them somewhat and sum while that they cannot plainely be seene of many Howbeit they do not altogither obscure or wholy take awaie y appearing of those the vertues of God which he hath imprinted in his woorkes And moreouer forasmuch as these confusions as you terme them are the effectes of his iust iudgement if wee so consider of them as wee ought surely they shall the more set foorth the power and wisedome of God and not obscure it The xxxii Chapter What knowledge of God may bee had by the beeholdinge of this worlde S. BUT that knowledge of God which maye bee hadde by beeholding the worlde and the visible creatures is it sufficient of it selfe to get the perfect vnderstanding of him or rather doeth it conteine and deliuer vnto vs certeine principles thereof which wee must more perfectly and at full afterward seeke and learne by some other meanes to wit out of the woorde of God which is written and reuealed vnto vs For by the framinge and creation of the world wee cannot knowe that Christ is our Sauiour and mediatour vnto God for vs. M. You saye well For Sainct Paule aunswereth in the Epistle to the Romanes the 1. chapter and 20. verse that although the knowledge which is had by the worlde bee trewe yet is it not fully sufficient that thereby wee may vnderstande anye thing concerning our saluation through Christ but that it is in this respecte profitable that therby wee are made vnaccusable For it teacheth vs that God is our Creatour but it is not able to enfourme vs y he is also our redeemer thorow Christe For wee are not able to atteine to that knowledge without the preachinge of the Gospell Wherefore wee must not begin with that knowledge of God whereby wee vnderstande that hee is our sauiour but rather that hee is our creatour whereat wee must indeede beeginne and consequently proceed vnto better and higher things For the Heathen people Philosophers who chiefly folowed this knowledge of Naturall thinges neyther perceiued they the reason of mans saluation which is in Christ onely neither were thei theÌ„selues saued bicause they lacked faith It profiteth notwithstanding and it mutch profiteth too that wee seeke the true God that hath created all these thinges and when wee haue founde hym that wee woorship hym and praye vnto hym as farre as hee shall giue vs grace so to doe This much at the leastwise hee wringeth from vs whether wee will or no that he ought both to bee sought and worshipped who hath first created and now gouerneth al this world Wherfore if we neither seeke him neither woorship hym hee maketh vs vnexcusable S. But there bee many that either haue not seene at all that way of finding out God or when they were entred haue not perceiued that glorie of God whereof you spake or else by how muche the more they haue profited in the knowledge of this world and naturall thinges so muche the more securely and boldly haue they dispised God like as in times past did the Epicurian Philosophers and at this day also to many doe M. These are the greate imperfections and vices of men whiche you speake of and a sharpe accusation of the wonderfull frowardnes of mans nature not the woorkmans fault or want of the light of Gods glorie whiche shineth most brightly in his woorkes For that light shineth clearely enough in this world and in sutch sorte as it cannot bee put out and also is easily seene whoso will lift vp his eyes vnto it and looke vpon it For God hath engrauen in the world greate and wonderfull tokens of his goodnes power and wisedome hee layeth also beefore our eyes most manifest testimonies and documentes that may bee vnderstoode yea by the most ignorant persons Whiche whoso doeth not see let hym accuse hym selfe or his owne sluggishnes and not the hardnes of the booke which God hath sayd before our eyes or the difficultie of the style thereof or the dimnesse of the looking-glasse whiche indeede wee haue a most bright one in the contemplation of this worlde For the 19. Psalme doth sufficiently remooue this slaunder from God and his woorkmanship saiyng that hee hath founded his trueth in the heauens Psalme 89. and 3. verse Who hath distinguished and depainted with liuely colours the other argumentes and tokens of his praise in them as it were by a certein ingrauyng Therefore in that men of olde times haue not seene so manifest signes of God neither see at this day neither doe profit by them towardes the atteining of the knowledge of God it commeth by meanes of their owne fault who by reason of their sinne haue lost the true light of their myndes whiche if it had continued in the firste state of it owne creation truely then should they haue seen these signes not obscurely and fayntly but acknowledged them plainly and perfectly and confessed them too bee great and wonderfull S. How then commeth it to passe that if this world bee the lookinglasse of so great vertues in God and that so bright and so cleare why in another place is man and why also is Christ called the image of God wherin hee setteth himself downe beefore vs to bee seen and knowne It is in vaine that you tell vs of another lookinglasse if this world bee so faire an one as you make it Câ—lâ—sâ— the 1. chapter and 15. verse M. If wee saye that one thing may haue many images and that in sundrie respectes wee shall not graunt any absurditie So that although these three bee called looking glasses wherin God representeth himfelf yet thei be so called in diuerse respects with a large difference The worlde is not called the image of God which notwithstanding is verified of man Christe for the world is onely the looking glasse of Gods vertues as it is their subiect that is to say that wherein they do expresse and shew themselues by sundry meanes and effectes And man is the image of God and not onely the lookinge glasse of his power but also of his nature after a manner for man of all other creatures of the worlde commeth neerest to the nature of God and caried the very fourme of him in the light of his minde and the vprightnes of his will which was in him at his first creation But Christ who is God manifested in the fleshe who was without sinne in whome the Godhead remained who in his whole life and by al meanes shewed foorth the nature similitude fygure of God through his great power wisedome and clemencie is in a farre more excellent respect the image of God than was the first man althoughe hee were sounde and perfect Wherefore the world hath no such similitude and likelinesse with Christ who is vnto vs not onely the ymage and as it were the shadow of the goodnesse Wisedome and Power of God but also the most bright and selfesame representation of the fathers substance Hebrues the 1. chapter and 3. verse And therefore
THE WONDERFVLL VVOORKMANSHIP OF THE WORLD wherin is conteined an excellent discourse of Christian naturall Philosophie concernyng the fourme knowledge and vse of all thinges created specially gathered out of the Fountaines of holy Scripture by Lambertus Danaeus and now Englished by T. T. ⧠Imprinted at London for Andrew Maunsell in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Parret 1578. To the right honorable Syr Francis walsingham Knight one of the principall Secretaries to the Queenes Maiestie and of her most honourable priuie Counsell I Haue bin desirous Right honorable and that of long tyme vvith many other to vvhom your most godly disposition hath bin often reported not only to congratulate but also to honor the same vvith some poore testimonie of myne vnfeined good vvill And novv occasion sumdeale fauourably grauntyng vnto my request hope hath also pricked mee forevvarde to myne attempt that no studie or traueill vvherby the true knovvledge feare of God is to bee learned can come vnvvelcome or seeme dishonorable vnto your honour If noneother examples yet the vndoubted vvord of life vvorthily Englished and set foorth vnder your Right Honorable protection doth sufficiently prooue beesides your most feruent zeale in embracing true Religion and aduauncing the syncere vvorshipping of Almightie God by meanes vvhereof your fame is spread far among forreine nations Thus am I not discouraged but rather hartened semblably vvith duetie to offer this my simple trauell vnto your honour beeing the vvoorthy vvoorke of the learned Diuine M. Lambert Danaeus of Geneua concerning Christian Naturall Philosophie the vvonderfull vvoorkemanship of this vvorld A vvoorke doubtlesse of great auaill to the knovvledge of God in his creatures A vvorke of vvonderfull efficacie to set foorth the honour and glorie of God the Creator A vvoorke of merueilous force to stirre vp mens mindes to the contemplation of true knovvledge and learning vvhiche is gathered out of the holy Scriptures only A vvoork of rare effect to declare the prayse of God the vvoorkman and to establishe assured fayth and true religion To bee short a vvoorke so farre surpassing all other vvoorkes of like argument vvriten either by Christian or Heathen Philosophers as the proofes and auctorities vsed by them both bee differing the one beeyng founded vppon the assured ground of Gods vvoord and holy Scriptures the other established vpon the fickle foundation of mans reason iudgement This vvoorke therefore Right Honorable so profitable so pleasant so necessarie so full of varietie of Godly matter so substancially grounded by vvarrant of Scriptures so surely confirmed by auctoritie of Doctours and Fathers in most humble and duetifull maner I present vnto your honor Hoping that as in the Latine it hath bin generally liked of the learned so likevvise you vvill not mislike that it novv go abroad in the Englishe tōgue vnder the protection of your Right Honorable name by him vvho resteth your honours most hūble at cōmaundement Thomas Twyne To the right honourable the Lord Friderike of Nachod Lorde of Danouiz and of Beske c. his verie good Lorde and Patrone AVncient and noble is the question concernyng the originall of the worlde and firste beeginning of all things Right honorable Baron which hath not only long tyme and much troubled the wittes of the Philosophers but also of Christians in the end by reason of the diuerse iudgements of men hath rested so doubtfull that many graue writers coulde not tell what to determine therin For amōg the Christiās Origen in his bookes of the beginnings which bookes aboue the residue most men do iudge to bee his woorthy woork and they which after him wrote the Examera are so diuided in opinions that nothing may seeme certeinly to bee gathered out of their writinges But among the Philosophers men ignorant of God and his trueth there is farre more diuersitie of opinions so that concernyng this matter a man may better gheasse than vnderstand by their doctrine what hee hath to follow Now touchyng these Philosophers perhaps there is no such cause to wonder at their blindnes in so great a matter and that thei were so deepely drowned in darknes forasmuch as they were destitute of Gods woord that is to say the true light of knowledge But among Christians suche disoorde and disagreement cannot with like vprightnes bee excused for that there is but one way of the trueth wherof they might haue found most assured groundes in the woord of God if they had had regard therto What was thā the cause of so greate disagreement among the Christians concernyng this matter Forsooth it was the Heathen Philosophie with the preceptes wherof they were not onely then instructed and infected but many also of them beeing stuffed bee witched and deceiued therwith in respect that they ascribed mostvnto this art would graunt and admit nothyng whiche they supposed to bee repugnant to the principles thereof And this mischeif did not onely continue in the tyme of our forefathers and the firste age of the Churche whiche many hauing learned in the schooles of the Philosophers euen in their tender yeeres and afterward beeing conuerted to the faith of Christ could not easily lay doune and chaunge those opinions whiche they had receiued beefore and of long tyme most studiously embraced Yea now since the name of the Philosophers is extinguished it cannot bee plucked out of the minds of many that would bee called Christians so deepely forsooth the admiration and reuerence of this Heathen Philosophie is imprinted within the mindes of some men and of so great a force it is as the Prouerbe fayeth in tender youth and as it were with the Mothers milke to accustome a mans self vnto errour as it were vnto the preceptes of trueth And therefore I doe not doubt but that this my woorke concerning Christian Naturall Philosophie that is to say how to refourme the opiniōs of the Philosophers by the woord of God shal bee reprooued of many and therfore hath need of some noble and great personage that is welbecloued among all estastes to bee patrone vnto it by whose auctoritie beeing defended and fauour cōmended it may safely and acceptably come abroade into mens hands to bee read You only right honorable are hee vnto whose name therefore I dedicate the same how far soeuer I bee disioyned from you by distance of place And as for your honour there wanteth nothyng in you that may suffice to discomfite the force of all enemies if so bee that you can well like of this woork and doe accept it vnto your protection For if it might please you to oppose that same your moste singulare and true Christian godlines of minde against the old and stubburne crue of heathen men concerning this part of Philosophie in respect that you do syncerely and purely woorshippe God by direction of his vndoubted woord weighyng and examinyng euery thing accordyng to that as a most certeine rule there is no man that doubteth but that there is more credite to be giuen vnto your
the worlde so that it is no maruaile that wee haue iudged that the true and Christian Diuinitie is partly busied also in matter of Naturall Philosophie and the settinge foorth thereof and that for that cause also the holie Scripture is in part occupied in settinge foorth of these things forasmuch as this knowledge also maketh to the aduauncement of gods glory For in these visible thinges the power wisdome and eternitie of God is to bee seene liuely S. What is the other argument of theirs that are of the contrarie opinion M. This forsooth that those thynges which Moses hath written are most plainely and simply set downe and in such kinde of stile which is fitted to our capacitie and applied to the weakenesse of mans sence and not truely and exactly expressed according to the truth of thinges and finally that Moses doeth neither throughly neither subtily search out or set downe the thinges themselues and their natures wherefore they conclude that the true distinct and perfect knowledge of the naturall part is other whence to bee drawne and learned S. What answere you vnto these thinges M. Uerily I confesse that these matters concerning Naturall Philosophie are not gloriously in a filed style set foorth by Moses although hee were the beste learned man that euer lyued but rather in a bare and simple kinde of writinge striped out of all ornament as it were out of apparrell wherby that which hee writeth may the more easily bee vnderstood But as it is to bee graunted that hee spake simply so can it not bee prooued that hee spake or wrote lyingly falsely and ignorantly of those thinges It is one thing therfore to acknowledg that Moses stile is bare simple which kinde of vtterauÌ„ce is meet for the truth and another thing to say that hee is a false man and a lyar which no man can affirme but whoso is of a corrupt conscience Wherfore simply but truely barely but rightly commonly but purely doth hee deliuer vnto vs those thinges which hee writeth concerning the worlde of the principall partes therof of the causes and effectes of thinges to bee beleeued holden and taughte among menne Uerily I confesse that Moses applyed himselfe to the capacitie of our seÌ„ses Howbeit I deney that which they affirme that therfore hee did not roue at the trueth of the matter or had not regarde vnto it for it was his purpose to set downe those things in wrâ—tinge easily barely and truely S. But some are of opinion that all those things which hee wrote in the first chapter of Genesis are to bee interpreted allegorically So neither do they think that those six dayes are the space of time neither that the woman in deede was made of Adams ribbe neither that all the residue are so to bee taken as Moses words doe pretende and sownde Which opinion if it be true what shall bee sure or certeine in all that whole chapter and such like writinges of other Prophetes as apperteining to the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie or that maye teache vs the same M. You saye well Indeede some haue benne of that opinion which notwithstanding S. Augustine confuteth in his 1. booke in the Proheme also in the 8. booke and 2. chapter de Genesiad Literam of Genesis vpon the letter S. Peter likewyse in the 3. chapter and 5. verse of hys seconde Epistle and in the epistle to the Hebrues the 11. chapter and 3. verse doth openly impungne this errour of the Allegorists affirminge that those things which Moses hath reported concerning the creation of the worlde are spoken naturally and plainly and not allegorically or figuratiuely S. And what at the length doe you conclude of all these thinges which you haue recited M. That forsooth which S. Augustine concludeth in hys 5. booke and 8. chapter of Genesis That those things which Moses wrot are true although they can be established by no other reasons For if a man will dispute to proue that these thinges are false or hee himselfe can say no certentie concerning the estate and gouerment of creatures or if hee saye not true will hee suppose these thinges to bee false in that hee himselfe vnderstandeth them not Who will beleeue that Aristotle or Plato did knowe any thinge concerninge the creation of the worlde and the causes of thinges whereof Moses was ignorant who first receiued the thinges which he wrote by most secret reuelation from god Secondly who was wel learned in all liberall artes specially in the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie and Phisick which two artes were at that tyme specially had in price amonge the Aegyptians as it appeareth in the Scripture Actes the 7. chap. and 22. verse And to conclude forasmuch as those that were the chiefest Philosophers amonge the Grecians traueyled into Aegypt to the intent to learne Naturall Philosophie as histories doe rport of Plato and Pithageras And most certeine it is as Diogenes Laertius writeth in hys first booke de vitis Philosophorum of the lyues of the Philosophers that all that parte of Philosophie whiche intreateth of the nature of thinges was deriued to the Grecians froÌ„ strange nations and from the Syrians that is to saie from the Jewes Shal we say theÌ„ against the assured faith of the scripture that any one of the cheifest Philosophers to wit Plato or Aristotle whiche were heathen men were called by GOD to counsell when hee went to framinge and creatinge of the worlde that they shoulde knowe more than Moses the seruaunt of GOD whom God himselfe taught and shewed vnto him such things as hee should commit to writinge to the behoofe of Posteritie and especially for the instruction of his moste deerely beeloued Church Surely this cannot bee thaught muchlesse spoken without notorious blasphemie against God himselfe But rather as S. Augustine teacheth in his 5. booke and third Chapter de Genesiad Literam of Genesis vpoÌ„ the letter that in that Moses speaketh so plainly hee doth it by the assured counsell and iudgemente of the holy Ghost to the intent that by the hight of the thynges hee maye terrifie the proude by the deapth hee may hold them attentiue by the trueth hee may feede the great ones and by hys affabilitie hee maye nourishe the little ones The fourth Chapter The difference beetween Christian and heathen Naturall Philosophie S. WHat differeÌ„ce therfore is ther betwen Moses Aristotle y is to say betweene ChristiaÌ„ and Heathen Natural Philosophers in thys kinde of learninge M. Uery great which notwithstanding maye bee especially perceiued in three poyntes S. Which bee they M. The firste is in the ende of this knowledge whiche thei bothe doe respecte and followe S. Declare thesame M. The Christian Naturall Philosophers whiche intreate of the thinges that are created dooe referre the summe of their disputatioÌ„ to this ende that our greate and good God who is the auctour Father and creatour of them all maie bee knowne praised and extolled and finally woorshipped the more ardently and more feared But
Aristotle and the Heathen Naturall Philosophers doe so dispute of the nature of thinges that thei maie wholy sticke vnto these thinges themselues as it were vnto certein lowe and meane degrees and an vncertein force whiche is respected after their Creation and whiche thei terme Nature thei dooe not arise higher neither doe thei ascende by meanes of these as it were by a Ladder vnto GOD the Creatour of them Wherefore through greate blindenesse of minde thei doe place seconde and onely instrumentall causes in steede of true and first causes And as touchyng the principall causes whiche are God and his Commaundementes and preceptes thei altogither let them passe Wherefore thei make the cause of the thyng of that whiche thei call the thyng it self whereby it cummeth to passe that this moste excellent knowledge among them is full of vaine ostentation of the minde of strife and of contention as for the glorie of God it neither setteth it forth neither once toucheth it so that verie many of those Natural Philosophers dooe at the length beecome indeede verie naturalles that is too saie fleshely men and Athiestes not knowyng or regardyng God. S. But the Italian Philosophers whiche haue handled matters of naturall Philosophie were called also Diuines suche as were all the Pithagorians for the moste parte who made mention of God the creatour Anaxagoras beegan his disputation concernyng the nature of thynges from a mynde that disposeth all thynges That golden Booke de Mundo of the worlde whiche whether it bee Aristotles whiche I dooe not thinke or Nicholaus the Philosophers who liued beefore Plutarche or Alexander Aphrodisiensis of later tyme or whosoeuer others it was surely hee ioyned a treatice concerning God togither with his discourse of naturall thinges M. You safe very well For this was an aunciēt custome among the firste Philosophers whiche wrote also of Naturall Philosophie in the Greeke tongue as hauyng learned the same of the Aegyptians or rather of the Syrians as Laertius saieth that is to saie the Hebrewes or of their Scholars but the Philosophers whiche afterwarde ensued how muche thei despised and laughed at this kinde and maner of handelyng matters apperteinyng to Naturall Philosophie and how farre thei haue expelled it out of the Schooles of Naturall Philosophers you are not ignorant Aristotles crue at this present beareth the greatest swaie and thei that would haue themselues moste truely too bee termed by the name of naturall Philosophers neither doe thei themselues in their disputations of Naturall Philosophie intreate of GOD the Creatour neither thinke that hee ought too bee intreated of So that now the Naturall Philosophie of the Stoike Philosophers hath gotten the vpper hande in the Schooles and the Italians is reiected whiche Stoike Philosophers haue ascribed the chief and principall causes of engendryng of all thinges vnto Nature whiche is to bee founde in euery thing and too thinges created as vnto Heauen the Sunne and the Elementes S. What other difference is there beetween Christiā naturall Philosophers and Aristotelians M. In declaryng the causes themselues whose knoweledge and handlyng dooeth muche beelong vnto Naturall Philosophie S. By what meanes M. Firste the Christian Philosophers doe both alledge suche causes as are true and also far other than thei do For who will doubt but that thei alledge suche as bee true since thei receiue them and learne them out of the fountaine of Truthe that is to saie the woorde of God And that thei make farre other causes the disputations and discourses of them bothe doe sufficiently declare For wee professe teache and acknowledge that God himselfe is the first and efficient cause of al thinges moreouer wee haue a speciall respecte vnto his voyce and commaundement as a moste mightie cause whereby a certaine peculiare force is giuen vnto euery thinge which is the cheifest and moste principall cause of all other that wee can possibly thinke of or imagine in our minde Thirdely wee make for one cause that force and vertue whiche GOD hath alotted and ingraffed in all things howbeit the same to bee onely a seconde and an instrumental cause and not woorking of it selfe as Esay teacheth in the 44. chapter the 3. and 4. verse not principally but depending wholy vpon another to wit y power cōmaundemēt of GOD without which God woorketh the same effectes when him pleaseth which hee is wont to do by meanes thereof So when a Hen sitteth vppon egges out of which afterwarde chicken are hatched what is she other than Gods bare instrument forasmuch as shee frameth neither the harte nor heade nor feete of hir chick within the shell wherein it is conteined but onely keepeth it and warmeth it So when a woman is with childe doeth shee fashion hir babe with hir owne handes whiche afterwarde shee bringeth foorth into the world No surely but is onely as it were the receiuer nourisher and keeper of the seede which the man casteth foorth into hir For God and the power and sownd of these woordes Increase yee and multiplye and fill the earth which as yet are in perpetuall force doe frame the infant within the woman facion it and bringe it foorth The Philosophers doe not acknowledge this cause For they holde opinion that this force and vertue which was giuen vnto things after that they were created is the first cause of all things So that they place the effected cause in steed of the efficient and the instrumentall for the agent which is a verie foule errour in a Naturall Philosopher Againe in that they do not submit the capacitie of mans wit which in deede is very simple vnto the vnsearcheable wisdome of GOD but rather make God subiect to them and to their capacitie they deuise and dreame of the causes of all thinges and their originall accordinge to the imagination of their owne braine likeninge GOD hymselfe the incomprehensible woorkeman vnto some Smith or Carpenter also that the matter wherof hee made all things was before prepared and made readie vnto his hand from euerlasting and at the length that the forme ioyneth it selfe vnto this matter for according to their iudgement this matter is rude and without forme and so they conclude that this matter and forme is the first principle of naturall things which comparison of most vnlike thinges togither S. Augustine woorthily laugheth at and reiceteth which as it thinketh nothinge honourably of God so doeth it also repugne playnely against the trueth of the matter and the ereation of this worlde S. Whiche is the third difference beetweene the Heathē and Christian Naturall Philosophers M. That consisteth in the meane maner and order of teachinge or handlinge the Art. S. I praie you declare it M. The Christian and godly men such as were the Prophetes of God although they diuersly recite these visible thinges according to the argument of the matter which they handle proceeding somtime from the highest to the lowest at another time from the lowest to the highest as it appeareth in the Psal
104. 136. in the Prouerbes the 8. chapter verse 23. 24. and in the next folowinge the 4. of Esdras the 6. chapter verse 38. and the next folowinge in the songe of the three children verse 53. and the next folowinge yet doe they euermore acknowledge that that is the true order and meane of the creation of all thinges which Moses hath discribed But the Philosophers imagininge of the beeginninge of this worlde accordinge to their owne inuentions can by no meanes agree amonge themselues whence to begin their disputation concerninge naturall thinges Some of them therefore beegin it from a certaine first matter which they bringe in amongst vs others from the foure Elements onely othersome from a confusion and the distinction therof certaine from Heauen and some from a bottomlesse deapth alwayes boylinge foorth to bee shorte looke howe many heades so manie meanings and in this point also euery seuerall sect of Philosophers defendeth somethinge wherein they dissente not onely from other but also manye times frō sundry of their owne profession The fifth Chapter What and howe greate the certentie is of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie S. HEtherto nowe concerninge these matters discourse I praye you also of some other thinge M. Of what S. What is the certentie surenes of this knowledge M. Uerily there is not one onely meane of defininge and determininge of all the partes therof For those thinges which in this art and knowledge wee learne out of Gods woorde are most sure most true as grounded vpon a most certaine foundation whiche whoso will gainsay wee must deale no farther with him but giue him quite ouer But whatsoeuer other things are recited touching Naturall Philosophie they are not so sure and firme bycause they bee onely established by mans sence and reason which two thinges are no vndoubted and assured groundes For mans reason is many times and his senses are most times deceiued Wherefore they doe thincke well who will haue the foundation of that knowledge of Naturall Philosophie which is not learned out of Gods word chiefly to reste vpon these two grounds to wit mans coniecture and historicall experience in whiche two poyntes also as S. Augustine writeth in the 9. chapter of his Enchiridion Naturall Philosophers doe suppose more than they knowe S. That parte therfore of Naturall Philosophie which is taught without warrant of Gods woorde is it vaine and altogither vncertaine and is it as some suppose to bee contemned M. No not so S. Why M. Bicause GOD hath not giuen those two partes of iudgement vnto men in vaine to wit reason of the minde and sense of the body as wee bee taught in the 12. Chapter of Iob the 12 verse and 34. chapter and 3. verse the iudgement of both which althoughe it bee not most certaine in al things and suffeciently subtile and expacte yet is it not lyinge and deceiued in althinges So that all handlinge of matters which is established and confirmed vppon those twaine ought not to bee condemned as altogither vaine and false For who will saye that the knowledge of so manye notable things and artes is worthily to bee dispised which GOD besydes the Scripture of his woorde hath giuen vnto men yea vnto Ethnickes suche as Plato Aristotle Galene and many other Philosophers both auncient and of later tymes haue founde out and taught Whoso despiseth these despiseth the gifts of GOD Wherwith somtime godly men also haue bene indued and blessed by God vnto the notable testimonie of Gods goodnesse towardes vs and miracle of mans nature such as was Moses himselfe and Iob and those foure whiche talked with him Solomon the kinge Ethan the Ezraelite Heman Calcol Dorda Ionathan vncle to Dauid all whom the Scripture commendeth and namely maketh mention of thē to the intent wee shoulde imitate them Actes the 7. Chapter verse 22. Firste of the Kinges the 4. Chapter verse 30. and 31. Psalme 88. and 89. First of the Cronacles the 27. Chap. and verse 32. The vi Chapter The endes of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie S. I Haue hearde enough concerninge the certentie of this science declare nowe what endes and measure wee ought to respecte in that knowledge M. These two ought to bee the endes The first is that accordinge to S. Paules aduertisement whatsoeuer shall bee disputed of in this kinde of science all maye bee referred to the onely glory and knowledge of our great and good god For that is the chiefest and truest ende of humaine Philosophie that through it wee may attaine to the vnderstandinge of the trueth and the nature of GOD like as also Plutarch writeth The seconde is that wee folow not and affirme vncerteine thinges in the steede of certeine For since to erre and bee deceiued is alwayes shamefull then it is most shamefull to erre in those thinges which oftentimes are of great importāce and in which a man maye honestly and sittingly enough for him confesse that hee is ignorant Wherfore in my iudgement S Augustine said very well in his bookes de Genesiad Literam vpon Genesis accordinge to the letter There bee manye things saith he of this vniuersall creature which wee know not either bicause they bee higher in heauen than our vnderstanding is able to attaine vnto them or perhaps are in vnhabitable regions of the earth or lie hidden very low in the bottom of the deapthes And this rasshnes in pronouncinge certainely of vncertaine things hath ministred occasion that Naturall Philosophers haue beene mocked by many frō which wee ought to absteine as frō a moste stronge poison of humaine ambition Wherfore in this Arte especially curiositie is to be auoided sobriety embraced Let vs acknowledge our selues to bee farre inferior to GOD and that wee are not able to finde out the reason and cause of all thinges that hee hath made as saith S. Irenaeus in his 2. booke 43. and 45. Chapters The vii Chapter The subiect of the knowledge of Naturall Philosophie is a creature visible and that can bee seene and first how farre and in what respect the worlde is a certaine vniuersalitie vnto them all S. I Haue alredy learned what natural Philosophie is and how manifolde from whence also it is to bee learned likewise what is the truthe and certentie of this knowledge and what bee the endes therof I praie you wade now more deepely into the matter and declare vnto mee what is the obiecte of this science about whiche it is busied M. I wyll doe so and that willingly S. Then tell mee what is the matter of this arte and knowledge M. A creature and not euery one but that onely whiche maye bee seene that is to saye the same which maye bee perceiued by some one or by all our bodily senses S. Howe prooue you this M. Especially by two places of holy Scripture whereof the first is in the 1. chapter to the Romanes and 20. verse where Naturall thinges are called visible creatures and are distinguished from those things which
thinges are especially tearmed visible for that our sight is the most certaine most excellent and most noble of all the senses of our bodie and for that also the actions of euery lyuinge thinge and the argumentes whereby we perceiue them to bee aliue are chiefly gathered by the sence of seeinge as moouing and breathinge Finally that bodily thinges are more exactly discerned by the eye than by tastinge or hearinge so that to saye that a visible creature is the matter and subiect of Naturall Philosophie is as much as to meane that wee wold haue euery creature whiche is sensible of it owne nature to be the true proper obiect therof whether the same be bodies as are the substaunces of thinges or whether they bee not bodies as are the vertues properties qualities motions and actions which vnto all corporall thinges by nature and their first creation and beeginning either cleaue vnto them without or are engraffed in them within All these kindes are as I haue sayd naturall thinges and created by God. S. I UnderstaÌ„d these things But tell mee now by how many maner of meanes doeth a Christian Naturall Philosopher handle and consider of these creatures M. Onely twoo waies the first to wit as they are all generally conteined in one and all comprehended as it were within the compasse of one bodie whiche incloseth them all which is called the world Or else euerie one in his kinde which are sundrie wherein the creatures are distincted and seperated one from another Whiche the particular Historie of the creation in the six dayes setteth downe vnto vs. S. How prooue you that M. In that the Scripture many tymes reciteth vnto vs all thinges created and visible vnder the name of the world as in Isay the 38. chapter and 11. verse Iohn the 1. chapter the 9. verse and the 9. chap. the 39. verse And many tymes the Scripture reciteth them distinctly and seuerally thereby the more to set foorth the wounderfull wisedome of God as in the 104. and 147. Plalmes and 8. verse and the 149. Psalme Wherfore wee muste also entreate of them after both these manners that sutch thinges as may bee gathered learned out of these creatures apperteinyng to the knowledge of God and setting foorth of his glorie according as the Scripture teacheth may bee by vs abundantly vnderstoode so that at the length wee may beecome perfect Christian naturall Philosophers S. With whiche of these twoo Methodes must wee first beegin M. Euen with that treatice which proposeth vnto vs all thinges generally comprehended in that one bodie which is called the world S. And why with that M. Bicause that way of teaching is more generall and more easie For whole thinges are better knowne than their partes for a man shal with more ease beehold an whole house than bee able too distinguishe or comprehend in his minde euerie part thereof And moreouer that whiche shal bee saied concernyng the whole world wil open vnto vs the way and entrance too the handling of the particular kindes of thinges For it shal bee as a foundation to the residue that shall ensue The viii Chapter What the world is S. DIscourse then of the world M. I will. S. What is the world M. The signification of the worlde is diuerse and manifold as the Philosophers doe teache vs as Laertius in his 7. booke and Plutarche in his first booke of the Philosophers opinions whiche signification wee must first distinguishe least beeing deceiued by the ambiguitie of the woord either wee do mocke the reader in this whole disputation or else deceiue him S. How many significations therefore are there of this woord world M. Three speciall First the world is taken for the creatures themselues whereof this whole visible frame and woorke consisteth So is it taken in Iohn the first chapter the 10. verse so likewise in the 2. Epistle of S. Peter the 3. chap. and 6. verse And moreouer for the corrupt and miserable condition of this world which falling vnto all these thinges by meanes of mannes transgression now hangeth vppon them whereby there is a most manifest confusion and a great disorder in al thinges So sayth S. Ihon in the 2. chap. and 16. verse and likewise the 5. Chapter and 19. verse Finally it is taken for one parte of the worlde and that the most noble and excellent to wit for men only and manye times for all men as to the Romanes the 5. chapter and 12. verse Ihon the 3. chapter the 16. verse and oftentimes for the faithfull and regenerat as in the 1. Epistle of S. Ihon the 2. chapter and 2. verse and at another time also for the reprobate and vnbeleeuinge as in the 1. Epistle to the Corinthians the 1. chapter and 21. verse and S. Ihon the 14. chapter the 17. and 22. verses Otherwise also if a man would call the definition of this woorde worlde vnto certaine chapters and speciall pointes wee maye saye that vnder the name of the worlde sumtime the place it selfe sumtime the substance of the thinges sumtime the men as the principall part thereof and sumtime the corruption of the same part that is to say of men is to be vnderstoode S. But the worlde was by the Latins called Mundus for the most beutifull order of all things therein coteined like as it was also tearmed by the Grecians Kâ—smoâ— of the cumlynesse thereof which reason of the name truely is repugnant vnto that signification whereby you saye that confusion of thinges and vice is sumtime signified by the name of the worlde M. Uerily you haue alleaged a true definition of thys woorde worlde from which notwithstandinge afterwarde the vse both of the Greeke and Latine tongue hath deflected For men vnderstoode that rebellion corruption and disorder was generally in all things and partes of the worlde they called the same by the name of the worlde bicause it is inseperably distributed throughout the whole aâ—d ingraffed as it were within the marrowe of euery singulare thinge By which meanes men are many times tearmed to bee the common destinie and miserie of men The Hebrues in their tongue call the worlde Gola which woorde the Apostles doe translate Euerlastinge as to the Hebrues the 11. chapter and 3. verse the 1. chapter and 2. verse to the Ephesians the 2. chapter and 2. verse not of eternitie as if the worlde had beene alwayes and from euerlastinge but rather of the fixed and certeine order thereof which the Lorde God hath established in it after that he had created the things that are in it which wee beholde to bee in it to continue in it euen vnto this daye as are the risinge and settinge of the Sunne and the chaunge and alteration of the foure quarters of the yeare And this shall indure so longe as this state of thinges shall continue as it appeareth in the 8. chapter of Genesis the 22. verse the 9. chapter the 9. or 10. verse Iob the 26. chapter the 10. verse