especiall thinges which may best serue for this purpose The Scriptures foretolde long before the time that the world should be conuerted to Christian Religion all Nations should beleeue and submit themselues to the obedience of the Faith a thing in mans iudgement not to bee expected For the Prophet saide concerning the Kingdome of Christ I meane his Kingdome of the Gospell or of Grace The Heathens raged the people murmured against the Lord and his Christ but in vaine the Kinges of the earth stood vp banded them selues and the Princes assembled themselues togeather But he that sitteth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision Euen I haue set my King vpon Sion mine holie mountaine I will declare the decree that is the Lorde hath saide to me thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee aske of me and I shall giue thue the Heathen for thine inheritance and the endes of the earth for thy possession There could not be a more vnlikely thing foretolde and yet it was fulfilled long since no Atheist can denie it Tertullian to this purpose saith who was able to gouerne the world but onely Christ of whome it was foretolde that his Kingdome should be extended ouer the whole world The Kingdome of Salomon saith her was confined within the Land of Iudaea from Dan to Beersheba and his territories did reach no farther Darius raigned ouer the Pabylonians and Persians but no farther Pharao ouer the Aegiptians and there his dominion ceased Nabuchodonozer was a great Monarche yet he reigned not ouer the whole worlde but onely from India vnto Aethiopia the like may bee saide of the Greekes the Romās which were called the Lords of the world and yet the whole world was not knowne vnto them much lesse subdued by them But as for the Kingdome of Christ it hath extended it selfe farre and wide the Gospell hath bin preached in al places and receaued of all Nations of the Parthians Medes Elamites the inhabitantes of Mesopotamia Armenia Phnygia Cappadocia Aegipt Pamphilla Asia Africa and the vttermost Indies Of this assertion there bee so many recordes that it cannot bee denyed As for some few things which are foretolde in the Scriptures not yet fulfilled as namely the conuersion of the Iewes and the destruction of Antichrist the time is not yet come to passe that they should be fulfilled for all thinges must be performed in that due time which God in his secret wisdome hath appointed There are other thinges also foretolde which must goe immediately before the ende of the world which are not yet performed because as you see the ende is not yet But it is a sufficient argument to induce Infidelles to beleeue that all these thinges shall come to passe because they see all other things alreadie performed in their time and order For as hee that sometimes lyeth shall not bee beleeued though hee tell the truth so hee which alwaies hath tolde the truth cannot without impietie bee suspected of fallhood God cannot deceaue or bee deceaued And which is not to bee omitted St. Peter did prophecie that at the latter end there should bee such Atheistes which should denie these thinges and the Prophecie is now verified otherwise this my labour might haue bene spared their impiety maketh it good which the Prophet hath foretolde Againe there is in Daniel an auncient Prophecie concerning the death of our Sauiour Christ euen the verie time and computation of yeares is defined when hee should be put to death Seauenty weekes saith hee are determined vpon thy people and vpon the holy Cittie to finish the wickednesse and seale vp the sinnes and reconcile the iniquitie and bring in euerlasting righteousnesse to annoynt the moste holy From the going foorth of the commaundement to bring againe the people and build Ierusalem to Messias the Prince shall bee 69. weekes and after he shall bee slaine but so that for one weeke hee shall teach but in the middle of the weeke hee shall cause the Sacrifice and oblation to cease But these weekes are annuae hebdomadae euery weeke is seauen yeares and so reckoning weekes consisting of yeares not onely of daies as for euery day in the weeke should be reckoned a yeare 70. of Daniels weekes make 490. yeares But the Temple which was the first and cheifest thing reaedified in Ierusalem began in the second yeare of Cyrus the builders were hindred 42. yeares as it appeareth out of the Gospell and in the 46. yeare it was finished because the laste 4. yeares they had quietnes Longimanus in the second yeare of his raigne giuing foorth a newe edict that they should builde without molestation and no man vnder payne of death should hinder the workemen as in times past they had done From the second year therfore of Longimanus the Emperour to Alexander the great were 145. yeares from Alexander to the natiuitye of our Sauiour 310. from his birth to his baptisme 30. these being put together make yeares 485. so the 69. weekes make 482. yeares but at his baptisme the whole 482. yeares that is 69 were fullye complete and ended In the next weeke or 7. yeares our Sauiour taught the people and in the middle thereof that is in the fourth yeare he was put to death What Iewe or Atheist can except against the truth of this Prophecye A second proofe that the bookes of the Bible are the worde of God is the generall consent and agreement of so many writers which writ at diuers times in diuers places remote one from an other in diuers languages and vpon diuers occasions all writing of one and the selfe-same subiect all agreeing in Doctrine none contradicting other that they might not so fitlie bee termed diuers writers as diuers pennes of the same writer The bookes of Moses were written in the wildernesse of Iosua Iudges and the Kinges in the land of Promise of Daniell in Babylon the workes of St. Paule some at Rome some in other places as Athens Ephesus Laodicea Nicapolis St. Iohns reuelation in Pathmos the Booke of Iob no man knoweth by whome when nor where The Bookes of Moses about 2554. yeares after the creation of the worlde the Psalmes some of them 605. yeares after Moses the bookes of Ezra after the returne from Captiuitie about 605. yeares after Dauid by whome manie of the Psalmes were made Betweene Dauid and the Captiuitie Esay and Osee vnder King Ioathan Achaz and Ezechiaz Ieremie vnder Iosias Ioachim Zedechias Ezechiel Abacuc Daniel in Captiuitie and the whole new Testament long after the olde yet all agree as the diuers thunders which haue one voyce foure Beastes which sing one song Vox tamen vna manet qualem decet esse sororum Damascen compareth them to a Garden bedecked with varyetie of hearbes of excellent vertue which are to be gathered one by one and yet to make one Garland or diuers precious stones in one brest-plate
A CONFVTATION OF ATHEISME By Iohn Doue Doctor of Diuinitie The Contents are to be seene in the Page following Psalm 68. God will arise and his enimies shall be scattered they also that hate him shall flye from him AT LONDON Printed by Edward Allde for Henry Rockett And are to be sold at the long shop vnder S. Mildreds Church in the Poultry 1605. The Contentes of this booke WHat Atheisme is Chapter 1. The cause of Atheisme Chap. 2. How Atheisme may be rooted out of all Christian landes Chap. 3. That there is a God Chap. 4. What God is Chap. 5. That there is but one God Chap. 6. The bookes of the Bible are the worde of God Chap. 7. Of the will and sufferance of God Chap. 8. The world had a beginning Chap. 9. The soule of man what it is whence it commeth how it is infected with sinne and the immortalitie of it Chap. 10. Of Noah his Arke and the Deluge Chap. 11. Of the destruction of Sodom Chap. 12. Of Christ Chap. 13. The world shall haue an end Chap. 14. There is hell fier C 〈…〉 TO THE MOST HIGH and Mightie Prince Iames by the grace of God King of Great Brittanye France and Ireland Defender of the Faith MOST dread Soueraigne your Maiesties gratious acceptance of my late Treatise against Recusancy causeth me to present vnto your Highnes this poore Mite which out of my penury I offer into the treasurye of the Church being no way comparable to the Talents which others out of their great plentye haue cast into the offrings of God Albeit the right worshipfull Sr. George More knight hath learnedly and religiouslie handled the same subiect yet may I tread the same wine-presse againe by the example of Saint Augustine which confuted the Arrians whome Athanasius had confuted before him and the learned of our age which dayly write bookes notwithstanding others before them haue written bookes of the same argument And as S. Augustine in his time because there were many haeretikes wished that all men which were able to write would write against haeresie so because now 〈◊〉 many Atheistes it is to be wished that many would write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheisme The state of religion dependeth vpon the state of the Pastors and Ministers And therefore S. Iohn prophecying of the decay of it first discouereth the defects of them as the cause therof That he of Ephesus had lefte his former loue he of Pergamus had them which maintayned the doctrine of Balaam and the Nicholaitans he of Thyatira suffered Iezabell to make the people commit fornication and eat meate sacrificed to Idols he of Sardis had onely a name that he liued but was dead he of Laodicia was neither hotte nor colde but such a one as the Lord would spewe out of his mouth that he which tooke vpon him a greater charge then all they should haue onely hornes like the lambe Christ Iesus but as for his doctrine he should speake like the dragon Sathan And S. Paul prophecying of that great Apostasie and reuoliment from true religion through the world shewed the cause to be in him which tooke vpon him to be the vniuersall Pastor of the world That he should be an aduersaerie exalting him-selfe aboue all that is called God that sitting in the Temple of God he should not shew himselfe as the minister of God but as God The holy Ghost deriued the corruption of religion and calamitie of the Church of Israel from the base condition of the Priestes in the dayes of Ieroboam saying that he made Priestes of the lowest of the people And it is a curse denounced against them from God by the Prophet Malachye that their Priestes should be despised and vyle before the people Your Highnes vnder the Maiestie of Almightie God now sitteth in the seate of Dauid and vpon the throne of Salomen You haue the same authoritie ouer vs which Iosias Iosaphat Ezechias and the other Godlie Kinges had ouer Iuda The Lord therefore of his infinite mercie toward you his anoynted and vs your people continue in your Princely heart this your zeale of his house and great care of the aduancement of the state of the ministerie for the aduauncement of the Ghospell the increase of Godlines the subuersion of Atheisme and all Impietie The Lord make you such a King as Dauid was a man according to his owne heart that your Highnes may raigne ouer vs religiously peaceably happily to his glorie our comfort and the saluation of your owne soule The Lord graunt to our noble Queene that she may be an auncient Mother iâ— Isâ—â—â—â—â—… to Prince Henrie a large heart as he did vnto Salomon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blesse all your posteritie that they way continue in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worlds end Your MAIESTIES humble and obedient Subiect IOHN DOVE A CONFVTATION of Atheisme Chapter 1. What Atheisme is SOmetimes vnder the name of Atheists are comprehended Pagans Infidels and Idolaters all such as are ignorant of the true God albeit in their kinde they be very deuout religious and godly So saith the Apostle Wherefore remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh and called vncircumcision of them which are called circumcision in the flesh made with handes that ye were I say at that time without Christ aliants from the common wealth of Israel strangers from the couenant of promise and had no hope were without God in the world But what it was to be without God in the world he expresieth in an other place saying Euen then when ye knewe not God ye did seâ—â—…ce vnto them which by nature are not Gods That is they worship the Sunne Moone and carued idols the creature in steede of the Creator which is blessed for euermore Amen These be not the Atheists which we are to treate of Other Atheists there be which haue a knowledge of the true 〈◊〉 and how he is to be worshiped and are in name Christians 〈◊〉 a continuall habit and custome of sinne haue so hardned 〈◊〉 â—…durated them selues that they haue no sence or feeling of the iudgement of that true God which they knowe and professe and would be thought outwardly to serue And therefore they are bolde to commit sinne against him because they presume vpon his mercye or at the least his conniuencye and negligence in punishing as if they were perswaded God did not see them or he would not punish them Of such saith the Prophet The foole hath said in his heart there is no God And of such fooles he speaketh else-where more plainly saying Wickednes saith to the wicked man euen in mine heart that there is no feare of God before his eyes And what it is to cast away all feare of God from before his eyes he sheweth more plainly saying He hath said in his heart God hath forgotten he hydeth away his face will neuer see And this kinde of Atheist is in state of damnation
but damned deuils Rome had not bin sacked ouer the sooner because they were taken but they had bin taken sooner had they not bin kept by the Cittie The Kingdome of the Iewes saith St. Augustin was founded by one God and not by a multitude of Gods and was maintained by that one God so long as they serued him That one God multiplyed the people in Aegipt but neither did their women vse the helpe of Lucina in their childe-birth neither did the man vse the helpe of Neptune when they passed ouer the Red Sea neither of the Nimphes when they dranke water out of the Rocke neither of Mars when they conquered Amalac but they obtained more at the handes of their owne God then euer did the Romans at the handes of their multitude of Gods whome they serued Lactantius proposeth this question whether the world is gouerned by one God or manie Not to stand vpon his authoritie because he was a Christian but to wey his reasons because I dispute against neathens and insidels which as I shewed in the first Chapter are also comprehended vnder name of Atheistes although they doe not denie God because they serue as the Apostle saith the thinges which by nature are not Gods What neede saith Lactantius hath the worlde of many Gods Vnlesse they suppose that one of himselfe is not sufficient to vndergoe so great a burden which needes must be graunted if euerie God of himselfe be not able without the assistance and helpe of an other If any of them of himselfe be not omnipotent then he is not a God if he be omnipotent theÌ„he needeth not any partner If God of him selfe bomnipotent there can be but one for if the diuine power be diuided among many Gods theÌ„ no one can be all sufficieÌ„t of himselfe but by how manie more they are in number by so much the weaker they must be in power He concludeth Quid quod summa illa diuina potestas ne semel quidem diuidi potest quicquid enim capit diuisionem interitum necesse est si autem interitus procul est a Deo The diuine power which belongeth vnto God cannot be imparted vnto many for whatsoeuer is capable of diuision is also subiect to corruption theÌ„ the which thing nothing can be more repugnant to the nature of God Therefore there is but one God I say therefore with the Apostle Now to the King euerlasting immortall inuisible vnto God onely wise bee honour and glorie for euer and euer Amen Chapter 7. That the Bookes of the Bible are the word of God I Made mention before of the Booke of nature which might worthily be called Gods booke because as I said it was a letter or Epistle wherein God did make himselfe knowne vnto mankinde and did instruct vs so farre as to knowe and confesse that there was a God But because that knowledge was but bare and naked and no way sufficient to bring vs to saluation onely it serued to make vs search and inquire farther that by inquiring farther we might bee saued there is an other booke which is more especially called Gods booke I meane his holy Bible wherin we are taught not onely to knowe God in his vissible creatures but also in his Sonne Iesus Christ whereby wee are saued And it stood verse much with his Diuine wisdome so prouiding for euerye thing as the seuerall nature and quallitie of each creature doth require to write such a booke for mans instruction in his feare true worship because man coÌ„sisteth of a body as wel a of as soule and conceaueth visible things easier then such things as are onely spirituall and are not seene and by such things as are subiect to his outward sences man is brought to vnderstand It pleased him therefore of his great mercie to instruct vs by these visible Characters and written Letters which dayly we doe reade And as S. Augustin saith De illa ciuitate vnde peregrinamur hae literae nobis venerunt ipsae sunt Scripturae quae nos hortantur vt bene viuaenius These letters sent vnto vs from that Cittie the heauenly Ierusalem from whence yet wee doe wander they are the Scriptures which doe exhorte vs to liue well And I cannot denie but the writers themselues of these holy bookes were so immediately instructed from God himselfe which is the fountaine of all heauenly wisdome that they needed no writings But yet with vs it is otherwise they are the foundation wee are but the walles which are builded vpoÌ„ that foundation we saith the Apostle are builded vpon the foundation of the Prophets and the Apostles Because by their writings we are edified but they by whose meanes we are edified builded doe leane their selues immediately vppon the chiefe corner stone which is Iesus Christ There are great oddes betweene the high mountaines and the little hillocks and lowe valleyes they are lightned immediately vpon the first rising of the Sunne but light heate commeth by degrees from them to the lower partes As also God foresawe in his wisdome and we know by experience of the former ages froÌ„ the beginning of the worlde vnto Moses when there was no written worde that there could not be veritatis et doctrinae puritatis salua custodia sine scripto soundnesse of doctrine could not be preserued but by committing of it to writing And therefore it pleased God that these Volumes of the Bible should bee written And that these are the holy Scriptures giuen by inspiration of God profitable to teach to conuince to correct and to instruct that the man of God may be absolute to all good workes That the man of God which writte them spake inspired by the holy Ghost that they were written for the saluation of mens soules not for the maintenaÌ„ce of ciuil gouernment I proue by these arguments following The first is the truth of all the prophecyes which haue fayled in nothing w c spake of things long before they came to passe so certainely as if they had bin already fulfilled And y t I may make due proofe therof certissimus fidelissimus vaticiniorum interpres est euentus the surest faithfull est interpreter of prophecies is the euent of thinges Now wee see their predictions are alreadie come to passe we are eye witnesses that they are true which truth argueth that they were written by the finger of God which is the holy Ghost which onely could not erre in writing and not by man for asmuch as all men are lyers humanum est errare it is the nature and propertie of a man to eâ—â—e in so much that if hee bee without error hee is not a man And therfore it is impossible but in so manie predictions foretolde so many yeares before the time so coÌ„nary to humane reason but they shold haue bin deceiued if men had bin the authors of these bookes I will instance for breuitie sake in some one or two
of Aaron the Priest and as Cyrillus speaketh The Kings daughter hath a Coate of diuers colours yet one garment Colligitis flores ad spirituales texandas coronas sed ex omni flore spiritus sancti spirat fragnantia Whereas if man had written not beeing guided by the holye Ghost they would haue differed as much one from the other as a Mulberrye Tree doth from a Mirtle as Iohn the Baptist did from Ieremye and Christ from Iohn the Baptist as the Iudges of Susanna or the witnesses which made reporte of our Sauiour Christ A third proofe is the stile and manner of writing the olde Testament being written in Hebrue because it was written to the Iewes The newe in Greeke because it was written to the Gentiles to whome that language was most familiar and best vnderstood although they were not Grecians that did write it And yet the tongues in which the olde and newe Testament were written so differing one from the other the same idiotisme and proprietye of speach in both Testaments vsed continuall Hebraeismes aswell in the newe as in the olde doe shewe that they were written by one and the selfe-same spirit that still God might speake like vnto him selfe The languages also being more fitte for the worde of God to be written in then other tongues as more significant more copious and indeed no other language being capable enough of that sacred storye as Benedictus Arias Montanus verye learnedly hath obserued For first sayeth hee Eorum qui transferunt duplex est consilium alij enim student perspicuitati alij proprietati quorum vtrumque vnà opera prestari non potest quum tamen vtrumque sit in archetypo eodem opera a spiritu sancto demandatum suggestum neutrum vllo modo praetermissum These saith he which translate the Bible some of them endeauour to be perspicuous others to keep the proprietye of the tongue but neither can performe both that is to obserue the propriety of the tongue and yet be perspicuous whereas the holy Ghost in the originall hath obserued both Secondly Ea the nata quae carent punctis varie legi possunt secundum varias GraÌ„maticae regulas quae autenpunctis distincta sunt varias admittunt significationes quae tamen Spiritue Dei exsua sapien ianobis ambigua tradidit vt omnia quae varietas illa complectitur intimis sensibus reponamus Eadem autem vox quae in archetypo ambigua est non potest alia lingua reddi ambigua si vero ambigua reddi non possit vt est in archetypo fit vt illa sententia non reddatur integra sed manca quam Spiritus sanctus de industria ambiguaÌ„ tradidit vt in vtramque partem interpretaremur Those Hebrue rootes which are without prickes may be read and coâ—stered diuers wayes according to the Gramatticall rules they which are distinguished with prickes are also ambiguous which notwithstanding the holy Ghoste did vpon set-purpose deliuer thus ambiguous vnto vs of his infinite wisdome that wee might vnderstand and conster them diuers wayes But the word which is thus ambiguous in the Hebruew or Greeke cannot bee fitted by a worde in latine or any other language which shall bee answerable to it in ambiguity and because it cannot bee ambiguous in the interpreter as well as in the Originall it is deliuered vnto vs maymed and as it were defectiue which the holy Ghost would haue to be more full and perfecte containing this varietie of senses by reason of the ambiguitie And therefore all tongues sauing the Greeke and Hebrue in comparison of them are vnworthie of that great maiestie of the holy Ghost For example the word Barac in the Hebrue tongue signifieth both to blesse and to curse the worde is vsed in the storie of Iacob which called his Children before him as he lay in his death-bed prophecied to them in which Prophecie some hee blessed and some hee cursed Now the translation hath Benedixit he blessed thus their Father spake vnto them euery one of them blessed he with a seuerall blessing Ieroms translation hath it in this manner Haec loquutus est eis pater suus benedixitque siagulis benedictionibus proprijs Now it cannot be a perfect translation wheÌ„ it is thus translated He blessed them al. For he curssed some Neither yet had it beene well translated in this manner He curssed them all For he blessed some Because therefore there is no worde answerable to Barac which signifieth both to blesse and to cursse no tongue is so capable of this storye as the Hebrue As for Reuben when he saide vnto him Thou wast light as water thou shalt not be excellent because thou wentest vnto thy Fathers bed then didst their defile my bed thy dignitye is gone It was no blessing And when he said vnto Simeon and Leui Bretheren in euill the instruments of crueltye are in their habitations into their secret let not my soule come my glorye bee not thou ioyned with their assemblye for in their wrath they slewe a man and in their selfewill they digged downe a wall curssed be their wrath for it was fierce their rage for it was cruell I will deuide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel These wordes were not such wordes as might importe anye blessing Therefore saith he Ideo visum est Deo scripturas hac potissimum lingua exaratas voluisse qui simplici sua inimensaque sapientia omnia inuenit vt multa etiam consilij sui mysteria vnica voce declararet It pleased God which by his single and infinite wisdome sound out and deuised all thinges to deliuer the Scriptures in this tongue aboue others that so in one simple worde he might declare many mysteryes vnto vs. The Greeke tongue goeth before the Latin because it is more copious significaÌ„t For example this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is by some traÌ„slated incredulitye by others disobedience and it signifieth both But the translator could finde no Latin worde which may include both disobedience and incredulitye But as for the Hebrue it goeth farre beyond it maiestate pondere numero significatione in maiestye weight number signification witnes the Sonne of Syrach in the very prologue before his booke Likewise besides the two tongues Hebrue Greeke wherein the Bible is written and the idiotisme or propryetye of the Hebrue onelye in both to shewe that the same spirit writte both that God whether hee spake Hebrue or Greeke vnto vs still he might speake after one manner and so be like none but him selfe the verye simplicitye of the style not fauouring of humane eloquence and the verye discretion which is vsed in euerye booke concerning the style still applyed to the capacitye of them who especiallye and aboue others were written vnto doe argue that men could not be the authors of these books If we doe examine the wordes the sentences the arguments the matter forme we shall finde many times that there is difficultye in
the wordes grauitye in the sentences acutenes in the arguments rare inuention and great choyce in the matter a scholler-like methode obserued in the forme of writing tropes grammer figures exornations of rhethoricke all thinges proued according to the rules of logicke and yet notwithstanding all these a vulgar and familiar kinde of speech is vsed For God him selfe the Angelles the Prophets speaking vnto men doe accommodate them selues to our capacitye to the vnderstanding of plow-men of shepherds of women of children that the conuersion of the world may not be ascribed vnto mans wisdome or humane eloquence or any other thing that is in man The holy Ghost doth not write like Demosthenes that it may be said Where is the Scribe the subtil disputer c. he hath made their wisdome foolishnes But St. Peter was able to perswade more with one Sermon then all the nations of the worlde with their Orations more in an hower then they in their life more by his simple kind of style thē they by al their eloquēce Magnus Ciprianus Orator sed maior Petrus Piscator Ille misit sagenam in mare piscatus est orbem Non per oratorem Deus lucratus est piscatorem sed per piscatorem oratorem Saith a learned Father St. Ciprian was a great Orator but St. Peter a greater Fisher He cast his nette into the sea and caught the worlde God did not conuert the Fisher-man by the Orator but he conuerted the Orator by the Fisher St. Paul when he writ to the Romans writ learnedly and profoundly because he writ to men that bore high mindes and did expect learning at his handes he writ to the Corinthians after an other manner as vnto men not of so great capacitye when he writ to the Galathians he altered his style vnto the Hebrues which had a preiudice of his person in such sort that they might not suspecte the Epistle to come from him St. Iohn writing to a Ladye writ in a lowely manner and in such sort as he might best befit a woman There is the discretion and wisdome of the holy Ghost which in men is neuer seene The fourth proofe that the Bible is the worde of God is euen God his selfe which neuer would suffer that book to be prophaned For Ptolomye marueyling why no Poets nor Historiographers writ concerning these misteryes of Faith answer was made vnto him by Demetrius Phalerius that it was the holy Scripture therefore that all prophane writers which went about to write of the same were presently plagued of God from heauen and so caused to desist and relinquish their worke which they tooke in hand that Theopompus because he went about to illustrate some parte of the Scripture in the Greeke tongue was so troubled in his minde that he could proceed no farther And that Theodorus a maker of Tragoedyes because he endeuoured to insert some parte of the Scriptures into his Tragoedye was presently stroken blind like Elymas the Sorcerer of whome we read in the story of the Gospell Fiftly the argument followeth well which Necodemus vseth to confirme the doctrine of our Sauiour Christ Master saith he I knowe thou art a teacher come from God for no man can doe these thinges which thou dost vnlesse God were with him And therefore our Sauiour saith in an other place Operibus credite Beleeue the workes And therefore against Alexander the great and Domitian the Tyrant which would haue beene accounted Gods S t Ambrose vseth this arguement Doe these and these thinges and then I will confesse that ye are Gods When Canutus the King of Danes had conquered England and sitting in his Chayre by the sea side had boasted the like of him selfe that he was a God It was said vnto him Sit in this place one houre longer and I will confesle you are a God but if you cannot sit vntill the full tyde and commaund the waters that they shall not carye you away you are no God But the Scriptures haue beene confirmed to be the worde of God by such miracles as no power of man or deuill could effecte The birth of our Sauiour Christ was confirmed by the appearing of a Starre which troubled all the Star gazers of the worlde The resurrection of our Sauiour by an Eclipse which troubled the great Astrologians of the world the healing of a blinde man with claye made of dust and spittle troubled Galen the great Phisition of the worlde But as our Sauiour confirmed his doctrine by miracles as Moses confirmed his ambassage to come from God by making Serpents So the Apostles confirmed their Sermons which they Preached and doctrine which they left behinde them in writing to be the worde of God by casting out deuils raysing vp the dead healing diseases c. Sixtly the antquitye of the Bible proueth it selfe to be Gods worde for as God is antiquus dierum the ancient of dayes because he was before all other so the bookes of Moses are more ancient then all other brokes Iosephus maketh mentiō of certaine Pillars in which some thinges were written by the sonnes of Seth before the Floud whereof one he saith remayned to be seene in Syria in his owne time But be it so these letters were but Hyeroglyphicall like to the letters of the Egiptians not Abedarye letters but shapes and Images of beastes not written in bookes but engrauen in stone But as for the Abedarye letters that is Grammaticall letters whereby we write wordes and sentences they were not deuised before Moses deliuered them to the Hebrues from whence the Phaenicians learned them and the Greekes receiued them from the Phaenicians and the Romans did learne to write of the Grecians And Moses was more ancient then Cadmus which brought letters into Greece or any other which broght them into other places as Eusebius doth plainly proue Now forasmuch as no lawes no precepts of life no Chronicles no rules cōcerning the worship of God no contract betwene man man no antiquitye can be kept in memorye but by writing Therefore it was necessary for the true knowledge worship of God that such a booke should be written wherein God might be knowne and in what sorte he would be worshiped But there is no booke of that nature besides the Bible which is of any antiquitye neither the Alcaron of the Turkes nor the Talmod of the Iewes witnes the Talmod and Alcaron them selues nor any other booke of religion but they were written long since the Bible Religion cannot be newe as God him selfe cannot be newe therefore that is onely the true religion which is the ancientest of all and it is impossible to knowe or iudge of the antiquitye of religion but by the antiquitie of the bookes and recordes wherein the precepts of Religion are deliuered and set downe and againe it is impossible to know what is religion or how God is to be worshiped but by bookes wherein are contained the rules of his
worship For as much therefore as the bookes of Moses are more auncient then all other bookes therefore that religion is the truest which is contayned in them and because there can be but one true Religion the onely truth is in them therefore they are the word of God And as for the other bookes of the Bible which were written long since they handle the same subiect they holde the same doctrine as the bookes of Moses and are but all partes and members which make one body of the Bible written by the same Spirit and of the same nature and therfore are also the word of God and there is no other written booke of God but the Bible In the seauenth place I could alleage for witnesse that the Bible is Gods word the great multitudes of Martyrs which haue dyed in the defence of the Bible and sealed the same with their owne bloud both before and in and after the times of the ten bloudy persecutions to whome God gaue the gift of patience to suffer death willingly for the testimony of the worde Neither could so manye of them haue suffered in such manner vnlesse God had strengthned them in so good a cause But because this argument is not so forcible to perswade Atheists as it is to exhort christians I passe it ouer Last of all the testimonye of the Gentiles proueth the Bible to be the worde of God For because God the Father had eternally decreed to send his Sonne to take flesh for the saluation both of Iewes and Gentiles and vnlesse they beleeued in him there could be no saluation purchased by his death neither for Iewe nor Gentile That he might be receiued by the consent of each people it could not seeme good vnto his heauenly wisdome vnlesse he did long before our Sauiour should come publish his comming both to the Iewes and Gentiles And therfore Christ was published to the Iewes many wayes as the Apostle speaketh by dreames visions Angels but especially by their owne Prophets Dauid Esay Ieremye Moses Daniell and the rest which were Iewes in that respecte called their owne Prophets that they might giue the more credit vnto them To the Gentiles also he was made known by the heathen Prophets and Prophetesses Baalam Mercurius Trismegistus Hidaspes and especiallye the tenne Virgins called Sybils the heathenish Prophetesses of which we may read at large in the workes not onely of the heathens but also of the Fathers and Ecclesiasticall writers of the Primatiue Church Now forasmuch as the Gentiles were vnacquainted with Moses the Iewish Prophets and not accustomed to read the Canonicall writers and destitute for the most part of the Bible and therefore would giue no credit to the testimonyes cyted out of these bookes and yet were to be conuerted to the Fayth by vertue of the Commission giuen to the Apostles Math 28. where our Sauiour said Goe Preach and baptize all Nations The Apostles and Disciples in the Primitiue Church at their first Preaching to the Gentiles prooued the Bible by the testimonye of heathen writers the Sybils Hydaspes Mercurius as St. Origin and Lactantius declare at large In such sorte did S t Paul deale with the Inhabitants of Creet alleaging for authoritie the verse of their owne Poet Epimenides which Cicero and Lacrtius doe reporte to haue beene a kinde of Prophet or Diuiner among them And therfore St. Paul saith a Prophet of their owne said of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cretians are alwayes lyers foule beastes slowe bellyes Likewise to the Greekes he alleageth the testimonye of a Greeke Poet Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euill wordes corrupt good manners And to the Scholers at Athens the testimonye of the Poet Aratus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are his generation meaning God And for this cause the heathens called the Christians Sybillistes because Christian religiō was most of all proued out of the Sybils Oracles which writ more playnly and plentifully then all other heathen writers And as Clemens Alexandrinus writeth S. Paul in one of his Sermons saide vnto the people Libros quoque Graecos sumite agnoscite Sybillam quo modo vnum Deum significet ea quae sunt futura take in hand your Greeke authors read Sybil see how she teacheth that there is one God and fore-telleth thinges to come Hydaspen sumite legite inuenietis De filium multo clarius apertius esse scriptum Doe but vouchsafe to read Hydaspes ye shall finde in him a cleare and euydent testimonye of the Sonne of God And because the Christians were so frequent in alleaging of the Sybils Oracles for confirmation of Christian Fayth vnto the Gentiles and conuerted so manye vnto Christ by these bookes as Iustin Martyr writeth Proclamation was made that vpon payn of death no man should read them any longer nor Hydaspes his writings yet the people would not refrayne from reading them And againe Gods prouidence did wonderfully appeare in the perseruation of the Sybills verses for the behoofe of the Gentiles as of the Bible for the Iewes in that they were verie faithfully kept in the Capitoll of Rome and that being once loste by a mischance when the Capitol was burned yet by publik edicte of the Senate diligent search and inquirie was made for all coppies that could be gotten that so an other booke was newly written and kept in recorde being duely examined corrected and purged of all faultes that might else haue escaped And to that purpose commission was giuen to diuers learned men fitte to bee imployed in such a seruice which was performed with all dilligence and the booke was layed vp in the capitol againe euē as the bookes of Moses were kept in the Arke of the couenant So when the Christians labored the conuersion of the Romans they were not onely furnished with proofes of their Doctrine out of the Sibilles to cōuince the Romans and their idolatrie but also they were freed from suspition of corrupting those bookes or any clause in them contayned because whatsoeuer was by them alleaged was consonant agreeable to their own Coppie which they kept in their Tower or Capitoll or treasure house which was the chiefest place of their recordes Now for as much as nihil est iam dictum quod non fuit dictum prius there can bee no newe or strange inuention now which hath not bin thought of before as the wise man speaketh I cannot finde any way to disprooue the Atheists better then that which the Apostles vsed to disproue the infidels that is by the testimonie and witnesse of heathen Authors For if they will neither stand to arguments drawen from reason neither yet to authoritie neither Diuine nor Humane then they reiect all the Topics of Aristotle and places whereby they should be confuted they renounce the lawes of Schooles and order of disputation by a consequent they shew themselues meerily ignorant and contra indoctos non
est disputandum disputations are not to bee held and maintained against them which knowe not the lawes of disputation Therfore that I may come to particulars to shew that the storie of the Bible may be prooued by prophane authors The first reuealing to the Gentils of the time and place when and where our Sauiour was borne was by the conduct of a starre What mooued the Gentils I meane the wisemen which came frō the East to come to our Sauiour Christ by the leading of that Star and being with him to adore him as God but euen the Prophecy of Baalam their own Prophet The Prophecie of Balaam which liued in the dayes of Moses is inserted into Moses his workes Orietur stella ex Iaacob a starre shall arise out of the house of Iacob Concerning this Starre sayth Chalcidius a Philosopher Est alia sanctior et venerabilior historia quae perhibet de ortu stellae cuiusdam non morbos mortesque denunciantis sed dese ensum Dei venerabilis ad humanae conuersationis rerumque mortalium gratiam quam stellam quum nocturno itinere conspexissent Chaldaeorum profecto sapientes viri et consideratione rerum caelestium satis exercitati quaesisse dicuntur recentem Dei ortum repertaque illa maiestate puerili veneratiesse et vota tanto Deo conuenicutia nuncupasse There is an other more holy and venerable storie which maketh mention of the rising of a certaine Starre which did not portend sicknesse death but the descending of God downe from heauen to conuerse among men after a humane manner which starre when the wise men of Chalde had obserued as they trauayled in the night being skilfull excercised in the study of the motions of the starres are said to haue enquired out the verye place where God was newlye borne and when they had found it out to haue worshipped him offered vowes vnto him And therfore saith S. Origin Si a Mose prophetiae Baalam sacris insertae sunt voluminibus quanto magis ab his descriptae sunt qui inhabitant tunc Mesopotamiam apud quam magnificus habebatur Balaam quosque artis eius constat fuisse discipulos ex illo denique fertur Magorum genus et institutio in partibus orientis vigere qui descripta apud se habent omnia quae prophetauit Balaam etiam hoc habuerunt scriptum Quod orietur stella ex Jaacob exurget homo ex Israel Haec scripta habebant Magi apud scipsos ideo quando natus est Iesus agnouerunt stellam intellexerunt impleri prophetiam magis ipsi quam populus Israel qui prophetarum sanctorum verba audire contempsit Illi ergo ex his tantum quae Balaam scripta reliquerat agnoscentes adesse tempus venerunt requirentes eum statim adorarunt If Balaams prophecie were by Moses himselfe in erted into the holy Scriptures how much more was it kept of the inhabitants of Mesapotamia among whome Balaam was so famous and which were Balaams Disciples The Magitians which florish in the East part of the worlde had their first beginning and institution deriued from this Balaam and they which had all Balaams prophecyes recorded among them could not be ignorant of this prophecye to wit That a Starre should arise out of Iaacob and a man out of Israel The Wise men had this prophecye written in their owne books and therfore when Iesus was borne they acknowledged the Starre they vnderstood that the prophecye was fulfilled better then the people of Israel which contemned the writings of the holy Prophets vnderstood thē not They therfore by that which they had learned out of Balaams writings acknowledging the time to be come went and worshipped Iesus Christ Of the slaughter of the Infants at Bethleem by Herod we haue the testimonye of Macrobius an heathen man of the burning of Sodome we haue the testimonye of the place it selfe which yet remayneth and sheweth it selfe of the Eclipse which was at the time of the Passion of our Sauiour wee haue the testimonye of Phlegon a prophane writer but an excellent historian as I haue alreadye shewed of Noahs floud we haue the testimony of Ouid a Poet of the resurrection of our Sauiour we haue the testimony of Iosephus a Iewe and no Christian where he saith Eodem tempore fuit Iesus vir sapiens si tamen virum fas est dicere erat enim mirabilium operum patrator Doctor eorum qui libenter vera suscipiunt plurimosque tum de Iudaeis tum de Gentilibus sectatores habuit Christus hic erat quem accusatum a nostrae gentis principibns Pilatus quum addixisset Cruci nihilominus non destiterunt illū diligere qui ab initio caeperunt Apparuit enim ijs tertio die viuus ita vt diuinitus de eo vates hoc alia multa miranda praedixerunt At that time was Iesus a wise man if it may be lawfull to call him a man for he was a worker of miracles and a teacher of such as were willing to imbrace the truth he had many Disciples both of Iewes and Gentiles This was Christ whome when Pilat had Crucified vpon the accusation of our Princes notwithstanding they which loued him before did loue him still But after the third day he appeared vnto them aliue according as the Prophets being inspired from aboue fore-tolde this many other wonderfull thinges concerning him That which the Apostle saith that God made all thinges by his worde is also confirmed by Mercurius Trismegistus the wise man of Aegipt which saith of him Sanctus es qui verbo constituisti entia omnia Thou art holy which hast made all thinges by thy worde Likewise the incarnation of the worde Exilijt statim ex deorsum latis elementis Dei verbum in purum naturae opificium et vnitum est opifici menti The worde of God came out of the lowest element and became the workmanship of nature and is vnyted to the minde What is the lowest element but the Virgins wombe which is earth as all other flesh he became the workmanship of nature that is he was made man he is vnited to the minde that is God the father which throughout his bookes is so called Againe man made vnto Gods image Omnium vero Pater Mens quum esset vita lux parturijt hominem sibi similem quem adamauit vt proprium partum pulcher enim erat Patris imaginem habens reuera enim Deus dilexit propriam formam eique tradidit omnia sua ipificia But the Minde which is the Father of all thinges when his selfe was life light brought forth man like to him selfe loued him as his owne ofspring for he was faire and beautifull because he was after the Fathers image for God indeed loued his owne likenes gaue vnto his vse and seruice all his creatures What are the cheife points of religion contayned in the Bible but the creation of
of Christ for asmuch as they did yeelde benignos influxus et amica lumina as the Astrologers call them the best influences and moste fauourable Aspects vnto the natiuitie of him of whome they receaued their influences their lights their Aspects and all their heauenly vertues The wise men which came from Persia to Bethleem although they could not knowe Christ by the heauens yet the heauens gaue them two manner of wayes to vnderstand that a man shold be borne which in glorie honour vertue and pietie should farre exceede all other men For first the sixt yeare before our Sauiour was borne there was a coniunction of Iupiter and Saturne in Cancer which mooued all the Astrologers then liuing to say that shortly after there should insue a verie great change and alteration of Religion Secondly the constitution of the heauen which was at the time of our Sauiour his birth in the 42. yeare of the Empire of Augustus the 24. of December a little before midnight did testifie the same For in it the Horoscopus was the eight part of Virgo which signifieth change of Religion Saturne was in the highest part of the heauen Sol in the lowest which did shewe that such a Childe was borne which might cause the world to wonder And as Albertus Magnus citeth out of Albumasar the great Astrologer ascendi in prema facie illius signi virgo pulchra et honesta habens in manu sua duas spicas et nutrit puerum et vocat ipsum puerum quaedam gēs Ipsum et ascendit cum eastella virginis Non quod subiaceret stellarum motui qui creauit ipsas stellas sed quia quum extenderet coelum sicvt pellem formans librum vniuersitatis noluit literis eiusdem de esse ex his quae secundum prudentiam suam in libro aeternitatis sunt scriptae etiam elegantissimum illud a natura quod de virgine nasceretur et per hoc innueretur homo carnalis et verus qui non naturaliter nascebatur There arose in the first aspect of the signe Virgo a faire and chaste Virgin hauing two eares of Corne in her hand and a Childe in her armes which Childe some nations doe call Iesus not as if he that made the starres were any way subiect to the motion of the Starres but that hee which stretcheth foorth the heauens as a scrole of Parchment when hee writ the booke of nature might not want witnes out of the booke of nature of that which before was contayned in the book of aeternitie which was his secret decree that a Virgin should bring foorth a Childe and so he should be described to vs to be a natural man although not borne after a naturall manner Thus haue I proued the comming of Christ by manie witnesses of mē of deuils of stars senseles creatures cyted out of prophane stories because the Atheist wil not beleeue the testimony of God Angels in the holy Bible Yet for their better satisfactiō concerning diuers particulars I will alleage them reason so far as faith may bee made manifest by reason that if possibly it may be they may be brought to the acknowledgment of the truth They aske vs what neede there was that the Son of God should take our flesh and whether God was not able to saue vs by other meanes I answer Man offended God therfore it behoued man to make satisfaction but mā alone was not able to satisfye therefore God mā were ioyned together I proue the minor that man alone was not able to satisfie because God would not be satisfyed but by sacrifice no sacrifice vnlesse it were infinite could suffice That an infinite sacrifice was requisit I proue by these reasons An infinite offence cannot be purged but by a sacrifice answerable to the offence but mans offence was infinite in two respects first of the infinite God-head w t was offended secondly of man himself w t was the offender which although he be finite yet voluntate peccandi in infinitum rapitur hee hath an infinite wil desire to cōmit offences And againe as man alone was not sufficiēt so it was not for God alone to worke this worke of our redēption because there was no sacrifice sufficiēt to pacifie God but by death as man without God could not ouer-come death so God without man could not suffer death therefore it was required that the Sauiour of the worlde should be God incarnate and so God and man to make one Christ might be vnited together They aske how it came to passe that man offended For their satisfaction I answere God made two especiall creatures to his owne Image indued with vnderstanding Angels and men hee gaue thē two giftes wherby they might continue their happy estate knowledge to distinguish betweene good and euill freedome of will to choose one leaue the other so that they might choose whether they would fall or stand The Angelles first fell the cause of their fall was pride the obiect by which they were puffed vp the reflection of themselues vpon their own selues beholding their owne glorie and that excellencie whereunto they were created For they could not be proud without an obiect there could be no other obiect to make thē proud but themselues For God was so farre aboue them in glorie that the sight of him would make them rather to haue a meane conceite of themselues and as for man he was farre beneath them that they took no such delight in looking so stedfastlye vpon him as to compare him with themselues And therfore they beheld themselues in themselues and so being delighted with their owne glory manie of them forgot their owne selues how they were subordinate vnto God and so their seruice duetie towards God was interrupted which did consist in perfect loue sincere adoration and imitation of him And for this cause they were cast downe After their fall they enuied that man should stand and mooued him to disobedience the outward obiect which allured him to disobedience being an Apple they mooued him to take the Apple by false suggestions that so his estate should bee aduanced Now both Angells men had fallen it pleased God to restore man againe but not Angells for these two causes First the Angells being first in the praeuarication seduced man and were the cause of his fall Secondly the Angells being Spirits and not bodies were of greater perfection then man was therefore better able to withstand sinne and all manner of temptations then man was and therefore God was more highly displeased with the sinne of Angells then he was with the sinne of men And therefore hee sent his Sonne for the redemption of Man but not of Angells They aske why the Father tooke not flesh rather then the Sonne why the Sonne being incarnate had his conception of the holy Ghost without begetting how he could be borne of a Virgin and wherefore he was so borne