hearbes and flowers without seede or slippe But hee that is the true creatour hee maketh his matter and stuffe in whiche and of which hee woorketh of nothing hee hath it not alreadie prepared or ministred from some other place But to saie that the matter was coeternall with God himselfe or existing of it selfe and to deny that it was firste made and brought foorth by God out of nothing is not the part of Christians but plainly of the Hermogenian heretikes So that there is a moste large distinction beetweene creation and engendring Those thinges are created whiche are made of no substanciall or materiall beeginnyng Those are engendred or made not whiche are made out of nothing but out of a former substance and matter Wherefore neither good Angels nor bad nor diuelles bee or ought to bee called creatours mutch lesse men for it is onely proper to God to create whiche these places following doe confirme to wit S. Augustine in his 3. booke of the Trinitie the 8. chap. Isay the 45. chapt Iob the 26. chapt the 33 Psalme Actes the 17. chap. and 24. verse Yet am I not ignorant notwithstandyng what othersome doe dispute against this that the power of creating may also bee giuen vnto creatures S. But there be many thinges that doe withstand your opinion M. What bee they S. First that whiche your selfe alleaged and is a moste certeine position among the naturall Philosophers and confirmed in all mens iudgementes by continual experience Nothyng is made of nothyng How then should God haue made al these thinges if so bee that hee had no matter prepared to his hand that is to say if hee had nothing to make them of M. Truely this is an olde obiection and often repeated by Heathen men in expoundyng whereof Iustine the Martyr or whosoeuer he was else that answered the obiections of the Ethnikes hee tooke great paines therin which difficultie mee thinkes I can easilye resolue First in that the insinite incomprehensible omnipotencie of God the creatour is not only a misse but peruersly called to the lawes of nature which was made and created For what is that other than to go about to make the creature equall to the Creatour But as the Lorde witnesseth that his thoughtes doe differ farre from ours so likewise is the force power farre discrepant from ours and farre excelling the strength and vertue of this nature Iob the 10. chapter and 45. verse Now if a man woulde thus conclude At this present and since the tyme that the Lorde appointed this order that nothing shoulde bee made of nothing there is nowe nothing made without matter readye and prepared beefore Wherefore in the beeginning and before that God had ordeined these lawes it toke place then neither coulde anye thinge bee made other wise Your selfe perceiue how much they are deceiued that doe so conclude As for example if a man would thus dispute that in the beeginning the first trees at the same verie instant wherin God made them could not bring foorthe their fruites bicause y now adaies they bee not so forwarde but neede longer time to beare and ripen them if a man I say shoulde reason thus euerie body woulde laughe him to skorne and woulde perceiue that hys sayinge were falfe out of Isay the 46. chapter and â–ª 8. verse and not onely out of the first Chapter of Moyses For whoso were of that opinion were deceiued through great ignorance and confusion of diuerse tymes and conditions which amonge thinges are to bee distinguished And euen so they who as you say doe obiect against the first creation of thinges That Nothing is made of nothing bycause that nowe nothing is made of nothing hee disputeth of most different and vnlike times and conditions To wit from the nature whiche was to bee created and not yet tied by any law vnto the nature created which is now reuoked constrained by sure certein lawes Which kynde of conclusion S. Augustine also laugheth at in his booke 2. booke against Pelagia the 25. Chapter Thus haue you my answere vnto that most common and vsuall argument of the Philosophers What is the seconde argument which you say may be brought against vs S. The aucthoritie which they alleage out of the xi cha and 18. verse of the booke of VVisedome For vnto thyne almightie hande that made the worlde out of a rude and vnfourmed matter there lacked no strength to sende a multitude of beares or of fierce Lions amonge them Ergo the worlde was made of rude and vnformed matter and not of nothyng To which opinion Sainct Augustine seemeth to agree in the 3. booke the 5. and 6. Chapters of the Trinitie For hee sayth that There is a certaine common matter consisting in the causes of the worlde M. Indeede this which you doe aleage hath seemed vnto some to bee a verie forceable argument And therfore the materiar heretikes which are called also the Hermogenians doe chiefly staye themselues vppon that against whom Tertullian hath writen manye noble and learned woorkes And that I may saye nothinge of the aucthoritie of that booke lyke as I sayde beefore notwithstanding I will answere this which is most true that it is there taught and beleeued that the same rude and vnformed matter out of which it is said the worlde was made was first created by GOD of nothing not out of any other matter wrought or supplied for so shoulde wee runne foorth infinitely neithere existinge of it selfe for then shoulde it bee verye god But whosoeuer he was that wrote that booke hee wrote in such manner out of the opinion whiche was then receiued and knowne amonge the Hebrue Rabbines and was afterward alowed of and embraced of all to wit that heauen and earth which two are saide in the 1. of Genesis to haue beene created the firste daye were as it were the first matter of Gods woorkes which were created afterwarde whiche God by his mightie vertue prepared vnto him self and cast togither ministred first rudely whereby afterwarde hee might finishe and forme the residue of that so greate a woorke And as touching Sainct Augustine they that alleage him against vs do altogither wreast hys auctority For S. Augustine intreateth not there of the first matter of thys whole worlde as though hee would haue it to bee one or feigned or imagined it to bee coeternall with God but hee speaketh of the seconde matter through which as in thinges nowe alreadye created one thinge sprunge of an other by the commaundement of GOD as out of the earth trees and beastes and as at thys daye also they are made and doe proceede There was foresowne saith hee eeuen in those thinges the matter of such thinges as arose and sprung out of them the 3. booke of Genesis vppon the letter the 14. chapter and the 2. booke the 15. chapter and the 1. booke the 14. and 15. Chapter and the 5. booke the 5. chap. S. Thirdly they saye that that is not the
concerning this matter in the 1. booke of Genesis ad literam and 9. chapter S. But these things are referred to the Sunne when it is sayd that the Lord created all thing by his woord so that Christe is ment by the woorde for by him all thinges were made Coloss the 1. chapter and 16. verse M. I will not much contende herein so that they will graunt mee that as the Sunne is called the woorde so likewise that woorde was a signe and token of his presence power and person and also of his woorking Whiche doeth likewise distinguishe the Father from the Sunne S. Why did God speake commaund them to be made M. Hee commaunded to the intent that the thinges that were afterward made might be knowne not to haue bin made by the Water or Earth out of whiche they came or the heauens or to bee short by the vertue or power of any creature ▪ but by the commaundement of the Lord onely and the power of his woord Wherfore let vs giue prayse vnto hym for all thinges that are created And he spake not that hee could not haue fourmed all thinges by the vertue and decree of his alonely will who hadde already made Heauen and Earth without speaking of any word but when as it pleased God to reueale manifest himself outwardly by his works hee vsed those meanes wherby hee willeth and commaundeth himselfe to bee most certeinly knowne to wit his woorde voice The summe and scope of this word is Christ y euerlasting Sūne of y euerlastīg father who was afterward manifested in y flesh therfore hereof they do rightly gather y Christ the Sunne of God did woorke in the creation of the world For ther is a threefold meane booke wherby God reuealeth himself vnto vs to wit the booke of creatures y boke of scripture the boke of life That which is called y booke of scripture is far more sure true and plentifull thā the other two therfore God doth especially propose and commende the same vnto vs And finally to confirme myne opinion I alledge that whiche Ireneus sayeth That God created all thyng with his word that is to saye with his voice in his seconde booke and 5. chapter and that also whiche is written by Tertullian in his 4. booke againste the Marciomtes in these woordes Is it altogether incredible how the power of the creatour should procure the remedie of one transgression with his woord who by his word hath brought foorth so great a mole of the world In whiche saiyng doubtlesse the woord is taken for the voice and in the 1. chapter and 3. verse of the Epistle too the Hebrues the Scripture vseth the woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The. xxxv Chapter Of the light which was vsed at the creation of the world S. WHat say you is secondly to be obserued and considered of in declaring the creation M. The light For God made that as a necessarie thyng for the creatyng of his other woorkes S. Whyso M. Both that by appliyng as it were a Candle or other light that confused mole might bee seen and diuided into meete partes and members and also bicause it was necessarie that some firie qualitie should bee applied vnto that moyste matter too warme it and to make it frutefull For all thinges that are in this inferiour world are engendred by a firie heate as it were by a warme and woorking father And therefore that first light was created to bee the continuall and common Nurse and moother and fountaine of the externall and accidentall liuely heate whiche God prepared as an instrument to bring foorth all other things withall Not that God was not able to see all things that were in the greate mole who at this present beholdeth the most secret thinges and obscurest darkenesse and from whom there is nothing hid not also that he needed that kind of meane who of himself is Almightie but to the intent we might vnderstand how great wisedome it was that created these visible things and what second causes of them hee appointed first which now wee doe behold to woorke in them And finally how in the making of these visible thinges hee vsed moste conueniently other thinges of the same kinde which at this day are the naturall and instrumentall and chief and principall causes of the engendryng of all thinges For there are three thinges of them too wit moist earth and that shining bright and liuely heate which is appliable and conuenient for all thinges in that all thinges haue that naturall heate in them This is therefore the second thing whiche I suppose needfull to bee considered in the meanes and maner of creating the world ¶ The. xxxvi Chapter That God made this worlde without any payne or wearisomenesse vnto him S. WHat do you thirdly consider M. This forsooth that GOD framed this so greate and huge a Mole of the worlde without anye payne or wearysomnesse at all that the Epicures neede not to feare leaste wee ascribe any greife and paine vnto God in that men are not able to finishe the least woorke that they haue to doe without some trauayle and wearinesse of bodye And therefore it plainely appeareth hereby howe greate the omnipotencie of God is aboue the strēgth of man This which I say is cōfirmed by Isay in the 40. chapt and 28. verse and likewise by S. Augustine in hys 4. booke de Genesi ad Literam and 8. chapter In somuch that it is sayde that all thinges that were created were suddeinly brought foorthe and appeared as it were in the twinckling of an eye Psalme 33. 9. chap. and Esdras the 4. booke the 6. chapter and 48. verse for nothing coulde withstande the pleasure and cōmaundement of God. The xxxvii Chapter The worlde was created by partes and not all at once S. WHat thinke you fourthly to bee obserued M. That this whole worlde was made by partes and in six dayes as Moses teacheth in the 1. chapter of Genesis as it appeareth also in the 4. booke of Esdras the 44. Chapter and the nexte folowinge and not made altogither at one instante And to the entente it may bee the better borne in memorie what was made vppon euery daye I my selfe made these verses folowing The first day made both heauen and earth pleasant glittring light The seconde streached out the space beetweene the waters quite ▪ The thirde diuided Sea from Lande and clad the earth with greene The fourth created Sunne Moone starres that bright do sheene The fifth brought foorth all feathered soules and fishes of the lake The sixt made Cattell in the fieldes then man the Lorde did make And after worke the seauenth to rest himselfe hee did betake S. But why did not god create al things togither in one day seeing hee is almightie M. Bicause hee is almightie hee needed not time for the establishing of this worlde as Sainct Ambrose saith in his 39. Epistle neither came it to passe
and small were first created to the ende that the force of things might bee preserued in a certaine temperament by these contraries This is written in Ecclesiasticus the 42. chapter and 25. verse and the 33. Chapter 15. verse Whiche also S. Augustine in his 2. booke de Ciuitate Dei and 18 chapter and Irenaeus in his 2. booke and 43. chapter doe followe M. It is true whiche you say For God made not althinges at the firste of one qualitie colour and greatnes neither of one kind and nature But hee made some high some lowe some moyst some drie some warme some cold the day to bee one thing and the night another Yet God made nothing that was eeuill But why hee created them in suche varietie this is the cause both for that the power and wisedome of God is thereby more apparant and also the thinges themselues by this repugnancie of contrarie vertues and natures and mitigacion of them may bee the more easely preserued For what maner state of thinges would there haue bin if all thinges had bin hoat what numnesse if all thinges had bin cold what miserie if all wayes there had bin darknes what wearisomnesse if it had alwaies bin daye And therefore when God had created the natures of this worlde and of the thinges conteined therein hee thought it conuenient to refresh and ease them with change and course because they were bodies or apperteinyng to bodies and likewise to nourishe them with a certein mutuall knot and temperament bicause they were diuerse partes of one whole thyng hee ingraffed also contrarie qualities in them that the one should bee a let bridle and temperament to the other And to bee short to the intent there should bee chaunge and alteration in these thinges that there might bee some differēce plainly perceiued beetweene the essence of them and of the angels also of God hymself who needeth no sutch meanes for his preseruation Euen so likewise a well gouerned citie consisteth of sundry orders and of diuerse fortes of men ritche poore faire foule Subiectes Magistrates young olde Husbandmen Souldiours who are of diuerse states and vnlike callinges and many tymes also of contrarie Notwithstanding they bee necessarie for the preseruation of the mutuall safetie of the whole citie wherby it beecummeth the more beautifull the more plentifull and conuenient for the vse of this life And therfore I will confirme this opinion with the moste excellent testimonie of Tertullian who in the 45. chapter of his Apologeticum writeth thus which reason made the vniuersalitie out of diuersitie that all thinges might appeare togither from many substances into an vnitie out of voyd and sound out of liuyng and vnliuyng out of comprehensible and incomprehensible out of light and darknes and out of life and death Neither doe wee notwithstanding fauour the errour of the Manichees who hold opinion that at the beeginning there were twoo Giauntes whiche afflicted mutually one another one of the light and another of darknes There is one and the same and onely God who made all thinges and moste wisely instituted this contrarietie for the preseruation of the whole woorke S. But this varietie of things seemeth to bring in great discord when it had bin more meete that this worlde beeing as it were a certein whole thing should haue bin builded and compacted of partes freindly and louingly agreeing one with another Which thing this contrarietie among creatures doth seeme very mutch to withstande M. You gather not well For this dissimulitude amonge thinges and varietie of contrarie qualities and properties bringeth in no discorde but rather causeth great concorde and agreement Like as in mans bodie the diuersitie of the partes members and theyr force action moouinge place and office which many times are contrarie declareth that there is greate agreement amonge the members and is also necessarie for the life gouerment and defence of the whole body The like truely is to bee seene in the world for it is one bodie and conteined within one compasse And why the discorde of thinges so muth disagreeing is so friendly and agreeinge and so consenting vnto it selfe and also firme and durable the great and incomprehēsible wisedom of almighty God is the cause who hath contempered all those thinges excellently one with another as they ought to bee and hath made them of apt and conuenient weight number and measure both in respect of themselues and in comparison also of other thinges as it is written in the booke of Wisdom the 11. chapter and 21. verse ▪ and S. Augustine afterwarde also declareth the same in his 4. booke de Genesi ad Literam But what weight number and measure this is or what is the proportiō of their mingling togither by reason of whiche this world is so agreeing and meete one parte with another and of all among themselues although the Philosophers haue by disputation curiously vexed themselues herein and yet neither founde it out neither declared it God knoweth and hee himselfe onely The. xlv Chapter In what sense it is sayd that God rested after the creation of the world S. THere remaineth yet one thing whiche I would demaund M. What is that S. Whether GOD haue ceassed altogither to create any thing since the time y hee made an ende of the world seeing hee seemeth dayly to create mens soules out of nothing and hee yet woorketh still as Christe teacheth vs in the 5. chapter and 17. verse of S. Iohn M. An easie matter to aunswere For God is saide to ceasse onely in respect of this worlde and the woorke which then hee had vndertaken to doe that is to say in comparison of an other as S. Augustine answereth in his 4. booke de Genesi ad Literam And not altogether absolutely as although God neither gouerned nowe this world which he made neither were able to make any new thing more seeing there is nothyng made or doone now but by his woorking Whose most louing tender prouidence hath alwaies gouerned doeth now gouerne whatsoeuer he hath created Whose infinite power woorketh euery thing in euery thing as S. Paule writeth to the Ephesians the 1. chapter and 23. verse Finally whose strength and vertue are neither impaired by weakenes through processe of time wherby they are lesse able euery day to create many things neither are they beecome slacker or slower in woorkinge Therefore the Lorde yet euery daye createth many newe thinges to wit the soules of men Howbeeit all that his purposed woorke and the fulnesse and bewtie of this worlde hee made moste perfectly and finished most absolutely in euery poinct part in the space of those sixe dayes rested the seauenth day God sanctified sayth S. Augustine no day of hys woorke but onely the day of his rest that it might bee vnderstoode that God is more blessed than his woorkes For hee was delighted with none of his woorkes so much as with himselfe So hee sanctified the daye of his rest and
principles and causes of their beeyng and compoundyng And likewise that is the Generall part of naturall Philosophie which sheweth vs the generall maner and order of preseruyng and increasyng of all thynges beecause it deliuereth vnto vs all thynges in generall And these poinctes for the more part are comprehended in the first chapiter of Genesis S. Whiche is then the Particulare part M. That whiche diligently setteth doune the peculiare natures operations properties and effectes of euery kinde which are seuerally distinguished in these created and visible thynges as for example What is the Nature of a Man what of an Horse what of euery kinde of liuyng Creature with the operations also of Trees and Hearbes These thynges are partly conteined in the rules of Phisick and partly also in those treatises whiche by the Auctours thereof are intitled by the names of Histories of liuyng thynges and of Plantes and suche like certaine partes whereof and sparkes are founde shinyng heere and there dispersed in holie Scripture as it were beautifull precious stones Howbeit the whole historie general discourse of these thinges is not conteined in the Scripture since that Salomons Bookes whiche were written copiously of the Nature of all thynges are through the negligence of men perished ¶ The seconde Chapiter Whether Naturall Philosophie bee meete for a Christian S. IS there any profite in Naturall Philosophie M. Yea manifolde But that I may not run ouer them all for thei are almoste infinite I wil alledge fiue onely The first is that thereby wee knowe God not onely to bee the Creator of all thinges but also to bee euerlasting omnipotent and mercifull c. The seconde that by it wee learne the thynges that are created with their operations and natures The third for that therein wee see ourselues and perceiue what wee are of what thynges and partes wee consist and eche part of ours that is to saie what maner of thing our Soule is and what likewise is the state and condition of our bodie which all men do confesse to bee the best profitabliest moste excellēt knowledge of all other The iiii that wonderyng at in our myndes and beholdyng with our eyes these woorkes of God so greate so many so wonderfull beyng thervnto holpē by none other meanes than by this Arte wee are with greate zeale and affection stirred vp to set foorth the won̄derfull praises of God and to giue him thankes Whiche thing happened also vnto Galene yea although he were a prophane Philosopher that after hee had described the Nature of one of Gods woorkes that is to saie of Man and the partes of his bodie hee was enforced yea almoste against his will to syng an Himne to god Heerehence it commeth that suche multitude of hymnes so many Epodes and songes of praise so many Psalmes are written and celebrated The v. that wee vnderstandyng these thinges maie easily and plainly expounde and freely enter into many places of holie Scripture whiche vnto suche as bee ignorante of these matters are not onely obscure but also cannot possibly bee attained vnto or by any meanes vnderstoode Wherefore S. Augustine writeth that Naturall Philosophie is verie profitable and necessarie for a christen diuine What shall I speake of the singulare pleasure whiche this knowledge bringeth vnto the minde of the great cōmodities whiche it ministreth vnto the life of man S. How doe you prooue these thinges to bee true M. Specially out of these places of holie scripture The whole 104 Psalme The 136. and 145. Psalme 10. verse The 147. and 148. Psalmes Iob the 12. chapiter and verse 8. 9. 10. and the 36. Chapiter and 24. 25. 26. verses The 14. Chapiter of the Actes and 17. verse The first Chapiter to the Romanes and 20. verse Unto these moreouer maie bee added the 7. Chapiter of the booke of Wisedome and 9. verse with the nexte followyng and likewise the 13. Chapiter and 1. verse and the nexte followyng Likewise the holie Fathers S. Basill S. Chrisostome S. Ambrose in their Exameron or woorke of sixe daies doc teache the same thyng And moreouer the holie and absolutely learned father S. Augustine in his booke of christian doctrine and in the viii booke of Gene. vpon the letter the viii chapiter S. But there be certain obiections made declaryng that the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie is not onely vnprofitable but also vnwoorthie for a christian yea that it is hurtfull and dangerous for hym M. Yea truely And although many men haue gathered sundrie yet all of thē maie bee referred specially vnto twoo kindes of argumentes whiche are alledged againste the knowledge of these thynges whereof the firste is framed ab auctoritate from auctoritie The second a ratione turpi from reason and vnseemelinesse or from a moste hurtfull consequent S. Declare them M. First thei gather sundrie sentences partly out of the Scriptures and partly out of the Ecclesiasticall Fathers out of whiche afterwarde thei frame their reasons and make their conclusions S. Whiche bee thei M. Out of holie scripture this is specially alledged which is written in the Booke of Ecclesiastes or of the Preacher the 1. Chapiter and 15. verse in these woordes I set my harte to seeke and to finde out with wisedome whatsoeuer thyng is doone vnder heauen This euill exercise hath GOD giuen to the Sonnes of men to occupie them selues therein Unto whiche thei ioyne that saiyng of S. Paule the 1. to the Corinthians the 1. Chapiter and 20. verse God hath made foolishe the wisedome of this worlde with other suche places like vnto these whiche maie easely bee answered S. How I praie you M. Forsoothe that that in the Booke of the Preacher is not spoken absolutely but onely in comparison of the true woorshippyng of god Neither doeth Salomon cōdemne or disprooue the true knowledge of the nature of thinges whiche GOD gaue vnto hym as a greate benefite of all other moste surpassyng for then should hee haue bin of all men the moste vnthankfullest man to God and in respecte whereof hee was then greatly esteemed of by the Queene of Saba and other Princes neere vnto hym Howbeeit this knowledge of Naturall Philosophie if it bee compared with true Godlinesse if with faithe if with the true feare of GOD if with inwarde regeneration of the mynde if with the knowledge of euerlastyng life and saluation surely in comparison of these thynges it is but a light busiyng of the minde vnfruitfull rather weariyng vs then relieuyng or comfortyng our consciences For it bryngeth not the true felicitie as faithe to Godwardes doeth although a manne consume his whole life in it and as it were tyre his minde aboute it And as touchyng the place of S. Paule I see not how it oppugneth the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie seeyng S. Paule condemneth the wisedome of the worlde not the wisedome concernyng the worlde and thynges created But that is called the wisedome of the world whiche is wholy ruled by the counsell and iudgement of the
distributing of euery part into it owne conuenient place Othersome there bee that doe attribute more vnto god For they holde opinion that the matter was a great mole from eternitie mary but matter onely and not that althinges were encluded and comprehended within it whiche the firste sorte doe also holde but that it was rude and vnshapen Which matter for that it was great GOD taking it in hande diuided it into smale peaces and as hee is a moste wise and cunninge woorkeman facioned it into sundrye fourmes And so endued euerye parte thereof with hys owne proper fourme which wee see them nowe rertaine Euen so out of one and the selfesame barre of yron cut into sundry pieces the Smith frameth forgeth a key an hammer a sawe fetters and many other thinges seruinge to sundrie purposes whereof they tearme God Demiurgus and not the creatour or maker Howbeit the scripture attributeth all this vnto god To wyt both that they bee thinges and also haue the same force power nature and fourme which wee see to bee in them And finally in that they are situate in such place and distinguished in sutch order as wee doe beeholde that they decke foorth this mole in such cumly sorte as in hugenesse beutie we do perceiue they do and in such maner as ther is no man able sufficiently to expresse Wherefore the Scripture saith that God doeth not onely Barah that is to say create And in the Greeke tongue Kâ—â—zin or Poem but also Gascha which is to say woorke And in Greeke also to doe some woorke or Demiurgin and also Iarsar that is to say to bring things into a cumly order which in the Greeke tongue is called â—â—smiâ— and that all things which are in this world which are seene do take their beeginning from God to bee thinges at all and to bee suche maner thinges as they are wee muste so determine moste certeinely with ourselues vnderstande so and confesse the same beeing thereto constrained by the force of truth S. Haue you any proofes to confirme this your opinion by M. Yea truely that especially out of these places of holy scripture Isay the 42. chapter and 5. verse the 43. chapter the 1. and 7. verses the 45. chapter the 12. 18. verses Likewise Iob the 26. chapter and 13. verse the 25. chapter 10. verse wher the onely and felfesame God is termed by so many and diuerse names The xix Chapter Of the ende for which God created and made this worlde S. WHat cause mooued God specially to make this worlde hee himselfe lacking nothing and dwelling in that euerlastinge felicitie vnto which there can bee no encrease of felicitie immortalitie added by meanes of al this gret woorke M. Euen his mere goodnes that is to saye his moste louing good will to communicate the same his felicitie vnto certeine thinges so farre foorth as the nature of those thinges whiche hee created was able to receiue the same Wherefore hee created Angels in heauen and men vpon the earth to the intent hee might make them after a sort companions and partakers of his felicitie beeing hymself most good moste louing moste perfect and also in himselfe and through himself most perfectly and wholy blessed S. How proue you this M. Both by auctoritie and reason And auctoritie is that whiche is cheifly taken out of the Scriptures as the the 36. Psalme the 5. verse Lord thy mercy stretcheth vnto the heauens Psalme 33. the 5. verse The earth is full of the mercy of the lord Psalme 34 the 9. verse See how good the Lord is and in the 103. Psalme the 17. verse The mercie of the Lord indureth from one age vnto another And in the 111. Psalme and 4. verse But specially in the 136. Psalme throughout and in the Psalme 145. and 9. verse The Lorde is good to all and his mercies are ouer all his woorkes And next out of the Fathers For S. Augustine in his 1. booke of Genesis vpon the letter the 8. chapter and also is his Enchiridion the 9. booke sayeth plainly that the only goodnes of God was the cause wherefore God made all these things The same is likewise affirmed by Ireneus in his third boooke the 45. and 46. chapters and also by Fulgentius in his booke de fide ad Petr. the 3. chapt And if you will also commend Heathen writers in this respect you haue Plato in Timeo a most graue auctour among them who beeing led by a naturall light and the testimonie of his owne conscience wrote in this maner whiche Cicero hath expressed is his booke de vniuersitate Let vs thaÌ„ seeke out the cause which mooued hym that made these thinges to beegin a new originall and frame of thinges Hee was good And hee that is good enuieth no man. And therefore some say thus God knew and would haue his felicitie to bee communicated to others For although that the diuine goodnes is and was in God most fully and most perfectly without al these thinges as it appeareth in the 60. Psalme and is also kepte vndefiled Notwithstandyng these things which are created are manifestatiue as they speake in the scholes do declare the excellencie of Gods goodnes that is to saye they shewe that the same goodnes is altogether agreeable vnto god This muche say they S. I haue heard the auctorities declare now the reasons M. Forasmuche as there proceedeth nothyng from vs men neither from the blessed and elect Angels wherby God may be more established in respect of his eternitie or more blessed in respect of his state and condicion as it is written in the 16. Psalme and 2. verse for it is not possible that any thing should bee added vnto hym who of himself is altogether perfect truely ther was no neede that draue him to make these thinges but only this one cause to wit his owne louing good will. Wherefore like as it is writen in the 3. chapter to Titus the 4. verse that the mere goodnes of GOD was the cause of mans saluation so was it also the cause of mans creation And if it were the cause of men doubtlesse it was also the cause of the creation of all other thinges The xx Chapter This world cannot bee called the Sunne of God. S. I Do wel vnderstand so much as you haue hetherto sayd of God who is the efficient cause of thys world not as a woorkeman onely or a discriber or painter or trimmer vp but rather as a creator and a bringer foorth of it out of nothyng Tell mee now this one thing more whether in respect of these causes this world may bee called the Sunne of God M. You renue an old question which S. Augustine plainly discusseth in his Enchiridion the 38. and 39. chapters Truely if we will speake properly and to vnderstandyng this world neither can nor ought bee called the Sun of god First bicause it is not made of the substance of god For they that are properly called
a mans children or sunnes are beegotten of the fathers seede and substance Moreouer whatsoeuer is said to spring and come of another ought not by and by to be called the sunne of that from whiche it springeth For Lice doe breede out of a mannes fleshe yet are thei not called the sunnes of men or of their fleshe To cōclude since the comparison and respecte of GOD vnto the worlde is rather like the woorkeman to the woorke than like the Father to the Sunne truely the worlde may bee termed the woorke and perfected labour of God but by no meanes called his Sunne The. xxi Chapter What God created first to bee the matter for thinges that were created afterward S. HEtherto you haue discoursed of the efficiēt cause now saye sumwhat concernyng the materiall cause of the world M. What matter can I name vnto you since there was none at all as I haue sufficiently disputed and proued beefore as this woord Create declareth if you haue regarde to it owne proper signification Neither do I thinke it woorth the traueill to confute the opinions of the Philosopers who haue almoste euerie one of them stūbled at this block or else to conuince the heresie of the Hermogenians who reuoked that errour whiche was nowe long since extinguished in the Churche of God out of the scooles and opinions of the Stoikes and chose rather to learne how the world beegan at the handes of naturall Philosophers than of true Christians and out of Gods woord Al whose argumentes Tertullian hath confuted in a noble and profitable woorke whiche is now abroade in mens handes and is most worthie to bee read S. I doe not require after that which was not but this rather whether that among those thinges whiche God created of nothing there were any thing disposed prepared and brought foorth that afterward serued the turne and stoode in steede in the creation of other things out of which God did afterward facion and fourme al thinges else that remained to be made M. You mooue mee to enter into a difficult question which consisteth both of like number of weightie reasons and of auctorities of graue writers For among the learned auctours some thinke that Heauen and earth of whiche in the 1. chapt of Genesis and 1. verse it is writen In the beginnyng God made heauen and earth were made by God of nothyng howbeit first and before all thinges to the intent that they might be the prepared matter of all other thinges that were to be afterward created And therfore they say that God did nothyng the other daies following but onely distinguysh this matter and masse which was first confusedly brought foorth and conteined in it the seedes of all other thinges into the proper kindes and elementes and that euerie thing should be trimmed foorth in it owne kind and gouerned by it owne lawe Other dooe suppose otherwise that these thinges were only set downe in the beginning as it were in maner of a preface or supposition of some discourse that should ensue to the end that the summe of the whole matter following might be the better vnderstoode and the boundes of so great a frame as the world is bee drawne foorth In like maner cunning Carpenters when they are about to build some goodly and large house they firste drawe out a platfourme in certeine proportions and lines conteining the fourme of the whole woork that shal bee to the intent they may point out and place the other roomthes of the buildyng within that circuite so conteine themselues within those limites Thus say they heauen and earth are proposed by Moses and that in the beeginning of his Narration to the ende wee might vnderstande what limites the discription following and the whole woorke should haue Like as he also repeateth again those limites after the narration of the creation concludeth the whole woorke whiche hee set foorth after the same manner Genesis the 2. chapter and 1. verse Wherefore In the beginnyng God created heauen and earth that is to saye firste of all the summe of all Gods woorkes is layd beefore vs to bee thought on Moreouer Ireneus in his 2. booke the 10. 11. and 16. chapters sheweth that GOD is not like men as not hauing neede of any matter that hee had created or prepared before hand to finish or make his other woorkes of S. Howe then doe you thinke otherwise M. Truely the interpretation and opinion of the fyrste sorte seemeth vnto mee the more probable which hold that the heauen and earth in suche maner as thei are there spoken of were firste created by GOD of nothing howbeit as it were a rude matter of the whole woorke and bewtie that shoulde folowe out of which God by his mightie power brought foorth all the residue Although almightie God lacked no matter to create firste heauen and earth with all neither yet to bring forthe the woorkes of the other daies like as at this day also he needeth not the seede of man to bryng foorth men of if hee lust to doe otherwise notwithstanding in these questions wee must not enquire how much hee was able to doe sayeth S. Augustine in his 2. booke de Genesi but rather what the course of nature in things will suffer and what his pleasure is and what hee hath reuealed vnto vs by his woorde Neither doth this mine opinion want iust and sufficient confirmation either of the auctoritie of men or of reason And as for auctoritie there is none against mee seeing bothe Philo Iudaeus and the Rabbines commonly and the best learned of the Hebrues doe so expounde that place of Moses yea S. Augustine also oftentimes as in the 5. booke de Ge nesi ad Literam the 3. and 5. chapters and the 1. booke the 5. chapter S. Ambrose likewise in Examero and S. Chrysostome and S. Basile with others S. But can you confirme your opinion by any reason M. Yea by twaine And the first is that this exposition doth very well agree with Moses woordes and order and againe that it seemeth to be plainly confirmed by this woord Beeginning and the signification therof For a beeginning is sayd in comparison of other thinges And therefore to the intent hee might shewe how all other thinges were made afterwarde out of those twayne Moses plainly vseth this preface to wit that the same heauen and the same earth were created in the beeginning that is to saye beefore all the other woorkes that God made and also to the vse of all the other that is to saie from whence afterward the residue were taken and as it were made The very footsteppes as it were of whiche opinion howbeeit the trueth beeyng now and then manifestly intercepted do appeare to be exstant in Hesiodus in his Theogonia and Ouid also in that place of the firste booke of his Metamorphosis which is so well knowne Beefore the Sea and Earth c. This reason also may bee alleaged that the thing itself and specially