before the time that is the iudgement wherein they and all men their sectaries are to bee cast into eternall torments as that l truth saith that neither deceiueth nor is deceiued not as hee saith that following the puffes of Philosophy flies here and there mixing truth and falshood greeuing at the ouerthrow of that religion which afterwards hee affirmes is all error L. VIVES HErmes a Of him by and by b His words We haue seene of his bookes greeke and latine This is out of his Asclepius translated by Apuleius c So doth humanity So humanity adapting it selfe to the nature and originall saith Hermes his booke d Trust So hath Hermes it Bruges copy hath Mistrust not your selfe e Beyond Apuleius and the Coleâ—…ne copy haue it both in this maner onely Mirth the Coleynists haue more then he f For Hermes I would haue cited some of his places but his bookes are common and so it is needelesse 〈◊〉 It being easier A diuersity of reading but of no moment nor alteration of sence h Of that which Reioycing that Christ is come whom the law and Prophets had promised So Iohn bad his disciples aske art thou he that should come or shall wee looke for an other i Peter This confession is the Churches corner stone neuer decaying to beleeue and affirme THAT IESVS IS CHRIST THE SONNE OF THE LIVING GOD. This is no Philosophicall reuelation no inuention no quirke no worldly wisdome but reuealed by GOD the father of all to such as hee doth loue and vouchsafe it k Because Hee sheweth why the deuills thought that Christ vndid them before the time l Truth Mat. 25. 41. Depart from meâ—… yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the deuill and his angells How Hermes openly confessed his progenitors error and yet bewayled the destruction of it CHAP. 24. FOr after much discourse hee comes againe to speake of the gods men made but of these sufficient saith hee let vs returne againe to man to reason by which diuine guift man hath the name of reasonable For we haue yet spoken no wonderfull thing of man the a wonder of all wonders is that man could fiâ—…e out the diuine nature and giue it effect Wherefore our fathers erring exceedinly in incredulity b concerning the deities and neuer penetrating into the depth of diuine religioÌ„ they inueÌ„ted an art to make gods whervnto they ioyned a vertue out of some part of the worlds nature like to the other and conioyning these two because they could make no soules they framed certaine Images whereinto they called either Angells or deuills and so by these mysteries gaue these Idols power to hurt or helpe them I know not whether the deuills being admited would say asmuch as this man saith Our fathers exceedingly erring saith he in incredulity concerning the deities not penetrating into the depth of diuine religion inuented an arte to make gods Was hee content to say they but erred in this inuention no he addeth Exceedingly thus this exceeding error and incredulity of those that looked not into matters diuine gaue life to this inuention of making gods And yet though it were so though this was but an inuention of error incredulity and irreligiousnes yet this wise man lamenteth that future times should abolish it Marke now whether Gods power compell him to confesse his progenitors error the diuills to bee made the future wrack of the said error If it were their exceeding error incredulity negligence in matters diuine that giue first life to this god-making inuention what wonder if this arte bee detestable and all that it did against the truth cast out from the truth this truth correcting that errour this faith that incredulity this conuersion that neglect If he conceale the cause and yet confesse that rite to be their inuention we if we haue any wit cannot but gather that had they bin in the right way they would neuer haue fallen to that folly had they either thought worthily or meditated seriously of religion yet should wee a ffirme that their great incredulous contemptuous error in the cause of diuinity was the cause of this inuention wee should neuerthelesse stand in need to prepare our selues to endure the impudence of the truths obstinate opponeÌ„ts But since he that admires yâ— power of this art aboue all other things in man and greeues that the time should come wherein al those illusions should claspe with ruine through the power of legall authority since he confesseth the causes that gaue this art first original namely the exceeding error incredulity negligeÌ„ce of his ancestor in matters diuine what should wee doe but thinke GOD hath ouerthrowne these institutions by their iust contrary causes that which errors multitude ordained hath truths tract abolished faith hath subuerted the worke of incredulity and conuersion vnto Gods truth hath suppressed the effects of true Gods neglect not in Egipt only where onely the diabolicall spirit bewaileth but in all the world which heareth a new song sung vnto the Lord as the holy scripture saith Sing vnto the Lord a new song Sing vnto the Lord all the earth for the c title of this Psalme is when the house was built after the captiuity the City of God the Lords house is built that is the holy Church all the earth ouer after captiuity wherein the deuills held those men slaues who after by their faith in God became principall stones in the building for mans making of these gods did not acquit him from beeing slaue to these works of his but by his willing worship he was drawn into their society a society of suttle diuills not of stupid Idols for what are Idols but as the Scripture saith haue eyes and see not all the other properties that may be said of a dead sencelesse Image how well soeuer carued But the vncleane spirits therein by that truly black art bouÌ„d their soules that adored theÌ„ in their society most horrid captiuity therefore saith the Apostle We know that an Idol is nothing in the world But the Gentiles offer to deuilis not vnto God I wil not haue them to haue society with the deuils So then after this captiuity that bound men slaue to the deuils Gods house began to be built through the earth thence had the Psalme the beginning Sing vnto the Lord a new song sing vnto the Lord all the earth Sing vnto the Lord and praise his name d declare his saluation e from day to day Declare his glorie amongst all nations and his wonders amongst all people For the Lord is great and much to be praised hee is to be feared aboue all gods For all the gods of the people are Idols but the Lord made the heauens Hee then that bewailed the abolishment of these Idols in the time to come and of the slauery wherein the deuills held men captiue did it out of an euill spirits inspiration and from that did desire the continuance of that captiuity
by temptations the other enuying this the recollection of the faithfull pilgrims the obscurity I say of the opinion of these two so contrary societies the one good in nature and wil the other good in nature also but bad by wil since it is not explaned by other places of scripture that this place in Genesiis of the light and darknes may bee applyed as Denominatiue vnto them both though the author hadde no such intent yet hath not beene vnprofitably handled because though wee could not knowe the authors will yet wee kept the rule of faith which many other places make manifest For though Gods corporall workes bee heere recited yet haue some similitude with the spiritual as the Apostle sayth you are all the children of the light and the children of the day wee are no sonnes of the night nor darknes But if this were the authors mind the other disputation hath attained perfection that so wise a man of God nay the spirit in him in reciting the workes of God all perfected in sixe dayes might by no meanes bee held to leaue out the Angels eyther in the beginning that is because hee had made them first or as wee may better vnderstand In the beginning because hee made them in his onely begotten Word in which beginning God made heauen and earth Which two names eyther include all the creation spirituall and temporall which is more credible Or the two great partes onely as continents of the lesser beeing first proposed in whole and then the parts performed orderly according to the mistery of the sixe dayes L. VIVES INto a cheynes This is playne in Saint Peters second Epistle and Saint Iudes also The Angels sayth the later which kept not their first estate but left their owne habitation hath hee reserued in euerlasting cheynes vnder Darkenesse vnto the iudgement of the great day Augustine vseth prisons for places whence they cannot passe as the horses were inclosed and could not passe out of the circuit vntill they had run b Pride Typhus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Pride and the Greeks vse Typhon of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee proud and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to burne for the fiery diuell So sayth Plutarch of Typhon Osyris his brother that he was a diuell that troubled all the world with acts of malice and torment Augustine rather vseth it then the Latine for it is of more force and was of much vse in those dayes Philip the Priest vseth it in his Commentaries vppon Iob. c Iustice For God doth iustly reuenge by his good Ministers He maketh the spirits his messengers flaming fire his Ministers Ps. 103. d The desired There is no power on the earth like the diuels Iob. 40. Which might they practise as they desire they would burne drowne waste poyson torture and vtterly destroy man and beast And though we know not the diuells power directly where it is limited and how farr extended yet are wee sure they can do vs more hurt then we can euer repaire Of the power of Angels read Augustâ—… de Trinit lib. 3. Of the opinion that some held that the Angels weee meant by the seueral waters and of others that held the waters vncreated CHAP. 34. YEt some there a were that thought that the b company of Angels were meant by the waters and that these wordes Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it seperate the waters from the waters meant by the vpperwaters the Angels and by the lower eyther the nations or the diuels But if this bee so there is no mention of the Angels creation but onely of their seperation c Though some most vainely and impiously deny that God made the waters because hee neuer said Let there be waters So they may say of earth for he neuer said Let there be earth I but say they it is written God created both heauen and earth Did he so Then is water included therein also for one name serues both for the Psalm sayth The sea is his and he made it and his hands prepared the dry land but the d elementary weights do moue these men to take the waters aboue for the Angels because so an element cannot remayne aboue the heauens No more would these men if they could make a man after their principles put fleame being e in stead of water in mans body in the head f but there is the seate of fleame most fitly appointed by God but so absurdly in these mens conceits that if wee know not though this booke told vs playne that God had placed this fluid cold and consequently heauy humor in the vppermost part of mans body these world-weighers would neuer beleeue it And if they were subiect to the scriptures authority they would yet haue some meaning to shift by But seeing that the consideration of all thinges that the Booke of God conteineth concerning the creation would draw vs farre from our resolued purpose lette vs now together with the conclusion of this booke giue end to this disputation of the two contrary societyes of Angells wherein are also some groundes of the two societies of mankinde vnto whome we intend now to proceed in a fitting discourse L. VIVES SOme a there were as Origen for one who held that the waters aboue the heauens were no waters but Angelicall powers and the waters vnder the heauens their contraries diuels Epiph. ad Ioan. Hierosol Episc. b Companies Apocal. The peaple are like many waters and here-vpon some thought the Psalme meant saying You waters that bee aboue the heauens praise the name of the Lord for that belongs only to reasonable creatures to do c Though some Augustine reckoneth this for an heresie to hold the waters coeternall with God but names no author I beleeue Hesiods Chaos and Homers all producing waters were his originals d Elementary I see all this growes into question whether there be waters aboue the heauens and whether they be elementary as ours are Of the first there is lesse doubt For if as some hold the firmament be the ayre then the seperation of waters from waters was but the parting of the cloudes from the sea But the holy men that affirme the waters of Genesis to be aboue the starry firmament preuaile I gesse now in this great question that a thicke clowd commixt with ayre was placed betwixt heauen and earth to darken the space betweene heauen and vs And that part of it beeing thickned into that sea we see was drawne by the Creator from the face of the earth to the place where it is that other part was borne vp by an vnknowne power to the vttermost parts of the world And hence it came that the vpper still including the lower heauen the fire fire the ayre ayre the water this water includeth not the earth because the whole element thereof is not vnder the Moone as fire and ayre is Now for the nature of those waters Origen to begin with the
fell a building of this tower to resist a second deluge if God should be offended And the multitude held it a lesse matter to serue man then God and so obeying Nimrod willingly began to build this huge tower which might stand all waters vncouered Of this tower Sybilla writeth saying When al men were of one language some fell to build an high tower as though they would passe through it vnto heauen But God sent a winde and ouerthrâ—… and confounded their language with diuers so that each one had a seuerall tongue and therefore that citty was called Babilon h All soueraignty The Princes words are great attactiues of the subiects hearts which if they bee not vnderstood make all his people avoide him And therefore Mithridates euen when hee was vtterly ouerthrowne had friends ready to succour him because he could speake to any nation in their owne language Of Gods comming downe to confound the language of those towre-builders CHAP. 5. FOr whereas it is written The Lord came downe to see the citty and tower which the sons of men builded that is not the sons of God but that earthly minded 〈◊〉 which we call the Terrestriall citty we must thinke that God remooued from no place for hee is alwaies all in all but he is sayd to come downe when he doth any thing in earth beyond the order of nature wherein his omnipotency is as it were presented Nor getteth he temporary knowledge by seeing who can neuer be igâ—… in any thing but he is said to see and know that which he laies open to the 〈◊〉 and knowledge of others So then he did not see that city as he made it bee 〈◊〉 when he shewed how farre he was displeased with it Wee may say GOD 〈◊〉 downe to it because his angells came downe wherein hee dwelleth as that also â—…ch followeth The Lord said Behold the people is one and they haue all one 〈◊〉 c. and then Come on let vs goe downe and there confound their language 〈◊〉 a recapitulation shewing how the LORD came downe for if he were come downe already why should he say Let vs go downe c. he spoke to the angells in whom hee came downe And he saith not come and goe you downe and 〈◊〉 confound their language but come let vs go c. shewing that they are his â—…rs and yet hee co-operateth with them and they with him as the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we labour together with God The manner how GOD speaketh to his Angells CHAP. 6. THat also where God saith Let vs a make man in our Image may be meant vnto the angells because hee saith not I will make but adding in our Image it is 〈◊〉 to thinke that God made man in the angells Image or that Gods and 〈◊〉 â—…re all one This therefore is an intimation of the Trinity which Trinity being â—…thelesse but one God when hee had said let vs make he adioyneth thus â—…ed the man in his Image hee doth not say the Gods created nor in the image of 〈◊〉 Gods and so here may the Trinity bee vnderstood as if the Father had sayd 〈◊〉 and the Holy Spirit come on let vs goe downe and there confound there 〈◊〉 this now if there bee any reason excluding the Angells in this point 〈◊〉 whom it rather befitted to come vnto God in holy nations and Godly â—…ns hauing recourse vnto the vnchangeable truth the eternall 〈◊〉 â—…at vpper court for they themselues are not the truth but pertakers of 〈◊〉 that created them and draw to that as the fountaine of their life takeâ—… 〈◊〉 of that what wanteth in themselues and this motion of theirs is firme 〈◊〉 to that whence they neuer depart Nor doth GOD speake to his 〈◊〉 wee doe one to another or vnto GOD or his angells to vs or wee to 〈◊〉 God by them to vs but in an ineffable manner shewne to vs after our 〈◊〉 and his high speach to them before the effect is the vnaltered order of 〈◊〉 not admitting sound or verberation of ayre but an eternall power in 〈◊〉 working vpon a temporall obiect Thus doth God speake to his angells 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vs being farre of him in a farre other manner and when we conceiue aâ—… by the first maner wee come neare the angells but I am not here to disâ—…e of Gods waies opening his will to others the vnchangeable truth doth 〈◊〉 speake ineffably from himselfe vnto reasonable creatures or by reasonable â—…ures mutable or spirituall either vnto our imagination and spirit or to 〈◊〉 â—…dily sense and whereas it is sayd And shall they not faine many things they 〈◊〉 this is no confirmation but rather a question as we vse in threatning 〈◊〉 â—…is verse Virgill declareth b Non arma expedient totâque ex vrbe sequentur And shall not all my powers take armes and run We must therefore take it as a question Otherwise it sheweth not as a threatning we must needs therefore adde the interrogatiue point Thus then the progenies of Noahs three sonnes were seauenty three or rather as wee haue said three score and twelue Nations who filled the earth and the Islands thereof c and the number of nations was farre aboue the number of languages for now in Africa wee haue many Barbarous countries that speake all one language and who doubteth that mankinde increasing diuers tooke shippes and went to inhabite the Islands abroad L. VIVES LEt a vs make Hierome and Augustine doe both take this as an intimation of the Trâ—…y b Non arma Dido's words in Virgil. Aenead 3. c And the number But I thinke it is â—…der to shew any one language then any one nation but I doe not contend but onely speake my minde Whether the remote Iles were supplied with the beasts of all sorts that were saued in the Arke CHAP. 7. BVt now there is a question concerning those beasts which man respects not yet are not produced by putrifaction as frogs are but only by copulation of male and female as wolues c. how they after the deluge wherein al perished but those in the Arke could come into those Islands vnlesse they were propagate from them that were preserued in the Arke we may thinke that they might some to the nearest Iles but there are some far in the maine to which no beast could swim If men desired to catch them and transport them thether questionlesse they might doe it a by hunting though we cannot deny but that the angells by Gods command might cary them thether but if they were produced from the earth as at first because God said let the earth bring forth the liuing soule then is it most apparant that the diuersity of beasts were preserued in the Arke rather for a figure of the diuers Nations then for restauration if the earth brought them forth in those Iles to which they could not otherwise come L. VIVES BY a hunting In the Canaries and other new found Iles there were none of
some that is from the b South signifyeth the heate of charity and the light of truth The thicke darke mountaine may bee taken diuersly but I rather choose to hold it meant of the depth of the holy scriptures prophecying Christ for therein are many depths for the industrious to excercise themselues in and which they finde out when they find him whom they concerne His glory couereth the heauens and the earth is full of his praise that is iust as the psalme saith Exalt thy selfe O GOD aboue the heauens and let thy glorie bee aboue all the earth His brightnesse was as the light His glorie shall enlighten the nations Hee had hornes comming out of his hands that was his extension on the crosse there was the hiding of his power this is plaine Before him went the word and followed him into the field that is hee was prophecied ere hee came and preached after his departure hee stood and the earth mooued hee stood to saue and earth was mooued with beleeuing in him He beheld the nations and they were dissolued that is hee pitied and they repented Hee brake the mountaines with violence that is his miracles amazed the proude the eternall his did bow the people were temporally humbled to bee eternally glorified For my paines I saw his goings in that is I had the reward of eternity for my labours in charity the tents of Ethiope trembled and so did they of Madian that is euen those nations that were neuer vnder Rome by the terror of thy name and power preached shall become subiect to Christ. Was the Lord angry against the riuers or waâ—… thine anger against the sea this implieth that he came not to iudge the world but to saue it thou rodest vpon horses and thy Chariot brought saluatiâ—… The Euangelists are his horses for hee ruleth them and the Gospell his Chariot saluation to all beleeuers thou shalt bend thy bowe aboue scepters thy iudgement shall restraine euen the Kings of the earth thou shalt cleaue the earth with riuers that is thine abundant doctrine shall open the hearts of men to beleeue them vnto such it is sayd Rend your hearts and not your garments The people shall see thee and tremble thou shall spread the â—…aters as thou goest thy preachers shall power out the streames of thy doctrine on all sides The deepe made anoise the depth of mans heart expressed what it saw the hight of his phantasie that is the deepe gaue out the voice expressing as I sayd what it saw This phantasie was a vision which hee conceiled not but proclaimed at full The Sunne was extolled and the Moone kept her place Christ was assumed into heauen and by him is the church ruled thine arrowes flew in the light Thy word was openly taught and by the brightnesse of thy shining armeâ—… thine arrowes flew For Christ himselfe had said What I tell you in darkenesse that speake in the light Thou shalt tread downe the land in anger thou shalt humble high spirits by afflicting them Thou shalt thresh the heathen in displeasure that is thou shalt quell the ambitious by thy iudgements thou wentest forth to saue thy people and thine annointed thou laidest death vpon the heads of the wicked all this is plaine thou hast cut them off with amazement thou hast cut downe bad and set vppe good in wonderfull manner the mighty shall crowne their heads which maruell at this they shall gape after thee as a poore man eating secretly For so diuers great men of the Iewes beeing hungry after the bread of life came to eate secretly fearing the Iewes as the Gospell sheweth thou puâ—…test thine horses into the sea who troubled the waters that is the people for vnlesse all were troubled some should not become fearefull conuertes and others furious persecutors I marked it and my body trembled at the sound of my lippes feare came into my bones and I was altogether troubled in my selfe See the hight of his praier and his prescience of those great euents amazed euen himselfe and hee is troubled with those seas to see the imminent persecutions of the church whereof hee lastly avoucheth himselfe a member saying I will rest in the daâ—…e of trouble as if hee were one of the hopefull sufferers and patient reioycers that I may goe vppe to the people of my pilgrimage leauing his carnall kinred that wander after nothing but worldly matters neuer caring for their supernall countrie â—…or the fig-tree shall not fructifie nor shall fruite bee in the vines the oliue shall faâ—…le and the fields shal be fruitlesse The sheepe haue left their meate and the oxen are not in their stalles Here hee seeth the nation that crucified CHRIST depriued of all spirituall goods prefigured in those corporall fertilities and because the countries ignorance of God had caused these plagues forsaking Gods righteousnesse through their owne pride hee addeth this I will reioyce in the Lord and ioy in God my Sauiour the Lord my God is my strength he will establish my feete hee will set mee vpon high places that I may bee victorious in his song What song euen such as the psalmist speaketh of hee hath set my feete vpon the rocke and ordered my goings and hath put into my mouth a new song of praise vnto GOD. In such a song and not in one of his owne praise doth Ahâ—…cuc conquer glorying in the Lord his God Some bookes read this place better 〈◊〉 I 〈◊〉 ioy in my LORD IESVS But the translators had not the name it selfe in Latine other-wise wee like the word a great deale better L. VIVES FRom a Theman Aquila Symmachus and the fifth edition saith Hierome put the very word so Onely Tâ—…tion expresseth it from the South c. Theman is â—…nder Edoâ—… in the land of Gâ—…bal named so by Theman sonne to Elyphaz the sonne of Esau and it holdeth the name vnto this day lying fiue miles from Petra where the Romaine garrison lyeth and where Eliphaz King of the Thebans was borne One also of the sonnes of Isaacs was called Theman Indeed the Hebrews call euery Southerne Prouince Theman Hieron loc Hebraic b Sâ—…th Such is that place also in the Canticles c The thick darke mountaine Sâ—… say the LXX but the Hebrewes from mount Paran which is a towne on the farre side of Arabia ioyning to the Sarazens The Israelites went by it when they left Sina The LXX rather expressed the adiacents then the place it selfe d Neuer vnder Rome India Persia and the new sound lands e I will ioy So doth the Hebrew read it indeed Iesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Sauiour are all one In Tullyes time they had not the Latine word Saluator Act. 〈◊〉 in Verr. but Lactantius Auâ—… and many good Latinists doe vse it since Read Hierome of this verse if you would know further Prophecies of Hieromie and Zephany concerning the former themes CHAP. 33. HIeremy a is one of the greater Prophets so is Isayâ—… not of
they can afflict it no more because there is no sense in a dead body So then suppose that many of the Christians bodies neuer came in the earth what of that no man hath taken any of them both from earth and heauen haue they No And both these doth his glorious presence replenish that knowes how to restore euery Atome of his worke in the created The Psalmist indeed complayneth thus The dead a bodies of thy seruants haue they giuen to be meat vnto the foules of the ayre and the flesh of thy Saintes vnto the beastes of the earth Their bloud haue they shedde like waters round about Ierusalem and there was none to bury them But this is spoken to intimate their villany that did it rather then their misery that suffered it For though that vnto the eyes of man these actes seeme bloudie and tyranous yet pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints And therefore all these ceremonies concerning the dead the care of the buriall the fashions of the Sepulchers and the pompes of the funeralls are rather solaces to the liuing then furtherances to the dead b For if a goodly and ritch tombe bee any helpe to the wicked man being dead then is the poore and meane one a hindrance vnto the godly man in like case The familie of that rich c gorgeous glutton prepared him a sumptuous funerall vnto the eyes of men but one farre more sumptuous did the ministring Angels prepare for the poore vlcered begger in the sight of God They bore him not into any Sepulcher of Marble but placed him in the bosome of Abraham This do they d scoffe at against whom wee are to defend the citty of God And yet euen e their owne Philosophers haue contemned the respect of buriall and often-times f whole armies fighting and falling for their earthlie countrie went stoutly to these slaughters without euer taking thought where to be laide in what Marble tombe or in what beasts belly And the g Poets were allowed to speake their pleasures of this theame with applause of the vulgar as one doth thus Caelo tegitur qui non habet vrnam Who wants a graue Heauen serueth for his tombe What little reason then haue these miscreants to insult ouer the Christians that lie vnburied vnto whom a new restitution of their whole bodies is promised to be restored them h in a moment not onely out of the earth alone but euen out of all the most secret Angles of all the other elements wherein any body is or can possibly be included L. VIVES DEad a carcasses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 morticinia the dead flesh b For if a goodly Et eternos animam collegit in orbes Non illuc auro positi nec thure sepulti Perueniunt Lucan lib. 9. The eternall spheres his glorious spirit do holde To which come few that lye embalmd in golde c. c Gorgious of whom in the Chapter before d Scoffe at The Romanes had great care ouer their burials whence arose many obseruances concerning the religious performance thereof and it was indeed a penalty of the law hee that doth this or that let him bee cast forth vnburied and so in the declamations hee that forsakes his parents in their necessities let him bee cast forth vnburied hee that doth not declare the causes of their death before the Senate let him bee cast forth vnburied An homicide cast him out vnburied And so speakes Cicero to the peoples humour for Milo when he affirmes Clodius his carcasse to be therein the more wretched because it wanted the solemne rites and honors of buriall e Philosophers those of the Heathen as Diogenes the Cynike for one that bad his dead body should be cast vnto the dogs and foules of the ayre being answered by his friends that they would rent and teare it set a staffe by me then said he and I will beate them away with it tush you your selfe shall be sencelesse quoth they nay then quoth he what need I feare their tearing of me This also did Menippus almost all the Cyniks Cicero in his Quaestiones Tusculanae recordeth this answer of Theodorus of Cyrene vnto Lysmachus that threatned him the crosse let thy courtiers feare that quoth he but as for me I care not whether I â—…ot on the ayre or in the earth and so also saith Socrates in Plato's dialogue called Phaedo f Whole armies meaning perhaps those legions which Cato the elder speake of in his Origines that would go thether with cheerfulnesse from whence they knew they should neuer returne Nay it was no custome before Hercules his time to burie the dead that fell in warâ—… for Aelian in his Historia varia doth affirme Hercules the first inuenter of that custome g Poets to speake with the peoples approbation Lucan in his 7. booke of the Pharsalian warre speaking of the dead that Caesar forbad should bee burned or buried after hee had brought forth as his custome is many worthy and graue sentences concerning this matter at length he speaketh thus vnto Caesar Nil agis hac ira tabesne Cadauera soluat An rogus hand refert placido natura receptat Cuncta sinu In this thy wrath is worthlesse all is one Whether by fire or putrefaction Their carcasses dissolue kinde nature still Takes all into her bosome And a little after Capit omnia tellus Quae genuit caelo tegitur qui non habet vrnam Earths off-spring still returnes vnto earths wombe Who wants a graue heauen serueth for his tombe And so saith the Declamer in Seneca Nature giues euery man a graue to the shipwrackt the water wherein he is lost the bodies of the crucified droppe from their crosses vnto their graues those that are burned quick their very punishment entombes them And Virgill who appoints a place of punishment in hell for the vnburied yet in Anchises his words shewes how small the losse of a graue is That verse of Maecenas Nec tumulum curo sepelit natura relictos I waigh no tombe nature entombes the meanest Is highly commended of antiquitie The Urna was a vessell wherein the reliques and ashes of the burned body was kept h In a moment 1. Corinth 15. 52. The reasons why wee should bury the bodies of the Saints CHAP. 12. NOtwithstanding the bodies of the dead are not to be contemned and cast away chieflie of the righteous and faithfull which the holy ghost vsed as organs and instruments vnto all good workes For if the garment or ring of ones father bee so much the more esteemed of his posteritie by how much they held him dearer in their affection then is not our bodies to be despised being we weare them more neere vnto our selues then any attire whatsoeuer For this is no part of externall a ornament or assistance vnto man but of his expresse nature And therefore the funeralls of the righteous in the times of old were performed with a zealous care their burials
call her whore for to be a cuckold is a disgracefull thing x Minerua's forger Or fellow workers for they both haue charge of Ioues thunder and somtimes through his bolts Virgil Ipsa Iouis rapidum iaculata é nubibus ignem Quite through the cloud shee threw Ioues thundring fire Which there are but three may do saith Seruius Iupiter Minerua and Uulcan though Pliny bee of another mind De disciplin Etrusc Rom lib. 2. Minerua looketh vnto Iâ—…ues Aegis which was indeed his apparrell made by Minerua's wisdome and Vulcans labour And though Ioues bonnet be fire yet Pallas made it Mart. Nupt. Or is Vulcan her fellow forger because he begat Apollo on hir that hath the tuition of Athens Cic. de nat lib. 3. But Augustines minde I thinke rather is this that Uulcan is Minerua's fellow forger Because she is called the goddesse of all arts euen the mechanicall and he is godde of the Instruments vsed in all these mechanicall artes Fire is the instrument of all artes saith Plutarch if one knew how to vse it De vtilit inimic Besides Vulcan is said to gouerne artes him-selfe The warlike artes saith Eusebius were Minerua's charge the pyrotecknical or such as worke in fire Vulcans Theodoret saith that the Greekes vsed the word Vulcan for artes because few artes can be practised without fire Phurnutus saith that all arts are vnder Minerua and Vulcan because shee is the Theory and he the Instrument of practise And therefore Homer saith of a worke-man thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whome Vulcan taught and Minerua Of the multitude of Goddes which the Pagan Doctors auouch to bee but one and the same Iupiter CHAP. 11. WHerefore let them flourish with their physicks as long as they like Lette Iupiter be one while the a soule of this terrene world filling the whole fabrike of the foure Elements more or lesse as they please and another while but a quarter-ruler with his bretheren and sisters lette him be the skie now imbracing Iuno which is the aire vnder him and let him by and by be skye and aire both filling the lappe of the earth his wife and mother with fertile showers and seedes b This is no absurdity in their Diuinity And to omit the long and tedious catalogue of his remooues and strange transmutations lette him forth-with bee but one and that onely God of whome the famous Poet was thought to say Deumque namque ire per omnes Terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum c For God his spirit imparts To th' earths the seas and heauens profoundest parts d Let him be Iupiter in the sky Iuno in the Aire Neptune in the Sea Salacia in the seas depth Pluto in the earth Proserpina in the earths lowest part Vesta in the households fire Vulcan in the Smiths shop Sol Luna and the stars in the sphears e Apollo in diuination f Mercury in trafficke in g Ianus h the Porter in the Bounds Terminus in time Saturne in war Mars and i Bellona in the vineyards Bacchus in the Corne Ceres in the Woods k Diana in mens wits Minerua let him rule the l seed of man as Liber and of women as Libera as hee is father of the day let him be m Diespiter as ruler of the monthly disease of women lette him be the goddesse Mena and n Lucina that helpes in their child-birth And helping the fruits which increase let him take the name of Ops. Let him bee o Vaticanus that opens the childes mouth first to cry and Leuana that takes vp from the mother and Cunina that guards the Cradle Let none but him sing the destinies of the new-borne childe and be called p Carmentes lette him sway chance and bee stiled Fortune or womens dugges and bee called q Rumina because the ancients called a dugge Rumâ—… lette him bee r Potina and suckle the hog-babes or Educa and feed them Or Pauentia for frighting them or t Venilia for sodaine hope Volupia for pleasure Agenoria for action Stimula for prouocation Strenua for confirming mans courage Numeria for teaching children to tell twenty u and Camaena for singing Nay lette vs make him x Consus for his counsaile y Sentia for his sententious inspirations z Inuentas for the guiding of our a egresse from youth to fuller age For our chins sake which if he loue vs he clothes in haire let him be b Fortuna Barbata Nay free because he is a male-Godde lette him either bee Barbatus as Nodotus is or because hee hath a beard lette him not bee Fortuna but Fortunius Well on lette him bee Iugatine to looke to the Hills and at the loosing of a virgins nuptiall guirdle lette him bee inuoked by the name of Virginensis lette him bee c Mutinus which amongst the Greekes was Priapus but that it may bee hee will bee ashamed off Lette Iupiter alone bee all these that I haue reckoned and that I haue not reckoned for I haue thought fit to omit a great many or as those hold which make him the soule of the world many of whome are learned men let all these bee but as parts and vertues of him If it be so as I doe not yet inquire how it is what should they loose if they tooke a shorter course and adore but one God what one thing belonging vnto his power were dispised if him-selfe intirely were duly worshipped If they feare that some of his parts would be angry for being neglected why then it is not as they say that al this is but as the life of one soule containing all those gods as the parts powers vertues and faculties therof but euery part hath a life really and distinctly seperate from the other This must needs be true if one of them may be offended and another bee pleased and both with one act And to say that whole Ioue would be offended if al his parts were not seuerally worshipped this were foolish for ther were not one of them left out if the persoÌ„ were adored in whom they ar al iointly included For to permit the rest being inumerable wheras they say that the stars are al euery one real parts of Ioue and liue haue reasonable soules and therfore are absolute gods they say they know not what and see not how many of them they leaue without Altars without worship both which not-withstanding they haue exhibited them-selues and commanded others to exhibit vnto a certaine smal number of them Wherfore if they doubt the anger of the rest why are not they affraid to liue in the displeasure of the most part of heauen hauing giueÌ„ content but vnto so few Now if they worshipped al the stars inclusiuely in Iupiters particular person they might satisfie them all by this meanes in the adoration of him alone for so none of them would think much seeing they all were worshipped in him nor should any haue cause to think they were contemned VVhereas otherwise the greater part may conceiue iust anger for beeing thus omitted by those that giue all
that they were men and died as other men do To what end is this but that the citties should bee filled with statues of such as are no true gods the true god hauing neither sex age nor body But this Seâ—…uola would not haue the people to know because he did not thinke it was faulse himselfe So that he holds it fit citties should bee deluded in religion which indeed Varro stickes not plainely to affirme De. re vin A godly religion whereto when weake mindes going for refuge and seeking to bee freed by the truth must bee tolde that it is fitte that they bee illuded Nor doth the same booke conceale the cause why Scaeuola reiecteth the Poets gods It is because they doe so deforme them with their stories that they are not fitte to keepe good men company c one being described to steale and another to commit adulterie as also to doe and say so filthily and fondly as that the d three goddesses striuing for eminence of beauty the other two being cast by Venus destroyed Troy That Ioue was turned to e a Bull or a f Swanne to haue the company of some wench or other that g a goddesse married a man and that Saturne eate vp his sonnes No wonder No vice but there you haue it set downe quite against the natures of the deities O Scaeuola abolish those playes if it bee in thy power tell the people what absurd honors they offer the gods gazing on their guilt and remembring their prankes as a licence for their owne practise If they say you Priests brought them vs intreate the gods that commanded them to suffer their abolishment If they bee bad and therefore at no hand credible with reuerence to the Gods Maiesties then the greater is the iniurie that is offered vnto them of whome they are so freely inuented But they are Deuills Scaeuola teaching guiltinesse and ioying in filthinesse they will not heare thee They thinke it no iniurie to haue such blacke crimes imputed vnto them but rather holde them-selues wronged if they bee not imputed and exhibited Now if thou callest on Ioue against them were there no other cause for it but the most frequent presenting of his h enormities though you call him the God and King of the world would hee not thinke himselfe highly wronged by you in ranking him in worship with such filthy companions and making him gouernor of them L. VIVES SCaeuola a their There were many of this name but this man was priest in Marius his ciuill warre and killed by Marius the yonger Tully saith hee went often to heare him dispute after Scaeuola the Augur was dead b The first Dionysius writeth that the Romaines reiected all the factions of the gods fights wranglings adulteries c. which were neither to bee spoken of gods nor good men and that Romulus made his Quirites vse to speake well of the gods Antiqu. Rom. lib. 2. Euseb. de praep Euang. c One Mercurie that stole Tyresias Oxen Mars his sword Uulcans tonges Neptunes Mace Apollos bow and shafts Venus her girdle and Ioues Scepter d Three euery childe knowes this e A Bull for Europa f A Swanne for Laeda of these read Ouid. lib. 6. Metamorph. g A goddesse married Ceres to Iasius Harmonia to Cadmus Callirrhoe to Chrysaoras Aurora to Tython Thetis to Peleus Uenus to Anchises Circe and Callipso to Vlysses Read Hesiods Theognia h Enormities of letchery cruelty and such like Whether the Romaines diligence in this worship of those gods did their Empire any good at all CHAP. 28. BY no meanes then could these gods preserue the Romaine Empire being so criminous in their owne filthy desiring of such honors as these are which rather serue to condemne them then appease them For if they could haue done that the Greekes should haue had their helpes before who afforded them farre better store of such sacrifices as these with farre more stage-playes and showes For they seeing the Poets taxe their gods so freelye neuer thought shame to let them taxe them-selues but allowed them free leaue to traduce whom they pleased and held the Stage-players worthy of the best honors of their state But euen as Rome might haue had golden coynes yet neuer worshipped Aurinus for it so might they haue had siluer and brasse ones without Argentinus or his father Aesculanus and so of all other necessaries But so could they not possesse their kingdome against the will of the true God but in despite of all the other let them doe what they list that one vnkowne God being well and duly worshipped would haue kept their kingdome on earth in better estate then euer and afterward haue bestowed a kingdome on each of them in heauen had they a kingdome before or had they none that should endure for euer Of the falsenesse of that Augury that presaged courage and stabilitie to the state of Rome CHAP. 29. FOr what a goodly presage was that which I spake of but now of the obstinacie of Mars Terminus and Iuuentas that it should signifie that Mars a his nation the Romaines should yeeld the place to no man that no man should remooue the limittes of their Empire because of Terminus and that their youth should yeeld to none because of Iuuentas Now marke but how these gods misused their King daring to giue these Auguries as in his defiance and as glorying in the keeping of their places though if these antiquities were true they neede feare nothing For they confessed not that they must giue place to Christ that would not giue place to Ioue and they might giue Christ place without preiudice to the Empires limits both out of the temples and the hearts that they held But this we write was long before Christ came or that Augurie was recorded notwithstanding after that presage in Tarquins time the Romaines lost many a battel and prooued Iuuentas a lyer in hir Prophesie and Mars his nation was cut in peeces within the very walles by the conquering Galles and the limites of the Empire were brought to a narrow compasse in Hannibals time when most of the citties of Italy fell from Rome to him Thus was this fine Augurie fulfilled and the obstinacie of the presagers remained to prooue them rebellious deuils For it is one thing not to giue place and another to giue place and regaine it afterwards Though afterwards the bounds of the Empire were altered in the East by b Hadrianus meanes who lost Armenia Mesopotamia and Syria vnto the Persians to shew god Terminus that would not giue place to Ioue him-selfe but guarded the Romaine limites against all men to let him see that Hadrian a King of men could doe more then Ioue the King of gods c The sayd Prouinces being recouered afterward now almost in our times god Terminus hath giuen ground againe d Iulian that was giuen so to the Oracles desperately commanding all the ships to bee burned that brought the armie victuals so that the souldiours fainting and hee
but not principall and perfect the first of which doe buâ—… assist vs in things beyond our power but the later do effect that with is in our 〈◊〉 Plutarch relating the Stoikes opinion saith that they hold the euents 〈◊〉 thinâ—… to haue a diuerse originall some from that great necessity some from fate some from liberty of will some from fortune and chance particular They follow Plato indeed in all their doctrine of fate Which â—…lutarch both witnesseth and the thing it selfe sheweth But whereas they say yâ— all things comes of fate and that in fate there is a necessity then they speake of the prouidence and wil of God For as we haue shewen they called Ioue fate and that said Pronâ—… that prouidence wherby he ruleth all fate like-wise b We neither subiect The Platonists say the gods must needs be as they are and that not by adding any external necessity but that naturall one because they cannot be otherwise being also voluntary because they would bee no otherwise Wherfore I wonder at Plinius Secundus his cauillation against Gods omnipotency that he cannot do al things because he cannot dye nor giue him-selfe that he can giue a man death It is vnworthy so learned a man Nay he held it a great comfort in the troubles of this life to thinke that the gods somtimes were so afflicted that like men they would wish foâ—… death and could not haue it he was illuded bee-like with the fables that maketh Pluto grieue at his delay of death as Lucian saith Et rector terrae quem longa saecula torquet Mors dilata deum Earths god that greeued sore his welcome Death should be so long delayed c Oâ—… wils arâ—… not A hard question and of diuers diuersly handled Whether Gods fore-knowlede impose a necessity vppon thinges In the last chapter I touched at somthings correspondent Many come out of the new schooles prepared fully to disputation with their fine art of combinations that if you assume they will not want a peece to defend and if you haue this they wil haue that so long till the question be left in greater clouds then it was found in at first as this pâ—… case God knoweth I will run to morrow suppose I will not run put case that suppose the otheâ—… And what vse is there of these goose-traps To speake plainly with Augustine here a man sinneth not because God knoweth that he wil sin for he need not sin vnles he list and if he do not God fore-knoweth that also or as Chrysostome saith vpon the Corinthians Christ indeed saith 〈◊〉 is necessary that scandal should be but herein he neither violateth the will nor inforceth the life 〈◊〉 fore-telleth what mans badnesse would effect which commeth not so to passe because God fore-saw 〈◊〉 but because mans will was so bad for Gods praescience did not cause those effects but the corruptiâ—… of humaine mindes caused his praescience Thus far Chrysostome interpreted by learned Donatâ—… And truly Gods praescience furthereth the euent of any thing no more then a mans looking oâ—… furthereth any act I see you write but you may choose whether to write or no so is it in him furthermore all future things are more present vnto God then those things which we call present are to vs for the more capable the soule is it comprehendeth more time present So Gods essence being infinite so is the time present before him he the only eternity being only infinite The supposition of some future things in respect of Gods knowledge as wel as ours hath made this question more intricate then otherwise it were d Therfore law This was obiected vnto them that held fate to be manager of all euents since that some must needs be good and some bad why should these be punished and those rewarded seeing that their actions being necessities and fates could neyther merit praise nor dispraise Again should any bee animated to good or disswaded from vice when as the fate beeing badde or howsoeuer must needes bee followed This Manilius held also in these wordes Ast hominum mentitanto sit gloria maior Quod câ—…lo gaudente venit rursusque nocentes Odcrimus magis in culâ—…am penasque creatos Nec resert scelâ—…s vnde cadat scelus esse fatendum est Hâ—…c qâ—…que est sic ipsum expendere faâ—…um c. Mans goodnesse shines more bright because glad fate And heauen inspires it So the bad we hate Far worse 'cause â—…ate hath bent their deeds amisse Nor skils it whence guilt comes when guilt it is Fates deed it is to heare it selfe thus scaâ—… c. But wee hold that the good haue their reward and the bad their reproch each one for his free actions which he hath done by Gods permission but not by his direction e Nor doth man His sin ariseth not from Gods fore-knowledge but rather our knowledge â—…iseth from this sin For as our will floweth from Gods will so doth our knowledge from his knowledge Thus much concerning fate out of their opinions to make Augustines the Playner Of Gods vniuersall prouidence ruling all and comprising all CHAP. 11. WHerefore the great and mighty GOD with his Word and his holy Spirit which three are one God only omnipotent maker and Creator of euery soulâ—… 〈◊〉 of euery body in participation of whom all such are happy that follow his 〈◊〉 and reiect vanities he that made man a reasonable creature of soule and body â—…d he that did neither let him passe vnpunished for his sin nor yet excluded him â—…om mercy he that gaue both vnto good and bad essence with the stones power of production with the trees senses with the beasts of the field aâ—…d vnderstanding with the Angels he from whome is all being beauty forme and order number weight and measure he from whom al nature meane excellent al seeds of forme all formes of seed all motion both of formes and seedes deriue and haue being He that gaue flesh the originall beauty strength propagation forme and shape health and symmetry He that gaue the vnreasonable soule sence memory and appetite the reasonable besides these phantasie vnderstanding and will He I say hauing left neither heauen nor earth nor Angel nor man no nor the most base and contemptible creature neither the birds feather nor the hearbes flower nor the trees leafe without the true harmony of their parts and peacefull concord of composition It is no way credible that he would leaue the kingdomes of men and their bondages and freedomes loose and vncomprized in the lawes of his eternall prouidence How the ancient Romaines obtained this increase of their Kingdome at the true Gods hand being that they neuer worshipped him CHAP. 12. NOw let vs look what desert of the Romains moued the true God to augment their dominion he in whose power al the Kingdoms of the earth are For the 〈◊〉 performaÌ„ce of with we wrot our last book before to proue yâ— their gods whom they worshipped in
this and feare to doe well before men and so become lesse profitable by striuing to keepe their vertuous acts in secret then other-wise he saith againe Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father which is in heauen Doe not well with an intent that men should see you doe so and so turne to behold you who are not what you are by them but doe so that they may glorifie your father in heauen vnto whom if they turne they may bee such as you are Thus did the Martirs that excelled the Scaeuola's Câ—…rtij and Decij not by punishing them-selues but by learning the inflictions of others in true vertue piety and innumerable multitude But the others liuing in an earthly citty wherein the end of all their endeuours was by them-selues propounded to themselues the fame namely and domination of this world and not the eternitie of heauen not in the euerlasting life but in their owne ends and the mouthes of their posteritie what should they Ioue but glory whereby they desired to suruiue after death in the e memories and mouthes of such as commended them L. VIVES THen yeeld a to it So must the sence be wee must resist the desire of glorie and not yeeld to it b Not onely not wee haue giuen it the best reading of all I thinke and the nearest to likelyhood c Before my father Matt. 10. 33. d Before the Angels of God Luc. 12. 9. e Memories and mouthes I flie as liuing through the mouthes of men â—…aith Ennius Of the temporall rewards that God bestowed vpon the Romaines vertues and good conditions CHAP. 15. SVch therefore as we haue spoken of if God did neither meane to blesse them with eternitie in his heauenly cittie amongst his Angels to which societie that true pietie brings men which affordeth that true diuine worship which the Greekes call a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to none but onely the true God nor to vouchsafe them an earthly glory or excellence of Emperiall dignity then should their vertues the good actes whereby they endeuoured to ascend to this glory passe vnrewarded But the Lord saith euen of such as doe good for humaine glory Verely I say vnto you they haue their reward These therefore that neglected their priuate estates for the common-wealth and publike treasurie opposing couetise hauing a full care of their countries freedome and liuing according to their lawes without touch of lust or guilt these seemed to goe the right way to get them-selues honour and did so honored they are almost all the world ouer all nations very neare receiued their lawes honored were they then in all mens mouths and now in most mens writings through the world Thus haue they no reason to complaine of Gods iustice they haue their reward L. VIVES Call a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship or to serue Of the reward of the eternall cittizens of heauen to whom the examples of the Romaines vertues were of good vse CHAP. 16. BVt as for their rewarde that endure reproches here on earth for the cittie of GOD which the louers of the world doe hate and deride that is of another nature That City is eternall No man a is borne in it because no man dieth in it Felicity is there fully yet no goddesse but a Gods guift of this habitation haue wee a promise by faith as long as wee are here in pilgrimage on earth and longe for that rest aboue The Sunne ariseth not there both vpon good and bad but the Sonne of righteousnesse shineth onely ouer the good There shal be no neede to respect the common treasury more then the priuate truth is all the treasure that lieth there And therefore the Romaine Empire had that glorious increase not onely to bee a fit guerdon to the vertues of such worthies as wee fore-named but also that the cittizens of heauen in their pilgrimages vpon earth might obserue those examples with a sober diligence and thence gather how great care loue and respect ought to bee carried to the heauenly country for life eternall if those men had such a deare affect to their earthly country for glory so temporall L. VIVES NO man a is borne That is their is no increase of them no more then there is decease theâ—… iust number being predestinate and fore-knowne by the eternall GOD himselfe The fruites of the Romaines warres both to themselues and to those with whom they warred CHAP. 17. FOr what skilleth it in respect of this short and transitory life vnder whose dominion a mortall man doth liue so hee bee not compelled to actes of impiety or iniustice But did the Romaines euer hurt any of the nations whom they conquered and gaue lawes vnto but in the very fury and warre of the conquest If they could haue giuen those lawes by agreement it had beene better but then had beene no place for triumph for the Romaines liued vnder the same lawes themselues that they gaue to others This a had beene sufficient for the state but that Mars Bellona and Victory should then haue beene displeased and displaced also if they had had no wars nor no victories Would not then the states of Rome and other nations haue beene all one especially that beeing done which was most grauely and worthyly performed afterwardes b euery man that belonged to the Romaine Empire beeing made free of the citty as though they were now all cittizens of Rome whereas before there was but a very few so that such as had no landes should liue of the common this would haue beene granted vnto good gouernours by other nations sooner by intreaty then force For what doth conquering or beeing conquered hurt or profit mens liues manners or dignities either I see no good it doth but onely addeth vnto their intollerable vaine-glory who ayme at such matters and warre for them and lastly receiue them as their labours rewarde Doth not their land pay tribute to the state as well as others Yes May they learne any thing that others may not No. c And are there not many Senators that neuer saw Rome True Take away vaine-glory and what are men but men Anâ—… if the peruersenesse of the age would permit the verie best meanes for 〈◊〉 beare away the greatest honours then should not this humaine honour bâ—… so prize-worthy howsoeuer beeing but a breath and a light fume But yet 〈◊〉 vs vse these things to doe our selues good towardes GOD. Let vs coâ—…sider what obstacles these men haue scornâ—…d what paines they haue takâ—… what affects they haue suppressed and onely for this humaine glorie which afterward they receiued as the reward of their vertues and let this serue to suppresse our pride also that seeing the cittie wherein wee haue promised habitation and Kingdome is as farre diffrent from this in excellence as Heauen from earth life eternall from mirth temporall firme glory from fuming vaine-glory angells
that they would prouide that you should not bee ruled by any more gods but by many more deuills that delighted in such vanities But why hath Salacia that you call the inmost sea being there vnder her husband lost her place for you bring her vp aboue when shee is the ebbing tide Hath shee thrust her husband downe into the bottome for entertaining Venilia to his harlot L. VIVES LUst a flowes Alluding to the sea b Goeth and neuer returneth Spoken of the damned that neither haue ease nor hope at all He alludeth to Iob. 10. vers 21. Before I goe and shall not returne to the land of darkenesse and shadow of death euen the land of misery and darknesse which both the words them-selues shew and the learned comments affirme is meant of hell Of the earth held by Varro to be a goddesse because the worlds soule his god doth penetrate his lowest part and communicateth his essence there-with CHAP. 23. WE see one earth filled with creatures yet being a masse of elemental bodies and the worlds lowest part why call they it a goddesse because it is fruitfull why are not men gods then that make it so with labour not with worship No the part of the worlds soule say they conteined in her maâ—…eth hir diuine good as though that soule were not more apparant in man without all question yet men are no gods and yet which is most lamentable are subiected so that they adore the inferiors as gods such is their miserable error Varro in his booke of the select gods putteth a three degrees of the soule in all nature One liuing in all bodies vnsensitiue onely hauing life this he saith we haue in our bones nailes and haire and so haue trees liuing without sence Secondly the power of sence diffused through our eyes eares nose mouth and touch Thirdly the highest degree of the soule called the minde or intellect confined b onely vnto mans fruition wherein because men are like gods that part in the world he calleth a god and in vse a Genius So diuideth hee the worlds soule into three degrees First stones and wood and this earth insensible which we tread on Secondly the worlds sence the heauens or Aether thirdly her soule set in the starres his beleeued gods and by them descending through the earth goddesie Tellus and when it comes in the sea it is Neptune stay now back a little from this morall theologie whether hee went to refresh him-selfe after his toile in these straites back againe I say to the ciuill let vs plead in this court a little I say not yet that if the earth and stones bee like our nailes and bones they haue no more intellect then sence Or if our bones and nailes be said to haue intellect because wee haue it hee is as very a foole that calleth them gods in the world as hee that should â—…me them men in vs. But this perhaps is for Philosophers let vs to our ciuill theame For it may bee though hee lift vp his head a little to the freedome of 〈◊〉 naturall theologie yet comming to this booke and knowing what he had to â—…oe hee lookes now and then back and saith this least his ancestors and others should be held to haue adored Tellus and Neptune to no end But this I say seeing â—…th onely is that part of the worlds soule that penetrateth earth why is it not 〈◊〉 intirely one goddesse and so called Tellus which done where is Orcus 〈◊〉 and Neptunes brother father Dis and where is Proserpina his wife that some opinions there recorded hold to be the earths depth not her fertility If they say the soule of the world that passeth in the vpper part is Dis and that in the loâ—…er Proserpina what shall then become of Tellus for thus is she intirely diuided into halfes that where she should be third there is no place vnlesse some will say that Orcus and Proserpina together are Tellus and so make not three but one or two of them yet 3. they are held worshiped by 3. seuerall sorts of rites by their altars priests statues and are indeed three deuills that do draw the deceiued soule to damnable whoredome But one other question what part of the worlds soule is Tellumo No saith he the earth hath two powers a masculine to produce and a feminine to receiue this is Tellus and that Tellumo But why then doe the Priests as he sheweth adde other two and make them foure Tellumo Tellus c Altor Rusor for the two first you are answered why Altor of Alo to nourish earth nourisheth all things Why Rusor of Rursus againe all things turne againe to earth L. VIVES PUtteth three a degrees Pythagoras and Plato say the soule is of three kindes vegetable sensitiue reasonable Mans soule say they is two-fold rationall and irrationall the later two-fold affectionate to ire and to desire all these they doe locally seperate Plat. de Rep. l. 4. Aristotle to the first three addeth a fourth locally motiue But he distinguisheth those parts of the reasonable soule in vse onely not in place nor essence calling them but powers referred vnto actions Ethic. Alez Aphrodiseus sheweth how powers are in the soule But this is not a fit theame for this place But this is all it is but one soule that augmenteth the hayre and bones profiteth the sences and replenisheth the heart and braine b Onely vnto This place hath diuersities of reading some leaue out part and some do alter but the sence being vnaltered a note were further friuolous c Altor Father Dis and Proserpina had many names in the ancient ceremonies Hee Dis Tellumo Altor Rusor Cocytus shee Uerra Orca and Nâ—…se Tellus Thus haue the priests bookes them Romulus was also called Altellus of nourishing his subiects so admirably against their enuious borderers Iupiter Plutonius saith Trismegistus rules sea and land and is the nourisher of all fruitfull and mortall foules In Asclepio Of earths surnames and significations which though they arose of diuerse originals yet should they not be accompted diuerse Gods CHAP. 24. THerefore earth for her foure qualities ought to haue foure names yet not to make foure gods One Ioue serues to many surnames and so doth one Iuno in all which the multitude of their powers constitute but one God and one goddesse not producing multitude of gods But as the vilest women are some-times ashamed of the company that their lust calleth them into so the polluted soule prostitute vnto all hell though it loued multitude of false gods yet it som-times lothed them For Varro as shaming at this crew would haue Tellus to be but one goddesse They a call her saith hee the Great mother and her Tymbrell is a signe of the earths roundnesse the turrets on her head of the townes the seates about her of her eternall stability when all things else are mooued her 〈◊〉 Priests signifie that such as want seede must follow the earth
that conteineth all their violent motions about her doe aduise the tilleâ—…s of earth not to sitte idle for there is still worke for them The Cymballs signifie the noyses with plough irons c. in husbandry they are of brasse for so were these instruments b before Iron was found out The tame Lion signified that the roughest land might by tillage be made fertile And then he addeth that shee was called Mother earth and many other names which made them thinke her seuerall gods They held earth to be Ops saith he because helpe Opis maketh her more fruitfull Mother for hiâ—… generall production Great for giuing meate Proserpina because the fruit doe creepe Proserpunt out of her Vesta for that the hearbes are her vesture and so saith he are other deities fitly reduced vnto her by seuerall respects But if she be one goddesse as in truth she is not why runne yee to so many Let one haue all these names and not bee many goddesses But errors power preuailed to draw Varro fearefully after it for he saith neither doth this controule their opinions that take these for many gods There may be one thing saith he and many things therein Well suppose that many things are in a man therefore many men many things are in a goddesse therefore many goddesses But let them diuide combine multiply reply and imply what they will These are the mysteries of great mother-Mother-earth all referred to seede and husbandry But doth your tymbrell turrets eunuches rauings cymballs and Lions in all this reference promise eternall life doe your gelded Galli serue her to shew that seed-wanters must follow the earth and not rather that the following of her brought them to this want for whether doth the seruice of this goddesse supply their want or bring them to want is this to explaine or to explode rather Nor is the deuills power herein euer a iotte obserued that could exact such cruelties and yet promise nought worth the wishing If earth were held no goddesse men would lay their hands vpon her and strengthen them-selues by her not vpon themselues to eneruate them-selues for her If she were no goddesse she would bee made so fertaile by others hands that shee should neuer make men barren by their owne hands And whereas in Libers sacrifices an honest Matron must crowne that beastly member her husband perhaps standing by blushing and sweating if hee haue any shame and whereas in mariages the bride must ride vpon c Priapus his â—…llstaffe these are farre more d lighter and contemptible then that cruell obscaenity and obscaene cruelty for here the deuils illude both sexes but maketh neither of them their owne murtherers There they feare the bewitching of their corne here they feare not the vn-manning of them-selues There the bride e is not so shamed that she either looseth chastitie or virginity here the massacre of man-hood is such the gelded person is left neither man nor woman L. VIVES THey a call her Ouid Fast. 4. giues another reason of the Great mothers worship The Cymballs and Tymbrils were imitations of the Corybantes that kept Ioue with the noyse of their shields and helmes the tymbrels stand for the bucklers being lether and the Cymbals for the helmes being brasse The turrets are for that she built first towers in Citties the Eunuâ—…s she liketh for Atys his sake she is borne by Lions because shee tameth them b Before Iâ—… This is left out by some c Priapus his Colestaffe A Metaphor Scapus is the stalke of any hearbe but vsed in Uarro and Pliny for a mans priuy member that is erected like a stake or stalke Scapus is also a beame or iuncture in building Vitr d Lighter so is the old maâ—…scripts e Is not so Priapus was vsed to helpe the husband in taking away the maidenâ—…ad of the wife and the wife in fruitfulnesse of off-spring What exposition the Greeke wise men giue of the gelding of Atys CHAP. 25. BVt we haue forgotten Atys his meaning all this while in memory of whose loue the a Galli are gelded But the wise Greekes forget not this goodly matter Because of the earths front in the spring being fairer than then euer b Porâ—… a famous Philosopher saith Atys signifieth the flowers was therfore guelâ—… because the flowre falleth off before the fruite So then not c Atys man or manlike but his priuy parts onely were compared to the flowers for they feâ—…l of in his spring nay many fell not of were cut of nor followed any fruit vpon this but rather lasting sterility what then doth all that which remained of him after his gelding signifie whether is that referred the meaning of that now or because they could finde no reference for this remainder doe they thinke that he became that which the fable sheweth as is recorded Nay Varro is ours against them in that iustly and will not affirme it for his learning told him it was false L. VIVES THe Galli a are Cybele's priest of these wee haue spoken Festus saith they gelded themselues because hauing violated their parents name they would neuer be parents Bardesanes the Syrian saith that King Abgarus made all their hands to be cut off that had vsed themselues so and so this ceremonie ceased Macrobius interpreteth the passages of Cybele and Atys Veâ—…s and Adonis Isys and Osyris all one way calling the women the earth and the men the sunne b Porphiry Of him else-where this place is in his booke De rational nâ—… Deor. Atys and Adonis saith he are the fruites but Atys especially the flowers that fall eâ—…e the fruite bee â—…ipe and so they say hee was gelded because the fading flowers beare no fruite 〈◊〉 Atys man or mans like Alluding to Plato's riddle De rep 5. A man and no man hauing sight and no sight smote and smote not a bird and no bird with a stone and no stone vpon a tree and no tree that is An eunuch purblinde threw and but touched a Batte with a pumyce stone â—…ittng in an Elderne tree Of the filthinesse of this Great Mothers sacrifices CHAP. 26. NO more would Varro speake of the Ganymedes that were consecrated vnto the said Great mother against all shame of man and woman who with anointed heads painted faces loose bodies and lasciuious paces went euen vntill yester-day vp and downe the streetes of Carthage basely begging a of the people where-withall to sustaine them-selues Of these haue not I to my knowledge b read any thing their expositions tongues and reasons were all ashamed and to seeke Thus the Great mother exceeded all hir sonne-gods not in greatnesse of deity but of obscaenity Ianus him-selfe was not so monstrous as this c monster hee was but deformed in his statue but this was both bloudy and deformed in her sacrifices Hee had members of stone giuen him but she takes members of flesh from all her attendance This shame all Ioues letcheries come short of he
altogether execrable or els the gods were showne by them to bee none but men departed whome worm-eaten antiquity perswaded the world to bee gods whereas they were deuills that delighted in those obscaene mynisteries and vnder their names whom the people held diuine got place to play their impostures and by illusiue miracles to captiuate all their soules But it was by gods eternall secret prouidence that they were permitted to confesse all to Nâ—…a who by his Hydromancy was become their friend and yet not to warne him rather to burne them at his death then to bury them for they could neither withstand the plough that found them nor Varro's penne that vnto all memory hath recorded them For the deuills cannot exceed their direct permission which GOD alloweth them for their merits that vnto his iustice seeme either worthy to be onely afflicted or wholy seduced by them But the horrible danger of these bookes and their distance from true diuinity may by this bee gathered that the senate chose rather to burne them that Numa had but hidden then e to feare what hee feared that durst not burne them Wherefore he that will neither haue happinesse in the future life nor godlinesse in the present let him vse these meanes for eternity But hee that will haue no society with the deuill let him not feare the superstition that their adoration exacteth but let him sticke to the true religion which conuinceth and confoundeth all their villanies and abhominations L. VIVES TO a Hydromancy Diuination by water Diuination generally was done by diuers means either by Earth Gâ—…mancy or by fire Pyromancy or Ignispicina found by Amphiarans as Pliny saith or by smoake Capâ—…mancy or by birds Augury or by intrailes Aruspicina vsed much by the Hetrurians and by Ianus Apollo's sonne amongst the Heleans and after him by Thrasibulus who beheld a dogge holding the cut liuer or by a siue called Coscinomancy oâ—… by hatchets Axinomancy or by Hearbes Botinomancy the witches magike or by dead bodies Nâ—…mancy or by the starres Astrologie wherein the most excellent are called Chaldees though neuer borne in Caldaea or by lottes Cleromancy or by lines in the hand Chiromancy or by the face and body Physiognâ—…my or by fishes Icthyomancy this Apuleius was charged with or by the twinckling and motion of the eies called Saliatio the Palmique augury Then was there interpretation of dreames and visions or sights of thunder or lightning noyses sneezings voices and a thousand such arts of inuoking the deuills which are far better vnnamed Hydromancy I haue kept vnto the last because it is my theame It is many-fold done either in a glâ—…sse bottle full of water wherein a Childe must looke and this is called Gastromancy of the glasses belly or in a basen of water which is called Lecanomancie in which Strabo sayth the Asians are singular Psellus de damonibus affirmeth this also and sheweth how it is done that the deuills creepe in the bottome and send sorth a still confused found which cannot bee fully vnderstood that they may be held to say what euer 〈◊〉 to passe and not to lye Many also in springs did see apparitions of future things 〈◊〉 â—…aith that in Aegina a part of Achaia there is a temple of Ceres and a fountaine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherein sick persons after their offring sacrifice behold the end or continuance of 〈◊〉 â—…ses Iamblichus tells of a caue at Colophon wherein was a Well that the Priest haâ—…â—…ifice certaine set nights tasted of and presently became inuisible and gaue anâ—…â—…at asked of him And a woman in Branchis saith he sat vpon an Axle-tree and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a rod that one of the goddesses gaue her or dipping her foote or skirt in the water so 〈◊〉 â—…d prophecied Apulcius writeth out of Uarro that the Trallians inquiring by 〈◊〉 of the end of the warre of Mithridates one appeared in the water like Mercurie 〈◊〉 that looked in it and sung the future successe of the war in 360. verses but because of â—…tion of the boy I thinke hee meanes Gastromancie Apolog. de Magia This last 〈◊〉 Nâ—…a vse in a fountaine Plutarch saith that there were women in Germanie that 〈◊〉 euents by the courses noyse and whirle-pittes of riuers In his life of Caesar. 〈◊〉 Pythagoras A carefull respect of the times for Numa was dead long before 〈◊〉 was borne Some say that he was Pythagoras his scholler and Ouid for one they all 〈◊〉 â—…ror is lighter in a Poet then in an Historiographer c Caesar Dictator and Priest 〈◊〉 dedicates his Antiquities d Aegeria Some held her to be one of the Muses 〈◊〉 called the wood where shee vsed Lucus Camaenarum the Muses wood Some 〈◊〉 but a water-nimphe and that after Numa his death Diana turned her into a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith she was called Aegeria ab egerendo of putting forth because the great 〈◊〉 sâ—…rificed vnto her for the ayde shee was thought to giue them in the deliueâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…estus e To feare For Numa durst not burne them for feare of prooâ—…â—…nger against him Finis lib. 7. THE CONTENTS OF THE eight booke of the City of God 1. Of the questions of naturall theology to be handled with the most excellent Philosophers chapter 1. 2. Of the two kinds of Philosophers Italian and Ionian 3. Of the Socraticall discipline 4. Of Plato the chiefe of Socrates his schollers who dâ—…d philosophy into three kinds 5. That the chiefe controuersie with the Plâ—…sts is about theologie and that all the Pâ—…rs opinions heereof are inferior to theâ—…y 6. How the Platonists conceiued of the naturall part of Philosophy 7. The excellency of the Platonists aboue the rest in logick 8. That the Platonists are to be preferred in Morallity also 9. Of the Philosophy that commeth nearest chrtianity 10. What the excellence of a religions christian is in these philosophicall artes 11. Whence Plato might haue that knowledge that brought hiâ—… so neare the christian doctrine 12. That the Platonists for all their good opâ—… of the true GOD yet neuerthelesse held thaâ—… worship was to be giuen to many 13. Of Platoes affirmation that the gods were all good and louers of vertue 14. Of such as hold three kinds of reasonable soules In the gods In ayery spirits and in Men. 15. That neither the ayry spirits bodies 〈◊〉 hight of place make them excell men 16. What Apuleius the Platonist held concerning the qualities of those ayry spirits 17. Whether it becomes a Man to worsâ—… those spirits from whose guilt he should be pâ—…e 18. Of that religion that teacheth that those spirits must bee mens Aduocates to the good Gods 19. Of the wickednesse of art magick depending on these wicked spirits ministry 20. Whether it bee credible that good Gods had rather conuerse with those spirits then wiâ—…h Men. 21. Whether the Gods vse the diuills as their messengers and be willing that they should 22. The renouncing of the worship of those spirits against Apuleius 23. Hermes Trismegistus his
Diuinity did not terrifie vs but take hold of our acceptance of this inuitation and so translate vs into ioy perpetuall But hee could neither haue bin inuited nor allured to this but onely by one like our selues nor yet could wee bee made happy but onely by God the fountaine of happynesse So then there is but one way Christs humanity by which all accesse lyeth to his Deity that is life eternall and beatitude Whether it be probable that the Platonists say That the gods auoyding earthly contagion haue no commerce with men but by the meanes of the ayry spirits CHAP. 16. FOr it is false that this Platonist saith Plato said God hath no commerce with man and maketh this absolute seperation the most perfect note of their glory and height So then the Diuels are left to deale and to bee infected by mans conuersation and therefore cannot mundifie those that infect them so that both become vnclean the diuels by conuersing with men and then men by adoration of the diuels Or if the diuels can conuerse with men and not bee infected then are they better then the gods for they cannot auoid this inconuenience for that he makes the gods peculiar to bee farre aboue the reach of mans corruption But a God the Creator whome we call the true God he maketh such an one out of Plato as words cannot describe at any hand nay and that the wisest men in their greatest height of abstractiue speculation can haue but now and then a sodaine and b momentary glimpse of the c vnderstanding of this God Well then if this high God d afford his ineffable presence vnto wise men sometimes in their abstractiâ—…e speculation though after a sodaine fashion and yet is not contaminate thereby why then are the gods placed so farre off sor feare of this contamination As though the sight of those ethaereal bodies that light the earth were not sufficient And if our sight of the starres whome hee maketh visible gods doe not â—…minate them then no more doth it the spirits though seene nearer hand Orâ—… mans speech more infectious then his sight and therefore the goddes to keepe them-selues pure receiue all their requests at the deliuery of the diuells What shall I say of the other senâ—…s Their smelling would not infect them if they were below or when they are below as diuells the smel of a quicke man is not infectâ—…s at all if the steame of so many dead carcasses in sacrifices infect not Their taste is not soÌ„ crauing of them as they should bee driuen to come and aske their meate of men and for their touch it is in their owne choyce For though e handling bee peculiar to that sence indeed yet may they handle their businesse with men to see them and heare them without any necessity of touching for men would dare to desire no further then to see and heare them and if they should what man can touch a God or a Spirit against their wils when we see one cannot touch a sparrow vnlesse he haue first taken her So then in sight hearing speech the goddes might haue corporeal commerce with man Now if the diuels haue thus much without infection and the gods cannot why then the goddes are subiect to contamination and not the diuels But if they bee infected also then what good can they doe a man vnto eternity whome beeing them-selues infected they cannot make cleane nor fit to bee adioyned with the gods between whom and men they are mediators And if they cannot doe this what vse hath man of their mediation Vnlesse that after death they liue both together corrupted and neuer come nearer the goddes nor inioy any beatitude either of them Vnlesse some will make the spirits like to spunges fetching all the filth from others and retayning iâ—… in them-selues which if it bee so the gods conuerse with spirits that are more vncleane then the man whose conuersation they auoyd for vncleanenesse sake Or can the gods mundifie the diuels from their infection vn-infected and cannot do so with men VVho beleeues this that beleeueth not the diuels illusions Againe if the lookes of man infect then those visible gods the f worlds bright eyes and the other stars are lyable to this infection and the diuels that are not seene but when they list in better state then they But if the sight of man not his infect then let them deny that they do see man we seeing their beames stretcht to the very earth Their beames looke vn-infected through all infection and them-selues cannot conuerse purely with men onely though man stand in neuer so much necessity of their helpe wee see the Sunnes and Moones beames to reflect vppon the earth without contamination of the light But I wonder that so many learned men preferring things intelligible euer-more before sensible would mention any corporall matter in the doctrine of beatitude VVhere is that saying of g Plotine Lette vs flie to our bright country there is the father and there is all VVhat flight is that h to become like to GOD. If then the liker a man is to GOD the nearer hee is also why then the more vnlike the farther off And mans soule the more it lookes after thinges mutable and temporall the more vnlike is it to that essence that is immutable and eternall L. VIVES GOD a the Creator Apul. de dâ—…o Sâ—…crat Dog Platon GOD is celestiall ineffable and vn-name-able whose nature is hard to finde ' and harder to declare words The of Plato are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To finde God is hard but to comprehend him impossible Thus farre Apuleius Plato in his Timaeus that to finde out the father of this vniuerse is a hard matter but to expresse his full nature to another vtterly impossible And in his Parmenides disputing of that One Hee saith it can neyther bee named defined 〈◊〉 comprehended seene nor imagined b Momentary Signifieth that the dimme light sodainly with-draweth it selfe leauing a slender species or light impression thereof only in the mindes of such as haue seene it yet such an one as giueth ample testimony of the â—…ensity and lustre thereof c Vnderstanding In the world there are some markes whereby the 〈◊〉 Maker may be knowne but that a farre off as a light in the most thicke and spatious dâ—…ke and not by all but only by the sharpest wits that giue them-selues wholly to speculation thereof d Afford his Nor doth the knowledge of God leaue the wise minde but is euer present when it is purely sought and holyly e Handling Contrectation of Tracto to handle f Worldet bright Apulei de deo Socrat. For as their maiesty required he dedicated heauen to the immortall goddes whome partly wee see and call them celestiall as you the worlds bright eye that guides the times Vos O Clarissima mundi Lumina saith Virgill of the Sunne and Moone Georg. 1. g Plotine Plato saith hee Coleyne copy h To become The
The knowledge De genes ad lit lib. 4. Where hee calleth it morning when the Angells by contemplating of the creation in themselues where is deepe darkenesse lift vp themselues to the knowledge of God and if that in him they learne all things which is more certaine then all habituall knowledge then is it day It growes towards euening when the Angels turne from God to contemplate of the creatures in themselues but this euening neuer becommeth night for the Angells neuer preferre the worke before the worke man that were most deepe darke night Thus much out of Augustine the first mentioner of mornings euenings knowledges What wee must thinke of Gods resting the seauenth day after his sixe daies worke CHAP. 8. BVt whereas God rested the seauenth day froÌ„ al his workes sanctified it this is not to be childishly vnderstood as if God had taken paines he but spake the word and a by that iâ—…telligible and eternal one not vocall nor temporal were all things created But Gods rest signifieth theirs that rest in God as the gladnesse of the house signifies those yâ— are glad in the house though some-thing else and not the house bee the cause thereof How much more then if the beauty of the house make the inhabitants glad so that wee may not onely call it glad vsing the continent for the contained as the whole Theaâ—…er applauded when it was the men the whole medowes bellowed for the Oxen but also vsing the efficient for the effect as a merry epistle that is making the readers merry Theâ—…fore the scripture affirming that God rested meaneth the rest of all things in God whom he by himself maketh to rest for this the Prophet hath promised to all such as he speaketh vnto and for whom he wrote that after their good workes which God doth in them or by them if they first haue apprehended him in this life by faith they shal in him haue rest eternal This was prefigured in the sanctification of the Saboath by Gods command in the old law whereof more at large in due season L. VIVES BY a that intelligible Basil saith that this word is a moment of the will by which wee conceiue better of things What is to be thought of the qualities of Angels according to scripture CHAP. 9. NOw hauing resolued to relate this holy Cities originall first of the angels who make a great part thereof so much the happier in that they neuer a were pilgrims let vs see what testimonies of holy wriâ—…t concerne this point The scriptures speaking of the worlds creation speake not plainly of the Angels when or in what order they were created but that they were created the word heauen includeth In the beginning God created heauen and earth or rather in the world Light whereof I speake now are there signified that they were omitted I cannot thinke holy writ saying that God rested in the seauenth day from all his workes the same booke beginning with In the beginning God created heauen and earth to shew that nothing was made ere then Beginning therefore with heauen earth and earth the first thing created being as the scripture plainely saith with-out forme and voide light being yet vn made and darknesse being vpon the deepe that is vpon a certaine confusion of earth and waters for where light is not darknesse must needes be then the creation proceeding and all being accomplished in sixe dayes how should the angels bee omitted as though they were none of Gods workes from which hee rested the seuenth day This though it be not omitted yet here is it not plaine but else-where it is most euident The three chilâ—… sung in their himne O all yee workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord amongst which they recken the angels And the Psalmist saith O praise God in the heauens 〈◊〉 him in the heights praise him all yee his angells praise him all his hoasts praise 〈◊〉 sâ—…e and Moone praise him staâ—…res and light Praise him yee heauens of heauens 〈◊〉 the waters that be aboue the heauens praise the name of the Lord for hee spake the 〈◊〉 and they were made he commanded they were created here diuinity calls the â—…ls Gods creatures most plainly inserting them with the rest saying of all He spâ—…ke the word and they were made who dares thinke that the Angels were made after the sixe daies If any one bee so fond hearken this place of scripture confounds him vtterly e When the starres were made all mine angels praised mee with a loude voice Therefore they were made before the starres and the stars were made the fourth day what they were made the third day may wee say so God forbid That dayes worke is fully knowne the earth was parted from the waters and two â—…nts tooke formes distinct and earth produced all her plants In the second day then neither Then was the firmament made betweene the waters aboue and below and was called Heauen in which firmament the starres were created the fourth day c Wherefore if the angels belong vnto Gods sixe dayes worke they are that light called day to commend whose vnity it was called one day not the first day nor differs the second or third from this all are but this one doubled vâ—…to 6. or 7. sixe of Gods workes the 7. of his rest For when God said Let there be light there was light if we vnderstand the angels creation aright herein they are made partakers of that eternall light the vnchangeable wisdome of God all-creating namely the onely be gotten sonne of God with whose light they in their creation were illuminate and made light called day in the participation of the vnchangeable light day that Word of God by which they all things else were created For the true light that lightneth euery man that coÌ„meth into this world this also lightneth euery pure angell making it light not in it selfe but in God from whom if an Angell fall it becommeth impure as all the vncleane spirits are being no more a light in God but a darknesse in it selfe depriued of all perticipation of the eternall light for Euill hath no nature but the losse of good that is euill L. VIVES NEuer were a pilgrims But alwayes in their country seeing alwayes the face of the father b When the starres Iob. 38 7. So the Septuagints doe translate it as it is in the teâ—…t c Wherefore if The Greeke diuine put the creation of spirituals before that of things corporall making God vse them as ministers in the corporall worke and so held Plato Hierome following Gregorie and his other Greeke Maisters held so also But of the Greekes Basil and Dionysius and almost all the Latines Ambrose Bede Cassiodorus and Augustine in this place holds that God made althings together which agreeth with that place of Ecclesiasticus chap. 18. vers 1. He that liueth for euer made althings together Of the vncompounded vnchangeable Trinity the Father the Sonne
it to bee diffused froÌ„ the midst of earth geometrically called the c center vnto the extreamest parts of heaueÌ„ through al the parts of the world by d misticall numbers making the world a blessed creature whose soule enioyeth ful happines of wisdom yet leaueth not the body wose bodie liueteh eternally by it and as though it consist of so many different 〈◊〉 yet can neither dull it nor hinder it Seeing then that they giue their conâ—…res this scope why will they not beleeue that God hath power to eternize 〈◊〉 bodies wherein the soules without being parted from them by death or 〈◊〉 â—…rdened by them at all in life may liue most in blessed eternity as they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gods doe in firy bodies and their Iupiter in all the foure elements If 〈◊〉 â—…es cannot be blessed without the bodies bee quite forsaken why then let 〈◊〉 â—…ods get them out of the starres let Iupiter pack out of the elements if they 〈◊〉 goe then are they wretched But they will allow neither of these they 〈◊〉 â—…uerre that the Gods may leaue their bodies least they should seeme to â—…ip mortalls neither dare they barre them of blisse least they should conâ—…â—…em wretches Wherefore all bodies are not impediments to beatitude but 〈◊〉 the corruptible transitory and mortall ones not such as God made man 〈◊〉 but such as his sinne procured him afterwards L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a must This is scripture that the body is earth and must become earth Homer 〈◊〉 it the Grecians for he calls Hectors carcasse earth Phocylides an ancient writer 〈◊〉 thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Our body is of earth and dying must Returne to earth for Man is made of dust 〈◊〉 â—…er hath also the like recited by Tully Tusc. qu. 1. wherein the words that Augustine 〈◊〉 â—…xtant Mors est finitas omnibus quae generi humano angorem Nec quicquam afferunt reddenda est terra terra Of all the paines wherein Mans soule soiournes Death is the end all earth to earth returnes 〈◊〉 â—…t the gods Some bookes read terrene gods falsly Augustine hath nothing to doe 〈◊〉 â—…e gods in this place c Center A center is that point in the midst of a sphaericall 〈◊〉 â—…m whence all lines drawne to the circumference are equall It is an indiuisible point 〈◊〉 â—…d parts neither should it bee all in the midst nor the lines drawne from it to the cirâ—… equall as not beeing all drawne from one part Plato placeth the worldes 〈◊〉 the center and so distends it circularly throughout the whole vniuerse and then 〈◊〉 â—…ng his position makes the diuine power aboue diffuse it selfe downe-ward euen 〈◊〉 â—…ter d Musicall numbers Hereof see Macrobius Chalcidins and Marsilius Ficinus 〈◊〉 â—…at of Plato's Timaeus which he either translated or reformed from the hand of anâ—…â—…ese numbers for their obscurity are growne into a prouerbe Of the terrene bodies which the Philosophers hold cannot be in heauen but must fall to earth by their naturall weight CHAP. 18. 〈◊〉 but say they an earthly body is either kept on earth or caried to 〈◊〉 â—…th by the naturall weight and therefore cannot bee in heauen The first 〈◊〉 â—…de were in a wooddie and fruitfull land which was called Paradise But 〈◊〉 we must resolue this doubt seeing that both Christs body is already asâ—…d and that the Saints at the resurrection shall doe so also let vs ponder these earthly weights a little If mans arte of a mettall that being put into the water sinketh can yet frame a vessell that shall swim how much more credible is it for Gods secret power whose omnipotent will as Plato saith can both keepe things produced from perishing and parts combined from dissoluing whereas the combination of corporall and vncorporeall is a stranger and harder operation then that of corporalls with corporalls to take a all weight from earthly things whereby they are carried downe-wards and to qualifie the bodies of the blessed soules so as though they bee terrene yet they may bee incorruptible and apt to ascend descend or vse what motion they will with all celerity Or b if the Angells can transport bodily weights whether they please must we thinke they doe it with toile and feeling of the burden Why then may we not beleeue that the perfect spirits of the blessed can carry their bodies whither they please and place them where they please for whereas in our bodily carriage of earthly things we feele that the c more bigge it is the heauier it is and the heauier the more toile-some to beare it is not so with the soule the soule carrieth the bodily members better when they are big and strong then when they are small and meagre and whereas a big sound man is heauier to others shoulders then a leane sicke man yet will he mooue his healthfull heauinesse with farre more agility then the other can doe his crasie lightnesse or then he can himselfe if famine or sicknesse haue shaken off his flesh This power hath good temperature more then great weight in our mortal earthly corruptible bodies And who can describe the infinite difference betweene our present health and our future immortality Let not the Philosophers therefore oppose vs with any corporall weight or earthly ponderosity I will not aske them why an earthly body may not bee in heauen as well as d the whole earth may hang alone without any supportation for perhaps they will retire their disputation to the center of the world vnto which all heauy things doe tend But this I say that if the lesser Gods whose worke Plato maketh Man all other liuing things with him could take away the quality of burning from the fire and leaue it the light e which the eye transfuseth shall wee then doubt that that GOD vnto whose will hee ascribes their immortality the eternall coherence and indissolubility of those strange and diuers combinations of corporealls and incorporealls can giue man a nature that shall make him liue incorruptible and immortal keeping the forme of him and auoyding the weight But of the faith of the resurrection and the quality of the immortall bodies more exactly God willing in the end of the worke L. VIVES ALL a weight These are Gods admirable workes and it is the merit of our faith that we owe vnto God to beleeue them I wonder the schoolemen will inquire of these things define them by the rules of nature b If the Angells To omit the schooles and naturall reasons herein is the power of an Angell seene that in one night God smote 80000 men of the Assyrians campe by the hand of an Angel 4. Kings 19. Now let Man go brag of his weaknesse c The world big Here is no need of predicamentall distinctions hee vseth big for the maâ—… weight not for the quantity d The whole earth It hangs not in nothing for it hangs in the ayre yet would ayre giue it way but that it hath gotten the
but the better part onely nor the body whole man but the worse part only and both conioyned make man yet when we speake of them disioyned they loose not that name for who may not follow custome and say such a man is dead such a man is now in ioy or in paine and speake but of the soule onely or such a man is in his graue and meane but the body onely will they say the scripture vseth no such phrase yes it both calles the body and soule conioyned by the name of man and also diuiding them calles the soule the inward man and the body the outward as if they were two men and not both composiâ—…gone And marke in what respect man is called Gods image and man of earth returning to earth the first is in respect of the reasonable soule which God breathed or inspired into man that is into mans body and the laâ—…er is in respect of the body which God made of the dust and gaue it a soule whereby it became a liuing body that is man became a liuing soule and therefore whereas Christ breathing vpon his Apostles said receue the holy spirit this was to shew that the spirit was his aswell as the Fathers for the spirit is the Fathers and the Sonnes making vp the Trinity of Father Sonne and Holy Spirit being no creature but a creator That breath which was carnally breathed was not the substantiall nature of the Holy Spirit but rather a signification as I said of the Sonnes communication of the spirit with his Father it being not particular to either but common to both The scriptures in Greeke calleth it alwaies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Lord called it here when by signifiing it with his breath hee gaue it to his disciples and I neuer read it otherwise called in any place of Gods booke But here whereas it is sayd that God formed man being dust of the earth and breathed in his face the spirit or breath of life the Greeke is g not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word is read oftener for the creature then the creator and therefore some latinists for difference sake do not interpret this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spirit but breath for so it is in Esay where God saith h I haue made all breath meaning doubtlesse euery soule Therefore that which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee do sometimes call breath some-time spirit some-time inspiration and aspiration and some-times i soule but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neuer but spirit either of man as the Apostle saith what man knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him or of a beast as wee read in the preacher Who knoweth whether the spirit of man ascendeth vpwardes and the spirit of the beast downewards to the earth or that bodily spirit which wee call wind as the Psalme saith fire hayle snow Ice and the spirit of tempests or of no creature but the creator himselfe whereof our Sauiour said in the Gospell Receiue the holy 〈◊〉 signifying it in his bodily breath and there also where hee saith Goe and bâ—…ise all nations in the name of the father the sonne and the holy spirit plainly and excellently intimating the full Trinity vnto vs and there also where wee read God is a spirit and in many other places of scripture In all those places of Scriptâ—… the Greeke wee see hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latine flatus and not spiâ—…us And therefore if in that place Hee breathed into his face the breath of life tâ—… Greeke had not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it hath but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet were it no consequent that wee should take it for the holy spirit the third person in Trinity because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is vâ—… for a creature as well as the creator and as ordinarily O but â—…ay they hee â—…ld not haue added vitae of life but that hee meant that spirit aâ—…d whereas 〈◊〉 sâ—…id Man became a soule hee would not haue added liuing but that he meant the soules life which is giuen from aboue by the spirit of God for the soule haâ—…g a proper life by it selfe why should hee adde liuing but to intimate the 〈◊〉 giuen by the holy spirit But what is this but folly to respect coniecture and 〈◊〉 to neglect scripture for what need we goe further then a chapter and beâ—…old let the earth bring forth the liuing soule speaking of the creation of all eâ—…ly creatures and besides for fiue or sixe Chapters onely after why might 〈◊〉 â—…ot obserue this Euery thing in whose nosthrills the spirit of life did breath â—…soeuer they were in the drye land dyed relating the destruction of euery liuing 〈◊〉 vpon earth by the deluge If then wee finde a liuing soule and a spirit of life in beasts as the Scripture saith plainly vsing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this very 〈◊〉 place why may wee not as well say why added hee liuing there seeing 〈◊〉 soule cannot bee vnlesse it liue and why added hee Of life here hauing â—…d spirit But wee vnderstand the Scriptures ordinary vsage of the liuing 〈◊〉 and the spirit of life for animated bodyes naturall and sensitiue and yet 〈◊〉 this vsuall phrase of Scripture when it commeth to bee vsed concerning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of man Whereas it implieth that man receiued a reasonable soule of 〈◊〉 â—…ated by his breath k not as the other were produced out of water and 〈◊〉 and yet so that it was made in that body to liue therein and make it an aniâ—… body and a liuing soule as the other creatures were whereof the Scripture sayd Let the earth bring forth a liuing soule and that in whose nostrills was the â—…rit of life which the Greek text calleth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning not the holy spirit but their life But wee say they doe conceiue Gods breath to come from the mouth of God now if that bee a soule l wee must holde it equall 〈◊〉 â—…substantiall with that wisdome or Worde of GOD which saith I am come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mouth of the most high Well it saith not that it was breathed from 〈◊〉 â—…outh but came out of it And as wee men not out of our owne nature but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ayre about vs can make a contraction into our selues and giue it out 〈◊〉 in a breath so Almighty GOD not onely out of his owne nature or of 〈◊〉 â—…feriour creature but euen of nothing can make a breath which hee may 〈◊〉 most fitly said to breath or inspire into man it being as hee is incorporeall 〈◊〉 â—…ot as hee is immutable because it is created as he is not 〈◊〉 to let those men see that will talke of Scriptures and yet marke not what 〈◊〉 doe intend that some-thing may bee sayd to come
in him Behold here dilectio in one place in both the respects But if any one seeke to know whether amor be vsed in euill wee haue shewne it in good let him reade this Men shal be louers of themselues c. Louers of pleasures more then louers of GOD. For an vp right will is good loue and a peruerse will is badde loue Loue then desyring too enioy that it loueth is desire and enioying it is ioy flying what it hateth it is feare feeling it it is sorrow These are euills if the loue bee euill and good if it bee good What wee say let vs prooue by scripture The Apostle aesires to bee dissolued and to bee vvith Christ And My heart breaketh for the continuall desire I haue vnto thy iudgements f Or if this bee better My soule hath coueted to desire thy iudgements And desire of wisdome leadeth to the Kingdome yet custome hath made it a law that where concupiscentia or cupiditas is vsed without addition of the obiect it is euer taken in a badde sence But Ioy or Gladnesse the Psalme vseth well Bee glad in the LORD and reioyce you righteous and thou hast giuen gladnesse to mine heart and In thy presence is the fulnesse of ioye Feare is also vsed by the Apostle in a good sence Worke out your saluation vvith feare and trembling and Be not high minded but feare and But I feare least as the serpent beguiled Eue through his suttlety so that your mindes should be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ. But as for that sorrow which Tully had rather call g egritude and Virgill dolour where hee saith dolentque gaudentque yet h I had rather call it tristitia sadnesse because egritude and dolour are oftner vsed for bodily affects the question whether it be vsed in a good sence or no is fit to bee more curiously examined L. VIVES MOre a then these Then these doe to auoide ambiguity b Then knâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here translated diligo and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amâ—… both to loue c Some Orig. hâ—… 1. 〈◊〉 Câ—… The scripture I thinke being carefull saith he to keepe the readers in the tract of true vnderstanding it for the capacity of the weaker called that Charity or Dilectio which they thinke wise men called loue d Is vsed The Latinists vse these two words farre other-wise â—…ing Diligo for a light loue and amo for a seruent one Dol obellam antea diligebam nunc 〈◊〉 â—…ith Tully and elsewher more plainely Clodius Tribu Pleb valde me diligit seu vt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 addam valde me amat I grant that amor is the meaner word and oftener vsed in obâ—…y then dilectio The same difference that the latines put betweene amo and diligo the same 〈◊〉 the Greekes put between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 e To shew The places here cited prooue nothing vnlesse that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be both vsed in a good or an euil sence for the latine translation is the 〈◊〉 of the interpretor not of the author But perhaps he desired to shew it because he delt agâ—… Grecian namely Origen f Or if For so the 70. translated it Here begins he to shew that none of the foure affects are bad of them-selues g Egritude Tusc quaest 3. and 4. h I had rather Tully a Tusc. qu. 2. calleth bodily vexation dolor and Iusc 4. defendeth egritudo to be in the mind as egrotatio is in the body and affirmeth lib. 3. that it hath not any distinct name from sorrow Of the three passions that the Stoickes alow a wiseman excluding sadnesse as foe to a vertuous minde CHAP. 8. THose which the Greekes call a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tully Constantiae the Stoickes make to be three according to the three perturbations in a wisemans mind â—…ng will for desire b ioy for exultation and warinesse for feare but insteed of â—…at egritude or dolour which wee to avoyd amphibology call sadnesse they â—…y that a wise mind can intertaine any thing for the will say they affecteth good which a wiseman effecteth ioy concerneth the good hee hath attayned 〈◊〉 warinesse avoideth that hee is to auoyd but seeing sadnesse ariseth from 〈◊〉 â—…ill cause already fallen out and no euill happineth to a wiseman thereâ—… wisdome admits nothing in place thereof Therefore say they none but â—…en can will reioyce and beware and none but fooles can couet exult 〈◊〉 â—…nd bee sad The first are the three constancies saith Tully and the later 〈◊〉 foure perturbations The Greekes as I said call the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In c seeking the correspondency of this with the phrase of holy writ I found this of the prophet There is no c ioy saith the Lord vnto the â—…ed as if the wicked might rather exult then haue ioy in their mischiefes for â—…y is properly peculiar to the good and Godly That also in the gospell What soeuer yee would that men should dee vnto you euen so do yee to them this seemes to â—…imate that a man cannot will any euill thing but couet it by reason of which â—…ome of interpretation some translators added good What good soeuer c. for â—…y thought it fit for man to desire that men should do them no dishonesty and â—…rfore put in this least some should thinke that in their luxurious banquets to be silent in more obscene matters they shold fulfil this precept in doing to others as others did vnto them But e good is not in the originall the greeke but only as we read before What soeuer yee would c. for in saying yee would he meaneth good Hee sayd not whatsoeuer you coueâ—… yet must wee not alway tye our phrases to this strictnesse but take leaue at needfull occasions and when wee reade those that wee may not resist wee must conceiue them so as the true sence 〈◊〉 no other passage as for example sake in the savd places of the Prophet and the Apostle who knoweth not that the wicked exult in pleasure and yet there is no ioye saith the LORD to the wicked Why because ioye is properlie and strickly vsed in this place So may some say that precept Whatseouer 〈◊〉 vvould c. is not well deliuered they may pollute one another with vncleannesse or so Notwithstanding the commaunde is well giuen and is a most true and healthfull one Why because will which properly cannot bee vsed in euill is put in the most proper signification in this place But as for ordinary vsage of speech wee would not say Haue no vvill to tell any â—…e but that there is a badde will also distinct from that which the Angells praised saying f Peace in earth to men of good vvill Good were heere superfluous if that there were no will but good and howe coldlie had the Apostle praised charity in
generation is drawne out along to the deluge from the naming of his sonne Enoch who was named before all his other posterity and yet when Seths sonne Enos is borne the author doth not proceede downward to the floud but goeth back to Adam in this manner This is the booke of the generation of Adam In the day that God created Adam in the likenesse of God made he him male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam that day that they were created This I hold is interposed to goe back to Adam from him to reckon the times which the author would not doe in his description of the Earthly Citie as also God remembred that without respecting the accompt But why returnes hee to this recapiâ—…ulation after hee hath named the a righteous sonne of Seth who hoped to call vpon the name of the Lord but that hee will lay downe the two Cittiâ—…s in this manner one by an homicide vntill hee come to an homicide for Lamech confesseth vnto his two wiues that hee had beene an homicide and the other by him that hoped to call vpon the name of the Lord. For the principall businesse that Gods Cittie hath in 〈◊〉 pilgrimaâ—… vpon earth is that which was commended in that one man who was appointed a seede for him that was slaine For in him onely was the vnity of the supernall Cittie not really complete mystically comprized â—…herefore the sonne of Caine the sonne of possession what shall hee haue but the name of the Earthly Cittie on earth which was built in his name Hereof sings the Psalmist b They haue called their lands by their names wherevpon that followeth which hee saith else-where Lord thou shalt desperse their image to nothing in thy Cittie But let the sonne of the resurrection Seths sonne hope to call vpon the Lorâ—…s name for hee is a type of that society that saith I shall bee â—…ke a fruitfull Oliue in the house of God for I trusted in his mercy And let him not seeke vaine-glorie vpon earth for Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and regardeth not vanity and false fondnesse Thus the two Citties are described to be seated the one in worldly possession 〈◊〉 other in heauenly hope both comming out at the common gate of mortality which was opened in Adam out of whose condemned progenie as out of a putrified lumpe God elected some vessels of mercy and some of wrath giuing due paines vnto the one and vndue grace vnto the other that the cittizens of God vpon earth may take this lesson from those vessels of wrath neuer to d relie on their owne election but hope to call vpon the name of the Lord because the naturall will which God made but yet heere the changelesse made it not changlesse may both decline from him that is good and from all good to do euill and that by freedom of will and from euill also to doe good but that not with-out Gods assistance L. VIVES THat a righteous Enos Seths sonne interpreted man b They haue This is the truest reading and nearest to the Hebrew though both the seauenty and Hierom read it otherwise c Giuing To shew Gods iust punishment of the wicked and his free sauing of the chosen d Relye on their As Pelagius would haue men to doe Of the fall of the sonnes of God by louing strange women whereby all but eight perished CHAP 22. THis freedome of will increasing and pertaking with iniquity produced a confused comixtion of both Citties and this mischiefe arose from woman also but not as the first did For the women now did not seduce men to sinne but the daughters that had beene of the Earthly Cittie from the beginning and of euill conditions were beloued of the cittizens of God for their bodily beauty which is indeed a gift of God but giuen to the euill also least the good should imagine it of any such great worth Thus was the greatest good onely perteyning to the good left and a declination made vnto the least good that is common to the bad also and thus the sonnes of God were taken with the loue of the daughters of men and for their sakes fell into society of the earthly leauing the piety that the holy society practised And thus was carnall beauty a gift of good indeed but yet a temporall base and transitory one sinne-fully elected and loued before God that eternall internall and sempiternall good iust as the couetous man forsaketh iustice and loueth golde the golde â—…eeing not in fault but the man euen so is it in all other creatures They are all good and may bee loued well or badly well when our loue is moderate badly when it is inordinate as b one wrote in praise of the Creator Haec â—…ua sunt bona sunt quia tu bonus ista creasti Nil nostrum est in eis nisi quod peccamus amantes Ordine neglecto pro te quod conditur abs te Those are thy goods for thou chiefe good didst make them Not ours yet seeke we them in steed of thee Peruerse affect in forcing vs mistake them But we loue the Creator truly that is if he be beloued for him-selfe and nothing that is not of his essence beloued for of him we caÌ„not loue any thing amisse For that very loue where-by we loue that is to be loued is it selfe to be moderately loud in our selues as beeing a vertue directing vs in honest courses And tâ—…ore I thinke that the best and briefest definition of vertue be this It is c aâ—…â—…der of loue for which Christs spouse the Citty of God saith in the holy canâ—… Hee hath ordered his loue in mee This order of loue did the sonnes of God 〈◊〉 neglecting him and running after the daughters of men in which two â—…s both the Citties are fully distinguished for they were the sonnes of men by â—…ure but grace had giuen them a new stile For in the same Scripture 〈◊〉 it is sayd that The sonnes of God loued the daughters of men they are also called the Angels of GOD. Where-vpon some thought them to bee Angels and â—…ot men that did thus L. VIVES Wâ—…ch a is indeed Homer Iliad 3. b One wrote Some read as I wrote once in praise of a tâ—…per I know not which to approoue c An order That nothing bee loued but 〈◊〉 which ought to be loued as it ought and as much as it ought So doth Plato graduate the â—…easonable and mentall loue d Hee hath ordered This saith Origen is that which our Sâ—…r saith Thou shalt loue thy Lord with all thine heart with all thy soule with all thy minde 〈◊〉 â—…th all thy strength And thou shalt loue thy neighbor as thy selfe but not with all thinâ—… 〈◊〉 and loue thine enemies he saith not as thy selfe nor withall thine heart but holds it â—…nt to loue them at all In Cantic Whether it be credible that the Angels being of an incorpore
their postâ—…re 〈◊〉 a quadrangle there were on the walls one thousand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…undred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Robooth Hieromes translation hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Râ—…ad onely Hee built Nâ—…iue and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnlesse the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The hebrew hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 f Niâ—… 〈◊〉 following the Phaenician Theology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sonâ—… oâ—… 〈◊〉 and calleth him Iupiter Belus Now there was another 〈◊〉 sonne to Epaphus kinge of Egypt whome Ioue begot vnto this Belus Isis was mother 〈◊〉 Eusebius make him the sonne of Telegonus who maried Isis after Apis was dead 〈◊〉 reigning as then in Athens But Belus that was father to Ninus was a quiet King of 〈◊〉 anâ—… contented with a little Empire yet had hee this warlike sonne whereby he was â—…d as a God and called the Babilonian Iupiter This was their Belus say the Egyptians 〈◊〉 Egiptus whome they call the sonne of Neptune and Lybia and granchild to Epaphus 〈◊〉 â—…her Hee placed colonies in Babilon and seating him-selfe vpon the bankes of Euâ—…â—…stituted his Priests there after the Egyptian order That Belus whom they worshipped â—…outly in Assiria and who had a temple at Babilon in Plinies time was as he saith 〈◊〉 â—…tor of Astronomy and the Assirians dedicated a iewell vnto him and called it Belus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 g Unto Sem also The seauenty lay it downe most playnely h Hebrewes Paul 〈◊〉 of Borgos a great Hebraician sayth they were called Hebrewes quasi trauellers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 word intends trauellers they were indeed both in Egypt and in the land of Canaan i 〈◊〉 â—…ese were As Ilands are diuided from the continent by the sea so were they amongst â—…es by riuers mountaines woods sands deserts and marishes Of the confusion of tongues and the building of Babilon CHAP. 8. WHereas therefore the Scriptures reckneth those nations each according to his proper tongue yet it returneth backe to the time when they had 〈◊〉 â—…one tongue and then sheweth the cause of the diuersity Then the whole 〈◊〉 â—…th it was of one language and one speach And as they went from the East 〈◊〉 a plaine in the land of Semar and there they aboade and they sayd one to 〈◊〉 â—…me let vs make bricke and burne it in the fire so they had bricke for stone 〈◊〉 â—…ch for lime They sayd also come let vs build vs a citty and b a tower whose 〈◊〉 reach to the heauen that we c may get vs a name least we bee scattred vpon 〈◊〉 earth And the Lord came downe to see the citty and tower which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men builded And the Lord sayd behold the people is all one and haue all 〈◊〉 â—…ge and this they begun to do neither can they now be stopped from 〈◊〉 â—…er they haue imagined to effect come on let vs downe and confound 〈◊〉 â—…guage there that each one of them vnderstand not his fellowes speach So 〈◊〉 Lord scattered them from thence ouer the whole earth and they d left 〈◊〉 â—…ild the citty and the tower Therefore the name of it was called confuâ—…â—…cause â—…cause there the Lord confounded the language of the whole earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thence did the Lord scatter them vpon all the earth This Citty 〈◊〉 â—…ch was called confusion is that Babilon whose wounderfull building 〈◊〉 â—…d euen in prophane histories for Babilon is interpreted confusion 〈◊〉 we gather that Nembrod the Giant was as we said before the builder 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scripture saying the beginning of his kingdome was Babilon that is this 〈◊〉 metropolitane city of the realme the kings chamber and the chiefe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rest though it were neuer brought to that strange perfection that the 〈◊〉 and the proud would haue it to be for it was built to heigh which 〈◊〉 â—…as vp to heauen whether this were the fault of some one Tower which 〈◊〉 â—…ght more vpon then all the rest or of them all vnder one as wee will 〈◊〉 soldiour or enemy when we meane of many thousands and as the 〈◊〉 of Frogges and Locusts that plagued Egypt were called onely in the 〈◊〉 number the Frogge and Locust But what intended mans vaine presumption herein admit they could haue exceeded all the mountaines with their buildings height could they euer haue gotten aboue the element of ayre and what hurt can elleuation either of body or spirit do vnto God Humility is the true tract vnto heauen lifting vppe the spirit vnto GOD but not against GOD as that gyant was said to be an hunter against the Lord which some not vnderstanding were deceiued by the ambiguity of the greeke and translated before the Lord f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beeing both before and against for the Psalme vseth it so and kneele before the Lord our maker And it is also in Iob He hath stretched out his hand against God Thus then g is that hunter against the Lord to bee vnderstood But what is the worde Hunter but an entrapper persecutor and murderer of earthly creatures So rose this hunter and his people and raised this tower against GOD which was a type of the impiety of pride and an euill intent though neuer effected deserueth to bee punished But how was it punished Because that h all soueraignty lieth in commaund and all commaund in the tongue thus pride was plagued that the commaunder of men should not be vnderstood because he would not vnderstand the Lord his commander Thus was this conspiracy dissolued each one departing from him whom hee vnderstood not nor could he adapt himselfe to any but those that hee vnderstood and thus these languages diuided them into Nations and dispersed them ouer the whole earth as God who wrought those strange effects had resolued L. VIVES ANd a pitch Bitumen whereof there was great store in those places b A tower The like to this do the prophane writers talke of the Gyants wars against the Gods laying mountaine vpon mountaine to get foote-hold against heauen the nearer it Ter sunt conati inponere Pelion Ossae Ter pater extructos disiecit fulmine montes Pelion on Ossa three times they had throwne And thrice Ioues thunder struck the bul-warke downe Saith Uirgil The story is common it might be wrested out of this of the confusion as diuers other things are drawne from holy writ into heathenisme c We may get Let this bee a monument of vs all d Left off And the builders of the cittie ceased say the seauenty e Wonderfull In Pliny Solinus Mela Strabo Herodotus all the geographers and many of the Poets of this else-where f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So it is in latin also g Is that hunter Iosephus writeth that Nimrod first taught mankinde to iniure GOD and to grow proud against him for being wondrous valiant he perswaded them that they might thanke themselues and not God for any good that befell them And so ordeined he himselfe a souerainty and to prouide that God should not subuert it
of Iacobs stock how can their sonnes sonnes or their sonnes be accompted amongst the seauentie fiue that went in this company vnto Egipt for there is Machir reckoned Manasses his sonne and Galaad Machirs sonne and there is Vtalaam Ephraims sonne reckoned Bareth Vtalaams sonne Now these could not be there Iacob finding at his comming that Iosephs children the fathers and grand-fathers of those foure last named were but children of nine yeares old at that time But this departure of Iacob thether with seauentie fiue soules conteineth not one day nor a yeare but all the time that Ioseph liued afterwards by whose meanes they were placed there of whome the Scripture saith Ioseph dwelt in Egipt and his brethren with him a hundred yeares and Ioseph saw Ephraims children euen vnto the third generation that was vntill hee was borne who was Ephraims grand-child vnto him was he great grand-father The scripture then proceedeth Machirs sonnes the sonne of Manasses were brought vp on Iosephs knees This was Galaad Manasses his grand-child but the scripture speaketh in the plurall as it doth of Iacobs one daughter calling her daughters as the a Latines vse to call a mans onely child if hee haue no more liberi children Now Iosephs felicitie being so great as to see the fourth from him in discent wee may not imagine that they were all borne when hee was but thirty nine yeares old at which time his father came into Egipt this is that that deceiued the ignorant because it is written These are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egipt with Iacob their father For this is said because the seauentie fiue are reckoned with him not that they all entred Egipt with him But in this transmigration and setling in Egipt is included all the time of Iosephs life who was the meanes of his placing here L. VIVES THe a Latines Sempronius Asellio called Sempronius Gracchus his onely sonne liberi and it was an vsuall phrase of old Gell. Herenn Digest lib. 50. Iacobs blessing vnto his sonne Iudah CHAP. 41. SO then if wee seeke the fleshly descent of Christ from Abraham first for the good of the Citty of God that is still a pilgrim vpon earth Isaac is the next and from Isaac Iacob or Israel Esau or Edom being reiected from Israel Iudah all the rest being debarred for of his tribe came Christ. And therefore Israel at his death blessing his sonnes in Egipt gaue Iudah this propheticall blessing Iudah a thy bretheren shall praise thee thine hand shall bee on the neck of thine enemies thy fathers sonnes shall adore thee As a Lyons whelpe Iudah shalt thou come vp b from the spoile my sonne Hee shall lye downe and sleepe as a Lyon or a Lyons whelpe who shall rouse him The scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a law-giuer from betweene his feete vntill Shiloe come and the people bee gathered vnto him Hee shall binde his Asse fole vnto the Vine and his Asses colt c with a rope of hayre he shall wash his stole in wine and his garment in the bloud of the grape his eyes shall be redde with wine and his teeth white with milke These I haue explained against Faustus the Manichee as farre I thinke as the Prophecie requireth Where Christs death is presaged in the worde sleepe as not of necessitie but of his power to dye as the Lion had to lye downe and sleepe which power him-selfe auoweth in the Gospell I haue power to lay downe my life and power to take it againe no man taketh it from mee but I lay it downe of my selfe c. So the Lion raged so fulfilled what was spoken for that same Who shall rouse him belongeth to the resurrection for none could raise him againe but he himselfe that said of his body Destroy this temple and in three dayes I will raise it vp againe Now his manner of death vpon the high crosse is intimated in this shalt thou come vp and these words Hee shall lye downe and â—…pe are euen these Hee bowed downe his head and giue vp the ghost Or it may meane the graue wherein hee slept and from whence none could raise him vp as the Prophets and he him-selfe had raised others but him-selfe raised him-selfe as from a sleepe Now his stole which hee washeth in wine that is cleanseth from sinne in his bloud intimating the sacrament of baptisme as that addition And his garment in the bloud of the grape expresseth what is it but the Church and eyes being redde with wine are his spirituall sonnes that are drunke with her cup as the Psalmist saith My cup runneth ouer and his teeth whiter then the milke are his nourishing wordes where-with hee feedeth his little weaklings as with 〈◊〉 This is he in whome the promises to Iudah were laide vp which vntill they 〈◊〉 there neuer wanted kings of Israell of the stock of Iudah And vnto him â—…ll the people bee gathered this is plainer to the sight to conceiue then the â—…gue to vtter L. VIVES IVda a thy brethren Iudah is praise or confession b From the spoile From captiuity saith the Hebrew all this is meant of Christs leading the people captiue his high and sacred ascention and the taking of captiuitie captiue Hierome c With a rope of hayre With a rope onely say some and his asses colte vnto the best vine saith Hierome from the Hebrew And for this Asses colte saith he may be read the Citty of God whereof we now speake the seuentie read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the vine branch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the twist of the Vine as Theophrastus saith and thence haue the two kindes of luy their names Diosor Plin. so might cilicium come into the Latine text that Augustine vsed if the Greeke were translated Helicium otherwise I cannot tell how Of Iacobs changing of his hands from the heads of Iosephs sonnes when he blessed them CHAP. 42. BVt as Esau and Iacob Isaacs two sonnes prefigured the two peoples of Iewes and Christians although that in the flesh the Idumaeans and not the Iewes came of Esau nor the Christians of Iacob but rather the Iewes for thus must the words The elder shall serue the yonger be vnderstood euen so was it in Iosephs two sonnes the elder prefiguring the Iewes and the yonger the Christians Which two Iacob in blessing laide his right hand vpon the yonger who was on his left side and his left vpon the elder who was on his right side This displeased their father who told his father of it to get him to reforme the supposed mistaking and shewed him which was the elder But Iacob would not change his hands but said I know sonne I know very well hee shall bee a great people also but his yonger brother shall be greater then hee and his seede shall fill the nations Here is two promises now a people to the one and a fulnesse of
effected without being fore-told that intimated not some-thing belonging vnto the Cittie of God and to bee referred vnto the holy pilgrims thereof vpon earth But if this be so we shall tie the Prophets words vnto two meanings onely and exclude the third and not onely 〈◊〉 Prophets but euen all the Old Testament For therein must be nothing peâ—… to the earthly Ierusalem if all that be spoken or fulfilled of that haue a farâ—… reference to the heauenly Ierusalem so that the Prophets must needes 〈◊〉 but in two sorts either in respect of the heauenly Ierusalem or els of both 〈◊〉 I thinke it a great error in some to hold no relation of things done in the â—…res more then meere historicall so doe I hoâ—…d it a c great boldnesse in 〈◊〉 that binde all the relations of Scripture vnto allegoricall reference and therefore I auouch the meanings in the Scriptures to be triple and not two-fold onely This I hold yet blame I not those that can piâ—…ke a good spirituall sense 〈◊〉 of any thing they reade so they doe not contradict the truth of the history But what faithfull man will not say that those are vaine sayings that can belong 〈◊〉 to diuinity nor humanity and who will not avow that these of which 〈◊〉 speake are to haue a spiritual interpretation also or leaue them vnto those 〈◊〉 interprete them in that manner L. VIVES 〈◊〉 Prophet a Nathan After Dauid had sent Vriah to be slaine in the front of the battell 〈◊〉 married his widow Bersabe b In so much Herevpon they say that so much is left out â—…g the acts of the Iewish Kings because they seemed not to concerne the Citty of 〈◊〉 that whatsoeuer the Old Testament conteineth or the New either hath all a sure 〈◊〉 vnto Christ and his Church at which they are both leuelled c Great boldnesse As 〈◊〉 â—…d with great rarity of spirit yet keepeth he the truth of the history vnuiolate for oâ—…â—…l these relations were vanities and each one would sâ—…rue an allegory out of the 〈◊〉 to liue and beleeue as he list and so our faith and discipline should bee vtterly conâ—…â—…herein I wonder at their mad folly that will fetch all our forme of life and religion 〈◊〉 â—…ories entangling them in ceremonious vanity and proclayming all that contraâ—… heretiques 〈◊〉 â—…ange of the Kingdome and priest-hood of Israell Anna Samuels mother a prophetesse and a type of the Church what she prophecied CHAP. 4. 〈◊〉 â—…ogresse therefore of the City of God in the Kings time when Saul was reâ—…ued and Dauid chosen in his place to possesse the Kingdome of Ierusaâ—…â—…im and his posterity successiuely signifieth and prefigureth that which 〈◊〉 not omit namely the future change concerning the two Testaments 〈◊〉 â—…d the New where the Old Kingdome and priest-hood was changed by 〈◊〉 and eternall King and Priest Christ Iesus for Heli being reiected Saâ—… made both the priest and the Iudge of God and Saul being reiected Daâ—… â—…hosen for the King and these two being thus seated signified the change 〈◊〉 of And Samuels mother Anna being first barren and afterwards by 〈◊〉 â—…odnes made fruitfull seemeth to prophecy nothing but this in her song 〈◊〉 â—…ing when hauing brought vp her son she dedicated him vnto God as she 〈◊〉 saying My heart reioyceth in the LORD my horne is exalted in the 〈◊〉 â—…y mouth is enlarged on mine enemies because I reioyced in thy saluation 〈◊〉 holy as the Lord there is no God like our God nor any holie besides thee 〈◊〉 â—…ore presumptiously let no arrogancie come out of your mouth for the Lord is 〈◊〉 â—…f knowledge and by him are enterprises established the bowe of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ee broken and guirded the weake with strength they that were full are hired forth for hunger and the hungry haue passed the land for the barren hath 〈◊〉 seâ—…en and a shee that had many children is enfeobled the Lord killeth and 〈◊〉 bringeth downe to the graue and raiseth vp the Lord impouerisheth and enritchâ—… humbleth and exalteth he raiseth the poore out of the dust and lifteth the begger from the dunghil to set them amongst Princes make them inherite the seat of glory he giueth vowes vnto those that vow vnto him and blesseth the yeares of the iust for in his owne might shall no man bee stronge the Lord the holy Lord shall weaken his aduersaries let not the wise boast of his wisdome nor the ritch in his ritches nor the mighty in his might but let their glory bee to know the Lord and to execute his iudgement and iustice vpon the earth the Lord from heauen hath thundered he shall iudge the ends of the world and shall giue the power vnto our Kings and shall exalt the horne of his annointed Are these the words of a woman giuing thankes for her sonne are mens mindes so benighted that they cannot discerne a greater spirit herein then meerely humane and if any one bee mooued at the euents that now began to fall out in this earthly processe doth he not discerne and acknowledge the very true religion and Citty of God whose King and founder is Iesus Christ in the words of his Anna who is fitly interpreted His grace and that it was the spirit of grace from which the proud decline and fall and therewith the humble adhere and are aduanced as this hymne saith which spake those propheticall words If any one will say that the woman did not prophecy but onely commended and extolled Gods goodnesse for giuing her praiers a sonne why then what is the meaning of this The bow of the mighty hath hee broken and guirded the weake with strength they that were full are hired forth for hunger and the hungry haue passed 〈◊〉 the land for the barren hath borne seauen and shee that had many children is 〈◊〉 Had shee being barren borne seauen she had borne but one when she sayd thus b nor had shee seauen afterward or sixe either for Samuel to make vp seauen but only three sonnes and two daughters Againe there being no King in Israel at that time to what end did she conclude thus Hee shall giue the power vnto our Kings and exalt the horne of his anoynted did shee not prophecy in this Let the church of God therfore that fruitful Mother that gracious City of that great King bee bold to say that which this propheticall mother spoke in her person so long before My heart reioyceth in the Lord c and my horne is exalted in the Lord. True ioy and as true exaltation both beeing in the Lord and not in her selfe my mouth is enlarged ouer mine enemies because Gods word is not pent vppe in straites d nor in preachers that are taught what to speake I haue reioyced saith she in thy saluation That was in Christ Iesus whom old Simeon in the Gospell had in his armes and knew his greatnesse in his infancy saying Lord nâ—…w lâ—…ttest thou thy seruant depart in
LORD shall weaken his aduersaries and make them be conquered by those whom Hee the most Holy hath made holy also i and therefore let not the wise glory in his wisdome the mighty in his might nor the ritch in his ritches but let their glory be to know God and to execute his iudgements and iustice vpon earth Hee is a good proficient in the knowledge of God that knoweth that God must giue him the meanes to know God For what hast thou saith the Apostle which thou hast not receiued that is what hast thou of thine owne to boast of Now hee that doth right executeth iudgement and iustice and hee that liueth in Gods obedience and the end of the command namely in a pure loue a good conscience and an vnfained faith But this loue as the Apostle Iohn saith is of God Then to do iudgement and iustice is of God but what is on the earth might it not haue beene left out and it haue only bin said to do iudgement and iustice the precept would bee more common both to men of land and sea but least any should thinke that after this life there were a time elsewhere to doe iustice and iudgement in and so to auoide the great iudgement for not doing them in the flesh therefore in the earth is added to confine those acts within this life for each man beareth his earth about with him in this world and when hee dieth bequeaths it to the great earth that must returne him it at the resurrection In this earth therefore in this fleshly body must we doe iustice and iudgement to doe our selues good hereafter by when euery one shall receiue according to his works done in the body good or bad in the body that is in the time that the body liued for if a man blaspheme in heart though he do no â—…urt with any bodily meÌ„ber yet shal not he be vnguilty because though he did it not in his body yet hee did it in the time wherein hee was in the body And so many we vnderstand that of the Psalme The Lord our King hath wrought 〈◊〉 in the midest of the earth before the beginning of the world that is the Lord Iesus our God before the beginning for he made the beginning hath wrought saluation in the midst of the earth namely then when the word became flesh and 〈◊〉 corporally amongst vs. But on Annah hauing shewen how each man ought to glory viz. not in himselfe but in God for the reward that followeth the great iudgement proceedeth thus l The Lord went vp vnto heauen and hath thundred he shall iudge the ends of the worlds and shall giue the power vnto our Kings and exalt the horne of his annoynted This is the plaine faith of a Christian. Hee 〈◊〉 into heauen and thence hee shall come to iudge the quicke and dead for who is â—…ded saith the Apostle but he who first descended into the inferiour parts of the earth Hee thundred in the clouds which hee filled with his holy spirit in his â—…ntion from which clouds he threatned Hierusalem that vngratefull vine to 〈◊〉 no rayne vpon it Now it is said Hee shall iudge the ends of the world that is the ends of men for he shall iudge no reall part of earth but onely all the men thereof nor iudgeth hee them that are changed into good or bad in the meane 〈◊〉 but m as euery man endeth so shall he beiudged wherevpon the scripture 〈◊〉 He that commeth vnto the end shall be safe hee therefore that doth iâ—…ce in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the earth shall not be condemned when the ends of the earth are 〈◊〉 And shall giue power vnto our Kings that is in not condemning them by â—…gement hee giueth them power because they rule ouer the flesh like Kings 〈◊〉 â—…quer the world in him who shed his blood for them And shall exalt the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his anoynted How shall Christ the annoynted exalt the horne of his anâ—… It is of Christ that those sayings The Lord went vp to heauen c. are all 〈◊〉 so is this same last of exalting the horne of his annoynted Christ thereâ—… exalt the horne of his annoynted that is of euery faithfull seruant of his as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first my horne is exalted in the Lord for all that haue receiued the vncâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grace may wel be called his annoynted al which with their head make 〈◊〉 annoynted This Anna prophisied holy Samuels mother in whome the 〈◊〉 of ancient priesthood was prefigured and now fulfilled when as the woâ—… 〈◊〉 many sonnes was enfeebled that the barren which brougt forth seuen 〈◊〉 â—…eceiue the new priesthood in Christ. L. VIVES SHâ—… that a had Multa in filiis b Nor had she The first booke of Samuel agreeth with 〈◊〉 but Iosephus vnlesse the booke be falty saith she had sixe three sons and three 〈◊〉 after Samuel but the Hebrewes recken Samuels two sonnes for Annahs also being 〈◊〉 â—…dchildren and Phamuahs seauen children died seuerally as Annahs and her sonne 〈◊〉 â—…ere borne c And my horne Some read mine heart but falsely the greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preachers there are Or nor in such as are bound by calling to bee his preachers the 〈◊〉 â—…py readeth but in his called prechers e No man knoweth Both in his foreknowledge 〈◊〉 â—…owlege of the secrets of mans heart f Are hired out The seauenty read it are 〈◊〉 g For the begger It seemes to be a word of more indigence then poore the latine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ops or helpelesse hauing no reference in many places to want of mony but of 〈◊〉 Gâ—…rg 1. Terent. Adelpe Act. 2. scena 1. Pauper saith Uarro is quasi paulus lar c. 〈◊〉 â—…gens h The Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both his and his owne the Greekes do not distinâ—… two as we doe i Let not the. This is not the vulgar translation of the Kings but 〈◊〉 cha 9. the 70. put it in them both but with some alteration It is an vtter subuersion 〈◊〉 God respects not wit power or wealth those are the fuell of mans vaine glory but let 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…th as Paule saith glory in the Lord and by a modest and equall thought of himselfe continually For so shall he neuer be pride-swollen for the knowledge of God that charity seasoneth neuer puffeth vp if we consider his mercies and his iudgements his loue and his wrath togither with his maiesty k And to doe iudgement The seauenty read this one way in the booke of Samuel and another way in Hieremy attributing in the first vnto the man that glorieth and in the later vnto God l The Lord went vp This is not in the vulgar vntill you come vnto this and he shall iudge Augustine followed the LXX and so did all that age almost in all the churches m As euery man As I finde thee so will I iudge thee The Prophets words vnto Heli the priest signifying the taking
farre beyond our ayme if I should heere stand to referre all the propheâ—… Salomons three true bookes that are in the Hebrew Canon vnto the truth 〈◊〉 Christ and his church Although that that of the Prouerbs in the persons of the wicked Let vs lay waite for the iust without a cause and swallow them vppe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that goe downe into the pit let vs raze his memory from earth and take 〈◊〉 his ritch possession this may easily and in few wordes bee reduced vnto CHRIST and his church for such a saying haue the wicked husbandmen in his euangelicall Parable This is the heire come let vs kill him and take his â—…tance In the same booke likewise that which wee touched at before â—…g of the barren that brought forth seauen cannot bee meant but of 〈◊〉 church of CHRIST and himselfe as those doe easilie apprehend 〈◊〉 snow CHRIST to bee called the wisdome of his father the wordes are Wisdome hath built her an house and hath hewen out her seauen pillers she hâ—…th killed her victualls drawne her owne wine and prepared her table Shee hath sent forth her maidens to crie from the higths saying He that is simple come hether to me and to the weake witted she saith Come and eate of my bread and drink of the wine that I haue drawne Here wee see that Gods wisdome the coeternall Word built him an house of humanity in a Virgins wombe and vnto this head hath annexed the church as the members hath killed the victuailes that is sacrificed the Mattires and prepared the table with bread and wine there is the sacrifice of Melchisedech hath called the simple and the weake witted for GOD saith the Apostle hath chosen the weakenesse of the world to confound the strength by To whom notwithstanding is said as followeth forsake your foolishnesse that yee may liue and seeke wisdome that yee may haue life The participation of that table is the beginning of life for in Eccelasiastes where hee sayth It is good e for man to eate and drinke we cannot vnderstand it better then of the perticipation of that table which our Melchisedechian Priest instituted for vs the New Testament For that sacrifice succeeded all the Old Testament sacrifices that were but shadowes of the future good as we heare our Sauiour speake prophetically in the fortieth psalme saying Sacrifice and offring thou dist not desire but a body hast thou perfited for me for his body is offered and sacrificed now insteed of all other offrings and sacrifices For Ecclesiastes meaneth not of carnall eating and drinking in those wordes that he repeateth so often as that one place sheweth sufficiently saying It is better to goe into the house of mourning then of feasting and by and by after the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of feasting But there is one place in this booke of chiefe note concerning the two Citties and their two Kings Christ and the deuill Woe to the land whose King is a child and whose Princes eate in the morning Blessed art thou O land when thy King is the sonne of Nobles and thy Princes eate in due time for strength and not for drunkennesse Here he calleth the deuill a child for his foolishnesse pride rashnesse petulance and other vices incident to the age of boyish youthes But Christ he calleth the sonne of the Nobles to wit of the Patriarches of that holy and free Citty for from them came his humanity The Princes of the former eate in the morning before their houre expecting not the true time of felicity but wil hurry vnto the worlds delights head-long but they of the Citty of Christ expect their future beatitude with pacience This is for strength for their hopes neuer faile them Hope saith Saint Paul shameth no man All that hope in thee saith the psalme shall not be ashamed Now for the Canticles it is a certaine spirituall and holy delight in the mariage of the King and Queene of this citty that is Christ and the church But this is all in mysticall figures to inflame vs the more to search the truth and to delight the more in finding the appearance of that bridegrome to whom it is sayd there truth hath loued thee and of that bride that receiueth this word loue is in thy delights I ommit many things with silence to draw the worke towards an end L. VIVES HE a beganne well Augustine imitateth Salust In Bello Catil b Workes namely Iosephus affirmeth that he wrote many more viz. fiue thousand bookes of songs and harmonies three thousand of Prouerbs and Parables for hee made a parable of euery plant from the Isope to the Cedar and so did he of the beasts birds and fishes he knew the depth of nature and discoursed of it all God taught him bands exterminations and Amulets against the deuill 〈◊〉 the good of man and cures for those that were bewitched Thus saith Iosephus c Wisdome Some say that Philo Iudaeus who liued in the Apostles time made this booke He was the Apostles friend and so eloquent in the Greeke that it was a prouerbe Philo either Platonized 〈◊〉 Plato Philonized d Ecclesiasticus Written by Iesus the sonne of Syrach in the time of 〈◊〉 Euergetes King of Egipt and of Symon the high priest e For man to eate The Seauenty and vulgar differ a little here but it is of no moment Of the Kings of Israel and Iudah after Salomon CHAP. 21. VVE finde few prophecies of any of the Hebrew Kings after Salomon pertinent vnto Christ or the church either of Iudah or Israel For so were the two parts termed into which the kingdome after Salomons death was diuided for his sinnes and in his sonne Roboams time the ten Tribes that Ieroboam Salomons seruant attained beeing vnder Samaria was called properly Israel although the whole nation went vnder that name the two other Iudah and Beniamin which remained vnder Ierusalem least Dauids stocke should haue vtterly failed were called Iudah of which tribe Dauid was But Beniamin stuck vnto it because Saul who was of that tribe had reigned there the next before Dauid these two as I say were called Iudah and so distinguished from Israell vnder which the other ten tribes remained subiect for the tribe of Leui beeing the Seminary of Gods Priests was freed from both and made the thirteenth tribe Iosephs tribe being diuided into Ephraim and Manasses into two tribes whereas all the other tribes make but single ones a peece But yet the tribe of Leui was most properly vnder Ierusalem because of the temple wherein they serued Vpon this diuision Roboan King of Iudah Salomons sonne reigned in Ierusalem and Hieroboam King of Israel whilom seruant to Salomon in Samaria And whereas Roboaâ—… vould haue made warres vpon them for falling from him the Prophet forbad him from the Lord saying That it was the Lords deed So then that
their hurt and their soules in following their appetites when neede requireth so in flying of death they make it as apparant how much they set by their peace of soule and body But man hauing a reasonable soule subiecteth all his communities with beasts vnto the peace of that to worke so both in his contemplation and action that there may bee a true consonance betweene them both and this wee call the peace of the reasonable soule To this end hee is to avoide molestation by griefe disturbance by desire and dissolution by death and to ayme at profiâ—…e knowledge where vnto his actions may bee conformable But least 〈◊〉 owne infirmity through the much desire to know should draw him into any pestilent inconuenience of error hee must haue a diuine instruction to whose directions and assistance hee is to assent with firme and free obedience And because that during this life Hee is absent from the LORD hee walketh by faith and not by sight and therefore hee referreth all his peace of bodie of soule and of both vnto that peace which mortall man hath with immortall GOD to liue in an orderlie obedience vnder his eternall lawe by faith Now GOD our good Maister teaching vs in the two chiefest precepts the loue of him and the loue of our neighbour to loue three things GOD our neighbour and our selues and seeing he that loueth GOD offendeth not in louing himselfe it followeth that hee ought to counsell his neighbour to loue GOD and to prouide for him in the loue of GOD sure hee is commanded to loue him as his owne selfe So must hee doe for his wife children family and all men besides and wish likewise that his neighbour would doe as much for him in his need thus shall hee bee settled in peace and orderly concord with all the world The order whereof is first a to doe no man hurt and secondly to helpe all that hee can So that his owne haue the first place in his care and those his place and order in humane society affordeth him more conueniency to benefit Wherevpon Saint Paul saith Hee that prouideth not for his owne and namely for them that bee of his houshold denieth the faith and is worse then an Infidell For this is the foundation of domesticall peace which is an orderly rule and subiection in the partes of the familie wherein the prouisors are the Commaunders as the husband ouer his wife parents ouer their children and maisters ouer their seruants and they that are prouided for obey as the wiues doe their husbands children their parents and seruants their maisters But in the family of the faithfull man the heauenly pilgrim there the Commaunders are indeed the seruants of those they seeme to commaund ruling not in ambition but beeing bound by carefull duety not in proud soueraignty but in nourishing pitty L. VIVES FIrst a to doe no Man can more easily doe hurt or forbeare hurt then doe good All men may iniure others or abstaine from it But to doe good is all and some Wherefore holy writ bids vs first abstaine from iniury all we can and then to benefit our christian bretheren when wee can Natures freedome and bondage caused by sinne in which man is a slaue to his owne affects though he be not bondman to any one besides CHAP. 15. THus hath natures order prescribed and man by GOD was thus created Let them rule saith hee ouer the fishes of the sea and the fowles of the ayre end ouer euery thing that creepeth vpon the earth Hee made him reasonable and LORD onely ouer the vnreasonable not ouer man but ouer beastes Wherevpon the first holy men were rather shep-heards then Kings GOD shewing herein what both the order of the creation desired and what the merit of sinne exacted For iustly was the burden of seruitude layd vpon the backe of transgression And therefore in all the scriptures wee neuer reade the word Seruant vntill such time as that iust man Noah a layd it as a curse vpon his offending sonne So that it was guilt and not nature that gaue originall vnto that name b The latine word Seruus had the first deriuation from hence those that were taken in the warres beeing in the hands of the conquerours to massacre or to preserue if they saued them then were they called Serui of Seruo to saue Nor was this effected beyond the desert of sinne For in the iustest warre the sinne vpon one side causeth it and if the victory fall to the wicked as some times it may c it is GODS decree to humble the conquered either reforming their sinnes heerein or punishing them Witnesse that holy man of GOD Daniel who beeing in captiuity confessed vnto his Creator that his sinnes and the sinnes of the people were the reall causes of that captiuity Sinne therefore is the mother of seruitude and first cause of mans subiection to man which notwithstanding commeth not to passe but by the direction of the highest in whome is no iniustice and who alone knoweth best how to proportionate his punnishment vnto mans offences and hee himselfe saith Whosoeuer committeth sinne is the seruant of sinne and therefore many religious Christians are seruants vnto wicked maisters d yet not vnto free-men for that which a man is addicted vnto the same is hee slaue vnto And it is a happier seruitude to serue man then lust for lust to ommit all the other affects practiseth extreame tirany vpon the hearts of those that serue it bee it lust after soueraignty or fleshly lust But in the peacefull orders of states wherein one man is vnder an other as humility doth benefit the seruant so doth pride endamage the superior But take a man as GOD created him at first and so hee is neither slaue to man nor to sinne But penall seruitude had the institution from that law which commaundeth the conseruation and forbiddeth the disturbance of natures order for if that law had not first beene transgressed penall seruitude had neuer beene enioyned Therefore the Apostle warneth seruants to obey their Maisters and to serue them with cheerefulnesse and good will to the end that if they cannot bee made free by their Maisters they make their seruitude a free-dome to themselues by seruing them not in deceiptfull feare but in faithfull loue vntill iniquity be ouerpassed and all mans power and principality disanulled and GOD onely be all in all L. VIVES NOah a layd it Gen. 9. b The latine So saith Florentinus the Ciuilian Institut lib. 4. And they are called Mancipia quoth hee of manu capti to take with the hand or by force This you may reade in Iustinians Pandects lib. 1. The Lacaedemonians obserued it first Plin. lib. 7. c It is Gods decree Whose prouidence often produceth warres against the wills of either party d Yet not vnto free Their Maisters being slaues to their owne passions which are worse maisters then men can be Of the iust law of soueraignty CHAP. 16.
Sueton. g In that age Beeing two and thirty yeares old Saint Pauls doctrine of the resurrection of the dead CHAP. 20. BVt the Apostle saith nothing of the resurrection of the dead in this place mary in another place hee saith thus I would not haue you ignorant bretheren concerning those which sleepe that yee sorrow not euen as those which haue no hope for if wee beleeue that IESVS is dead and is risen againe euen so them which sleepe in IESVS will GOD bring with him For this wee say vnto you by the word of the LORD that wee which liue and are remayning at the comming of the LORD shall not preuent those that sleepe For the LORD himselfe shall descend from heauen with asâ—…te with the voice of the Arch-angell and with the trumpet of GOD and the dead in CHRIST shall arise first then shall we which liue and remaine be caught vp with them also in the cloudes to meete the LORD in the ayre and so shall wee euer bee with the LORD Here the Apostle maketh a plaine demonstration of the future resurrection when CHRIST shall come to sit in iudgement ouer both quick and dead But it is an ordinary question whether those whom CHRIST shall finde aliue at his comming whom the Apostle admitteth himselfe and those with him to be shall euer die at all or goe immediately in a moment vp with the rest to meete CHRIST and so be forth with immortallized It is not impossible for them both to die and liue againe in their very ascention through the ayre For these words And so shall wee euen bee with the LORD are not to bee taken as if wee were to continue in the ayre with him for hee shall not stay in the ayre but goe and come through it We meete him comming but not staying but so shall we euer bee with him that is in immortall bodies where euer our stay bee And in this sence the Apostle seemes to vrge the vnderstanding of this question to bee this that those whom Christ shall finde aliue shall neuer-the-lesse both dye and reuiue where he saith In Christ shall all bee made aliue and vpon this by and by after That which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye How then shall those whom Christ shall finde aliue bee quickned in him by immortality vnlesse they doe first dye if these words of the Apostle bee true If wee say that the sowing is meant onely of those bodyes that are returned to the earth according to the iudgement laide vpon our transgressing fore-fathers Thou art dust and to dust shalt thou returne then wee must confesse that neither that place of Saint Paul nor this of Genesis concernes their bodies whome Christ at his comming shall finde in the body for those are not sowne because they neither goe to the earth nor returne from it how-so-euer they haue a little stay in the ayre or other-wise taste not of any death at all But now the Apostle hath another place of the resurrection a Wee shall all rise againe saith hee or as it is in some copies wee shall all sleepe So then death going alway before resurrection and sleepe in this place implying nothing but death how shall all rise againe or sleepe if so many as Christ shall finde liuing vpon earth shall neither sleepe nor rise againe Now therefore if wee doe but auouch that the Saints whome Christ shall finde in the flesh and who shall meete him in the ayre doe in this rapture leaue their bodies for a while and then take them on againe the doubt is cleared both in the Apostles first words That which thou sowest is not quickned except it dye as also in his later Wee shall all rise againe or wee shall all sleepe for they shall not bee quickned vnto immortalitie vnlesse they first taste of death and consequentlie haue a share in the resurrection by meanes of this their little sleepe And why is it incredible that those bodies should bee sowen and reuiued immortally in the ayre when as wee beleeue the Apostle where hee saith plainely that the resurrection shall bee in the twinckling of an eye and that the dust of the most aged bodye shall in one moment concurre to retaine those members that thence-forth shall neuer perish Nor let vs thinke that that place of Genesis Thou art dust c. concerneth not the Saints for all that their dead bodyes returne not to the earth but are both dead and reuiued whilest they are in the ayre To dust shalt thou returne that is thou shalt by losse of life become that which thou wast ere thou hadst life It was earth in whose face the LORD breathed the breath of life when man became a liuing soule So that it might bee sayd Thou art liuing dust which thou wast not and thou shalt bee â—…lesse dust as thou wast Such are all dead bodyes euen before putrefaction and such shall they bee if they dye where-so-euer they dye beeing voyde of life which not-with-standing they shall immediatly returne vnto So then shall they returne vnto earth in becomming earth of liuing men as that returnes to ashes which is made of ashes that vnto putrifaction which is putrified that into a potte which of earth is made a potte and a thousand other such like instances But how this shall bee wee doe but coniecture now 〈◊〉 shall know till wee see it That b there shall bee a resurrection of the flesh at the comming of Christ to iudge the quicke and the dead all that are christians must confidently beleeue nor is our faith in this point any way friuolous although wee know not how this shal be effected But as I said before so meane I still to proceed in laying downe such places of the Old Testament now as concerne this last iudgement as farre as neede shal be which it shall not bee altogether so necessary to stand much vpon if the reader do but ayde his vnderstanding with that which is passed before L. VIVES WE shall a all rise againe The greeke copies reade this place diuersly Hier. ep ad Numerium for some read it We shall not all sleepe but wee shall all bee changed Eras Annot. Non. Testam et in Apolog. Hence I thinke arose the question whether all should die or those that liued at the iudgement daie bee made immortall without death Petrus Lumbardus Sent. 3. dist 40 shewing the difference herevpon betweene Ambrose and Hierome dares not determine because Augustine leaneth to Ambrose and most of all the greeke fathers to Hierome reading it wee shall not all sleepe And for Ambrose Erasmus sheweth how he stagreth in this assertion Meane while wee doe follow him whom wee explane b There shal be a resurrection This we must stick to it is a part of our faith How it must bee let vs leaue to GOD and yoake our selues in that sweet obedience vnto Christ. It sufficeth for a christian to beleeue this was or that shal be let
miracles that the Pagans ascribe vnto their Idolds are no way comparable to the wonders wrought by our Martyrs But as Moyses ouer-threw the enchanters of Pharao so do our martyrs ouer-throw their deuills who wrought those wonders out of their owne pride onely to gaine the reputation of Gods But our Martyrs or rather GOD him-selfe through their prayers wrought vnto another end onely to confirme that faith which excludeth multitude of Gods and beleeueth but in one The Pagans built Temples to those Deuills ordeining Priests and sacrifices for them as for Gods But we build our martyrs no temples but onely erect them monuments as in memory of men departed whose spirits are at rest in God Wee erect no altars to sacrifice to them we offer onely to him who is both their God and ours at which offring those conquerors of the world as men of God haue each one his peculiar commemoration but no inuocation at all For the sacrifice is offred vnto Cod though it be in memory of them and he that offreth it is a Priest of the Lord and not of theirs and the offring is the body of the Lord which is not offred vnto them because they are that body them-selues Whose miracles shall wee then beleeue Theirs that would be accompted for Gods by those to whom they shew them or theirs which tend all to confirme our beleefe in one GOD which is CHRIST Those that would haue their filthiest acts held sacred or those that will not haue their very vertues held sacred in respect of their owne glories but referred vnto his glory who hath imparted such goodnesse vnto them Let vs beleeue them that doe both worke miracles and teach the truth for this latter gaue them power to performe the former A chiefe point of which truth is this CHRIST rose againe in the flesh and shewed the immortality of the resurrection in his owne body which hee promised vnto vs in the end of this world or in the beginning of the next Against the Platonists that oppose the eleuation of the body vp to heauen by arguments of elementary ponderosity CHAP. 11. AGainst this promise do many whose thoughts God knoweth to be vaine make oppositiō out of the nature of elements Plato their Mr. teaching them that the two most contrary bodies of the world are combined by other two meanes that is by ayre and water Therefore say they earth being lowest water next then ayre and then the heauen earth cannot possibly bee contained in heauen euery element hauing his peculiar poise and tending naturally to his proper place See with what vaine weake and weightlesse arguments mans infirmity opposeth Gods omnipotency Why then are there so many earthly bodies in the ayre ayre being the third element from earth Cannot he that gaue birds that are earthly bodyes fethers of power to sustaine them in the ayre giue the like power to glorified and immortall bodies to possesse the heauen Againe if this reason of theirs were true all that cannot flie should liue vnder the earth as fishes doe in the water Why then doe not the earthly creatures liue in the water which is the next element vnto earth but in the ayre which is the third And seeing they belong to the earth why doth the next element aboue the earth presently choake them and drowne them and the third feed and nourish them Are the elements out of order here now or are their arguments out of reason I will not stand heere to make a rehearsall of what I spake in the thirteene booke of many terrene substances of great weight as Lead Iron c. which not-with-standing may haue such a forme giuen it that it will swimme and support it selfe vpon the water And cannot God almighty giue the body of man such a forme like-wise that it may ascend and support it selfe in heauen Let them stick to their method of elements which is all their trust yet can they not tell what to say to my former assertion For earth is the lowest element and then water and ayre successiuely and heauen the fourth and highest but the soule is a fifth essence aboue them all Aristotle calleth it a fifth a body and Plato saith it is vtterly incorporeall If it were the fift in order then were it aboue the rest but being incorporeall it is much more aboue all substances corporeall What doth it then in a lumpe of earth it being the most subtile and this the most grosse essence It being the most actiue and this the most vnweeldy Cannot the excellencie of it haue power to lift vp this Hath the nature of the body power to draw downe a soule from heauen and shall not the soule haue power to carry the body thether whence it came it selfe And now if we should examine the miracles which they parallell with those of our martyrs wee should finde proofes against themselues out of their owne relations One of their greatest ones is that which Varro reports of a vestall votaresse who being suspected of whoredome filled a Siue with the water of Tiber and carried it vnto her Iudges with-out spilling a drop Who was it that kept the water in the siue so that not one droppe passed through those thousand holes Some God or some Diuell they must needs say Well if hee were a God is hee greater then hee that made the world if then an inferiour God Angell or Deuill had this power to dispose thus of an heauie element that the very nature of it seemed altered cannot then the Almighty maker of the whole world take away the ponderosity of earth and giue the quickned body an hability to dwell in the same place that the quickning spirit shall elect And where-as they place the ayre betweene the fire aboue and the water beneath how commeth it that wee often-times finde it betweene water and water or betweene water and earth for what will they make of those watry clowds betweene which and the sea the ayre hath an ordinary passage What order of the elements doth appoint that those flouds of raine that fall vpon the earth below the ayre should first hang in the clowds aboue the ayre And why is ayre in the midst betweene the heauen and the earth if it were as they say to haue the place betweene the heauens and the waters as water is betweene it and the earth And lastly if the elements bee so disposed as that the two meanes ayre and water doe combine the two extreames fire and earth heauen being in the highest place and earth in the lowest as the worlds foundation and therefore say they impossible to bee in heauen what doe wee then with fire here vpon earth for if this order of theirs bee kept inuiolate then as earth cannot haue any place in fire no more should fire haue any in earth as that which is lowest cannot haue residence aloft no more should that which is aloft haue residence below But we see this order renuersed We haue fire
man and to kill one another to make meate of yea euen the mother to massacre and deuowre her owne child Nay is not our very d sleepe which wee tearme rest some-times so fraught with disquiet that it disturbes the soule and all her powers at once by obiecting such horred terrours to the phantasie and with such an expression that shee cannot discerne them from true terrours This is ordinary in some diseases besides that the deceiptfull fiends some-times will so delude the eye of a sound man with such apparitions that although they make no fâ—…rther impression into him yet they perswade the sence that they are truely so as they seeme and the deuills desire is euer to deceiue From all these miserable engagements representing a kinde of direct hell wee are not freed but by the grace of IESVS CHRIST For this is his name IESVS IS A SAVIOVR and he it is that will saue vs from a worse life or rather a perpetuall death after this life for although wee haue many and great comforts by the Saints in this life yet the benefits hereof are not giuen at euery ones request least wee should apply our faith vnto those transitory respects whereas it rather concerneth the purchase of a life which shal be absolutely free from all inconuenience And the more faithfull that one is in this life the greater confirmation hath hee from grace to endure those miseries without faynting where-vnto the Paynin authors referre their true Philosophy which their Gods e as Tully saith reuealed vnto some few of them f There was neuer saith hee nor could there bee a greater guift giuen vnto man then this Thus our aduersaries are faine to confesse that true Philosophy is a diuine gift which beeing as they confesse the onely helpe against our humane miseries and comming from aboue hence then it appeareth that all mankinde was condemned to suffer miseries But as they confesse that this helpe was the greatest guift that GOD euer gaue so doe wee avow and beleeue that it was giuen by no other God but he to whom euen the worshippers of many gods giue the preheminence L. VIVES MIght a hee bee left There was neuer wild beast more vnruely then man would bee if education and discipline did not represse him hee would make all his reason serue to compasse his apperites and become as brutish and fond as the very brutest beast of all b One comming Of such accidents as this read Pliny lib. 7. cap. 4. and Valer. Max. lib. 9. c Diseases As the poxe call them French Neapolitane Spanish or what you will they are indeed Indian and came from thence hether Childeren are borne with them in the Spanish Indies or the pestilent sweate that killeth so quickly the ancient writers neuer mention these Such another strange disease a Nobleman lay sicke of at Bruges when I was there the Emperor Charles beeing as then in the towne Iohn Martin Poblatio told mee that hee had neuer read of the like and yet I will auouch his theory in phisicke so exact that either the ancient phisitions neuer wrote of it or if they did their bookes are lost and perished d Sleepe So Dido complayneth to her sister of her frightfull dreames Uirg Aeneid e As Tully saith But where I cannot finde vnlesse it bee in his 5. de finibus f There was neuer The words of Plato in his Timaeus translated by Tully towards the end of the dialogue Tullyâ—…ath â—…ath it also in his fifth de Legib. Of accidents seuered from the common estate of man and peculiar onely to the iust and righteous CHAP. 23. BEsides those calamities that lie generally vpon all the righteous haue a peculiar labour to resist vice and be continually in combat with dangerous temptations The flesh is some-times furious some-times remisse but alwaies rebellious against the spirit and the spirit hath the same sorts of conflict against the flesh so that wee cannot doe as wee would or expell all concupiscence but wee striue by the helpe of GOD to suppresse it by not consenting and to curbe it as well as we can by a continuall vigilance least we should bee deceiued by likelyhoods or suttleties or involued in errors least wee should take good for euill and euill for good least feare should hold vs from what wee should doe and desire entice to vs do what we should not least the sunne should set vpon our anger least enmity should make vs returne mischiefe for mischiefe least ingratitude should make vs forget our benefactors least euill reports should molest our good conscience least our rash suspect of others should deceiue vs or others false suspect of vs deiect vs least sinne should bring our bodies to obey it least our members should bee giuen vppe as weapons to sinne least our eye should follow our appetite least desire of reuenge should drawe vs to inconuenience least our sight or our thought should stay too long vpon a sinfull delight least we should giue willing eare to euill and vndecent talke least our lust should become our law and least that wee our selues in this dangerous conflict should either hope to winne the victory by our owne strength or hauing gotten it should giue the glory to our selues and not to his grace of whom Saint Paul saith Thankes bee vnto GOD who hath giuen vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ and else-where In all these things we are more then conqueror through him that loued vs. But yet wee are to know this that stand wee neuer so strong against sinne or subdue it neuer so much yet as long as wee are mortall wee haue cause euery day to say Forgiue vs our trespasses But when wee ascend into that Kingdome where immortality dwelleth wee shall neither haue warres wherein to fight nor trespasses to pray for nor had not had any heere below if our natures had kept the guifts of their first creation And therefore these conflicts wherein wee are endangered and whence we desire by a finall victory freedome are part of those miseries where-with the life of man is continually molested Of the goods that GOD hath bestowed vpon this miserable life of ours CHAP. 24. NOw let vs see what goods the Great Creator hath bestowed in his mercy vpon this life of ours made miserable by his iustice The first was that blessing before our Parents fall Increase and multiply fill the earth c. And this hee reuoked not for all that they sinned but left the guift of fruitfulnesse to their condemned off-spring nor could their crime abolish that power of the seede-producing seed inherent and as it were wouen vppe in the bodies of man and woman vnto which neuerthelesse death was annexed so that in one and the same current as it were of man-kinde ranne both the euill merited by the parent and the good bestowed by the creator In which originall euill lieth sinne and punishment and in which originall good lieth propagation and conformation or information But of those euills
many creatures that we haue in abundance in the continent but were faine to be transported thether 〈◊〉 the like we vse in transportation of plants and seeds from nation to nation Whether Adams or Noahs sonnes begot any monstrous kinds of men CHAP. 8. IT is further demanded whether Noahs sons or rather Adams of whom all man kinde came begot any of those a monstrous men that are mentioned in prophaine histories as some that haue b but one eye in their mid fore-head some with their heeles where their toes should be some with both sexesin one their right pap a mans the left a womans both begetting and bearing children in one body some without mouths liuing only by ayre and smelling some but a cubite high called c pigmies of the greeke word some where the women beare children at the fift yeare of their age some that haue but one leg and bend it not and yet are of wonderfull swiftnesse beeing called d Sciopodae because they sleepe vnder the shade of this their foote some neck-lesse with the face of a man in their breasts and such other as are wrought in e checker-worke in the Seastreete at Carthage beeing taken out of their most curious and exact histories What shall I speake of the f Cynocephali that had dogs heads and barked like dogs Indeed we need not beleeue all the monstrous reports that runne concerning this point But whatsoeuer hee bee that is Man that is a mortall reasonable creature bee his forme voice or what euer neuer so different from an ordinary mans no faithfull person ought to doubt that hee is of Adams progeny yet is the power of nature shewre and strangely shewne in such but the same reasons that wee can giue for this or that vnordinary shaped-birth amongst vs the same may be giuen for those monstrous nations for GOD made all and when or how hee would forme this or that hee knowes best hauing the perfit skill how to beautifie this vniuerse by opposition and diuersity of parts But hee that cannot contemplate the beauty of their whole stumbles at the deformity of the part not knowing the congruence that it hath with the whole We see many that haue aboue fiue fingers or toes and this farther from that then the other is in proportion yet God forbid that any one should bee so besotted as to thinke the maker erred in this mans fabrike though wee know not why hee made him thus Be the diuersity neuer so great he knowes what hee doth and none must reprehend him g At Hippon we had one borne with feet like halfe moones and hands likewise with two fingers onely and two toes If there were a nation such now h curious history would ring off it as of a wonder But must wee therefore say that this creature came not from Adam an age can seldome be without an i Hermophradite though they be not ordinary persons I meane that are so perfit in both sexes that we know not what to terme them man or woman though custome hath giuen the preheminence to the k chiefe and call them still men For none speake of them in the female sense In our time some few yeares agoe was one borne that was two from the middle vp-wardes and but one downe-ward This was in the l East hee had two heads two breasts foure hands one belly and two feete and liued so longe that a multitude of men were eie witnesse of this shape of his But who can recken all the birthes extraordinary Wherefore as wee may not say but those are really descended from the first man so what Nations soeuer haue shapes different from that which is in most men and seeme m to be exorbitant from the common forme if they bee n defineable to bee reasonable creatures and mortall they must bee acknowledged for Adams issue if it bee true that their bee such diuersity of shapes in whole Nations varying so fâ—…te from ours For if we knew not that Apes o Monkeyes and p Babiounes were not men but beasts those braue and curious historiographers would belie them confidently to bee nations and generations of men But if they bee men of whome they write those wonders what if GODS pleasure was to shew vs in the creating of whole nations of such monsters that his wisdome did not like an vnperfit caruer faile in the framing of such shapes but purposely formed them in this fashion It is no absurdity therefore to beleeue that there may bee such nations of monstrous men as well as wee see our times are often witnesses of monstrous births here amongst our selues Wherefore to close this question vppe with a sure locke either the stories of such monsters are plaine lies or if there be such they are either no men or if they be men they are the progeny of Adam L. VIVES MOnstrous a men Pliny lib. 7. b One eye Such they say are in India c Pygmees I do not beleeue that the Pigmâ—…es were but in one place or that the writers concerning them differ so as they seeme Pliny lib 4. saith they were in Thrace neare the towne Gerrania and called Catizi and that the Cranes beate them away For there are great store of Cranes there wherevpon they are called the Strimonian of Strymon a riuer in Thrace And Gerrania is drawne from the greeke for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Crane The same author reherseth their opinion that said Pygmees dwelt by Endon a riuer in Caria Lib. 5. And lib 6. hee followeth others and placeth them in India amongst the Prasian hilles as Philostratus doth also Some there bee as Pline saith there that say they are aboue the marishes of Nilus one of those is Aristotle who saith they liue in Ethiopia amongst the Troglodytes in caues and therefore are called Troglodyta and that their stature and crane-battells are â—…ables Of these Homer sung placing them in the South where the Cranes liue in winter as they doe in Thrace in summer going and comming with the seasons Mela puts the Pygmees into the in-most Arabia little wretches they are saith hee and fight for their corne against the Cranes Some hold their are no such creatures Arist. Pliny 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greeke is a cubite and 〈◊〉 saith Eustathius Homers interpretor they had their name This cubite is halfe a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is foure and twenty fingers by their measure For a foote is twelue inshes that is 〈◊〉 fingers and foure hand-breadths But an hand-bredth is diuers there is the 〈◊〉 oâ—… 〈◊〉 wee doe meane beeing three inshes the quarter of the foote and there is the greater 〈◊〉 twelue fingers called a spanne beeing three partes of the foote that is nine fingers There are saith Pliny lib. 7. vpon those mountaines the Span-men as they say or the Pigmeeâ—… beeing not aboue three spannes that is two foote ¼ high So saith Gellius also that their highest stature is but two foote ¼ lib. 9. Pliny and Gellius doe