but also in the iudgement of the very Heathen Poet who calleth such mens doubting rationis egestatem the very beggery of reason Tentat enim dubiam mentem rationis egestas Ecquaenam fuerit mundi genitalis origo It 's want of reason or it's reasons want Which doubts the minde and Iudgment so doth daunt That Worlds beginning mak's men not to graunt Yea as thicke and grosse a folly as if a man looking vpon some goodly building should professe hee would not beleeue that it euer had beene made because he himselfe did not see the making of it For how differ they Therefore it is but an erroneous opinion to thinke that either amongst Christians there can be no Atheists or that secret Atheists are not to be convinced as well as the publique or that the principles of Religion are beleeued of all by whom they bee confessed or that they ought not to be prooued vnto those men of whom they bee already beleeued All these I say be very great errors but especially the first For beside the two fore-named sorts of Atheists the one both inword and heart denying God the other in word confessing him but in heart renouncing him there is yet a third sort of them yea and those euen amongst Christians who though both in word and in heart they confesse him yet doe they in their workes deny him They beleeue there is a God but they liue as if they beleeued there were none which the Apostle Paul perstringeth as a reall denying of him They professe they know God but by workes they deny him Yea and his censure is approued euen by the Heathen Poet who sentenceth all wicked and licencious liuers to bee no better then a kinde of pragmaticall Atheists Tubulus si Lucius vnquam Si Lupus aut Carbo aut Neptuni silius Putasset esse Deos tam periurus aut tam impius fuisset Lucilius ask's if any man can dreame That Lucius Lupus Carbo and their crue Or Neptun's sonne that impious Polypheme Themselues so periur'd or so vile would shâ—w If they had once a thought but that there is A God in Heau'n who plagues men for their mis Now all these sorts of Atheists are to bee convinced and drawne obtorto collo will they nill they vnto God Which I hope is performed I am sure indeauoured in this Booke Wherein the first sort of those Atheists which deny there is a God are forc't by strength of reason to confesse that they denied The second sort of them which confesse there is a God and yet beleeue it not are taught to beleeue that which they haue confessed The third sort of them which both beleeue and confesse him and yet haue no care to worship or obey him are heere taught to liue as they doe beleeue So that this Booke hath great vse towards all those sorts of Atheists which beleeue not these positions Yea and no lesse I hope likewise towards those that beleeue them For those true and sound Christians which both confesse the truth and beleeue as they confesse and liue as they beleeue it notably confirmeth both in their true faith and in their good life So that it will no way be idle or superâ—luous neither towards the Vnbeleeuers nor yet towards the Beleeuers Not to them for information not to these for confirmation But yet it may bee that some man will obiect that Treatises of Deuotion are of much greater profit and more fitting to the nature and capacity of the Vulgar and that therefore these our paines might more properly and profitably haue bene bestowed vpon such Whereunto I breifly answere That indeede there is nothing more generally wanting in the practise of our liues then is the exercise of true Deuotion nothing more defectiue in the diuersity of our writings then discourses of that kinde So that this may likewise be confessed too truly â—o be but a steril part of Diuinitie tilled by very few But yet euen this present worke which we now haue in hand if it be well considered and duly meditated doth not want his instigation vnto true deuotion For what greater motiue or incentiue can there be to inflame the godly Soule with all faithfulnesse to deuote it selfe wholy vnto Gods holy seruice then seriously to perpend and to recompte within it selfe that God hath made all his seuerall Creatures to deuote them onely vnto our vse and seruice Whosoeuer hath in him any sparckle of goodnesse he must needes by this godly and religious meditation be greatly accended vnto true deuoion Now that point in this Booke is prolixly layd open And certes how the Reader will be affected in the reaâ—ing of this Booke I cannot tell but my selfe in writing of it was no lesse affected then was Tullie in the writing of 〈◊〉 Bookâ— De Senecture being oftentimes so liuely touched that I neuer found in my selfe a more quicke apprehension both of Gods incomprehensible Maiestie and goodnesse 〈◊〉 of Mans most contemptible pusillitie 〈◊〉 then by this contemplation of God in his creatures finding in my self the verity of that obseruation of Tully that Est animorum ingeâ—â—â—â—umque naturale quasipabulum consideratio contemplatioq Naturae Erigimur latiores fieri videmur humana despicinus cogitantesq supera atque coelestia haec nostra vt exigua minima contemnimus As for the capacitie of the simpler Readers all is not written to them but the most vnto the learned who are in most danger with many Obiections vpoâ— these points to be troubled But yet there bee many passages througâ— out the whole Booke which may easily be conceiued euen of the 〈◊〉 Readers yea and that euen in the highest points which I haue 〈◊〉 indeauoured to stoop and demitte euen to the capacitie of the very lowest so farre as the nature of the things would permit So 〈…〉 may haply bee found true euen in this discourse also at the least in respect of the subiect matter handled though not in the
forme manner of handling which S. Gregorie affirmeth of the holy Scripture that it is Qâ—asi Fluuius planus altus in quo Agnus ambuler Elephas natet That though there be some subiects so deepe and profound that the Elephant may swim in them yet be there 〈◊〉 againe so obuious and shallow that euen the Lambe may wade ouer them And therefore the worke as I hope will not be without his fruite neither towards the Infidels nor yet towards Christians neither towards the Learned nor towards the Vnlearned which was the doubt of some men themselues not vnlearned as concerning the Subiect and Argument of this Booke It therefore now remayneth that hauing giuen satisfaction vnto such as haue obiected against the matter of my writing I should now likewise indeauour to remoue those Exceptions which some haply may take against the Manner of it As first it may be that some Man will except that there is in this Booke so much Philosophie and so little Diuinitie Whereunto I breifely answer that with those Aduersaries against whom I am cheifly to deale in this Booke the Diuinity of Christians hath much lesse authoritie then the Philosophie of Heathens naturall Reason a much higher place then supernaturall Religion and the writings of Philosophers much greater credit then the holy Scriptures So that in respect of the nature of those Aduersaries there is more cause of exception that here is so much Diuinity then that there is so little And yet euen for this also there is a iust Apologie That this is done ex abundante rather to confirme those that beleeue then to informe those that beleeue not that so the Booke may not be without his profit whether it light into the hands of Christians or of Pagans Some againe it may be will except That such a multitude of Testimonies are congested to one purpose But that hath many vses to the profit of the Readers For first The Matter questioned is by multitude of Testimonies more substantially proued Secondly though those Testimonies alledged be by me often applyed but to mine owne present purpose yet may the learned Reader make manifold vse of them vnto diuers other purposes and so in their varietie haue choise and election to take or to leaue as will best serue his turne So that the writers store ought not to be accompted the Readers sore if but in this respect But thirdly though many be alledged to one and the same purpose yet may it be obserued by the indicious Reader that they doe not all proceed by one and the same tenor but that for the most part euery one bringeth some thing that the other had not which may serue the attentiue Reader either for the better confirmation or the clearer illustration of the point then in quaestion Finally if they will needs haue this to bee the writers error yet may I defend my selfe with that same excuse wherewith Quintilian defendeth Stesicorus that Id si est reprehendendum est tamen nisi Copiae vitium Which though it hath made the Booke some what bigger yet hath it also I hope made it better So that I am the lesse fearefull of Callimachus his censure that Magnus Liber est magno malo par A great Booke is little better then a great euill Yea and so much the rather because in those sentences I haue made choise of mine Authors not corrading out of all promiscue and sine delectu but taking only such as are both ancient and Classicall as well Seculars as Diuines In citing of whose Testimonies I haue not alledged them all pariter as they stand in their Author but leauing out all exorbitant and heterogeneall Clauses which â—itted not my purpose I haue taken onely so much as was properly incident vnto mine owne ends and hindered not the context and roundnesse of the speech yet alwayes with this care neither to wrest nor wrong the sense of the Author Some againe may except against the citing of mine Authors so particularly Booke Chapter and Page as carrying with it some touch or at least some shew of Vanitie But vnto that I answer that it was not to ostentate and make shew of mine owne reading which it greatly repenteth me to be so little but to helpe my Reader with it such as it is not envying his profit but seeking with all my best endeauour to promote it And indeed I haue alwayes esteemed it a great ouersight yea and a kinde of vnkindenesse in any writer in the citing of his Authors to send his Reader to seeke in an indefinite compasse when as he himselfe can direct him vnto the definite place by that meanes also defeating the very end and purpose of his owne paines in writing which is onely to increase his Reader in all knowledg and vnderstanding Besides Whereas in the citing of those Authors I doe oftentimes allude but in a word or two vnto many great Matters which in the Authors themselues are set downe more prolixly this directing of my Reader vnto the placâ— so particularly will oftentimes serue him in stead of a Commentarie storing him to euery purpose with a great deale of more matter then I haue extracted out of the Author And yet no man is hereby tyed vnto the same edition of the Authors that by my selfe is vsed I doe but only direct them which haue the same editions how to make more ready vse of them As for those that haue them not I haue noted not onely the Author but the Booke also and the Chapter and so come as neere them as I could possibly imagine Another Exception may perhaps be also taken That Verses bee sometimes cited and yet not as verses But this may be defended with that excuse of Laberius that Versorum non numerorum numero studuimus I therein followed rather the power of the sense then the number of the syllables And with another like of Seneca's that Animis ista scripsi non auribus Some againe may except that Greeke writers are not cited in their owne proper language Whereunto I answer First that the weight of those Testimonies which I haue taken out of them doth seldome or neuer rest vpon the proprietie of the Greeke word or phrase but mostly vpon the matter and the sense Secondly that if it did yet the credit of the Translator hath no lesse authoritie then any Nomenclator or Dictionarie maker but rather much greater Because hee is led vnto his translation by exactly perpending the true weight of euery word as it is in that place vsed rendring it most properly out of the congruitie of those circumstances that he hath before considered both in the anteceding and succeeding passages which are the best directions and cannot be considered by the bare reciter of the words in their seuerall significations But thirdly and lastly which stoppeth all reply I haue cited those Authors as I had them contenting my selfe with the vse of those Booke which
that the nature of all things is ruled by some God I verily saith he will grant it if you will but desire it 5. But here it may be obiected Why then should I take vpon me to proue it if it be in nature such as cannot be proued This must needs proue all my labour to be clearely lost especially the Aduersarie being so hard and refractarie and so vtterly obfirmed to denie it as it must needs be with the Atheist who cannot yeeld vnto this our position without betraying the very fortresse of his owne Irreligion But vnto this Obiection I answere out of the Philosopher That there be two kindes of Demonstrations or proofes The one is a demonstrating of Causes by their effects which is a proofe drawne a posteriori and is called by Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Only a declaring that such a thing is thus and thus without rendring any reason or alledging any cause The other is a demonstrating of the Effects by their Causes Which is a proofe A priori and is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a declaring why such a thing is thus and thus and thus rendring for it a good reason and alledging a true cause By this latter kind of Demonstration which sheweth Propter quid sit the Principles cannot be proued they cannot be demonstrated A causa and A Priori because they haue no prior or superior cause being the prime causes themselues But by the former Demonstration which sheweth onely Quòd sit they may well enough be proued they may be proued Ab Effectu and Aposteriori which is better knowne to sense though the other be to Reason better knowne to vs though the other be to Nature To make this plaine by a familiar example for the better information of the simple That the Fire is hot is a Physical Principle Of which though no man can giue a true cause or good reason Why it should be so yet may euery man demonstrate and make it plaine that it is so Though no man can tell the cause Why the Fire is hot yet may euery man shew by the effects that surely it is hot because it warmeth heateth burneth And so it is likewise in this our present instance Though no man can proue A causâ— why there should be a God yet may euery man collect Ab Effectu That there is a God by that Wisedome which we see to haue beene in the Making that Order in the Gouerning and that Goodnes in the preseruing and maintayning of the World All which argue as effectually That there needs must be a God as either Warming or Burning That the Fire must needs be hot Now these posterior Arguments though they be not so strongly concludent as the former yet are they sufficient to carry the matter For as Aristotle himselfe noteth Mathematica certitudo non est in omnibus quaerenda Mathematical certitudes are not required in all matters And he practiseth according to his rule in his Ethicks holding it sufficent in matter of Moralitie to giue Rules which holde not alwayes vpon necessitie but for the most part or more commonly Then much lesse is it needfull in matter of Diuinitie to bring such inuincible demonstrations as reiect all haesitations Especially not in this case which hath layd his foundation neither in sense nor in science but meerely in beleef Which as Clemens Alexandrinus noteth being founded but vpon the bare authoritie of Gods word yet begetteth in this point a farre more cleare vnderstanâ—ing then can be wrought in vs by any demonstration Neque scientia accipitur demonstratiua ea enim ex prioribus constat et ex notioribus Nihil autem est ante ingenitum Restat itaque vt diuina gratia et solo quod ab eo proficiscitur verbo id quod est ignotum intelligamus There is here no demonstratiue knowledge to be had for that ariseth from those things which are both before and better knowne then that which we demonstrate But before that which is it selfe without all generation there cannot possibly be any thing It therefore remayneth that by the virtue of Gods heauenly grace and of his diuine word we come to know euery thing which before was vnknowne So that Demonstrations are here vnproper and vnprofitable And therefore I desire that aequanimitie of my Readers which Tullie out of Plato doth of his euen in this very case that Si forâ—è de Deorum natura ortúque mundi disserentes minùs id quod hâ—beâ—â—us animo consâ—quâ—mur vt tota dilucidè planè exâ—rnata oratio sibi constet et ex â—mniparâ—e secum consentiat haud sanè erit mirum contentique esse dâ—bebitis si probabilia dicentur Aequum est enim meminisse et me qui disseram hominem esse eâ— vâ—s qui iudicetis vt si probablilta diceniur â—e quid vltra requiratis If haply in speaking of the nature of God and of the original of the world I cannot attaine that which I propounded and desired that my whole discourse be both familiar and eloquent and cohaerent it is no great meruaile and you ought to be content if I write but what is probable For it is fit you should remember that I which write am but a man and that you who reade are but men yourselues And therefore if I bring you but probable reasons you ought not to exacte any more at my hands For in this case it is sufficient to obtaine the cause if those Arguments which we bring to proue There is a God be of greater certaintie strength and consequence then those which the Atheist bringeth to proue There is no God Which I hope shall be made euident in the eight and last Booke CHAP. 2. 1. What manner of Authorities be the weightiest in this case 2. That they may not here be vsed 3. How yet they be here vsed 4. What be the most proper in respect of the Aduersaries 5. Why they be more proper then any other IT is good in all causes for euery man to vnderstand not only his aduantages but also his disuantages lest expecting greater matters then the cause will affoord he be needlesly offended when his expectation is destituted The Cause here in quaestion betweene Atheists and Christians hath two great disuantages The first of them is this that by the clearenes of the Position now called into quaestion Whether there be a God we are cut off from the strongest kinde of our Arguments which containe the causes of their owne Conclusions as I haue already shewed in the former Chapter The second that by the infidelitie of the Aduersarie we are likewise cut off from our weightiest Testimonies as I purpose to shew in this The weightiest Testimonie that can be brought in this cause to proue There is a God is to produce for the proofe of it the Testimonie of God speaking in his owne word This is proper this is naturall
to all to owne Their father true by Nature knowne So likewise Theodoret. Veram theologiam ab initio hominibus Natura tradidit diuina subinde eloquia confirmarunt True diuinity from the beginning was first taught to men by Nature and afterward confirmed vnto them by Scripture By which alledged authorities both of Christians and Heathen it doth euidently appeare that there is hardly a greater consent of all men in beleeuing There is a God then there is in obseruing this consent of their beleefe And it is also a thing not vnworthy the obseruing that so many learned men of so distant times and places and so different in opinions yet should vtter and expresse one and the same sentence in so many formes of words 4 Which yet may be made a little more euident by addition of two other places out of Tullie that expresse the whole notion a great deale more excellently which I haue purposely reserued vnto this last place because they doe affoord a notable gradation whereupon I haue founded the whole Discourse ensuing The first of them is in his first Booke Of the Nature of the Gods the second in the first Booke of his Tusculan Questions His first place is this Quae est gens aut quod genus Hominum quod non habeat sine doctrina anticipationem quandam Deorum quam appellat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicurus What Country is there or what kinde of men which haue not in their mindes without any teaching a certaine preconceiued opinion of God Which Epicurus calleth a Praesumption or Praeception Marke the steps of his gradation Quâ—e gens Quod genus What nation of men or what condition of them His second place is this Nulla est gens tam fera nemo omnium tam immâ—nis cuiâ—s mentem non imbuer it Deorum opinio There is neither any nation so barbarous nor any person so sauage but that his minde is indued with some opinion of the Gods Marke here againe Nulla gens Nemo omnium No people nay no man at all From whence we may gather by these two places of Tullie compared together that this praenotion of God is so generally spred that there is neither nation nor condition of men no nor any singular person neither gens nor genus nor vllus but he hath in him this perswasion That their is a God Let vs treade in his owne steppes and see the truth of this his consident assertion and whether he be deceiued in any one of them And first as concerning Nations then Conditions and finally Persons CHAP. 4. That there is not any Nation but it hath his Religion 1. Ancient Histories insinuate it 2. New Histories affirme it 3. Trauellers confirme it 4. A generall surueigh of their Gods declareth it 5. A particular surueigh of their tutelar Gods proueth it YOu have seene before how confidently it is affirmed both by Heathens and by Christians That there is not any Nation but it hath his Religion not any People in the world but that they haue their God Let vs now come to see how this saying can be proued For it is easie to say any things But those things that are sayd if they be not duly proued may with the same facilitie be reiected that they be affirmed So that we cannot in equitie exacte a beleefe where we doe not exhibite if not en exact yet a competent proofe But in this case now present easie proofe will be competent For it requiring nothing of vs but an historicall faith we neede exacte no more but an historicall proofe because historicall positions are sufficiently proued by historicall probations Why then the highest proofe that wee can vse in this case is to confirme it by the testimonie of either such Historiographers as haue credibly related it or else of such Trauellers as haue visibly seene it They two will be sufficient For these two in this case be more authenticall witnesses then either Philosophers Orators or Poëts yea or then Diuines themselues because this resteth onely vpon the credit of History Wherein we haue testimonies in very great plenty For looke into all the most ancient Historiographers who haue either Geographically described the Regions or Histoâ—ically the Nations of the whole world so farre as it was open and known in their time yet you shall finde none of them that haue certainely or assertiuely branded any nation with the marke and stigme of Atheisme neither Herodotus nor Diodorus nor Strabo nor Ptolomee nor Mela nor Solinus nor Plinie nor Iustine nor any of the rest They which haue marked with very great curiositie the memorable things of euery Countrie yea and haue noted the Atheisme of some particular men would neuer haue lefte it vnnoted vpon any generall nation if they could haue inured any such vpon them It is true that Strabo writeth of the Calaâ—ci a rude and a sauage people of Spaine that Calaicis Deum nulluÌ„ esse quidam aiunt that some affirme that they haue no God But yet he neither affirmeth so of them nor yet telleth vs who they were that affirme this of them himselfe nor yet subscribeth vnto their affirmation but leaueth all in the vncertaintie of QuidaÌ„ aiunt which is a very weake proofe For if such vngrounded reports might goe for proofes Christians themselues should be Atheists who as Caecilius reporteth doe et Templa despicere et Deos despuere both despise the Temples and despite the Gods The nations that haue beene most infamed with imputation of this point are the Massagetae and Scythians who by the vulgar in old time were thought to be destitute of all pietiâ— and Religion because they were so farre from ciuilitie and reason But Herodotus expressely freeth them both from that impietie For the Scythians acknowledged diuers of the Greekish Gods Iupiter Tellus Apollo Venus Mars and Hercules Hos cuncti Scythae Deos arbitrantur saith he These all the Scythians hold for Gods Lucian addeth Diana vnto whom as he reporteth they were wont to offer Men But their owne peculiar God whom they chiefly worship aboue all the rest is euery mans old Sword ferreus acinaces qui singulis vetustus est Idque est Martis simulachrum cui annuas hostias offerunt cùm aliorumpecorum tum equorum et plus huic acinaci quam caeteris Dijs They call it the image of their great God Mars and they offer vnto it their yearely sacrifices both of horse and other beasts yea and more to this alone then to all the Gods beside him This was the religion of the ancient Scythians And for the Massagetae their neighbours he testifieth of them likewise that though they renounced all other Gods yet that they held the Sunne for a God Ex Dijs vnum Solem vener antur cui equos immolant Among the other Gods they worship the Sun and they sacrifice their Horses vnto him So that in the writings of all
Of whom there is a Catalogue in the same place set downe The Babilonians Succoth-Benoth the men of Cuth Nergal the men of Hamath Ashima the Auites Nibhaz Tartak the Sepharuites Adrammelech Anammelech Neither did Nations and Cities onely affect to haue euery one vnto themselues their owne peculiar and seuerall Gods as their Patrons and Defenders but the same was likewise followed euen by all their seuerall families who still had their Lares and their Deos Penates that is their Household gods as the Protectors of their families whom because they set vp in the secret and most inward parts of their houses the Poets vse to call Deos Penetrales And with how great a religion they adored them we may partly see in Plautus where a Lar familiaris expresseth his worship thus mihi cotidiè Aut ture aut vino aut aliquî semper supplicat Dat mihi coronas Or Wine or incense She lay's downe She offer 's something euery day Her Garlands doe mine Altars crowne And alwayes to me she doth pray And the same we may likewise collect by that wonderfull perturbation which is reported to haue bene both in Micah and Laban when their Household Gods were stolne from them Yee haue taken away my Gods and my Priests and goe your wayes and what haue I more Yea and as Plinie reporteth not only seuerall families had their seuerall Gods but also euery seuerall person would adopt a seuerall God of his owne insomuch that he thought thâ— number of Gods to be multiplyed aboue the number of men Maior Coelitum populus etiam quam Hominum in telligi potest cùm singuli quoque ex semet-ipsis singulos Deos faciant Iunones Geniósque adoptando sibi We may see greater multitudes of Gods then of Men seeing euery man adopteth as he pleaseth both greater and smaller Gods vnto himselfe And thus you plainly see that there is neither Nation nor City nor Family in the world but that it is perswaded that There is a God and that they cannot containe but that they needs must worship him at the least in their intention howsoeuer there be error or imperfection in their action So that for the first branch of Tullies gradation you see he erred not That there is not any Nation but it hath his Religion None of them all so wicked but beleeueth There is a God Quod quidem non solùm fatetur Graecus sed Barbarus sed Insularum Continentis habitator ipsi denique qui sapientiam abnegant as Maximus Tyrius affirmeth This saith he is confessed both by Greekes and Barbarians both by Islanders and Continenters yea euen those which renounce al vnderstanding and wisedom yet do not remoue Religion but hold that fast within them And as in a like case by Seneca it is obserued Totus populus in alio discors in hoc conuenit All the people of the world though dissenting in all other thing yet consent There is a God Let vs therefore now proceed vnto Tullies second instance and see whether as all Nations so all conditions of men be inwardly perswaded that There is a God CHAP. 5. That all sorts of men of all degrees and orders do beleeue There is a God is particularly declared by instance of Poets 2. Of Law-giuers 3. Of philosophers 4. And of all other seuerall Arts and Professions OF all those generall Notions which are begotten in the minde and are thought to be the first grounds of the very law of Nature there is not any one of them which is either so early bred or so largely spred or so deepely rooted in the hearts of all men as is this one conclusion That There is a God Nay a Conclusion it is not if we will properly speake but rather a Principle yea and that so naturally bred in the soul that as Aristotle affirmeth it needeth not any corporeall instrument to make it beleeue it Anima intelligit Deum scientiâ â—uiusmodi quae non est per organon corporale Nay the name of a Principle is not sufficient for it It is Ante Principium rather then Principium or as Aquinas calleth it Praeambula ad Articulos A Praeamble vnto the first Articles of Christian beleefe For many men beleeue this that beleeue none other Article in the body of our Creede Nay all men agree in the beleefe of this one point who agre not in any other either of Art or Nature not in Lawes for many men doe liue without any rule of Law as in the old time the Cyclops yea and sometime the very Israelites themselues Not in marriage for many haue liued as licentiously and loosely as if they were bruite beasts hauing only the name of Marriage as a couer for their lusts as the 1 Babilonians and 2 Lacedemonians the 3 Gindanes and 4 Tyrrheniaus No not in Society it selfe for diuers people in diuers nations doe liue as meere Nomades that is Stragglers and Wanderers Hic non habentes manentem ciuitatem as the Apostle speaketh not hauing any fixedor certaine place of abiding Only therein do al agree in all the corners of the Earth that they will haue a God such an one as he is And this we haue seene verified by all the knowne Nations and Cities of the World Let vs now goe one step further and see whether as wee haue found the truth of this in all Nations so we can finde it likewise in all Conditions of men which was Tullies second instance For our better more orderly proceeding wherein I will tread in Plutarch's steps who hath named vnto vs three speciall sorts of men that are knowne of all other to agree least together and yet in this one point of beleeuing There is a God doe so notably consent as if they all were led but by one and the same spirit that is Poets Lawgiuers and Philosophers Omnes Poetae Legumlâ—â—orâ—s Philosophi vnoore dicuâ—t Deum esse All Poets Lawgiuers and Philosophers doe affirme There is a God with one consenting voyce saith he Let vs looke into the parts of this Enumeration and examine the truth of euery one of them And first concerning Poets I haue shewed you before that all of them in the beginning of their Poems doe vsually call vpon either the Gods or the Muses as may easily be demonstrated out of all their writings especially in their greater and more solemne workes and is generally obserued of them by Lucian in his booke De Sacrificijs Which euidently proueth that they had within them a grounded opinion that There is a God For no man is so mad as to inuocate any thing that he thinketh hath no being But as concerning Poets it is commonly beleeued both by themselues and others that their very Art hath a more speciall and immediate dependence vpon a diuine influence then any other of all the Arts beside In which point let me deliuer
is nothing that can possibly be vnderstood vnlesse we first vnderstand That there is a God This is Primum verum the very first truth which God hath taught vnto the soule of a man Now Natura suae primae institutionis non obliuiscitur sayth the Romane Orator Nature can by no meanes forget her first lesson And therefore though the Atheist doe neuer so carefully or cunningly dissemble it yet can he not but know that There is a God He cannot but inwardly know it though he outwardly dissemble it For Quis est adeò rationis expers aut animae sayth Philo Iudeus vt nulla vnquà m de Optimo illo Maximoa eum volentem nolent emuè subirit cogitatio There is no man so deuoyd of either sense or reason but that he sometime thinkes of God either willing or nilling Nam nolentes sciunt fatentur inuiti sayth Maximus Tyrius They euen against their wills do both know it and acknowledge it And therefore they cannot constantly deny it Yea and Clemens Alexandrinus rendereth a very good reason why God cannot be vnknowne vnto the soule of any reasonable man because it was inspired into him by God The Soules first generation was Gods immediate inspiration And therefore sayth he Longe abest vt sit homo expers diuinae notionis quem scriptum est fuisse participem inspirationis in generatione So that as Lucilius obserueth of Homer that Nemo qui culpat Homerum Prepetuò culpat Ther 's none that Homers name Still constantly doth blame So may it be truly affirmed of God too that Nemo qui Deum negat Perpetuò negat That No man which denieth God doth constantly deny him No nor confidently neither Impudently they may but confidently they cannot They do but Dubitatiuè pronunciare as Tertullian speaketh They speake inwardly but doubtfully though outwardly more stubbornely Their deniall of God is no setled resolution It is but a weake and a flickring opinion which sodainely passeth through the heart of a man and sodainely vanisheth againe hauing no rooting nor footing no not euen so much as in their owne perswasion But is like vnto those weake and vnperfect assents which drunken men giue vnto things in their dreames or mad men in their frenzies Which the Orator expresseth vnto vs in this manner Dicimus non eandem esse vim neque integritatem dormientium vigilantium Ne vinolenti quidem quae faciunt eadem approbatione faciunt qua sobrij Dubitant haesitant reuocant se interdum hisque quae videntur imbecilliùs assentiuntur We may truly affirme that there is not the same power and perfection of sense in men when they sleepe and in the same men when they wake Neither do men in their drunkennes any thing with that assurance that they do in their sobernesse They doubt they stagger they call backe themselues and they yeild but a feeble assent vnto all things And such is that assent which the confidentest Atheist giueth vnto his Atheisme He so assenteth to it that he doubteth of it or rather by a contrary assent cleane supplanteth it So that no man beleeueth That there is no God with that confidence and assurance that all men beleeue That there is a God No man is carried into Atheisme with that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and fulnesse of perswasion that he is into a sense of God and Religion From which as Tertullian obserueth there is nothing that can hinder him Anima licèt carcere corporis pressa licèt institutionibus pravis circâ—mscripta licèt libidinibus concupiscentijs evigorata licèt falsis Dijs exancillata cùm tamen resipiscit vt ex crapula vt ex somno vt ex aliqua valetudine sanitatem suam patitur Deum nominat The soule of a man though it be shut vp in the prison of his body though depraued and mis-led by corrupt and wicked teachers though weakened with manyfold lusts and concupiscences thogh 〈◊〉 trained vp in the seruice of false gods yet when it once beginnâ—th to recollect it selfe and to lift vp his head as it were out of his drunkennesse his sleep or his sicknesse and attaineth his true health then it thinketh and calleth vpon God This is the proper and naturall motion of the soule to moue vpwards towards God And this course it holdeth sometimes euen in the very Atheists as well as in others And though clogged with all the forenamed impedimenâ—s yet breaketh it oftentimes through them all to looke God in the face For as Orosius truely teacheth Mens ratione illustrata in medio virtutum quibus genuino favore quamvìs vitijs inclinetur assurgit scientiam Dei quasi arcem prospicit The soule of a man being inlightned with reason and assisted by vertue vnto which it hath a naturall liking raiseth vp it selfe and mounteth vpward to obtaine the fuller sight and clearer knowledge of God So that their prophane Atheisme being Motus contra naturam A motion against nature and comming but now and then onely by fits vnto them may more iustly be esteemed to be but onely their frenzy or their dreame then to be their elected or resolued opinion For so Tullie calleth some of their opinions which were a great deale better setled in them then this Portenta miracula non disserentium Philosophorum sâ—d somniantium The monsters and miracles of dreaming Philosophers And yet I denie not but that there may be some men so foolish and impious as to say euen in their hearts That there is no God For the Prophet Dauid saith it a man worthy to be beleeued The Foole hath said in his heart There is no God Yea and some may haue their hearts so hardned in prophanenesse as not onely to gibe at God with scoffes and derisions as did the Tyrant Dionysius but also seriously to dispute against him as did the Epicure Velleius yea and Epicurus himselfe who euen in that same booke which hee wrote De pietate aduersus deos Of piety towards the gods yet praeuaricated most impiously against the gods Non manibus vt Xerxes sed rationibus deorum immortalium templa aras euertens as is noted in the same place He ouerthrew the temples and altars of the gods not by force and armes as Xerxes but by force of Arguments But especially Diagoras who wrote certaine Orations against the gods wherein he reposed so singular a confidence that he gaue them the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi turrium destructrices The destroyers of Towers Whereby it appeareth that in these men their Atheisme was for the time a setled opinion and not any light or flickering cogitation But vnto all this I answer with the Romaine Orator Quid attinet glorioâ—e loqui nisi constanter loquare What booâ—eth it to speake gloriously if a man speake not constantly and sticke not firmely vnto that which he speaketh As neither Dauids foole doth who denied God nor Diony sius
Paul as furious a persecuter in his small authoritie as euer the Church had any But yet Christ in his great mercie appearing vnto him and out of heauen reprouing him he likewise receiued instruction and reforming his former error became afterwards as zealous a Preacher as euer before he had beene a persecuter In so much that it passed of him as a Prouerbe that He which persecuted them in times past now preached the faith which before he destroyed This blessed Apostle holding a diuers course from that cursed Apostata who destroyed the same faith which before hee had preached And yet in the ende was inforced againe to confesse the same faith which he sought to haue destroyed as before I haue declared The like Confessions and recantations may be here accumulated of diuerse other of the Heathens who haue plainely renounced their impieties and prophanesse and in the end acknowledged a God whom at the beginning they denied It is reported of Diagoras the most renouned of all that are called Atheists that he began his Booke of Poems with this Exordium Quòd a Numine summo reguntur omnia That all things are ruled by the highest God Which may probably be thought to haue beene the recantation of his former opinion For his Atheisme and impietie if it were truely such he had from the common opinion of his countrie the Island of Melos which held a scornefull opinion of all the Greekish gods And therefore this so direct a contradiction of his former opinion cannot otherwise be construed then as his retractation And the like may be thought as concerning Theodorus who for the opinion of his impietie was likewise named Atheos And yet Laertius affirmeth that euen hee himselfe had seene a Booke of his intituled De Dijs and that it was Liber non contemnendus Which iudgement hee would neuer haue passed vpon it if hee had handled that Argument as an Atheist For then both the Writer and the writing had beene very worthy to be contemned which Laertius denieth And therefore that Booke being censured to be a worke not worthy to be contemned yea and that by the same man who before had taxed him for his Atheisme may also probably be thought to haue contayned a retractation of his former opinion And so likewise Euemerus whatsoeuer his opinion was which among all the Heathen was so condemned for Atheisme Whether it were a generall denying of all the gods or but a particular denying of the Heathen gods yet euidently appeareth out of Plutarch that when he grew old hee grew cold in defending it A manifest Argument that he repented of his broching it Which his coldnesse in asserting it bred also a like coldnesse in the peoples assent vnto it As it euidently appeareth in those verses of Callimachus wherein he perstringeth the impietie of Euemerus Venite frequentes ante muros in fanum Vbi qui vetustum ex aere tonantem formauit Senex loquax cum libris impijs friget Come hither thronging and approach this wall Enter this Temple Where now finde you shall Th' old pratling fellow which so scornefull was And call'd the Thund'rer but a peece of Brasse For all his former fire and stately Lookes Well cooled now with all his impious Bookes Meaning those Booke saith Plutarch which before he had composed to proue There was no God Hos dicit quos composuit Non esse Deos docens Which coldnesse from the heate of his former opinion may be interpreted as in some degree a recantation For I rather apply those verses vnto his owne coldnesse in pursuing his former opinion then vnto the coldnesse of the people in following it though this might also be intended But vnto him I apply it because Theophilus Antioch nus as I haue formerly obserued reporteth it for his opinion that hee defended Dei vnitatem not Nullitatem Which euidently proueth that hee not onely beleeued that There was a God but also The vnitie of the Godhead From whence it must needes follow that either the heathen were vtterly mistaken in their conceit of his opinion and that he neuer was indeed an Atheist or if sometimes hee were one yet that at last hee recanted it For Socrates though he died for Atheisme yet that he died not an Atheist it appeareth by this that at his death he appointed that a Cock should be offered to AEsculapius Which Tertullian obserueth in him as a renouncing of all his formeâ— irreligion And so likewise Aristotle though all his life long hee had ascribed all things but onely to their inferior and secondarie causes yet lifting vp his minde much higher at his death hee implored the mercie of the highest and first cause Prime causae misericordiam intentiùs implorabat as Caelius Rhodiginus writeth It is likewise reported of Numa Pompilius that Priest-like King of the Romanes who like another Moses was the first author and institutor of all their holy Ceremonies yet that in the end hee retracted all those false religions which himselfe before had instituted writing a Booke against them and commanding it to be buried in his Sepulcher with him Which Booke was not found vntill fiue hundred and fiue and thirty yeeres after Numa was dead written onely in paper and yet no where perished Which euen Pliny himselfe ascribeth to a miracle No doubt that the confutation of that false religion might not be decayed vntill it were published And though that Booke of his was by the Commandement of the Senate in publique burned Yet as Lactantantius well obserueth the cause of the burning of it being publiquely knowne to be his disclayming of their Religion who was the first founder of it it might greatly vncertaine the mindes of the people about it and breed in them a iust suspition that they were not rightly founded in the true Religion All these notable recantations of Atheists and Idolaters disclaiming and renouncing their irreligious false religions I find in the writings of classicall Authors Which are euident demonstrations that true Religion hath far stronger rooting in the minde of a man then either hath Atheisme or Superstition For otherwise men when they drâ—w neere vnto their 〈◊〉 would neuer with such feruencie seeke after the true religion and 〈◊〉 their false But then if euer it most of al importeth them to find out the trâ—th then when if they misse it they shall neuer after find it And that before they had not found it no not in their owne perswasions they manifestly shew by their forenamed recantations Which yet may be further seene by the recantation of Orpheus which aboue all the rest is most noble and ingenuous For he hauing before bin educated in the idolatrous religion of the Gentiles accordingly expressed the same in his Poems But after he had read the writings of Moses and from them receiued some light of the truth he renounced his former errors confessing them so humbly and retracting them so
denied had now by their punishment prooued himselfe a God indeed As though he had made them to no other purpose but to glorifie himselfe by taking iust vengeance vpon their vngodlinesse As he himselfe professed vnto Phar. oh King of Egypt For this cause haue I appointed thâ—e to shew my power in thee and to declare my Name throughout all the world For as the wise man also expressely testifieth The Lord hath made all things for himselfe yea euen the wicked man against the day of vengeance 2 And indeed God hath so notably inflicted his vengeance vpon Atheists and so directly powred downe the full vialls of his wrath vpon the heads of them that there can almost none of them be named neither in the holy Scriptures nor in Ecclesiasticall Histories nor in Heathen Writings but that it will appeare that the iudgement of God hath brought them vnto a fearefull and an abhorred end As I will declare vnto you by some two or three instances in euery one of the three forenamed Heads The most renowned for professed vngodlinesse are these In the Holy Historie King Pharaoh and Antiochus the King of Tyrus and the two Herods In Ecclesiasticall Historie Caligula Domitian Maximinus and Iulian. In prophane Historie Protageras Diagoras Theodorus Socrates Epicurus Bion Pherecides and Dionysius Of all whom there was not one that died in his nest of a faire and kindely death sauing onely this last Whose dâ—mnation yet slept not being though respited yet not remooued But for all the rest of them there was not any one but he ended his life by the stroke of Gods iustice either mediately pronounced by the mouth of a man or immediately inflicted by the hand of God For the first of them King Pharaoh as hee was a notable mirrour of obdured vngodlinesse so was he likewise a mirrour of Gods most iust vengeance being purposely designed and appointed by God vnto none other end but onely to be an example of note and eminent document vnto the whole world that Whosoeuer contemneth and despiseth God be he neuer so great and mighty a Potentate shall for his impiety be most seuerely punished For so indeed he was yea and that not with one punishment but with all the varieties of Gods most heauy iudgements which were by God inflicted not onely vpon himselfe but also for his sake vpon his people and subiects Who were all of them plagued by blood in their waters by tempests in their corne by Caterpillers in their fruites by Grassehoppers in their grasse by Murraine in their Cattell by Flies and Lice and vlcers in their owne bodyes by the sudaine death of all their first borne Sonnes and finally by the drowning of themselues Who as Moses expresseth their destruction in his Song did sinke downe vnto the bottome like a stone And all this fell vpon them for the onely impielie of their Prince the hardned prophanenes of an impious King bringing a generall plague vpon his whole Kingdome Which plagues were so exemplarie and so immediatly from heauen that euen the very Sorcerers who were set to affront Moses and to shew that all his miracles were but sophisticall delusions yet were forced to confesse that they were Gods immediate plagues and iudgements This is the finger of God Thereby plainely declaring not onely There is a God but also that He is a God of so omnipotent a power that he is able to subdue the most proud and potent of all his enemies by the basest and meanest of all his creatures by Frogs Flies Lice and such like contemptible wormes A notable Example of that fearefull curse denounced by Moses that such as will not feare and obey the Lord shall in euery part of their estate be cursed Cursed in the Towne cursed in the field cursed in their basket cursed in their dough cursed in the fruit of their bodyes in the fruit of their land and in the fruit of their Cattell cursed in their going out and cursed in their comming in All which curses fell apparantly vpon the Egâ—ptians as the vâ—ngeance of God for their wicked Kings vngodlinesse Now for the second of them Antiochus whose sacriledges and prophanenesse can hardly be recounted they were so many and so hainous there was neuer any man whom the iudgement of God did cast headlong downe from a greater arrogancie into a greater miserie For he purposing in the height of his impiety and prophanenesse to haue robbed the Temple of Elâ—mâ—is in Persia as he had done before of Hierusalem in Iudea and so to haue trussed vp Sacra in saccum as it is in the Prouerbe to haue sacked and ransacked and made good prize and booty of all consecrated and holy things hee was shamefully beaten and repelled by the Citizens as Verres in the like attempt was by the Agrigentines And vnderstanding in Pâ—rsia of the ouerthrow of two of his Armies in Iudea he breathing out fire against the Iewes and hasting towards them to take his fierce reuenge hee was cast downe from his Chariot to the bruising of all his bones But the vengeance of God not hauing yet done with him strooke him with a most odious and incurable sickenesse which so corrupted and putrified his body that loathsome wormes crawled out of it in exceeding great plenty whereby the smell of his rottennesse grew so exceeding grieuous that it made him odious both to his friends and to himselfe And so as the booke of Maccabees concludeth his storie noting both the two fore-named points of his Arrogancy and his Misery He that a little before thought that he might command the stoods of the Sea so proud was he beyond the condition of a man was now cast downe to the ground And thus the Murderer and Blasphemer suffered most grieuously and died a miserable death in a strange Countrey They be the very last words of his storie For the third of them the King of Tyrus who in the pride of his heart called himselfe a God and thought himselfe equall vnto the highest God the highest God telleth him that He will bring him downe and that he shall die the death of those that are slaine in the middest of the Sea Who are not onely killed but also commonly drowned and cast into the waters as a prey vnto the fishes So that though he boasted himselfe to be a God yet should hee finde himselfe to be but a Man yea and a miserable man in the hand of him that was appointed to kill him Which fore-threatened destruction was afterward fullfilled vpon that whole kingdome Yea and that with so great a desolation and such incredible crueltie as the like was neuer exercised before vpon any Citie Insomuch that the Calamiâ—â—e of the Tyrians did passe as a Prouerbe in mens ordinarie speech Quae ex antiqua Tyro These things are more grieuous then those that are reported of the ancient Tyrus Of whose fearefull destruction Ezeckiel foretelleth that
of all finite things and the extending of mens appâ—tites beyond all boundes and limits Two out of the Physickes The first Cause and The first Moouer of all naturall things Two out of Phisick Diseases and their Remedies Two out of the Politicks the growing and decaying of Kingdomes and Empires Two out of the Ethicks the way to Felicity and Felicity it selfe Foure out of the Mathematicks Punctum in geometrie Vnitas in Arithmeticke Ordo in Astronomy and Harmonia in Musick Finally there is no Art neither liberall nor illiberall but it commeth from God and leadeth to God And this is the substance and oeconomy of this second booke 2 Let vs first beginne with the Metaphysicks which Aristotle calleth The first Philosophy Primam Philosophiam and so by degrees descend downe vnto the rest It affoordeth vs two considerations from whence wee may collect euen by the light of nature that There needes must be a God The first is The bounding and limiting of all finite things The second The boundlesse and vnlimited appetite of mens soules 3 For the first of which two points look throgh the whole world throgh all the sensible bodies therein contained you shal euidently see that though many of them be great yet that none of them is infinite there is none of them so great as to be without his limit As euen Aristotle himselfe both affirmeth and proueth in his first booke De Coelo Where he plainely and categorically setteth downe this conclusion Corpus infinitum in ratione rerum esse non posse That it is a thing contrary to the nature of things that there should bee any body without his termes and limits No not euen the body of the vniuersall world it selfe as in the conclusion of the same chapter he expressely inferreth Vniuersi corpus infinituÌ„ esse non posse ex ijs quae diximus patet Then much lesse can any part of the world be infinite if the whole be not Vnlesse we should make the whole to be lesse then his owne part which were vtterly absurde And therfore all the parts of the world must needs be limited determined Let me giue you an instance or two to this purpose and that out euen of Aristotle himselfe Terra in Aqua haec in Acre Aer in Aethere Aether in Coelo est collocatus Ipsum verò Coelum nullo in alio corpore est vlteriùs collocatum The Earth that is bounded and limited with the Water the Water with the Aire the Aire with the Fire the fire with the Heauen The heauen is not bounded with any further Body How then is the Heauen bounded if it be not boundlesse Why thus Euery one of the lower heauens is bounded or limited by the concaâ—e or hollow part of his higher vntill we come to that which is the highest of all and containeth all the rest being contained of none And yet euen that is not without his bounds but is limited and determined within his owne conuexe or swelling superficies as a man is by his skinâ—e or a bubble of water by his thinne filme So that there is not in Nature any Body that is infinite nor any that is without all limit To be vnlimited and boundlesse is onely the Prerogatiue of the Maker of all things as Prosper very well and truly obserueth NÃlque adeò magnum est quod non certus modus arcet Et Coelum Terras totum denique mundum Limes habet Meta est altis meta profundis Sed nusquam non esse Dei est qui totus vbÃque Et penetrat Mundi membra omnia liber ambit Ther 's nought so vaste as to be voyd of limit Both Hâ—au'n and Earth and all the world hath bounds All heights and depths haue termes is we esteeme it Height ne're so high be Depth ne're so proâ—ound Vnlimited and no where not to be Agrees to God alone Who wholy is The whole World through and euery least part He Within doth pierce without doth compasse this So that there is not any Body in Nature so infinite but that it is preâ—â—â—ed within some bound and limit Now euery finite Body being thus bounded limited it must needs haue had those bounds prescribed vnto it by some other thing and not by it selfe For euery thing by nature being desirous of scope and seeking to inlarge it selfe as farre as it is able if it had the setting of his owne bounds and limits it would set none at all but would be as infinite as God himselfe is who hath the setting of limits vnto all things And therefore as you see hath set none vnto himselfe but is illimitable and boundlesse Nullis neque finibus neque spacijs â—oarctatus as Saint Hilarie teacheth Being no way straitned by any space or place And so would it be with all other things too if they had the assigning of their owne bounds and limits they would all of them be boundlesse Because all bounds be like bonds and like shackles vnto all things which they would neuer put vpon them if they could be without them For as Scaliger well obserueth Vnicuique enti insita est appetitio infinitatis There is in euery thing an appetite to make it selfe infinite The Sea if it could eate vp the whole Earth and make all the Globe Sea as it once was it would surely do it For the waters do desire to stand aboue the mountaines as the Prophet Dauid testifieth Againe the Earth if it could vtterly close vp the Sea and make all the Globe dry-land it would surely doe it as Esdras notable expresseth in a witty apologue I came saith he into a Forrest in the plaine where the Trees held a Councell and sayd Come let vs fight against the Sea that it may giue place to vs and that wee may make vs more woods Likewise the floods of the Sea tooke counsell and sayd Come and let vs go vp and fight against the Trees of the wood that we may get another Country for vs. But the purpose of the wood was vaine for the fire came downe and consumed it And the purpose of the Sea was also vaine for the sand stood vp and stopped it Whereby it appeareth that there is in all things a desire to dilate and to ingreat themselues And therefore would neuer shut vp themselues within bounds and limits as it were in a prison if they themselues had the setting and appointing of them Therefore as it is true that Nullum ens finitum est a se so it is likewise true that Nullum ens finitum est a se. As nothing that is finite is of it selfe so nothing that is is finite of it selfe But all the finite things in vniuersall nature haue both their being and their bounding of some other And they all doe feele within them the imperiall power of a superior Nature which hath appointed and prescribed those limits vnto them and
our eating and also in our drinking Whereof Tully hath giuen vs a very notable instance in the Persian King Xerxes who hauing tired himselfe out with all ancient and knowne pleasures propounded great rewards vnto the inuenters of new whereof when he had tasted yet could he not with all of them be contented Praemium proposuit ci qui invenisset nouam voluptatem qua ipsa non suit contentus 4 But in a mans intellectuall or spirituall appetites for so in a large sense I accompt of all which any way haue their seate in the Soule the same may a great deale more euidently be shewed Them Aristotle reduceth vnto these three heads Cupiditas Ira Voluntas Desire Anger and Will All of them hauing their place in the soule and yet euery one in a seuerall part of the soule For whereas the Soule is deuided into three parts or powers or faculties Concupiscibilis Irascibilis and Rationalis in euery one of these seuerall faculties there be placed by nature their seuerall appetites Cupidit is in Concupiscâ—bili Ira in Irascibili and Voluntas in Rationali In the Concupisciblâ— part or faculty of the soule is seated the appetite of Desire in the Irasâ—â—â—le part the appetite of Anger and in the reasonable the appetite of Will So that as in the same place he concludeth Si anima diuidatur in tres partes in earum vnâ— quâ—que inerit appetitâ—â— If the Soule be deuided into his three parts you shall find that euery part hath his owne proper appetite Yea and all of them too in their nature to be infinite 5 And first for Cupiditas or Desire there be foure principall Obiects about which it is chiefly occupied namely Power Honour Riches and Pleasure In all which it bewrayeth it selfe to be infinite and such as cannot be contented and satisfied Whereby wee may see it plainly verified which Aristotle hath obserued that Cupiditatis natura est in finita that A mans desire is of an infinite nature For first as concerning Power if a man doe but once set his appetite vpon it he hath left himselfe no power to cast limits about it but it will grow to bee so infinite that all the power of the world will not bee able to content it As we may euidently see in Alexander the Great Whose appetite of Power was so infinitely great that when he heard Democritus to hold There were many Worlds hee fell into great sorrowing because that as yet hee had not conquered one Whereby it is euident that all the power of one world could not satisfie his appetite though he might haue had it all Nay though there had bene as many worlds as Democritus dreamed of though hee might haue had all of them yet would they not all haue contented him For as the Tragicall Poet hath truly obserued Auidis duidis natura parumest To such as are ambitious and so greedy All Nature selfe doth seeme to be too needy Which Petronius Arbiter very notably exemplifieth in the vnsatiable ambition of the Romans Orbem iam totum victor Romanus hâ—bebat Quâ mare quâ terrae quâ sidus currit vtrumque Nec satiatus erat The conquering Romans got into their hand The whole worlds compasse euen as farre as Land Or any Seaâ— or Heauen it selfe extended And yet this Nation could not be contented For the ambition of the proud inlargeth it selfe like Hell and is like vnto Death that cannot be satisfied as the Prophet obserueth Yea and Liuie also not obscurely insinuateth Animus hominis insatiabilis est eo quòd fortunâ— spondet The minde of a man will not be satisfied with any thing if fortune do still promise to bestow more vpon him Neither was this the particular humor of those men fore-named whose greatnes of ambition might easily bee bred in them by the greatnesse of their Fortune but it is the generall humor of all men be they neuer so meane For as Isocrates very truely affirmeth Vniuer si mortales in eo elaborant vt plus alijs possint It is the common desire and indeauour of all men to haue prerogatiue of some greater power then there is in other men Insomuch that euery man be he neuer so good yet desireth a power if it bee but to doe euill And though hee neuer meane to vse it yet he desireth to haue it et qui nolunt occidere quenquam Posse volunt saith the Poet. who haue to hurt nor heart nor Will Yet wish â— haue power euen to kill So Pilate though he had no intention to hurt Christ yet boasted vnto him that he had power to doe it Knowest thou not that I haue power to crucifie thee and haue power to loose thee And yet he vsed all meanes to saue him Yea and â—â—ban though his power was by God himselfe restrayned yet he boasted that he had it To conclude a man hath not lesse power ouer himselfe in any thing whatsoeuer then when he once fixeth his appetite vpon Power And so it is likewise in the next Head of Honour If a man doe chance to set his desire vpon that it groweth by and by so infinite that hee cannot bee contained within any bounds and limits neither of Reason nor of Duty no nor of his owne Safety As we may see by examples in all these seuerall heads For the first of them The bounds of Reason how grossely they oftâ—ntimes transgressed by ambition the Orator hath pointed vs to a notable instance in the Heathen Philosophers Of whom though there were diuers so rigid and sterne as to publish whole Bookes in contempt of Vaine-glorâ—e yet was the taste of that Vaine-glorie so delightfull to themselues as that in the same bookes they publisht their owne names Which manifestly sheweth that howsoeuer they outwardly would seeme to contemne it yet they inwardly affected it So they affected glory in writing against Glory and shewed themselues vaine euen in calling it Vaine Which folly they would neuer haue committed so euidently against their outward profession but that their Reason was dazeled and blinded by ambition And the like may be seene in the ambition of old men who contrary to all reason are as greedy of Honour in their decrepite old age when they must by and by forgoe it as they were euer in their youth when they might long enioy it For as Thucidides well obserueth Sola dulcedo Gloriae â—en senescit The onely humour of ambition doth neuer grow feeble or old in any man but euen in those that are the oldest and most decayed men yet their ambition is still young Yea and he reprooueth in the same place that vsuall prouerbe as a very false position that In senecta lucrari magis delectat quam honore affici That all men in their age are rather delighted with gaine then with fame with riches then with honours This he holdeth to be false And wee may
of his Booke De Legibus It is Deus et nâ—n Homo qui legum condendarum est causa It is not Man but God that is the true cause of the making of good Lawes Which honour is ascribed to God himselfe euen in the holy Scripture By me Kings reigne and Princes decree Iustice that is make iust Lawes Iniustice they may decree of themselues and there is a woe pronounced against such wicked Law-makers but they cannot decree Iustice but onely by him So that it is truely sayd in Iob that Nullus ei similis in Legistatoribus There is none like vnto him amongst all the Lawgiuers Nay he is indeed the onely true Lawgiuer in the whole world there is not another as the Apostle S. Iames plainely testifieth vnto vs There is but one Lawgiuer who is able to saue and to destroy and that is he So that all other Nations as well as the Iewes may truly professe The Lord is our Iudge and the Lord is our Lawgiuer or as it is in the Hebrewes Statute-maker Howsoeuer the Heathen Lawgiuers haue robbed the true God of that honour and ascribed it falsely vnto others But thus you see that all Lawgiuers as it were by a compact haue agreed together in this common sense to ascribe all their lawes vnto the making of their Gods And therefore none of them could possibly be Atheists at least in outward profession no not euen by their profession in that they were Lawgiuers Neither could the people that were vnder them be of any other disposition both because of that inward naturall instinct which inforceth euery man to worship some God and because by nature also all Subiects are Imitators of their rulers and because againe all rulers praeserue their owne Religion by coerciue Lawes as Iosephus instanceth in Socrates Anaxagoras Diagoras and Protagoras all of them seuerally mulcted for the opinion of their impieties against the Gods So that if any man would not be religious for loue yet durst he not be irreligious for feare 3 Let vs now proceede vnto Plutarch's third instance that is vnto Philosophers and see whether any of them haue beene Atheists Wherein it cannot be denied but that those infamous persons who haue beene noted by their name to be Atheists haue all of them beene by their profession Philosophers But yet this againe may be truly affirmed of them that howsoeuer some perticular men of that profession may haply haue beene infected with Atheisme yet that there was neuer any Sect or Familie of them but that it was of a cleane contrary profession There was neuer any sect of Philosophers that were professed Atheists No nor yet neuer any but professed the cleane contrarie And yet it cannot be dissembled but that all the Philosophers haue had so infinite auiditie and appetite of glory that none of them could say any thing though with neuer so great reason but that some other would oppose it and hold the contrary vnto it were it neuer so absurd Yea and this fell out as well among their whole families as amongst priuate persons the Stoicks perpetually opposing the Epicures the Peripatetikes them both the Academikes them all Insomuch that their contentions and digladiatious grew to be so notorious as made them all ridiculous as that bitter scoffe of Seneca very notably declareth That Faciliùs inter Philosophos quà m inter horologia convenit That Philosophers agree together like Clocks But yet in this grand point of acknowledging a God there is amongst them all an incredible agreement Here the Clocks strike all together You may see a Catalogue of all their opinions in Tullies first Booke of the Nature of the Gods representing vnto vs so notable a discord in their particular conceits What this God should be that neuer Clocks iarred more but yet so great a concord in their generall opinions That a God there is as neuer Clocks agreed better There euery man venteth his owne priuate conceite what he thought to be his God No man denieth him No man adorneth disputation against him Nay no man so much as once doubteth of him No not euen Protagoras himselfe if he be rightly construed though his words were rackt vnto it and for that cause he exiled For he said not that he doubted whether there were gods or no but that he would not as then dispute whether there were any or no De Diuis neque vt sint neque vt non sint habeo dicere giuing onely a reason of his silent praetrition And therefore Caecilius doth secretly perstringe the Athenians iniustice excuseth Protagoras that he did consultè potius quà m prophanè disputare He spake more warily then wickedly So that all these recited doe affirme There is a God There is no man saith of God as some doe of the Soule Nihil esse omninò Deum et hoc esse totum inane nomen That God is a thing of nothing and that the name of God is but an empty name but they all doe acknowledge both the Name and the Thing Now looke into these foure seuerall sects of Philosophers which are the most noted and noble of them and you shall see that they doe all notably agree in this though in very few things else Plato the father of the Academikes not onely affirmeth that There is a God but he also confirmeth it by inuincible reasons Yea and euery where almost he speaketh so diuinely of Gods diuine Maiestie that as Eusebius reporteth he was called Moses Atticus that is the Athenian Moses as if he had seene God face to face as is reported of the Hebrew Moses as Iustin Martyr noteth Plato perindè atque coelitùs descenderit atque ea quae sursum sunt accuratè didicerit ac peruider it omnia Summum Deum in ignea essentia esse dicit Plato as if he were newly dropt downe out of heauen and had there learned exactly those things that are aboue he maketh his God to be of a firie substance Yea and euen therein also hee agreeth in some sorte with Moses The Lord thy God is a consuming fire Aristotle the Father of the Peripateticks affirmeth not only That there is a God but also that he is both the Maker and the Sauiour of the world Deus sine dubio Seruator omnium est et Parens eorum quae in mundo conficiuntur God without all doubt is both the Conseruer Creator of all things in the world A most diuine saying of an Heathen man And many other the like there be throughout that whole Booke Which hath occasioned some men to doubt of the credit and authoritie of it as not being truly his grounding vpon but sleight and very weake coniectures I may not stand to discusse vpon euery Authoritie whether the Booke then alledged be the Authors properly For then we should haue so many and so great digressions as would turne to be transgressions And therefore in
all places I take them as I finde them without any curious or strict examination knowing that euen those Bookes which are thought to be supposed yet are for the most part both ancient and learned and that if they appeared in the name of their owne Authors they would be no lesse approued then they be now in theirs vpon whom they be fathered as I could plentifully instance Yea and Viues coniectureth euen in this present instance that though it were not Aristotles yet it might be Theophrastus his But both Lucius Apuleius in his Booke De Mundo and Augustinus Eugubinus asserteth it directly vnto Aristotle himselfe Yea and Eugubinus affirmeth it to haue beene as it were his Retractation Wherein he hath both recognized and epitomized all his owne former writings reforming his owne errours and reporting both the opinions of other Philosophers more truly and his owne more plainely then in all his other workes But howsoeuer this be though this booke were none of his yet doth he affirme as much in his Metaphysikes which are without all quaestion his For there he saith directly that Deus est rerum omnium et cause et principium That God is both the cause and the beginning of all things A direct and plaine Confession So Zeno the Father of the Stoicks as Tully expressely calleth him doth not only beleeue That there is a God but also That there is but one only God and that he is the Maker and Creator of the world who is sometimes called Mens sometimes Fate sometimes Ioue and by diuers such like names Vnum Deum esse ipsumque Mentem Fatum Iouem multâ—sque alijs appellari nominibus And then he proceedeth to declare in what order this one God created the world Yea and a little after he defineth God to be Animal immortale rationale perfectum ac beatum a malo omni remotissimum prouidentia sua Mundum quâ—e sunt in Mundo administrans omnia A substance liuing euerliuing reasonable perfect and blessed farre remoued from any euill ruling onely by his prouidence both all the whole World and all the things therein contained And so likewise Epicurus the Father of the Epicures Quâ—m nihil pudendum pudet tamen Deum negare pudet as one very wittily writeth of him Though he were not ashamed of any shamefull thing yet was he ashamed to deny There is a God as reckoning this the greatest shame that can be because all the whole world affirmeth the contrary Euen he I say though he deny that God ruleth the world yet doth he not deny but That there is a God Nay he affirmeth that accompting it a lesse absurdity to haue a God that is idle then to be so idle as to haue none at all Their Notion of the gods was that they were Beati Aeterni sed nec habere ipsos quicquam negotij nec exhibere alteri That they were blessed and eternall neither hauing any businesse to do of themselues nor yet exhibiting any vnto others Thus all the foure Patriarchs of the chiefe Philosophers were fully of one minde that there needs must be a God And Iosephus affirmeth the like of all the rest Et Pythagoras Anaxagoras Plato post illos Philosophi Stoici paenè cuncti videntur de Diuina sapuisse Natura Nay not paenè cuncti but planè cuncti as Maximus Tyrtus affirmeth Opiniones Deorum a cunctis Philosophis receptae sunt Both Pythagoras and Anaxagoras and Plato and the Stoicks and almost all the other nay altogether all the other haue had some vnder standing of the Diuine Nature In this point euen the Philosophers themselues are Christians And therefore Tertullian calleth God Philosophorum Deum because they did so generally all the sorts of them confesse him So that we may truly say with Varro Ecce ad nos accedit cana veritas Atticâ—e philosophiae alumna Behold the ancient truth commeth now directly to vs euen from the Philosophers of Athens the very Heathens in this point agreeing with vs Christians Nay Christians themselues agree not so well about many points euen of their owne Religion as in this point the very Heathens consent and agree with them For as Tertullian obserueth Alij de Idolothyto edendo alij de mulierum velamento alij de nuptijs vel repudijs nonnulli de spe resurrectionis disceptabant de Deo nemo Euen of professed Christians some haue doubted and disputed of meate offered vnto Idols some of womens vayles and wimples some of marriages and diuorces yea and some of the hope euen of the Resurrection but yet none at all of God No man here makes any doubt no man moueth any question no man adorneth any kinde of disputation not onely no Christians amongst themselues but none of all the Philosophers neither one against another nor yet any against Christians They that in al other things are like Cadmus his men euery one of them killing and striking downe another yet all here agree together all fully doe consent in admitting of a God Yea and not onely the Philosophers among the Greeks but euen the Magi in the extreamest East among the barbarous Indians and the Druides in the extreame West among the barbarous Gaules as Laertius obserueth Gymnosophistas ac Druidas obscurè ac per sententias philosophari Colendos Deos Magos Deorum vacare cultui The Gymnosophists and Druides do teach in obscure sentences That we ought to worship God Yea and so doe the Magi too 4 And the like consent there is also among all other Arts as Tyrius Maximus obserueth Si Artes omnes in consilium vcces iubeasque simul vno decreto de Substantia Dei sententiam ferre censesnè aut Pictorem aut statuarium aut Poetam aut Philosophum diuersa intellecturos Sed nec Scytha nec Graecus nec Persu nec Hyperboreus dissentiet If thou shouldest call all the Arts vnto one generall Councell and bid them speak their minde as concerning God dost thou thinke that the Painter would tell thee one tale and the Caruer another the Poet another and the Philosopher another No they would agree all together Yea there would be amongst them so ful a consent that neither Sâ—ythyan nor Graecian nor Persian nor Hyperborean would dissent In the first part of which sentence you may obserue the generall consent of all Arts in the second of all Natitions and nominatim of the Scythâ—ans who haue bene held for Atheists So that in this point there is an incredible agreement not onely of all Nations but also of all Conditions of all Arts and Professions who yet agree in nothing else as he obserueth in the same place Alij tamen aliter de rebus alijs nec idem sed diuersa sentire videntur vt non modò gens genti ciuitas ciuitati domus domui viro vir sed nec quisquam sibi ipsi demùm consentiens sit
vt prodessent celebrant quosdam ne obessent placabant sayth Aâ— Gellius They did worshippe some gods to receiue some profit by them and they serued others to escape euill from them Well be it so Yet hereby it appeareth that euen the very Heathen in worshipping things of so diuers natures were inwardly perswaded in their mindes that the nature of God was glorious and therefore to be honoured liberall and therefore to be loued powerfull and therefore to be feared which manifestly argueth that they beleeued there was a God But to remoue all those Obiections at once wherein those fore-named considerations may seeme to be the ground of their Religions and to instance where none of all these can be found but where onely the hidden sense of this inward conclusion that There is a God doth carry the whole sway would a man euer worship a Stocke or a Stone made by his owne hand in some artificiall forme but that this is a burning conclusion in his heart That there is a God This woodden god can haue neither any glory to allure him nor any profit to perswade him nor any feare to constraine him For as the wiseman teacheth it is but a knotty peece of wood and indeed the most thriâ—â—les and vnprofitable part of all the whole Tree whereof it is made yea more vprofitable then the very chipps that are hewed away from it For by them yet the Carpenter warmeth himselfe So that they are good for something but the Idol it selfe is good for iust nothing as the Prophet Isay directly affirmeth But it may yet be obiected that the artificiall beauty and workmanship of the Idol may haply preuaile to make men worship it as a God though in it selfe it haue none other good For so indeed Saint Augustine collectâ—th Ducit affectu quodam interno rapit infirma corda mortalium forme similttudo membrorum imitata compago The likenesse of the forme and imitation of the members which men doe see in Idols doth with a strong affection steale away their weake hearts And againe in the same place Plus valent simulachra ad curuandam infoelicem animam quòdos habent oculos habent aures habent quam ad corrigendam quòd non loquuntur non vident non audiunt non ambulant An Idol hath greater force to infect a simple soule in that it hath a mouth it hath eyes it hath eares then to instruct it in that it hath no speech no sight no hearing no mouing Tâ—â—refore to take away this obiection too as well as all the rest Would a man euer worship informem rudem lapidem as the Romans did vnder the name of God Terminus but that they are perswaded that a God there is This God hath neither forme nor beauty to allure them to worship him No forme for it is informis No beauty for it is rudis as Lactantius noteth Whereas euerie God ought to haue such perfect beauty that Tully reckoneth it as a foule absurdity not onely that any other thing should be more beautifull then God but also that among the gods any one of them should be more beautifull then another They ought all so to excell in the highest degree of beauty And therefore so rude and vnformed a god as this Terminus is a man would neuer worship but that hee must needs bee worshipping of some God and so not knowing what is best to worship hee worshippeth that which is neerest vnto hand And therefore as Tully defineth of Atheists that it is vnpossible for any of theÌ„ to be superstitious so it is true in Idolaters who are all of them superstitious that it is as impossible for any of them to be Atheists For Idolaters yeeld two Arguments which necessarily conclude that they think there is a God The first is the enormous pride of some of them The second the abiect basenesse of other some For the first We reade of diuers men who haue bene so monstrously ouerswolne with pride and vanity that they haue inuented a strange kind of Idolatry to idolatrize themselues and to make themselues gods or rather indeed Idols vnder the name of gods as Nabuchodoâ—osor Caligula Domitian and diuers others of the Romane Emperours Which honour no man would euer haue affected but that hee is both perswaded himselfe and would haue others too perswaded That there is a God So that this kind of Idolaters declare by their pride that they thinke There is a God For Autotheisme cannot possibly be Atheisme The other kinde of Idolaters declare the same by their basenesse For man being by nature so proud and ambitious that no honor can suffice him but that hee wilâ— affect euen the name and place of God what is it that can make this gallant so to stoope and to abiect himselfe so basely vnto a Stocke and a Stone as to creepe and kneele vnto them but that onely the force of Religion adacteth him telling him within his bosome both that There is a God and that he is purposely created for his worship Who because through his pride he giueth it not where it is due he leaueth him through his basenes to giue it where it is not due So that euen Idolatry it selfe though it be both the nurse and mother of lyes yet teacheth it this truth to beleeue There is a God And though it selfe dishonour him yet teacheth it vs to honour him For whatsoeuer the Idolater worshippeth for his false God it teacheth vs mucâ— more to worshippe the true God Yea euen Iupiter himselfe as Clemens Alexandrinus noteth Etiam ipse Iupiter qui Poetarum ver sibus canitur in Deum refert cogitationem Euen Iupiter himselfe whom the Poets make a false god yet erecteth our thoughts vnto the true God And thus you plainly see how Tullies obseruation is perfectly verified in euery brancâ— of it and that there is no Nation neither ciuill nor rude no condition of men neither learned nor vnlearned no seuerall person though neuer so prophane neither Swearer Blasphemer nor Idolater but he is inwardly perswaded That there is a God And that therefore the Atheist in seeking to deny it doth as Plutarch truely censureth him immobilia mouere bellum inferre non tanâ—ùm longo tempori sed multis hominibus gentibus familijs quas religiosus Dâ—orum cultus quasi diuino furore correptas tenuit Hee seeketh to shake that which cannot be moued and boldly biddeth battaile not only to many men but also to many Nation Countries and Families whom the religious worship of God hath so deepely possessed that it hath almost euen rauished them fighting so himselfe alone both against all Antiquity Vniuersality and Consent which doe make a three-fold Corde not easie to be broken CHAP. 7. That a great discord may be noted among the Heathens as concerning the worship of their seuerall Gods 2. Yet that this discord doth not infringe the generall opinion as concerning
God 3. But that it much confirmes it PLutarch in his first booke Of the Opinions of the Philosophers affirmeth that the first propagation of Religion among men and the first spreading of this opinion as concerning God hath bin brought to passe by some one of these three meanes aut naturali forma aut fabulosa aut legum testimonio Naturalem Philosophi fabulosam Poetae docent Leges autem suas singulae habent Ciuitates that is either by meanes of such naturall reasons as haue bin deliuered by the learning of Philosophers or by such fabulous adumbrations as haue beene deuised by the wit of Poâ—ts or by such politicall constitutions as haue beene inioyned by the authority of Magistrates And it is true indeed that for traditionall diuinity it was among the Heathens especially propagated by some one of these three meanes But there was a naturall Theologie ingrafted in the soule before them all ante omnem rationis vsum as Iamblicus affirmeth euen before all vse of reason and all capacity to receiue instruction whereby they were disposed and in a sort prepared to admit any one of the fore-named instructions though it came but single of it selfe But in the former discourse I haue ioyned them all together shewing by a generall consent of all Philosophers all Poets and all Lawgiuers that There is a God So that there is not so vniuersall an agreement in any one thing in the world as there is in beleeuing that There is a God But yet I finde it againe obserued that there is not in any thing so great a disagreement as there is in defining what that God should be Res nullà est saith Tullie de qua tantoperè non solùm indocti sed etiam docti dissentiant There is nothing wher in there is so great a discord not only amongst the vnlearned but also among the learned And he maketh good his assertion by a particular enumeration of the seuerall opinions of all the Philosophers Which are seuerall indeed yea and so distantly seuered that no two of them doe agree in any one opinion some worshipping the Heauens some the Stars some the Elâ—ments some one thing some another So that as one wittily obserues of them Colebat quisque quod volebat Euery man worshipped whatsoeuer he would Onely this seemed to be the common study and endeauour of them all that none would haue that god whom any other had Nay by and by after he will haue another god then he himselfe had before as we may euidently see in the fore-alledged place of Tullie both in Plato Aristotle Theophrastus and Cleanthes and in diuers others So that if any where the prouerbe here is verified that Quot homines tot sententiae So many heads so many wits so many men so many mindes For as Tertullian obserueth by them Alij incorporalem asseuerant alij corporalem vt â—am Platonici quà m Stoici alij ex atomis alij ex numeris vt Epicurus et Pythagoras alij ex igne qualiter Heraclito visum est Et Platonici quidem curantem rerum contrà Epâ—â—urei ociosum et inexercitum vt ita dixerim neminem humanis rebus Positum verò extra mundum Stoici qui figuli modo extrinsecus torqueat molem hanc intra mundum Platonici qui gubernatoris exemplo intra illud maneat quod regat Some of the Philosophers make God to be spirituall some other of them corporall as the Platonicks Stoicks Some make their god of Atomes and indiuidual moates some of diuidual nuÌ„bers as Epicurus and Pythagoras Some make him all of fire for so it seemed to Heraclitus The Platonicks make God prouident and wonderfull carefull that all things may go well The Epicures make him idle and sloathfull and as good as no body in all humaine affaires The Stoicks they place God without the world turning about the Heauens as Potters vse to doe their wheeles the Platonicks within the world ruling it within it as Pilots vse to rule their ships And many other like differences are set downe betweene them both by Tullie in the fore-alledged place and by Plutarch in his fore-alledged Booke So that there is not a more notable consent of all sorts of men in the generall notion of Gods existence and being then there is a notable dissent amongst them in the particular notion what this God should be Which difference in opinion prophane Lucian snatcheth as a fit occasion to deride both God all his religion A gentium opinione quam de diis obtinent mà ximè licet intelligere quà m nihil firmum stabile in se habeâ—t quae de Dijs fertur oratio Multa enim est conturbata opinionum confusio ac planè alij alia opinantur By the opinion of all Nations as concerning their gods we may easily conceiue how much they are deceiued and how fondly they build vpon a weake ground so great a confusion may be seen in their opinions and so great a difference between their defenders And then he proceedeth to set down the dissention that he finds among theÌ„ Scythae acinaci sacrisicant Thraces Zamolxidi homini fugitiâ—o quem ex Samo ad illos delatum esse constat Phryges autem Lunae Aethiopes Diei Cyllenij Phaleti Columbae Assirij Persae Igni Aegytij Aquae Caeterùm priuatim Memphitis quideâ—â— Bos Deus est Peluâ—iotis verò Cepe Iam alijs Ciconia aut Crocodilus alijs Cynoeephalus aut seles aut Simia Praâ—tereà vicatim his quidem dexter humerus caeteris verò eregione habitantibus sinister item alijs dimidia pars capitis alijs poculum samium aut catinus The Scythians doe sacrifice vnto their sword The Thracians vnto a certaine fugitiue called Zamolxis who fled vnto them out of Samos The Phrygians to the Moone The AEthiopians to the Day The Cyllenians to Phaletes The Assyrians to a Doue The Persians to the fire the AEgyptians to the Water Yea and more priuatly for their Citties The Memphià ns worship an Oxe for their God the Pelusians an Onion others a Storke some a Crocodile others a Beast that had an head like a Dogge a Ca lt or an Ape Yea and yet more particularly for their seuerall Villages some doe worship their right shoulder and some other againe their left some do worship the one halfe of their head some an earthen Pot and some other a Platter Vpon all which he concludeth Nonne haec tibi videntur risu prosequenda Are not these to be derided He seeking from this difference and dissension to make but a mock and a scorne of all Religion as though this generall opinion of God were but onely a matter meerely fayned and deuised 2 But that Conclusion doth not follow from this dissension It infringeth neither the generalitie nor yet the veritie of this notion That there is a God Nay indeed it confirmes them both For first as concerning the generalitie of it that followeth by
iam Philosophia defloruerat when Philosophie had lost the chiefest lustre of her glory and that they themselues were accordingly but only Minuti inertes Philosophi a simple and an ignorant kind of Philosophers And Tullie passeth in effect the very same censure vpon Epicâ—rus another of their pillars For he saith he was a man without all manner of learning Homo sine arte sine literis insultans in omnes sine acumine vllo sine authoritate sine lepore A man without Art and without all good learning and yet insulting ouer all men but without any wit without any grauity and without any good conceit Yea and Lactantius saith of him that Hoc sano vigeâ—e nullus aeger ineptiùs delirauit No man euer so doated in his raging sicknesse as this man did in his florishing health deriding Lâ—cretius for bestowing such enormous commendations vpon him These were their very Principalls and the Leaders of the others Now if their chiefest were none other the rest surely were no better So that as the smalnesse of their number bringeth great disaduantage so the weakenesse of their learning bringeth but small aduantage vnto the cause of Atheists 4 But now it may be doubted yea and that not without some probability of reason whether those men whom the Heathen haue so branded for Atheists were pure Atheists indeed or no For the pure Atheist according to the propriety of that name is he which generally and constantly denieth all Diuinity and beleeueth as he saith The Prophet Dauid affirmeth in generall that the Atheist is a Foole which saith in his heart There is no God And indeede he that properly is an Atheist must both say generally There is no God and beleeue it constantly in his heart For if either he beleeue any one God though he deny all the rest or confesse God in the end whom in the beginning hee denied he cannot truely and properly be said to be an Atheist But such an Atheist was none of all those whom the Heathen haue called Atheists and whom they haue proclaimed to deny all that is called God There was none of them such pure and absolute Atheists as simply to deny all Deitie As wee may easily see if we will but looke into their causes and examine but euen by their owne records those seuerall crimes and actions that haue beene laid against them in their seuerall iudgements And first for Diagoras who was in their reckoning the most noted man of all of them and the first Antistes of their impious profession all the rest of the Atheists being counted but his followers Diagorae sectatores as Theodorâ—â— affirmeth insomuch that his name was growne prouerbiall among them For when they would note any prophane and impious person they would call him prouerbially Diagoras the Melian Diagoras Melius de prophanis perâ—idis impijs dicitur saith Suidas And yet the Action which the Athenians commenced against him was no more but this that he did eliminate and divulge the mysteries of their gods and by deriding of them auert and turne men from them as he noteth in the same place Which two crimes though very farre in nature differing yet were among the Heathen indifferently comprehended vnder the name of Atheisme as though they were both one which is a very large acception of Atheisme So that Diagoras his crime was not that he denied all Gods but that hee derided the Athenian gods For so Iosephus reports it Aduersùs Diagoram talentum decreuerunt si quis eum occideret quoniam eorum mysteria deridere ferebatur They appointed a talent to him that should kill him because he derided their Religion Now this he might iustly doe and yet not be an Atheist Hee might iustly deride the foolish Orgies of their false gods as Elias did the follies of Baals Priests and yet therein not be an Atheist as Elias was not For their Rites were so vnholy and their sacrifices so bloody that any man might euen by common reason collect that he which was delighted with such a wicked kinde of worshippe could not be possibly indeed a true God because they were Sacra Sacrilegijs omnibus tetriora Holies more vnholy then Sacriledge it selfe as Coecilius speaketh though to another purpose Of which impure Holies Lactantius hath giuen vs a notable instance in the feasts of their Floralia And therefore Plutarch in some sort excuseth those men that haue reuolted vnto this kinde of Atheisme vpon the contemplation of the filthinesse of their Ceremonies and the barbarousnesse of their Sacrifices affirming direct Atheisme to be a better religion then so lewd and prophane a kinde of worshipping Lustrâ—tiones impurae sordidae castimoniae Barbarica iniusta in Templis supplicia occasionem praebuerunt nonnullis dicendi Praestare nullos esse Deos quam qui talia probent ijsque delectentur Their impure purgations their vnchaste chastities their cruell and vniust Sacrifices haue giuen many men occasion to say that it were better That their should be no Gods then such as are delighted with such prophane worships Yea and in the same place he seemeth to allow of their sentence So that Diagoras by these meanes might easily discouer the Heathen gods to bee but false though perhaps he could not light vpon and find out the true one Which yet gaue him iust occasion to scorne and deride them as Lactantius wel obserues Impugnatae sunt a prudentioribus falsae Religiones quia sentiebant esse falsas sed non est inducta vera quia qualis aut vbi esset ignorabant Wise men haue alwayes impugned and derided false Religiòns because they perceiued them to be false but yet haue not alwayes found the true one because they neither knew it nor where they should seeke for it But that Diagoras was not a meere Atheist it euidently appeareth in the beginning of his Verses where he maketh this profession which is the foundation of all Religion Quòd a Numine summo reguntur omnia That all things are ruled by one most high God Which if it be true Diagoras could not possibly be such an absolute Atheist as he was commonly reputed Let vs therefore come from Diagoras vnto Protagoras whom the Athenians in like sort condemned for an Atheist yet not for denying God but for seeming to doubt of him Because in the beginning of his booke he propounded this probleme De Dijs quidem statuere nequeo neque an sint nec ne Adding there also this reason Sunt enim plurima quaeid scire prohibeant quippe summa rei incertitudo breuis hominis vita As concerning the gods I cannot resolutely determine neither whether they be nor whether they be not Because there be many things that let the knowledge of it namely both the vncertainty of the thing it selfe and also the breuity and shortnes of mans life This report doth Laertius make of his doubting