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
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
his wickednes to be a monster of men a very slaunder and reproch to mankinde as Nero was that slewe his Mother his Master and him selfe when he hath committed any haynous crime he doth in his conscience see that God doth behold it that God doth pursue him that God wil worke reuenge although there be no witnes to accuse him no humane power aboue him to execute iustice vpon him I will not dwell vpon many exāples neither wil I instance in Adam which as soone as euer he had eaten the Apple hid him selfe from the presence of God in the thicket in Herod which when he had beheaded Iohn the Baptist wrongfully did think y t he was haunted by Iohn the Baptist his ghost saying of Christ surely this is Iohn risen from the dead nor in Cain which but intending to murther his brother watched a time when he was in the field out of the sight of his parents I will not alleadge the authoritye of the Prophet which saith Impius fugit nemine persequente The wicked man flyeth when no man doth pursue him And of the Apostle which saith The Gentils which haue not the lawe written meaning the Bible yet haue by nature the effect of the lawe of God written in their hearts their conscience bearing witnes and their thoughts accusing or excusing one an other because they thinke the Bible to be a partiall iudge and no way competent betweene them vs and therefore I will alleadge one or two examples out of indifferent Authors tending to the same purpose Tully pleading for a man which was accused as a Parecide or one which had murthered his owne father alleageth this as an especiall proofe of his innocencie that in the whole course of his behauiour after his father was slayne nothing could be obserued in him which did sauour of a troubled conscience And for the better cleering of Sextus Roscius whose cause was then in hand he alleageth a former example of a father and his sonne which in their trauayle tooke vp their lodging and after supper lay together in one bed the morowe after the master of the house comming by chance into the chamber found the father strangled in his bed and the sonne sleping by his side when the matter was examined by the Iudges the sonne was acquitted by the equitye of the lawe as a man innocent because it was then held and by them so adiudged to be a matter impossible that he should in so short a time haue slept if so be that he had committed murther A man saith Tully which hath slayne his father shall feele a thousand vexations and furyes of hell tormenting his conscience according to that saying of the wise man A good conscience is a continuall feaste but non est pax impijs no inward peace no quietnes of conscience with such men as are notoriouslye wicked A man I say that hath committed any crying sinne shall betraye him selfe by the working of his owne conscience it will not suffer him to take his bodily rest it will alter his very face and countenance as the Poet saith Heu quam difficile est crimen non prodere vult◠Oh how hard a thing is it for a man to keep his countenance not to blush which hath committed an offence The Lord said to Cain after he had committed murther Why is thy countenance cast downe such a man feareth the wagging of euery leaf and the flying of euery bird An obnox ous man watching is like to a phrensie man sleeping for the one resteth not sleeping and the other resteth not waking he cannot sit still hee cannot lye stil he cannot stand still nor abide long in any place Caligula the tyrant was afeard of euery blast Nero when he had massacred the christiās put St. Paul to the sword St. Peter to the gibbet was so terryfied by apparitions as he thought of S t Paul and St. Peter which appeared at his bedside in a dreame and after he had put his mother Agrippina to death he was so terrified in his conscience that he knewe not where to bestowe him selfe at the end for very greife of minde he ran into a priuye and there stabbed himselfe That I may come to religion Tully saith Sunt qui negant Deos procurationem habere rerum humanarum quorum sententia falsa est quoniam sic omnis religio inanis esset Religion sheweth there is a God for if there were no God then could there be no religion But euery mans soule naturally hath somtimes a feeling of religion although he dispise God and religion neuer so much This appeareth by the very heathens them selues which be they neuer so rude and barbarous and depriued of the knowledge of God yet doe make vnto themselues idols euen of their owne accorde as Mr. Caluin verye well obserueth Dei conceptionis apud Ethnicos saith he idolotria satis est argumenti quum lapidem potius quam nullum deum colant y e mansown conceit doth naturally leade him to knowe there is a God the verye idolatrie of the heathens is a sufficient proofe which chose rather to worship a stone then no God at all And as Statius saith Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor as soone as men be in danger and extremitye be they neuer so vngodly yet they erect Altars carue Images flye to thē for succour shewing that in their owne naturall iudgement which they haue by the light and instinct of nature there is one higher then them selues one whose power is aboue the power of man to whome they ought to flye vnto for help and deliuery out of trouble and who is that but God Nay witnes in this point the Atheistes them selues that there is a God for in their extremitye of greife they crye out ô God It is an olde and true Prouerb Qui nescit orare transeat mare if a man knowe not how to serue God let him sayle vpon the sea and it will make him to serue God When the Lord sent a great winde that the Ship was like to be rent the Mariners were afeard euery one cryed vnto his God they said vnto Ionas Thou sleeper arise and call vpon thy God if so be that God will think vpon vs that we perish not and as the Text saith Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifices vnto him and made vowes And for this cause namely that men by the instinct of nature doe incline to religion and a man is as much distinguished from a beast by his feeling of religion as by his reasonable soule After the floud Mercurius Trismegistus and Menna prescribed lawes and rules of religion to the Aegiptians Melissus to the Cratians Ianus to the Latines Numa Pompilius to the Romanes Orpheus and Cadmus to the Grecians aswell as Moses and Aaron to the Hebrues the difference onely this that the Hebrues were in the right way al the rest
especiall thinges which may best serue for this purpose The Scriptures foretolde long before the time that the world should be conuerted to Christian Religion all Nations should beleeue and submit themselues to the obedience of the Faith a thing in mans iudgement not to bee expected For the Prophet saide concerning the Kingdome of Christ I meane his Kingdome of the Gospell or of Grace The Heathens raged the people murmured against the Lord and his Christ but in vaine the Kinges of the earth stood vp banded them selues and the Princes assembled themselues togeather But he that sitteth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision Euen I haue set my King vpon Sion mine holie mountaine I will declare the decree that is the Lorde hath saide to me thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee aske of me and I shall giue thue the Heathen for thine inheritance and the endes of the earth for thy possession There could not be a more vnlikely thing foretolde and yet it was fulfilled long since no Atheist can denie it Tertullian to this purpose saith who was able to gouerne the world but onely Christ of whome it was foretolde that his Kingdome should be extended ouer the whole world The Kingdome of Salomon saith her was confined within the Land of Iudaea from Dan to Beersheba and his territories did reach no farther Darius raigned ouer the Pabylonians and Persians but no farther Pharao ouer the Aegiptians and there his dominion ceased Nabuchodonozer was a great Monarche yet he reigned not ouer the whole worlde but onely from India vnto Aethiopia the like may bee saide of the Greekes the Romās which were called the Lords of the world and yet the whole world was not knowne vnto them much lesse subdued by them But as for the Kingdome of Christ it hath extended it selfe farre and wide the Gospell hath bin preached in al places and receaued of all Nations of the Parthians Medes Elamites the inhabitantes of Mesopotamia Armenia Phnygia Cappadocia Aegipt Pamphilla Asia Africa and the vttermost Indies Of this assertion there bee so many recordes that it cannot bee denyed As for some few things which are foretolde in the Scriptures not yet fulfilled as namely the conuersion of the Iewes and the destruction of Antichrist the time is not yet come to passe that they should be fulfilled for all thinges must be performed in that due time which God in his secret wisdome hath appointed There are other thinges also foretolde which must goe immediately before the ende of the world which are not yet performed because as you see the ende is not yet But it is a sufficient argument to induce Infidelles to beleeue that all these thinges shall come to passe because they see all other things alreadie performed in their time and order For as hee that sometimes lyeth shall not bee beleeued though hee tell the truth so hee which alwaies hath tolde the truth cannot without impietie bee suspected of fallhood God cannot deceaue or bee deceaued And which is not to bee omitted St. Peter did prophecie that at the latter end there should bee such Atheistes which should denie these thinges and the Prophecie is now verified otherwise this my labour might haue bene spared their impiety maketh it good which the Prophet hath foretolde Againe there is in Daniel an auncient Prophecie concerning the death of our Sauiour Christ euen the verie time and computation of yeares is defined when hee should be put to death Seauenty weekes saith hee are determined vpon thy people and vpon the holy Cittie to finish the wickednesse and seale vp the sinnes and reconcile the iniquitie and bring in euerlasting righteousnesse to annoynt the moste holy From the going foorth of the commaundement to bring againe the people and build Ierusalem to Messias the Prince shall bee 69. weekes and after he shall bee slaine but so that for one weeke hee shall teach but in the middle of the weeke hee shall cause the Sacrifice and oblation to cease But these weekes are annuae hebdomadae euery weeke is seauen yeares and so reckoning weekes consisting of yeares not onely of daies as for euery day in the weeke should be reckoned a yeare 70. of Daniels weekes make 490. yeares But the Temple which was the first and cheifest thing reaedified in Ierusalem began in the second yeare of Cyrus the builders were hindred 42. yeares as it appeareth out of the Gospell and in the 46. yeare it was finished because the laste 4. yeares they had quietnes Longimanus in the second yeare of his raigne giuing foorth a newe edict that they should builde without molestation and no man vnder payne of death should hinder the workemen as in times past they had done From the second year therfore of Longimanus the Emperour to Alexander the great were 145. yeares from Alexander to the natiuitye of our Sauiour 310. from his birth to his baptisme 30. these being put together make yeares 485. so the 69. weekes make 482. yeares but at his baptisme the whole 482. yeares that is 69 were fullye complete and ended In the next weeke or 7. yeares our Sauiour taught the people and in the middle thereof that is in the fourth yeare he was put to death What Iewe or Atheist can except against the truth of this Prophecye A second proofe that the bookes of the Bible are the worde of God is the generall consent and agreement of so many writers which writ at diuers times in diuers places remote one from an other in diuers languages and vpon diuers occasions all writing of one and the selfe-same subiect all agreeing in Doctrine none contradicting other that they might not so fitlie bee termed diuers writers as diuers pennes of the same writer The bookes of Moses were written in the wildernesse of Iosua Iudges and the Kinges in the land of Promise of Daniell in Babylon the workes of St. Paule some at Rome some in other places as Athens Ephesus Laodicea Nicapolis St. Iohns reuelation in Pathmos the Booke of Iob no man knoweth by whome when nor where The Bookes of Moses about 2554. yeares after the creation of the worlde the Psalmes some of them 605. yeares after Moses the bookes of Ezra after the returne from Captiuitie about 605. yeares after Dauid by whome manie of the Psalmes were made Betweene Dauid and the Captiuitie Esay and Osee vnder King Ioathan Achaz and Ezechiaz Ieremie vnder Iosias Ioachim Zedechias Ezechiel Abacuc Daniel in Captiuitie and the whole new Testament long after the olde yet all agree as the diuers thunders which haue one voyce foure Beastes which sing one song Vox tamen vna manet qualem decet esse sororum Damascen compareth them to a Garden bedecked with varyetie of hearbes of excellent vertue which are to be gathered one by one and yet to make one Garland or diuers precious stones in one brest-plate
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.