Resurrection-Body consists of the same individual parcels and particles whereof the mortal Body consisted before it was putrified or dispers'd And whether the Book of Life are to be understood in a literal sence The last Head is of such things as belong to the Natural World And to this may be reduc'd innumerable Instances where we leave the literal sence if inconsistent with Science or experience And the truth is if we should follow the Vulgar Style and literal sence of Scripture we should all be Anthropomorphites as to the Nature of God And as to the Nature of his works in the external Creation we must renounce Philosophy and Natural Experience if the descriptions and accounts given in Scripture concerning the Heavens the Earth the Sea and other parts of the World be received as accurate and just representations of the state and properties of those Bodies Neither is there any danger lest this should affect or impeach the Divine Veracity for Scripture never undertook nor was ever designed to teach us Philosophy or the Arts and Sciences And whatsoever the Light of Nature can reach and comprehend is improperly the Subject of Revelation But some men out of love to their own ease and in defence of their ignorance are not only for a Scripture-Divinity but also for a Scripture-Philosophy 'T is a cheap and compendious way and saves them the trouble of farther study or examination Upon the whole you see it is no fault to recede from the literal sence of Scripture but the fault is when we leave it without a just cause As it is no fault for a man to separate from a Church or for a Prince to make war against his Neighbour but to do the one or the other without a just cause is a real fault We all leave the literal sence in certain cases and therefore that alone is no sufficient charge against any man But he that makes a separation if I may so call it without good reasons he is truly obnoxious to censure The great result of all therefore is this to have some common Rule to direct us when every one ought to follow and when to leave the Literal Sence And that Rule which is generally agreed upon by good Interpreters is this Not to leave the literal Sence when the subject matter will bear it without absurdity or incongruity This Rule I have always proposed to my self and always endeavoured to keep close to it But some inconsiderate minds make every departure from the Letter let the Matter or Cause be what it will to be an affront to Scripture And there where we have the greatest liberty I mean in things that relate to the Natural world They have no more indulgence or moderation than if it was an intrenchment upon the Articles of Faith In this particular I cannot excuse the present Animadverter yet I must needs say he is a very Saint in comparison of another Animadverter who hath writ upon the same subiect but neither like a Gentleman nor like a Christian nor like a Scholar And such Writings answer themselves FINIS Pag. 44. Pag. 45. Eng. Theor. p. 65. Eng. Theor. â— 106. 107. â— 74. lin 18 19. p. 77 78. 79. p. 79. p. 80 81 p. 83. Prin. ph l. 4. §. 84. Meteor c. 1. §. 8. Prin. phil l. 4. §. 76. Eng. Theor. p. 58 59. p. 80 81. p. 81. * Ego quidem in eâ sum sententiâ si in harum rerum de quibus agitur cognitionem aut aliarum quarumcunque quae momenti sunt visum fuerit Deo aut Naturae ut pateret hominibus ratio perveniendi ratio illa certa est in aliquâ clarâ invictâ evidentiâ fundata non conjecturalis vaga dubia Qualem nempe ii qui optimè utuntur libertate suâ qui maximè sibi cavent ab erroribus nunquam amplecterentur Pag. 52. lin 17. lin 27. p. 78. p. 299. pen. p. 86. * Si admittamus insuper Ignem Centralem sive Massam ignis in centro Terrae quod quidem non est hujus argumenti Neque partem intimam Chaos nisi obiter pro formâ consideravi cum ad rem nostram non spectet Vid. etiam p. 186. edit 2. Eng. Theor. p. 324. p 88. p. 106. p. 114. p. 118. Gen. 1. 22. 22. ch 13. p. 121. Eph. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 20. Apoc. 13. 8. p. 122. p. 121. * Notandum verò quamvis mundi veteris dissolutionem rationes Diluvii secundum ordinem causarum naturalium explicemius quòd eo modo magis clare distincte intelligantur non ideo in poenam humani generis ordinatum fuisse diluvium singulisque ipsius motibus praefuisse providentiam inficiamur imo in eo elucet maximè Sapientia divina quod mundum naturalem morali ita coaptet attemperet ut hujus ingenio illius ordo dispositio semper respondeat amborum libratis momentis simul concurrant unà compleantur utriusque tempora vicissitudines ipse etiam Apostolus Petrus diluvii excidii mundani causas naturales assignat cùm ait 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Theor. p. 106 107 108. Ver. 5 p. 137. Theor. c. 1. Review p. 29 c. * Eng. Theor p. 86. p. 86. Excep p. 140. p. 141. p. 146. p. 148. p. 149. Gen. 1. 2. p. 150. p. 143. p. 81. p. 100. last part p. 154. p. 227 228. p. 244. p. 279 280. p. 288. p. 158. Lat. Theor. li. 2. c. 4. p. 159. p. 263 264 265. Eng. Theor. p. 286 287. p. 166. p. 168. p. 169. p. 170. p. 1â—1 Eng. Theor. p. 99. p. 176. p. 177. p. 178. p. 179. p. 180. p. 181. p. 182. p. 184. Praep. Evan. l. 10. c. ult p. 504. Col. ch 14. p. 750. Strom. 2. p. 364. Phaed. p. 99. Serem 2. p. 416. Li. 2. c. 10. p. 274. Vid. Theor. Lat. li. 2. c. 10. in fine * De Grat. Prim. hom c. 12. Accedit ad haec quod Paradisus it a describitur à Sancto Basilio in Libro de Paradiso à Joan. Damasceno Libro secundo de fide capite undecimo à Sancto Augustino libro decimo quarto de civitate Dei capit 10. Ab Alchimo Avito Claud. Mario victore aliis suprà citatis Isidoro libro decimo quarto Etymolog capite tertio aliis communiter ut fuerit in eo ver perpetuum nulla figora nulli aestus nullae pluviae nives grandines nullae etiam nubes quod ipsum significat scriptura cum dicit primos homines in Paradiso fuisse nudos See Eng. Theor. p. 253. p. 185. p. 180. p. 187. p. 188. p. 189. p. 190. p. 186. p. 195. Plat. in Phaed. Lat. Theor li. 2. c. 10. p. 197. p. 186. Theor. Lat. li. 2. c. 5. p. 198. p. 201. Isa. 9. 6 7. Isa. 9. 1 c. Luk. 1. 31 32 33. p. 202. p. 205. p. 206. p. 207. ibid. p. 208. p. 208 209 c. p. 209. p. 51. the 4th day was the first day of the Sun's existence p. 209. p. 215. p. 216. p. 215. li. 24. Gen. 6. 1â— * Per ludibrium rogant nasuti homines unde Architectos Opifices conduxerit Cain ad urbem extruendam Nos vicissim ab illis quaerimus quo authore credant Vrbem ex quadratis lapidibus fuisse extructam magno artificio multisque sumptibus longi temporis operâ aedificium hoc constitisse Nihil enim aliud colligere licet exverbis Mosis quà m muros ex rudi materiâ Cain sibi posteris circumdedisse Cal. in loc p. 250. p. 224. Iob 38. 8. p. 219 220. p. 225 226. Gen. 1. 17. p. 234. p. 246. p. 257. 2 Kings 13. 17. Eng. Theor. book 2. ch 5. Eng. Theor. book 2. ch 7. p. 265. p. 273. See the Table of both Eng. Theor. p. 220. Gen. 47. 9. Theor. bo 2. ch 3. 4th p. 2â—7 p. 276 277. p. 278. 79 280. ibid. Eng. Theor. p. 23. ibid. p. 280. p. 281. p. 285. p. 286. ibid. See Review p. 35 c. p. 288. Eng. Theor. p. 108. p. 98. p. 289 ibid. See p. 27. before p. 290. p. 292. p. 296. Eng. Theor. book 2. ch 9. at the end p. 299. p. 297 300. p. 300. p. 329. lin 19. c. 31. p. 339. lin 18. p. 312. ult Eng. Theor. ch 2. 3. * The Excepter rejects first the Waters of the Sea Then the Waters in the bowels of the Earth Then the Supercelestial Waters Then a New Creation of Waters Then the mass of Air chang'd into water And lastly a partial Deluge And therefore he puts men fatally either upon the Theory or upon his new Hypothesis p. 301. p. 302. lin 21. 1 Sam. 17. 4. Gen. 7. 19. * This he acknowledges p. 325. We expound a Text or two of Scripture so as none ever did and deserting the common receiv'd sence put an unusual Gloss upon them not to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a private interpretation and p. 359. p. 215 216 292 c. p. 330. p. 332 333. p. 337. p. 339. p. 341. See ch 10. Gen. 8. 5. p. 341. p. 343. p. 303. * p. 303. But though these Caverns be called Deeps we must not take them for profound places that went down into the Earth below the common Surface of it on the contrary they were situate above it * Psal. 114. 7 8. Tremble thou Earth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob Which turned the Rock into a standing water the flint into a fountain of Waters Num. 20. 10 11. And Moses and Aaron gathered the Congregation together before the Rock and he said unto them Hear now you rebels must we fetch you water out of this Rock And Moses lift up his hand and with his rod he smote the Rock twice and the Water came out abundantly p. 303 305. * ch 3. p. 343. Eng. Theor. p. 150. Eng. Theor. p. 96. Eng. Theor p. 288. p. 43. p. 78. p. 286. Ps. 19. 5 6. Ios. 10. 12 13. 2 Kin. 20. 10 11. Isa. 38. 8. p. 157. p. 74. Gen. 7. 19 20. Gen. 8. 5. p. 216. Mat. 5. 29 30. Phil. 4. 3. Apoc. 3. 5. 20. 12.
Exhalations extracted out of the Earth The same impurities and corruptions in the air and in consequence of these the same external dispositions to Epidemical distempers Besides there would be the same storms and tempests at Sea the same Earth-quakes and other desolations at Land So that had all the Sons and Daughters of men to use the Excepter's elegant style been as pure and bright as they could possibly have dropt out of the mint of Creation They should still have been subject to all these inconveniences and calamities If mankind had continued spotless and undegenerate till the Deluge or for sixteen hundred years they might as well have continued so for sixteen hundred more And in a far less time according to their fruitfulness and multiplication the whole face of the Earth would have been thick covered with inhabitants every Continent and every Island every Mountain and every Desert and all the climates from Pole to Pole But could naked innocency have liv'd happy in the frozen Zones where Bears and Foxes can scarce subsist In the midst of Snows and Ice thick foggs and more than Aegyptian darkness for some months together Would all this have been a Paradise or a Paradisiacal state to these Virtuous Creatures I think it would be more adviseable for the Excepter not to enter into such disputes grounded only upon suppositions God's prescience is infallible as his counsels are immutable But the Excepter further suggests that the Theory does not allow a judicial and extraordinary Providence in bringing on the Deluge as a punishment upon mankind Which I must needs say is an untrue and uncharitable suggestion As any one may see both in the Latin Theory Chap. 6th and in the English in several places So at the entrance upon the explication of the Deluge Theor. p. 68. are these words Let us then suppose that at a time appointed by Divine Providence and from causes made ready to do that great execution upon a sinful world that this Abyss was open'd and the frame of the Earth broke c. And accordingly in the conclusion of that discourse about the Deluge are these words Theor. p. 105. In the mean time I do not know any more to be added in this part unless it be to conclude with an advertisement to prevent any mistake or misconstruction as if this Theory by explaining the Deluge in a natural way or by natural causes did detract from the power of God by which that GREAT IVDGMENT WAS BROVGHT VPON THE WORLD IN A PROVIDENTIAL AND MIRACVLOVS MANNER And in the three following Paragraphs which conclude that Chapter there is a full account given both of an ordinary and extraordinary Providence in reference to the Deluge and other great revolutions of the Natural World But it is a weakness however to think that when a train is laid in Nature and Methods concerted for the execution of a Divine Judgment therefore it is not Providential God is the Author and Governor of the Natural World as well as of the Moral and He sees through the futuritions of both and hath so dispos'd the one as to serve him in his just Judgments upon the other Which Method as it is more to the honour of his Wisdom so it is no way to the prejudice of his Power of Justice And what the Excepter suggests concerning Atheists and their presum'd cavils at such an explication of the Deluge is a thing only said at random and without grounds On the contrary so to represent the sence of Scripture in natural things as to make it unintelligible and inconsistent with Science and Philosophick truth is one great cause in my opinion that breeds and nourishes Atheism CHAP. VII THIS Chapter is about the places of Scripture alledg'd in confirmation of the Theory And chiefly concerning that remarkable Discourse in St. Peter 2 Epist. 3. which treats of the difference of the Antediluvian World and the present World That Discourse is so fully explain'd in the Review of the Theory that I think it is plac'd beyond all exception And the Animadverter here makes his exception only against the first words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we thus render For this they willingly are ignorant of But he generally renders it wilfully ignorant of and lays a great stress upon that word wilfully But if he quarrel with the English Translation in this particular he must also fault the Vulgate and Beza and all others that I have yet met withal And it had been very proper for him in this case to have given us some Instances or proofs out of Scripture or Greek Authors where this Phrase signifies a wilful and obstinate ignorance He says it must have been a wilful ignorance otherwise it was not blameable whereas St. Peter gives it a sharp reproof I answer There are many kinds and degrees of blameable ignorance a contented ignorance an ignorance from prejudices from non-attendance and want of due examination These are all blameable in some degree and all deserve some reproof but it was not their ignorance that St. Peter chiefly reproves but their deriding and scoffing at the Doctrine of the coming of our Saviour and the Conflagration of the World And therefore He calls them Scoffers walking after their own lusts But the Excepter seems at length inclinable to render the foremention'd words thus They are willingly mindless or forgetful And I believe the translation would be proper enough And what gentler reproof can one give than to say you are willing to forget such an Argument or such a Consideration Which implies little more than non-attention or an inclination of the will towards the contrary opinion We cannot tell what evidence or what Traditions they might have then concerning the Deluge but we know they had the History of it by Moses and all the marks in Nature that we have now of such a Dissolution And They that pretended to Philosophize upon the works of Nature and the immutability of them might very well deserve that modest rebuke That they were willing to forget the first Heavens and first Earth and the destruction of them at the Deluge when they talkt of an immutable state of Nature Neither is there any thing in all this contrary to what the Theorist had said concerning the Ancient Philosophers That none of them ever invented or demonstrated from the causes the true state of the first Earth This must be granted But it is one thing to demonstrate from the Causes or by way of Theory and another thing to know at large whether by Scripture Tradition or collection from effects The mutability and changes of the World which these Pseudo Christians would not allow of was a knowable thing taking all the means which they might and ought to have attended to At least before they should have proceeded so far as to reject the Christian doctrine concerning the future changes of the World with scorn and derision Which is the very thing the
that was to be a defence against cold He must tell us in what Climate he supposes Paradise to have stood and which way and how far Adam and Eve were banisht from it When those things are determin'd we shall know what to judge of his argument and of Coats of Skins After Lastly I expected no more but he hath two or three reasons after the Last As first he says upon our Hypothesis one Hemisphere of the Globe must have been unpeopled because the Torrid Zone was unpassable And was not the Ocean as unpassable upon your Hypothesis How got they into America and not only into America but into all the Islands of the Earth that are remote from Continents Will you not allow us one Miracle for your many I 'me sure the Theorist never excluded the Ministery of Angels and They could as easily carry them thorough the Torrid Zone as over the Ocean But Secondly he says There could be no Rains to make the Flood if there was a perpetual Equinox Were not those rains that made the Flood extraordinary and out of the course of Nature you would give one angry words that should deny it Besides the Flood-gates of Heaven were open'd when the Great Deep was broken up Gen. 7. 11. and no wonder the Disruption of the Earth should cause some extraordinary Commotions in the air and either compress the vapours or stop their usual course towards the Poles and draw them down in streams upon several parts of the Earth But the Excepter says this could not be because the Theorist makes the rains fall before the disruption of the Abyss But he does not suppose the Cataracts of Heaven to have been open'd before which made the grand rains And how unfairly that passage of the Theory is represented we shall see hereafter in the 14 th Chapter Lastly He concludes all with this remark That all sorts of Authors have disputed in what season of the Year the Deluge came and in what season of the Year the World began therefore they thought there were then different seasons of the Year These disputes he confesses did manifestly proceed from inadvertency or something worse Because there could not be any one season throughout all the Earth at once He might have added unless upon the supposition of the Theory which makes an universal Equinox at that time And why may not that have given occasion to the general belief that the world begun in the Spring and when the true reason of the Tradition was lost they fell into those impertinent questions In what season of the Year the World began But however we do not depend upon the belief either of the Ancients or the Moderns as to the generality for we know they had other notions of these things than what the Theory proposes otherwise it would have been a needless work But notwithstanding the general error that Providence did preserve some Traditions and Testimonies concerning that ancient Truth we shall see in the next following discourse So much for Scripture and Reasons He now comes to examine Authorities Namely such Testimonies as are alledg'd by the Theorist to shew that there was a Tradition amongst the Ancients of a change that had been as to the position of the Earth and consequently as to the form and seasons of the Year The first Testimony that he excepts against is that of Diogenes and Anaxagoras who witness plainly That there had been an Inclination of the Earth or a change of posture since it was form'd and inhabited But the Excepter says they have not assign'd a true final cause nor such as agrees with the Theory The second Testimony is that of Empedocles which he excepts against because he hath not given a good Efficient Cause of that change The third witness is Leucippus against whom he makes the same exception that he does not assign the Causes a-right The fourth witness is Democritus whom he quarrels upon the same account But is this a fair hearing of Witnesses Or are these just and legal grounds of rejecting their testimony as to matter of Fact because they are unskilful in giving the causes and reasons of that matter of Fact That is not requir'd in witneses and they are often impertinent when they attempt to do it The Theorist does not cite these Authors to learn of them the causes either Efficient or Final of that Inclination or change of posture in the Earth but only matter of Fact To let you see that according to their testimony there was a Tradition in that time which they took for true concerning a change made in the posture of the Earth And this is all we require from them If you pretend to invalidate their testimony because they do not Philosophize well about that change That 's as if you should deny that there was such a War as the Peloponnesian war because the Historian hath not assigned the true causes and reasons of it Or as if a man should give you the history of a Comet that appear'd in such a year was of such a form and took such a course in the Heavens and you should deny there was any such Comet because the same Author had not given a good account of the generation of that Comet nor of the Causes of its form and motion The exceptions made against the testimonies of these Philosophers seem to me to be no less injudicious After these Testimonies He makes three or four remarks or reflections upon them But they all concern either the time of this Change or the Causes of it Neither of which the Theorist either engag'd or intended to prove from these Witnesses There is still one Testimony behind which the Excepter hath separated from the rest that he might encounter it singly T is another passage from Anaxagoras which both notes this Inclination and the posture of the Heavens and Earth before that Inclination But here the Excepter quarrels first with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because Ambrosius the Monk would have it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but without the Authority of any Manuscript and as Casaubon says male Then he says Aldobrandinus translates it turbulentè but gives no reason for that translation in his notes Therefore he cannot rest in this but in the third place he gives another sence to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if that will not please you he has still a fourth answer in reserve I do not like when a man shifts answers so often 't is a sign he has no great confidence in any one But let us have his fourth answer 'T is this That Anaxagoras was a kind of heterodox Philosopher and what he says is not much to be heeded These are the words of the Excepter If this will not satisfie I have one thing more to offer Grant that Anaxagoras should mean that very Declination which the Theory would have him yet this truly would contribute little towards the proof of
the thing For he was a man as like to be Heterodox as like to broach and maintain false and groundless opinions as any of the learned Ancients Had he made this exception against this witness at first it might have sav'd both himself and us a great deal of pains For we do allow if you can prove a witness to be persona infamis or non compos mentis 't is sufficient to invalidate his Testimony But this is a rude and groundless censure Shall that famous Anaxagoras that was call'd MENS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not be thought so much as mentis compos nor have credit enough for an honest witness I am apt to think from those sentences and those remains we have left of him that there was not a more considerable man amongst the Ancients for nobleness of mind and natural knowledg I could bring the testimonies of many ancient Authors and of many Christian fathers to clear his reputation and place it above envy 'T is generally acknowledg'd that he first introduc'd an intellectual principle in the formation of the Universe to dispose and order confus'd matter And accordingly Eusebius gives him this fair character 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He first rectified the doctrine of Principles For he did not only discourse about the matter or substance of the Vniverse as other Philosophers but also of the cause and principle of its motion And the same Author in his 14 th Book repeats and enlarges this character I wonder the Excepter of all men should lessen the name of Anaxagoras For besides his Orthodoxy as to the intellectual World He was one that establish'd the notion of Vortices in the Corporeal As you may see in Clem. Alexandrinus and in Plato's Phaedo And tho' the Father and Socrates who never was a friend to natural Philosophy both blame him for it yet the excepter who is deservedly pleas'd with that Systeme of Vortices ought to have shew'd him some favour and esteem for the sake of this doctrine Lastly as to his moral temper his contempt of the World and his love of contemplation you have many instances of it in the short story of his life in Laertius And I shall always remember that excellent saying of his in Clem. Alexandrinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the end of life is Contemplation and that liberty that accompanies it or flows from it But we are not to imagine that all the opinions of the ancient Philosophers are truly conveyed or represented to us Neither can we in reason or justice believe that they could be guilty of such absurd notions as are sometimes fathered upon them The Excepter instances in an extravagant assertion as the story is told to us ascrib'd to Anaxagoras of a stone that fell from the Sun This cannot be literally true nor literally the opinion of Anaxagoras if he believ'd Vortices therefore methinks so witty a man as the Excepter and so well vers'd in the modern Philosophy should rather interpret this of the Incrustation of a fixt Star and its descent into the lower World That a Star fell from the Ethereal regions and became an Opake and Terrestrial Body Especially seeing Diogenes as he says supposes it a Star Some things were aenigmatically spoken at first and some things afterwards so much corrupted in passing thorough unskilful hands that we should be very injurious to the memory of those great Men if we should suppose every thing to have come so crudely from them as it is now deliver'd to us And as to this Philosopher in particular As the Ionick Physiology in my opinion was the most considerable amongst the Ancients so there was none of that order more considerable than Anaxagoras Whom tho' you should suppose extravagant quoad hoc that would not invalidate his testimony in other things Upon the whole matter let us now summ up the Evidence and see what it will amount to Here are five or six Testimonies of considerable Philosophers Anaxagoras Diogenes Empedocles Leucippus and Democritus To which he might have added Plato both in his Politicus and Phaedo if he had pleas'd to have lookt into the 2 d. Edition of the Latin Theory These Philosophers do all make mention of a change that hath been in the posture of the Earth and the Heavens And tho' they differ in assigning causes or other circumstances yet they all agree as to matter of Fact that there was such a thing or at least a Tradition of such a thing And this is all that the Defendant desir'd or intended to prove from them as Witnesses in this cause To these Philosophers he might have added the Testimonies of the Poets who may be admitted as witnesses of a Tradition though it be further questioned whether that Tradition be true or false These Poets when they speak of a Golden Age or the Reign of Saturn tell us of a perpetual Spring or a Year without change of Seasons This is expresly said by Ovid Ver erat Aeternum c. And upon the expiration of the Golden Age he says Iupiter Antiqui contraxit tempora Veris Perque Hyemes Aestusque inaequales Autumnos Et breve Ver spatiis exegit quattuor annum Ovid liv'd in the time of our Saviour And the Tradition it seems was then a foot and very express too Plato who was much more ancient hath said the same thing in his Politicus concerning the Reign of Saturn And if we may have any regard to Mythology and make Ianus the same with Noah which is now an Opinion generally receiv'd That power that is given him by the Ancients of changing Times and Seasons cannot be better expounded than by that great change of time and of the Seasons of the Year that happen'd in the Days of Noah Neither must we count it a meer Fable what is said by the Ancients concerning the Inhabitability of the Torrid Zone and yet that never was if the Earth was never in any other posture than what it is in now Lastly As the Philosophers and Poets are witnesses of this Tradition so many of the Christian Fathers have given such a Character of Paradise as cannot be understood upon any other supposition than of a Perpetual Equinox This Card. Bellarmine hath noted to our hands and also observ'd that there could not be a perpetual Equinox in the Countries of Asia nor indeed in any Topical Paradise unless it stood in the middle of the Torrid Zone nisi alius tunc fuerit cursus solis quà m nunc est unless the course of the Sun or which is all one the posture of the Earth was otherwise at that time than what it is now which is a true observation The Iewish Doctors also as well as the Christian seem to go upon the same supposition when they place Paradise under the Equinoctial Because they suppos'd it certain as Aben Ezra tells us that the Days