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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	eternal_a	good_a	work_n	4,394	5	6.6946	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43607	Syntagma theologicum, or, A treatise wherein is concisely comprehended, the body of divinity, and the fundamentals of religion orderly discussed whereunto are added certain divine discourses, wherein are handled these following heads, viz. 1. The express character of Christ our redeemer, 2. Gloria in altissimis, or the angelical anthem, 3. The necessity of Christ's passion and resurrection, 4. The blessed ambassador, or, The best sent into the basest, 5. S. Paul's apology, 6. Holy fear, the fence of the soul, 7. Ordini quisque suo, or, The excellent order, 8. The royal remembrancer, or, Promises put in suit, 9. The watchman's watch-word, 10. Scala Jacobi, or, S. James his ladder, 11. Decus sanctorum, or, The saints dignity, 12. Warrantable separation, without breach of union / by Henry Hibbert ...	Hibbert, Henry, 1601 or 2-1678.; Hibbert, Henry, 1601 or 2-1678. Exercitationes theologiae.	1662 (1662)	Wing H1793; ESTC R2845	709,920	522

are reconciled to God St. Chrys on those words in Colos Chrysost in Cap. 1. Epist ad Cosos it pleased the Father by him that is by Christ to reconcile all things unto himself whether they be things in earth or things in heaven understandeth by things in heaven the holy Angels of God who saith he became enemies to all men by reason of their universal rebellion against the Lord their God But now beare good will to us after we are reconciled to God by Christ and are of the houshold of faith Hereupon it is as our Saviour saith that the Angels in heaven rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner unto God Heb. 1 14. and the Apostle writing to the Hebrews saith they are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heires of salvation They guard such as their proper charge saith devout Perkins that be in Gods favour and carry them as a nurse doth a child in her armes that they dash not their foot against a stone Perkins on Revel 1. Psal 91.11 Wherefore some Christian Philosophers out of Act. 12.15 where speech being made of St. Peter it is said it is not he it is his Angel collect that every elect man of God hath his good Angel to protect him to guide him in all his wayes and upon occasion when it seemes good to God many as Elijah had Thus we are at peace with good Angels as for the bad we must have no peace with them Origen on● Rom. 5. for then we shall have no peace with God Origen on the 5. of the Romanes tells us that Ipse supra omnes cateros pacem habet apuà Deum qui impugnatur à diabolo c. he above all others hath peace with God who is ever combating with Satan Warre against Satan procures peace with God Wherefore being he will do us no good the Lord so works as that he shall do us no hurt As for the other creatures all of them are in league with a good man their lesive facultie is restrained by the supreme power from doing violence to the Lords redeemed whereas the wicked are still exposed to the danger of their power The starres in their courses fought for Israel against Sisera Judg. 5.20 The fire did not hurt the three children in the fierie surnace The hungry lyon preyed not upon Daniel in the den Isa 11.6 8 9. lying at the mercy of that ravenous beast A little child saith the Prophet Isaiah shall lead the young lyon the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Aspe and the weaned child shall put his hand on the Cocokatrices den neither these nor any of the rest shall hurt or destroy in his holy mountaine in his holy Church It was a most comfortable promise which God made to Judah and Israel and in them to his peculiar people that he would make a covenant for them with all creatures Hos 2.18 the beasts of the field the fowles of the aire the creeping things of the ground heaven earth corn oyle and all Yea the child of God shall tread upon the lyon and the serpent and they shall not hurt him Thou shalt be in league saith Eliphaz the Temanite to Job with the stones of the field Psal 91.13 Job 5.23 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee Thus Gods Children in Christ Jesus shall receive no detriment by any thing that God made but by his blessed providence they shall find assistance and comfort from all his creatures Now the God of peace that sent his Son with the Gospel of peace and his messengers with the glad tidings of good things grant that we may live in peace and depart in peace according to his word to leade an everlasting Sabboth of rest in the highest heavens Great mens births are commonly celebrated with the joyful acclamation of their dependants every one being in a readiness to noise abroad the newes that includes happinesse whereby others might be partakers of their joys and excited to do the like in imitation Thus the glorious and blessed Angels the inhabitants of heaven and the immediate attendants of the most high do the birth of the Son of God the King of Kings like wel-bred Courtiers in significant terms divulge the birth of so great a Prince and melodiously express what good what great benefits come by the birth of so good so great a person Which ought to be a forcible incentive unto us after their example to render due honour unto God and ●o worship that day-star which from on high hath visited us with everlasting comforts All the holy Angels of God are obliged to praise him but we much more he restored not them to any felicity for they lost none we lost the primitive goodness of our unblemished creation and yet restored he us He redeemed not them they needed it not nor the wicked Angels that needed it but wrought our redemption when we were enemies worthy condemnation O then let us praise the Lord for his peace and merce for both endure for ever What the Angels sung will serve our turn Glory be to God on high c. The parts of our discourse are 1. The glory we owe to God 2. The peace God sent on earth 3. Gods good will towards men Concerning the two first I have no more to say than what I have already but proceed unto that last and maine point whereupon depend all our future hopes of eternal blisse which is Gods good will and mercy I confesse that the very name of peace is a sweet word and sweeter the work but sweetest that of mercy which is the cause of it Being then that mercy must be the subject of my present meditations first I betake my self to thee O God of mercy and eternal Spirit of truth humbly beseeching thee to enable me by thy gracious illumination and to rectifie the retired cogitations of my soule that whilest I display thy mercy thy goodness thy salvation and when all is done there may be in mens hearts a deep impression of true joy and a perfect sense may be obtained of thy loving kindness and good-will toward them To behold God sitting in his throne of justice is to a sinner most full of dismal horrour but to view him seated in his throne of mercy is to a distressed soule most full of heavenly consolation If there be any that obstinately forget God and carelesly cast behind their backs his sacred ordinances let them expect to be torn in picees of him and none to deliver them let them look to be consumed of that God whose Jealousie burns like fire If there be any that are heartily submissive and sincerely penitent in the sight of our all-seeing God for their enormities let them joy up in abundance for in him there is mercy and plenty of redemption although all of us have highly offended him and multiplyed our transgressions above measure yet if we can

flax 3. Bountiful in Porrigendo giving all bread and breath and all things Elizabeth Yong Act. Mon. in the dayes of Queen Mary put in close prison for her Religion hearing that the Keeper was commanded to give her one day bread and another day water answered Sir if you take away my meat God I trust will take away my hunger It was B. Hooper's speech Nothing can hurt us that 's taken from us for Gods cause nor nothing can at length do us good that is preserved contrary to his will GOD is good 1. In himself none good but God 2. Towards others in his works of 1. Creation 2. Preservation 3. Redemption 4. Glorification Pareus coming out of his Study slipping many steps and receiving no harm thought on that promise He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes Psal 91 11 12. They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone God rules by second causes Yet the creatures are inst●umentum arbitrarium not necessarium Hence an argument against Atheists Let them but look and observe the dependance of causes and works of Providence And then according to the Poetical Allegory they will easily conclude and believe That the highest link of Natures chain must needs be tyed to the foot of Jupiters chair Multa sine voluntate Dei geruntur Orig. Hom. 3. in Genes nihil sine providentia Providentia namque est quâ procurat dispensat providet quae geruntur Voluntas verò est quà vult aliquid aut non vult hinc quid velit vel quid hominibus expediat indicat Si non indicet nec erit provisor hominis nec creditur curare mortalia Well spake a learned Divine We indeed pray to God Our Father in heaven Heaven is the throne of God but Heaven is not the prison of God Gods glory shines most in Heaven but God is never shut up in Heaven Therefore he that is every where Deut non minor est in minimis quàm in maximis can as well do all as any one thing Hence God acts in every thing that acts and there is not any motion in the creature but God is in it They who act against the revealed will of God are yet ordered by his secret will There is nothing done against the counsel and purpose of God though many things are done against the command and appointment of God The greatest confusions in the world are disposed of by the Lord and are the issues of his counsels That wherein we see no order receives order from the Lord. Hence many are as much puzzl'd to interpret what God doth as what he hath spoken In a word Gods Providence is punctual and particular extending even to the least and lightest circumstances of all our occurrences Deus sio curas universo● quasi singulos sic singulos quasi solos Aug. The Wheels Were full of eyes The eyes of the Lord are in every place Ezek. 1.18 Pro. 15.3 Mat. 10 2●.30 beholding the evil and the good Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground Without your Father But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Humane or rather Christian Providence We are to frustrate the Mines made to blow us up by our own Countermines of Prevention and Diversion Sooner may one prevent than cure a deadly sickness and easilier keep out than thrust out our unwelcom guest True of Sin Aegriùs ejicitur quàm non admittitur hospes As they say in Schools of Art It is easier to oppose than answer So we find it true in Christianity It is easier and safer to obviate and meet danger in the way than to tarry till it come home to our doors There is ever more courage in the assailer and commonly better success A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself Pro. 22.3 but the simple pass on and are punished Original Sin ATque homines prodigia rerum maxima So said our Saviour to the people of the Jews Spuria soboles Ye are a bastardly brood because utterly degenerate from your forefathers faith and holiness The like also may be said of Mankind once made upright but they have sought out many inventions Once planted a noble Vine wholly a right seed but now turned into the degenerate plant of a strange Vine O man thy silver is become dross thy wine mixt with water As all those little ones that ever might have descended from Abel Omnes peccavimus in isto 〈◊〉 homine quid omnes cramus isle unus bomo Aug. In Adamo tanquam in radice totum genus humanum computruit Greg. their blood cryed in his so all that descended from Adam have sinned in him As good parents may beget bad children The parents of the Blind man could see Grace is not hereditary So bad parents may beget good children Dumb Zachariah begat a Cryer But how are they good Not by generation but regeneration Adam ate one soure grape and all his childrens teeth are set on edge Vitrà radicem nihil querere ●portet Chinks are not to be sought where a gate is set wide open By Adam sin entred into the world O durus casus Alas what did man lose what did he find Anselm de la●u hominà Original Sin is that old tenant that Peccatum inhabitans which Paul speaks of which like a leprosie hath bespread all the sons of Adam à capite ad calcem beginning when we have our being like the man that Valerius Maximus speaks of who had a Quart fever from the day of his birth to the hour of his death We may now say of Man Quantum mutatus ab illo Homo lasciviâ supcrat equum impudentiâ canem astu vulpem furore leonem Yea we may say of all men Numb 32.14 as Moses of Gad and Reuben Ye are risen up in your fathers stead an increase of sinful men In a word This sin like Pandora's box opened through her curiosity filled the world full of all manner of diseases Man that Was in honour Psal 49.20 Jer. 31.29 Rom. 5.12 Heb. 12.1 and understood not is become like the beasts that perish The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the childrens teeth are set on edge By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us Actual Sin Austin defines sin to be factum aut dictum aut concupitum contra legem Dei. Contra Faustum l. 22. cap. 27. Holy Anselm said He had rather be thrust into Hell without than go into Heaven with sin The reason may be rendred Hell would be no Hell without sin and Heaven could be no Heaven with sin Sin is called in Scripture a Work of darkness for divers

everlasting rest Our Saviour is the Author of salvation not to all that talk of him c. But as a Physician is the cause of health to those patients that will follow his directions so Christ is the Author of salvation unto all those that obey him Let us then examine our obedience Christ wills us to avoid sins that cause his Gospel to be ill spoken of By good works to adorn it to stop the mouths of adversaries c. Do we so doth not drunkennesse covetousnesse pride malice and uncleannesse abound As they said and promised to Joshua so let us to Christ Voluntatem e● promptitudinem nihil aliud exigit deu● Chrys Hom. ult in Mat. Whatsoever thou commandest us we will do and whithersoever thou sendest u● we will go Doth Christ command us to abandon covetousnesse which is idolatry and the root of all evil then let us not be glewed to the world Doth he forbid us drunkenness malice pride c. Let us have no fellowship with those unfruitful morks of darkness but rather reprove them let us forsake father and mother c. and follow him for without obedience there is no salvation 1. And let us obey Fully the young man in the Gospel most proudly vaunted that he had kept all the commandments from his youth let us endeavour that we may say so in truth and sincere heart And as Zachary and Elizabeth let us walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless 2. Cheerfully God loves a cheerful giver I was glad saith the Psalmist when they said let us go up into the house of the Lord. 3. Constantly A runner hath not the prize till he come to the Goal A traveller hath not his money till he come to his journey's end Here we are as children growing higher and higher in knowledge faith love obedience c. Let us hold out to the end running constantly in the way of obedience Triplex obedient●● 1 Vo●i 2. Co●formitat●● 3 Resignationis that we may have eternal salvation Obedience is the Touch-stone of Faith As the tree is known by the fruits so Faith by obedience We shoul do by Christ and his Word as some flowers by the sun open and shut with it Behold 1 Sam. 15.22 to obey is better than sacrifice Action As the life of things stands in goodnesse So the life of goodness in action The chiefest goods are most active the best good a meer act Religion as it is communicative like light so it is active like fire Those who rest either in hearing or contemplation alone put Paralogisms that is tricks and fallacies Sophister-like upon themselves and upon their own soules and will prove egregious fooles in the end Therefore it is most safe to follow Davids example Not onely to prick up our ears but also to put our hands unto Gods commandments My hands will I lift up unto thy Commandments Psal 119 48. which I have loved Civil Justice Delphidio Oratori vehementer quendam accusanti Pet. Man● in vit Julian pre argumentorum 〈◊〉 tandem exclamanti Ecquis Florentissime Caesar volens esse paterit usquam 〈◊〉 ●●gare sufficerit Respondet Julianus Ecquis innocens esse poterit si accusâsse sufficiet Justitia 1. Commutativa 2. Distributiva Sicut justum est ut in delinquentes digna debeat vindista procedere it● iniquum est Greg. Epist l. 2● quibusdam afflictionibus quempiam irrationabilitur subjacere Excellent was the Epistle of Adrian the Emperour to Minutius Funda●●● the Proconsul of Asia E●scb l. 2. c. 9. in the behalf of the Christians If your Provincial can prove ought against the Christians whereof they charge them and justifie it before the barre let them proceed on and not appeach them only for the name with making outcries against them For it is very expedient that if any be disposed to accuse the accusation be throughly known of you and sifted Therefore if any accuse the Christians that they transgresse the laws see that you judge and punish according to the quality of the offence But in plain words if any upon spite or malice in way of cavillation complain against them see you chastise him for his malice and punish him with revengement Par tibi culpa fuit Par tibi paena subit Nec culpa est levior nec tibi paena minor Righteousnesse exalteth a Nation Prov. 14.34 but sin is a reproach to any people Alms. The sun that fountain of light and heat who continually sends his light and beams upon the earth the earth net being able to return them to heaven again in Oblique line reflects them to us and the other creatures In like manner we whosoever we are being heated by the sun-shine of the Sun of righteousness being we are not able to reflect them upon him must communicate them to our brethren about us Our A●ms should come up before God as the smoke of the incense from the censer of the Angel or the golden Altar before the Throne Man that came naked out of the womb of the earth was even so rich that all things were his Heaven was his roof or Canopie bespangled with goodly starres of all magnitudes Earth his floore The sea his fish-pond The Sun and Moon his torches and all creatures his vassalls And if he lost the fulness of his Lordship by being a slave to sin yet we have Dominium gratificium Gerson● Every son of Abraham is heir of the world Freely we having received freely we ought to give Beneficium qui dedit taceat narret qui accipit haec s●ilicet inter duos beneficii lex est alter statim oblivisei debet dati alter accepti nunquam He that doth a good turn must instantly forget it but he that receives it must alway remember Charity best appeares when we can say Quantum ex quantillo Lumen de suo lumine c. Ennius Yet still this rule is to be observed Omni petenti not omnia petenti I will so light another mans candle as I will not put out my own Nè dormiat in the sauris ●uis quod pauperi prodesse potest Cypr. Munus bonum est Eleemosyna omnibus qui faciunt eam coram summo deo Idem Qui pauperi Eleemosynam dat deo suavitatis odorem sacrificat Mr. Fox being asked if he remembred a poor man he used to relieve answered The Christian Primitives were no Possessives they sold their possessions and goods and parted to every man that stood in need Non enim ●ta divites saith Chrysoft none were so rich c. Bis dat qui citò dat I forget Lords and Ladies to remember such Liberality implyeth liberty yet many there are like spunges suck up water a pace but they let not fall a drop though they he full till they be squeezed They part with their Penny as with blood out of their hearts Citius aquam ex punice clavam ex

Christian Reader I Have perused the greatest part of this Body of Divinity and find that the Learned and Reverend Author hath so mingled Utile Dulce together that it cannot but in many respects minister much benefit and delight to the Readers of it The Variety of the Matters the Brevity of each Particular the Holiness and Orthodoxy of Doctrine the Delicacy of Choise and Curious Notions the many accurate Collections out of learned Writers Philosophical Historical Theological are such as rendred it to me like a large Botanick garden wherein there are Fruits for the Palate Simples for the Health Flowers for the Eye Rarities for the Curious Walks for Recreation Arbors for Refreshment something or other to please and entertain every comer Or like a Jewel made up of many Diamonds where each little stone contributeth to the beauty and sparkling of the whole There is scarce any subject of Divinity or Morality concerning which we may not here find some elegant Strictures The whole composure of the Work being not intended for a large full and close Tractation of the Subjects therein contained but for a Collection of sundry wholsom and delightful Observations gathered together like Pearls in a Bracelet or Suckets in a Banquet to adorn the Argument and delight the Reader I shall say of it what the Scripture saith of the Land of Canaan that it is full of Milk and Honey and hath in it many Beds of Spices which with their fragrancy and sweetness cannot but refresh and recreate the minds of the Readers So variously hath the Lord distributed his Gifts for the service of his Tabernacle that some bring Wood and Skins some Sîlver and Gold some Blue and Purple some Scarlet and fine Linnen some Onyx and Precious stones some of which Materials are compacted into one Body and Frame others serve for Embroidery and Beauty All for the sanctity and glory of the whole So Christ divideth the spoils of Men as David did those of the Nations and consecrateth them to the uses of his Temple making one mans Judgment and Reason anothers Wit and Fancy anothers Memory and Reading anothers Oratory and Eloquence to be variously useful to the Edification of his Church and Glory of his Name Whereunto let all of us endeavour sincerely to consecrate both our selves and all that measure of Talents and enjoyments wherewith the Lord hath intrusted us Thine in our Common Saviour EDW. NORWICH SYNTAGMA THEOLOGICVM OR A TREATISE Wherein is concisely comprehended THE Body of Divinity AND THE FVNDAMENTALS of RELIGION Orderly Discussed Προλογοσ The Prologue DIVINITY or inspired Philosophy Theologia est scientia vel sapientia rerum divinarum divinitus revelata ad Dei gloriam ration●lium creaturarum Salutem Walaeus in l●● Commun is as the Haven or Sabbath of all mans contemplations It differeth from all other sciences for although they be busied about man as physick for the health of his body Ethicks for his civil conversation c. Yet none of them leads him to the consideration of his Maker Besides Divinity passeth for the most part from the material and formal cause and thinketh upon the efficient and final the first and the last cause And so while other sciences are either plunged in the baseness of the matter or curiously search into the forms of things which can hardly be known the Divine is carried back to the contemplation of the first cause to eternity and to the last cause in eternity which are the only comfortable meditations Divinity is the book of Gods Word Philosophy the book of Gods Works For Natural Theology is that knowledge or rudiment of knowledge concerning God which may be obtained by the contemplation of his Creatures which knowledge may be termed truly Divine in respect of the object and natural in respect of the light The bounds of this knowledge are that it suffi●eth to convince Atheism but not to inform Religion Hence there was never miracle wrought to convince an Atheist because the light of nature might have led him to confess a God But the Idolaters and Superstitious had need of miracles because no light of nature extendeth to declare the Will and true Worship of God Gods works shew his wisdom and power not his image and therefore never honoured with the title of Gods image but only the work of his hands The contemplations of man do either penetrate to God or are circumfer'd to nature or are reflected or reverted upon himself Out of which several inquiries there do arise three knowledges 1. Divine Philosophy 2. Natural Philosophy 3. And Humane Philosophy or Humanity for all things are marked and stamped with this triple character 1. The power of God 2. The difference of nature 3. And the use of man Now out of the contemplation of nature or ground of humane knowledge to induce any verity or perswasion concerning the points of faith is not safe Da fidei quae fidei sunt For the Heathens themselves conclude as much in that excellent and divine Fable of the Golden Chain That mea and gods were not able to draw Jupiter down to the earth but contrarywise Jupiter was able to draw them up to heaven So as we ought not to attempt to draw down or submit the mysteries of God to our reason but contrarywise to raise and advance our reason to the divine Truth Cullen Div. It is most apparent that Aristotle though stiled Natures chief Secretary and by those Divines who set forth a Book concerning his Salvation Christs forerunner in Naturals Metaphys l. 1. 12. as John Baptist had been in Super-naturals yet writes many things most absurdly concerning God which I list not to recite And I greatly fear for what have I to do to judge that is too true which a cleer head hath said concerning him and others of his Tribe Quantò doctiores tantò nequiores viz. The wiser they were the vainer they were and the further from God and his Kingdom their learning hung in their light Eth. l. 7. c. 3 4. and served but to light them into utter darkness Yea Aristotle confesseth the disability of moral knowledge to rectifie the intemperance of nature which he also confirmed in his own practice I guess this to be one reason why Tertullian saith That the Philosophers were the Patriarchs of the Hereticks Not but that there is an excellent and necessary use of Philosophy which is a gift of God and a great help to Divinity called by some her Hand-maid But captious subtilties and Sophismes or the measuring of Heavenly mysteries by natural reason these are to be avoided as vain deceits idle speculations and aëry nothings Hence the Apostle saith Rom. 1.21 22 23. They became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned Professing themselves to be wise they became fools And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God 1 Cor. 2.14 into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and

the twelve Tribes of Israel He went into the Sanctum Sanctorum once a year and offered up the prayers of the people Besides him there were a great number of Priests and Levites throughout all the towns and Cities of Israel they offered the sacrifices of the people and made attonement for them before the Lord they taught the people and instructed them in the ways of the Lord. Yet all these are nothing to our Saviour Christ he excells them as much as the Sun doth the Starres or the body the shadow They were all but shadows of him he is the true high-Priest They were but men he is God and man they sinful he without sin they mortal he immortal their sacrifices were but figures of his sacrifice the blood of Lambs Goats offered by them took away no sin his blood purgeth us from all sin they received tithes of their brethren but they themselves paid tithes to Christ they prayed for the people in the Temple Christ prayes for us in heaven Wherein we may behold the supereminent dignity of Christ his Priest-hood It cannot be denied but that Aarons Priest-hood was most glorious As the Psalmist speaketh of the Church many glorious things are recorded of it There was a costly Tabernacle a sumptuous Temple the wonder of the world there was an admirable Altar many oblations and sacrifices there were sundry Sabbaths and new Moons divers festival days the feast of unleavened bread of the blowing of Trumpets of Tabernacles of Dedication c. Which were kept with wonderful solemnity there were many washings and purgings for the clensing of the people Therefore let us magnifie God for this our high-priest by whom we have an entrance into the Kingdom of heaven The high Priest went into the Holy of Holies himself but he carried none of the people with him they stood without Our high-Priest is not only gone into heaven himself but he hath also brought us thither That high-priest offered Bulls Calves Lambs for the sins of the people this high-priest offered himself for us all Therefore let us honour and reverence this our high-priest yea let us subject our selves to him in all things which hath made us Kings and Priests to God his Father that we may reign with him for ever and ever The Lord hath sworn and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever Psal 110.4 after the order of Melchisedeck For such an high-Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens Hebr. 7.26 27. Who needeth not daily as those high-Priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins and then for the peoples for this he did once when he offered up himself Seeing then that we have a great high-Priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession Heb. 4.14 16. And let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Of Christs Prophetical Office Christ is said to be a Prophet like unto Moses that is both in the Participation of nature and of office A true man and a true Mediatour Similes they are but not Pares Christ being worthy of more glory than Moses Christ is a Prophet and more than a Prophet the Arch-Prophet to whom Moses and all must vail bonnet Let our mind then be wholly fixed on Christ consider that in him all the treasures of wisdom lie hid he is a rich and plentiful store-house in whom we may find all the pearls and jewels of wholesome doctrine In him there is salvation and in no other therefore all other teachers set aside listen to him When the Judge of an Assizes gives the charge all that be present especially they of the grand Inquest consider seriously what is spoken Christ Jesus the Judge of the whole world gives a charge by his Ministery When the King makes a Speech in Parliament the whole House considers earnestly what he sayes Christ Jesus the King of kings speaks to us in the Ministery of the Word The Queen of Sheba observed Solomon well Behold here is a greater than Solomon therefore let us diligently consider him Besides the matters which this great Prophet declareth are of great moment touching the eternal salvation of our souls If one should talk to us of gold or silver we would be attentive Christ speaks to us of that which surpasseth all the riches in the world what mad-men are we that regard him no more But alas since the Fall every man hath Principium lasum his brain-pan crackt as to heavenly things neither can he recover till Christ open his eyes and give him light Moses truly said unto the Fathers Act 3.22 Quinque dicuntur de Deo Paternitas in nascibilitas filiatio proc ssio communis spiratio Aug. Paternitas innascibilitas conveniunt solum modò Patri Filiatio tantum modò Filio Spi●it●i verò Sancto processio Communis Spira●io Patri filio respectu Spiritus Sancti A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever I shall say unto you De Spiritu Sancto THE Holy Ghost is the third Person in Trinity proceeding from the Father and the Son being himself most holy and the worker of holiness in all Angels and good men He is distinct from the Father and the Son equal unto the Father and the Son and the same God in Nature and Essence with the Father and the Son though not the same person He is called The Spirit The Holy Spirit A Spirit because he is that essential vertue proceeding and as it were spired or breathed from the Father and the Son Or from his effect who blowing where he listeth inspireth holy motions and graces into the hearts of the Elect. Or because he is a spiritual invisible and incorporeal essence And Holy Spirit 1. For distinction sake for Gods Spirit is holy that is it hath all holiness and it hath it in it self not by illumination from any higher cause and so are not the spirits of Men or Angels holy mens spirits have sin in them on earth And the Angels and blessed souls in heaven have no holiness but what they received 2. Gods Spirit is holy by effect for it is his proper work to sanctifie the Elect and so to work holiness upon the spirits of men by spiritual regeneration The Holy Ghost is oft-times in Scripture signified by Fire Water We shall find it according to the nature of fire 1. To illighten us 1. Mat. 3.11 Isa 4.4 as the least spark of fire lightens it self at least and may be seen in the greatest darkness 2. To enliven and revive us fire is the most active of all other elements as having much form little matter so whatsoever is born of the Spirit is Spirit that is nimble and active full of life and motion

and harmony shews they were guided by one and the same Spirit of God 5. The divine properties of the Scriptures viz. Antiquity admirable perfection Psal 19.2 Tim. 3.17 Certainty of the truth the strong and perpetual opposition of the Devil and the wicked world against them above all writings Jerem. 36.23 And Gods powerful and watchful preservation of them notwithstanding 2 Chron. 34.15 Jerem. 36.28 and in history at large in all which divine properties the Scriptures carry express foot-steps of God himself above all the writings in the world 6. The powerful effects of the Scriptures for by them men are led unto God Joh. 1.8 they do directly work upon the spirits and souls of men in all their faculties Act. 26.18 Heb. 4.12 2 Cor. 10.4 They carry a mighty power to convert and save Ps 19. Rom. 1.16 2 Tim. 1.10 And where it converteth not it is powerful to convince harden confound and secretly to slay not in it self but by accident 2 Cor. 2.15 16 c. Now whatsoever carrieth with it such a divine power and efficacy must needs be from God 7. The Scriptures have many strong Testimonies 1. The whole Church of God hath ever witnessed to them 2. Innumerable Martyrs have sealed the truth with their blood Rev. 12.11.3 Heathens and Gentiles have borrowed a number of Stories out of the Scriptures which argueth that they were in their consciences convinced of the truth and authority of them 4. The sensible experience of believers who have found the divine effects of the Word in themselves John 9.25 5. The testimony of Gods blessed Spirit without which all other perswasions are flat and fruitless confirming the truth which himself hath inspired in every believing heart Add unto all how every part of Scripture se●teth up and magnifieth the true God it is all from him and therefore it is all for him This serves therefore to the eviction of the Jew that asks for signs In sacrâ Scripturâ non solum bonitas est quod praecipitur faelic● tas quod promittitur sed etiam veritas est quod dicitur Hugo vanquishing of Dives that would send the dead condemning of Antichrist that requires miracles and quelling of the Anabaptist that expects revelations Dixit Julianus Apostata vidi legi contempsi cui Basilius vidisti legisti non intellexisti si intellexisses non contempsisses Authoritas oertitudo Scripturae consistit 1. In narrationis solius veracitat● ejusque enuntiatione de rebus praeteritis praesentibus futuris 2. In potestate mandatorum prohibitionum Hinc pendet a Deo Authore praecipuo tum quia verax citra falsitatis suspicionem quia potestatem habet irrefragabilem All the Scriptures teach nothing else saith Augustine but that we must love our Neighbour for God and God for himself Nihil praecipit nisi charitatem Aug. nec culpat nisi cupiditatem It forbids nothing but lust it enjoyns nothing but love for without love there is no faith and without faith all our righteousness is sin Scriptura nos obligat 1. Ad credendum 2. Ad obediendum Haec obligatio nullâ externâ authoritate auferri potest The Scriptures are verba vivenda purposely composed to promote piety in the world All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof 2 Tim 3.16 Rom. 15.9 Mat. 22.29 Joh. 5.39 Act. 18.24 for correction for instruction in righteousness For whatsoever things were Written aforetime Were Written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Ye do erre not knowing the Scriptures Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me Mighty in the Scriptures Of the old and new Testament Some Atheistical spirits would make the holy Bible a Bable but let such take heed it prove not to them a Babel their confusion Major fuit cura Caesari libellorum quàm Purpurae Julius Caesar being forced to swim for his life held his Commentaries in one hand above water and swam to land with the other How infinitely more are we to value this Book of books being the souls Promptuary The whole Bible is distributed into the old and new Testament In the old Testament we have the Gospel vailed under promises prophecies and Types But in the Books of the new Testament we have the Gospel revealed the Lord delineating to us the New Covenant of Grace in Christ unveiled and actually exhibited and performed Christ being the body and substance of all those ancient types and shadows Gods Covenant with man in Christ is represented to us in holy Scripture principally two ways As Promised fore-prophecied and typified in Christ to be manifested afterwards in the flesh Hence called the Covenant of promise Eph. 2.12 and covenants because of the several publications of the Covenant with more and more Augmentations in several points or Periods of time Thus the Covenant is made known in all the books of Scripture before Christs coming called the old Testament or Covenant Heb. 8.13.2 Cor. 3.14 As performed fulfilled and actually accomplished in Christ already come and manifested in our flesh in fulness of time And thus the Covenant is most clearly and fully unveiled to us in all the Books of Scripture written since Christs coming which are therefore stiled the new Covenant or the new Testament Heb. 8.8 Mat. 26.28 Heb. 9.15 The new Testament is better than the old not in regard of the substance the substance of both is one which is Christ Jesus but in respect of divers circumstances For 1. The Old Testament did but shadow out things to come the New Testament makes a gift and exhibition of them Col. 2.17 So that as the body is better than the shadow so is the New Testament than the Old 2. That was dark and obscure this plain and perspicuous 3. This hath sewer more lively and easie Sacraments 4. That was temporal and therefore not ratified with an Oath this is eternal and lasteth for ever for the which cause it was confirmed with an Oath 5. The Mediatour or Surety of that was Moses the Surety of this is Christ In comparison then with the state of the Old Testament how much more obliged are we to God who live in the times of the New in respect of the clear Revelation of Grace and Life untous The Prophets of the Old Testament they were as a sound John Baptist Christs immediate fore-runner was a voyce he is called so but it is Christ and he only who is the Word distinctly and fully signifying to us the Will of God concerning our salvation God spake with Moses at the door of the Tabernacle but now he leadeth his Spouse into the Presence-Chamber The Old Testament-Christians saw through a veil but now the Curtain is drawn with them it was the dawning of the day with us it is full Noon Oh that we would praise the Lord for his inestimable

a sweet savour behind it Wheresoever it comes it will procure favour of God and men When the name that the wicked have gotten shall rot the faithful shall be had in everlasting remembrance Therefore let us be all Zealous this way so shall we be renowned in this world Quàm magnus mirantium tam magnus invidentium populus est Senec. and eternally famous in the world to come Plato was once in such esteem that it was an ancient Proverb Jovem grecè loqui si vellet non aliter loquuturum quàm Platonem But the common people are apt to praise and dispraise with one breath Fame followes desert as the sweet sent doth the rose A man shall be sure to have both the comfort and credit of his worthy parts and practises In the Olympick games those that overcame Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori● Hò●at did not put the garlands on their own heads but stayed till others did it for them That which had been much to a mans commendation if out of another mans mouth sounds very slenderly out of his own It is an hard thing to recover a mans good name if once lost It happened Lau● pro●rlo sordescit in ●re that upon a time Fire Water and Fame went to travel together but before they set forth they consulted that if they lost one another how they might meet again Fire said where you see smoke there you shall finde me Water said where you see marsh or moorish low grounds there you shall find me But Fame said take heed how you lose me for if you do you will ran a great hazard never to meet me again Still the Euge of a good Conscience and Gods approbation is principally to be sought after Whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. ● 29 Mer●t Caelum gratis non accipiam said the Jesuite before grace I had free will to it and when I had grace I deserved glory Satan had perswaded the Scottish Knox he had merited by his Ministery but that God brought to his mind those scriptures What hast thou that thou didst not receive And yet not I but the grace of God which was in me The Jewes of old did seek to be justifyed by their own works and these latter Jewes being asked whether they beleeve to be saved by Christs righteousness or not Answer that every Foxe must pay his own skin to the flear The Church of Rome seekes to be justified by her own righteousness and the righteousness of Christ They hold that Christs righteousness merits that our works should merit And Bellarmine saith De Iustif Opera sanctorum tincta sanguine Christi merentur that is the works of the Saints dipped in the blood of Christ do merit And truely that 's a slie and nice distinction of the Jesuites which they invented of late to make us beleeve that by the doctrine of merits they derogate nothing from the glory of Christ Indeed they say that we make satisfaction for sin and merit heaven yet it is not we that do it but Christ by us not our works simply in themselves but as dyed in the blood of Christ Our Merits are Christs merits and therefore they may deserve heaven I but Christ hath purged our sins by himself not by our selves he hath done it by his own blood immediately not mediately by our works dyed in his blood Therefore that is a meer delusion to mock the world withall Upon those word Heb. 6.10 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love The Jesuites say It is a world to see what wrything and wringing the Protestants make to shift off this place whereby it is cleer that good works are meritorious and causes of salvation If it be an unrighteous thing with God not to give heaven to our works then we have it not on meer mercy but of justice But we say It is just with God so to do not in regard of our merit Justum est ut reddat qui debet debet autem qui promisit but of his own promise They that came into the vineyard at the last hour had as much as the first yet not of merit but of Covenant It is an unrighteous thing for one to break his promise God hath promised to reward our works with eternal life therefore he should be unrighteous if he did it not yet we must not depend on our merits but on Gods promise ratified by an oath as he sheweth in the following words And for Opus operatum it is not sufficient so much as to acceptance with God because it is not enough to do a good work which God requireth at our hands but we must perform it in such a manner as the Lord requireth We must not only do bonum but bene Besides Merit is a meer fiction sith there can be no proportion betwixt the work and the wages It is well observed Co●●on on Cant. Certum est nos facere quod faimus sed ille ●acit ut faciasmut Aug. Like as Roma is become Amor inversus that the Church in the Canticles is no where described by the beauty of her hands or fingers Christ concealeth the mention of her hands that is of her works 1. Because he had rather his Church should a bound in good works in silence than boast of them especially when they are wanting as Rome doth 2. Because it s he alone that worketh all our works in us and for us We do what we do but it is he that causeth us so to do St Paul is so directly against Popish justification by works that one saith both wittily and well The Epistle of Paul to the Romans is become the Epistle of Paul against the Romans Certainly those misled and muzled soules did worse than lose their labour Act. Mon. fol. 1077. that built religious houses Pro remissione redemptione peccatorum pro remedio liberatione animae pro salute requie animarum patrum matrum fratrum sororum c. These were the ends that they aimed at as appears in stories The Papists think that as he that standeth on two firm branches of a tree is surer than he that standeth upon one onely so he that trusteth to Christ and works too is in the safest condition But 1. They are fallen from Christ that trust to works 2. He that hath one foot on a firm branch and another on a rotten one stands not so sure as if he stood wholly on that which is sound But let them be Moses disciples let us be Christs set not up a candle to this sun of righteousness mix not thy puddle with his purple blood thy rags with his raiment but detest all mock-stayes And account accursed for ever that blasphemous direction of Papists to dying people Conjunge Domine obsequium meum cum omnibus quae Christ us passus est pro me Join Lord mine obedience with all that Christ hath

I wish he may never be very rational because the stronger his reason is being corrupt the worse will his will and affections be Insanire cum ratione Many of the vulgar are mad without reason they will hate a thing upon hear-say but when men are mad with reason that is with wicked reason they are mad to purpose Labour to get up our hearts to be swayed by spiritual reason and let Gods people be careful to perform such service unto God as wherof they can render a sound and intelligible reason out of his Word Rom. 12.1 Cannot my tast discern perverse things Job 6.30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 32.8 1 Cor. 2.11 But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding What man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him Affections They do often saucily insult over sound reason as Hagar did over his Mistress They are exitus animae the out-going of the soul Like a watery humor comming between the eye and the object and hindring the sight Like the mud which arising in the water troubleth and confoundeth the seeing spirits They are oftimes ponderous bolts and clogs causing us to cleave to the center of misery And whereas they should be the whetstones of vertue Gratia non tollit sed att●●lit naturam Lactant. Luk. 14.9 10. they frequently prove the fire-brands of vice The remedy is not to turn them out of doores for then a tribe would be wanting in the soules mystical Microcosm But to correct their exorbitancy and reduce them into right order using our Saviours language to them Friends come down lower and to sound judgment sit up higher Respect of Persons The word properly signifieth accepting of ones face or outside 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so noteth a respect to others out of a consideration of some external glory that we find in them So that respect of persons is had when in the same cause we give more or lesse to any one than is meet because of something in his person which hath no relation to that cause Respect of persons is 1. Warrantable or 2. Vicious It is lawful to prefer others out of a due cause as their age callings gifts graces yea we ought to put a respect upon them because of that excellency wherewith God hath furnished them But when the judgment is blinded by some external glory and appearance and a cause is over-ballanced with such circumstances as have no affinity with it it is unlawful and a sin In religious matters we may be guilty of it many wayes I mention one When the same works have a different acceptation because of the different esteem and value of the persons engaged in them Omnia dicta tanti existimantur quantus est ipse qui dixerit Avarit● 1. nec tam dictionis vim a●que virtutem quàm dictatoris cogitant dignitatem saith Salvian A constant hearer of Calvin at Geneva Ego relicto Paulo audirem Calvinum Zanch. Miscel praefat Nolo tame●● amplec●i Evangelium quod Lutherus 〈◊〉 Epist. ad Card. Mogu●t being sollicited by Zanchy to hear Viret an excellent Preacher who preached at the same time answered If Saint Paul himself should preach hear at the same hour I would not leave Calvin to hear Paul Although I am not Ignorant said Gregory Duke of Saxony that there are divers errors and abuses crept into the Church yet I will none of that Gospel-reformation that Luther preacheth And Erasmus observed That what was accounted Orthodox in the Fathers was condemned as Heretical in Luther Compertum est damnata ut Haeretica in libris Lutheri quae in Bernardi Augustinique libris ut Orthodoxa imò pia leguntur Thus too many look upon the cup rathar than the liquor regarding the man more than the matter not considering what but who bringeth it in which they do prefer the earthen vessel before the golden treasure And many times are apt to despise excellent things because of the despicablenesse of the instrument My brethren James 2.1 have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with respect of persons Opinion Opinio est ascensus pendulus scientia immobilis Als●ed There are saith one as many internal forms of the mind as external figures of men That was a strange spirit of Bacon the Carmelite who would endure no guessing or doubting And was therefore called Doctor Resolutissimus as requiring that every one should think as he thought This as a worthy Divine saith was too Magisteriall Job 32.10 I also will shew mine opinion Controversie Optimus ille censendus saith an Ancient qui in Religionis controvers●is retulerit magis quàm attulerit neque id cogat videri tenendum quod presumserit intelligendum But there are many now a dayes that fain what they please and conceit what they like and at last think themselves bound to justifie their wild conceivings Let us therefore as many as be perfect Phil. 3.15 be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this unto you Strife A quarrelsome person is like a cock of the kind ever bloody with the blood of others and himself He loves to live Salamander-like in the fire of contention We read of Francis the first King of France that consulting with his Captains how to lead his Army over the Alpes into Italy whither this way or that way Amaril his fool sprang out of a corner where he sate unsean and bade them rather take care which way they should bring their Army out of Italy again Even so it is easy for one to interest himself in quarells but hard to be disingaged from them when once in There are that make it their work to cast the Apple of contention amongst others such are the Pests of societies and must therefore be carefully cast out with scoffing Ishmael Such kindle-coals are Sathans seeds-men who is an unquiet spirit and strives to make others so Loves to fish in troubled waters doth all he can to set one man against another that he may prey upon them both Greg. As the Master of the Pit suppeth upon the bodyes of those cocks whom he hath set to kill one another The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water Prov. 17.14 therefore leave off contention before it be medled with Read Pro. 22.10 Rom. 13.13 1 Cor. 11.16 Phil. 2.3 Jam. 3.14 16 c. Schisme Schisme in the Church is the same that faction is in the Common-wealth viz. such dissentions in which men seperate one from another Or It is a dissertion or seperation when one or more seperate and rent themselves from the outward fellowship of the faithful cutting asunder the unity and peace of the Church upon some misgrounded mislike There can be no greater sin committed saith Chrysostom Hom. 11. ad Ephes Inexpiab●is discordiae m●●ula

nature he had made ours by grace And here we may be as bold as to conclude we are the sons of God because the natural Son of God assumed body of our body flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones that he might be the same with us and we the same with him Thus he became our Kinsman to whom of property by the old Law it did belong to redeem his brethren Which that he might effect he did conquer Death and who could do this but he who is our Life He did vanquish Sin and who could do this but Righteousness it self He did bring into his subjection the Forces of the world and the Powers that rule in the air and who could do this but he that is the Power of God And who is this Life this Righteousness this Power of God but Jesus Christ very God of very God and yet the Son of Man Christ was God and Man Man that sin might be punished in the nature offending yet Man without sin to fulfill that Righteousness which none of us sold under sin can fulfill He was Man that as by the disobedience of the first Adam sin entred into the world so by the obedience of him who is the second Adam righteousness should bring justification to life And as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous By the righteousness of his obedience Active and Passive Active in perfecting all the duties injoined by the Law Passive in suffering the wrath of God the punishment of our disobedience Thus our confusion is taken away and life and righteousness are restored unto us And he was God withal that the Justice of God might receive compleat satisfaction by a punishment that should be infinite or equal to infinite which none but God could give And therefore Christ is said as God to have purchased his Church with his own blood Act. 20. 1 Joh. 3.16 and to lay down his life for us And though his punishment was not so infinite but that it was finite yet it was only finite for time but was for value as it ought to be infinite Thus the Son of True God did bear the burden of his Fathers wrath in our nature which no other Nature ought to do but the soul that sinned which no other but God could do because God is a consuming fire and his wrath unquenchable by any creature Forasmuch as God alone could not die because not subject to passion nor Man alone overcome death because too weak It was requisite that our Redeemer who should die for our sins should be both that by the weakness of the one nature he might submit himself to the power of death thereby to undergo punishment due to sin and by the strength of the other he should by sustaining the Manhood make good his part against death and swallow it up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory But thanks be to God Sarcasmo conflat hostili derisione quâ mors ridenda propinatur saith one that hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ And thus much of the Person humbled which is Christ God and Man The next point to be discuss'd is Wherein his Humiliation did consist that is in general He suffered From the time of his nativity to the very hour of his death was he not free from suffering He was no sooner born but Herod sought his life He was subject to the infirmities of our nature sin excepted He was hungry and thirsty weary and faint sorrowful and discontented his poverty was extream though Lord of all and Possessor of heaven and earth he had not so much as whereon to lay his head Grievous was the temptation he suffered by Satans onset infinite were the injuries that were offered him by the cursed brats of Satan both in word and deed In word by false calumnies and forged accusations by contumelious detractions and cursed blasphemies In deed by framing of projects and laying of plots how to take away his life He was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrowes and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him Isa 53. He was despised and we esteemed him not surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrowes Yet we esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted His whole life was a perpetual passion He was never let alone until upon the Cross he gave himself a ransom for all and his enemies never ceased until they drew out his hearts blood which he for our redemption in his loving kindness was willing to part withall He had power in his own hand to lay down his life and he had power to assume it again For albeit his life lay at the stake yet could he were he so disposed command legions of Angels beside his own power which was alsufficient to deliver him either by putting his enemies to flight or by repressing their violence that either they would not or they should not hurt him or by utterly subverting them But being that he came into the world to the end to suffer to compass for us a world without all end he withdrew not his neck from the yoke but set himself forward to bear the iniquity of us all laid upon him Thus Christ was subject to passion but not according to his divine but humane nature For as he is God he is Actus purissimus and cannot suffer but yet he being God suffered in the nature assumed which was capable of suffering that is in his Manhood So that here we have the highest Person and the lowest Humiliation met together Wherefore in this suffering of our Lord there are three things according to Bernards observation specially noted Bernard Opus modus causa In opere patientia in modo humilitat in causa charitas commendatur Patientia singularis humilitas admirabilis sed charitas inestimabilis There are the work the manner of performing and the cause In the work which is suffering his patience is commended in the manner his humility in the cause his charity for charity moved him to suffer with patience and humility His patience is singular none like it his humility admirable none ever came never shall come near it his charity inestimable for it is incomparable All which may appear unto you by presenting to your view his special sufferings immediately preceding his death In these sufferings of our Saviour you may see the foulest act of Treason that ever was committed the greatest Cruelty that was ever heard of both hatcht in the pit of hell Judas his familiar friend comes and betrays him with a false-hearted complement a Kiss his love was only from the teeth outward deceit was in his heart and the poison of asps under his lips but no wonder the Devil was in him Peter his Disciple than whom none more forward in times past to confess him to be

with it faith St. Paul and good reason for the honour given to any member or the head is not so proper to it but that it is participated to the rest causing an effluction of joy in all So that what proportion of honour the woman is possessour of it is derived from the principal in man to whose superintendency the woman by divine institution is subject for the man was not created for the woman 1 Cor. 11.9 but the woman for the man The head differs from the body in regard of perfection There are more absolute endowments and perfections of greater excellency in the head than in the other subordinate parts None I presume but a brainsick man will impugne this assertion nor the consequence of it but a self-will'd woman Thus in man there is a confluence of more eminent qualities and rarer parts than are in the woman The temper and constitution of his body is generally and naturally more solid his ability in feates of activity more vigorous and substantial wherefore the more apt for industrious labour It is a Positive Principle in Aristotelical Philosophy Aristot●● that faemina est mas tantum occasionatus seu imperfectus woman is an imperfect man whose generation or production is not intended by nature but contingent occasioned either by the debility of an impotent natural agent or the imperfection of an infirme Patient or the indisposition of the ill-affected matter or some transmutation thereof proceeding from eternal causes But let the naturalist yield me the like liberty of my thoughts as he for himself doth challenge to his own There is no great glory purchased to man by the undervaluing of woman questionless God having made woman as well as man intending thereby mans good nature the ordinance of God Aquinas doth really intend the generation of woman Aquinas moderates the matter thus That universal nature doth intend the production of woman because it looks to the main chance the preservation of the whole universe but the●e is no such intention in particular nature Durand but the contrary which Durand another Schoolman denies for the intention of particular nature is but subordinate not opposite to that of universal nature both aiming at tht same end For mine own part lest I be censured to be unnatural to my Mother I side with Durand for the woman howsoever the woman must yield to man that superiority generally in bodily perfection whereof she is not made capable Furthermore if you view mans soul you shall find sounder and more accurate intellectuals in him than in woman the vivacity both of his speculative and practical understanding is far more exquisite in comparison Those inorganical operations of mans spirit and abstract notions of his intellect that have no dependances upon material or corporal substances are more highly elevated and have most commonly a more noble object than woman can comprehend His invention is more various his judgment more fixt and setled than the invention than the judgment generally of woman is his resolutions are lesse subject to alteration and his will follows the undeceiveable direction of right reason more close at the heeles than hers doth Thus in regard of perfection man is the head of the woman who is term'd by the Apostle in this regard the weaker vessel The head differs from the body in respect of rule and authority Every part of the body is guided by the head in voluntary actions So is the man to govern his wife he shall rule over thee saith God to the woman of the man but neither making her his slave nor his servant but his bosome friend and close companion and she must be willing to submit her neck to the yoke of obedience in all matters of indifferency lest she deserve the infamous title of an unruly and disordered wife Head-strong fancies grounded but upon superficial appearances must not interpose themselves nor attempt to draw another way but at the appearing of sufficient reasons which proceeding from the man may be in a better interpretation term'd head-strong must vanish away Hence let the judicious man learn to rule his wife and the well-disposed woman learn to obey her husbands will that it may not be said what I oft heard men complaine of that the wife is the husbands master The head differs from the body in regard of influence From the head there is an influx of animal spirits into the parts of the body whereby they are capable of fence and motion So there is a power derived from the man to the woman for the dispatch of all domestick affairs and oeconomical employments towards the supportation of life and well-being Beside what powerful influence is derived unto her for the inlarging of their house with an off-spring generated out of their own loines And thus man is the head of the woman in respect of that sourfold discrepancy which is betwixt the head and the inferior parts As for the latter Man is the head of the woman in respect of congruity which is threefold The head hath a natural conformity with the members both have the same nature So man doth agree with woman in specie though he differ from her in sexu Adam said of Eve that he was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone and therefore saith Moses shall a man leave his Father and his Mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh This is a great mystery saith Paul which is a resemblance of a greater the union of Christ and his Church The head and members do agree in ordination to the same end and joine their forces together for the attaining thereof So the husband and wife do mutually concurre in bending their endeavours to the same scope They are bound by a solemne promise and vow to uphold the Christian reputation and civil credit one of another The end in this Matrimonial contract where two are mystically contracted into one propounded and aimed at is threefold denoted in the form of Solemnization of Matrimony 1. The procreation of children to be educated in the fear and nature of the Lord and praise of God 2. The avoidance of fornication and preservation of chastity thereby to keep themselves undefiled members of Christs body for in this sacramental tye there is comprehended a firm restriction to curb in the insolent and violent extravagancies of our carnal appetites and lustful affections 3. The mutual succour and comfort that the one is to afford the other both in prosperity and adversity Vae soli saith the wise man there 's no comfort in being alone in which regard marriage is commended above a single life Woman was made for an help to man to ease him of part of his labours of his pain hence saith Solomon A good wife is the gift of God no earthly nor temporal blessing is like unto it Sweet is the harmony betwixt the united couple who admit no distractions for then will they aime at