aeri appendit aquas in mensura facit pluviae statuta viam fulgetro tonitruum Coelos creabat extendebat eos firmabat terram quae germinant ex ea sapientia creavit Deus terram stabilivit coelos prudentia facit ut oriatur lumen in coelis indeficiens sicut nebula tegit omnem terram Facit anni cursus constituit dispositiones stellarum fecit Arcturum Oâ—ionem Convertit in mane tenebras diem in noctem mutat vocat aquas maris effundit eas super faciem terrae Praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore replevit eam bipedâ—bus quadrupedibus ipsam effudit Deus super omnia opera ejus super omnem carnem secundum datum Ipsa denique operatur omnia Deus per ipsam operatur omnia in omnibus ipse vivificat animat omnia ut Apostolus Quare Propheta recte In sapientia omnia fecisti repleta est terra possessione tua c. Wisdom created the world of a matter without form She revealeth the foundations of the deep and discovereth the things that are hid in darknesse and light is with her She maketh the foundations appear out of darknesse and converteth the deadly shaddow into light She spreadeth forth the North upon the void or empty face of the abysse and hangeth the earth upon nothing For God made all things by the wisdom which came out of his mouth and compassed about the circuit of the heavens and walked in the profundity of the abysse She was present when he prepared the heavens when he covered by a certain law or compasse the abysse When he established the heavens or etheriall region above then was she with him as the composer of all those things She laid the foundations of the earth and fastned the heavens and broke up the Abysse and made the clouds to gather in a dew She giveth waight unto the Aire She hangeth or ballanceth the waters or clouds by measure She giveth unto the raine its laws and ordaineth a way unto the Lightning of the Thunder She created the heavens and did spread them abroad She fastned the earth and made the things which grow upon it God created the earth by her and established the heavens by his Providence and she causeth an indeficient Light to rise and appeare in the heavens and she covereth as it were with a cloud the whole earth She maketh the courses of the year and instituteth the dispositions or natures of the Stars She made the Pole-star and Orion and turned the darkness into the morning and changed the day into night She calleth the waters of the Sea and poureth them upon the face of the Earth She hath prepared the Earth from eterniâ—y and filled it with two-footed and four-footed Creatures God effused or poured her forth upon all his Works and upon all flesh in a divers measure To conclude â—â—e operateth all things as Solomon saith and therefore God by her doth operate all and in all things And again she vivifieth and animateth all things as the Apostle telleth us whereupon the Royall Prophet David doth rightly conclude in these words Oh Lord how glorious are thy works in Wisdome thou hast made them all the Earth is full of thy riches So is the wide Seas and innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things But if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou dost take away their breath they die and return unto dust Aâ—ain if thou dost send out thy Spiâ—it they are re-created or re-vive and thou renewest the face of the Earth c. In which Speech the Prophet confirmeth that it is the Spirit of the Lord who by his presence reviveth that it createth and generateth and by his absence or vacancy mortifieth or corrupteth it And lastly by his returning or restoring of it again causeth both revivification and resurrection from the dead The which three mysticall operations of one Spirit in this world the whole Scriptures do handle at full and therefore we will conclude the last Chapter of this Book namely that which succedeth with this very Subject which shall truly correspond unto that defective treatise which Aristotle maketh of generation and corruption But before we come to speak of it we must proceed a little further in the opening of this present Principle By this therefore that is already said we may easily perceive that the Catholick Act or formall Principle with his infinity of dilatations or emanations are in the hands and volunty of the Creator who for that cause is said to operate by his Wisdome all in all as is already declared And therefore the Schoole distinction de operatione mediata immediata principali seu primaria minus principali seu secundaria with many other such like evasions forged out by the Ethnick Philosophers being necessary instruments of the Prince of this world forasmuch as they by their worldly discipline do distract even Christians themselves from Truth and Unity by a multiplicity of confused distinctions ought to be quite abolished being that the only act and Catholick agent in all things is immediatly from God and is all one in essence with God and is essentially in all things For the text saith that God hath poured out his Spirit on all his works and the incorruptible Spirit of God is in aâ—l things and the heavens and earth are full of it Again this Spirit is the most active and mobil of all things which being so what I beseech you should hinder it to work immediatly and absolutely in all things Being that it is the immediate vertue and vivifying emanation from God and consequently there can be no difference between the immediate act of God and the act of this Spirit which must needs be immediate in the creature because as it is present in it so also it is most mobil and all-sufficient in it selfe to operate Now therefore seeing it is evident that this Spirit is God and that the essence divine is indivisible it must needs follow that where it acteth immediatly there God also must act and operate immediatly and therefore all distinctions framed out after the inventions of men being laid aside these words of the Apostle and Solomon God worketh all in all doth generally hold over all and every particular and consequently we ought to acknowledg no subalternate acting or efficient cause in this world but onely one identity or divine essence and that is he who worketh all in all and vivifieth informeth and animateth immediatly all things alone without any assistance as Scripture tells us in divers places Ego IEHOVAH saith the Text faciens omnia solus nullus mecum I am IEHOVAH who work all things alone and have none to help or aid me Ego Sapientiaciâ—cumivi rotunditaâ—em coelorum sola I wisdome compassed the heaven alone c. For
words Quis hominum cognoscit consilium Dei nam ratiocinationes mortalium sunt timidae instabiles cogitationes eorum Infestum enim corruptioni corpus aggravat animam deprimit terrena habitatio mentem plenam curis multis vix conjicimus ea quae in terra sunt quae autem in coelis sunt quis investigavit consilium tuum quis noverit nisi tu dederis sapientiam miseris sanctum Spiritum tuum è locis altissimis sie enim correctae sunt eorum quae in terris sunt semitae itaque sapientiâ fuerint salvati What man doth know the counsell of God for the reasonings of mortall men are doubtfull and unstable are their cogitations For the body being subject unto corruption doth aggravate the soul and an earthly habitation doth depresse the mind which is full of cares And we do scarcely guesse at the things which are upon the earth who is then able to find out the things which are in heaven Or who can know thy counsell unlesse thou shalt give wisdom and send thy holy Spirit from above for by that means were the waies of such men as were upon the earth corrected and amended and therefore were they saved or preserved by wisdom c. Out of which golden words I gather first That the heathen men were ignorant in the mysteries and abstruse operations of God because they wanted the true spirit of wisdom which God revealeth unto his Elect by the vertuous infusion and influxion of his holy Spirit Next that for this reason the subject of true Philosophy is not to be found in Aristotle's works but in the Book of truth and wisdom forasmuch as it is a copy of the revealed Word Thirdly that it is a great folly for Christians to seek for the truth where it is not to be found I mean in the works of the pagan Philosophers and that is made manifest forasmuch as it contradicteth altogether the verity of Scriptures and therefore it is pronounced by St. James to be terrene animal and diabolicall Verbum saepienti CHAP. XIII A conclusion of this work including an admonition unto all good Christians to beware of the Ethnick Philosophy and to stick and cleave fast unto that which is taught us by the Scriptures and that for reasons herein set down LEt it now be lawfull for me in the concluding of this Section O ye Europaeans who seem so seriously and zealously to spend your daies in the Christian Religion to turn the sharp edge of my pen and the rougher file of my speech unto you who being too too much seduced by the fals doctrin of Aristotle do think and imagine the meteors but especially lightning and thunder to be a common natural thing of little or no estimation at all as being onely produced of nature by reason of a hot distemper of the air I would request you as a true Christian ought unto his brethren to observe well and attend with diligence this admonition which I will for a Farewell bestow upon you beseeching you not to scorn or reject my precedent assertion whith hath told and sufficiently proved unto you that the lightnings and thunders yea and all other meteors are the immediate works of Gods hand being that by this endeavour of mine you may not onely bring a comfort and consolation unto your soules when you hear the terrible voice of the Lord and make you to call to mind your passed sins and iniquities and to pray him heartily to pardon you and not to call your offences unto an account in his anger but also give the honour and glory unto him who thundering from above worketh marvellously I would have you therefore to know that the worldly wise-men of this our Christian world who are as it were pages or followers of the Ethnick Philosophers have hitherto blindly or after the manner of lunatick persons erred in their imaginations forasmuch as they being instructed in the blind wisdom of this world by their Ethnick tutors and doctors will not be brought to believe that God doth work immediately all things in heaven and in earth onely by his word but mediately namely by other necessary natural or supernatural means as essential efficient causes when as the holy Text doth in plain terms instruct us that it is one the self-same essence which doth act and operate all in all by his word using each creature onely as his organ or instrument wherein and by the which he moveth and worketh his will Is not this their tenet or assertion I beseech you altogether opposite and contradictory unto the divine authority which saith Though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be many gods and many lords yet unto us there is but one God which is that Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him But every man hath not that knowledge c Out of which words we may gather that though we worldlings attribute this or that work unto angels or stars or winds or a created nature according unto the doctrine of the Ethnick wisdom yet such true Christian Philosophers as St. Paul was dâ—d acknowledge but one God of whom proceed all actions in this world and one Word by which onely and not by any creature in the world each thing is immediately effected in this world All which although unto reall Christians it seemeth verity and truth yet unto the Philosophers and wise men of this world this kind of doctrine issuing from the heavenly wisdom is rejected and derided And why Forsooth because as the Text doth teach us every man hath not this knowledge and the reason is because they respect more the wisdom of this world which is terrene and animal and as St. Paul saith meer foolishness before God then that which is from above namely from the Father of light Et sic evanuerunt in imaginationibus suis And so they did vanish in their imaginations I heartily wish you therefore which are brought up and made familiar in the holy Bible and nourished spiritually and guided by the law of our Lord Jesus Christ to conceive seriously and perpetually to revolve with your selves that God created the first consistence of things namely the humid and fluid waters by his word and they remain in the word and by the word in the self-same humid or moist estate as they did even unto this very day Also he framed out of this catholick water the heaven and the earth by his word as St. Peter saith Again he did produce by his said word the light in heaven the Sun the Moon the Starrs the day the night and all other creatures and did ordain them to serve for divers Organs by the which he might variously act or operate his volunty as well in heaven above as in the earth and waters beneath All which do move and work in and by the Word
was pure light but the world did not know it And Solomon Sapientia Deus fundavit coelos stabilivit terram in prudentia By wisdom God made the heavens and by his prudency he laid the foundations of the earth In conclusion the whole harmony of holy Writ which is too long for me punctually in this place to rehearse doth testifie thus much that all things of what nature or condition soever were made disposed and effected in by and through this divine vertue or emanation which is God himself forasmuch as it is the divine act whose root is the word Ex ipso saith St. Paul per ipsum in ipso sunt omnia Of him by him and in him are all things But because some of the learned of this world may reply that though it is true that God by his divine Spirit or Word did create all things yet it followeth not that he doth act immediately and exist essentially in every thing But after that this eternall Spirit of wisdom had bestowed on each creature a peculiar vertue in its creation then the creature can act of it self by a free-will which is absolutely and distinguished and divided from the immediate act of God I answer that by our founded rules in Divinity the true essence of the Deitie is individuall and therefore God doth impart no essentiall act or vertue unto any creature which can be discontinued or seperated from Himself And for this reason Christ who is the eternall spirit of wisdome is said to fill all I marry will our learned say that is vertually but not substantially or essentially I would fain know laying all such school distinctions apart of which St. Paul biddeth Timothy to beware if the vertue of God be not his essence or whether the one can be divided from the other If they reply and say that this vertue of God is no essence but an accident Verily they must needs erre in saying so being that it is most certainly known unto the very Jewes and Gentiles themselves that God hath not any accidents in him seeing that he is absolutely essentiall and reall of himself for where his divine act is there is also his vertue and where his vertue is there is he truly said to be essentiall for else the word or divine act which doth vivifie and quicken every creature should seem to be but an Accident and that divided from the divine essence which how absurd it is the immortality and root of it doth argue For David in his forsaid text sayeth spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum from the spirit of his mouth doth issue every vertue of the heavens I imagine that there is no man of an upright sense that will esteem this vertue to be an Accident which being so then must it needs be essentiall and consequently in God and of God and therefore not divisible from his spirit But what needs more words when Scriptures do confirme this every where St. Paul sayeth in the text before mentioned Quoniam in ipso condâ—ta sunt universa in coelis et in terra tam visibilia quam invisibilia omnia in ipso et per ipsum creata sunt et omnia in ipso constant Because all things in heaven and earth are made in him as well visible as invisible all things are created in him and by him all consist in him Ergo nothing without him Again St. John saith In verbo erat vita Life was in the Word And therefore the creature is annexed unto him by a continuated tye of one and the self-same spirit of life which is in the creature without the which it cannot exist one minute And for this cause the Psalmist saith O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom thou hast made them all The earth is full of thy riches so is the wide sea and the innumerable creeping things therein both great and small Thou givest unto them and they gather it thou openest thine hand and they are filled with good things but if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou takest away their breath they die and return unto dust Again if thou sendest out thy Spirit they are re-created and revive and thou renewest the face of the earth Whereby we see that it is the immediate act of the Spirit of wisdom that worketh these things by which God is said to vivifie all things and that by him we breathe and live and have our being And not onely we but also all other flesh whatsoever as it appeareth by the foresaid Text as also by this testimony of Job Si Deus apponens ad hominem animum suum spiritum seu flatum ejus ad se reciperet deficeret exspiraret omnis caro simul homo in câ—nerem reverteretur If God setting his heart or mind upon man should receive or draw unto himself his spirit or breath of life all flesh would die together and man would return unto dust And the Prophet Deus dat flatum populo qui est super terram spiritum calcantibus eam God giveth breath unto the people which is on the earth and a spirit unto the creatures which tread on it Now I beseech you How is it possible that this spirit of life should be present with and in all things and therefore essentially in every thing and yet it should cease to act immediately that is in persona sua when it is the most swift and mobil ' in his active nature and agility of all things as the wise man telleth us That he is present in all things it is apparent because all things do act and live in him and by him for St. Paul's Text before mentioned saith Omnia in ipso constant All consist in him And again Ipse operatur omnia in omnibus He worketh all in all And St. Peter The heavens and the earth which were of water exist by the word And Solomon Incorruptibilis Dei spiritus inest omni rei The incorruptible Spirit of God is in all things And again Spiritus disciplinae sanctus implet orbem terrarum The spirit of wisdom filleth the earth And the Prophet David Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend into heaven thou art there if I lie down in hell thou art there Let me take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea yet thither shall thine hand lead me and thy right hand hold me If I say yet the darknesse shall hide me even the night shall be light about me yea the darknesse hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darknesse and night are both alike Therefore it is his reall Spirit that filleth all things and not any accidentall vertue as is falsly imagined by some And the Prophet Isaias Coelum est sedes mea terra scabellum pedum meorum saith the Lord The heavens
vaine by nature who are ignorant of God and cannot understand him that truly is by such good creatures of his which they behold nor yet can acknowledge the workman by the consideration of his works It well behoveth therefore each Christian to be wary in his reading the Ethnick Philosophy and to consider seriously before he wade too far in it or give too much credit unto it the sayings of the two foresaid Sacred Philosophers which followed the rules of the true Wisdome And again let him call to minde the precepts which the first of them I mean St. Paul did impart unto the worldy Philosophers of Athens when he espied that they did adore and worship strange and unknown Gods and how he taught them a new Philosophy and new Wisdome namely Jesus Christ which was strange doctrine unto them And therefore they said Let us heare what this babler will say that bringeth in this strange doctrine of Christ. Whereby it appeareth that the true Wisdome never sounded into their eares or dived into their hearts Let him I say observe that it was at this kind of bastard Philosophers with their Philosophy that the Apostle pointeth where he saith in the place above cited Let no man deceive you in subtility and swasibility of speech Beware of Philosophy and vaine Fâ—llacy which are according unto the traditions of men and according unto the Elements or rudiments of this world and not after Christ c. In which words he distinguisheth the false Philosophy or wisdome from the true Sapience and he seemeth to intimate that the false Philosophy is but vaine Fallacy framed after the manner of men of this world namely as at Athens it was taught that is to say with vain Fallacie subtilties and seeming more in appearance and probability then it was indeed And for that reason it filled men fuller of doubts by inquiries made through misty and foggy passages then if they had gone the plain and simple way of teaching to wit after the true image of the reall and essentiall Philosophy or rather Sophia or Wisdome which as the Wiseman telleth us is Spiritus intelligentiae Sanctus unicus simplex modestus dâ—sertus suavis perspicuus amans bonum humanus benignus stabilis certus omnem habens virtutem amicos Dei constituens in animas sanctas se transferens The holy spirit of Wisdome is unique and simple in his essence modest eloquent sweet plaine and open without ambâ—guity Loving that which is good humane benigne stable sure comprehending in it selfe all vertue and an introductor of man unto the friendship of God by transferring it self into the souls of pious and godly men Lo here we see that in condition this description of the good and true Wisdome doth exactly agree with that Wisdome whose character is described by St. James as is said before For he termeth it modest benigne peacefull suasible without envy or emulation Again as St. James saith that it is from above namely from the Father of Light So also doth Salomon express her pedigree thus Sapientia saith he est vapor virtutis Dei emanatio quaedam seu fluxus claritatis omnipotentis Dei sinceri candor seu splendor lucis aeternae speculum sine macula Majestatis Dei imago bonitatis illius Wisdome is the vapor of the vertue of God and a certaine emanation or flux of the sincere shining forth of the Omnipotent God and the brightness of the eternall light and a mirrour without spot of the Majesty of God and the image of his goodness By the which definition it is evidently discerned First that it is that Wisdome which is from above next that it is not the vaine wisdome of this world which is nothing else but a plaine fiction or empty shadow in regard of this which is only truth lastly this wisdome bringeth good fruit with it for it imparteth unto men essentiall vertue and power to act as well naturally as miraculously and therefore the Apostle saith Signa Apostolatûs mei facta sunt super vos in omni potentia in signis prodigiis virtutibus The signes of mine Apostleship are upon you in all patience in signes prodigies and virtues And again Qui tribuit vobis Spiritum operatur virtutes seu miracula in vobis Who bestoweth upon you the Spirit who worketh also virtues or miracles among you Lo here our Christian Philosophers may see how this Wisdome bringeth forth power and vertue which St. James in the before-cited place doth call good fruits for he saith that Wisdome which is from above is full of good fruits But Paul seemeth to call the Ethnick Philosophy vaine fallacy and therefore if it be vaine then it is void of good fruit and consequently there is no true fructifying Philosophy nor truly fructifyed Philosopher but that which is grounded on that true and eternal Wisdome Jesus Besides all this the true Wisdom is peaceable not ambiguous nor apt to be cavilled with or contentiously to be disputed of neither needeth it an infinity of distinctions and quiddities framed out of mans braine which rather leadeth the disciple by the multiplicity thereof into ignorance then it doth elucidate the brightness of naked truth But the false Philosophy is so full of distinctions subtil and sophisticall evasions so subject to cavills and disputations and so contentiously composed and in fine so difficill and in effect so fruitless that instead of the true and essentiall graine we find but chaff instead of truth we gather but words instead of essentiall reality we collect scarce a type or shadow of Verity in lieu of sincerity we find but vanity and in conclusion is more in appearance overmasked over for the most part with a seeming probability then indeed really to be discerned and for this cause the Apostle saith Praedicatio mea non est in persuasivis humanae sapientiae verbis sed in ostensione spiritus virtutis My preaching is not in the perswasive words of humane wisdome but by the manifestation of the Spirit and of power For this reason therefore we find in the one of the two kinds of wisdome the fruits of power vertue and miracles such as the true and divine Philosophers did produce by the Omnipotent Corner-stone I mean the true Wisdome in times past and made them manifest unto the world Whereas the other can do nothing indeed but produce cavillings dispute contentions and fallacies the fruits whereof in the conclusion is naught else but vanity It is not I but the Spirit of truth that assureth you thus much And yet now even in this later age of the world in which Satan the prince of this world which is darkness hath the upper hand this terrene wisdome or vaine Philosophy which is dawbed over with dark ignorance hath the dominion or upper hand and so by that means Christ which is the true Wisdome is daily crucified among some Christian Philosophers and buried in darkness through
a divine emanation which made 2. and had the self-same regard unto unity as the diapason or perfection hath unto an unison Now this bright emanation by the which all things were created and framed in true harmony elected in this world the perfect seat of its royall regard unto all creatures in the point of diapason which is ever in the middle of the unison and therefore in the center of the heavens But it appeareth unto the eyes that the Sun is ranked in the middle of the seven Planets and again it appeareth by the divine glory which shineth from it that it is a seat of divine perfection and therefore the Platonists have imagined that the Solar orbe or sphear is the seat of their anima mundi or soul of the world Now as this royall and most consonant Diapason doth comprehend in his capacity the other two inferior accords in Musick namely Diapente and Diatessaron for of these two united is the Diapason composed it is likely that the whole harmony of the heavens and consequently of the world are put in practise in this created organ the actor or player whereon is the eternall Spirit which soundeth out every minute from this his glorious Instrument straines of life vivification multiplication pacification or preservation unto the creatures for this is the office of the eternall Christ in this world I mean the divine Word in the which as the Evangelist John testifieth is life But of this in the next Eightly it is proved by a physicall or naturall regard For we observe and not we onely but the beasts themselves nay the very herbs and vegetable plants of the earth do feel and as it were confesse that the Sun is the chiefest treasury of vivification and multiplication in this world Whereupon it is apparent that when the Sun approacheth near us the herbs and trees which seemed as dead before do now revive put on their green coats and flourish with their blossoms and flowers But contrariwise when it departs on the other side of the Aequinoctiall they put off their flowers and green apparell and begin to mourn as it were for his departure But saith St. Paul Deus vivificat omnia God doth vivifie all things And therefore if the Sun by his presence bringeth unto the world the vertue of vivification it is apparent that it hath this gift from the Spirit of God which is the Spirit of life and being abundantly poured on it by God into this heavenly vessell it doth effect these vivifying acts in the world no otherwise than the same spirit being affluently infused on Christ Moses Elijah and other Saints upon earth did effect wonders upon the earth in healing reviving from death c. Doth not the sacred Text also aver that Sapientiam Deus effudit supra omnia opera sua secundum datum suum God hath poured out his spirit upon all his works more or lesse Why then should any man make any scruple or question touching the Spirit 's habitation in the Sun in abundance This therefore is the chiefe subject of this Psalme of David to expresse that the glory of God doth palpably appear out of the creatures of heaven yea out of every creature the eternall Spirit doth shine or expresse his glory more or lesse and is according to the gift which is given unto him to be discerned out of it And thereupon Job saith Coelos ornavit Deus Spiritu suo God hath adorned or beautified the heavens with his Spirit By which words it is manifest that it is the essentiall spirit of God which giveth by the abundance of his presence the lustre and glory unto the Sunne which for that reason is termed and that not erroneously by the Platonists who therein have imitated the divine Poet Orpheus Oculus mundi because that in and by it as in a certain clear and smooth looking glasse or mirrour all things are seen and discovered And again the philosopher Heraclitus Si solem è mundo sustuleris quid est nostrum Corpusculum s◠desit anima Nulla ibi contractatur vena pulsatilis sentiendum nullum inest judiciuns Nullus in eo vitalis halitus aut respiratio If thou takest away the Sonne out of the world what is our little body if the soul be wanting There is no beating veine or pulse to be discerned in it there is no judgment to be perceived in it there is neither breath nor respiration in it For this reason also it is termed Co◠caeli the heart of heaven because that as in the heart doth exist the lively fountaine of blood which doth water and humect the other members of the body So also it appeareth by effect that the vertue vegetation and conservation of all things both inferiour and superiour doth issue and spring from the Sun forasmuch as it imparteth and inspireth by his light life and heat unto inferiour things and bestoweth formall light unto the superiour Now this light is a certain simple act which converteth unto it self all things by a vivificall or lively heat which penetrateth all things and conducteth their vertues over all and withall disperseth and expelleth away all darknesse and obscurity Whereby it is apparent that if the life in generall be in the word as St. John saith and if this catholick spirit of life vivifieth all things as St. Paul and Judith affirm and if the spirit of wisdom be brighter than the sun and a simple and pure spirit which is more movable and active than all things and therefore operateth all in all and if it penetrateth all things by reason of his purity as Solomon saith and all these properties are found in the solar vertue What should disswade man from thinking that the Hebrew Text was not rightly understood of Jerom when he interpreted it Posuit tabernaculum suum in sole He put his tabernacle in the sun Verily this was necessary for man to understand being that unto this very hour there are but few that will acknowledge that the Spirit of God doth immediately operate and work in his organ the Sun and by the Sun but being rather seduced by the Ethnick learning they will admit many subalternate agents or efficient causes per se that is of themselves distinguished from the essentiall act of God which is the reason of Idolatry and worshipping of the creature for the Creator and neglect or ignorance of the Creator in the creature For although it be said by Solomon Quod solem praevenire oportet ad benedictionem Dei We ought to prevent the sun-rising to give thanks unto thee And again we read that when we pray we should conver our faces unto the east or rising sun Yet ought we to imagine that he teacheth this doctrine for the Creator's cause which dwelleth in that bright tabernacle and not for the tabernacle's or creature's sake For it was into this errour that the Aegyptians fell who adoring this illuminated creature in lieu of the Illuminator
gunpowders force raised in the aire to a certain height moving neither lower nor higher then the form all vigor affordeth it vertue and there remaineth untill the force of the corruptible and wasting fire be spent and then it falleth down againe But the Light of the star carrieth and raiseth up the spirituall body according unto the proportion of the mounting Light which soreth as high as its power and the ponderosity of the body will permit and so it hangeth perpetually at a certain distance from the center because the fire is of an eternall and incorruptible nature and will not fade as that artificiall fire of the squib doth Now as all the illuminating vigors and animating forces or flames that are imparted unto the universall waters was bestowed on them by that bâ—ight catholick Spirit or emanation which was sent forth by God to be carried on the waters which as Scripture doth averre is brighter then the Sun or Starrs So there is none of all those Lights which are separated or divided in essence from that glorious and glittering Spirit whose beams were dispersed over all the waters in the abysse in giving of them life and being For this reason therefore because each Light had a diversity in proportion of formall brightness and measure of corpulency it is that one celestiall body doth vary in his manner of vertue motion and influence from another but because the extracted quintessence or purer materiall essence of all the Chaos with the purity of Light that issued from the creating Spirit were united into an Angelicall alterity both of those natures in the figure of one masse sored up out of the dark abysse into the heaven's center where they challenged the Royall Phoebaean Throne and that Sphaericall masse is to this hour termed the Sun of Heaven which as from the created Fountain of Light enflameth and formally enlightneth all the rest of the Starrs in the heavens above and the Element and elementated creatures below So that after the universall contracted Light was effected the fourth day of the Creation it was ordained to be that capitall Organ of life and vegetation in the starry world which did send and showre down his influences and fiery spiracles of life conservation vegetation and multiplication upon the sublunary earth and waters Thus therefore in few words you have the reason of that Condensation and Rarefaction whereby both the invisible heavenly Substance and visible celestiall bodies were made And it seemeth not to disagree from the opinions of the learned Theologians Basil and Damascene touching the causes of the divine Spirit 's action in Condensation and Rarefaction before the apparition of the Sun in the heavens Forasmuch as they will have the daie's Rarefaction or cleare heaven to be occasioned by an emission of Light ordained by the divine will or act of this Omnipotent Spirit But they think that the night's Condensation and the opake or condensed bodie in the heavens are effected by a contraction of Light which was also caused by the sacred Spirit 's volunty Thus therefore we see out of the confession of certain of the prime Fathers of the Church what was the cause of the cold condensing Night and the hot rarifying Day before the Spirit was congregated into the Tabernacle or quintessentiall substance of the Sun which was extracted by the Spageâ—ick or separative action of the divine Spirit out of the huge deformed waters of the abysse And therefore this also must be the reason of Condensation and Rarefaction unto this day For as the Spirit in the Sun being far from us and as it were contracting his beames in regard of us unto himself or absenting himself from our Hemisphere so that the cold waters do incline unto the nature of their mother Chaos by reason whereof the night and darkness are long and the light and day but short and faint in heat So also in that season the common sublunary Element is subject to Condensation and Incrâ—ssation and therefore is constrained or contracted into the consistence of Frosts Snows Hail Ice and Cold showers c. Again when it is neare unto us it dilateth it self and by his heat and presence the cold waters become hot and the daies are augmented and fortified or made strong in heat and then the common sublunary Element is apt for dilatation and subtiliation being easy to be inflamed and set on fire with Lightnings coruscations and such like But I leave the history of the Condensation and Subtiliation of the aethereall Spirit to descend unto the like acts or conditions in the sublunary Element CHAP. V. How the lower waters or catholick sublunary element were distinguished ordered and shaped out into sundry distinct sphears which are called particular Elements and that by the foresaid all-working Spirit or dâ—vine Word SInce that it is most certainly proved already that the universall substance of the world's machin was made but of one onely thing namely of a matter that was produced out of the potentiall bowells of the dark chaos or abyss by the spagerick vertue of the divine Word the which matter Moses tearmed Waters and Hermes the humid nature of the which in generall as both Moses and St. Peter aver the heavens and the earth were made of old it must needs follow that out of this catholick masse of waters the universall sublunary element was derived which is commonly termed by the name of Aer as all that humid substance in the celestiall orbe is called Aether Now this generall element is by the breath of the divine Spirit Râ—ach Elohim altered and changed from one shape unto another for that which is the visible waters was made first of the aire which is an invisible water as again the visible water by condensation is made earth And this is proved first by the words of St. Paul who saith Per fidem agnovimus quod semper ita actum sit cum mundo per Verbum ut ex iis quae videri non poterant fierent ea quae possunt videri We know by faith that it hath been ever acted with the world by the word that those things which can be seen were effected or made of those things which could not be seen And again Solomon saith that the world was made of a matter that was not seen But besides these proofs we are taught by chymicall experience that earth is nothing else but coagulated water nor visible water any thing else but invisible air reduced by condensation to a visibility nor fire any thing else but ratified aire And in conclusion all the sublunary waters were in the beginning but an invisible humid or watry spirit which we call by a common name Aire and consequently the catholick sublunary element was in its originall nothing else but one aire being that heaven was made before the seas or the earth as Moses teacheth us And therefore by faith we must believe according unto St. Paul's doctrine that all
maketh the fire mild and gentle lest it should burn and now again he maketh it to burn between the waters yea and in the clouds of hail and snow without melting of them Again He maketh the fire to forget his destroying property that the righteous may be nourished by it It was also an evident argument that God worketh not of necessity in or upon this creature of fire when the three servants of the living Lord were untouched by the fire of the Chaldean furnace although it was heated three times This also is confirmed by that History where it is said that in the time of Joshua the Sun stood still for a whole daies space as also that in the daies of Hezekiah the Sun was made to go backward fifteen degrees in the Horologe or Diall without any evident reason in nature Moreover it is proved and verified in that wonderful Eclipse of the Sun which happened at the death and passion of our Saviour wherein the Sun of heaven was totally obscured which also chanced beyond the expectation or capacity of the Astrologians Naturalists of this world forasmuch as at the instant of that Eclipse or passion of the Sun the Moon was neither in the head or tail of the Dragon as Firmicus that great artist in Astronomy doth witnesse and therefore it was effected against the common course of nature all which events could never have fallen out if God had acted of necessity in this world It followeth therefore plainly that God doth operate in this world of his own free will not of necessity to effect the ordinary or annuall course of things according to the lawes and necessities of nature all which also he effecteth voluntarily and of his own free-will namely as well for their creation and preservation as finall corruption But come hither and hearken O ye vain Philosophers who would have God which is the actor and ordinator of all things to be bound up by the lawes of necessity What honour and glory can any man justly attribute to God for his wisdom justice and clemency if he were constrained of necessity not onely to create all things after this or that manner but also to nourish and sustain them and afterward to bring them to corruption What thanks or service or adoration should we owe him if what he did for us were of necessity Wherefore O Aristotle is it according unto thine assertion that we should offer sacrifice unto the roots of nature or what availed it for us mortall men to pray and pour forth our supplications unto God the which duty neverthelesse Plato Porphyry Jamblâ—cus and Proclus do teach us to be most necessary if that he could not be propitiated or appeased by praying since that he worketh of necessity Or wherefore did Socrates and Pythagoras the which by the testimony of the Oracle were esteemed the most sage persons of their time use accustomarily to pour out their prayers unto God if God were onely constrained to act and operate whatsoever he did in the world Or why doth the Prophet proclaim it Quod Deus sit solus inclamandus deprecandus That God was onely to be called upon and prayed unto if there were any necessity in God to act in the generation and conservation of things Yea verily it is evidently to be demonstrated by this which is already said that God by the means of prayer is accustomarily inclined to misericord and pitty and that it is in his free-will to deal either in severity or clemency with the world and the creatures thereof and consequently that he is not urged of necessity to operate or bring forth effects as certain vain Ethnick Philosophers have averred amongst the which I must nominate a remarkable personage and a follower of Aristotles doctrine namely Gaâ—en that Prince of the Ethnick Physitians who speaketh Atheistically in these words Moses arbitratur omnia Deum posse facere etiamsi ex cineribus equum aut bovem facere velit Nos autem non ità sentimus sed confirmamus quaedam naturam facere non posse eaque Deum nè aggredi omnino sed ex his quae facere potest quod melius est eligere Jam vero cum pilos in palpebris satius esset equales semper esse maâ—nitudine unme o non ipsum quidem hoc voluisse affirmamus illos mox factos fuisse neque enim id facere potuisset affirmamusque si eos etiam millies voluâ—sset nunquam tamen tales futurâ—s si ex cute molli producti fuissent Moses did imagine that God can do all things yea although he would make a Horse or an Oxe of ashes But I am of another opinion For I say that Nature cannot do some things and that God doth not attempt those things at all but doth elect and make choice of the best of such things as he is able to effect Now since that it would be better that the hair in the eie-brows should be alwaies equall in magnitude and numbers I affirm that it is not he that would have it so and they were forthwith made neither could he do it and I say that if he would a thousand times have them so yet would they never be such if they had been produced out of the soft skin Lo how Atheistically he speaketh and how he would restrain the Omnipotency of God and limit his actions with the main clog of necessity yea and impotency in Power But there are certain other Philosophers which do behave themselves more modestly in the beforesaid doubt For Avicenna affirmeth that these actions are neither of necessity nor violent but do consist in a mediocrity betwixt them both and thereupon he concludeth that it is in the volunty or will of the Agent In the which resolution he seemeth not much to vary from Scriptures which say Deus castigavit nos propter iniquitates nostras ipse salvabit nos propter misericordiam suam God hath chastised us for our iniquities he will save us for his mercy's sake By which this elected vessell doth intimate that there is a free volunty in God to punish and to have mercy But this is expressed in plain words after this manner Deus juxta voluntatem suam facit tam in coeli virtutibus quam in habitatoribus terrae God operateth according to his Will as well with the vertues of heaven as with the Inhabitants of the earth In which words the Prophet doth evidently show that every operation in this world is effected by the Will and in or by the Word or Spirit of the Almighty and therefore not of Necessity as Aristotle Galen and many other of the Ethnick Philosophers have averred to the derogation from God and blemishing of his Omnipotency But that there is an undoubted necessity in the Organicall causes and in the effects which issue from God's Acts in them it appeareth most evidently Wherefore the Prophet Baruch saith Deo obediunt per omnia Sol Luna Sydera Fulgur
My purpose therefore in this Meteorologicall relation is to direct you into the path of true wisdom for the better scanning and decyphring-out of so great a mystery as is the meteorologicall act of the Spirit of God and to lead you by that means out of the mire and puddle of Ethnick or pagan Philosophy in which we Christians even unto our immortall shame do stick fast and like brutish swine do willingly wallow The which that I may the better effect I will compare the absurdities of the false Peripateticall Philosophy with the infallible verity of the holy Text that thereby each Christian pondering in the ballance of justice the contradiction which shall be expressed between the one and the other may open his intellectual eyes and follow sincerely that which is good and forsake the bad betaking himself unto the truth and flying from that which is prestigious and false and may by that means at the last discern with open eyes that main difference which is between the wisdom and Philosophy of this world which in verity for the Spirit of God hath pronounced it so is meer foolishnesse and that of God which is the reall and essentiall truth Thus therefore you may discern and that in few words the manner or order of my method in this Book not determining with my self to be over-tedious unto you in it but to finish briefly that Meteorologicall wisdom which in regard of its own worth deserveth to be enrolled in the everlasting monument of a far greater volume and to be polished or burnished over with the lustre of a more elegant style and refined manner of speech CHAP. II. In this Chapter the true mystery of the Winds is discovered and set down according unto the intention of the divine Spirit 's testimony and withall the false and prestigious spirit of Aristotle and his Peripateticall adherents touching that subject is unmasked and made manifest THat I may the better expresse that difference which is between the false wisdom and philosophy of this world and that which because it is of God must be true indeed nay verity and truth it self my minde and purpose is in the first place to set down the opinion of the Peripateticall faction and then afterward to compare and examine it with the touchstone of the divine Word or Scripture thereby to make a tryall whether it be right and sound or not that is whether it will bear water or shrinck in the wetting Now because as I said the four cardinall and collaterall winds of the heavens with their angelicall Presidents are the actors in the transformation of the catholick Mercuriall element or Protean sublunary waters from one shape into another I think it most necessary to begin this my story or discourse with the profound mystery of the winds in generall forasmuch as they are noted to be the principles of all the other Meteors And first I will expresse what the pagan Peripateticks and their Christian followers have and do determine concerning them The Peripateticall Philosophers are of opinion that the wind is a hot and dry exhalation being difficultly enflamed which ariseth out of the earth and soareth up unto the middle region of the aire from whence it being forthwith repelled downwards by reason of the coldnesse of that region and again it re-indeavouring upwards doth partly in regard of its levity and partly by other ascending exhalations which it meeteth in his violent and coacted descent move laterally in the lower region of the aire the which aire it doth ventilate and agitate lest that for want of motion or stirring it should putrifie This is the sum of their opinion concerning the generation of the winds I will therefore insist upon this Peripateticall or Aristotelian definition or rather description of the winds First because that the spurious Christian Philosophers as if they were incited thereunto by a kind of unbridled madnesse do not stick to defend and by their best endeavours uphold this his opinion as well in their publick Schools and private negotiations or studies as by their writings and that with such an assured obstinacy as if it had been divinely published unto worldlings or uttered and pronounced by the sacred Oracle of truth it self Secondly because the place wherein this imaginary exhalation is said to be ingendered and from whence it is derived is by it esteemed to be the earth and the seat unto which it coveteth to ascend is according unto their doctrin the middle region of the aire into the which by reason of the cold temper thereof it is not permitted to enter or penetrate but the medium or mean forsooth in the which it moveth naturally upward and by compulsion or against nature downwards and lastly by justling or strugling together of other ascending exhalations and the forcible descending fumes laterally that is to say towards the right or left hand is the lower region of the aire Thirdly for that they seem to averr as it appeareth by this definition that the agent mover or efficient causer of this exhalation as well downwards as laterally is double or two-fold namely the cold of the middle region of the aire which forceth and presseth downward towards the earth that scarce imaginable fume and the other is the troop of other ascending exhalations or subtle smoaks which successivly do rise out of the earth which in their motion upwards meeting with that fume which is forced to descend do strive and as it were wrestle with it and consequently by that means do make a noise in the aire which is called the Wind. And this is the Peripateticall Philosopher's windy fiction which in the conclusion after a due examination will prove to be but a bubble or vain puff of wind that is to say meerly words without any substance Now the finall end or cause why their nature hath ordained these windy motions in the aire is as their definition doth testifie that by this manner of ventilation the aire may be preserved cleared and purged from all putrefaction and corrupt disposition But whosoever will give credit unto this Ethnick definition especially if he be a true lover of wisdom I counsell him first to examine every particular member of it and having made a diligent enquiry therein let him see and discern whether they agree with the lawes of true reason and wisdom In the first rank and order therefore let us mark or observe whether in the former member of his description there be any probability of verity to be found By it we are told and taught that the materiall substance of the winde is a hot and dry exhalation arising and surging out of the earth But by holy Scripture which all true Christians ought to credit before all things we are taught that the winde hath his originall or beginning from the Spirit or breath of IEHOVAH A flatu narium tuorum saith Moses coacervatae sunt aquae flavisti vento tuo operuit eos mare By the breath of thy
suae God doth weary the thick clowds and disperseth abroad the light of his clowds for the watering of the earth Whereby it appeareth that God doth ordinarily gather together the clowds and maketh them his organicall instruments to utter his voice unto mortall men for the prospering of the annuall fruits upon the earth And therefore thus in another place Si consideraret homo extensiones densarum nubium fragores in tugurio illius exteâ—dâ—t super illud lucem suam cum his judicaturus est populum daturus cibum abunde Also in another place all this is more plainly expressed where it is said Vide arcum benedic eum qui fecit illum valde specio sus est in splendore suo gyravit coelum in circuiâ—u gloriae ejus manus Excelsi aptaverunt illum imperio suo accelerat nivem accelerat coruscationes emittere judicii sui Propterea aperti sunt thesauri evolarunt nebulae sicut aves in magnitudine sua posuit nubes confracti sunt lapides grandinis in conspectu ejus movebantur montes in voluntate sua spiravit Notus Vox tonitruum ejus reverberavit terram tempestas Aquilonis congregatio spiritus aspergit nivem c. Behold the rainbow and blesse him that made it it is wondrous beautifull in his brightnesse it did compasse the heaven in the circle of his glory the hands of him that is on high made it By his command he hastens the snow and maketh speed to send foâ—th the lightnings of his judgment Therefore are the treasurâ—es opened and the clowds fly forth like birds He placed the clowds in his greatnesse and the stones of the hail are broken In his sight the mountains did move and according to his will the south-winde hath blown and the voice of his thunder have reverberated the earth The tempest of the north and the congregation of spirits doth spread abroad or besprinkle the snow c. In this speech of the son of Syrach the Lord of lords is proved to be the sole essentiall and efficient cause of all meteors namely of the rainbow the snow the lightnings the clowds the hail the thunder the winds and tempests as also it sheweth that the matter of them is the aire Wherefore he saith in the conclusion The congregation of spirit doth spread abroad the snow Lastly it telleth us that the hands or Spirit of God are not idle in the effecting of such works as Aristotle termeth natural and therefore operateth not only primarily but also secundarily yea and catholically in and over all things as well in their generation as preservation and corruption To the last clause of his definition wherein he seemeth to aver that the lightnings move downward because the stuff of it is of a terrestriall compacted nature I answer that this reason is over weak considering the Gigantean author that alledged it for it may in the self-same manner be inferred that the Gun-powder which is of a far grosser stuff then is that of the lightnings must therefore strike downwards and yet we see by experience it riseth in spight of a mean resistance by its naturall inclination upward as we may perceive by places that are undermined and squibs which are violently carried upward I come therefore unto such true definitions of lightning and thunder as are maintained and allowed by the Book of Verity CHAP. XII How the lightning and the thunder oughtrightly to be described by the true Philosopher and that seriously according unto the tenour of holy Writ SInce therefore it hath been made manifest in the precedent Chapter that Aristotle hath utterly erred in his conceit touching as well the materiall as essentiall and formall cause of the lightnings let me gather as near as my weak capacity will give me leave what should be the true nature and originall essentiall cause of the lightnings according unto the harmonicall consent of holy Scriptures Lightning is a certain fiery aire or spirit animated by the brightness of JEHOVA and extracted out of his treasury which is the heavens or catholick aire to do and execute his will for the good or detriment of the creature Or else in this manner Lightning is a shining brightnesse proceeding out of the clowds being the pavilion of JEHOVA and is sent from the throne of God even down unto the earth covering the surface of the seas But if we would describe the lightning with all his accidents and consequently expresse the whole essence of the thunder which is a mixed nature we may effect it thus out of the testimony of the holy Bible Lightning is a fire burning from the face or presence of JEHOVA at the sight or contact of whose brightnesse the clowds do pass away and the Almighty doth thunder and utter his voice from heaven and sendeth forth his arrowes for the destruction of the wicked Or thus Lightning is a fire proceeding from JEHOVA being sent out of his dark tabernacle from above at the sight whereof the waters or clowds as being terrified and the abysse as it were troubled do haste away in which turmoil the voice of his thunder moveth circularly and the fiery or kindled coals are sent forth as arrowes sent out from a well bent bow to effect his will as well for benediction as for vengeance both in heaven and earth Or in this sort Lightning or coruscation is a clear and pure light in the clowds above the which the winde that passeth by doth purifie c. By the first of these descriptions the manifest materiall cause of the lightning is expressed to be a fiery aire the place out of which it is drawn is the treasure-house of God or the heavens Also the formall cause is expressed in that it is set down to be a fiery spirit or aire the efficient cause I said according unto the truths testimony to be the will or word of God on which dependeth that spirit of wisdom by which God operateth all things Lastly the finall cause is also noted forasmuch as it is said That it was created to do the will of him that ordained it either for the pain or pleasure of mortall men All which is evidently confirmed out of the places of Scripture mentioned before The second definition is confirmed out of the Revelation which saith Fulgura procedunt à throno Lightnings proceed from the throne Again he is said Fulgurare lumine suo desuper cardâ—nâ—sque maâ—is operire To lighten with his brightness from above and to cover with it the corners of the Sea And again prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt The clowds did move by reason of the Lightning and brightness which was in his sight or presence And again ignis ab ore ejus evolavit Fire flew out of his mouth And again Ab ore ejus velut taedae praeeuntes quasi halitus ejus carbones accenderent flamma â—x ore ejus prodicret From
his mouth passed as it were torches and as it were his breath did kindle coales and flame came out of his mouth Also the effect of this description is verified by these words Illuxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae Thy Lightning shined over the earth Again Extenâ—it nubes quasi tentorium suum ut fulguret lumine suo desuper The members of the third description out of the which also the whole nature of the Thunders is enucleated are confirmed by the page of verity For first the materiall cause of the Thunder is pointed out in these words That it is a burning fire or fiery aire also in the description of it his formall cause is selected the efficient cause is noted to be JEHOVA in his wrath the immediate effect thereof is the exagitation of the clowds and the lowd noise or voice of the thunders Lastly it concludeth that the end or finall cause is to exercise God's vengeance on the wicked The fourth and fifth description in this Jam non respiciunt homines lucem cum nitida est in superioribus nubâ—bus quas ventus transiens purgavit Now men do not respect the Light when it is pure and neat in the higher clowds the which the wind that passeth by doth depurate As for the Thunder I gather out of the Holy Scriptures that it is to be defined thus The Thunder is a noise which is made in the clowdy tent or pavillion of JEHOVA over the which extending the beams of his Light he covereth the superficies of the Sea and illuminateth the earth that thereby he may judge the people thereof and give them meat abundantly To prove this by sacred authority job saith Si consideraret homo extensiones densarum nubium fragores in tugurio illius extendit super illud lucem suam cum his judicaturus est populum daâ—urus cibum abunde If man doth consider the extention of the thick clowd the noise and Thunders in his tent or pavillion he extendeth his light upon it with these he doth judge the people and give them meat in abundance In which words it is apparent that fragor or the noise and bruit is the formall cause and the light from JEHOVA the efficient The Organs of the voice are the thick clowds which are called the cottage or dwelling place of JEHOVA and therefore in another place Posuâ—t tenebras latibulum suum in circuitu Prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt intonuit de coelo Dâ—minus He put darknesse about his secret place The clowds did pass away at the sight of his brightness and the Lord did thunder from heaven To conclude the finall cause of the Thunder and Lightning is explained in this namely that it is as well to judge the people as to give them meat in abundance And threfore it is manifest by this that God appeareth in Thunder as well to the effecting of things which are naturall and necessary both for the punishment and nourishment of his creatures as miraculously Or else it may be defined thus Thunder is the vioce of the most High which is uttered out of a clowd and accompanied with flame and Lightning being ordained by God for the affliction of the wicked In the which definition the materiall is the Organicall cloud the formall cause is the voice with Lightning the efficient is JEHOVA and the finall that it is effected for the punishment or scourge of the wicked All which is confirmed out of the precedent Texts Intonuit saith David Dominus de coelo altâ—ssimus dâ—dit vocem suam grandinem carbones ignis misit sagittas suas dispaâ—uit eos fulgura multiplicavit conturbavit eos The Lord thundred from heaven the most High did utter forth his voice hail and coales of fire and he sent his arrows and did sever or disperse them he multiplied his Lightnings and troubled them Or after this manner Thunder is a voice or sound proceeding from the Lightning which issueth from the Throne of God and is sent by the divine power out of the cavity of the clowds into the open aire to execute his will either to the creatures good or harm Where the materiall or Organicall cause of the voice is the clowd the formall is the voice and sound the efficient is the Lightning from God and the finall is either for benediction or malediction And this is confirmed out of St. John De Throno procedunt fu gura The Lightnings proceed from the Throne And Job Numquid mittis fulgura ibunt revertentia dicent Adsumus Dost thou not send forth the Lightnings and they go forth and returning again they will say We are present And the Psalmist Ascendit fumus in ira ejus ignis a facie ejus exarsit A smoak ascended in his wrath and fire did flame forth from his face Again Nubes caligo in circuitu ejus ignis ante ipsum procedit inflammabit in circuitu ejus illuxerunt fulgura ejus orbi terrae Clowds and darkness were about him fire goeth out before him and will burn round about him his Lightnings gave light unto the earth Again Vocem dederunt nubes etenim sagittae tuae transierunt The clowds made a noise for thine arrows went out c. Where by arrows is meant the Lightnings as if he had said because thy Lightnings broke out of the clowds therefore they made a noise or uttered a lowd voice And Salomon Ibunt directe emissiones fulgurum taxquam à bene curvato arcu nubium Thy emissions or sending forth of Lightnings will go directly to the mark as if they were sent out of a well bent bow Whereby he seemeth to argue that the clowds do utter their voice by reason that the Lightnings do pierce them Or in this sort Thunder is the voice of God compassed about by the waters or clowds before whom the fire goeth forth and doth inflame and set them on fire circularly round about him Hereupon Job Numquid elevabis in nube vocem tuam impetus aquarum operiet te Wilt not thou elevate thy voice in the clowd and the abysse or power of the waters will cover thee And again as before Nubes caligo ejus in circuitu ejus ignis ante ipsum procedit inflammabit in circuâ—tu ejus Clowds and darkness are about him fire goeth before him and will inflame or burn circularly round about him Or thus Thunder is the the voice of God at the noise whereof he causeth a multitude of waters in the heavens or aire and effecteth Lightnings and rain For Jeremy saith Ad vocem suam dat multitudinem aquarum in coelo elevat nebulas ab extremitate terrae fulgura in pluviam facit educit ventum e thesauris suis At his voice he causeth a multitude of waters in heaven and doth elevate clowds from the extremity of the earth and turneth his
Lightnings into rain and bringeth the wind out of his Treasury Or in this manner Thunder is the multitude of the sound of waters or the voice of the clowds being effected by the coruscations and Lightnings of the Almighty Or thus Thunder is a sound of the multitude of waters being troubled fearing and bâ—aying at the bright aspect or presence of JEHOVA In which description the materiall Organ of the voice is the clowds or waters being as it were afraid and troubled at the emission of the Lightnings whereupon they give a loud voice or sound by reason of that penetrative power which the bright and shining or fiery presence of JEHOVAH who is the worker of wonders doth effect Whereupon the royall David as is said prae fulgore in conspectu ejus nubes transierunt grando carbones ignis intonuit de coelo Dominus At the brightnesse of his presence the clowds did move or pass their way hail and coales of fire the Lord did thunder from heaven And again Viderunt te aquae Deus timuâ—runt turbatae sunt abyssi multitudo sonitus aquarum vocem dedeâ—unt nubes vix tonitrui tui in rota The waters have seen thee O God and were afraid and the abysse was troubled a multitude of the sound of the waters the clouds ecchoed forth a voice the noise of the thunders wheeled about c. Also the formall cause is explicated in that it was made by a great noise and Lightnings The efficient cause seemeth to be the Lightnings from God or rather the fiery aspect of God animating the Lightnings and directing them unto a determinated mark So that it appeareth that the Lightnings are as it were the Instruments of God in his Wrath no otherwise then a sword is the instrument of the man that striketh when we say that it is this or that man which did strike and not the sword And for this cause I say with the Apostle that as it is onely God who is the sole Actour in things So also is he the Father of the Thunders who sendeth out his Lightnings as arrows from his throne Lastly I say that the finall cause expressed in them is to accomplish the divine will of the Creator To conclude it may be defined thus Thunder is the voice speech or eloquence of the Almighty or a sound going out of the mouth of JEHOVA which is directed under the whole heavens with light dispersed over the face of the earth after the which there followeth a loud noise or rumbling or God thundereth with the voice of his excellency the which when it is heard is not found Audite saith Job cum tremore vocem seu loquelam vel eloq â—um abore ejus egrediens quod sub â—oto-coelo dirigit lucem super terminos vel oraâ— terrae Post eum rugit sonitus tonat voce excellentiae suae non investigatur cum audita fuerit vox ejus Hear with trembling he directeth the voice speech or eloquence proceeding from his mouth under the whole heavens and his light over the ends of the earth After him roareth a sound he thundereth with the voice of his excellency the which when it is heard is not found To conclude it is most apparent by this which is already said that the opinion of the Peripateticks as well Christian as Ethnick is most inconsiderate and erroneous in averring that the lightnings are hot and dry exhalations extracted out of the earth and elevated on high even unto the middle region of the aire by the attractive vertue of the Sun and that they being included into a clowd and kindled partly by the collision or knocking together of other clowds and partly by the coldness of the place do by the eruption of their flames cause the thunders I would have every wise Christian to observe duely by what hath already been said whether the mystery of a tempest and whirl-wind do consist and stand upon a thing of so small moment and poor esteem as Aristotle would make us believe or if it arise not out of a far more profound and inscrutable abysse or profundity seeing that the lightnings are reported by truth it self to be such fiery lights of God as issue or proceed from his throne and the thunders are justly termed the voice word and eloquence of JEHOVA And for this reason JEHOVA reprehending the boldness of these kind of worldly Philosophers which presume so far to censure his inscrutable actions or to dive into the depth of his mysteries touching the essentiall causes of these meteors without the warrant and assistance of Gods Spirit and falsly to make the world believe that his hidden and abstruse secrets are effected after their vain imaginations which vanish in the conclusion and become as nothing because indeed they are grounded on nothing else but foolish and self-conceited phantasies and vanities seemeth to utter unto them these speeches Auribus percipite considerate mirabilia Dei fortis Nosti cum disponat Deus de illis cum splendeat lux nubis suae Nosti-ne de libramentis densae nubis mirabilia Dei perfecti scientiis Quaenam est via qua in partes dissilit lux Cujus utero egressa est glacies Aut pruinam coeli quis genuit Quanam via itur ubi habitat lux tenebrarum ubi est locus Perceive with your ears and consider the marvellous works of the strong God Dost thou know when God disposeth of them when the light of his clowd doth shine forth Dost thou understand the marvails of God who is perfect in sciences touching the ballancing and pondering of the thick clowds Which is the way in which the lightnings do skip forth being divided into parts Out of whose womb doth the ice proceed or who hath begotten the frost of heaven Which is the way that directeth oâ— leadeth unto the habitation of lâ—ght and which is the seat of darknesse This saith JEHOVA I say the strong God in checking of the vain-glorious wise-men of this world for their presumption and especially he pointeth at the bold Peripateticks who presumptuously profess that they of themselves without the teaching of the true wisdom do know all these things And yet the wisest amongst men speaketh thus Animadverti totum opus Dei non posse hominem ass qui illud opus quod sit sub sole quam laboriose homo quaerat non tamen assecutum esse quinetiam si cogitet sapientissimus cognoscere non tamen posse assâ—qui I observed every work of God that man is not able to attain unto that work which is under the sun how laboriously soever he seeketh Yea verily if the wisest man thinketh to know it he will not be able to attain unto it By which words Solomon pointeth at the insufficiency of man in himself that is to say without the conduct of the spirit of wisdom to attain unto the knowledge of Gods mysteries which also he doth seem to intimate in these
time when these secrets shall be discovered which will come to pass when the seventh Seal shall be opened for then that high mystery which is the finall cause why and for what end Gods Providence will by these two opposits reveal it self and clean extinguish all enmity out of the world shall be discovered As touching nevertheless the end of this dissonancy the Apostle saith that it will be when the Son hath delivered the Kingdom unto God the Father and when he hath evacuated every Principality and Potentate and Virtue he must raign untill he hath made his enemies his foot-stool and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death So that as two contrarieties or discords proceeded from one Unity or unison namely Light and Darkness from one Divine Essence So also these two dissonant branches or confusion of Unities will at the last be reduced or return again into one harmonious Unity in which there will be found no dissonancy namely when these words of the Revelation are accomplished Ecce omnia nova facio vetera enim transurunt Behold I make all things new for the old heaven and earth have passed away But leaving this allaterall discourse we will proceed directly in our Sympatheticall and Antipatheticall Argument or inquiâ—ition into the which that we may penetrate with the greater celerity and facility and dive the deeper into the research of their actions it will be fit that we should describe in the first place the manner how the world doth live by the participation of these two namely of the Light and Darkness and that I will expresse unto you in few words what the Ancient Philosophers have determined about the soul of the world and lastly I will shew that their Opinions do not erre or vary much from the Testimony of the sacred Bible CHAP. IV. Wherein it is evidently proved as well by the ancienâ— Ethnick Philosophers as by the authority of Holy Scriptures that there is a soul of the world Herein also is expressed what this catholick Soul is and whereof it is composed or made I Purpose in the first rank of my discourse touching the soul of the world to expresse what the opinions as well of the ancient Cabalists and mysticall Rabbi's as Ethnick Philosophers are concerning this Subject so much condemned by some self-conceited and little skillfull persons in so profound a mystery and so highly prised and esteemed by others who have with the Lyncean eye-sight of their understanding dived and penetrated into the secret bowells of Nature with due reverence contemplated her Centrall and eternall Agent And afterwards my meaning is to set down the concordance which is observed betwixt them and Holy-Writ The Cabalist's tenent is that the great Angell whom they term Mitattron which by interpretation is Donum Dei the gift of God is that very same catholick Spirit which doth animate the whole world and thereupon Rabbi Moses doth averre it to be Intellectus a ens or the generall intellectuall agent from which all particular forms do flow And they say that from this universall angelicall Spirit all singular vertues as well animall as vitall and naturall do proceed which also they call Angells whereof there are an infinite number in respect of our capacity And the Philosopher Democritus Orpheus with divers of the Pythagoreans do not much differ from this opinion of these Rabbi's but in variety of name onely for they imagine that all things are full of gods and therefore they offered divine Honours Praiers and Sacrifices unto them in the creatures and did worship each of them with a divers fashion of ceremony But they had evermore that regard unto JEHOVA the eternall Unity and Father of all things that they referred all these gods unto one Jupiter This point nevertheless being ill understood by the ignorant was an especiall cause of Idolatry being that hereupon the simple fell unto the worshipping of the creature in stead of the Divinity which was in the creature And for this reason Solomon Vani sunt homines omnes naturà in quibus est ignorantia Dei qui ex iis quae spectantur bonis eum qui est intellig ere non potuerunt neque ex operibus consideratis ipsum opificem agnoverunt All men are naturally vain in whom is the want of the knowledg of God and cannot conceive him that truly is by such good creatures as they sensibly do discern nor yet have scanned and discovered the Workman by the consideration of his works In like manner the Platonists did call the generall vertue which did engender and preserve all things the Animam mundi or the soul of the world And to this their opinions the Arabick Astrologians do seem to adhere forasmuch as they did maintain that every particular thing in the world hath his distinct and peculiar soul from this vivifying Spirit To this opinion also Mercurius Trismegistus Theophrastus Avicenna Algazel and as well all the Stoicks and Peripateticks do seem wholly to consent or agree Again Zoroaster and Heraclitus the Ephesian conclude that the soul of the world is that catholick invisible fire of which and by the action whereof all things are generated and brought forth from puissance unto act Virgil that excellent Latine Poet calleth it that mentall Spirit which is infused through every joint and member of the world whereby the whole Mass of it namely the heaven and the earth or spirit and body are after an abstruse manner agitated and moved His words are these Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per arâ—us Mens agitat molem c. A Spirit saith he doth nourish within and being infused over all the joints or members of the world it doth move the whole substance of the same Marcus Manâ—ius as also Boetius and Augurel being later Poets are of Virgil's opinion For Manlius saith Hoc opus immensi constructum corpore mundi Vis animae divina regit The divine power of the â—oul doth govern this work which is erected in the body of the vast world And Boetius Tu triplicis mediam naturae cuncta moventem Connectis animam Thou dost frame or tye together a mean soul of a triple nature which movâ—th all things And Augurel saith Nonnulli quicquid diffunditur undique coeli Aëraque terras lati marmoris aequor Intus agi referunt animà quà vivere mundi Cuncta putant ipsumque hà e mundum ducere vitam Ast animae quoniam nil non est corporis expers Mundus at mundi partes quoque corpore constant Spiritus hic intermedius fit quem neque corpus Aut animum dicunt sed eum qui solus utroque Participans in idem simul haec exâ—rema redâ—cat Some say that whatsoever filleth the Heaven the Aire the Earth and wide Seas is stirred up by a soul through the vertue whereof all things in the world do live and also that the world it self doth exist by it But because
in its simple and separated estate Damascene seemeth to define it thus Anima est subâ—tantia spiritualis a divinis fontibus emanaâ—s simplex indissolubilis immoâ—â—alâ—s libeâ—a incorporea indivisibilis quantitate figura pondere colore carens The sâ—â—l is a spirituall sâ—bstance flowing from the divine fountains simple indâ—ssolvable immortall free incorporealâ— indivisible wanting quantity figure waight and colour Unto this also Bernard seemeth to consent And Augustin defineth it thus Est mens divâ—na omnia intelligens omnibusque se assimilans It is a divine Spirit that understandeth all things and doth câ—nform it self unto the shape or lâ—kenesâ— of all things And for this reason certain Philosophers say that it is made after the likeness of the Spirit of Wisdome which is known to be the Image of God For it beareth the likeness of every thing in it self Wherefore it is defined by them to be the similitude of all things And verily it hath in it self this power to apprehend and find out all things Again it is like unto all things being that it is one in all There are some of the â—â—viner sort of Mysticall Philosophers that seem to conclude mans soul more fully in this definition Anima est lux quaedam divina ad imaginem Verbi causae causarum primi exemplaris creata sâ—bstantia Dei sigilioque figurata cuâ—us character est verbum aeâ—â—num The soul is a certain divine Light created after the Image of the Word the caâ—se of causâ—s and the first exemplaâ— or image c. Another defines it thus Est res incorporea omni decore adornata Sanctae Trinitati â—ssimiâ—ata 〈◊〉 nae gloriae coaquata It is an incorporeall thing whâ—ch is adorned with all virtue likned to or resembâ—â—ng the Holy Trinity and coâ—equated unto eternall glory Some do describe it thus Est Spiritus intellectualis semper vivens semper in mâ—tâ— sâ—cundum sui operis efficâ—â—m variis nuncupatur nominibus Dicitur vita dum vegetat spiritus dum contemplatur sensus dum sentit animus dum sapit mens dum intelligit ratio dum dâ—scernit mem ria dum recordatur dum vuli voluntas at isla omnia non sunt nâ—si una essentia seâ— proprietate diversa It is an intellectuall Spirit alwaies living alwaies in motion and in respect of its divers operations in the body it hath divers appellations assigned unto it For it is called life in regard of its vâ— vificative and vegetative property It is called a Spirit as it is conversant about contemplation and is a spirituall substance and breatheth in the body it is called sense as it is imploied about the Act of sensation it is termed Animus when it operateth in Knowledg and Wisdome and it is named Mens in regard of its Divine Understanding and Memory as it doth remember again as it is affected to will any thing it is called Voluntas and all these names decipher but onely one Anima or Soul in essence but divers and sundry properties or faculties c. And these later descriptions are assigned unto this vivifying Spirit as it is conversant with the body Now if we shall duly examine all these delineations of the essence and properties of this Anima as well in her freedom from the body as when it is included in it we shall find it not to vary one jot from the tenor of my precedent assertion For first we shall observe it to be in its essentiall virtue the off-spring of the eternall emanation which came immediatly from God for the inacting of all things and then that it hath for its substantiall Vehicle the thin subtile created spirit of the world which maketh it alteritatem or a composition of two namely of the bright emanation from the eternall Fountain and therefore in the foresaid definitions it is tearmed in regard of this its interior in the first a Spirituall Substance flowing from the divine Fountain in the second mens divina in the third the Image of similitude of the divine Wisdome in the fourth a divine Light after the Image of the Word the substance of God whose character is the Word in the fifth the similitude of the Holy Trinity coaequated unto the divine Glory Secondly it participates of the mundane spirit and therefore it is by the sixth and seventh tearmed in regard of its substance a spirit that breatheth in the body and it is the Vehicle of the formall act which is in truth the divine mentall beam being considered in it self as the substantiall and materiall spirit in its simple nature it is that which participateth with the created spirit of the world The union of these two is called anima so that anima includeth mentem and spiritum or the divine and created nature in one which filleth all and animateth and vivifieth all things according to the assertion of such Gentile and Ethnick Philosophers as I have cited before which I will prove no way to dissent or vary from the testimony of the holy Text. And to make this the plainer I will compare them in order And first I will begin my relation with the Cabalists great Angell whom they call Mitaitron which by interpretation is Donum Dei the Gift of God which as they say is the catholick intellectuall Agent from the which all peculiar forms do descend The Apostle saith that the Lord doth vivifie all things And Solomon saith that the Spirit of Wisdom is the tree of life and the fountaiâ— or beginning of life and if this Spirit be the fountain of life then the Son of Syrach effudit Deus illam supra omnia opera sua supra omnem carnem secundum datum suum God poured it out upon all his works and upon all flesh in his measure And this was that catholick angelicall Spirit which God sent out as a Spirituall Messenger from himself and out of himself in the form of an emanation to move upon the waters and to inform and vivify them and give life and being not onely to the great world but also to every particular thereof and the emanation was this Word of God by whom all things were made and vivified forasmuch as in it was life I mean that Christ which filleth all things who is all in all as the Apostle saith who in the beginning made the earth and the heavens were the work of his hands and after his creation of all things he doth as St. Paul telleth us portare omnia verbo virtutis suae bear up suffer and sustain all things by the vivifying virtue of this Word Which also David confirmeth in this Verbo Domini firmati sunt coeli Spiritu ab ore ejus omnis virtus eorum By the Word of the Lord the heavens were framed and setled and by the breath of his mouth all the virtues thereof namely the life preservation and being The Apostle therefore seemeth to conclude thus Deus non aliquo indigens