After reproach by due course did follow glorie after suffering death victorie and triumph ouer death else hee could not haue deliuered vs from death And because vnderstanding creatures are in three places deuils and damned soules in hell men vppon earth Angelles and blessed soules in Heauen due course required that he should descend into hell to triumph among the Deuils damned soules arise from the dead to triumph before men and ascend vp into heauen to Triumph among the Angells blessed soules which are in heauen It was no strange thing for him to descend into hel because that descension was onely in soule therefore an easie passage Of his resurection from the dead we see manie resemblances for out of the ashes of the dead Phoenix doth arise a liue Phoenix of the Corne buried and rotted in the earth foringeth vp Corne againe in greater measure then it was sowed all these thinges being as vnlikely and as impossible as the resurection from the dead In Alcumistrie they see that when golde is brought to powder there is a speedie reduction of that same powder into golde againe so ofal other metalles the heauens yeelde no moysture to the earth but they take it vp againe And as for his ascention vp into heauen it was most naturall vnto him for where should a glorified body be but in a place of glory and where should God be but in heauen which is his throne and dwelling place Chapter 14 The end of the world THe Atheist thinketh the worlde shall haue no ende but hee alleadgeth no reasons to proue his vngodly assertion more then haue bin already answered by St. Peter Our reasons to proue an end and consummation of all things are these 1. What-soeuer had a beginning must also haue an end That the worlde had a beginning I haue alreadie proued in the 8. Chapter and the sequell followeth in natural Philosophie y t it must therefore haue and end because it had a beginning There must bee resolutio in materiam primam a resolution into that chaos wherof it was first made according to Aristotle the great Philosopher of the world 2. Man is commonly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little world and for his sake the great worlde was partly made for if hee stretcht foorth his armes at length from the endes of his two middle fingers to his head foote may be drawne a circle his head is as the North pole his feete instead of the South his armes as the expansion of heauen his handes as the East and West his Nauel as the Center In him are colde heate moysture drinesse as the foure Elemēts his heart still mouing representeth heauen which is in continuall motion his soule an immortal Spirit guiding moouing the bodie resembleth God the guider of the worlde But man which is the lesser worlde declineth it followeth therefore as a good consequent that the greater worlde also doth decline and where there is declination there is also corruption and death That man declineth it is manifest for men are of lower stature lesser bones and strength and shorter life then their fore fathers were but whatsoeuer is languishing faynting declining doth growe to an end whence commeth this but from the declining estate of the greater world The earth we see w t is the lower part of it is not so fruitefull as before it was but beginneth to bee baren like the wombe of Sara the fruites which she doth bring foorth yeeld not so much nutriment as before they did And how commeth that to passe but because the heauen also fainteth the Planets wax olde and cannot affoord so great vertue influence to these lower bodies as in times past they did as I'liny and Aulus Gellius testifie But this is a manifest proofe seeing lesse and weaker bodies are conceiued euerye age in the wombe of nature that nature waxeth olde and wearye of conceiuing cuiuscunque est senectus illius est mors whatsoeuer waxeth olde that also dyeth and hath an end 3. If a man do but behold the face of heauen the Moone looketh pale and wan Mars lesse rubicund Sol lesse orient Iupiter not of so amiable and fauourable countenance Venus more hipocriticall all the rest both of the wandring fixed stars more weake suspicious then they did before That mightye Gyant which was wōt to runne his vnwearied race now waxeth weary as if he would stand still in heauen as he did in the dayes of iosue shineth more dimly apeareth more sildome then before what is this but an argument that shortly the high Arch of heauen which is erected ouer our heads will fall dissolue it selfe 4. What do so many irregular threatning Eclipses portend such vn-vsuall aspects of the starres such fearfull Coniunctious of Planets such prodigious apparitions of Comets but that as the Apostle speaketh The feruent desire of the creature wayteth when the sonnes of God shal be reuealed euerie creature groneth with vs and trauaileth in paine together vnto this present that they may bee deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sonnes of God 5. Empires and kingdomes and all estates haue their fatall periods Daniel his exposition of Nabuchodozer his dreame is now almost fulfilled the head of gold the shoulders of Siluer the belly of brasse are already worne out nothing of that image is now lefte but the very stumps of clay their dates are ended their periods determined long since how is it possible that feete of claye should continue for euer seing golde siluer brasse yron such strong mettals are consumed what now remayneth therefore but the stone cut out of the rocke without hands which bruiseth this image in peices The euerlasting kingdome of Iesus Christ in an other worlde vnto which all the temporal kingdomes in this worlde must giue place that all these being expired Christ in heauenly kingdome may rule for euer what remaineth now but that we looke dayly howerly for this kingdome that now we begin to climbe Jacob his Ladder a peccato ad poenitentiam a poenitentia ad opera ab operibus ad iudicium a iudicio ad miserccordiam a misericordia ad gloriam from sinne to repentance from repentāce to good workes from workes to iudgment from iudgement to mercye from mercy to glorye there is the glory of God standing vpon the top of the Ladder Last of all that the worlde shall haue an end be consumed with fier witnes not onely St. Peter the Apostle but also Ouid the Poet his wordes be these Esse quoque infatis reminiscitur affore tempus Quo mare quo tellus correptaque regia coeli Ardeat mundi moles operosa laboret That the worlde shall haue an end witnes Lucretius his words are these Vna dies dabit exitio multosque per annos Sustentata ruet moles machina mundi Accidet exitium Coeli terraeque
Adam which was committed so long before For it is not to be thought that God which forgiueth vs our owne sinnes will impute an other mans sinnes vnto vs. The soule saith hee at the first creation is eyther pure or corrupted impure it cannot be because it commeth immediately from God and being at the first cleane how commeth it to be vncleane how can a spirit bee infected by a body that which is immateriall bee polluted by that which is materiall But Mr. Caluin doth satisfie that doubt saying that although corruption be inherent both in the soule and the body yet the cause of that hereditarye corruption is not in the substance eyther of the body or the soule but onely it was ordayned of God that the imperfections of the first parents should bee common to all the Children euen as according to the lawes of earthly Princes such as are descended of parents attainted of high treason are also stayned in their bloud preiudiced in respect of their landes and honors by their fathers offences committed before their time and wherof they were ignorant and it is but imitatio diuinae iusticiae an imitatiō of that iustice w c is with God So thē we are borne of impure seede as the Psalmist teacheth and not onely the bodie but also the soule is infected with sinne by reason of this our birth although sinne be more apparent in the body then in the soule and the onely cause why the soule is thus infected is this our impure and vncleane birth and yet the soule is not of seede or any materiall thing but it commeth immediately from God And it is a weake argument which Pelagius vseth that because beleeuing parents doe sanctifie their Children therefore Children cannot receaue infection from their Parents which are regenerate For the children doe lineally descend from their parents by carnall generation but not by spiritual regeneration because regeneration is not from beneath but from aboue not from men but from the holy Ghost Sanctification is an especial blessing giuen in particular but so that the general course of al mankinde may take holde of all men for as much as they all are the Sonnes of men Natus est homo natura sanctificatus ex supernaturali gratia that wee are borne it is the worke of nature that we are sanctified it is supernaturall of the especiall grace of God But I returne to the Atheist The soule I say as it appeareth by these premises is of a more excellent and diuine nature thē that it should be subiect to mortalitie and corruption And therfore that we may not complaine with Theophrastus who accused Nature because she gaue to Rauens and Harts a long life whome length of life did no way profit but made mās life of that shortnes vt tum extingueretur qùum incaepisset sapere that euen then hee was cut off and vtterly extinguished when hee did but begin to be wise I will produce these arguments which are alleadged by naturall Philosophers to prooue the immortallitie of the soule that I may refute Theophrastus and shew plainely that wee are not vtterly extinguished by death and that although wee doe but then begin to bee wise when we are neare our death yet wee doe not then cease to bee wise but then we increase in wisdome when the soule is separated from the bodie My reasons are these The first is drawne from the vnderstanding of man for mans soule is of infinit capacitie the more it vnderstandeth the more it is able to vnderstand It is able to comprehend not onely the whole world but infinit worldes In numbring it can adde and multiply so farre that of addition and multiplication there shall bee no end It is able to imagin infinit perfection But whatsoeuer is infinit in capacitie is also infinit in continuance because as the proprietie of any thing is so is the existence of the same But for asmuch as it is infinitlye capable in this life and cannot bee satisfied in this life therefore it must bee satisfied in the life to come 2. The obiect of mans vnderstanding is truth as Tully speaketh not in particular but in general which is the way wherby all thinges are knowne And therefore it cannot be satisfied vntill it come vnto that in which all truth consisteth and that is God which is truth it selfe according to his essence for no accidents are in him And for asmuch as this cannot be attained vnto in this life therefore it is reserued vnto a better life 3. The obiect of mans vnderstanding is ENS euerie thing that is but because there are some thinges material and some spirituall it must conceaue them both and as for the thinges which be immateriall and without bodies it cannot distinctly conceaue them in this fraile body therfore the conceiuing of them belongeth to the soule when it is separated from the bodie 4. All men by nature desire knowledge as the Philosopher speaketh but scire est rem per causas cognoscere to knowe a thing is to iudge discerne of the causes of it So then because it is naturall to euery man when hee seeth any effect to search out the causes of that effect and againe when hee hath found out the cause to search farther and examine what is the cause of that cause and so to ascend higher vntill he come to the highest cause which is God And that cannot be in this life because the essence of God is not conceaued by discoursing of him but by perfectly seeing of him and beholding of him face to face euen as he is My second reason is drawne from the will of man That also is infinite for he can loue that which is good not onely in the first degree but also in the second and third neyther can there be any end of his loue but still his louing and liking may increase as St. Augustin saith in his Meditations En amo te Domine et si hoc non sufficit amo teplus et si hoc parum est amabo te validius Behold Lord I loue thee if this be not enough I wil loue thee more and if that be not yet enough I wil stil loue thee more Man may desire that which is infinitely good this infinite capacitye of the will must bee fulfilled and because not in this life therefore after death 2. The libertie also and freedome of mans will I meane not in Diuine but in ciuill and Domesticall affayres is of an infinit power which is a sufficient argument to proue the immortality of the soule For if man will not no creature is able to force his will to loue this thing or that voluntas potest cogi who can impose a necessitie vpon man to bee willing or vnwilling to do this or that but onely God which hath created both the will and vnderstanding and is therefore aboue them both 3. The obiect of the wil is that whatsoeuer is good I meane
all goodnesse in generall and therefore neuer resteth but still willeth desireth vntill it come to the perfect fruition of God in whome all goodnesse is included who is essentially good in himselfe 4. The will of man mooueth it selfe to one thing and an other and is not mooued by any naturall agent and as the will is so is the essence it selfe and therefore not subiect to corruption A third reason the verie appetit of man is also infinit it findeth no contentment among al the things which are vnder the Sunne it is neuer satisfied with the desire of happinesse knowledge honour glorie riches and eternitie that it may liue after death But to whatsoeuer nature hath giuen this appetite it hath also appointed how this appetite shall bee satisfied and that must bee onely after death A fourth the verie operations of the soule it selfe without any reference vnto the bodie As for example to beleeue goeth farre aboue sence and is an act separated from it To distinguish between a body and a spirit to imagin those thinges which are but onely imaginarie as vacuum infinitum in rerum natura emptines infinitenes in worldly and naturall thinges mathematicall lines to make sillogismes to define deuide demonstrate And these thinges it doth without the conditions and proprieties of the bodie it doth these thinges the better the more it is abstracted from the body and therefore doth then best of all when it is altogether out of the bodie and at full liberty these thinges which do not depend vpon the body neither can bee accomplished by the Organs and Instruments of the body A fift nothing can be destroyed by that wherein the perfection of it doth consist but y e very perfection of the soule doth cōsist it the abstraction seperation of it from the body which appeareth by the iudgement of all morall Philosophers which holde the very highest perfection of vertue to be then when man doth not follow the passions and perturbations of the body but doth subdue them wholy to the minde and vnderstanding The sixt There is a kinde of reflection of the minde and al the faculties thereof aboue it selfe the vnderstanding vnderstandeth that it doth vnderstand the wil willeth that it shal be willing the memorie remembreth that it doth remember so it vnderstandeth that it willeth and doth remember which no bodily nor mortall thing can performe it is therefore spirituall and immortall The seauenth Besides the vsuall manner of attaining to knowledge which is proper to it selfe the soule hath also a more diuine knowledge by the influence of an higher cause which is by reuelation and infusion But when it hath such reuelations it is abstracted from the body and therfore it is in a more perfect estate when it is not at all in the body The eight The first originall or beginning of the soule is not by any naturall agent because it is more perfect then the bodye for no effect which is more perfect can proceed frō a cause which is of lesse perfection Therfore as it proceeded not frō any natural cause so it cannot be destroyed by any naturall cause and therefore it cannot dye by seperation of it from the bodye The nynth The soule subsisteth by it selfe and therefore it cannot die by any accident The antecedent I proue because it hath operations proper to it selfe as I haue shewed The tenth Euerie thing which is corrupted hath his bane destruction eyther by that which is contrarie to it selfe as heate by colde drynes by moisture or by the absence of that whereby it is preserued and nourished as the lampe goeth out for want of oyle or by the corruption of the subiect in which it is as the heate of the fire when the fire is extinguished but nothing is contrarye to the soule because it is a substance and not an accident neither doth it depend vpon any material cause but onely on God neither hath it any subiect because it is no accident The eleuenth That which dyeth with the body must also languish and decay with the bodie and wax olde when the body is olde as it appeareth by sence motion and vegetation which in olde men doe faile but vnderstanding doth increase in age The twelfe is the verie conuenience and agreement which the soule hath with God and the Angells it argueth the immortality thereof for why are they sayd to be immortall but because they are as the soule is spirituall immateriall simple no way mixed or depending of the bodye The thirteenth What is more common in this life then the prosperitye of the wicked and the aduersitye of the godlye But it cannot stand with Gods iustice nor his prouidence that there should be no rewarde for wel-doers and no punishment for vngodly men therefore because it is not in this life it must needes be in an other life w t cannot be vnles the soules of men be immortall To conclude It is incident to good men to hope well to euill men to feare and be troubled in their mindes because of their offences there is Conscience But there cannot be Conscience without immortality of the soule Therefore I conclude that the soule of man is immortall Chapter 11. Of Noah his Arke and the Deluge THe Atheists dispute against the storye of Noah his Arke the maner of the drowning of the worlde with water saying it was an impossibilitye that so many creatures should be preserued in so small a vessel or that the worlde should be so destroyed For the better satisfaction of such vngoldly men concerning that storye I obserue these thinges which folowe Concerning the multitude of Beastes which were in the Arke of those which were cleane were 7. of euery sorte that is 3 couples for increase for meat when it should be permitted to eat flesh for labour and other vses of man and the odde beast for Sacrifice Of vncleane beastes 2. of euery sorte for increase As for Fishes they were in the Sea and not destroyed because they were farther separated frō the sinnes of men for they were in an other element as also such other creatures as can liue in the waters as Otters sea-wolues Swannes water-soules c. Agairie from the kindes of beastes which were in the Arke were excluded such as bred not by generation as Mules such Serpents and creeping thinges as are ingendred by the Sun out of putrifaction such as being wholye perished might be restored agayne in other creatures which were preserued as Mules which are ingendred of an horse and a shee Asse Therefore these beastes which were in the Arke were onely such as liued vpon the drye and proceeded by generation The number of beastes according to Plinye and Gesner are not knowne to be aboue one hundreth and fiftye kindes And it is verye likely that they which are not known should be neither great nor manye And of them which are great there are not aboue fortye kindes As for the capacitye of the
futurum To this also agreeth the Poet Lucan his wordes be these Inuida fatorum series summisque negatum Stare diu nimioque graues sub pondere lapsus Nec se Roma ferens Sic cum compage soluta Secula tot mundi suprema coegerit hora Antiquum repetens iterum Chaos omnia mistis Sidera sideribus concurrent igneapontum Astrapetent tellus extendere littora nolet Excutietque fretum Fratri contraria Phoebe Ibit obliquum bigas agitare per orbem Indignata diem poscet sibi totaque discors Machina diuulsi turbabit foedera mundi The fates enuye the states of mortall men The highest seates doe not continue long Great is the fall vnder the greater burden and greatest thinges doe to them selues great'st wrong Rome was so great whome all the world did feare that Rome her selfe she could no longer beare So when this well couch't frame of worlde shall burne And the last houre so many ages end To former Chaos all thinges shall returne the enuyous fates this issue doe portend Then all the Planets shall confus'dly meete And fires Caelestiall on the flouds shall sleete The earth shall grudge to make the sea a shore And cast it off and push the fload away The Moone enrag'd shall crosse her brother sore And seeke to alter course to shine by day Thus all at oddes in strife and out of frame They shall disturbe the worlde spoyle the same Chapter 15. Of Hell fire THus you haue heard how by the course of nature the worlde shall haue an end What then foloweth I say to the Atheist with S. Paul And thinkest thou ô man that thou shalt escape the iudgement of God shall men thinke there is no punishment for wicked men after this life I wish that they would beleue S. Ambros Christus moriens in nouissimo Testamento singula singulis officia distribuebat Patri spiritum militibus vestimenta corpus Iudaeis pacem Discipulis Crucem Apostolis latroni paraedisium peccatoribus infernum When Christ dyed in his last wil Testament he bequeathed diuers Legacyes To his Father he commended his soule to the Iewes his bodye to the Soldiers his garments to his Disciples peace to his Apostles the Crosse Paradice to the good Theefe which was crucified by him but hel fire to vngodly men But to perswade these vnbeleeuers that there is an hell my reasons are these First I haue manifestly prooued that there is a God and it cannot stand with the nature of God but that he must be iust and there can be no iustice in God vnles he punish offenders they for the moste part do escape punishment in this worlde Gods iudgements doe not ouer take them in this life therefore that God may be iust their iudgement is reserued vnto another world that they may be punished in an other place and where is that but in Hell-sire Secondly whereas Tully a Philosopher Claudius Claudianus a Poet Seneca and others being so many in their description of Hell make mention of Minos Rhadamanthus the Iudges there so cruell and inexorable the furies the fier Tantalus his euerlasting thirste â—xion his wheele alwaies rolling Titius vpon whose bowels the vultures are eternally feding what is this but the same description of hel which is in the Scriptures eternal fire prepared for the deuill and his Angells and as the Prophet Esay writeth fier that shall neuer bee quenched and a worme of conscience gnawing alwaies and neuer dying Thirdly witnes the Atheist that there is a hell for wicked men For many times hauing committed heynous offences though so secret that no man can detect them he so mightie that he feareth no man that should punish him yet he is inwardly troubled vexed in his Conscience what is this his Conscience but a secret feare that God will punish him he soeth that God doth not punish in this world according to the qualitye of such an offence therfore he feareth punishment in an other world then witnes the Atheist his owne Conscience there is a hell Fourthly witnes the Atheist that there is an hell all be it hee denyeth Hell For hee knoweth and also verye well considerreth that in the time of his health he is subiect to sicknes pouertie imprisonment a whole sea of gall and bitternes nay a worlde of discontentments yet he would not dye Nay wheÌ„ he is grieuously sicke his panges intollerable his disease vncurable he would giue a great summe of money yet to prolonge his paine vpon earth to liue heere continually though in continuall sickenes And why is all this but because hee is loath to die why is that but because he feareth death But if hee thought his soule were extinguished by death that after death there should be no iudgement no hel no feeling of sorrowe then why should hee feare death Nay why should not an Atheist which is so worldly wise and which loueth his own ease so much desire to die and so to be at rest rather then to liue in continuall sicknes if he thought that death were an end of sorrowe Therefore it followeth as a necessarie consequent that he feareth death because he thinketh that a farther reckning is to be made of the thinges which he did in this life that greater panges and torments shall ensue after death then could bee incident vnto him in this life and that can bee nothing else but Hell-fier Fiftly let the Atheist for his better satisfaction concerning this point but trauaile into the Land of Canaan to beholde the lake Asphaltites where Sodom stood and he shall see the verie Image and Idea of Hell before his eyes ouen in this life When he coÌ„meth thither these thinges shall present themselues vnto him Tetrus odor aspectus horrendus lacus fietidus fumus venenosus poma quae morsu tentata in fumum et fauillam or to fatiscente vanescunt An vgly and loathsome smel of brimstone horrible dreadful prospect a stinking lake poysoning smoke Apples full of filthie vapours and sparkes of fier the thinges which hee shall see with his eyes smell with his Nostrells and taste with his tongue wil make him to confesse there is an hell To them which aske whether hell be a materiall place or no I answer it must of necessitie be so because in it are to be tormented not onely soules but also bodies It is no imaginarie thing because when they come there it shal be no imaginarie punisheÌ„t which they shall suffer If they aske where hell is surely it is in the lowest parts of the earth because they are farthest from Heauen But I wish them not to be so curious in disputing and inquiring Luc 21 2. Contrà menda Chap 6. Dè Trinitat Lib. 1. Chap 3. Apoc 2 4. 14 15. 20. Apoc 3 1. 15 16. Apoc 13. 17 2 Thes 2 39. 1 King 12 31 Mal 2. 9. Act 13 22. Ephe 2. Gal 4. Rom 1. Psalme 14. Psalme 36. Psalme 10.