a mans children or sunnes are beegotten of the fathers seede and substance Moreouer whatsoeuer is said to spring and come of another ought not by and by to be called the sunne of that from whiche it springeth For Lice doe breede out of a mannes fleshe yet are thei not called the sunnes of men or of their fleshe To cōclude since the comparison and respecte of GOD vnto the worlde is rather like the woorkeman to the woorke than like the Father to the Sunne truely the worlde may bee termed the woorke and perfected labour of God but by no meanes called his Sunne The. xxi Chapter What God created first to bee the matter for thinges that were created afterward S. HEtherto you haue discoursed of the efficiēt cause now saye sumwhat concernyng the materiall cause of the world M. What matter can I name vnto you since there was none at all as I haue sufficiently disputed and proued beefore as this woord Create declareth if you haue regarde to it owne proper signification Neither do I thinke it woorth the traueill to confute the opinions of the Philosopers who haue almoste euerie one of them stūbled at this block or else to conuince the heresie of the Hermogenians who reuoked that errour whiche was nowe long since extinguished in the Churche of God out of the scooles and opinions of the Stoikes and chose rather to learne how the world beegan at the handes of naturall Philosophers than of true Christians and out of Gods woord Al whose argumentes Tertullian hath confuted in a noble and profitable woorke whiche is now abroade in mens handes and is most worthie to bee read S. I doe not require after that which was not but this rather whether that among those thinges whiche God created of nothing there were any thing disposed prepared and brought foorth that afterward serued the turne and stoode in steede in the creation of other things out of which God did afterward facion and fourme al thinges else that remained to be made M. You mooue mee to enter into a difficult question which consisteth both of like number of weightie reasons and of auctorities of graue writers For among the learned auctours some thinke that Heauen and earth of whiche in the 1. chapt of Genesis and 1. verse it is writen In the beginnyng God made heauen and earth were made by God of nothyng howbeit first and before all thinges to the intent that they might be the prepared matter of all other thinges that were to be afterward created And therfore they say that God did nothyng the other daies following but onely distinguysh this matter and masse which was first confusedly brought foorth and conteined in it the seedes of all other thinges into the proper kindes and elementes and that euerie thing should be trimmed foorth in it owne kind and gouerned by it owne lawe Other dooe suppose otherwise that these thinges were only set downe in the beginning as it were in maner of a preface or supposition of some discourse that should ensue to the end that the summe of the whole matter following might be the better vnderstoode and the boundes of so great a frame as the world is bee drawne foorth In like maner cunning Carpenters when they are about to build some goodly and large house they firste drawe out a platfourme in certeine proportions and lines conteining the fourme of the whole woork that shal bee to the intent they may point out and place the other roomthes of the buildyng within that circuite so conteine themselues within those limites Thus say they heauen and earth are proposed by Moses and that in the beeginning of his Narration to the ende wee might vnderstande what limites the discription following and the whole woorke should haue Like as he also repeateth again those limites after the narration of the creation concludeth the whole woorke whiche hee set foorth after the same manner Genesis the 2. chapter and 1. verse Wherefore In the beginnyng God created heauen and earth that is to saye firste of all the summe of all Gods woorkes is layd beefore vs to bee thought on Moreouer Ireneus in his 2. booke the 10. 11. and 16. chapters sheweth that GOD is not like men as not hauing neede of any matter that hee had created or prepared before hand to finish or make his other woorkes of S. Howe then doe you thinke otherwise M. Truely the interpretation and opinion of the fyrste sorte seemeth vnto mee the more probable which hold that the heauen and earth in suche maner as thei are there spoken of were firste created by GOD of nothing howbeit as it were a rude matter of the whole woorke and bewtie that shoulde folowe out of which God by his mightie power brought foorth all the residue Although almightie God lacked no matter to create firste heauen and earth with all neither yet to bring forthe the woorkes of the other daies like as at this day also he needeth not the seede of man to bryng foorth men of if hee lust to doe otherwise notwithstanding in these questions wee must not enquire how much hee was able to doe sayeth S. Augustine in his 2. booke de Genesi but rather what the course of nature in things will suffer and what his pleasure is and what hee hath reuealed vnto vs by his woorde Neither doth this mine opinion want iust and sufficient confirmation either of the auctoritie of men or of reason And as for auctoritie there is none against mee seeing bothe Philo Iudaeus and the Rabbines commonly and the best learned of the Hebrues doe so expounde that place of Moses yea S. Augustine also oftentimes as in the 5. booke de Ge nesi ad Literam the 3. and 5. chapters and the 1. booke the 5. chapter S. Ambrose likewise in Examero and S. Chrysostome and S. Basile with others S. But can you confirme your opinion by any reason M. Yea by twaine And the first is that this exposition doth very well agree with Moses woordes and order and againe that it seemeth to be plainly confirmed by this woord Beeginning and the signification therof For a beeginning is sayd in comparison of other thinges And therefore to the intent hee might shewe how all other thinges were made afterwarde out of those twayne Moses plainly vseth this preface to wit that the same heauen and the same earth were created in the beeginning that is to saye beefore all the other woorkes that God made and also to the vse of all the other that is to saie from whence afterward the residue were taken and as it were made The very footsteppes as it were of whiche opinion howbeeit the trueth beeyng now and then manifestly intercepted do appeare to be exstant in Hesiodus in his Theogonia and Ouid also in that place of the firste booke of his Metamorphosis which is so well knowne Beefore the Sea and Earth c. This reason also may bee alleaged that the thing itself and specially
not any small thyng or imagination in mynde rather than in mole of bodie comprehensible but that it was that huge mole and globe whiche beyng afterwarde diuided into partes conteined this earth whiche wee goe vppon and the great sea whiche wee sayle vpon They imagine of the first matter as if it were some thin and flittring shadow and altogither without forme which can not bee For a thing that existeth can not bee without all forme and what soeuer is without fourme is nothing and therefore is not at all Of whiche it is thus written in the boke against the foundations and groundes of the Manichees Epistles the 29. chapter A certeine vnshapen matter without fourme without qualitie without measure without number without weight without order and distinction a certaine confused thinge I wote not what and wholy without all qualitie Whereof it commeth that certaine Greeke Doctours doe call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to saye without qualitie But Sainct Augustine mocketh at this opinion The second is that there cannot be one first matter cōmune vnto all thinges visible held and established but there muste bee diuerse to wit one of heauenly things which is heauen the other of earthly thinges which are the earth and the water whiche is both comprehended with it in one body and created also at the same time to soften the earth which three thinges were first made of nothinge S. But what are those deapthes and pooles M. Euen the same plainly which afterward is called the sea but y Grecians terme it Abyssus the Hebrues Tehom And it is called Abyssus the deapthes bycause so great Pooles collections togither of waters are without bottome so farre as may bee knowne felte or vnderstoode so wide and deepe they are But it is called Tehom bycause it is mooued with an horrible noyse and terrible roaring insomuch as it swelleth and ebbeth and floweth of it owne nature and neuer standeth still S. But this is the question whether those deapthes and moles of water were mingled with the earth within in the veines and hollowe passeges there of or onely abidinge vpon the vppermost face of the earth if you say that it couered onely the vppermost face the mole of the earth beeing so big as it is could not by meanes thereof wax soft but if it were mingled with the earth you shall both make the Chaos more horrible and better conceiue the melting and softeninge of that harde nature and element For as I suppose you doe not agree with those who are of opinion that those deapthes of waters were only a thinand rare cloud whiche couered the earth whereof Sainct Augustine maketh reporte M. Indeede I doe not agree with them neither doe I doubt but that by anye of both those meanes whiche you haue declared the Chaos maye bee showed and thought to bee great and horrible whether the deapthes of water bee mingled with the earth or onelye abiding vpon the vppermost part of it Neither can it bee doubted but that y body of the earth being ouerflowen and compassed with so many so great waters was then sufficiently infused and soked Notwithstanding to the ende I maye declare what seemeth to mee may bee determined in this question out of the woorde of God I will alleage that whiche is written in the 104. Psal and 6. verse where speaking of the earth it saith thus Thou coueredst it with the pooles like as with a garment so that euery part of the deapthes and waters were not mingled with euery part of the earth as they supose but the whole mole of waters compassed the whole body of the earth and flected vpon the vppermost face therof As afterward it came to passe in the diluge in the tyme of Noe. Of which opinion this is also a reason that when the Spirite of God and the darkenesse lay vpon that vnshapē mole it is not written that they laye vpon the earth it selfe but vppon the vpper parte of the waters and pooles so that it plainely apeareth that the earth was included couered with those deapthes pooles Moreouer when as the thirde daye the deapthes were separated from the earth the waters were onely gathered togither frō that compassyng spreading abroad vpon the earth but is not saide that the waters were wron̄g out of the earth as out of a spunge which thē was also needefull to haue beene done The. xxiiii Chapter Why there was darknesse vpon the face of the same mole and matter S. BUt why was there darkenesse vppon the face of the same confused mole and matter M. Uerely to the intent that the infinite vertue wisedome and power of the true God might thereby the more plainly appeere who out of so confused a male and so many impediments concurring hath so soone and by his so greate force brought foorth so beautifull an order of all thinges yea when there was no meane at all existing but rather the cōtrarie to distinguishe and set foorth the same with all as S. Paule sheweth in the 2. too the Corinthians the 4. chapter and 6. verse for all thinges are wount to bee distinguished in the light Wherfore beesides the confusion of the mole darkenesse also was an impedimēt vnto god How then did God woorke and distinguishe these thinges when there was darkenesse Doubtlesse by his greate and almightie power For the darkenesse specially augmenteth the horrour of so greate a confusion and doth cause that the distinguishing and diuiding of these thinges seemeth to bee a woorke altogether impossible For if so bee that vnto that which is confused and intricate darkenesse also bee added all hope and meanes of opening and cleering the same is taken away that whosoeuer shall diuise in his minde the meanes whiche the Lord toooke first in hande to create distinguish this world by the same may cause it not onely to seeme to bee a woorke full of difficulty but also of great impossibilitie And whosoeuer shall behold the beautie and fourme of the world as it is now distingushed will iudge that this woorke was framed and made of principles and partes very wel digested and ordered and that there was light first beefore there was any other thing made S. Is there any iniury doone vnto God who being most wise most good most perfect most beautifull is sayde notwithstanding too haue created this first matter so confused who both could and as it seemeth ought euen in the very beeginning and at the firste moment haue made it distinct and beautifull M. Uerely the Manichees were deceiued in thinking so vnaduisedly and marking so fondly Yea and the Valentinians also their Patriarkes for this cause were deceiued For beeing led by their owne wicked thoughtes in this kinde of argument they sayd that this world and the first beginning therof were the matter fruite and effect of a certein foule imperfection ignorance in God and not the woorke of a wise God or woorkman whiche can not bee read without horrour
truliest talke and dispute in his owne Art and that hee is rather to bee beleeued therin than any other But what woorkmans woorkmanship thincke you is thys worlde Is it any others than Gods onely so that wee ought to beleeue none rather than him who in hys woorde teacheth vs the maner and order of framinge his woorke that is to saye the worlde To bee shorte who knoweth seeth and vnderstandeth more truely the causes of all things their properties effectes the maner of their beeing the times when first they began then hee who is the maker of them all and the perpetuall gouernour of them all who beeing GOD and sence hee him selfe telleth these thinges what man will at anye time bee so mad but to thinke that hee is rather to bee harkened vnto in thys respect and all other writers to bee neglected Truely wee as also all other Philosophers howsoeuer surpassing in wit abounding in leasure what soeuer diligence they employed in study yet could neuer neither wee nor they attayne vnto certaine obscure slender sparkes of naturall Philosophie And whatsoeuer we define coÌ„cerning these matters without the woorde of God it is so vncerteine doubtfull variable and contrarie to it selfe and many times so contrarie to the trueth that in the ende wee are ashamed that wee either learned so or taught so which may appeare to be true if it wer but only out of Plutarchus booke De Placitis Philosophorum Of the opinions of Philosophers whereas that excellent learned man and great Philosopher sheweth that neuer two of them agreed in the knowledge of the things that are created S. Can you confirme the trueth of your opinion by the auchoritie of Gods woord to wit that this knowledge may well and safely bee learned out of the holy scriptures M. Yeas verily S. Recite them I pray you M. The first testimonie is that which is writen euidently in the epistle to the Hebrues in these woords Through Faith wee vnderstande that the worlde was made by the woorde of God. Wherefore wee vnderstande these thinges by Faith. If by Faith then by the holy scripture for ther can bee no faith without the scripture And therfore wee must certainely conclude that the true and certeine knowledge concerninge these matters is declared vnto vs by the holy scripture The seconde aucthoritie is the 1. chapter of Genesis For Moses who at the commaundement and appointment of God wrot that historie of all other most excellent and wounderfull of the beginninge of the worlde and creation of all thinges is either a vaine fellowe or a lier if the knowledge of naturall Philosophie be not conteined in the holy Scripture For what other thing doth hee in that booke than briefly howbeit truely and orderly set downe the originall of thinges and theyr vertues natures and effectes that is to say Naturall Philosophie The thyrde is a place in the Prouerbes the viii Chapiter and the 20. verse the nexte folowinge where it is saied that all thinges were created by the wysdome of God and afterwarde as they were created so are they preserued The fourth aucthoritie is alleaged out of the 42. Chapiter and 17. verse of Ecclesiast This wisdome hath God giuen to his Sainctes saith hee that they might recoumpt all his miracles and workes and search them all yea hell it selfe c. wherevnto wee may adde that which is written in the vii chapiter of the booke of VVisedom the 22. verse and the next folowing Finally let vs heare the moste holye Martyr of God and good Father Irenaeus who in his seconde booke and 2. Chapter saithe thus To whom therefore shall wee giue more credit concerning the framing of the worlde to those that wee spake of beefore so iangling in folly and inconstancie or to the Disciples of the Lorde and the seruant and Prophet of God Moses who first reuealed the creation of the worlde The selfe same thing S. Basell and S. Ambrose and S. Chrisostome in the prefaces of their Exameron or Six dayes woorke doe with one consent and plainely confirme so that whoso shall deney that the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie may not truely and commodâ—ously bee learned out of holy scripture gainsaith the sacred woorde of GOD and openly repugneth against the learned Fathers In conclusioÌ„ hearken to â—ertullian who in the 46. chapter of hys Apologet doth truely and plainly pronounce that the sacred woorde of God which is most auncient was as it were the treasurie and stoarehouse vnto all later wisdom From thence saith hee the Philosophers haue quenched the thirst of their wits But as men that were ouer riotous in the study onely of glorie and eloquence if they found any thyng in holy scripture when they had digested it according to the purpose of their curiositie they conuerted it to their owne woorkes S. Doe they that are of the contrarie opinion bring nothing against thys M. Yeas two argumentes especially S. What bee they M. This is the first That the ende of euery art ought to bee distinguished and that Naturall Philosophie is one thing and Diuinitie another whereof thys last is conteined in holie write but the other is not so S. Is that consequent and assertion true M. No verily S. Howe so M. For that although they gather that truly that artes ought to bee distinguished and that Diuinitie which conteineth the promises of euerlastinge lyfe teaching also the waye thervnto and the causes thereof ought to bee separated from Naturall Philosophie whiche entreateth of the framinge of this visible worlde and the natures of all thinges in the same yet doe they not say truely in denyinge that the order of the creation of this world the sundrie kindes of things their natures manifold sortes are taught distinguished and orderly set downe in holy Scripture All these thinges are copiously declared there which are the peculiar subiect matter of the Art of Natural Philosophie Wherefore Naturall Philosophie is comprehended in holy scripture The same also you may learne by another example are not Diuinitie and the morall parte of Philosophie both of them as they differ in kinde discerned in the holy scriptures And yet who is so rasbe and folishe that he dare deny that the Ethike or moral Philosophie yea and that most truly and generally is deliuered vnto vs in holie scripture wherefore the distinct endes of Artes and treatises are no impediment but that the Generall Naturall Philosophie and also Diuinitie are conteined in the holy Scriptures forsomuch as Natural Philosophic is as it were a parte of Diuinitie and an handmaideÌ„ vnto the same For it is a notable meane to knowe God by which thing also S Ambrose confesseth with mee What shall I saye more The Heathen Philosophers them selues when they dispute of the worlde and the creation of the partes therof and when they intreat of the nature of thinges they saye that thei play the Diuines and enter into discourse of Diuinitie as Aristotle speaketh in his booke de mundo of
the maker and creatour of this world and that all thinges were fashioned brought foorth by his hande will power And that I may not traueill in the gathering togither of these testimonies I will here recite vnto you twayne for all the one in the Psalme 104. and 29. verse If thou hyde thy face they are troubled if thou take away their breath they die and returne vnto their dust if thou send foorth thy spirite they are created and thou renuest the face of the earth the other in Isay the 45. chap. and 18. verse For thus sayth the Lorde that created heauen God hymself that formed the earth and made it hee that prepared it hee created it not in vayne hee formed it to bee inhabited And therefore the auncient Fathers commonlie termed the worlde a woorke perfectlie wrought The xvii Chapter Of the causes of the worlde and first of the cause efficient thereof which is God not Angels nor Diuells S. WHiche bee the causes of this world M There bee foure first the efficient or producing cause the materiall formall and finall S. Can you declare them seuerally vnto mee M. I will. S. Tell mee then whiche is the efficient cause M. God and hee onely S. Haue you anye reason wherby you can prooue thys your so short resolution M. Yea I haue And first Moses proueth that it was God y made this world Genesis y 1. chap. In the beginning God made heauen earth And Dauid also cōfirmeth same in y 33. Psalme and 6. verse By the woorde of the Lorde were the heauens made and all the hoste of them by the breath of his mouth For hee spake and it was doone hee commaunded and it stoode Likewise Isay in the 44. chap. And Iob the 12. chap. And finally both the newe and old Testament The same also did Anaxagoras the Philosopher signifie sum what obscurely hauing before receiued it by some auncient tradition who called the mynde that is to saye God the Creatour of all thinges who although hee were therefore laughed at by the other naturall Philosophers of his tyme yet he helde the true opinion Howbeeit the Marcionites and after them the Manichees doe vrge farther They say that this world wherin there is sutch disturbance and disorder among thinges is vnworthy to bee called or counted Gods woork For what confusion what calamitie what perturbacion is there seene in this worlde and in all these thinges where wicked men doe rule good men are vexed the Summer sometyme is colde the Haruest greeuous and daungerous and sutch other like accidentes doe happen And therfore if wee say that God made these things God is not the auctour of order in the world but of greate confusion S. But what is your opinion hereof M. They iudge amisse for God is the creatour and producyng cause of all those thinges and substaunces wherof the world consisteth and not of the confusion and disorder whiche now is and afterward came vppon them for that is the effect of mans transgression and a great part of that vanitie wherunto in the beeginnyng through Adam all thinges were subiect Romanes the 8. chap. Therefore it is not caused by GOD neither ingraffed by hym nor proceedyng from hym For hee created all thinges first good and in good order and subiect to no disorder confusion or deformitie So Romulus builded the Citie of Rome not those seditions which many hundred yeres after his death sprang vp at Rome through y ambition of men Wherfore against the Marcionites and Manichees we ought to distinguishe and deuide the thinges themselues their nature and substance from the deformitie whiche afterward hapned and came vpon them For the Heathen Philosophers themselues as Thales for example haue called this worlde a beutifull woorke and counted it woorthy of God agreate deale better than those Heretikes haue doone S. Proceede then with that which you began M. It was God therfore that created and fourmed this worlde what GOD Forsooth hee which is one in substance and three in person to wit the Father the Sunne and the holy Ghost and so is it to bee vnderstoode that God made the world to wit that it is the woorke of them all three indifferently and not either the Fathers or the Sunnes or the holy Ghosts specially or principally the woorkes also of the whole Trinitie are vndiuided althoughe the woorkemanship of either of the persons is distinct in the self same woorke S. Declare this which you spake more plainely M. Meses teacheth in the 1. of the Genesis that the Father wrought in the creation of the worlde and also the woord that is to say the Sunne like wise the holy ghost The father createth by his wil the woord or y Sunne createth by woorkinge and bringing foorth and the holy Ghost treateth by implāting of strength and nature and by giuing of motion and life whiche is in euery thinge for the bringinge foorth and preseruation therof And therfore S. Ihon in the 1. chap. and 3. and 14. verses when hee had declared that all thinges were made by the woorde hee saieth afterwarde that the same was the Sunne of god Wherfore the Sunne is and is also rightly called the creatour of the world And the holy Ghost giueth strength to liue and to mooue and also susteineth both that they may exist and liue also continue bee preserued Wherefore hee also in the creation of the world woorthily challengeth vnto himselfe some parte of so woorthie a woorke which also by Isay in the 40. chap. and 7. verse and the 41. chapter 29. verse are plainlyascribed and attributed vnto him S. There bee othersome that doe otherwise interprete this which you saye and by this name VVoorde and also the holy Ghost do not vnderstand certain substances or any thinge existing of themselues but suppose rather that thereby the meane is taught by which this worlde was made to wit not that by anye engin or frame not by ironwoorkes not by any handie crafte so hugie a mole was framed and brought foorth but onely by the commaundement and the word of Gods will that is to saye onely by the declaring and publishing of Gods decree which of it selfe is of sufficient power and efficacie M. I doe not deney but that those thinges which vnto vs of their owne nature are misticall and incomprehensible are opened and declared by suche parables set and set foorth in such wordes metaphores as by vs they may bee vnderstoode To wit that the eternall Sunne of God is called the woorde and the holie Ghost which is that diuine person substancial vertue subsistinge by it selfe and proceeding from the Father and the Sunne and is distinct notwithstāding is called a spirite But forasmuch as the scripture in an other place teacheth that that woorde is not a certain sound or declaratiō of Gods will a certeine common enuntiane or spoken woord that the spirite is not a power and vertue infused into thinges but that hee
distributing of euery part into it owne conuenient place Othersome there bee that doe attribute more vnto god For they holde opinion that the matter was a great mole from eternitie mary but matter onely and not that althinges were encluded and comprehended within it whiche the firste sorte doe also holde but that it was rude and vnshapen Which matter for that it was great GOD taking it in hande diuided it into smale peaces and as hee is a moste wise and cunninge woorkeman facioned it into sundrye fourmes And so endued euerye parte thereof with hys owne proper fourme which wee see them nowe rertaine Euen so out of one and the selfesame barre of yron cut into sundry pieces the Smith frameth forgeth a key an hammer a sawe fetters and many other thinges seruinge to sundrie purposes whereof they tearme God Demiurgus and not the creatour or maker Howbeit the scripture attributeth all this vnto god To wyt both that they bee thinges and also haue the same force power nature and fourme which wee see to bee in them And finally in that they are situate in such place and distinguished in sutch order as wee doe beeholde that they decke foorth this mole in such cumly sorte as in hugenesse beutie we do perceiue they do and in such maner as ther is no man able sufficiently to expresse Wherefore the Scripture saith that God doeth not onely Barah that is to say create And in the Greeke tongue Kâ—â—zin or Poem but also Gascha which is to say woorke And in Greeke also to doe some woorke or Demiurgin and also Iarsar that is to say to bring things into a cumly order which in the Greeke tongue is called â—â—smiâ— and that all things which are in this world which are seene do take their beeginning from God to bee thinges at all and to bee suche maner thinges as they are wee muste so determine moste certeinely with ourselues vnderstande so and confesse the same beeing thereto constrained by the force of truth S. Haue you any proofes to confirme this your opinion by M. Yea truely that especially out of these places of holy scripture Isay the 42. chapter and 5. verse the 43. chapter the 1. and 7. verses the 45. chapter the 12. 18. verses Likewise Iob the 26. chapter and 13. verse the 25. chapter 10. verse wher the onely and felfesame God is termed by so many and diuerse names The xix Chapter Of the ende for which God created and made this worlde S. WHat cause mooued God specially to make this worlde hee himselfe lacking nothing and dwelling in that euerlastinge felicitie vnto which there can bee no encrease of felicitie immortalitie added by meanes of al this gret woorke M. Euen his mere goodnes that is to saye his moste louing good will to communicate the same his felicitie vnto certeine thinges so farre foorth as the nature of those thinges whiche hee created was able to receiue the same Wherefore hee created Angels in heauen and men vpon the earth to the intent hee might make them after a sort companions and partakers of his felicitie beeing hymself most good moste louing moste perfect and also in himselfe and through himself most perfectly and wholy blessed S. How proue you this M. Both by auctoritie and reason And auctoritie is that whiche is cheifly taken out of the Scriptures as the the 36. Psalme the 5. verse Lord thy mercy stretcheth vnto the heauens Psalme 33. the 5. verse The earth is full of the mercy of the lord Psalme 34 the 9. verse See how good the Lord is and in the 103. Psalme the 17. verse The mercie of the Lord indureth from one age vnto another And in the 111. Psalme and 4. verse But specially in the 136. Psalme throughout and in the Psalme 145. and 9. verse The Lorde is good to all and his mercies are ouer all his woorkes And next out of the Fathers For S. Augustine in his 1. booke of Genesis vpon the letter the 8. chapter and also is his Enchiridion the 9. booke sayeth plainly that the only goodnes of God was the cause wherefore God made all these things The same is likewise affirmed by Ireneus in his third boooke the 45. and 46. chapters and also by Fulgentius in his booke de fide ad Petr. the 3. chapt And if you will also commend Heathen writers in this respect you haue Plato in Timeo a most graue auctour among them who beeing led by a naturall light and the testimonie of his owne conscience wrote in this maner whiche Cicero hath expressed is his booke de vniuersitate Let vs thaÌ„ seeke out the cause which mooued hym that made these thinges to beegin a new originall and frame of thinges Hee was good And hee that is good enuieth no man. And therefore some say thus God knew and would haue his felicitie to bee communicated to others For although that the diuine goodnes is and was in God most fully and most perfectly without al these thinges as it appeareth in the 60. Psalme and is also kepte vndefiled Notwithstandyng these things which are created are manifestatiue as they speake in the scholes do declare the excellencie of Gods goodnes that is to saye they shewe that the same goodnes is altogether agreeable vnto god This muche say they S. I haue heard the auctorities declare now the reasons M. Forasmuche as there proceedeth nothyng from vs men neither from the blessed and elect Angels wherby God may be more established in respect of his eternitie or more blessed in respect of his state and condicion as it is written in the 16. Psalme and 2. verse for it is not possible that any thing should bee added vnto hym who of himself is altogether perfect truely ther was no neede that draue him to make these thinges but only this one cause to wit his owne louing good will. Wherefore like as it is writen in the 3. chapter to Titus the 4. verse that the mere goodnes of GOD was the cause of mans saluation so was it also the cause of mans creation And if it were the cause of men doubtlesse it was also the cause of the creation of all other thinges The xx Chapter This world cannot bee called the Sunne of God. S. I Do wel vnderstand so much as you haue hetherto sayd of God who is the efficient cause of thys world not as a woorkeman onely or a discriber or painter or trimmer vp but rather as a creator and a bringer foorth of it out of nothyng Tell mee now this one thing more whether in respect of these causes this world may bee called the Sunne of God M. You renue an old question which S. Augustine plainly discusseth in his Enchiridion the 38. and 39. chapters Truely if we will speake properly and to vnderstandyng this world neither can nor ought bee called the Sun of god First bicause it is not made of the substance of god For they that are properly called
Ecclesiast the 8. chapter and 11. verse Wherfore wheÌ„ this age and figure of this worlde is past this order of thinges shall perishe also the 1 â–ª to the Corinthians the 7. chapter and 30. verse the 1. Epistle of S. Peter the 3 chapter the 4. and 7. verses but it shall continue vntill that time For the Hebrues themselues do plainle signifie that this worlde shall one day haue an end callinge the same worlde by the name of Chadel Psalme 39. verse 5. S. By which definition therefore or by whiche of those three significations muste the worlde bee taken in this disputation M. By the fyrst S. What is the worlde M. The worlde is not onely a certeine comprehensyon and heapinge togither of all these visible thinges but also a most orderly and wise distinction ordeined by God in euery kinde and space whereof hee made heauen and earth to bee the extreame partes S. Whence doe you prooue this your definition M. First out of the verie same places of the scripture by whiche I prooued that all thinges visible and whiche can bee seene are the matter of this Arte and also by that the scripture for the most part vseth to tearme the most excellently and beutifully ordered frame of thys whole worlde by the name of the worlde as in Genesis the 24. Chapter and 22. verse the 2. Chapter the 4. verse Mathew the 11. Chapter the 25. verse and in other places also almost infinite S. Why haue you comprehended both these pointes in your definition to wit that the worlde is not onely a general compreheÌ„sion of al things togither but also of them seuerally distinguished M. Bycause if wee wil conceiue in our minde confusedly all thinges whereof this world consisteth and is diforderly heaped togither or lyinge one vpon an other not yet disposed into any order but as it were the rubbishe of some house that were fallen downe or as it were stuffe prepared to build some house withall such an heape of thinges can not yet bee called a worlde It is rather that whiche the Grecians both Poetes others tearmed by the name of Chaos the Hebrues call the same Bohu that is to say a disordered heape from whiche some thinke the woord Chaos was deriued by a smal chauÌ„ge to wit of the letter B. into C. as though the Grecians beeing disdainfull hearers and vnskilfull Schollars had vnderstoode the woord rather after that maner Hereof that phrase and maner of speaking in the Latine toungue is knowne whiche Verrius the learned Grammarian hath noted that in the olde tyme the auncient people called the world Cohum and from thence this woord inâ—hâ—are to beeginne and leaue vnperfect was deriued But by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrues the 3. chapter and 4. verse the worlde is called an houshold and compared to a familie well and orderly disposed neither is it a disordered heape in deede The. ix Chapter Whether the world may truely and Christianly bee called an vniuersalitie S. BUt in that this world is by some Latine Writers called vniuersitas an vniuersalitie and by the Grecians all and the whole doo you allow of it M. Although I know that so proud a name as that is doth scarce please well some very well learned and godly men notwithstanding forasmuche as graue auctours and also Ecclesiasticall Fathers and writers haue vsed that woorde truely I iudge that it is not to bee reiected For S. Augustine in his Enchirid the 10. chapt and in the 8. booke and 25. chapt of Genesis accordyng to the Letter and Tertullian also in some place and Ireneus likewise in the 2. booke and 12. is not afeard to vse this woord for the world that I may not also commende vnto you in this respecte S. Ambrose and S. Basill whose opinions perhaps may bee confirmed out of the 3. chap. and 4. verse of the E. pistle to the Hebrues For although besides this visible world there bee other creatures of God and those also many very excellent beutifull as are the Angels and the seates of the Sainctes and blessed men and this name vniuersalitie seemeth to bee an arrogant and bold name yet all men knowe in what sense they call it so and how wee ought to vnderstand it to wit that the worlde is an vniuersalitie not of all Gods creatures but of those onely that can bee seen and are corporall S. Hetherto concernyng the name of the world now let vs come to the thing it self M. Yes for so the order of the disputation requireth The. x. Chapter Whether the worlde and the thinges that are conteined therein bee sound bodies or certeine shadowes onely S. WHat things therfore may there bee taught out of holie Scripture concernynge the world M. Many thinges truelie and those all moste woorthy too bee knowne whiche apperteine too the praise and admiration of God the Creatour wherof some declare the nature of the world and othersome the causes of it S. Whiche bee they that declare the nature of the world and of this whole vniuersalitie M. Those questions for the most part whiche are diuersly tossed either by Heretikes or by Philosophers S. Which is the first of them M. Whether this world and the thinges therein conteined bee substances that is to say certaine sound bodies and natures truelye and in deede subsisting or whether thei bee certeine shadowes onely and the representations and images of thinges S. How should they bee so M. Bicause not onely Plato will haue all thinges that are here to bee the images of certein ideae or patterns and the shadowes onely of true natures whiche are in heauen and remaine in Gods minde but also the Valentinian heretikes contend that whatsoeuer thinges are in this world are onely the meere imagies of their Eternities and representations and transitorie shadowes of them In confirmation of whiche their opinion they alleage the testimonie of S. Paule the 1. Epistle the 7. chap. and 31. verse to the Corinthians The figure of this world saith hee passeth away as though they were but vaine shewes and no sound bodies whatsoeuer thinges wee beeholde here with our eyes what manner thing that was which the Poet described in these woordes And but his learned guide instruct hym did to let go by Those flittering teÌ„der fourmes not to touch those shapes that fly Whiche nothing bin but life and substance none but likenesse thin Hee would with them haue fought and did in vaine to beate beegin S. Can you answere vnto this M. Yea. S. How I praie you M. Firste as touching Plato let vs bid hym farewell for that hee is not onely an Academike and doubtfull of minde and vncertein in euery thing but also an Ethnike and nothing beelonging vnto vs Christians for the thinges that are without beelong not vnto vs as S. Paule sayeth But as touching the Valentinians who would bee called Christians they are sufficiently confuted and most sharply reprooued by S. Ireneus in the 2. booke and 7. chap.
S. Tell mee why you iudge wee should thinke so M. First for asmutch as when the holie Scripture doeth diligently reckon vp the special visible works of God wherein his maiestie and omnipotencie may easilye bee perceiued hee maketh mention of this one worlde only and not of any other Whiche if there had bine many doubtlesse hee would haue made mention of them For that poinct had made verie mutch to the settyng foorth of Gods glorie and power Moreouer what is their state order condition fall constancie Sauiour and Jesus what likewise is their life euerlasting and from whence commeth the saluation of this second or third world it is no where declared neither in what sort these other worldes were made and created but al these thinges are expressed concernyng this one onely Wherefore it must needes bee either that those worldes were made by some other God or that they came of themselues both whiche opinions are plainly blasphemous Or if they bee created by the same God by whiche this was whiche wee dwell in why doeth the Scripture speake nothing of it Surely there can bee no probable reason alleaged of so enuious and daungerous silence And therefore it came to passe that the auncient fathers in fore time did verie well thinke and gather that there is but one God bicause there is but one worlde and cōtrariwise that there is but one worlde bicause there is but one god Moreouer all this framing of manye and sundrie worldes how foolish and childishe is it For why should God make many worldes since hee might cōprehend althing more commodiouslie in one and the same beeyng of so greate receite whiche hee ment to comprehende in those diuerse and sundrye worldes But as it is commonly and truely sayd God and Nature make nothyng in vaine and that is vainlye and rashlye doone by moe things which may bee doone by fewer For admit that GOD had created moe in number those worldes shoulde differ in number onely and not in kinde or likenesse What neede hee then to create one maner of thing so often To conclude whē the selfe same Scripture oftentymes addeth the Greek article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when it speaketh of the world the auctoritie of S. Iohn in the 1. chap. and 10. verse witnesseth that there are not many but one onely and that a certeine one For the article whiche is ioyned vnto it doeth signifie a certeine and sure thing But if wee graunte that there bee manie worldes euen by the very same reason wee must confesse that they are in number infinite I let passe those absurdities whiche notwithstanding doe necessarily followe to wit that neuer almost wee should haue any Eclipses of the Sunne or Moone Yea wee should neuer haue night since one Sunne or another of one of the other worlds should either rise vnto vs when ours goeth downe or else should shine in the middes of Heauen when ours is shadowed and in the Eclipse S. But why did not God make manye worldes M. Truely not by reason of any impotencie or lacke of power since that hee is omnipotente Not that hys senses were exhausted in the framinge of so huge a mole or his strength weried for hee made althinge with his woord onely as it appeareth in the 33. Psalme Not also that it happened so for wante of matter as the Peripatetikes suppose for that all the matter that was prepared was spent in makinge of the bodie of so great a frame For hee that coulde firste make thys so great a worlde of nothing coulde if hee had lusted haue prepared matter for him selfe to make infinite other worlds of But this is onely the cause that ther were not many worlde 's made bycause God woulde not for hee made whatsoeuer hee woulde Psalme 115. and 3. verse But why hee would not it may bee the cause is not knowne to vs notwithstandinge it cannot bee an vniust cause hee himselfe sawe that thys worlde was an argument great ynough vnto vs to set foorth the cōmendation and renoume of his wonderfull mercye and iustice who knoweth all thynge and therefore hee created this one onely The xii Chapter VVhether this worlde bee finite S. BUT is this worlde finite as some doe dispute M. It is not onely one but it is also finite and hath boundes S. Howe prooue you that M. Bycause that is finite whose extreame partes may plainely and perfectly bee shewed but the Scripture hath appointed heauen and earth to bee the extreame partes and endes of this worlde whereof Heauen is the farthest and the earth the nearest as it appeareth in the 20 chap. of Exo. 11. verse and Genesis the 2. chapter and 2. verse and also in other places Wherfore truely it cannot bee doubted but that it is finite Moreouer what difference shoulde there bee noted to bee beetweene the Creator and the Creature if as hee is infinite and without measure the creature also shoulde bee infinite diffuse and without measure Finally there shoulde bee two infinites appoynted which by no meanes can bee indeede or bee defended The xiii Chapter whether this worlde bee sphericall and rounde S. I Remember althinges which you haue hetherto confirmed to wit that this world is substantiall not a shadowe that it is one not many and finally that it is a certeine finite masse comprehension and not infinite and thereunto adde also the residue M First this is wount to bee demaunded what is the forme of this worlde and specially of this body with in the compasse whereof all these thinges are conteyned for that some will haue it to bee sphericall or rounde as Aristotle othersome of the facion and likenesse of the figure Icosaidron rownde compassinge with a greate manye of Angles or Corners heere and there in the top as Plato Others plaine and flat like a skin stretched foorth abroode as S. Basill others giue it other formes and those also diuerse as the Greeke writer Cleomides reporteth in his title of the contemplation of circles S. Is there any of those opinions true M. God he knoweth Wee who in no place of his woord doe reade these matters plainely determined vnlesse parhaps some man will alleag that which is written in Iob the 22. Chapter and 14. verse and there is mention also made of the sphere of the earth in Isay the 40. chapter and 22. verse and in S. Iames the 3. chapter and 6. verse to the ende hee might prooue that thys worlde and also the outmost heauen are rounde like a circle or a wheele doe oftentimes fall are drawne into contrarie opinions Uerily that the worlde is rounde it seemeth vnto mee much the more probable by that which is written as I haue saide in Iob the the 20. chapter and 14. verse and in Eccles the 24. chapter and 8. verse both for that it is the most beutifull and widest forme of all other by whiche it was needefull that a compasse which shoulde conteyne in the bosome thereof so many thinges shoulde
one out of holy Scripture as the strongest of them al. To wit that by this meanes the goodnes and wisedome of God who giueth vnto euery thing and ingraffeth within them their proper and distincte vertues is not only obscured but vtterly extinguished and plucked out of mennes mindes whiles wee attribute these vertues the administration and gouernment of those thinges not vnto GOD hymselfe but vnto a certaine other nature and soule contrarie to that whiche wee are taught too beeleeue and confesse Psalme 147. and 15. and 16. verses To the Ephesians the 3. chapter verse 20. and Iob the viii chapter the 5. verse S. If then there bee not one certeine soule of this whole vniuersalitie as you teache truely the opinion of the Stoikes Platonikes and of certeine other Philosophers and likewise of the Priscillianist Heretikes is ouerthrowen who say that this worlde is a liuyng creature and indued with will and reason M. You gather wel For their opinion is altogether foolish and vnreasonable For since that is only a liuyng creature and so to bee called whose partes and members are not conteined only in one continuall compas of the bodie but also gouerned by one spirite verely this worlde is not a liuyng creature For the mēbers thereof are disioyned and separate As for the auctoritie of the Stoikes and other Philosophers which you named erewhile it should mooue vs verie little had not S. Augustine sometyme written that hee doubted whether this worlde were a liuyng creature or not whiche thyng as hee would not deny so durst hee not affirme whose doubt notwithstandyng we ought not to followe or allowe of The xv Chapter That this world was made in tyme and is not eternall S. BUt I aske you this question whether this world beegan sometime to bee or whether it were alwayes and bee eternall M. Many argumentes doe prooue that the world once beegan to bee among whiche all Philo in his booke De Mundo of the worlde hath gathered fiue speciall ones We wil declare ours and those whiche bee most Christian S. Whiche be they M. These foure First the voyce and auctoritie of the diuine Scripture whiche speaketh in this maner In the beeginnyng God made heauen and earth Genesis the 1. chapter and 1. verse The second reason is certeine For if the world were coeternall with GOD it selfe also were God for eternitie is not only proper to diuine nature but also the most it selfe substance therof and the principall part and definition Exodus the 2. chapt and 14. verse Reuelat. the 1. chap. and 8. verse The thirde that forasmuch as this world shall haue an ende and euery thing hath meanes whereby it doth consist it followeth necessarily that it had a beeginnyng of beeyng For although that bee truely sayde not whatsoeuer had a beeginnyng shall haue an ende forasmuche as there bee many thinges made which through the singulare benefite of God are not subiect to death and corruption as Angels and the soules of men whiche are immortall notwithstandyng it is moste certeinly affirmed that whatsoeuer shall haue an ende the same also had beeginnyng of beeing Which Rule is so generall that it admitteth no exception Finally the fourth is this that not onely the causes of the creation of the worlde are set downe and also the certeine tyme noted but also for the preseruation of the perpetuall memory therof there are certeine spaces of tyme prescribed as the order of weekes doe plainly teache and also the space of fiftie yeares which is called by the Hebrues the yere of Iubile whiche God hymself commaunded to bee obserue whereby wee might easely knowe and vnderstande how many ages are past since the first beeginning of the world S. Concerning that auctority whiche you alleage out of the Scripture and the 1. chapter of Genesis some doe otherwise interprete it They graunte that all these things indeede were made in the beeginnyng but not in tyme For the meaning and signification of a beeginnyng or of this woord principium is manifolde and in that place they saye it must not bee vnderstoode of the beeginning of tyme. M. The signification of a beeginnyng or of this woord principium is threefold For it respecteth either the time either the thing the causes or else the order The beginnynge of time in those things which are brought forth in a certein time is that moment of an houre either wherein they are conceiued or are brought foorth into the world Those thinges haue onely the beeginnyng of tyme which are doone in tyme That which is called the beginning of a thing and is taken for the cause in those thinges which are of one age and time is that relation and affection whereby one thyng is the cause of the beeing of another So if wee make a conference beetweene the day and the night wee saye that the Sun is the beeginning of the daye and light although both of them do appeere vnto vs at one moment Sutch a beeginning a diuerse or certeine time doth not establish Finally a beeginnyng in respect of order is called that which ministreth the beeginnyng of numbryng in sutch thinges as are disposed in one order as for example The father is the beginning among the three persons in trinitie which are one god y magistrate is one amōg many of like auctoritie with whō in telling we do begin like as we do with our cheif Magistrate or Judge in this our Citie of Geneua S. In this respect then they woulde haue God to bee the beginninge of this worlde as beeinge the cause and woorkeman therof as hee that is first numbred is called the beginninge M. Marke howe absurde this is Firste what shall bee the sence and meaning of this saying In the beeginnyng God made heauen and earth if so be they wil thus expound it God in the beeginnyng that is to saye God in God created heauen and earth Moreouer why saide hee did create which woorde doth not onely determine a beginning of beeing but also the force of woorking and a determinate beeginning of time is therein manifestly comprehended and included Beesides will wee nill wee by this reason we shal fall into that damnable heresie of the Hermogenians who make the woorke to bee eternall with the woorkeman and so wee muste needes make moe Gods than one Of which errour me thinketh I shoulde speake sumwhat more at large were it not that Tertullian longe science had vtterly ouerthrowne it in a whole woorke yea the Scripture it selfe doth manifestly expounde this sayinge of Moses of the beeginning of time Prouerbes the 8. Chap. and verses 25. 27. and 28. Hee vseth also the same woords and the same comparison whē hee speaketh of the beginninge of the worlde wherein there muste needes bee vnderstood a beginning and moment of tyme and of beeing Neither can that which S. Paule repeateth so often speakinge of the beginning of the world bee vnderstoode of the laying of the foundations thereof to the Ephesi the 1. Chapter and
4. verse and wheras in an other place he calleth certain tymes seculare the 2. to Timothie the 2. Chapter and 9. verse to Titus the 1. Chapter and 2. verse vnlesse that wee confesse that all these thinges had a certeine time of beginning and beeing What are these eternall and seculare tymes what ugnifieth this woord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is there not vnderstod therby a laying of the foundacions in time and doth hee not terme those times seculare whiche passed away and must bee numbred from the moment and pricke of time wherein all these thinges began to bee made In which point Sainet Augustine agréeth with vs in his booke againste the Priscillianists the 6. chapter To bee shorte howe shoulde the ages of those auncient men Adam Enoch Noah also the time of the vniuersall flood bee knowne how far distant it is since the beeginninge of the woorlde if there were no beeginning of time in which the world was made In so much as I meruaile what shoulde mooue certaine Ecclesiasticall writers to doubt thereof and specially S. Augustine a man so much exercised in the scriptures as namely in his booke of Genesis vpon the letter althoughe also afterwarde hee bee altogither variable in defending the same and manye times diuerse and dissentinge from him selfe S. But ther bee some that obiect two auctorities which are repugnaunt to your opinion whereof the first is that which is written in the 18. chapter and 5. verse of Ecclesi GOD made althing at once wherevnto I praye you to answere first M. It shall bee an easie matter so to doe For if I lyste I coulde aunswere that which as I suppose wee haue already agreed vpon that the auctoritie of this booke is farre to bee remooued and separated from the Diuine canonicall Scriptures And therefore it prooueth nothing Howbeit I had rather say that that is true which is confirmed by the woordes of the texte and that the place is corruptly translated in this maner God made all thinge at once for the meaninge of the aucthours woordes is this Hee that liueth for euer made all thinges togither hee saith altogither Wherfore wee are taught to acknowledge one onely aucthour and creatuor of all thinges as Ireneus sayth in the 4. booke and 21. chapter it is not there affirmed that all thinges that are created had there beeing beeginninge or were all made in one moment or that they were frō euerlasting or without beeginning of time This is therfore the signification of this woorde Pariter togither to wit that the power to create all thinges is giuen to one and not to many For the same booke in the 16. Chapter and 25. verse setteth downe howe that created things were disposed and made in certein order and time Howbeit I am not ignorant howe much the signification and readinge of this onely woorde Pariter togither did oftentimes trouble S. Augustine in the 5. booke and 3. Chap and also in his 6. booke and 6. Chapter of Genesis vpon the letter ▪ and also many other of the Fathers Thus haue you mine answere to your firste obiection to wyt that for at once you must vnderstande togyther Nowe tell me your other aucthoritie S. They alleage also that whiche is written in S. Iohns Gospell the 1. chapter and 1. verse In the beginnyng was the woord Now if you think that this woord beginnyng is to bee referred to time then must you most impiously affirme that the woord or the Sun of God which is signified thereby had his beeginning in some time and is not eternall M. Truely wee should bee hardly vrged by so great auctoritie of the Scripture vnlesse the matter it selfe whereof wee intreate did minister vnto vs the dissoluing and exposition of this difficultie Wee haue alreadie declared howe that the signification of this woord principium or beeginnyng is sundrie wherfore it ought too bee taken accordyng to the reason and nature of the thyng whereof wee dispute And you see how S. Iohn plainly saith that this woord or Sunne of GOD was not created in the beginning but that it was in the beeginning when God created all thinges so that S. Iohn setteth this his In the beginnyng was against the saying of Moses and creation of all things where the Scripture speaketh thus In the beginnyng God created heauen and not thus in the beginning was heauen And moreouer S. Iohn teacheth that the same woord of God is also the same god And that woord sayeth hee was god But that whiche is God can haue no beeginning of tyme Wherfore the same is most falsly expounded and vnderstoode of time and beeginnyng of existencie in Christ And therefore this woord Beeginnyng hath another signification in that place too wit that by whiche S. Iohn excludeth all beeginnyng of time to the ende that so far as our mindes are able by thinkyng too looke backe and to stretche foorthe themselues wee may not withstanding beeleue moste assuredly that beefore that woorde and Sunne of GOD had beeing and had a distinct substance from the Father By whiche meanes of speaking eternitie is accustomably signified in the Scriptures as it appeareth in the 8. of the Prouerbes And also by the selfe same testimonie of S. Iohn it is declared how that all these thinges were made and brought foorthe in the beeginning of tyme for they were not in the beeginning as was the woorde but they were made for asmuch as they were not in the beeginning The xvi Chapter That the worlde came of it selfe S. NOw since you haue prooued that the worlde had a beeginning of beeing I praye you declare whether it came of it selfe or of some other M I suppose there is no man though hee bee but slenderly learned in the Scriptures that doubteth concernyng this poinct to wit that the worlde came not of it selfe but of another to wit of god For if it came of it selfe it should also bee immortall and eternall and not made in tyme For it were then of abilitie to minister force vnto it selfe to endure perpetually and it should also haue alwayes bene And besides this it should bee a god For what soeuer is of it self and hath life substance must needs be god Forasmuch as the Creatour differeth frō the creature in that respect especially in that the Creatour is and subsisteth by his own power and vertue and the creatures onely by his power and assistance Worthily therfore S. Augustine in his Enchiridion No man saith hee can bee of hymself The omnipotencie of the Creator and the vertue of hym that is omnipotent and possesseth all thyng is the cause of euery creatures subsisting Whosoeuer therefore shall deny this to wit that this world was made by the wil and power of God but will contende that it had the force and vertue in it selfe of beeing plainly repugneth against the whole sacred Scriptures For there is no thing almost better knowne or more oftner inculcated into our eares than that God is
is God and the verie same that is called the dweller in our hartes Iohn the 1. chap. the 3. verse and the 1. to the Corinth the 6. Chapter the 19. verse both which persōs since it is taught in the scriptures in sundrie places that they wrought with the Father in the creation of the worlde howe can it bee doubted but that our opinion is right and true S. Foorth then declare whether God created all these thyngs alone M. Yea alone S. How prooue you that M. Out of the 44. Chapter and 24. verse of Isay I am the Lorde that made althinges that spread out the heauens alone and stretched out the earth by my selfe And Iob the 41. Chapter the 2. and 3. verse and to bee short this is the generall doctrine of the scriptures The same is also confirmed by reason For hee is alone which calleth those things that are not and brought them foorth into the lyght and finally hee alone is the aucthor and Father of all thinges S. But with what and howe manie armies of gaynsaiers are you nowe compassed about M. I am not ignorant of that For I shall bee uexed almost with innumerable rables of Heretikes Heathen Philosophers but Gods woord shall sufficiently defende mee and his holy trueth shall stande for me against them all S. Tell mee then what were those heretikes opinions or rather errours in that point M. I will gather them togither out of Ireneus cheifly out of the 1. and 2. booke Some of the Heretikes will haue it that this worlde was first thought vpon and conceiued in minde by one God and procreated and made by another as certaine of the Valentinians and Carpocratians do affirme Othersome by a certain other nature and farre differinge vertue than which ought to bee called a God and which gouerneth althing by whom they suppose this worlde to haue beene made as Corinthus held opinion whom at sumtime they termed Hystera a belly or a wombe at another Demiurgus a pronouncer of lawes doe distinguish him from the same whome they will haue to bee the true God call Propator Some again thinke that the world was made by angels only and not by God as the Simonians and Menandrians so many are the wandrings awry whē a man hath once departed out of the right way S. What say the Philosophers M. They holde opinion that the worlde was made by their deuils whiche they call Angels and make them to differ from the greate God in whole kinde as doe the Platonikes As for Epicurus who sayeth that thys world came by chaunce I accoumpt hym not among the number of Philosophers and as for the opinions of the other I haue no leasure now to rehearse them S. What haue you nowe to alleage against so greate a power of your aduersaries M. The woord of GOD and the reason also whiche is confirmed by the same Philosophers The woord of God that forasmuch as it is the proper and peculiare attribute or title beelongyng to GOD onely to bee a creatour the same cannot agree with Angels or any other thing My glory will I not giue to another saieth the lord c. Isay chap. 42. verse 8. and chap. 45. verse 12. Moreouer we should make so many seuerall Gods as there bee Angels creatours For who so createth the same also giueth and susteineth life and his woorke dependeth altogether of hym and of hym it hath it only beeing Wherefore the Angels also shal bee life giuers and susteiners Goddes and Iehouah that is to saye giuers of existence Whiche thing how mutch it repugneth against Scripture it may bee vnderstoode out of the 45. chap. and 18. verse of Isay Whereupon also S. Augustine in his 3. booke and 8. chapter of the Trinitie woorthily and truely denieth with vs that neither the diuels nor Magicians are able to create one S. Can you alleage any reason or opinion to be liked of that is defended by any of the Philosophers M. Yea this one to wit The nature of beeginnings loueth singularitie And therfore Aristotle reciteth and commendeth the woorthie opinion of Homer It is not good that many rule Let one our ruler bee who vsing likewise the same argument in his 12. booke of Metaphysikes affirmeth that there is one chief most excellent God among the residue who is King souereigne aboue them al. The same opinion hath S. Augustine also embraced in his first booke of marriage the 9. chapter and vndoubtedly experience it self teacheth that it is a most true saying Thus can hee also make small thinges that made the greate and the same God that made high thinges bringeth foorthe and fourmeth the lowe things also for hee is almightie as Father Ireneus saieth in his 2. booke and 44. chap. so that it is not onely not necessarie that there should bee many creatours of this world appointed but it is also against the nature of beginninges and the omnipotencie of God that there should bee more than one The. xviii Chapter That the world and all thinges that are therein were made by God of nothyng and not onely decked foorth or set in order or brought foorth out of a certeine disordred heape or matter whiche was extant beefore S. BUt after what maner or in what sense doe you saye that God is the producent and efficient cause of this world M. In respect that hee hath not onely giuen power and beutie vnto thinges but first hath brought foorth and made them out of nothinge hauing no matter preexisting or going beefore which is properly called to create S. Is there anye notablenesse or excellencie in the signification of that woorde which may bee reputed peculiare and proper to the power of God M. Yea mary For by that meanes GOD is verie farre separated from all sortes of other woorkmen and also from all other kindes of causes as are parents and seruants or else the naturall powers S. How so M. For that no woorkman bee hee neuer so mightie and skilfull is able to make anye thyng vnlesse hee haue stuffe ministred vnto him for if he haue no stuffe hee is able to make nothing Take away yron from the Smith timber from the Carpendour yearne from the Weauer what other good can they doe but stand still gaping in their shoppes For euerie Arte and occupation requireth naturally to haue some stuffe prepared for it wheruppon afterwarde it woorketh and bringeth foorth sundrie fourmes Yea not the causes themselues and powers whiche are termed naturall and are proper to euery thing are able to bring foorth any thing without conuenient matter and stuffe alotted vnto them For if a man searche throughly the greatest and whole vertues of the natures of all thinges notwithstandyng hee shall finde that to bee true which is generally spokē by the natural Philosophers Nothyng is made of nothyng Who euer reaped Wheate or Barly without sowing who euer saw trees growe without planting settinge or springing from some berrie or kernell or
hearbes and flowers without seede or slippe But hee that is the true creatour hee maketh his matter and stuffe in whiche and of which hee woorketh of nothing hee hath it not alreadie prepared or ministred from some other place But to saie that the matter was coeternall with God himselfe or existing of it selfe and to deny that it was firste made and brought foorth by God out of nothing is not the part of Christians but plainly of the Hermogenian heretikes So that there is a moste large distinction beetweene creation and engendring Those thinges are created whiche are made of no substanciall or materiall beeginnyng Those are engendred or made not whiche are made out of nothing but out of a former substance and matter Wherefore neither good Angels nor bad nor diuelles bee or ought to bee called creatours mutch lesse men for it is onely proper to God to create whiche these places following doe confirme to wit S. Augustine in his 3. booke of the Trinitie the 8. chap. Isay the 45. chapt Iob the 26. chapt the 33 Psalme Actes the 17. chap. and 24. verse Yet am I not ignorant notwithstandyng what othersome doe dispute against this that the power of creating may also bee giuen vnto creatures S. But there be many thinges that doe withstand your opinion M. What bee they S. First that whiche your selfe alleaged and is a moste certeine position among the naturall Philosophers and confirmed in all mens iudgementes by continual experience Nothyng is made of nothyng How then should God haue made al these thinges if so bee that hee had no matter prepared to his hand that is to say if hee had nothing to make them of M. Truely this is an olde obiection and often repeated by Heathen men in expoundyng whereof Iustine the Martyr or whosoeuer he was else that answered the obiections of the Ethnikes hee tooke great paines therin which difficultie mee thinkes I can easilye resolue First in that the insinite incomprehensible omnipotencie of God the creatour is not only a misse but peruersly called to the lawes of nature which was made and created For what is that other than to go about to make the creature equall to the Creatour But as the Lorde witnesseth that his thoughtes doe differ farre from ours so likewise is the force power farre discrepant from ours and farre excelling the strength and vertue of this nature Iob the 10. chapter and 45. verse Now if a man woulde thus conclude At this present and since the tyme that the Lorde appointed this order that nothing shoulde bee made of nothing there is nowe nothing made without matter readye and prepared beefore Wherefore in the beeginning and before that God had ordeined these lawes it toke place then neither coulde anye thinge bee made other wise Your selfe perceiue how much they are deceiued that doe so conclude As for example if a man would thus dispute that in the beeginning the first trees at the same verie instant wherin God made them could not bring foorthe their fruites bicause y now adaies they bee not so forwarde but neede longer time to beare and ripen them if a man I say shoulde reason thus euerie body woulde laughe him to skorne and woulde perceiue that hys sayinge were falfe out of Isay the 46. chapter and â–ª 8. verse and not onely out of the first Chapter of Moyses For whoso were of that opinion were deceiued through great ignorance and confusion of diuerse tymes and conditions which amonge thinges are to bee distinguished And euen so they who as you say doe obiect against the first creation of thinges That Nothing is made of nothing bycause that nowe nothing is made of nothing hee disputeth of most different and vnlike times and conditions To wit from the nature whiche was to bee created and not yet tied by any law vnto the nature created which is now reuoked constrained by sure certein lawes Which kynde of conclusion S. Augustine also laugheth at in his booke 2. booke against Pelagia the 25. Chapter Thus haue you my answere vnto that most common and vsuall argument of the Philosophers What is the seconde argument which you say may be brought against vs S. The aucthoritie which they alleage out of the xi cha and 18. verse of the booke of VVisedome For vnto thyne almightie hande that made the worlde out of a rude and vnfourmed matter there lacked no strength to sende a multitude of beares or of fierce Lions amonge them Ergo the worlde was made of rude and vnformed matter and not of nothyng To which opinion Sainct Augustine seemeth to agree in the 3. booke the 5. and 6. Chapters of the Trinitie For hee sayth that There is a certaine common matter consisting in the causes of the worlde M. Indeede this which you doe aleage hath seemed vnto some to bee a verie forceable argument And therfore the materiar heretikes which are called also the Hermogenians doe chiefly staye themselues vppon that against whom Tertullian hath writen manye noble and learned woorkes And that I may saye nothinge of the aucthoritie of that booke lyke as I sayde beefore notwithstanding I will answere this which is most true that it is there taught and beleeued that the same rude and vnformed matter out of which it is said the worlde was made was first created by GOD of nothing not out of any other matter wrought or supplied for so shoulde wee runne foorth infinitely neithere existinge of it selfe for then shoulde it bee verye god But whosoeuer he was that wrote that booke hee wrote in such manner out of the opinion whiche was then receiued and knowne amonge the Hebrue Rabbines and was afterward alowed of and embraced of all to wit that heauen and earth which two are saide in the 1. of Genesis to haue beene created the firste daye were as it were the first matter of Gods woorkes which were created afterwarde whiche God by his mightie vertue prepared vnto him self and cast togither ministred first rudely whereby afterwarde hee might finishe and forme the residue of that so greate a woorke And as touching Sainct Augustine they that alleage him against vs do altogither wreast hys auctority For S. Augustine intreateth not there of the first matter of thys whole worlde as though hee would haue it to bee one or feigned or imagined it to bee coeternall with God but hee speaketh of the seconde matter through which as in thinges nowe alreadye created one thinge sprunge of an other by the commaundement of GOD as out of the earth trees and beastes and as at thys daye also they are made and doe proceede There was foresowne saith hee eeuen in those thinges the matter of such thinges as arose and sprung out of them the 3. booke of Genesis vppon the letter the 14. chapter and the 2. booke the 15. chapter and the 1. booke the 14. and 15. Chapter and the 5. booke the 5. chap. S. Thirdly they saye that that is not the
proper and naturall force and signification of this woorde Create For in the 43. chap. and 13. verse of Isay the Lorde calleth himselfe the creatour of Israell which people notwithstandinge are knowne to haue beene borne of seede And againe in in the 65. Chapter and 18. verse of the same Prophet he saith Beeholde I create Hierusalem Whiche place whether it bee vnderstoode of the citizens or of the citie it selfe it is certayne that God made neyther of them without seede or matter but the men of the one and the Citie of the other For this woorde Barah is vsed in both places so that I am of opinion that wee ought not to sticke to religiously or percisely to the interpretation of one poore woorde Likewise they alleage this saying of the same Prophete Beeholde I create a newe heauen and a newe earth When as indeede the Lorde will onely renue these bodyes which nowe are heauen and earth and not make theÌ„ again of nothing M. It is writen in Isay as you say But these places doe plainly confirme mine opinion much lesse confute it For the woorde create is taken Metaphorically and wrested a litle from the proper significatioÌ„ wherby the power of God may appeare the greater more excellent in restoringe his people and holy Citie beesides al hope and other thinges beesides all ordinarie meanes For lyke as the thinges that are created are beesides the course of nature made of nothinge so likewise bycause the Lord promiseth that hee will restore and renue his people and Citie hee vseth properly the woorde of creating for that this which the Lord will woorke is as it were a new creation and a certayne wonÌ„derfull bringing foorth and generation out of nothinge Althoughe I will not deney but that the signification of this word Barah is ofteÌ„times translated and vsed more largely as when it is sayd Create a cleane hart within mee O God the 51. Psalme and 12. verse and againe The seat of the frowarde createth iniquitie Psalme 94. and 20. verse Of this sayinge and opinion of Sainct Augustine that I maye saye so much by the licence of so woorthy a man I doe not well alowe Who in his first booke against the aduersaries of the lawe and the Prophetes the 23 chap writeth thus And when there is anye difference made beetweene makinge and creatinge this maye bee the oddes beetwene those two woordes as I sayde that that is made which beefore was not at all and that created which is ordeyned of sumthinge that was beefore Hee distinguished those two woordes Make and Creat toto subtily whiche oftentimes are vsed one for an other S. How then should it bee M. Thus the Scripture plainly defineth to wit that God is the creatour of the world that is to say of all thinges that are who made framed brought foorth them all out of nothing and not out of any matter preexisting or made to his hande or whiche is coeternall with God himself or ministred vnto him by some other woorking God as the Manichees doe suppose For that opinion induceth two Goddes and in making twayne it leaueth none For either there is no God or there is but one Finally as saith S. Ambrose God should bee onely the diuiser of the figure and not the maker of Nature and hee had founde and receiued more than hee had made if there had bin any matter readie to his hande S. But there bee some that saie that this matter is signified in the scripture by this woorde Tohu where vpon afterward the Grecians and the Philosophers who receiued those thinges first of the Hebrues and of the Phenicians neere borderers to the Hebrues whiche thei haue written concernyng the beeginnyng of the worlde thei deuised this woorde Hyle by a small alteration of certein letters made according to the vse and proprietie of their tongue For this woorde Hyle saiethei signifieth among the Grecians as muche as a rude heape vnformed and as it were a certein moiste and waterishe yearth or quagmire or dregges out of whiche many thinges are engendred through the force of the heate whiche commeth vnto it From the whiche woorde Hyle is the woorde Hilys deriued which signifieth dregges and froath that is to saye a dirtie and moyst earth out of whiche many thinges doe growe in the Sea. M. I doubted not but those that goe about to defend the same errour of theirs concerning a firste matter pre-existing as though it were verie necessarie and they that haue throughly receiued the same doe deuise many suche foolishe fantasies But how small or none at all the affinity of these two woordes is Tohu and Hyle in writing of the Letters or rather how farre this is from the trueth your selfe doe see and it shall not bee needefull to seeke farther forasmuch as God is openly called the creatour of heauen and earth S. Yea God is termed Gosâ—he Ioâ—ser that is to say the maker and the fourmer as it is written in Isay the 66. chapt and 10. verse and Iob the 35. chap. and 10. verse and Isay the 54. chap. 8. verse as also in the 90. Psalme the 2. verse M. That was doone not rashly nor in vaine but to the intent to take awaye sutch errours as the spirite of God foresawe would grow afterward amongst men For there are twoo errours among men concernyng the beeginning of all thinges beesides the errour of the materiare heretikes For some thinke that first and alwaies there was existing a certein whole masse and that rude and confused whiche was the heape of all the principall partes and thinges of the worlde whiche now are existing and fourmed but then disorderly mingled togither which they call Chaos And this opinion Hesiodus folowed in his Theogonia whiche Ouid describeth in his Metamorphosis in these wordes Beefore the sea and lande were made the heauen that all doth hide In all the worlde one onely face of nature did abyde Whiche Chaos hight an huge rude heape and nothinge else but eeuen An heauie lumpe and clottred clod of feedes togither driuen Of thinges at strife amonge themselues for want of order due No sunne as yet with lightsome beames the shapelesse worlde did viewe c. This muche therefore they doe attribute vnto God that hee is the distinguisher trimmer and setter foorth of this so confused a Chaos mole and heape and not the creatour of it in time giuinge vnto it the first meanes of beeinge And therefore the Poet sayde There was as it were from euerlasting and not the same Chaos was made and created by god And for this cause they doe not call God the Creatour of the world but onely the beutifier and as Sainct Ambrose sayeth the deuiser of the shape and fourme thereof as though hee hadde giuen a certeine comlinesse and order vnto thinges that existed before and which had of themselues their owne proper strength and nature whiche hee accomplished by a certaine wise and apt distinction of them and by separating
and trembling Against whom Father Ireneus writeth cloquently and sharply in his 2. booke and 3. chap. But now that I may answere and alleage that which belongeth to this question I say that the Lorde who made all thinges to the intent hee might make the ritches of his glorie and power knowne would specially reueale hymself in creatyng the world by this meanes and maner and by vsing the same to that purpose Wherefore like as it was the parte of a moste wise God to finde out and choose the way that he thought most conuenient to reueale himselfe so is it likewise our duetie too allowe reuerence and adore the same that hee hath chosen For faithe ought to bee the rule and leader of our mindes to vnderstande these woorkes of God by whiche vnlesse wee followe wee shall conceiue nothing holsomly or profitably in all this whole woorke of God bee it neuer so wide and beautifull For as it is writen in the 11. chapt and 3. verse to the Hebrues By faith we vnderstand that the world was made And therefore wee ought not to followe the reason of our owne braines in defining these matters S. But doth not this mention whiche is made of darkenesse which was spread ouer the first matter coÌ„firme Aristotles opinion concerning priuation whiche hee maketh to bee the thirde beeginning of all naturall thinges in his 1. booke of Physikes Fye awaye with this Priuation as a dreame or dotage in respect of a beeginning of the world For how can a Priuation whiche is nothing bee called the cause of a thing as though a man would defend that fyre were the cause of cold Moreouer Aristotles PriuatioÌ„ sticketh fast infused in the matter but the darknesse whereof Moses speaketh was without the bodie of the matter and brought no commoditie to the taking of a fourme which Aristotles priuation doth yea the darkenesse rather tooke away al hope of receiuing fourme so that Aristotles opinion is quite repugnant to Moses The xxv Chapcer Why the spirite of God was vpon this mole and matter S. YOu haue discoursed of the firste matter of this world and of the wouÌ„derful confusion therof or as I may call it troubling togither declare now why Moses speaketh of the spirite of God. M. For many causes specially for three Firste that the creation of the world might bee vnderstoode not only to bee the woorke of the Father and of the Sunne but also of the holy ghost who is likewise in person distinct from them twaine Howbeit if wee consider more narrowly of the woord The spirit of GOD noteth vnto vs in that place not the third person in Trinitie whiche is infinite and comprehended in no place but onely a certein effect and power and presence which reuealed and manifested it selfe there But it is coÌ„mon in the scripture that the giftes and tokens of the holy Ghoste are taken for the holy Ghoste himselfe and when they are recited hee likewise is vnderstoode to bee there by his owne special meanes as appeareth in the 3. chap. of S. Matthewe because wee cannot know hym any other way than through those his effectes and giftes Whererefore the Spirite of God had also his owne proper function and office openly and distinctly in the creation of this world Secondly that wee might know by what power and spirite that first mole whiche was so greate was at the beeginning susteined and helde vp Truely not of it self neither by the waters that were round about it neither by the darknesse that was vppon it whiche rather couered that firste matter whiche was now a growing as it were in a wombe and made it an vntimely fruite but by the almightie spirite of God whiche susteineth and quickneth all thinges by his diuine power by whom that huge and vnprofitable mole of earth and water subsisted flourished was quickned was susteined was reteined and as I may saye made aliue to the ende wee should ascribe all these thinges and their vertues onely to the glorie of God. S. How prooue you that M. For that all thynges at this present doe subsiste and are susteined by the spirite of God although now thei haue gotten their peculiare force and nature and yet were not destitute thereof at that tyme as it is written in the 146. Psalme and 5. verse and the 139. and 7. verse Likewise in the 1. to Timothe the 6. Chapter and 13. verse and Actes the 1. chapter the 28. verse S. What is the third reason M. To the ende it might bee the better declared by what meanes moouing and proceeding all thinges were by God drawne foorth and framed out of that firste matter and mole Euen as wee see at this day that the firste Seeâ—es of thinges after that once they bee sowne by Gods power are not onely susteined but also nourished quickned and made warme and so doe burgein and sendfoorth that bodie which naturally they conteined with in theÌ„ so was it in y first matter of all thinges so that the same Spirite by his power did susteine and nourishe the first seedes of thinges and now also continually mooueth the same howbeit that same action was then more manifestly declared in that there was not as yet any ordinarie vertue of engendring or bringing foorth engraffed into things by the word of God for that was giuen afterwarde And therefore the spirite of GOD manifested himself mightily in those thinges and nourished that mole Whiche thing Moses also teacheth plainly in that kind of phrase which hee vseth S. Expounde your saying more euidently M. Moses woordes do not onely signifie this which I say but plainely declare it S. What woordes bee they M. These that folowe and the spirite of God mooued itselfe vppon the top of the waters S. What is the meaning of those woordes M. To wit that the Spirite of God had giuen a lyuely force vnto that greate mole not onely by whiche it should exist susteine and as it were beare vp it selfe but also that it ingraffed engendred raised vp in it a â—ertâ—uâ—e vertue where by it should afterwarde waxe hot as it were to conceiue and to bringe foorth For the Hebrue woorde Merachephet signifieth both those thinges not onely I saye to susteine and mooue but also to nourish as birdes do nourish their youÌ„g ous also to giue force to wax warme to moue it self Deuteron the 32. chapter and 11. verse which Sainet Paule seemeth to translate to cherish to y Ephesians y 5. chapter and 29. verse Likewyse as the same Spirite of GOD is sayde in the 139. and 7. verse to woorke and to bee sent foorth to the intent that at thys present also things may bee ingeÌ„dered brought foorth Who if hee shoulde cease or bee taken away nothing would grow although the seedes of theÌ„ were sowne and men labored and toyled all that they coulde but woulde lye choaked within the bowels of the earth wombes of their mothers S. But why is the action and woorking of
elemētare part of the world are the materiall causes of those thinges whiche are heare engendred Wherefore they be in the things doe constitute and make their substance which vse and functiō the woord element when it is properly taken doth signifie S. How farre doth eche of these regions extend which bee the farthest endes and boundes of them both M. I will nowe touche them in fewe woordes and at an other tyme perhapes declare them more at large Some determine the ethereall and heauenly region from the highest heauen vnto the circle of the Moone And the elementare from that place whiche is vnder this circle sphere vnto the lowest center of the earth Howbeit othersome suppose rather that the Moone belongeth to the elementare and earthly region of the woorlde concerning which varictie of mens opiniōs reade Plutarches booke of the face whiche appeareth in the globe of the Moone Howbeit I haue alwayes thought the first opinion to bee truest S. What thincke you then of that generall diuision of thinges whereby all thinges that are in this worlde are diuided not into two partes but into foure generall kindes to wit of thinges that are in heauen vppon the earth vnder the earth and in the sea as it is to bee seene in the Reuelat. the 5. chapter and 13. verse And Sainct Paule likewise hath plainly distinguished three kindes of things to wit of heauen of the earth and of vnder the earth To the Philip. the 2. chapter and 20. verse M. Those generall diuisiōs of things wherof you spake and whatsoeuer other there bee may easily bee reuoked vnto these two generall kindes of thinges which I proposed For that which is called the earthly and elementare Region comprehendeth all thinges that are vpon the earth and in the earth in the waters yea those things also that are called things vnder the earth whiche for the most part are none other in the Scripture than the things that are in the sea as it apeareth by the interpretatiō which God himself made in the 20. chap. of Exodus and 4. verse And the ethereall region conteineth all things that are called heauenly The xxix Chapter Of the East West North and South partes of the worlde S. DIscourse now of that kinde of partes whi che you termed distinguishing and not constituting partes of the worlde M. These bee foure in number called thus in the Hebrue tongue Quedem Iamin Tsaphon Negeb or Iamita and amonge vs thus East West North and South all whiche Sainet Augustine thinketh to bee comprehended and signified by this woorde Adam applying the Hebrue woorde to the Greeke S. But what was the cause and reason of fyrst deuising these names M. It is not needefull to seeke out the causes and reasōs of the Greeke and Latine woords For they are commonly knowne And as for the Hebrue woords this I thinke is the reason of them The East is called Quedem bicause it is the firste or foremost parte of the worlde The west Iamin which signifieth the sea bycause in the West part of the worlde lieth the great sea which is called Mare Mediteraneum the midlande sea The North Tsaphon for that that part of the worlde was hid and vnknowne to the Hebrues in respect of the regions of the earth and of the people with whō they had no trafycque nor dealinge bicause of the distance of place beetweene them So that the case stoode contrarie with them and vs nowe who dayly beholde the North stare and poale And as for the South it is alwaies hidden from vs The South is called by them Negeb bycause that quarter of the worlde is drie barrein and burnt with the perpetuall heate and skorching of the Sunne or it may bee called Iamin the firste sillable beeing long that thereby it may differ from the fyrst Iamin whiche hath the fyrste syllable shorte bycause that when wee looke into the East y South is on our right hand not on our left S. Where doth the scripture make mentiō of these foure quarters of the worlde M. Almost in infinite places of whiche wee will alledge these few Genesis the 13. chap. and 14. verse and the 28. chap. 14. verse Psal 107. and 3. verse Isay y 47. chap. and 5. and 6. verses Psal the 75. and 7. verse S. Why do you call these onely distinguishing partes M. Bicause wee obserue them onely for the vse and commoditie of men S. For what commoditie M. Specially for foure whereof two do appertain to the publike and common vse of all men and other twoo do concerne the priuate commodity of euery place and countrey S. Declare this more at large M. This distinction of the quarters of the worlde was necessarie for the vse of man for two causes The first to the ende that the nations and people of this world might be distinguished one frō another wherof we say some dwel East some west some north some south Moreouer to obserue the course of the Sūne whose benefit al nations do enioye who rising in the East goeth by the south vntill at length he cōmeth into the West And finally to declare the force originall of the windes all which cannot possibly bee vnderstood and obserued vnlesse these foure quarters of the worlde bee distinguished And as touching priuat vse also it was necessarie that they should bee distinct First to the entent that the limites and situation of euery kingdom people and countrie may be discribed And also that it might bee signified and set foorth where the boundes and endes are of the houses fendes and places of euery territorie and so thereby in the ende all strife and contention bee taken from among priuate men concerning the boundes of their landes S. I vnderstād what you say But what are these regiōs distinct by nature or rather are they fantasied by the opiniō of men so that euerie priuate people or man may wheresoeuer hee will make East West North and South For that region of heauen and earth which is called by the Hebrues Tsaphon that is to say hidden and by vs the North the same is oftentimes vnto vs wide playne and open to bee seen like as that region of Heauen whiche was vnknowen too the Jewes is vnto all the Northren people And contrariwise the Southren Region of Heauen and the Poale of the worlde whiche was seen of them is hidden from vs as is also the Starre called Canopus with suche other Moreouer that parte of the worlde whiche is on the right hand to vs is oftentimes on the lefte hand to others whereof came that whiche Virgill spake of the Articke Poale This top ouer our heades aloft remaineth still in fight The other black Styx seeth below and ghostes that dwell in night And that saying also of the Poet Lucane Arabians you now are come into a strangie land Much woundring not to see thee shadowes fall on your left hand with other suche like to that purport M. No
face and foremoste part of the worlde M. Bicause like as our senses specially our eyes and countenance are placed in the face and foremoste part of the man so dooeth the light first rise vnto vs from that part of the worlde Whereby it commeth to passe that al men turne their countenances thither yea the brute beastes also of the fielde who in the mornynges as thei feede in the Medowes doe turne themselues towardes the risyng of the Sunne for light Thus by verie instinct of Nature all thynges doe acknowledge and confesse that this parte of the worlde is as it were the face eyes and fore part of the worlde S. Me thinkes that these thyngs in the worlde are distinguished rather in respect of vs than of Nature M. Truely the worlde is distinguished indeede specially in respecte of vs For in a circle properly and of it self nothyng can bee saied to bee on the right hande nothyng on the left nothyng beefore nothyng beehinde forasmuche as all partes of the circumference in that kinde of figure are equally placed And therefore Arnobius saieth well in his 4. booke The worlde of it owne nature hath neither right hande neither left neither high regions neither lowe neither beefore neither beehinde For whatsoeuer is rouÌ„d hath neither beginning neither ending And therfore when we say this countrie is on the right hande this on the left we speake it not in respecte of the worlde but of the place where wee ourselues are situate and dwelâ—yng This farre Arnobius Whereby it appeareth how foolishe and without grounde that opinion of the auncient Hetruscane Southsaiers is who iudged that lefte hande lightnyng lefte hand birde fliyng lette hande signes of heauen are of nature more fortunate than those whiche appeared in any other parte of the worlde For that whiche is on the lefte hande to mee maie bee on the right hande to you because these differences of place and situation are chaunged by the diuerse respecte and reason of men S. What doth the Scripture also note high and low in the worlde M. Yea plainely S. Where M. In the 11. chapte of Iob the 8. and 9. verses and Exodue the 20. chapter and 4. verse S. Is there then some place of the world high and some lowe M. The whole region of heaueÌ„ is called high and aboue and the earth lowe and beneath S. How proue you that M. Out of the aboue recited places of Iob Exodus whervnto also you may adde if you please the 6. verse of the 10. chapter to the Romaines and Deut. the 5. chapter and 8. verse and almost infinite other like places as Isay the 44. chapter and 23. verse and Prouerbes the 25. chapter and 1. verse S. But tell mee is it so of nature or consisteth it onely in the opinion of men that one parte of the worlde is high and another lowe M. Of nature surely for those thinges that are lyght do naturally tende vpwarde and goe towardes heauen and the thinges that are heauie downwarde and towardes the earth Moreouer if we consider the order of thinges God hath thus appointed that those higher thinges shall woorke vpoon these lower For heauen woorketh vppon these earthly thinges and wee perceiue the influences and effectes thereof diuersely and either it bringeth foorthe or distroyeth manye things vpon the earth as it were with to much rain or drought Wherefore Heauen both by nature of the place and also situation is higher than the earth Howbeit concerning this poinet S. Augustine grauely disputeth in the 83. booke and 29. question For hee demaundeth this question whether in this vniuersalitie and world which is conteined within a circulare fourme sumthing may bee called high and sumthing lowe seeinge all the partes thereof consist in equall situation M. Concerning the circumfereÌ„ce of a circle perhaps this question may bee demaunded which indeed was S. Augustines meaning whether the one part thereof bee high an other lowe for in truth in respect of themselues thei are al of equall situatioÌ„ But touching the thinges themselues which are comprehended within the Circle thys question is cleere and out of doubte For in euery circle the circumfereÌ„ce is the vpper part therof the centre the lower vnto which parte those thinges whiche come neerest of lowest like as those highest that are neerest to the circumference of the circle S. Which is the middle parte of the worlde M. The midest of the worlde may bee doubly considered either in respect of substance or of place Whiche the great Philosopher Plutarche first obserued in his booke of the contrarietie of the Stoikes The midds of the worlde in respect of substance is not some oâ—e certein body but many as y aier water with other that â—â—â—e partly of the nature of heauen and partly of the earth But the midds in respect of place is the earth as it is agreed vpon by those that holde opinion that the compasse and capablenesse of the world is of a round and sphericall figure For as they affirme the earth standeth in stead of a centre in coÌ„parison of the whole world Touching which opinion although they contende against it which dency that there bee any Antipodes or dwellers on the otherside of the earth right against vs as Lactantius and S. Augustine good and allowed auctours haue doone yet is it more true and credible that there are such Antipodes the rather for that there can bee nothing alleaged out of the Scriptures to confyrme the auctoritie of Lactantius and S. Augustine by and also reason plainely prooueth it to bee true to wit the situation of countries and the eleuation of the Poales The. xxxi Chapter The cheif end of the creation of the world is the glory and knowledge of God the creatour S. HEthertoo you haue declared the efficient materiall and formall cause of the world it remaineth also that you say sumwhat of the fourth whiche is the finall cause concernyng whiche I demaunde this question of you what is the finall cause of the creation of the worlde as the scripture noteth M. You did well to adde that clause as the Scripture noteth For there is none among the Philosophers except onely Plato and Trimegistus that although they wounder at the worlde doeth declare notwithstanding for what cause it was made and what is the ende of the creating or now subsisting thereof No not Aristotle himself although hee wroate about 30. sundry bookes more or lesse concerning the nature of thinges which bookes are extant at this day and tossed in all mens handes S. Tell mee therefore what is the ende of the creating and conseruyng of the world M. To speake breifly eeuen the euerlasting and immortall GOD himsef for the acknowledging and setting foorth of whose glorie it was created S. How prooue you that M. Not onely for that Father Ireneus writeth so in his 2 booke and 64. chap. but bicause the spirite of God teacheth vs so For firste the holy Scripture sheweth plainlye that
hee is not called onely the image but also the liuely brightnesse of the Fathers glorye And yet farther to the intent it may bee the better vnderstoode what and how great the difference is wee must note that the world and man are a notable but yet a shadowed representation of those things which they do teach vs cōcerning god And Christ the expresse and liuely fourme in whose inward natural and substanciall brightnesse wee may most euidently behold the infinite power of God and incomprehensible loue towardes vs men Thus therefore when wee thincke vppon God and beholde him in all other thinges suche is our vanitie that immediatly wee decay and come to naught but when wee looke vppon him in Christ wee are quieted and stayed most firmely and substantially Wherefore there ought no comparison bee made betweene these which differ in kinde and manner of representation The xxxiii Chapter Two endes of the worlde not chiefe S. BUT bee ther not also other finall causes of the worlde M. Yeas there bee two but not chiefe S. What bee they M. The first is this to wit the vse of al men For this worlde was created for mans sake and man for god The seconde is for the Church or congregation For the worlde was created to the entent it should bee an house and dwelling place prepared for the Church and congregation that should bee hereafter where in it might remaine of it owne right which congregation God woulde establishe there and afterward bring to heauen S. Howe prooue you this M. First out of the 8. Psalme And secondly by that which S. Paule writeth to the Romanes the 4. Chapter and 13. verse The xxxiiii Chapter Of the meanes and engins whereby God raysed this so great a frame of the worlde and first of the woorde of God which was the meanes whereby this worlde was created S. HEtherto you haue declared the causes of this worlde nowe shewe the meanes and instrumentes wherby it was created And when mention is made of the creation of the woorlde some do demaunde what wedges what tooles and engins were occupied to the rearinge vp of so great a mole and they thinke themselues not satisfied vnlesse aunswere bee made vnto those doubtes of their minde M. Thei that seeke to know with what instruments this worlde was created do verie foolyshly forasmuch as this woorde create doth sufficiently declare that all this whole woorke is plainly miraculous and supernaturall For God vsed no tooles nor engins as carpenters vse to doe thereby to supplie the infirmitie of their strength But all his framing and buildinge and the woorkemanship of thys worlde doeth differ farre from all our meanes and pollices S. Tell mee then what it was M. In declaringe the meanes by which this world was created ther are foure things annexed which we must not pretermit and they perteine to the settinge foorth of Gods glory and omnipotencie wherof the fyrst is this that the worlde was created at the woorde and commaundement of God. S. Howe prooue you that M. Behold a most manifest place of the Scripture in the 33. Psalme 9. verse For hee spake and it was doone hee commaunded and it stoode fast and in the 148. Psalme and 5. verse Hee commaunded and they were created Moreouer Moses in the first chapter of Genesis beefore the creation of euery thing as they were made and created orderly in euery daye so doeth hee plainely shewe that the woord and cōmaundement of God went alwayes before And the Lorde sayde let it bee made c. Yea the Stoikes haue saide that the woorde of God was the efficient cause of the whole nature of thinges as Laertius writeth in his 7. booke in the life of Zeno. S. But there bee twoo impedementes that it can not bee so M. Which bee they S. The fyrst is that which is written in the 45. Chapter and 12. verse of Isay My handes haue stretched foorth the heauens Ergo God made not these things with his woord but with his handes M. Uerily this saiyng conteineth a most manifest Metaphore when hee attributeth handes vnto God and when in respect of the weakenesse of our vnderstanding God is cōpared to an handie craftes man which woorketh with his owne hāds the like wherof there are many authorities to be foūde in y scriptures And whereas this woorde of creating is vsed in the same place it plainly calleth vs backe vnto that diuine and extraordinarie woorke of God and to thinke vppon that meane onely which Moses hath recited M. The seconde impediment is that wheras in another place in like kind of thinges and semblable argument mention is made of the woorde of God notwithstanding Gods secret will is ment thereby whiche is not expressed in any woord or commaundemēt as in the 147. Psalme 15. and 18. verses where he speaketh of Ice Hee sendeth out his woorde and melteth it M. You say well Howbeit in Genesis the verye text also Moses minde teatheth vs that wee must say and thinke otherwise where it is plainly writen that God spake and cōmaunded that to bee which was made Wherfore the only bare and secrete will of God is not there to bee vnderstood and taken but that which is reuealed by the prolation and vtteringe of some woorde of his and commaundement Which opinion of mine is confirmed by an interpretation which the Scripture it self maketh noting that this was doone by vttering of some woorde or voyce For in the 33. Psalme and 6. verse after that it is declared that these things were made by the woorde of God for true exposition sake it is added by the spirite of his mouth For a voice is made by the breathing foorth of aire which is doone by the mouth S. But by this meanes feigning that God hath a tōgue roofe of the mouth and teeth with out whiche instruments no voyce can bee vttered you seeme to reuoke againe out of Hell the abominable errour of the Antropomorphites M. God forbid that I should thinke so wickedly of the infinite and omnipotent maiestie of god But like as the Lorde spake so as he might bee heard and vnderstoode when hee gaue the law in mount Sinai which no man can deney as likewise when hee spake to Moses whē he gaue answere by Vrim Thumim y Lord spake vttered a voice in the hearing of the people yet not withstāding we must not feigne y god hath a tongue a mouth a palate of the mouth teeth So in the beginning creation of the world when it is sayd that God spake his diuine shape was not chaunged intoo an humane fourme but it came to passe by a speciall prouidence and pollicie For the Lord tooke vpon him for a tyme suche meanes as were necessarie for the bringing foorth a cleare and audible voice wherof afterward hee left the vse S Doe you thinke then that the Lord spake plainly and distinctly M. Yea verely Howbeeit I am not ignorant what S. Augustine thinketh
by reason of impoteÌ„cie wearines or weakenesse in God that he was six dayes in making it but bicause he is most wise by most wise good reasoÌ„ he would thus finish his workes For whatsoeuer is made requireth some order in the making And order requireth distinct time and number First therfore god putteth vs in minde hereby that hee wrought not confusedly nor out of order and so consequently that wee must not meditate and thinke vpon his works lightly and as it were a farre of in general but in order seuerally and particularly of euery one Hee sheweth moreouer howe great diligence wee ought to vse in considering of them seing that hee declareth that hee paused vppon the order of his woorks by this distinctioÌ„ of the daies labours Beesides this hee declareth that wee are not able sufficiently to comprehend his workes the reason therof and manner of creating them is such and so generall that wee haue sufficient matter in them to thinke vpon and beeholde euery daye in the weeke and so throughout the whole yeare For what other thinge is a yeare than a continuall repeating of one and the selfe same weeke For there was an whole day spent in the finishinge of euery part and worke Moreouer god wold not creat the world at once but by piece meale that is to say in some space of time for he ment immediatly after the creatioÌ„ of the world to declare the state law naturall order which the things that hee had made should afterward folow to wit that by which all thinges doe require a space of time for their beeing that is to saye are brought foorth in tyme and are not perfectly growne in a moment as wee see dayely So those thinges that growe out of the earth doe at this daye keepe this order that they springe not suddeynly but by processe of time So the woman is delyuered of hir child after a certaine season so seedes growe out of the earth so trees bringe foorth their frutes and there is nothing done suddenly but wonderfull miraculously Wherfore that time of creation was the fyrst lawe of thinges that shoulde afterward growe and bee ingendred S. And why did God at length cease the seauenth day M. Bicause he would haue it so for there can be no truer reason alleaged For in that hee would haue it so the reason is good although to vs it bee vnknowne For as touching those thinges whiche are disputed by S. Ambrose im his 39. Epistle and also by S. Augustine in sundrie places and likewise by certein others and finally by the Heathen Philosophers themselues concernyng the dignitie of the seauenth number I refer them to the Mathematicians and specially to the Arithâ—meticians and Pithagorians The. xxxviii chapter Of the place wherein the world was made S. HEtherto you haue declared what y worlde is what is the cause therof and what was the maner of making it Adde hereunto also that which may bee demaunded concernyng the place tyme and state of this created world so that at length wee may conclude this whole disputation M. I will doe so if you aske mee of them all in order S. Firste therefore I demaunde concerning the place wherin the worlde is made what it was and what maner one it was M. It must needes bee that it was some voyde place whiche the Grecians call Kenos the Hebrues Tohu wherin it should be created and placed S. Why so M. For bicause if the place wherein the worlde beeyng so greate a frame was placed had bin already full of bodies there could not bee another body placed in a roomth that was full alreadie For twoo bodies cannot bee togither in one place Moreouer this whiche I say is plainly confirmed The Hebrues say out of the 26. chapter of Iob and 7. verse He stretched foorth the North vpon the void place c. Although that before this worlde was made GOD occupied that place wherein the world now standeth filled it with his power which is vnknowne to vs and in an vnspeakable maner as now also hee filleth althinges after they bee made by the vertue and meanes of his presence maiestie and power whereof God is called Megonah that is to say that filleth all thinges Deuteron the 33. chapter and 27. verse notwithstanding in respect of this filling which cummeth by the creation of thinges verily the place wherin this world now standeth was a certein voyd place S. How then will you haue that there shal bee some void place in the world against whiche thing Aristotle contendeth so mutch and experience also M. To the ende that I may cut of all occasion of the vain errours of the Valentines concernyng Bythus whom Ireneus aboundantly confuteth in his 2. booke and 4. and 7. chapters thus I say That beefore the world was made the place and space wherein it nowe standeth was voyde but since the worlde was made that it is not voyd now but full S. But doe you leaue nowe any voide place within the compasse of the worlde M. Uerily if you call that onely ful that is filled with this aire whiche wee drawe in and breath foorth there bee many places too bee called voyd For all that space of the worlde whiche is aboue the Circle of the Moone which some say is very large is void But if you call that full whiche is replenished with some bodie and nature of it owne kinde then maye I call no parte of this whole worlde voide no not so muche as that whiche the Astronomers saye is conteined within the Globe and space of the Heauens but all full and occupied Not onely bicause God made nothing in vain for that is repugnant to his wisedome but also for that the whole stretching foorth of the heauens howe big soeuer it be is an heauenly body For ther is now no effect no vse of a voide place in the nature of thinges whiche is created but there are seene daylie many and most excellent vses in this pointe I meane in that nature will haue all thinge to bee full And that indeede ther is nothing voyd and emptie both the vse of cupping glasses in Physicke also in the plucking vp of Welles and waters into high places by Pumpes and other deuises sufficiently doe teache Suche Philosophers therfore as contend that there is some void place in this world are not onely theÌ„selues voide of wit and iudgment but striue also moste manifestly against certeine experience whom therefore I iudge not too bee esteemed of ¶ The. xxxix Chapter Of the tyme wherein the worlde was made S. YOU haue spoken of the place speake now also of the tyme wherein this worlde was made M. That this worlde beegan sometyme to existe and is not eternall neither of like antiquitie with GOD not onely the Maiestie of Gods holie woorde doeth testifie but also the opinions of the moste auncient Philosophers doe declare Whoe as thei were nerer too the beeginnyng of the worlde so did thei
learne the truthe more better of the Fathers and reteined the same more freshly in memorie For that Plato in Timeo was of that opinion and all the Stoikes also their owne writynges do beare witnesse yea moreouer this hath bin agreed vpon by a generall consent of the moste auncient writers that the worlde had a beginnyng whereof Linus the eldest Poete of all who liued before Orpheus writyng of the creation of the worlde beeginneth thus A tyme there was when all thynges framed were togither once as Diogenes Laertius reporteth S. There bee twoo speciall poinctes repugnant to your opinion whereof the one is alledged by the Aristotelians and the other by the Epicurians M. What bee thei S. The first is this Seeyng the worlde is rounde and of a Sphericall fourme there can neither beginnyng nor endyng bee noted therein whereby it commeth to passe that when it mooueth it mooueth circularly or rounde whiche motion also hath neither beeginnyng nor endyng but is a continuall and perpetuall motiō and is therefore eternall Now if the worldes motiō bee eternall the worlde also must needes bee eternall Thus the Peripatetikes by the figure and motion of the world doe conclude y the world it self is also eternall M. Truely this is a verie slender argumente For firste who will graunt vnto them that all the partes of the world doe mooue by that circulare and sphericall motion seeyng that as thei them selues doe write neither the fire neither the aier neither the water neither the earth dooe mooue by this motion but by a right line and a pendent to wit the fire and aire vpwarde the water and earth dounewarde Moreouer if wee deale thus liberally with them to graunte that the worlde is of a sphericall fourme and figure who is able to prooue notwithstandyng that there can bee no beeginning of motion assigned and obscrued therein Seeyng it is not mooued of it self but by an other too wit the greate God or as thei terme it by a certeine firste intelligence or Angell And whereas it is saied of a wheele of a sphere or of a circle that the beginnyng of the motion there of cannot bee assigned in this poincte of the circumference more than in another it is true onely in respecte of the thing the figure and not if you respect the hande that turneth it or the forcyng of the cause that mooueth it in respect whereof the poinct is called the beeginnyng of moouyng in the sphere or circle where hee beginneth to mooue it first that turneth the circle sphere or wheele about Wherfore although the worlde can haue no beginnyng of moouyng neither of it self neither of it owne figure notwithstandyng it hath of God who once beegan it and turned it from a certeine poincte of the circumference and a certeine place to wit from the East continually to mooue into the Weste whether it turneth now daiely beeyng by hym mooued and not of it self And although it bee vnknowne to vs nowe whiche parte of the circumference of heauen God first moued for you see how many and diuerse thynges men dooe affirme concernyng the greate yeere of the worlde whiche is that state of the worlde wherein Heauen and all thinges returne to their place where thei wer first created yet it is certein that heauen began sometyme to mooue from some one prefixed poincte and part of the circumference S. The other repugnancie is this Thei saie it is to absurde to saie that God did not create this world from eternitie and tyme euerlastyng For after so many infinite spaces of yeres paste what should moue hym at length that hee would Create the worlde Thei demaunde therefore why GOD remained so long sluggishe and idle why hee slept so long what he did then why hee ceased from dooyng somethyng so long why hee made not this noble and goodlie woorke sooner These and suche like floutes thei cast foorthe against the maiestie of God. M. You doe alleage the argument of Velleius the Epicure vnto whiche I will answere that which as S. Augustine writeth was spoken by a certein mery old man a Christian Who beeyng likewise demaunded by suche kinde of men what God did beefore hee created the worlde answered He made Hell wherein hee might tormente perpetually suche curious fellowes as doe demaunde suche questions For what wickednesse is this to go about to enter into suche secretes what impudencie to creepe so farre what blasphemie to looke that God should rendre an accoumpt to vs of his doinges and forepassed life who must bee our iudge what needed hee too haue created these thinges sooner whiche hee neither hath neede of too his existence neither thereby to liue in greater felicitie For God hath in himself and that from all eternitie a most perfect most happie and most full state of nature whiche is vnto himselfe sufficient for all thinges and he hath neede of none other thing neither of Angell nor man Psalme 16. and 2. ver Neither was GOD then idle that the Epicures maye not mock neither did hee sleepe in slouthfulnes beefore he made this world But euen then as also now he was inwardly occupied in his woorkes that is to say hee was wonderfully delighted in the contemplation of hymself hee enioyed then himself and his perfect and vnspeakeable glorie hee was busied in the most large and incomprehensible light of his substance and essence as may easily bee vnderstoode out of the Prouerbes the 8. chapter and 30. verse and Iohn the 17. chapt and 4. verse and likewise out of Irenaeus the 4. booke and 28. chapter S. This I vnderstande declare nowe what time thys worlde was created M. Doe you demaund this either of the day or of y Moneth or of the Yeere S. Mary of euery one of them seuerally M. Concerning the day mee thinkes this much may bee sayd that the beginning and first daye of the creation of the worlde was that day which wee Christians doe nowe call Sundaye and which the Jewes called the first daye of the Sabbathes and not that which wee commonly call Munday S. Howe so M. Bicause it is euidente that the Lorde wrought sixe whole dayes togither before the Sabbath seuenth daye And amonge the Hebrues in olde time that was the Sabbath and seuenth daye which wee nowe call Satterdaye whiche is the next daye beefore Sundaye and next after Fridaye For Christians to the entente that they woulde not retaine the auncient ceremoneis of the Jewes but deuoutly to honour the resurrection of our Lorde Jesus Christ wherby ther began a new state of the Church in stead of the Sabbath they chose the next daye following to rest on as it appeareth in the 20. Chapter of the Actes the 1. to the Corinthians the 16. chapter and the first Chapter of the Reuclation and also it is extant in the Ecclesiasticall historie which day they called the Lords day or Sundaye But if you woulde number sixe dayes beefore the Sabbath daye you muste begin vpon Sundaye not
not of his woorke And nowe bycause wee are come to the day of Gods rest let vs reste also in this place and make an ende of this disputation whiche wee erewhile began So much as may seeme can bee saide generally concernyng the creation of the world and the first beeginning of all things apperteining vnto Christian Naturall Philosophie wee haue heere for the most part declared And wee giue thankes vnto God for that hee hath giuen vs a minde and abilitie to write those things which wee haue heere declared FINIS The Table What Naturall Philosophie is and howe manye kindes there bee thereof Cap. 1. follio 1 Whether Naturall Philosophie bee meete for a Christian cap. 2. fol. 2. From whence the knowledge of the Generall naturall Philosophie is to bee had most safely ▪ cap. 3. fol. 6 The difference beetweene Christian and Heathen Naturall Philosophie cap. 4 fol. 10 What and howe great the certentie is of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie cap. 5. fol. 13 The endes of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie cap. 6. fol. 14 The subiect of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie is a creature visible and that can bee seene and first how farre and in what respect the world is a certaine vniuersalitie vnto thē al. ca. 7. fol. 15 What the worlde is cap. 8. fol. 20 Whether the worlde may truely and Christianly bee called an vniuersalitie cap. 9. fol. 22 VVhether the worlde and all thinges that are conteined therin bee sounde bodies or shadowes onely cap. 10. fol. 23 Whether there bee one worlde onely or many cap. 11. fol. 25 Whether this worlde bee finite ▪ cap. 12. fol. 27 Whether the world bee sphericall and rounde cap. 13. fol. 28 Whether the worlde haue one onely soule cap. 14. fol. 29 That this worlde was made in time is not eternall cap. 15. fol. 31 That the worlde came not of it selfe cap. 16. fol. 34 Of the causes of the worlde and first of the cause efficient thereof which is God not Angels nor Diuels cap. 17. fol. 35 That the worlde and all things that are therein were made by God of nothinge and not onely decked foorth or set in order or brought foorth out of a certeine disordred heape or matter whiche was extant beefore cap. 18. fol. 38 Of the end for which God created made this world ca. 19. fo 44 This worlde cannot bee called the Sunne of god cap. 20. fol. 45 What God created first to bee the matter for thinges that were created afterwarde cap. 21. fol. 48 The matter of earthly thinges what maner of thing it was and how commodiously of God prepared cap. 22. fol. 49 Why the deapths of waters couered this matter earth ca 23. fo 48 VVhy there was darkenesse vppon the face of the same mole and matter cap. 24. fol. 51 VVhy the Spirite of God was vppon this mole and matter cap. 25. fol 52 Of the matter of heauenly things that are visible cap. 26. fol. 56 VVhat is the fourme of the worlde cap. 27. fol. 57 Of the partes of the worlde and first of the Ethereall and Elementare region cap. 28. fol. 57 Of the East VVest North and South partes of the worlde cap. 29. fol. 59 VVhere these positions are to bee founde in the world high low beefore behind on the right hand and on the left cap. 30. fol. 61 The chiefe ende of creation of the worlde is the glorye and knowledge of God the creatour cap. 31. fol. 64 VVhat knowledge of God maye bee had in the beeholdinge of this worlde cap. 32. fol. 67 Two endes of the worlde not cheife cap. 33. fol. 69 Of the meanes engins wherby God raised this so great a frame of the worlde and first of the worde of God which was the meanes whereby this worlde was created cap. 34. fol. 70 Of the light whiche was vsed at the creation of the worlde cap. 35. fol. 72 That God made this worlde without any paine or wearisomnesse vnto him selfe cap. 36. fol. 73 The world was created by partes and not all at once cap. 37. fol. 73 Of the place wherein the worlde was made cap. 38. fol. 74 Of the time wherin the worlde was made cap. 39. fol. 76 God created this worlde good cap. 40. fol. 80 VVhat maner one this world is now at this present after sinne cap. 41. fol. 82 From whence poyson of hurtfull thinges sprang in the worlde cap. 42. fol. 83 Why thīgs that wer created are plainly said to be good ca. 43. fo 84 VVhether in the first creation of all thinges God made twoo Contraries cap. 44. fol. 85 In what sense it is said that God rested after the creatiō of the world cap. 45. fol. 86 FINIS Imprinted at London for Andrew Maunsell in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Parret 1578.
earth For like as it is said in the 1. chap. and 11. verse of Genesis Let the earth bring foorth euery greene hearbe that beareth seede and let the water bring foorth fish the 1. chap. of Genesis and 20. verse so is it not likewise written and comaunded by God let heauen bring foorth the Sunne and the Moone but onely thus Let there bee lightes in the face of the open heauen Genesis the 1. chapter and 14. verse Whereby it sufficiently appeareth that the firste Heauen was not in suche manner the matter of heauenly things as it were a certein plentiful and frutefull Father of them neither that the matter of heauenly thinges was so ordeined as the earth was appointed by GOD too bee the matter and mother of earthly thinges S. Why would the Lorde haue thinges so diuersly to bee made out of those matters and that heauenly thinges should not bee made out of heauen as well as the earthly are out of the earth M. Not onely for this cause that like as they were made by hym of diuerse matter and differing in kinde although they bee all partakers of bodie so likewise it beehooued them to declare their vse and execute their duetie in diuerse maner too the ende their difference might bee vnderstoode and perceiued but also that God might reueale vntoo vs the better his mightie power and also his manifolde wisedome in so greate varietie of bringing foorth thinges So likewise in the framing of man onely God hath vsed one meane in creating his bodie and another his soule and by those meanes continually createth and maketh them notwithstanding that hee is able to make them both by one meane The. xxvii Chapter What is the fourme of the worlde S. HEthertoo concernyng the matter of the worlde saie sumwhat now if you can touchyng the fourme thereof M. I will doe so S. What therefore is the fourme of this so greate a woorke M. There cannot bee one onely and that substantiall thereof assigned For as I haue shewed beefore it is not possible that there should bee one onely and particulare soule of all the worlde whiche beeyng dispersed throughout euerie parte of the bodie thereof should wag stirre and mooue this so hugie frame and mole whatsheuer the Aristotelians and Platonikes doe suppose Likewise S. Augustine in his 7. booke de Genesiad Literam and 12. chapter doeth iustly deney that GOD is the soule of this worlde as of some liuing creature forasmuche as hee dwelleth aboue the bodie of the worlde and aboue euery Spirite and stretcheth beeyonde the endes of the whole worlde But God hath giuen vnto euery kinde his proper nature and forme ▪ whiche are disputed of in speciall treatises which are written of euery kinde of thyng As for roundenesse whiche some attribute to the worlde as the naturall fourme thereof it ought not too bee counted or called the inward or essentiall forme of the worlde but onely the outward and accidentall S. But dooeth not the Scripture attribute vnto the world partes and differences of situation as it were to a liuyng creature and countries and regions also distinct one from another M. It doeth so indeede but notwithstanding it prooueth not that there is but one and theself same fourme spirite and soule beelongyng to this worlde and that it is a liuyng creature S. Why so M. For forasmuche as there bee three kindes of bodies and ioynynges in composition one simple and continuall as a man the seconde ioyned and touchyng one another as an whole house the third disioyned as a flocke it is truely saied that euery kinde of bodie as it were a certeine whole thyng hath euermore some partes into whiche it is deuided and also sundrie differences of place and situation whiche may bee noted in it howbeeit euery kinde of bodie is not gouerned by one soule onely or one Spirite or one fourme but that onely whiche wee termed beefore simple and continuall as euery one of vs for example The xxviii Of the partes of the world and first of the Ethereall and Elementare region S. WHiche then bee the principall partes of the world whereof the scripture maketh mention M. They are of sundrie kindes For some bee integral which are the partes constituting the whole world whiche wee terme substanciall othersome distinguishing it onely and limited by reason of certeine vses and commodities S. Whiche are the integrall and constituting partes of the world M. There are briefly twayne for the most part proposed by the Scripture to wit the heauen and earth as it appeareth to the Colossians the 1. chapter and 16. verse and Genesis the 1. chap. and 2. verse and Isay the 1. chap. and 1. verse and in other places almost infinite although in Genesis the 49. cha and 25. verse heauen and the deapthes bee also reckned S. What did the Scripture then conteine vnder the name of heauen M. All that region of this world whiche is called by the Philosophers Ethereall and conteineth the celestiall and vnengendred bodies which continue and are not chaunged since the first day of their creation as sayth S. Peter 2. of Peter the 3. chapter and 4. verse S. And what vnder the name of the earth M. Not onelye this bodye and element whiche wee properly call the earth but also that whole region of this world whiche by the Philosophers is termed Elementare which conteineth in it such bodies as are engendred and are continually subiect to alteration S. Doe these twoo regions differ M. Yea very much both in name and effect In name for that the first is called heauen and this latter parte of the worlde is tearmed by the name of the elementes yea and that by the scripture For S. Peter in the 2. Epistle the 3. Chapter the 10. and 14. verses distinguisheth these words Heauen and y Elementes In effect for that this endureth and continueth in the old state the other is dayly chaunged and at one time is engendred and at an other tyme perisheth The first God hath reserued to himselfe the other hee hath giuen to the vse of man Psalme 115. and 16. verse The first as wee are taught shall perishe at the latter day but with sinale noyse and a lyght flashe of flame for that it consisteth of a fine and subtill nature but the other shall burne with great heat and bee dissolued with mightie rage of fyre eeuen in such sorte as looke how it hapeneth in our earthly material fire whē it flameth the stickes crack smoke sende foorth a vapour which proceedeth from the moyst partes therof so it is saide that the elementes shall glowe with heat and melt for that they are of an hard thick and clammie nature and not pure and cleane This difference also may bee obserued betwene the two partes of the worlde that the thinges which are in the first are the efficient principall causes of those thinges that are engendred in the other But the thinges that are in the second