stand with sence reason that three should be one and one should be three First let the Atheist take example by Olimpius the Arrian which washing himselfe in the Bathe contempteously asked how this might be but was suddenly distroyed by three fierie dartes sent from heauen and the pointes of these three ioyning all in one to teach others by his example howe it is necessarie to beleeue but no way safe to make a doubt of the principles of Diuinitie and to call into question such deep misteries of our faith and yet to shew that three might be one and one three Secondly the number of three are one number yet three vnities in Arithmetic a triangle is three angles and one figure in Geometrie three gimballes compacted together are one ring yet three as they be disioyned and concerning these things do doubt is made So you see by familiar examples how one may be three and these three notwitstanding one Thirdly in the Sunne which shineth in the firmament there are the bodie of the Sunne the brightnes which proceedeth from the body and the heate which procedeth from them both So in the Trinitie there is the Father from whome all thinges are the Sonne which is the brightnes of his Fathers glorie and ingrauen forme of his person and the holy Ghost which is the heate and loue of them both Fourthly in the fire there are light flame heate the fier cannot be deuided neither can the Trinitie Fiftly there are three powers and faculties of the soule of man the memorie the vnderstanding and the will these three are seuerall faculties yet the soule is one All these three doe comprehend one another For man remembreth that he hath memorie will and vnderstanding The vnderstanding likewise comprehendeth al three for man vnderstandeth that he hath vnderstanding will and memorie The will comprehendeth all three for man is willing that he shall will vnderstand and remember So the Father comprehendeth him selfe the Sonne the holy Ghost the Sonne comprehendeth himselfe the Father and the holy Ghost the holy Ghost comprehendeth himselfe the Father the Son Sixtlye that which vnderstandeth that which is vnderstood are all one when the minde reflected vpon it selfe vnderstandeth it selfe So God the Father from euerlasting vnderstanding himselfe begat his Sonne coeternall with himselfe as a vninitie is not of any other but of it selfe and yet begetteth a vnitie of it selfe so God the Father which is of none yet vnderstanding of himselfe alierum se non aliud generat begetteth of himselfe an other not in nature but in person from himselfe which yet is all one with himselfe Againe that which vnderstandeth and is vnderstood is all one with that which is beloued when the vnderstanding doth loue it selfe and then it is one and the selfe same thing which loueth and is beloued and there is the holy Ghost all one with the Father and the Sonne And so as it were in the glasse of nature is represented a liuely image of that essential loue and vnderstanding by which the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost doe loue and vnderstand each other from all eternitie Last of all in euery thing which is made and framed by the arte of man there be necessarilie three thinges and yet these three make one matter shape and order by the matter is represented the Father by the shape the Sonne which is the Image of his Father by order the holy Ghost which ordereth and disposeth all thinges I conclude with St. Augustin Te patrem ingenitum te filium vnigenitum te spiritum paracletum ab vtrisg procedētem colimus veneramur we praise worship thee ô God the Father vnbegotten the Sonne onely begotten the holy Spirit the comforter proceeding from them both Chapter 6. That there is but one God DAuid sayth that the God of Gods euen the Lorde hath spoken and called the earth euen from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe therof In which wordes notwithstanding he doth not intimate that there be many Gods but one for he called the other Gods so by a figure called Ironia or Sarcasmus as God did by Adam when he said Beholde Adam is like one of vs when he ment nothing lesse Such Gods are but creatures as I haue shewed by nature they are not Gods Such Gods were the Idols of the nations of which S. Paule saith they turned the truth of God into a lye and worshipped the creature for the creatour Such Gods were Dagon Remphan Astoroth the Gods of the Philistines Moabites Sidonians But euen as Aarons rodde deuoured the Serpents of the sorcerers so the God of the Philistines Dagon fel down before Arke the of the couenant where the true God was present to shewe that such Gods were but counter faite Gods and vaine like them which put their trust in them Of such Gods saith S. Augustin Nec ideo Troiaperijt quia Mineruam perdidit quid enim ipsa prius Mincrua perdidit vt periret an forte custodes suos hoc sane verum est quippe illis coesis potuit auferri neque homines a simulachro at simulacrum ab hominibus sernabatur Quo modo ergo celebratur vt patriam custodiret et ciues quae suos non potuit custodire custodes Troy was not therfore ouerthrowne because it lost the idoll of the Goddesse Minerua but tell I pray you what the Idol did loose first that itself shold be also lost you will say shee lost her keepers and ye say the truth for when the keepers of her Temple were slaine it was no masterie to steale the Goddesse away for it was not the idoll that kept the man but the man did keepe the Idoll How absurde a thing therefore was it to worshippe such a Goddesse as a defendour and keeper of the Cittie which was not able to keep her selfe nor the keepers of her Chappell whereas Virgill sayth Victosque Deos paruumque nepotem suosque tibi commendat Troia penates Si autem Virgilius tales deos victos dicit et vt vel victi quo quo modo euaderent homini commendatos que dementia est existimare his tutoribus Roman sapienter fuisse commissam nisi eos amisissat non potuisse vastari Imo Deos victos tanquam defensores colere quid aliud est quam non numina bona sed daemonia mala Non Roma perijsset si illi perijssent sed illi multo antea perijssent nisi eos Roma seruasset Hector in Virgill sayth his God was conquered and hee commendeth them to the tuition of Aenaeas But what madnesse was it to imagin that Rome was wisely committed to the protection of such Gods as were conquered and had neede their selues of mans protection and that Rome could not bee sacked so long as these Gods were in safetie Nay to worship conquered Gods as patrons of the Citie is not to serue blessed Gods
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
voyce when there was nothing besides him selfe he spake that is he decreed with him selfe that it should be so If you aske what moued him to create it when he could be aswell without it being delighted with the reflection of his owne glorye which he sawe in him selfe made creatures because he would haue some to be partakers also of that his happines as men and Angels and for their sakes he made the worlde that they might be contayned in it Angels in heauen men vpon the superficies of the earth and all other creatures for the vse of man that so Angels and men seeing his goodnes whereof they were made partakers should prayse him As for the Philosophers and Poets and great wise men of the worlde although they enioyed not the Bible as were Mercurius Trismegistus Homer Hesiodus Aristotle Tully Ouid they all held that the world had a beginning and that God was the maker of it How then is it that now our Atheists denie the same Surely they thinke themselues wise and are become foolish as the Apostle speaketh For they thinke there may bee an effect without a cause a motion without a moouer a worke without a workeman But because disputation is not to be held with them which are ignorant but with the learned and the learned will not preiudice their knowledge so much as to be thought not able to yeild a reason of their assertions let vs examin the reasons which they alleadge why they should holde that the world wâ—â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out beginning Aristotle say they affirmeth that there can be no motion without a mouer and there must be a due proportion inter motorem id quod mouetur betweene that which is moued and that by whome it is moued there is one Sphere which is called primum mobile the first bodye which is moued so there must be one first agent to moue the same but he did moue from eternitie there was therefore some thing which from eternitye was to be moued by him and that is the highest Sphere For say they if he did not from all eternitye moue this Sphere but began the worlde then non agens factum est agens of no agent he was made an agent which could not be without alteration but that could not be because God is not subiect to alteration for then should he also be subiect to corruption and so should be no God The argument I say doth not followe for although that God is said to be primus motor ab aeterno the first mouer from eternitye yet he did not actu mouere ab aterno this motion of his was not in action eternallye and therefore it is not rightly inferred that there should befor that cause anye change in God For God what-soeuer in his eternall fore-knowledge he intended to doe is said to doe it in the same maner as he intended it and that motion which was not in rerum natura subsistens subsisting in the nature of things as they terme it yet in God was alwayes subsisting with whome all future thinges are present which called the things that were not by their names as if they were He ordayned euery thing that it should be euen before the foundation of the worlde was layed the reason is because that eternall and diuine essence doth not acknowledge time he seeth thinges past present and future not successiuelye but all at once Therefore they haue not yet attayned to the true vnderstanding of Aristotles meaning which argue in this maner Naturally I confesse motion is without beginning because one motion cannot begin without an other precaedent motion so likewise it cannot end without alteration because in omni vere continuo physico in euerye true naturall thing whose partes haue their coherence together as this hath there is a perpetuall succession which may be diuided into infinite partes of the same proportion For euen as in time and euery part thereof there is one present moment or instant which argueth that there is an other past and an other future so in euerye motion which is measured by time there is one present mutation which argueth one motion precedent and an other subsequent because euery motion is a change either of substance or of quantitye or of qualitye or ofplace And therfore the first moment of time cannot be assigned nor the first mutation which is in motion The naturall Philosophers could not discerne by nature whether was first the Hen or the egge because one cannot be without the other therfore they supposed that eternallye the generation of one was the corruption of an other and so there should be an eternall reuolution of thinges which indeed naturally must be so but metaphisically it is not so because there is a God aboue nature by whome nature is ouer-ruled Neither is it meruayle though Philosophye and Fayth doe not speake alike concerning the beginning of the worlde wheÌ„ the Metaphysics and their principles differ so much from the Physics their principles and Aristotle dissenteth so much from Aristotle one and the selfe same man from himselfe It is one thing to affirme that the worlde simply had no beginning and an other thing to saye that nature did not make the worlde and that by the power of nature it shall haue no end for God and Nature are diuers thinges Aristotle confessed that the worlde began and shall haue an end in respect of the diuine and supernaturall power because he said that God as he is the first mouer so he is the first cause of motion and actuallye infinite a most free agent not tyed to any secondary causes instruments meanes whereby he worketh He which is eternall was before all motion can be without motion or time because he made both motion and time Aristotle denyeth that any thing which is eternall can be measured by time he denyeth God to be in time and by a consequent he denyeth him to be tyed vnto motion which is measured by time God moued eternallye but his motion was metaphysicall which was nothing else but to will to nill and to vnderstand The worlde therfore is not without beginning in respect of the first cause which is God but of the second cause which is nature for then nature should be iniurious vnto her selfe if she should doe vyolence vnto her selfe and be a cause of her owne destruction And therefore according to nature there is a reference and due proportion betweene him which mooueth and that which is mooued and the motion it selfe and so the eternitie of the mouer must argue the eternitie of the thing which by him is mooued of the motion but God hath exerciseth his metaphysical power and authoritie ouer all thinges whereby he counterchecketh and ouer ruleth these thinges The arguments therefore which the Philosophers produce to proue the eternitie of the worlde are reduced vnto these First if there were any first motion the mouer and the moâ—ued body from whence this motion
to which questions I answer as followeth The incarnation of the Sonne was the worke of the whole Trinitye yet one person was incarnate as if three sisters should make a Coate and one put it on Pater Spiritus imple erunt carnem Christi maiestate Filius tantum assumptione The Father and the holy Ghost filled the flesh of Christ by their maiesty but the Sonne by assumptioÌ„ of it vnto him selfe Quia congruum fuit vt qui erat in deitate Filius Dei esset in humanitate filius hominis It was most fit that the Sonne onely should be incarnate and not the father nor the holy Ghost that he which in his diuinity was the Sonne of God might be in his humanitye the Sonne of man He could not haue beene man had he not beene conceiued And forasmuch as he came into the world to redeeme mankind which he could not doe vnles he were without sinne he could not haue beene without sinne had he not beene conceiued onely and not begotten For if man had begotten him he had begotten him in sinne because omne simile generat sui simile euerye thing which begetteth doth beget that which is like to it selfe and therfore he was not begotten but onely conceiued without the helpe of man and he could not haue beene so conceiued but by the holy Ghost He was therefore conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne As he was conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne so he was borne of a Virgin that he might be borne without sinne But they aske how he could be borne of a Virgin I could aske them how Eue could be borne of Adam without a mother or Adam of the earth without father or mother why could not Christ aswell be borne of a mother without a father as Eue of a man without a woman or Adam without man or woman And because this doth not onely concerne the A theist but also the Iewe and the Maniche S. Augustin for confutation of them both sayth Ego tibi ostendam incredule Iudaee detestande Manichaee peperisse Virginem I will proue to the vnbeleeuing Iewe and the curssed Maniche how a Virgin may bring forth a Childe Against the Iewe he alleageth that twelue roddes according to the number of the 12. Tribes were put into the Arke of the couenant among the rest Aarons rodde wanting moysture and all the rightes of nature contrary to nature brought forth fruite Quod virga potuit virgo non potuit virga potuit contra naturam Nuces producere nunquid Virgo non potuit contra naturam Dei filium generare ostendas mihi quo modo virga Nuces pratulit ego tibi ostendam quo modo Virgo filium peperit That which a rodde could doe could not a Virgin doe a rodde could contrary to nature bring forth Almonds and could not a Virgin contrary to nature bring forth the Sonne of God shewe me how the rodde brought forth Almonds and I will shewe thee how a Virgin brought forth a Childe Rubus sustâ—…uit ignem non amisit viriditatem sic Virgo peperit Christum non amisit virginitatem The Bush burned and yet continued greene but as the Bush bore the heat of the fire without losse of viriditye so the Virgin bore a Childe wtthout losse of virginitye This may suffice to confute the Iewe which doth allow the authoritye of the bookes of Moses but it wil not serue for the confutatioÌ„ of the Atheist for he will aske me how it may stand with humane reason and with the rules of arte how this may be and how there may be penetratio corporum that one body should penetrate an other I will not therfore cyte the authorityes exaÌ„ples of the scriptures how Christ arose out of his graue the graue being shut vp the stone not rolled away how after his resurrection he went into the house where his Disciples were the doores being locked how at his ascension he peirced the heauens how he is as before I haue shewed liberrimum agens medijs non alligatum a free agent and not tyed to meanes whereby he worketh how he hath metaphysicum imperium in singula a supernaturall power whereby he ouer-ruleth all creatures But I will dispute by reason against the Atheist as S. Augustin doth against the Maniche Solis radius specular penetrat soliditatem illius insensibili soliditate pertransit talis videtur foris qualis intus nec quum ingreditur violat nec quum egreditur dissipat quoniam ad ingressum egressum specular integrum perseuerat Specular non rumpit solaris radius neque igitur integritatem Virginis vitiare potuit ingressus aut egressus Deitatis The Sun-beame peirceth through the glasse the glasseis not broken how it passeth through so solid hard a body the eye or sense of man cannot perceiue it looketh alike both within and without wheÌ„ it entreth in the glasse is not cracked by the entrance of it when it goeth out agayne the glasse remaineth without blemish as it was before and so it is with our Sauiour Christ which passed through the Virgins wombe He came in forme of a seruant that he might suffer si enim cognouissent Dominum gloriae non crucifixissent for if he had beene outwardly glorious that the Iewes had knowen him to be the Lord of glory they had neuer put him to so vnglorious a death And seeing that he came to dye it behoued him to dye vpon the Crosse to choose that death aboue all other Placuit Deo hominem reconciliasse eodem modo quo nouit cecidisse homo damnatus est in ligno reconciliatus est in ligno vixit in ligno vitae mortuus est in ligno scientiae reuixit in ligno Crucis Quia primus Adam deceptus est in ligno secuÌ„dus Adam passus est in ligno It pleased God that maÌ„ should rise by the same maner as he fel but maÌ„s saluatioÌ„ came by the wood of y e tree therfore his saluatioÌ„ came throgh the wood of the tree Because the first Adam was deceiued in the tree the secoÌ„d AdaÌ„ suffered in the tree Man liued in the wood of life man dyed in the wood of knowledge man reuyued agayne in the wood of the crosse The differeÌ„ce being shewed between creating redeming how hard it was for the Son to redeeme ouer that it was for the Father to create as namely the Father did his work by speaking the Son his worke by doing the Father commauÌ„ding the Son by obeying the father in 6. dayes the Son in no lesse time theÌ„ 33. yeares the father w t ease the Son with groning the Father as an ageÌ„t the Son as a pacieÌ„t the Father with the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He which is but an aspiration the Sonne in the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thau which representeth the gallowes or the Crosse