expresse it in a pithy and succinct definition Thus far Agricola whom ' Erasmus in his Prouerbes doth iustly praise and hee it is alone that may be an example to vs that fortune ruleth in all things as Salust saith and lighteneth or obscureth all rather according to her pleasure then the merit and worth of the men themselues I know not two authors in all our time nor our fathers worthier of reading obseruing thē Rodolphus Agricola the Phrysian There is such abundance of wit art grauity iudgment sweetnes eloquence learning in al his works and yet so few there are y◠do know him He is as worthy of publike note as either Politian or Hermolaus Barbarus both which truly in my conceit hee doth not onely equallize but exceedeth in Maiesty and elegance of stile g Whether it be by a King Hee touches at the formes of Rule For a Common-wealth is eyther swayed by the people alone and that the Greekes call a Democraticall rule or by a certaine few and that they cal Oligarchical vnder with is also contained the rule of the choycest of the common-wealth which is called Aristocracy or the rule of the best They call the Nobility the best but indeed such as were most powerfull in the State in countenance or wealth such were the right Ooptimates And therefore there is not much difference betwixt Oligarchy and Aristocracy as Tully shewed when he said the second part of the few Nobles now the third kind of Rule is that of one called Monarchy h A Tyran In ancient times they called all Kings Tyrans as well the best as the worst as Uirgill and Horace do in their Poemes for the name in Greeke signifieth onely Dominion Plato who was the onely man that laid downe the right forme of gouernement for a Citty is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Tyran and a King Festus thinketh Lib. 15. That the word was deriued from the notorious cruelty of the Tyrrhenes But I think rather that when the Athenians had brought in the Democratical gouernment and other Citties through emulation followed their example that was the cause that first brought the word Tyrannus into hatred and contempt and so they called their Kings Tyrans because they gouerned their owne wealth but not the Common-wealth besides that the Romains vsed it in that manner also because they hated the name of a King deadly and in Greece also whosoeuer bore rule in a Citty that had before bin free was called a Tyran but not a King i Faction Memmius in Salust speaking of the Seniors saith They haue transferred the feare that their owne guilt surprized them with vnto your slothfulnes it is that which hath combined them in one hate one affect and one feare this in good men were friendship but in euillmen it is rightly termed faction k Before so many great Princes For it is imagined that at that discourse there were present Scipio Affrican Caius Laelius surnamed the wise Lucius Furius three who at that time as Porcius saith led the Nobility as they would and of the yonger sort C. Fanius Q. Scaeuola the Soothsaier Laelius his son in law Quintus Tubero al of worthy families Ennius There is nothing of this mans extant but a few fragments which I intend to gather out of the Writers through which they are dispersed and set them forth together in one volume Hee was borne at Rudiae as Mela and Silius affirme a Cittie of the Salentines and liued first at Tarentum and afterwards at Rome being very familiar with Cato Galba Flaminius and other great men and was made free Dennizen of the Citty by Flaminius m Gaue out Effatus the proper word of the religion n And Lineaments A simily taken from painters who first doe onely delineate and line forth the figure they will draw which is called a Monogramme and then with their coullors they do as it were giue spirit and life vnto the dead picture o Want of men So Salust saith in Cataline that the times are now barren and bring not forth a good man p Long after About seauenty yeares q Before the comming of Christ Threescore yeares For it is iust so long from Tullies Consulship at which time he wrote his bookes De repub vnto the 24. yeare of Augustus his Empire at which time Christ was borne r diuulged So Diffamata is heere reported abroad or diuulged and so likewise other authors vse it And warning the Citty to looke to their safety Diffamauit he reported or cryed out saith Apuleius Asini lib. 4. That his house was a fire vpon a sodain But it is pretty truly that Remigius an interpreter of Saint Pauls Epistles saith vpon that place with the translatour had turned A vobis 〈◊〉 diffamatus est sermo domini Thess. 1. 1. 8. For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord This Commentator saith that saint Paul being not curious in choosing of his words put Diffamatus for Divulgatus or Manifestus What shall we doe with these School-doctors that as yet cannot tell whether Paul wrote in Greeke or in Latine Nay to marke but the arrogant foolery of these simple fellowes in such manner as this they will talke and prate so often about the signification of wordes as continually they do in their Logike and Philosophy lectures and yet they would not be held for profest Gramarians but are very easily put out of patience if any man begin but to discusse their wordes of art a little more learnedly s But if this name It may bee hee speaketh this because a Common-wealth is a popular gouernment but Christes Kingdome is but his alone That the Romaine Gods neuer respected whether the Citie were corrupted and so brought to destruction or no. CHAP. 22. BVt to our present purpose this common-wealth which they say was so good and so lawdable before euer that Christ came was by the iudgment of their owne most learned writers acknowledged to bee changed into a most dishonest and dishonorable one nay it was become no common-wealth at all but was fallen into absolute destruction by their owne polluted conditions Wherefore to haue preuented this ruine the gods that were the patrons thereof should mee thinkes haue taken the paines to haue giuen the people that honored them some precepts for reformatiō of life maners seeing that they had bestowed so many temples so many priests such varitie of ceremonious sacrifices so many festiuall solemnities so many so great celebrations of plaies enterludes vpō them But these deuils minded nothing but their own affaires they respected not how their worshippers liued nay their care was to see them liue like diuels only they bound them through feare to affoord them these honors If they did giue them any good counsell why then let it be produced to light and read what lawes of what gods giuing were they that the a Gracchi condemned to follow their turmoiles and seditions in the
great guilt shame and sinne both of the priests that present this and the people that behold it But wee may perhaps finde a fitter place for this thaeme e Found the graine of barley And wheate also saith Diodor. lib. 1. and therevpon some Citties present them both in her ceremonies But Osiris her husband first obserued their profit and taught the world it chiefly barley that maketh ale in such countries as want wine and is now vsed in the North parts But they made meate of it in old time Plin. lib. 18. out of an Athenian ceremony that Menander reporteth prouing it of elder inuention then wheate For had they found wheate sooner saith Pliny barly would haue bin out of request for bread as it was presently vpon the finding of wheate thence-forth becomming meate for beasts Finis lib. 8. THE CONTENTS OF THE ninth booke of the City of God 1. The scope of the aforepassed disputation and what is remaining to treate of chapter 1. 2. Whether amongst the spirits of the ayre that are vnder the gods there bee any good ones that can further a man in the attainement of true blessednesse 3. What qualities Apuleius ascribeth vnto the diuells to whom he giueth reason but no vertue 4. The opinions of the Stoikes and Peripatetiques concerning perturbatioÌ„s of the minde 5. That the Christians passions are causes of the practise of vertue not Inducers vnto vice 6. What passion the spirits that Apuleius maketh Mediators betweene the Gods Men are subiect vnto by his owne confession 7. That the Platonists doe but seeke contentions in saying the Poets defame the gods whereas their imputations pertaine to the diuells and not the gods 8. Apuleius his definition of the gods of heauen spirits of ayre and men of earth 9. Whether ayery spirits can procure a man the Gods friendships 10. Plotines opinion that men are lesse wretched in their mortality then the diuills are in their eternity 11. Of the Platonists that held mens soules to become Daemones after death 12. Of the three contraries whereby the Platonists distinguish the diuills natures from the Mens 13. How the diuills if they be neither blessed with the Gods nor wretched with Men may be in the meane betwixt both without participation of either 14. Whether mortall men may attaine true happinesse 15. Of the mediator of God and Man the Man Christ Iesus 16. Whether it bee probable that the Platonists say that the gods auoiding earthly contagion haue no commerce with men but by the meanes of the ayry spirits 17. That vnto that be atitude that consisteth in participation of the chiefest good wee must haue onely such a Mediator as Christ no such as the deuill 18. That the diuills vnder collour of their intercession seeke but to draw vs from God 19. That the word Daemon is not vsed as now of any Idolater in a good sence 20. Of the quality of the diuills knowledge whereof they are so proud 21. In what manner the Lord would make himselfe knowne to the diuills 22. The difference of the holy Angells knowledge and the diuills 23. That the Pagan Idols are falsely called gods yet the scripture allowes it to Saints and Angells FINIS THE NINTH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD. Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus The scope of the afore-passed disputation and what is remayning to treat of CHAP. 1. IN these controuersies of the gods some haue held deities of both natures good and euill others of better mindes did the gods that honor to hold theÌ„ all good But those a that held the first held the ayery spirits to be gods also and called them gods as they called the gods spirits but not so ordinarily Indeed they confesse that Ioue the Prince of all the rest was by Homer b called a Daemon But such as affirmed all the gods were good ones and farre better then the best men are iustly mooued by the artes of the ayry spirits to hold firmely that the gods could doe no such matters and therefore of â—…ce â—…re must bee a difference betweene them and these spirits and that what euer â—…asant affect or bad act they see caused wherein these spirits doe shew thâ—… 〈◊〉 power that they hold is the diuills worke and not the gods But yet 〈◊〉 â—…ey place these spirits as mediators betweene their gods and men as if 〈◊〉 â—…an had no other meanes of commerce to carry and recarry praiers 〈◊〉 the one to the other this beeing the opinion of the most excellent â—…ers the Platonists with whom I choose to discusse this question wheâ—…â—…ration of many gods be helpfull to eternall felicity In the last booke 〈◊〉 how the deuils delighting in that which all wise and honest men abâ—… 〈◊〉 in the foule enormous irreligious fictions of the gods crimes not 〈◊〉 in the damnable practise of Magike can be so much nearer to the gods that 〈◊〉 must make them the meanes to attaine their fauors and wee found it â—…terly impossible So now this booke as I promised in the end of the other must 〈◊〉 â—…cerne the difference of the gods betwixt themselues if they make any 〈◊〉 â—…or the difference of the gods and spirits the one beeing farre distant from men as they say and the other in the midst betweene the gods and men but of the difference of these spirits amongst themselues This is the present question L. VIVES THese a that held Plato held all the gods to bee good but the Daemones to bee neither good not euill but neuters But Hermes hath his good angells and his bad And Porphery 〈◊〉 â—…s helpfull Daemones and his hurtfull as some of the Platonists hold also b Homer calâ—… Plâ—…arch de defect Oracul saith that Homer confounded the deities and Demones togeâ—…r â—…ng both names promiscually Hee calls Ioue a Daemon which word as one interpreteth it is sometimes vsed for good and sometimes bad And Iliad 1. hee saith Ioue with the other daeâ—… calling all the gods by that name vpon which place his interpretor saith Hee calleth 〈◊〉 Daemones either for their experience wisdome or gouernment of man So saith Iulius 〈◊〉 Homer called the Gods Daemones and Plato calleth the worlds Architect the great Daemon for Deity Daemon are both taken in one sence This Daemon Plato mentioneth De republ But it is a question whether he meane the Prince of al the world or the deuills Prince for they haue their Hierarchy also Euery spirit saith Proclus De anima et daemone in respect of that which is next vnder it is called a Daemon and so doth Iupiter in Orpheus call his father Saâ—… And Plato himselfe calls those gods that gouerne propagation and protect a man without mediation Daemones To declare saith he in Timaeus the generation and nature of the other Daemones were more then man can comprehend for each power that protecteth a man without anothers mediation is a daemon be it a God or lesse then a God Thus farre
Abraham was then but seauentie two yeares of age and his father begetting him when he was seauentie yeares old must needs bee a hundred fortie fiue yeares old and no more at his departure Therefore hee went not after his fathers death who liued two hundred and fiue yeares but before at the seauenty two yeares of his owne age and consequently the hundred forty fiue of his fathers And thus the Scripture in an vsuall course returneth to the time which the former relation had gone beyond as it did before saying That the sonnes of Noahs sonnes were diuided into nations and languages c. and yet afterwards adioyneth Then the vvhole earth vvas of one language c. as though this had really followed How then had euery man his nation and his tongue but that the Scriptures returne back againe vnto the times ouer-passed Euen so here whereas it is said the daies of Thara were two hundred fiue yeares and he died in Charra then the scriptures returning to that which ouer-passed to finish the discourse of Thara first then the Lord said vnto AbrahaÌ„ get thee out of thy country c. after which is added So Abraham departed as the Lord spake vnto him and Lot went with him and Abraham was seauenty yeares old when he went from Charra This therefore was when his 〈◊〉 was a hundred forty and fiue yeares of age for then was Abraham seauenty fiue This doubt is also otherwise dissolued by counting Abrahams seauenty 〈◊〉 when he went to Charra from the time when he was freed from the fire of 〈◊〉 Chaldaaens and not from his birth as if he had rather beene borne then 〈◊〉 Saint Stephen in the Actes discoursing hereof saith thus The God of glory apâ—… to our father Abraham in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charra and said 〈◊〉 him get thee out of thy country from thy kindred and come into the land which 〈◊〉 giue thee According to these words of Stephen it was not after Tharas death 〈◊〉 â—…od spake to Abraham for Thara died in Charra but it was before he dwelt 〈◊〉 â—…rra yet was in Mesopotamia But he was gone out of Chaldaea first And â—…eas Stephen saith Then came hee out of the land of the Chaldaeans and dwelt in 〈◊〉 this is relation of a thing done after those words of God for hee went 〈◊〉 Chaldaea after God had spoken to him for hee saith God spake to him in Mesopotamia but that word Then compriseth all the time from Abrahams departure vntill the Lord spake to him And that which followeth After that his father 〈◊〉 dead God placed him in this land wherein he now dwelleth The meaning of the place is And God brought him from thence wher his father dyed afterwards and placed 〈◊〉 â—…ere So then we iust vnderstand that God spake vnto Abraham being in Mesoâ—…tamia yet not as yet dwelling in Charra but that he came in to Charra with â—…er holding Gods commandement fast and in the seauenty fiue yeare of 〈◊〉 departed thence which was in his fathers a hundred forty fiue yere Now 〈◊〉 that he was placed in Chanaan not he came out of Charra after his 〈◊〉 death for when hee was dead he began to buy land there and became 〈◊〉 possessions But whereas God spake thus to him after hee came from 〈◊〉 and was in Mesopotamia Get thee out of thy country from thy kindred 〈◊〉 thy fathers house this concerned not his bodily remouall for that hee 〈◊〉 before but the seperation of his soule from them for his mind was 〈◊〉 â—…arted from them if he euer had any hope to returne or desired it this â—…d desire by Gods command was to bee cut of It is not incredible 〈◊〉 â—…erwards when as Nachor followed his father Abraham then fulfilled the â—…nd of God and tooke Sara his wife and Lot his brothers sonne and so 〈◊〉 out of Charra L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a inextricable doubt So Hierome calles it and dissolueth it some-what â—…sly from Augustine although hee vse three coniectures dissolâ—…â—…us â—…us Hierome dissolueth it out of an Hebrew history for that which we read the 〈◊〉 of Chaldaea the Hebrew hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ur Shadim that is the fire of the Caldaeâ—…â—…pon the Hebrewes haue the story Abraham was taken by the Chaldaeans and 〈◊〉 he would not worshippe their Idols namely their fire he was put into it from whence 〈◊〉 â—…ed him by miracle and the like story they haue of Thara also his father that hee 〈◊〉 he would not adore their images was so serued and so escaped also as whereas it is 〈◊〉 Aram dyed before his father in the land where hee was borne in the country of 〈◊〉 they say it is in his fathers presence in the fire of the Chaldaeans wherein beâ—…â—…ould not worship it he was burned to death And likewise in other places of yâ— text 〈◊〉 â—…hen he comes to this point saith the Hebrew tradition is true that saith that Thara 〈◊〉 came out of the fire of the Chaldaees that Abraham being hedged round about in 〈◊〉 with the fire which he would not worshippe was by Gods power deliuered from thence are the number of his yeares accounted because then hee first confessed the Lord God and contemned the Chaldee Idols Thus farre Hierome without whose relation this place of Augustine is not to bee vnderstood Iosephus writeth that Thara hating Chaldaea departed thence for the greefe of his sonne Arams death and came to dwell in Charra and that Arams tombe was to bee seene in Vr of the Chaldees The order and quality of Gods promises made vnto Abraham CHAP. 16. NOw must we examine the promises made vnto Abraham for in them began the oracles presaging our Lord Iesus Christ the true God to appeare who was to come of that godly people that the prophesies promised The first of them is this The Lord said vnto Abraham get thee out of thy countrey and from thy kinred and from thy fathers house vnto the land that I will shew thee And I will make of thee a great nation and will blesse thee make thy name great and thou shalt be blessed I will also blesse them that blesse thee and curse them that curse thee and in them shall all the families of the earth bee blessed Here wee must obserue a double promise made vnto Abraham the first that his seede should possesse the land of Canaan in these words Goe vnto the land that I will shew thee and I will make thee a great nation the second of farre more worth and moment concerning his spirituall seede whereby hee is not onely the father of Israel but of all the nations that follow his faith and that is in these words And in thee shall all the families of the earth bee blessed This promise was made in Abrahams seauentie fiue yeare as Eusebius a thinketh as if that Abraham did presently there vpon depart out of Charra because the Scripture may not be controuled that giueth
the eyes of the spirit though not of the dull flesh hence it is that scriptures call a prophecy a vision and Nathan is called the Seer 1. Kings The Greekes some-times vse the name of Prophet for their priests poets or teachers Adam was the first man and the first Prophet who saw the mistery of Christ and his church in his sleepe Then followeth Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Iacob and his children Moyses c. Yet are not these reckned amongst the prophets for none of them left any bookes of the visions but Moyses whose bookes concerned ceremonies sacrifices and ciuill orders also But these were all figures of future things nor were those the propheticall times as those from Samuel were wherein there neuer were prophets wanting whereas before God spake but seldome and his visions were not so manifest as they were from the first King vnto the captiuity wherein were foure great bookes of prophecies written and twelue of the small At what time Gods promise concerning the Land of Canaan was fulfilled and Israell receiued it to dwell in and possesse CHAP. 2. VVEE said in the last booke that God promised two things vnto Abraham one was the possession of the Land of Canaan for his seed in these words Goe into the Land that I will shew thee and I will make thee a great nation c. The other of farre more excellence not concerning the carnall but the spirituall seed nor Israell onely but all the beleeuing nations of the world in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall all nations of the earth be blessed c. This we confirmed by many testiâ—… Now therefore was Abrahams carnall seed that is the Israelites in the 〈◊〉 promise now had they townes citties yea and Kings therein and Gods 〈◊〉 were performed vnto them in great measure not onely those that hee 〈◊〉 signes or by word of mouth vnto Abraham Isaac and Iacob but euen 〈◊〉 â—…so that Moyses who brought them out of the Egyptian bondage or any 〈◊〉 him vnto this instant had promised them from God But the proâ—…â—…cerning the land of Canaan that Israel should reigne ouer it from the 〈◊〉 Egipt vnto the great Euphrates was neither fulfilled by Iosuah that worâ—… of them into the Land of promise and hee that diuided the whole aâ—… the twelue tribes nor by any other of the Iudges in all the time after 〈◊〉 was there any more prophecies that it was to come but at this instant 〈◊〉 â—…ected And by a Dauid and his son Salomon it was fulfilled indeed and 〈◊〉 â—…gdome enlarged as farre as was promised for these two made all 〈◊〉 â—…ations their seruants and tributaries Thus then was Abrahams seed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so settled in this land of Canaan by these Kings that now no part of 〈◊〉 â—…ly promise was left vnfulfilled but that the Hebrewes obeying Gods â—…ements might continue their dominion therein without all disturâ—… in all security and happinesse of estate But God knowing they would 〈◊〉 vsed some temporall afflictions to excercise the few faithfull therein 〈◊〉 â—…ad left and by them to giue warning to all his seruants that the nations 〈◊〉 â—…erwards to containe who were to bee warned by those as in whom hee 〈◊〉 â—…llfill his other promise by opening the New Testament in the death of 〈◊〉 L. VIVES Bâ—…â—…id Hierome epist. ad Dardan sheweth that the Iewes possessed not all the lands 〈◊〉 promised theÌ„ for in the booke of Numbers it is sayd to be bounded on the South by the salt sea and the wildernesse of sinne vnto that riuer of Egypt that ranne into the sea by Rhinocorura on the west by the sea of Palestina Phaenicia Coele Syria and Cylicia on the North by Mount Taurus and Zephyrius as farre as Emath or Epiphania in Syria on the East by Antioch and the Lake Genesareth called now Tabarie and by Iordan that runneth into the salt sea called now The dead sea Beyond Iordan halfe of the land of the tribes of Ruben Gad lay and halfe of the tribe of Manasses Thus much Hierome But Dauid possessed not all these but onely that within the bounds of Rhinocorura and Euphrates wherein the Israelites still kept themselues The Prophets three meanings of earthly Ierusalem of heauenly Ierusalem and of both CHAP. 3. WHerefore as those prophecies spoken to Abraham Isaac Iacob or any other in the times before the Kings so likewise all that the Prophets spoke afterwards had their double refereÌ„ce partly to Abraháms seed in the flesh partly to that wherein al the nations of the earth are blessed in him being made Co-heires with Christ in the glory and kingdome of heauen by this New Testament So then they concerne partly the bond-woman bringing forth vnto bondage that is the earthly Ierusalem which serueth with her sonnes and partly to the free Citty of God the true Ierusalem eternall and heauenly whose children are pilgrims vpon earth in the way of Gods word And there are some that belong vnto both properly to the bond-woman and figuratiuely vnto the free woman for the Prophets haue a triple meaning in their prophecies some concerning the earthly Ierusalem some the heauenly and some both as for example The Prophet a Nathan was sent to tell Dauid of his sinne and to fortell him the euills that should ensue thereof Now who doubteth that these words concerned the temporall City whether they were spoken publikely for the peoples generall good or priuately for some mans knowledge for some temporall vse in the life present But now whereas wee read Behold the daies come saith the LORD that I will make a new couenant with the house of Israell and the house of Iudah not according to the couenant that I made with their fathers when I tooke them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egipt which couenant they brake although I was an husband vnto them saith the Lord but this is the couenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those daies saith the LORD I will put my law in their mindes and write it in their hearts and I wil be their GOD and they shal be my people This without aâ—…l doubt is a prophecy of the celestiall Ierusalem to whom God himselfe stands as a reward and vnto which the enioying of him is the perfection of good Yet belongeth it vnto them both in that the earthly Ierusalem was called Gods Cittie and his house promised to bee therein which seemed to be fulfilled in Salomons building of that magnificent temple These things were both relations of things acted on earth and figures of things concerning heauen which kinde of prophecy compounded of both is of great efficacy in the canonicall scriptures of the Old Testament and doth exercise the readers of scripture very laudably in seeking how the things that are spoken of Abrahams carnall seed are allegorically fulfilled in his seed by faith In b so much that some held that there was nothing in the scriptures fore-told and effected or
actiue The Greekes indeede 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wilt thou bee turned away b From the bonds The bonds of hell say 〈◊〉 â—…kes making this earth an hell vnto Christ beeing descended from heauen but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reading is better Another verse of the former Psalme and the persons to whome it belongeth CHAP. 12. THE residue of this Psalme in these wordes Lord where are thy olde mercies which thou sworest vnto Dauid in thy truth Lord remember the 〈◊〉 of thy seruants by many nations that haue scorned them because they 〈◊〉 â—…oached the foote-steps of thine annointed whether it haue reference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israelites that expected this promise made vnto Dauid or to the spiriâ—…â—…sraelites the Christians it is a question worth deciding This was written or spoaken in the time of Ethan whose name the title of the Psalme beareth which was also in Dauids reigne so that these words Lord where are thine old mercies which thou swarest vnto Dauid in thy truth could not then bee spoaken but that the Prophet bare a type of some-what long after to ensue to wit at such time as the time of Dauid wherein those mercies were promised might seeme ancient It may further bee vnderstood b because that many nations that persecuted the Christians cast them in the teeth with the passion of Christ which hee calleth his change to witte beeing made immortall by death Christs change also in this respect may bee a reproach vnto the Israelites because they expected him and the nations onely receiued him and this the beleeuers of the New Testament reproche them for who continue in the Olde so that the Prophet may say Lord remember the reproache of thy seruants because heere-after GOD not forgetting to pitty them they shall beleeue also But I like the former meaning better for the words LORD remember the reproach of thy seruants c. cannot bee sayd of the enemies of CHRIST to whome it is a reproche that CHRIST left them and came to the nations Such Iewes are no seruants of GOD but of them onely who hauing endured great persecutions for the name of CHRIST can remember that high kingdome promised vnto Dauids seede and say in desire thereof knocking seeking and asking Where are thine olde mercies Lord which thou swaredst vnto thy seruant Dauid Lord remember c. because thine enemies haue held thy change a destruction and vpbraided it in thine annointed And what is Lord remember but Lord haue mercy and for my pacience giue mee that height which thou swarest vnto Dauid in thy truth If wee make the Iewes speake this it must bee those seruants of GOD that suffered the captiuity in Babilon before CHRISTS comming and knew what the change of CHRIST was and that there was no earthly nor transitory felicitie to bee expected by it such as Salomon had for a few yeares but that eternall and spirituall kingdome which the Infidell nations not apprehending as then cast the change of the annointed in their dishes but vnknowinglie and vnto those that knew it And therefore that last verse of the Psalme Blessed bee the Lord for euer-more Amen Amen agreeth fitly inough with the people of the celestiall Hierusalem place them as you please hidden in the Old Testament before the reuelation of the New or manifested in the New when it was fully reuealed For GODS blessing vpon the seede of Dauid is not to bee expected onely for a while as Salomon had it but for euer and therefore followeth Amen Amen The hope confirmed the worde is doubled This Dauid vnderstanding in the second of the Kings whence wee digressed in this Psalme saith Thou hast spoken of thy seruants house for a great while And then a little after Now therefore begin blesse the house of thy seruant for euer c. because then hee was to beget a sonne by whome his progenie should descend vnto Christ in whome his house and the house of God should bee one and that eternall It is Dauids house because of Dauids seede and the same is Gods house because of his Temple built of soules and not of stones wherein Gods people may dwell for euer in with him and he for euer in and with them he filling them and they being full of him God being all in all their reward in peace and their fortitude in warre And whereas Nathan had said before thus saith the Lord shalt thou beuild me an house now Dauid saith vpon that thou O Lord of hostes the God of Israel hast reuealed vnto thy seruant saying I will build thee an house This house do wee build by liuing well and the Lord by giuing vs power to liue well for vnlesse the Lord build the house their labour is 〈◊〉 lost that build it And at the last dedication of this house shall the word of the Lord bee fulfilled that Nathan spoke saying I will appoynt a place for my people Israel and will plant it and it shall dwell by it selfe and be no more moued nor shall the 〈◊〉 people trouble it any more as it hath done since the time that I appoynted Iudgeâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…y people Israel L. VIVES THe time of a Ethan Ethan and Asaph were players vpon the brazen Cymballs before the Arke in Dauids time 1. Chronicles 15. the Greeke and the Latine call Ethan an Israeâ—… but I thinke he was rather an Iezraelite of the towne of Iezrael in the tribe of Iudah and the borders of Isacher betweene Scythopolis and the Legion or an Ezraite of Ezran in the tribâ—… of Assur Howsoeuer he was Hierome out of the Hebrew calleth him an Ezrait But 〈◊〉 question he was not called an Israelite for no man hath any such peculiar name from his generall nation b Because that many There is a diuersity of reading in some other bookes but not so good as this we follow Whether the truth of the promised peace may be ascribed vnto Salomons time CHAP. 13. HE that looketh for this great good in this world is far wrong Can any one â—…nd the fulfilling of it vnto Salomons time No no the scriptures comâ—… it exellently as the figure of a future good But this one place the wicked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trouble it any more dissolueth this suspicion fully adding this further 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 done since the time that I appoynted Iudges ouer my people Israel for the 〈◊〉 began to rule Israel before the Kings as soone as euer they had attayned 〈◊〉 â—…d of promise and the wicked that is the enemy troubled them sore and 〈◊〉 was the chance of warre yet had they longer peace in those times then 〈◊〉 â—…ey had in Salomons who raigned but fourty yeares â—…or vnder Iudge Aod 〈◊〉 â—…d eighty yeares peace Salomons time therefore cannot bee held the fulfilâ—… of those promises and much lesse any Kings besides his for no King had â—…ce that hee had nor any nation euer had kingdome wholly acquit from 〈◊〉 of foe because the mutability of humane estate can neuer grant any 〈◊〉 an
at the consumation of all The Angells and the starres are witnesse of heauens moouing at Christs birth The miracle of a Virgins child-birth mooued the earth the preaching of Christ in the Iles and the continent mooued both sea and drie land The nations we see are mooued to the faith Now the comming of the desire of all nations that we doe expect at this day of iudgement for first hee must be loued of the beleeuers and then be desired of the expecters Now to Zachary Reioyce greatly O daughter of Syon saith hee of Christ and his church shoute for ioy O daughter of Ierusalem behold thy King commeth to thee hee is iust and thy Sauiour poore and riding vpon an asse and vpon d a colt the fole of an asse his dominion is from sea to sea from the riâ—…er to the lands end Of Christs riding in this manner the Gospell speaketh where this prophecy as much as needeth is recited In another place speaking prophetically of the remission of sinnes by Christ he saith thus to him Thou in the bloud of thy testament hast loosed thy prisoners out of the lake wherein is no water This lake may bee diuersly interpreted without iniuring our faith But I thinke hee meaneth that barren bondlesse depth of humaine myseries wherein there is no streame of righteousnesse but all is full of the mudde of iniquitie for of this is that of the psalme meant Hee hath brought mee out of the lake of misery and 〈◊〉 of the myâ—…y clay Now Malachi prophecying of the church which wee see so happily propagate by our Sauiour Christ hath these plaine word to the Iewes in the person of God I haue no pleasure in you neither will I accept an offring at your hand for frâ—… the rising of the Sunne vnto the setting my name is great amongst the Gentiles 〈◊〉 in euery place shal be e incence offered vnto mee and a pure offering vnto my 〈◊〉 for my name is great among the heathen saith the LORD This wee see offered in euery place by Christs priest-hood after the order of Melchisedech but the sacrifice of the Iewes wherein God tooke no pleasure but refused that they cannot deny is ceased Why do they expect an other Christ and yet see that this prophecy is fulfilled already which could not bee but by the true Christ for he 〈◊〉 by by after in the persoÌ„ of God My couenant was with him of life and peace I 〈◊〉 him feare and he feared me and was afraid before my name The law of truth was 〈◊〉 his mouth he walked with me in peace and equity and turned many away from iniâ—… for the priests lips should preserue knowledge and they should seeke the law at his 〈◊〉 for he is the messenger of the Lord of hostes No wonder if Christ be called 〈◊〉 as he is a seruant because of the seruants forme he tooke when he came to men so is hee a messenger because of the glad tydings which hee brought vnto men For Euangelium in greeke is in our tongue glad tydings and he saith againe of him Behold I will send my messenger and hee shall prepare the way before mee the Lord whom you seeke shall come suddenly into his Temple and the messenger of the couenant whom you desire behold he shall come saith the Lord of hostes but who maâ—… abide the daie of his comming who shall endure when he appeareth This place is a direct prophecy of both the commings of Christ of the first He shall come suddenly into his temple his flesh as hee sayd himselfe Destroy this temple and in three daies I will raise it againe Of the second Behold hee shall come saith the LORD of hostes but who may abide the day of his comming c. But those words the Lord whom you seeke and the messenger of the couenant whom you desire imply that the Iewes in that manner that they conceiue the scriptures desire and seeke the comming of CHRIST But many of them acknowledged him not being come for whose comming they so longed their euill desertes hauing blinded their hearts The couenant named both heere and there where hee sayd My couenant was with him is to bee vnderstood of the New Testament whose promises are eternall not of the Old full of temporall promises such as weake men esteeming too highly doe serue GOD wholy for and stumble when they see the sinne-full to enioy them Wherefore the Prophet to put a cleare difference betweene the blisse of the New Testament peculiar to the good and the abundance of the Old Testament shared with the badde also adioyneth this Your words haue beene stout against me saith the Lord and yet you said wherein haue we spoken against thee you haue sayd it is in vaine to serue GOD and what profit haue we in keeping his commandements and in walking humbly before the LORD GOD of hostes and now wee haue blessed others they that worke wickednesse are set vppe and they that oppose God they are deliuered Thus spake they that scared the Lord each to his neighbour the Lord hearkned and heard it and wrote a booke of remembrance in his sight for such as feare the Lord and reuerence his name That booke insinuateth the New Testament Heare the sequele They shal be to mee saith the Lord of hostes in that day wherein I doe this for a slocke and I will spare them as a man spareth his owne sonne that serueth him Then shall you returne and discerne betweene the righteous and the wicked and betweene him that serueth GOD and him that serueth him not For behold the day commeth that shall burne as an oven and all the proud and the wicked shal be as stubble and the day that commeth shall burne them vppe saith the LORD of Hostes and shall leaue them neither roote nor branch But vnto you that feare my name shall the sonne of righteousnesse arise and health shal be vnder his wings and you shall goe forth and growe vppe as fatte Calues You shall tread downe the wicked they shal be as dust vnder the soles of your feete in the day that I shall doe this saith the LORD of Hostes. This is that day that is called the day of iudgement whereof if it please God wee meane to say some-what in place conuenient L. VIVES AGgee a Zachary Esdras nameth them chap. 6. 1. where he calleth Zachary the sonne 〈◊〉 Addo whom Zachary himselfe saith was his grand-father and Barachiah his father Thâ—… saith Hierome was doubtlesse that Addo that was sent to Hieroboam the sonne of Nabaâ—… in whose time the Altar cleft and his hand withered and was restored by this Addes prayers Kings 1. 1â—… Chro. 2. 12. But hee is not called Addo in either of these 〈◊〉 the Kings omit his name the Chronicles call him Semeius But a prophet of that time must bee great great grand-father at least to a sonne of the captiuity This Zachary was not the sonne of 〈◊〉 whome Ioash the King
ceasing and destruction ensuing which was performed by the Romanes as I erst related But the house of the New Testament is of another lustre the workemanship being more glorious and the stones being more precious But it was figured in the repaire of the old Temple because the whole New Testament was figured in the old one Gods prophecy therefore that saith In that place will I giue peace is to be meant of the place signified not of the place significant that is as the restoring that house prefigured the church which Christ was to build so GOD said in this place that is in the place that this prefigureth will I giue peace for all things signifying seeme to support the persons of the things signified as Saint Peter said the Rock was Christ for it signifyed Christ. So then farre is the glory of the house of the New Testament aboue the glory of the Old as shall appeare in the finall dedication Then shall the desire of all nations appeare as it is in the hebrew for his first comming was not desired of all the nations for some knew not whom to desire nor in whom to beleeue And then also shall they that are Gods elect out of all nations come as the LXX read it for none shall come truely at that day but the elect of whoÌ„ the Apostle saith As he hath elected vs in him before the beginning of the world for the Architect himself that sayd Many are called but few are chosen he spoke not of those that were called to the feast and then cast out but meant to shew that hee had built an house of his elect which times worst spight could neuer ruine But being altogither in the church as yet to bee hereafter sifited the corne from the chaffe the glory of this house cannot be so great now as it shal be then where man shal be alwaies there where he is once The Churches increase vncertaine because of the commixtion of elect and reprobate in this world CHAP. 49. THerefore in these mischieuous daies wherein the church worketh for his fu ture glory in present humility in feares in sorrowes in labours and in temptations ioying onely in hope when shee ioyeth as she should many rebrobaâ—…e liue amongst the elect both come into the Gospells Net and both swim at randon in the sea of mortality vntill the fishers draw them to shore and then the 〈◊〉 owne from the good in whom as in his Temple God is all in all We acknowledge therefore his words in the psalme I would declare and speake of them 〈◊〉 are more then I am able to expresse to be truly fulfilled This multiplication 〈◊〉 at that instant when first Iohn his Messenger and then himselfe in person 〈◊〉 to say Amend your liues for the Kingdome of God is at hand He chose him disâ—… and named the Apostles poore ignoble vnlearned men that what great 〈◊〉 soeuer was done hee might bee seene to doe it in them He had one who abused his goodnesse yet vsed hee this wicked man to a good end to the fulfilling of his passion and presenting his church an example of patience in tribulation And hauing sowne sufficiently the seed of saluation he suffered was buried and 〈◊〉 againe shewing by his suffering what wee ought to endure for the truth and 〈◊〉 resurrection what we ought for to hope of eternity a besides the ineffaâ—…ament of his bloud shed for the remission of sinnes Hee was forty daies 〈◊〉 with his disciples afterwardes and in their sight ascended to heauen â—…es after sending downe his promised spirit vpon them which in the comming gaue that manifest and necessary signe of the knowledge in languages of 〈◊〉 to signifie that it was but one Catholike church that in all those natiâ—…â—…uld vse all those tongues L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a the ineffable For Christs suffrance and his life hath not onely leaft vs the vertue 〈◊〉 Sacraments but of his example also whereby to direct ourselues in all good courses 〈◊〉 Gospell preached and gloriously confirmed by the bloud of the preachers CHAP. 50. 〈◊〉 then as it is written The law shall goe forth of Zion and the word of 〈◊〉 Lord from Ierusalem and as Christ had fore-told when as his disciplies â—…onished at his resurrection he opened their vnderstandings in the scripâ—… told them that it was written thus It behoued Christ to suffer and to rise 〈◊〉 the third day and that repentance and remission of sinnes should bee preached in 〈◊〉 â—…mongst all nations beginning at Ierusalem and where they asked him of 〈◊〉 comming and he answered It is not for you to know the times and seasons 〈◊〉 father hath put in his owne power but you shall receiue power of the Holie 〈◊〉 hee shall come vpon you and you shal be witnesses of mee in Ierusalem and in 〈◊〉 in Samaria and vnto the vtmost part of the earth First the church spred 〈◊〉 â—…om Ierusalem and then through Iudaea and Samaria and those lights 〈◊〉 world bare the Gospell vnto other nations for Christ had armed them 〈◊〉 Feare not them that kill the body but are not able to kill the soule they had 〈◊〉 of loue that kept out the cold of feare finally by their persons who 〈◊〉 him aliue and dead and aliue againe and by the horrible persecutiâ—… by their successors after their death and by the euer conquered to 〈◊〉 â—…conquerable tortures of the Martires the Gospell was diffused 〈◊〉 all the habitable world GOD going with it in Miracles in vertues and 〈◊〉 of the Holy Ghost in so much that the nations beleeuing in him who 〈◊〉 for their Redemption in christian loue did hold the bloud of those Martires in reuerence which before they had shed in barbarousnesse and the Kings whose edicts afflicted the church came humbly to be warriours vnder that banner which they cruelly before had sought vtterly to abolish beginning now to persecute the false gods for whom before they had persecuted the seruants of 〈◊〉 true GOD. That the Church is confirmed euen by the schismes of Heresies CHAP. 51. NOw the deuill seeing his Temples empty al running vnto this Redeemer set heretiques on foote to subert Christ in a christiaÌ„ vizar as if there were yâ— allowance for them in the heauenly Ierusalem which their was for contrariety of Philosophers in the deuills BabiloÌ„ Such therfore as in the church of God do distast any thing and a being checked aduised to beware do obstinately oppose themselues against good instructions and rather defend their abhominations then discard them those become Heretikes and going forth of Gods House are to be held as our most eager enemies yet they doe the members of the Catholike Church this good that their fall maketh them take better hold vpon God who vseth euill to a good end and worketh all for the good of those that loue him So then the churches enemies whatsoeuer if they haue the power to impose corporall afflictioÌ„ they exercise her patience
the fire falling from heauen and deuouring them imply the last torments of the wicked 13. Whether it bee a thousand yeares vntill the persecution vnder Antechrist 14. Sathan and his followers condemned a recapitulation of the Resurrection and the last iudgement 15. Of the dead whom the sea and death hell shall giue vp to iudgement 16. Of the new Heauen and the new Earth 17. Of the glorification of the church after death for euer 18. Saint Peters doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 19. Saint Pauls words to the Thessalonians Of the manifestation of Antechrist whose times shall immediatly fore-run the day of the LORD 20. Saint Pauls doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 21. Esaias his doctrine concerning the iudgment and resurrection 22. How the Saints shall goe forth to see the paines of the wicked 23. Daniels prophecy of Antichrist of the iudgment and of the kingdome of the Saints 24. Dauids prophecies of the worlds end the last iudgment 25. Malachies prophecy of the iudgement and of such as are to be purged by fire 26. Of the Saints offrings which God shall accept of as in the old time and the years before 27. Of the separation of the good from the bad in the end of the last iudgement 28. Moyses law to be spiritually vnderstood for feare of dangerous error 29. Helias his comming to conuert the Iewes before the iudgment 30. That it is not euident in the Old Testament in such places as say God shall iudge that it shal be in the person of Christ but onely by some of the testimonies where the LORD GOD speaketh FINIS THE TVVENTITH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus Gods iudgements continually effected His last iudgement the proper subiect of this booke following CHAP. 1. BEing now to discourse of the day of GODS last iudgement against the faithlesse and the wicked wee must lay downe holy scriptures first for the foundation of our following structure Which some beleeue not but oppose them with fond and friuolous arguments wresting them either quite vnto another purpose or vtterly denying them to containe any thing diuine For I doe not thinke that man liueth who vnderstanding them as they are spoken and beleeuing that GOD inspired them into sanctified men will not giue his full assent vnto what they auerre but hee must needes professe as much bee he neuer so ashamed or afraid to auouch it or neuer so obstinate that he would conceale it and study to defend mere and knowne falshood against it Wherefore the whole church beleeueth and professeth that Christ is to come from heauen to iudge both the quicke and the dead and this wee call the day of GODS iudgement the last time of all for how many daies this iudgement will hold wee know not but the scripture vseth Daie for Time verie often as none that vseth to reade it but well discerneth it And wee when we speake of this daie doe adde last the last daie because that GOD doth iudge at this present and hath done euer since hee set man forth of paradice and chased our first parents from the tree of life for their offences nay from the time that hee cast out the transgressing Angells whose enuious Prince doth all that hee canne now to ruine the soules of men It is his iudgement that both men and deuills doe liue in such miseries and perturbations in ayre and earth fraught with nothing but euills and errors And if no man had offended it had beene his good iudgement that man and all reasonable creatures had liued in perfect beatitude and eternall coherence with the LORD their GOD. So that he iudgeth not onely men and deuills vnto misery in generall but hee censureth euery perticular soule for the workes it hath performed out of freedome of will For the deuills pray that they may not bee tormented neither doth GOD vniustly either in sparing them or punnishing them And man some-times in publike but continually in secret feeleth the hand of Almightie GOD punnishing him for his trespasses and misdeedes either in this life or in the next though no man canne doe well without the helpe of GOD nor any diuill can doe hurt without his iust permission For as the Apostle sayth Is there vnrighteousnesse in GOD GOD forbid and in another place Vnsearcheable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out I intend not therefore in this booke to meddle with Gods ordinary daylie iudgements or with those at first but with that great and last Iudgement of his by his gratious permission when CHRIST shall come from heauen To iudge both the quicke and the dead for that is properly called the Iudgement-day because a there shal bee no place for ignorant complaint vpon the happinesse of the bad and the misery of the good The true and perfect felicity in that day shal be assured onely to the good and eternall torment shall then shew it selfe as an euerlasting inheritance onely for the euill L. VIVES THere a shal be no place for In this life many men stumble at the good fortunes and prosperity of the badde and the sad misfortunes of the good They that know not that fortunes goods are no goods at all as the wicked doe beleeue they are doe wonder at this But indeede the wicked neuer enioy true good nor doth true euill euer befall the good For the names of goods and euills that are giuen to those things that these men admire are in farre other respect then they are aware of and that makes their fond iudgements condemne the ordering of things But at the last Iudgement of CHRIST where the truth of good and bad shall appeare then shall good fall onely to the righteous and bad to the wicked and this shal be there vniuersally acknowledged The change of humane estates ordered by Gods vnsearcheable iudgements CHAP. 2. BVt here on earth the euills endured by the good men instruct vs to endure them with pacience and the goods enioyed by the wicked aduise vs not to affect them with immoderation Thus in the things where GODS iudgements are not to bee discouered his counsell is not to bee neglected Wee know not why GOD maketh this bad man ritch and that good man poore that hee should haue ioy whose deserts wee hold worthier of paines and hee paynes whose good life wee imagine to merite content that the Iudges corruption or testimonies falsenesse should send the innocent away condemned much more vn-cleared and the iniurious foe should depart reuenged much more vnpunished that the wicked man should liue sound 〈◊〉 the Godly lie bedde-ridde that lusty youthes should turne theeues and those that neuer did hurt in worde bee plagued with extremity of sicknesse That silly infantes of good vse in the world should bee cut off by vntimeâ—… 〈◊〉 while they that seeme vnworthie euer to haue beene borne attaine long 〈◊〉 happie life that the guilty should be honoured and the Godlie
the meanes alone to him who concealeth the plainest workes of nature from our apprehensions Esaias his doctrine concerning the iudgement and the resurrection CHAP. 21. THe dead saith the prophet Esaias shall arise againe and they shall arise againe that were in the graues and all they shal be glad that are in the earth for the Dew that is from thee is health to them and the Land or earth of the wicked shall fall All this belongs to the resurrection And whereas he saith the land of the wicked shall fall that is to bee vnderstood by their bodies which shal be ruined by damnation But now if wee looke well into the resurrection of the Saints these wordes The dead shall arise againe belong to the first resurrection and these they shall arise againe that were in the graues vnto the second And as for those holie ones whom CHRIST shall meete in their flesh this is fittely pertinent vnto them All they shal be glad that are in the earth for the dewe that is from thee is health vnto them By health in this place is meant immortality for that is the best health and needes no daiely refection to preserue it The same prophet also speaketh of the iudgement both to the comfort of the Godly and the terror of the wicked Thus saith the Lord Behold I will incline vnto them as a floud of peace and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing streame Then shal yee suck yee shal be borne vpon her shoulders and be ioyfull vpon her knees As one whom his mother comforteth so will I comfort you and yee shal be comforted in Ierusalem And when yee see this your hearts shall reioyce and your bones shal flourish as an herbe and the hand of the Lord shal be knowne vnto his seruants and his indignation against his enemies For be hold the Lord will come with fire and his chariots like a whirle-winde that hee may recompence his anger with wrath and his indignation with a flame of fire for the LORD will iudge with fyre and with his sword all flesh and the slaine of the LORD shal be many Thus you heare as touching his promises to the good hee inclineth to them like a floud of peace that is in all peacefull abundance and such shall our soules bee watred withall at the worldes end but of this in the last booke before This hee extendeth vnto them to whom hee promiseth such blisse that wee may conceiue that this floud of beatitude doth sufficently bedewe all the whole region of Heauen where we are to dwell But because he bestoweth the peace of incorruption vpon corruptible bodies therefore hee saith he will incline as if hee came downe-wards from aboue to make man-kinde equall with the Angells By Ierusalem wee vnderstand not her that serueth with her children but our free mother as the Apostle saith which is eternall and aboue where after the shockes of all our sorrowes bee passed wee shall bee conforted and rest like infants in her glorious armes and on her knees Then shall our rude ignorance bee inuested in that vn-accustomed blessednesse then-shall wee see this and our heart shall reioyce what shall wee see it is not set downe But what is it but GOD that so the Gospell might bee fulfilled Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see GOD. And all that blisse which wee now beleeue but like fraile-men in farre lesse measure then it is wee shall then behold and see Here wee hope there wee shall enioye But least wee should imagine that those causes of ioye concerned onelie the spirit hee addeth And your bones shall flourish as an herbe Here is a plaine touch at the resurrection relating as it were what hee had omitted These things shall not bee done euen then when wee doe see them but when they are already come to passe then shall wee see them For hee had spoken before of the new heauen and earth in his relations of the promises that were in the end to bee performed to the Saints saying I will create new Heauens and a new Earth and the former shall not hee remembered nor come into minde but bee you glad and reioyce therein for behold I will create Ierusalem as a reioycing and her people as a ioye and I will reioyce in Ierusalem and ioye in my people and the voice of weeping shal be heard no more in her nor the voice of crying c. This now some applie to the proofe of Chiliasme because that the Prophets manner is to mingle tropes with truthes to excercise the Reader in a fitte inquest of their spirituall meanings but carnall sloath contents it selfe with the litterall sence onely and neuer seekes further Thus farre of the Prophets wordes before that hee wrote what wee haue in hand now for-ward againe And your bones shall flourish like 〈◊〉 herbe that hee meaneth onelie the resurrection of the Saintes in this his addition prooues And the hand of the LORD shal bee knowne amongst his seruantes What is this but his hand distinguishing his seruants from such as scorne him of those it followeth And his indignation against his enemies or as another interprets it a against the vnfaithfull This is no threatning but the effect of all his threatnings For behold saith hee the LORD will come with fire and his chariots like a whirle-winde that hee may recompence his anger with wrath and his indignation with a flame of fire For the LORD will iudge with fire and with his sword all flesh and the slaine of the LORD shal bee many whither they perish by fire or sword or whirle-winde all denounce but the paine of the Iudgement for hee saith that GOD shall come as a whirle-winde that is vnto such as his comming shal be penall vnto Againe his chariots beeing spoke in the plurall imploy his ministring Angells But whereas hee saith that all flesh shal bee iudged by this fyre and sword wee doe except the Saints and imply it onelie to those which minde earthlie things and such minding is deadlie and such as those of whome GOD saith My spirit shall not alwaie striue with man because hee is but flesh But these words The slaine or wounded of the LORD shal bee many this implieth the second death The fire the sword and the stroke may all bee vnderstood in a good sence for GOD hath sayd hee would send fyre into the world And the Holie Ghost descended in the shape of fiery tongues Againe I came not saith CHRIST to send peace but the sworde And the scripture calls GODS Word a two edged sworde because of the two Testaments Besides the church in the Canticles saith that shee is wounded with loue euen as shotte with the force of loue So that this is plaine and so is this that wee read that the LORD shall come as a Reuenger c. So then the Prophet proceedes with the destruction of the wicked vnder the types of such as in the olde law forbare
come vnlesse there were some who although they haue no remission in this yet might haue it in the world to come But when it shal be said of the Iudge of the quick and the dead Come yee blessed of my father possesse the Kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world and to others on the contrary Depart from me yee curssed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the deuill and his angells it were too much presumption to say that any of them should escape euerlasting punishment whom the Lord hath condemned to eternall torments so goe about by the perswasion of this presumption either also to despaire or doubt of eternall life Let no man therefore so vnderstand the Psalmist when he saith Will God forget to haue mercy or will he shut vp his louing kindnesse in displeasure that hee suppose that the sentence of GOD is true concerning the good false concerning the wicked or that it is true concerning good men and euill angells but concerning euill men to be false For that which is recorded in the Psalme belongeth to the vessells of mercy and to the sonnes of the promise of which the Prophet himselfe was one who when he had sayd Will God forget to haue mercy will he shut vp his louing kindnesse in displeasure straigth-way addeth And I sayd it is mine owne infirmity I will remember the yeares 〈◊〉 the right hand of the highest Verely hee hath declared what hee meant by these words Will the LORD shut vp his louing kindnesse in displeasure For truely this mortall life is the displeasure of God wherein man is made like vnto vanity and 〈◊〉 daies passe away like a shadow In which displeasure neuerthelesse GOD will not forget to bee gratious by causing his sunne to shine vpon the good and the euill and the 〈◊〉 to fall vpon the iust and vniust and so he doth not shut vp his louing kindnes in displeasure and especially in that which the psalme expresseth here saying I will remember the yeares of the right hand of the highest because in this most miserable life which is the displeasure of God he changeth the vessells of mercy into a better state although as yet his displeasure remaineth in the misery of this corruption because he doth not shut vp his mercies in his displeasure When as therefore the verity of this diuine song may be fulfilled in this manner it is not necessary that it should bee vnderstood of that place where they which pertaine not to the Citty of GOD shal be punished with euerlasting punishment But 〈◊〉 which please to stretch this sentence euen to the torments of the damned at least let them so vnderstand it that the displeasure of GOD remayning in them which is due to eternall punishment yet neuerthelesse that God doth not shut vp his louing kindnesse in this his heauy displeasure and causeth them not to 〈◊〉 tormented with such rigor of punishments as they haue deserued Yet not 〈◊〉 that they may b escape or at any time haue an end of those punishâ—… but that they shal be more easie then they haue deserued For so both 〈◊〉 â—…tch of GOD shall remaine and hee shall not shut vppe his louing â—…dnesse in his displeasure But I doe not confirme this thing because I doe 〈◊〉 contradict it 〈◊〉 not onely I but the sacred and diuine Scripture doth reproue and conuince them most plainely and fullie which thinke that to bee spoken rather by the way of threatning then truely when it is said Depart from mee yee wicked into â—…sting fire and also They shall goe into euerlasting punnishment and their 〈◊〉 shall not die and the fire shall not bee extinguished c. For the Niniuites 〈◊〉 fruitfull repentance in this life as in the field in which GOD would haue that to bee sowne with teares which should after-ward bee reaped with ioye And yet who will deny that to bee fulfiled in them which the LORD had spoken before vnlesse hee cannot well perceiue that the Lord doth not onely ouerthrow sinners in his anger but likewise in his mercy for sinners are confounded by two manner of waies either as the Sodomits that men suffer punishments for their sinnes or as the Niniuits that the sins of men bee destroied by repenting For Niniuy is destroied which was euill and good Niniuy is built which was not For the walls and houses standing stil the Citty is ouerthrowne in her wicked 〈◊〉 And so though the Prophet was grieued because that came not to 〈◊〉 which those men feared to come by his propehcy neuerthelesse that was â—…ought to passe which was fore-told by the fore-knowledge of God because 〈◊〉 which had fore-spoken it how it was to be fulfilled in a better manner But that they may know who are mercifull towards an obstinat sinner what that meaneth which is written How great oh LORD is the multitude of thy sweetnesse which thou hast hidden for them that feare thee let them also read that which followeth But thou hast performed it to them which hope in thee For what is Thou 〈◊〉 hidden for them which feare thee Thou hast performed to them which hope in thee but that the righteousnesse of GOD is not sweet vnto them because they know it 〈◊〉 which establish their owne righteousnesse for the feare of punishments which righteousnesse is in the law For they haue not tasted of it For they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 themselues not in him and therefore the multitude of the sweetnesse of GOD 〈◊〉 hidden vnto them for truely they feare GOD but with that seruile 〈◊〉 which is not in loue because perfect loue casteth away feare Therefore hee performeth his sweetnesse to them which hope in him by inspiring his loue into them that when they glory with chaste feare not in that which loue casteth away but which remaineth for euer and euer they may glory in the LORD For Christ is the righteousnesse of God Who vnto vs of GOD as the Apostle saith is made wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption That 〈◊〉 it is written Let him which reioyceth reioyce in the LORD They which will establish their owne righteousnesse know not this righteousnesse which grace doth giue without merrits and therefore they are not subiect to the righteousnesse of GOD which is CHRIST In which righteousnesse there is great aâ—… 〈◊〉 of the sweetnesse of GOD wherefore it is sayd in the Psalme Taste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how sweet the Lord is And wee truely hauing a taste and not our fill of it in this 〈◊〉 pilgrimage doe rather hunger and thirst after it that wee may bee saâ—… 〈◊〉 it afterward when we see him as he is and that shal be fulfilled which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shal be satisfied when thy glory shal be manifested So CHRIST efâ—… abundance of his sweetnesse to those which hope in him But if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sweetnesse which they thinke to bee theirs for them which feare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not
many errors and terrors Of the seauenth chance d For if there were any reason A fit kinde of argument by repugnance which taking away the adiunct takes the subiect away also Tully mentions it in his Topikes How it was a iudgement of God that the enemie was permitted to excercise his lust vpon the Christian bodies CHAP. 27. IF you aske me now why these outrages were thus permitted I answere the prouidence of the creator gouernor of the world is high and his iudgements are vnsearchable a and his waies past finding out But aske your owne hearts sincerely whether you haue boasted in this good of continency and chastity or no whether you haue not affected humane commendations for it and so thereby haue enuied it in others I doe not accuse you of that whereof I am ignorant nor doe I know what answere your hearts will returne you vnto this question But if they answere affirmatiuely and say you haue done so then wonder not at all b that you haue now lost that whereby you did but seeke and c reioyce to please the eyes of mortall men and that you lost not that which could not bee shewed vnto men If you consented not vnto the others luxury your soules had the helpe of Gods grace to keepe them from losse and likewise felt the disgrace of humane glory to deterre them from the loue of it But your faint hearts are comforted on both sides on this side being approoued and on that side chastised iustified on this and reformed on the other But their hearts that giue them answere that they neuer gloried in the guift of virginity viduall chastity or continence in marriage but d sorting themselues with the meanest did e with a reuerend feare reioyce in this guift of God nor euer repined at the like excellence of sanctity and purity in others but neglecting the ayre of humane fame which alwaies is wont to accrew according to the rarity of the vertue that deserues it did wish rather to haue their number multiplied then by reason of their fewnesse to become more eminent Let not those that are such if the Barbarians Iust haue seized vpon some of them f alledge that this is meerely permitted nor let them thinke that God neglecteth these things because he some-times permitteth that which no man euer committeth vnpunished for some as weights of sinne and euill desires are let downe by a prâ—…sent and secret iudgement and some are reserued to that publique and vniuersall last iudgement And perhaps those who knew themselues vnguâ—…e and that neuer had their hearts puffed vppe with the good of this chastity and yet had their bodies thus abused by the enemie had notwithstanding some infirmity lurking within them which g if they had escaped this humiliation by the warres fury might haue increased vnto a fastidious pride Wherefore h as some were taken away by death least wickednesse should alter their vnderstandings so these here were forced to forgoe i some-thing least excesse of prosperitie should haue depraued their vertuous modestie And therefore from neither sort either of those that were proud in that their bodies were pure from all vncleane touch of others or that might haue growne proud if they had escaped the rape done by their foes from neither of these is their chastitie taken away but vnto them both is humilitie perwaded The vaine-glory which is k immanent in the one and imminent ouer the other was excluded in them both Though this is not to bee ouer-passed with silence that some that endured these violences might perhaps thinke that continencie is but a bodily good remaining as long as the body remaines vntouched but that it is not soly placed in the strength of the grace-assisted will which sanctifies both body and soule nor that it is a good that cannot be lost against ones will which error this affliction brought them to vnderstand for it they consider with what conscience they honor God and do with an vnmooued faith beleeue this of him that hee will not nay cannot any way forsake such as thus and thus do serue him and inuocate his name and do not doubt of the great acceptation which he vouchsafeth vnto chastitie Then must they neede perceiue that it followes necessarily that he would neuer suffer this to fall vpon his Saints if that by this meanes they should be despoiled of that sanctimonie which hee so much affecteth in them and infuseth into them L. VIVES ANd a his wayes the vulgar Rom. 12. 35. reades inuestigabiles for the direct contrarie minimè inuestigabiles Inuestigabilis is that which is found inuestigando with searching out But the wayes of the Lord cannot be found out by humaine vnderstanding The Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imperuestigabiles vnsearchable b That you lost that that you lost your fame and faire report and yet lost not your chastitie c Reioyced to please that is louingly desired d But sorting themselues with the meanest Rom. 12. 16. Bee not high minded but make your selues equall with them of the lower sort 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the originall verbally translated humilibus abducti e With reuerend feare Psalm 2. 11. Serue the Lord with feare or reioyce with trembling f Alledge we interprete not causari as the Philosophers doe in the Schooles in causa esse to be the cause but causam proferre to alledge as cause as Uirgill doth saying Causando nostros in longum ducis amores With allegations thou prolongs our loues g If they had escaped this humiliation Augustine here vseth humilitas for humiliatio I thinke which is a deiecting of a man by some calamitie Vnlesse that some will reade it thus Which if they had escaped the humility of this warres furie might haue blowne them vp into fastidious pride h As some were taken away The wordes are in the fourth of the booke of Wisdome the eleuenth verse and are spoken of Henoch but they are not here to bee vnderstood as spoken of him for hee was taken vp in his life vnto the Lord but of others who after their death were taken vp to God for the same cause that Henoch was before his death i Some thing what that something was modest shame prohibiteth to speake k Immanent in the one not as the Grammarians take it namely for vncontinuing or transitorie but immanens quasi intùs manens inherent ingrafted or staying within Augustine vseth it for to expresse the figure of Agnomination or Paranamasia which is in the two words immanent imminent which figure he vseth in many other places What the seruants of Christ may answer the Inâ—…dels when they vpbrayde them with Christs not deliuering them in their afflictions from the furie of their enemies furie CHAP. 28. VVHerefore all the seruants of the great and true God haue a comfort that 's firme and fixed not placed vpon fraile foundations of momentary and transitorie things and so they passe this temporall life in such manner as they
VIVES MErcury a There were fiue Mercuries Cicero The first sonne to Caelus and Dies the second to Valens and Pheronis this is he that is vnder the carth calleth otherwise Tryphonius third sonne to Ioue and Maia fourth father to Nilus him the Egiptian held it sacriledge to name 5. Hee that the Pheneates worshipped hee killed Argus they say and therefore gouerned Egipt and taught the Egiptians lawes and letters They call him Theut Thus farre Tully Theut is named by Plato in his Phaedon and Euseb. de praeparat Euang. lib. 1. who saith the Egiptians called him Thoyth the Alexandrians Thot the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that he first taught letters and looked into the secrets of Theology Diodorus saith hee first inuented spelling of words and giuing of names to things as also rites and ceremonies Lib. 1. for the wordes Horace dâ—… testifie it out of Alcaeus and therefore the Egiptians thought him the inuentor and god of languages calling him the interpreter of God and men both because hee brought religion as it were from the gods to men and also because the speech and praier passeth from men to the gods with which is no commerce Thence comes Aristides his fable there was no commerce nor concord between man and man vntill Mercury had sprinkled them with language and the inuenting of letters missiue was a fit occasion to make them thinke that hee was a god hauing power by their secrecy to dispatch things with such celerity b The speech onely Mercury they say is the power of speech and is faigned to bee straight seeing the tongue runnes so smoothe but in a set speech some will haue a solar vertue which is Mercury others a Lunary that is Hecate other a power vniuersall called Herâ—…is Porph Physiologus One of the causes of his beeing named Cyllenius is saith Festus Pâ—…s because the tongue doth all without hands and them that want handes are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though this is a name common to all lame persons Others hold that he had it from some place c Mercurius quasi Of Merx marchandise saith Festus and I thinke truely it comes of Mercor to buy or sell whence our word Merchant also commeth d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to interprete This it is to be the gods messenger not to interprete their sayings but faithfully to discharge their commaunds which the speech can doe transferring things from soule to soule which nought but speech can doe and since soules were taken for gods thence was hee counted the gods interpreter Plato in Cratylo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They that doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he that is speake wee iustly call Ironies But now hauing gotten as wee thinke a better word wee call it Hermes Iris also may bee deriued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speake for shee is a messenger also Hee that dealeth in any other mans affaire is called an interpreter a meane and an arbitrator Ser. in Aeneid 4. and Cicero in diuers places Urigil also In Dido's words to Iuno the meane of attonement betweene her and Aeneas saith thus Tu harum interpres curarum et conscia Iuno Thou Iuno art the meane and knowes my grieues e Lord of Merchants Without language farewell traffique Diodorus saith that some 〈◊〉 Mercury to haue found out weights and measures and the way to gaine by trading There is a Greeke prouerbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common gaine f Winged His feete wings are called Zalaria in Homere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had head-wings also behind each of his eares Apuleius Apologus his wings were aboue his hat as he saith in Plautus his Amphitruo I weare these fethers in my hat Beroald Sueton in August g Messenger Diodor. Sicul. lib. 6. Acron in Horat. Car. lib. 1. Of certaine starres that the Pagans call their gods CHAP. 15. PErhaps these a starres are their gods that they call by their gods names For one they call Mercury another Mars nay and there is one Ioue also though all the world be but Ioue So is there a Saturne yet Saturne hath no small place besides beeing the ruler of all seede But then there is the brightest of all Venus though they will needes make her b the Moone also though she and Iuno contend as much for that glorious star in their opinion as they did for the c golden apple For some say that Lucifer is Venus others Iuno but Venus as she doth euer gets it from Iuno For many more cal it Venus then Iuno there are few or none of the later opinioÌ„ But who wil not laugh to haue Ioue named the King of gods and yet see Venus haue a farre brighter starre then his His fulgor should haue beene as super-eminent as his power but it seemes lesse they reply and hirs more because one is nearer the earth then another Why but if the highest place deserue the honour why hath not Saturne the grace from Iupiter Oâ—… could not the vanity that made Ioue King mount so high as the starres So thâ—… Saturne obtaineth that in heauen which hee could neither attaine d in his Kingdome nor in the Capitoll But why hath not Ianus a starre aswell as Ioâ—… beeing all the world and comprehending all as well as e Ioue Did hee fall to composition for feare of law and for one star in heauen was content to take many faces vpon earth And if two starres onely made them count Mars and Mercury for deities being notwithstanding nothing but speech and warre no parts of the world but acts of men why hath not Aries Taurus Cancer Scorpio c. thâ—… are in the f highest heauen and haue more g certaine motions why haâ—… not they Temples Altars and sacrifices nor any place either amongst the popular gods or the selected L. VIVES THese starres Plato saith that the Greekes and many Barbarians whilom vsed to adâ—… no gods but the Sunne Moone and Starres calling them naturall gods as Beritius wrot to Sanchaniates affirming that of the ancient men the Phaenicians and Egiptians first began to erect temples and sacrifices for their friends and benefactors naming them by the stars namâ—… one Heauen another Saturne a third the Sun and so forth Thus far Plato Doubtlesse the gods themselues being cunning Astrologians either gaue themselues those names or such as held those great powers of theirs to be in the stars gaue the Inuentors of star-skil those names For the star Mercury they say maketh men witty eloquent and fitting to the planet hee is ioyned with and Seneca liketh this cause of his name of the gods interpretor For with Iupiter and the Sun he is good with Mars and Mercury maleuolent Mars is violent a war-breeder as Porphyry saith the Lo of wrath because of firy ardor ariseth fury and warre Hence is the Stoikes Theology referring all the gods natures to the worlds and consequently so obscure that the truth is not possibly to be
nor must we at all beleeue what Apuleius would haue vs and others with him that the Daemones are so placed betweene the gods and men that they beare vp mens prayers and bring downe the gods helpes but that they are spirits most thirstie of mischiefe wholy vniust proud enuious treacherous a inhabiting the ayre in deed as thrust out of the glorious heauen for their vnpardonable guilt and condemned eternally to that prison Nor are they aboue man in merite because ayre is aboue earth for men doe easily excell them not in quality of body but in the faith and fauour of the true God Indeed they rule ouer many that are not worthy of the perticipation of gods truth such are their subiects wonne to them by false myracles and by illusions perswading them that they are gods But others that looked more narrowly into them and their qualities would not beleeue this that they were gods onely they gott this place in their opinion to be held the gods messengers and bringers of mens good fortunes Yet those that held them not gods would not giue them the honor of gods because they saw them euill and held all gods to be good yet durst they not denie them all diuine honors for feare of offending the people whose inueterate superstition preserued them in so many temples altars and sacrifices L. VIVES INhabiting a the ayre The olde writers placed all their fable of hell in the ayre and there was 〈◊〉 Proserpina the Manâ—…s and the Furies Capella Chalcâ—… saith the ayre was iustly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 darke Peter also and Iude affirme that the deuills 〈◊〉 bound in darknesse in the ayre some in the lowest parts of the earth Empedocles in Plâ—… 〈◊〉 faith that Heauen reiected them earth expels them the sea cannot abide them thus are they â—…ed by being tossed from place to place Hermes Trismegistus his opinion of Idolatrie and how he might come to know that the Egiptian superstitions were to be abrogated CHAP. 23. FOr Hermes a the Aegiptian called Trismegistus wrote contrary to these Aâ—… indeed holds them no gods but middle agents betweene gods and men that being so necessary he conioynes their adoration with the diuine worship But Trismegistus saith that the high God made some gods and men other some These words as I write them may bee vnderstood of Images because they are the workes of men But he calleth visible and palpable bodies the bodyes of the gods wherein are spirits inuited in thereto that haue power to hurt or pleasure such as giue them diuine honors So then to combine such a spirit inuisible by arts vnto a visible image of some certaine substance which it must vse as the soule doth the body this is to make a god saith hee and this wonderfull power of making gods is in the hands of man His b words are these And whereas 〈◊〉 discourse saith he concernes the affinitie betweene gods and men marke Asclepius this power of man Our God the Lord and Father is the creator of the celestiall gods so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the terrestriall which are in the temples And a little after So doth humanity remember the originall and euer striueth to imitate the deity making gods like the oâ—…ne Image as God the father hath done like his Do you meane statues replied Asclepius statues quoth he doe you not see them animate full of spirits and sence d trust your eyes doing such wonders see you not statues that presage future euents farre perhaps e beyond all propheticall inspiration to fore-tell that cure diseases and câ—…se them giuing men mirth or sadnesse as they deserue Know you not Asclepius thâ—…t Egâ—…pt 〈◊〉 heauens Image or rather the place whereinto all the celestiall graces desâ—…end the very temple of the whole world And since wisdome should fore-know all I 〈◊〉 not haue you ignorant herein The time shall come that all the zeale of Egipt shall be â—…gated and all the religious obseruations held idle and vaine Then goeth hee forward prophecying by all likelyhood of christianity whose true sanctitie is the â—…tter subuersion of all fictions and superstitions that the Sauiours true grace might free vs from those humaine gods those handy-workes of man and place vs to gods seruice mans maker But Hermes presageth these things as the deuills confederate suppressing the euidence of the Christian name and yet fore-telling with a sorrowfull intimation that from it should proceed the wracke of all their Idolatrous superstitions for Hermes was one of those who as the Apostle saith Kâ—…ing GOD glorified him not as GOD nor were thankfull but became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish heart was full of darkenesse when they professed them-selues wise they became fooles For they turned the glory of the incorruptible God into the symilitude of the Image of a corruptible man and byrdes and foore-footed beasts and Serpents f For this Hermes saith much of God according to truth But how blindnesse of heart drawes him to affirme this I know not that these gods should bee alwayes subiect whome man hath made and yet to bewaile their abrogations to come As if man could bee more miserable any way then in liuing slaue to his owne handy-worke g it being easier for him to put off all humanitie in adoring these peeces hee hath made then for them to put on deity by being made by him For it comes ofteneâ—… to passe that a man being set in honor be not vnderstood to bee like to the beasts then that his handy-worke should bee preferred before the worke that God made like his owne Image to wit mans selfe Worthily then doth hee fall from his grace that made him that maketh that his Lord which he hath made himselfe Those vaine deceitfull pernicious sacriledges Hermes foreseeing should perish deploreth but as impudently as hee had knowne it foolishly For the spirit of GOD had not spoken to him as it did to the Prophets that spoke this with gladnesse If a man make gods behold they are no gods and in another place At that day saith the LORD I will take the names of their Idols from the earth and there shal be no remembrance thereof And to the purpose of Egipt heare Isaias The Idols of Egipt shal be mooued at his presence and the heart of Egipt shall melt in the midst of her and so forward Such were they also that reioyced for the fulfilling h of that which they knew should come to passe as Simeon Anna and Elizabeth the first knowing Christ at his birth the second at his conception and i Peter that by Gods inspiration sayd Thou art that Christ the Sonne of the liuing GOD. But Hermes had his knowledge from those deuills that trembling in the flesh sayd to Christ Why art thou come to vndoe vs before the time Either k because that came suddenly vpon them which they expected not vntill afterwards or that they called it their vndoing to bee knowne and so despised and this was
the gods and â—…her proper vnto man they must need hold nearer correspondence with gods tâ—… men For if it were otherwise their two attributes should communicate with one vpon either side not with two vpon one side as a man is in the midst beâ—…ne a beast and an Angel a beast beeing vnreasonable and mortall an Angell â—…sonable and immortall a man mortall and reasonable holding the first with a 〈◊〉 the second with an Angell and so stands meane vnder Angels aboue 〈◊〉 Euen so in seeking a mediety betweene immortality blessed and moâ—…lity wretched wee must eyther finde mortality blessed or immortality â—…ched L. VIVES Bâ—… a Gods prouidence So Plato affirmeth often that the great father both created and â—…ed all the world Now hee should doe vniustice in afflicting an innocent with eterâ—…â—…ery for temporall affliction vppon a good man is to a good end that his reward may â—…ee the greater and hee more happy by suffering so much for eternall happynesse Whether mortall men may attaine true happpnesse CHAP. 14. 〈◊〉 great question whether a man may be both mortall and happy some a â—…ering their estate with humility affirmed that in this life man could not â—…y others extolled them-selues and auouched that a wise man was happy 〈◊〉 it bee so why are not they made the meanes betweene the immortally â—…nd the mortally wretched Hold their beatitude of the first and their morâ—… the later Truly if they be blessed they enuy no man For b what is more â—…ed then enuy And therefore they shall do their best in giuing wretched 〈◊〉 good councell to beatitude that they may become immortall after death 〈◊〉 ioyned in fellowship with the eternall blessed Angels L. VIVES Sâ—… a considering Solon of Athens held none could be happy til death Plato excepted a 〈◊〉 But Solon grounded vpon the vncertaine fate of man For who could say Pryam was 〈◊〉 before the warre being to suffer the misery of a tenne yeares siege Or Craesus in all â—…h being to be brought by Cyrus to bee burnt at a stake Now Plato respected the â—…ty of attayning that diuine knowledge in this life which makes vs blessed b VVhat 〈◊〉 is all the good that enuy hath that it afflicteth those extreamely that vse it most as 〈◊〉 â—…eeke author saith Of the Mediator of god and man the man Christ Iesus CHAP. 15. 〈◊〉 if that bee true which is farre more probable that all men of necessity 〈◊〉 bee a miserable whilest they are mortall then must a meane be found 〈◊〉 is God as well as man who by the mediation of his blessed mortality may 〈◊〉 vs out of this mortall misery vnto that immortall happynesse And 〈◊〉 meane must bee borne mortall but not continue so He became mortall not by any weakening of his Deity but by taking on him this our fraile flesh he remained not mortall because hee raized him-selfe vp from death for the fruit of his mediation is to free those whom he is mediator for from the eternall death of the flesh So then it was necessary for the mediator betweene God and vs to haue a temporall mortality and an eternall beatitude to haue correspondence with mortals by the first and to transferre them by eternity to the second Wherefore the good Angels cannot haue this place beeing immortall and blessed The euill may as hauing their immortality and our misery And to these is the good mediator opposed beeing mortall for a while and blessed for euer against their immortall misery And so these proud immortals and hurtfull wretches least by the boast of their immortality they should draw men to misery hath hee by his humble death and bountifull beaitude expelled from swaying of all such hearts as he hath pleased to cleanse and illuminate by faith in him what mean the shal a wretched mortall far seperate from the blessed immortals choose to attain their societies The diuels immortality is miserable But Christs mortality hath nothing vndelectable There we had need beware of eternall wretchednesse heere we need not feare the death which cannot be eternal and we cannot but loue the happines which is eternal for the me an that is immortally wretched aimes al at keeping vs froÌ„ immortal beatitude by persisting in the contrary misery but the mean that is mortal blessed intends after our mortality to make vs immortal as he shewewed in his resurrection and of wretches to make vs blessed with he neuer wanted So that ther is an euill meane that seperateth friends and a good that reconciles them of the first sort b is many because the blessednes that the other multitude attaineth comes al froÌ„ participating of one God wherof the miserable multitude of euil Angels being c depriued with rather are opposite to hinder then interposed to further doth al that in it lieth to withdraw vs from that only one way that leadeth to this blessed good namely the word of God not made but the maker of al yet is he no mediator as he is the word for so is hee most blessed and immortal farre from vs miserable men But as he is man therein making it plaine that to the attainment of this blessed and blessing good we must vse no other mediators wherby to work God him-selfe blessed and blessing al hauing graced our humanity with participation of his deity for when hee freeth vs from misery and mortality he doth not make vs happy by participation of blessed Angels but of yâ— trinity in whose participation the Angels themselues ar blessed and therfore d when he was below the Angels in forme of a seruant then we also aboue them in forme of a god being the same way of life below and life it selfe aboue L. VIVES BE a miserable Homer cals men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is miserable and so do the Latines b Is many Vertue is simple and singular nor is there many waies to it Vice is confused and infinite paths there are vnto it Arist. Ethic. So the diuels haue many wayes to draw a man from God but the Angels but one to draw him vnto him by Christ the Mediator c Depriued As darkenesse is the priuation of light so is misery of beatitude But not contrarywise d When he was Plin. 2. Who being in the forme GOD thought it no robbâ—… to be equall with GOD but made him-selfe of no reputation and took on him the forme of a seruant These are Pauls wordes proouing that though CHRIST were most like to his father yet neuer professed him-selfe his equall here vppon earth unto vs that respected but his manhood Though hee might lawfully haue done it But the LORD of 〈◊〉 puâ—…te on him the forme of a seruant and the high GOD debased him-selfe into one degree with vs that by his likenes to ours he might bring vs to the knowledge of his power essence and so estate vs in eternity before his father and that his humanity might so inuite vs that his
beeing in his hand it is most certaine That is nothing can fall out but he willeth it because he willeth nothing but must fall so out And therefore they that obserue his will obserue the sure cause of all effectes because all effects haue production from his will so that rightly doth Augustine call his will most certaine and most powerfull his power being the cause of his wils certainty This will the Angels and Saints beholding know as much as the proportion of their beatitude permitteth For al of them haue noâ—… the same knowledge but gradually as they haue beatitude as hee saith e Continually Continual is their speculation of God least the least intermission should make them wretched yet doth not the feare of that cause them continue the other but that beatitude doth wholly transport them from the cogitation and desire of all other thinges they inioying all goodnesse in him that is the fountaine of them all That the Pagan Idols are falsely called goddes yet the scripture allowes it to Saints and Angels CHAP. 23. NOw if the Platonists had rather cal these gods theÌ„ Daemones and roâ—…on them amongst those whome the father created as their Maister Platâ—… writâ—…ch let theÌ„ do so we wil haue no verball controuersie with them If they call them immortall and yet Gods creatures made immortall by adherence with him not by themselues they hold with vs call them what they will And the best Platonists if not all haue left records that thus they beleeued for whereas they call such an immortall creature a god wee b contend not with them our scriptures saying The God of gods euen the Lord hath spoken againe Praise yea the God of Gods Againe A great King aboue all gods And in that it is written He is to be feared aboue al gods The sequell explaines it For all the gods of the people are Idols but the Lord made the beaâ—…ens He calleth him ouer al gods to wit the peoples those that the Nations called their gods being Idols therfore is he to be feared aboue them all and in this feare they cryed Art thou come to destroy vs before our time But whereas it is written The God of gods this is not to be vnderstood the God of Idols or diuels and God forbid we should say A great King aboue all Gods in reference to his kingdome ouer diuels but the scripture calleth the men of Gods familie gods I haue said you are gods and al children of the most High of these must the God of gods be vnderstood and ouer these gods is King The great King aboue al gods But now one question If men being of Gods family whom he speaketh vnto by men or Angels be called gods how much more are they to be so called that are immortall inioy that beatitude which men by Gods seruice do aime at We answer that the scripture rather calleth men by the name of gods then those immortall blessed creatures whose likenesse was promised after death because our vnfaithfull infirmity should not be seduced by reason of their super eminence to make vs gods of them which inconuenience in man is soon auoyded And yâ— men of Gods family are the rather called gods to assure them that he is their God that is the God of gods for though the blessed Angels bee called goddes yet they are not called the Gods of Gods yâ— is of those seruants of God of whom it is said You are gods al children of the most High Here-vpon the Apostle saith though ther be that are called gods whether in heauen or in earth as there be many gods and many Lords yet vnto vs there is but one God which is the father of whome are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ by whome are al things and we by him No matter for the name theÌ„ the matter being thus past all scruple But whereas we say from those immortall quires Angels are sent with Gods command vnto men this they dislike as beleeuing that this businesse belongs not to those blessed creatures whom they cal goddes but vnto the Daemones whome they dare not affirme blessed but only immortall or so immortall and blessed as good Daemones are but not as those high gods whom they place so high and so farre from mans infection But though this seeme a verball controuersie the name of a Daemon is so detestable that we may by no meanes attribute it vnto our blessed Angels Thus then let vs end this book Know al that those blessed immortals how euer called yâ— are creatures are no meanes to bring miserable man to beatitude being from them c doubly different Secondly those that pertake immortality with them and miserable for reward of their mallice with vs can rather enuy vs this happines then obtaine it vs therfore the fautors of those Daemones can bring no proofe why wee should honour them as God but rather that we must auoyd them as deceiuers As for those whome they say are good immmortall and blessed calling them goddes and allotâ—…ing them sacrifices for the attainment of beatitude eternall In the next booke by Gods helpe wee will proue that their desire was to giue this honour not to them but vnto that one God through whose power they were created and in whose participation they are blessed LVIVES And a recken Plato saith that that great God the father created all the rest In Timaeo b VVe contend not No man denieth saith Cypryan that there are many gods by participations Boethius calles euery happy man a god but one onely so by nature 〈◊〉 the rest by participation And to vs hath Christ giuen power to be made the sons of God 〈◊〉 Doubtly By from our misery and mortality which two wordes some copies adde vnto the tâ—…xt The sence is all one implied in the one and expressed in the other Finis lib. 9. THE CONTENTS OF THE tenth booke of the City of God 1 That the Platonists themselues held that One oâ—…ly God was the giuer of all beatitude â—…to Men and Angels but the controuersie is whether they that they hold are to be worshipped for this end would haue sacrifices offered to them-selues or resigne all vnto God 2. The opinion of Plotine the Platonist concerâ—…ing the supernaturall illumination 3. Of the true worship of God wherein the Platoâ—…ts failed in worshipping good or euill Angels though they knew the worlds Creator 4. That sacrifice is due onely to the true God 5. Of the sacrifices which God requireth â—…ot and what be requireth in their signification 6. Of the true and perfect sacrifice 7. That the good Angels doe so loue vs that thy desire wee should worship God onely and â—…ot them 8. Of the miracles whereby God hath confirâ—…d his promises in the mindes of the faithfull by the ministry of his holy Angels 9. Of vnlawfull Arts concerning the Deuils worship whereof Porphery approoueth some and dâ—…eth others 10. Of Theurgy that falsely
not This I say is the way that will free all beleeuers wherein Abraham trusting receiued that diuine promise In thy seede shall all the nations bee blessed Abrahamâ—… as a Chaldaean but for to receiue this promise that the seede which was disposed by the Angells in the mediators power to giue this vniuersall way of the soules freedome vnto all nations he was commanded to leaue his owne land and kinred and his fathers house And then was hee first freed from the Chaldaean superstitions and serued the true God to whose promise he firmely trusted This is the way recorded in the Prophet God bee mercifull vnto vs and blesse vs and shew vs the light of his countenance and bee mercifull vnto vs. That thy way may be knowne vpon earth thy sauing health among all nations And long aftâ—…r Abrahams seede beeing incarnate Christ sayth of himselfe I am the way the truth and the life This is the vniuersall way mentioned so long before by the Prophets It shal be in the last daies that the g mountaine of the house of the Lord shal be prepared in the toppe of the mountaines and shal be exalted aboue the hills and all nations shall flie vnto it And many people shall goe and say come let vs goe vppe to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and hee will teach vs his way and wee will walke therein For the lawe shall goe forth of Syon and the word of the LORD from Ierusalem This way therefore is not peculiar to some one nation but common to all Nor did the law and word of God stay in Ierusalem or Syon but come from thence to ouerspread all the world Therevpon the mediator being risen from death sayd vnto his amazed and amated disciples Al things must be fulfilled which are written of mee in the law the Prophets and the Psalmes Then opened hee their vnderstanding that they might vnderstand the scriptures saying thus it behooued CHRIST to suffer and to rise againe from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sinnes should be preached in his name amongst all nations beginning at Ierusalem This then is the vniuersall way of the soules freedome which the Saints and Prophets beeing at first but a fewe as God gaue grace and those all Hebrewes for that estate was in a h manner consecrated did both adumbrate in their temple sacrifice and Priest-hood and fore-told also in their prophecy often mistically and some-times plainely And the Mediator himselfe and his Apostles reuealing the grace of the new testament made plaine all those significations that successe of precedent times had retained as it pleased God the miracls which I spoke of before euermore giuing confirmation to them For they had not onely angelicall visions and saw the ministers of heauen but euen these simple men relying wholy vpon Gods word cast out deuills cured diseases i commanded wild-beasts waters birds trees elements and starres raised the dead I except the miracles peculiar to our Sauiour chiefly in his birth and resurrection shewing in the first the mistery of k maternall virginity and in the other the example of our renouation This way cleanseth euery soule and prepareth a mortall man in euery part of his for immortality For least that which Prophyry calls the intellect should haue one purgation the spirital another and the body another therefore did our true and powerfull Sauiour take all vpon him Besides this way which hath neuer failed man-kinde either l in prophecies or in their m performances no man hath euer had freedome or euer hath or euer shall haue And wheras Porphyry saith he neuer had any historicall notice of this way what history can be more famous then this that lookes from such a towring authority downe vpon all the world or more faithfull since it so relateth things past as it prophecyeth things to come a great part whereof wee see already performed which giueth vs assured hope of the fulfilling of the rest Porphyry nor euer a Platonist in the world can contemne the predictions of this way albee they concerne but temporall affaires as they doe all other prophecies and diuinations of what sort soeuer for them they say they neither are spoken by worthy men nor to any worthy purpose true for they are either drawne from inferiour causes as 〈◊〉 can presage much n concerning health vpon such or such signes or cls the vncleane spirits fore-tell the artes that they haue already disposed of o confirming the mindes of the guilty and wicked with deedes fitting their words or words fitting their deedes to get themselues a domination in mans infirmity But the holy men of this vniuersall way of ours neuer respect the prophecying of those things holding them iustly trifles yet doe they both know them and often fore-tell them to confirme the faith in things beyond sence and hard to present vnto plainnesse But they were other and greater matters which they as God inspired them did prophecy namely the incarnation of Christ and all things thereto belonging and fulfilled in his name repentance and conuersion of the will vnto God remission of sinnes the grace of iustice faith and increase of beleeuers throughout all the world destinction of Idolatry temptation for triall mundifying of the proficients freedom from euill the day of iudgement resurrection damnation of the wicked and glorification of the City of GOD in 〈◊〉 eternall Kingdome These are the prophecies of them of this way many are fullfilled and the rest assuredly are to come That this streight way leading to the knowledge and coherence of GOD lieth plaine in the holy scriptures vpon whose truth it is grounded they that beleeue not and therefore know not may oppose this but can neuer ouerthrow it And therefore in these ten bookes I 〈◊〉 spoken by the good assistance of GOD sufficient in sound iudgements though some expected more against the impious contradictors that preferre 〈◊〉 gods before the founder of the holy citty whereof wee are to dispute The 〈◊〉 fiue of the ten opposed them that adored their gods for temporall respects 〈◊〉 fiue later against those that adored them for the life to come It remaines now according as wee promised in the first booke to proceede in our discourse of the two citties that are confused together in this world and distinct in the other of whose originall progresse and consummation I now enter to dispute eâ—…â—…oking the assistance of the almighty L. VIVES KInges a high or road the Kinges the Prâ—…tors and the Soldiors way the lawes held holy b Indian The Gymnosophists and the Brachmans much recorded for admirable deeds and doctrine c All the world Therfore is our fayth called Catholike because it was not taught to any peculiar nation as the Iewes was but to all mankind excluding none all may be saued by it and none can without it nor hath euery nation herein as they haue in Paganisme a seuerall religion But
freed a-many from it 2. Of the carnall life apparant in the soules viciousnesse as well as the bodies 3. That sinne came from the soule and not the flesh and that the corruption which sinne hath procured is not sinne but the punishment of sinne 4. What it is to liue according to man and to liue according to God 5. That the Platonists teach the natures of soule and bodie better then the Maniches yet they erre in ascribing sinne vnto the nature of the flesh 6. Of the quality of mans will vnto which all affections Good and Bad are subiect 7. That Amor and Dilectio are of indifferent vse in the Scriptures both for Good and Euill 8. Of the three passions that the Stoykes allow a wiseman excluding sadnes as foe to a vertuous mind 9. Of the perturbations of mind which the iust doe moderate and rule aright 10. Whether Man had those perturbations in Paradise before his fall 11. The fall of the first Man wherein Nature was made good and cannot bee repair'd but by the Maker 12. Of the quality of Mans first offence 13. That in Adams offence his Euill will was before his euill woorke 14. Of the pride of the transgressioÌ„ which was worse then the transgression it selfe 15. Of the iust reward that our first parents receiued for sinne 16. Of the euill of lust how the name is geâ—…rall to many vices but proper vnto venereall concupiscence 17. Of the nakednesse that our first parents discouered in themselues after their sinne 18. Of the shame that accompanieth copulation as well in common as in mariage 19. That the motions of wrath and lust are so violent that they doe necessarily require to bee suppressed by wisdome and that they were not 〈◊〉 our Nature before our fall depraued it 20. Of the vaine obscaenity of the Cynikes 21. Of the blessing of multiplication before sinne which the transgression did not abolish but onely linked to lust 22. That God first instituted and blessed the band of marriage 23. Whether if man had not sinned hee should haue begotten children in paradice and whether there should there haue bin any contention betweene chastity and lust 24. That our first parents had they liued without sinne should haue had their members of generation as subiect vnto their wills as any of the rest 25. Of the true beatitude vnattayne ablâ—… 〈◊〉 this life 26. That our first parents in Paradise migâ—… haue produced manking without any shamâ—… appetite 27. That the sinners Angels and men caâ—…not with their peruersenesse disturbe Gods prouidence 28. The state of the two Citties the Heauenly and the Earthly FINIS THE FOVRTEENTH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus That the inobedience of the first man had drawne all mankinde into the perpetuity of the second death but that Gods grace hath freed a many from it CHAP. 1. WE said in our precedent bookes that it was Gods pleasure to propagate all men from one both for the keeping of humaine nature in one sociable similitude and also for to make their vnity of originall be the meanes of their concord in heart Nor should any of this kinde haue dyed but the first two the one whereof was made of the other and the other of nothing had incurred this punishment by their disobedience in committing so great a sinne that their whole nature being hereby depraued was so transfused through all their off-spring in the same degree of corruption and necessity of death whose kingdome here-vpon became so great in man that all should haue beene cast headlong in the second death that hath no end by this due punishment but the vndue a grace of God acquitted some from it whereby it comes to passe that whereas man-kinde is diuided into so many nations distinct in language discipline habite and fashion yet is there but two sorts of men that doe properly make the two citties wee speake of the one is of men that liue according to the flesh and the other of those that liue according to the spirit either in his kinde and when they haue attained their desire either doe liue in their peculiar peace L. VIVES VNdue a grace For God owes no man any thing and therefore it is called grace because it comes gratis freely and because it maketh the receiuer gratum thankfull Who hath giâ—… vnto him first and hee shall be recompensed Rom. 11. 35. If it were due he should not then giue but restore it Not by the workes of righteousnesse which wee haue done but according to his 〈◊〉 hee saued vs. Tit. 3. 5. Of the carnall life apparant in the soules viciousnesse as well as the bodies CHAP. 2. WE must first then see what it is to liue according to the flesh and what according to the spirit The raw and inconsiderate considerer hereof not attending well to the scriptures may thinke that the Epicureans were those that liued according to the flesh because â—…hey made bodily pleasure that summum boâ—… and all such as any way held corporall delight to be mans chiefest good as the vulgar also which not out of Philosophy but out of their owne pronenesse to lust can delight in no pleasures but such as are bodily and sensible but that the Stoickes that placed this summum bonum in the minde liue according to the spirit for what is mans minde but his spirit But the Scriptures prooue them both to follow the courses of the flesh calling the flesh not onely an earthly animate body as it doth saying All flesh is not the same flesh for there is one flesh of men and another flesh of beasts and another of fishes and another of birdes but it vseth the worde in farre other significations amongst which one is that it calleth whole man that is his intire nature flesh vsing the part for the whole as By the workes of the lawe shall no flesh be iustified What meanes hee by no flesh but no man hee explaineth him-selfe immediatly a man is iustified by faith without the workes of the lawe And in another place No man is iustified by the lawe The word was made flesh What is that but man Some misconceiuing this place held that Christ had no humaine soule For as the part is taken for the whole in these words of Mary Magdalene They haue taken away my Lord and I know not where they haue laide him Meaning onely the flesh of Christ which shee thought they had taken out of the Sepulchre so is the part taken for the whole when wee say flesh for Man as in the quotations before Seeing therefore that the Scripture vseth flesh in so many significations too tedious heere to recollect To finde what it is to liue according to the flesh the course being enill when the flesh is not euill let vs looke a little diligently into that place of the Apostle Paul to the Galathians where hee saith The workes of the flesh are
vnder the 〈◊〉 of the b Apostles and m Prophets which were all afterward examined 〈◊〉 â—…ust from canonicall authority But according to the Hebrew canonicall â—…res there is no doubt but that there were Gyants vpon the earth before 〈◊〉 â—…ge and that they were the sonnes of the men of earth and Cittizens of â—…all Citty vnto which the sonnes of God being Seths in the flesh forsakâ—…â—…ice adioyned them-selues Nor is it strange if they begot Gyants They 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all Giants but there were farre more before the deluge then haue 〈◊〉 â—…ce whome it pleased the creator to make that wee might learne that a 〈◊〉 should neither respect hugenesse of body nor fairenesse of face but 〈◊〉 his beatitude out of the vndecaying spirituall and eternall goods that 〈◊〉 â—…iar to the good and not that he shareth with the bad which another 〈◊〉 â—…eth to vs saying There were the Gyants famous from the beginning that 〈◊〉 so great stature and so expert in war These did not the Lord choose neither 〈◊〉 the way of knowledge vnto them but they were destroyed because they 〈◊〉 wisdome and perished through there owne foolishnesse L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a is those That Augustine held that the Angells and Deuills had bodies he that 〈◊〉 â—…th this worke and his bookes de natura daemon de genesi ad literam shall see plainâ—…â—…eld it himselfe and spake it not as an other mans opinion as Peter Lumbard saith 〈◊〉 â—…ke It was his owne nor followed hee any meane authors herein hauing the 〈◊〉 and then Origen Lactantius Basil and almost all the writers of that time on his 〈◊〉 neede saith Michael Psellus de dâ—…monib that the spirits that are made messengers 〈◊〉 â—…ue bodies too as Saint Paul sayth whereby to mooue to stay and to appeare viâ—…â—…nd whereas the Scripture may in 〈◊〉 place call â—…hem incorporeall I answer that is 〈◊〉 of our grosser and more solid bodies in comparison of which the transparent inâ—… bodies are ordinarly called incorporeall Augustine giues the Angels most subtiliatâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…visible actiue and not paâ—…ue and such the Deuills had ere they fell but then 〈◊〉 were condensate and passiue as Psellus holds also b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is Nâ—…ius 〈◊〉 a messenger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Mitto to send and therefore the Angell saith Hierom is 〈◊〉 â—…f nature but of ministery And hereof comes Euangelium called the good message Homer and Tully vnto Atticus vse it often c Angels Turning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into n and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into 〈◊〉 d And seeing Psellus affirmeth out of one Marke a great Daemonist that the deuills câ—…st forth sperme producing diuerse little creatures and that they haue genitories but not like mens from whence the excrement passeth but all deuills haue not such but onely the waâ—…y and the earthly who are also nourished like spunges with attraction of humor e Incubâ—… Oâ—… 〈◊〉 to lye vpon They are diuels that commix with women those that put them-selues vnder men as women are called succubi There are a people at this day that glory that their descent is from the deuills who accompanied with women in mens shapes and with men in womens This in my conceite is viler then to draw a mans pedegree from Pyrates theeues or famous hacksters as many doâ—… The Egiptians say that the Diuells can onely accompanie carnally with women and not with men Yet the Greekes talke of many men that the 〈◊〉 haue loued as Hiacinthus Phorbas and Hippolitus of Sicione by Apollo and Cyparissus by Sylâ—…nus f Yet doe I firmely Lactantius lib. 2. cap. 15. saith that the Angels whome God had appointed to preserue and garde man-kinde being commanded by God to beware of loosing their celestiall and substantiall dignity by earthly pollution not-with-standing were allured by their dayly conuersation with the women to haue carnall action with them and so sinning were kept out of heauen and cast downe to earth and those the deuill tooke vp to bee his agents and officers But those whom they begot being neither pure Angels nor pure men but in a meane betweene both were not cast downe to hell as their parents were not taken vp into heauen and thus became there two kindes of deuills one celestiall and another earthly And these are the authors of all mischiese whose chiefetaine the great Dragon is Thuâ—… saith Eusebius also lib. 5. And Plutarch confirmeth it saying That the fables of the Gods signified some-things that the deuills had done in the old times and that the fables of the Giants and Titans were all acts of the deuills This maketh mee some-times to doubt whether these were those that were done before the deluge of which the scripture saith And when the Angels of God saw the daughters of men c. For some may suspect that those Giants their spirits are they whome ancient Paganisme tooke for their Gods and that their warres were the subiect of those fables of the Gods g For the scriptures Because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both good and faire Terence Phorm Eâ—…ch h Aquila In Adrians time hee turned the Scriptures out of Hebrew into Greeke Hierom calles him a curious and diligent translator and he was the first â—…ter the seauentie that came out in Greeke Euseâ—…ius liketh him not but to our purpose hee râ—…deth it the sonnes of the Gods meaning the holy Gods or Angels for God standing in the congregation of the people and he will iudge the Gods in the midst of it And Symachus following this sence said And when the sonnes of the mighties beheld the daughters of men c. i Apochrypha Sâ—…reta of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to hide They were such bookes as the Church vsed not openly but had them in priuate to read at pleasure as the Reuelation of the Apostle Peter the booke of his Actes c. k Epistle Hierom vpon the first Chapter of Paul to â—…itus â—…aith that Iudâ—… citeth an Apocryphall booke of Henochs Iudes words are these But Michael the Arcâ—…gell when hee stroâ—…e against the deuill and disputed about the body of Moyses durst 〈◊〉 blâ—… him with cursed speaking but said onely The Lord rebuke thee Which Enochâ—…yd â—…yd these words is vncertaine for they doe not seeme to bee his that was the seuenth from Adam For he was long before Moses vnlesse hee spake prophetically of things to come And therefore Hiâ—…rome intimateth that the booke onely whence this was was entitled Enoch l Prophets As the Nâ—…rites counterfeited a worke vnder Hieremiâ—…s name Aug. in Matt. â—…ap 27. m Aâ—… As Thomas his Gospel Peters reuelation and Barnabas his Gospell which was brought 〈◊〉 Alexandria signed with his owne hand in the time of the Emperor Zeno. How the words that God spake of those that were to perish in the deluge and their dayes shall be an hundred and twenty yeares are to bee vnderstood CHAP. 24. BVt whereas God said Their dayes shall be a hundred
Abraham was borne in a part of Chaldaea which belonged a vnto the Empire of the Assyrians And now had superstition got great head in Chaldaea as it had all ouer else so there was but onely the house of Thara Abrahams father that serued God truly and by all likelyhood kept the Hebrew tongue pure though that as Iosuah telleth the Hebrewes as they were Gods euident people in Egipt so in Mesopotamia they fell to Idolatry all Hebers other sonnes becomming other nations or beeing commixt with others Therefore euen as in the deluge of waters Noahs house remained alone to repaire man-kinde so in this deluge of sinne and superstition Thares house onely remained as the place wherein GODS Cittie was planted and kept And euen as before the deluge the generations of all from Adam the number of yeares and the reason of the deluge being all reckoned vp before God began to speake of building the Arke the Scripture saith of Noah These are the generations of Noah euen so here hauing reckoned all from Sem the sonne of Noah downe vnto Abraham hee putteth this to the conclusion as a point of much moment These are the generations of Thara Thara begot Abraham Nachor and Aram And Aram dyed before b his father Thara in the land wherein hee was borne being a part of Chaldaea And Abraham and Nachor tooke them wiues the name of Abrahams wife was Sarah and the name of Nachors wife was Melca the daughter of Aram who was father both to Melca and Iesea whome some hold also to be Sara Abrams wife L. VIVES WHich a belonged For Mela Pliny Strabo and others place Chaldaea in Assyria And 〈◊〉 onely a part of that Assyria which the ancient writers called by the name of Syâ—… 〈◊〉 countrie but of that Assyria also which Strabo calles the Babilonian Assyria 〈◊〉 maketh a difference betweene Syria and Assyria Cyropaed 1. b Before In his faâ—… 〈◊〉 So all interpretours take it Augustine might perhaps vnderstand it before his 〈◊〉 to Charra which is part of Chaldaea Charrah was a citty in Mesopotamia where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 killed Crassus the Romaine generall â—…hy there is no mention of Nachor Tharas sonne in his departure from Chaldaea to Mesopotamia CHAP. 13. 〈◊〉 the Scripture proceedeth and declareth how Thara and his family left â—…ldaea and came a into Mesopotamia and dwelt in Charra But of his 〈◊〉 â—…chor there is no mention as if he had not gone with him Thus saith the 〈◊〉 Thus Thara tooke Abraham his sonne and Lot his grand-child Abraâ—… 〈◊〉 and Sara his daughter in law his sonne Abrahams wife and hee led them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 countrey of Chaldaea into the land of Canaan and hee came to Charra and 〈◊〉 there Here is no word of Nachor nor his wife Melcha But afterward 〈◊〉 Abraham sent his seruant to seeke a wife for his sonne Isaac wee finde it 〈◊〉 thus So the seruant tooke ten of his maisters Camels and of his Maisters 〈◊〉 â—…th him and departed and went into Mesopotamia into the citty of Nachor â—…ce and others beside doe prooue that Nachor went out of Chaldaea alâ—…â—…led him-selfe in Mesopotamia where Abraham and his father had dwelt 〈◊〉 not the Scriptures then remember him when Thara went thence to 〈◊〉 where when it maketh mention both of Abraham and Lot that was 〈◊〉 â—…and-childe and Sara his daughter in lawe in this transmigration what 〈◊〉 thinke but that hee had forsaken his father and brothers religion and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chaldees superstition and afterward either repenting for his fact 〈◊〉 â—…secuted by the countrie suspecting him to bee hollow-harted deparâ—… him-selfe also for Holophernes Israels enemy in the booke of Iudith 〈◊〉 what nation they were and whether hee ought to fight against them 〈◊〉 answered by Achior captaine of the Ammonites Let my Lord heare the 〈◊〉 mouth of his seruant and I will show thee the truth concerning this people 〈◊〉 these mountaines and there shall no lye come out of thy seruants mouth 〈◊〉 come out of the stock of the Chaldaeans and they dwelt before in 〈◊〉 â—…ia because they would not follow the Gods of their fathers that 〈◊〉 â—…us in the land of Chaldaea but they left the way of their ancestors 〈◊〉 the God of heauen whom they knew so that they cast them out from 〈◊〉 their gods and they fled into Mesopotamia and dwelt there many 〈◊〉 their God commanded them to depart from the place where they 〈◊〉 to goe into the land of Chanaan where they dwelt and so forth as 〈◊〉 Ammonite relateth Hence it is plaine that Thara his family were perâ—… the Chaldaeans for their religion because they worshipped the true 〈◊〉 God L. VIVES Mesopotamia Mesopotamia quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 betweene two seas for it lay all beâ—… 〈◊〉 and Euphrates Of the age of Thara who liued in Charra vntill his dying day CHAP. 14. THara dyed in Mesopotamia where it is said hee liued two hundred and fiue yeares and after his death the promises that God made to Abraham began to be manifested Of Thara it is thus recorded The dayes of Thara were two hundred and fiue yeares and hee dyed in Charra Hee liued not there all this time you must thinke but because he ended his time which amounted vnto two hundred and fiue yeares in that place it is said so Otherwise wee could not tell how many yeares he liued because we haue not the time recorded when he came to Charra and it were fondnesse to imagine that in that Catalogue where all their ages are recorded his onely should bee left out for whereas the Scripture names some and yet names not their yeares it is to bee vnderstood that they belong not to that generation that is so lineally drawne downe from man to man For the stem that is deriued from Adam vnto Noah and from him vnto Abraham names no man without recording the number of his yeares also Of the time vvherein Abraham receiued the promise from God and departed from Charra CHAP. 15. BVt whereas wee read that after Thara's death the Lord said vnto Abraham Gette thee out of thy countrey and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house c. Wee must not thinke that this followed immediately in the times though it follow immediately in the scriptures for so wee shall fall into an b inextricable doubt for after these words vnto Abraham the Scripture followeth thus So Abraham departed as the Lord spake vnto him and Lot vvent vvith him and Abraham vvas seauentie fiue yeares old vvhen hee vvent out of Charra How can this be true now if Abraham went not out of Charra vntill after the death of his father for Thara begot him as wee said before at the seauentith yeare of his age vnto which adde seauentie fiue yeares the age of Abraham at this his departure from Charra and it maketh a hundred forty fiue yeares So old therefore was Thara when Abraham departed from Charra that citty of Mesopotamia for
vnto life and many are called but few are chosen Mat. 7. 14. e This handfull So Iohn saith that he saw a multitude which no man could number Apoc. 7. 9. f Nor the sands This the oraculous deuill of Delpho's amongst other perticulars of God ascribed to himselfe for the Lydians whom Crasus sent thether comming into the temple the Pythia spake thus to them from Apollo Nâ—…iego arenarum numerum spaciumque profundi My power can count the sands and sound the sea How Abraham ouerthrew the enemies of the Sodomites freed Lot from captiuity and was blessed by Melchisedech the Priest CHAP. 22. ABraham hauing receiued this promise departed and remained in another place by the wood of Mambra which was in Chebron And then Sodome being spoiled and Lâ—…t taken prisoner by fiue Kings that came against them Abraham went to fetch him backe with three hundred and eighteene of those that 〈◊〉 borne and bred in his house and ouer-threw those Kings and set Lot at liâ—… and yet would take nothing of the spoile though the a King for whome â—…rred proffered it him But then was hee blessed of Melchisedech who was 〈◊〉 of the high God of whome there is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews 〈◊〉 b the most affirme to bee Pauls though some deny it many and great 〈◊〉 For there the sacrifice that the whole church offereth now vnto GOD 〈◊〉 apparant and that was prefigured which was long after fulfilled in 〈◊〉 of whom the Prophet said before he came in the flesh Thou art a Priest 〈◊〉 â—…er the order of Melchisedech not after the order of Aaron for that was 〈◊〉 â—…emooued when the true things came to effect wherof those were figures 〈◊〉 L. VIVES 〈◊〉 King Basa King of Sodome whose quarrell Abraham reuenged Gen. 14. b Which 〈◊〉 â—…st Hierome Origen and Augustine do doubt of this Epistle and so doe others The 〈◊〉 Church before Hierome held it not canonicall Erasmus disputeth largely and learnedâ—… 〈◊〉 the end of his notes vpon it This bread and wine was type of the body and bloud of 〈◊〉 that are now offered in those formes Of Gods promise to Abraham that hee â—…ould make his seede as the starres of heauen and that he was iustified by faith before his circumcision CHAP. 23. 〈◊〉 the word of the Lord came vnto Abraham in a vision who hauing many 〈◊〉 promises made and yet doubting of posteritie hee said that Eliezer his 〈◊〉 should be his heyre but presently hee had an heyre promised him not 〈◊〉 but one of his owne body and beside that his seede should bee innumeâ—… as the sands of earth now but as the starres of heauen wherein the 〈◊〉 glory of his posteritie seemes to bee plainely intimated But as for their 〈◊〉 who seeth not that the sands doe farre exceede the starres herein you 〈◊〉 they are comparable in that they are both innumerable For wee canâ—…â—…e that one can see all the starres but the earnester he beholds them the 〈◊〉 seeth so that we may well suppose that there a are some that deceiue 〈◊〉 â—…st eye besides those that arise in other b horizons out of our sight 〈◊〉 â—…ch as hold and recorde one certaine and definite number of the starres 〈◊〉 â—…us or d Eudoxus or others this booke ouer-throweth them wholy 〈◊〉 is that recorded that the Apostle reciteth in commendation of Gods 〈◊〉 Abraham beleeued the Lord and that was counted vnto him for righteâ—… least circumcision should exalte it selfe and deny the vncircumcised naâ—…â—…esse vnto Christ for Abraham was vncircumcised as yet when he beleeâ—… and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a some In the white circle of heauen called the milken way there are a many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eye can distinguish Arist. and others b Other horizons There are some stars that neuer appeare vnto vs as those aboue the South-pole Proclus and others Nor doe the Antipodes euer see our Charles wainâ—… nor our pole starre nor the lesse beare c c Aratus Two famous men there were of this name one a captaine who freed his country Sycione from the tyrrany of Nicoâ—…les the other a Poet of Pompâ—…iopolis a citty of Cilicia nere vnto which is this Aratus his tombe vpon which if you throw a stone it will leape off The reason is vnknowne He liued in the time of Antigonus King of Macedon and wrote diuers poemes which Suidas reckneth amongst others his Phaenomena which Tully when he was a youth translated into latine verses a fragment of which is yet extant Iulius Caesar saith Firmicus but the common opinion and the more true is Germanicus put all Aratus his workes into a pâ—…eme but perhaps Firmicus calleth Germanicus Iulius Anienâ—…s Ruffus in Hieromes time made a latine Paraphrase of it It is strange that Tully saith he was no Astronomer in the world and yet wrote excellent well of the starres his eloquence was so powerfull De Oratore lib. 1. d Eudoxus A Carian borne at Gnidus an exellent philosopher and deepely seene in physick and the Mathematiques he wrote verses of Astrology Suidas Plutarch saith that Arcâ—…tas and he were the first practical Geometricians Laërtius saith he first deuised crooked lines Hee went saith Strabo with Plato into Egipt and there learnt Astronomie and taught in a Rocke that bare his name afterwards Lucane signifieth that he wrote calenders making Caesar boast thus at Cleopatra's table Neâ—… meus Eudoxi vincetur fastibus annus Nor can Eudoxus counts excell my yeare Because he had brought the yeare to a reformed course Of the signification of the sacrifice which Abraham vvas commanded to offer vvhen he desired to be confirmed in the things he beleeued CHAP. 24. GOd sayd also vnto him in the same vision I am the Lord that brought thee out of the country of the Chaldaeans to giue thee this land to inherite it Then said Abraham Lord how shall I know that I shall inherite 〈◊〉 and God said vnto him Take me an heifer of three yeares olde a shee Goate of three yeares old a 〈◊〉 of three yeares old a Turtle-doue and a Pidgeon So hee did and diuided them in the middest and laid one peece against another but the birds hee did not diuide Then came soules as the booke saith and fell on the carcasses and fate therevpon and Abraham a sate by them and abount sunne-set there fell an heauy sleepe vpon Abraham and loe a very fearefull darkenesse fel vpon him God said vnto Abraham Know this assuredly that thy seed shal be a stranger in a land that is not theirs foure hundred yeares and they shall serue there and shal be euill intreated But the nation whom they shall serue will I iudge and afterwards they shall come out with great substance But thou shalt go vnto thy fathers in peace and shalt die in a good age and in the fourth generation they shall come hether againe for the wickednesse of the â—…orites is not yet
so shee was indeed both these and withall of such beauty that she was amiable euen at those years L. VIVES A Shower a of fire Of this combustion many prophane authors make mention Strabo saith that cities were consumed by that fire as the inhabitāts thereabout report the poole that remaineth where Sodome stood the chiefe city is sixty furlongs about Many of thē also mention the lake Asphalts where the bitumen groweth b Apiller Iosephus saith he did see it Of Isaac borne at the time prefixed and named so because of his parents laughter CHAP. 31. AFter this Abraham according to Gods promise had a son by Sarah and called him Isaac that is Laughter for his father laughed for ioy and admiration when he was first promised and his mother when the three men confirmed this promise againe laughed also betweene ioye and doubt the Angell shewing her that her laughter was not faithfull though it were ioyfull Hence had the child his name for this laughter belonged not to the recording of reproach but to the celebration of gladnesse as Sarah shewed when Isaac was borne and called by this name for she said God hath made me to laugh and all that heare me will reioyce with me and soone after the bond-woman and her son is cast out of the house in signification of the old Testament as Sarah was of the new as the Apostle saith and of that glorious City of God the Heauenly Ierusalem Abrahams faith and obedience proo◅ in his intent to offer his sonne Sarahs death CHAP. 32. TO omit many accidents for brenities sake Abraham for a triall was commanded to goe and sacrifice his dearest sonne Isaac that his true obedience might shew it selfe to all the world in that shape which GOD knew already that it bate This now was an inculpable temptation and some such there bee and was to bee taken thankfully as one of Gods trialls of man And generally mans minde can neuer know it selfe well but putting forth it selfe vpon trialls and experimentall hazards and by their euents it learneth the owne state wherein if it acknowledge Gods enabling it it is godly and confirmed in solidity of grace against all the bladder-like humors of vaine-glory Abraham would neuer beleeue that God could take delight in sacrifices of mans flesh though Gods thundring commands are to bee obeyed not questioned vpon yet is Abraham commended for hauing a firme faith and beleefe that his sonne Isaac should rise againe after hee were sacrificed For when he would not obey his wife in casting out the bond-woman and hir sonne God said vnto him In Isaac shall thy seede bee called and addeth Of the bond-womans sonne will I make a great nation also because hee is thy seede How then is Isaac onely called Abrahams seede when God calleth Ismael so likewise The Apostle expoundeth it in these words that is they which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God but the children of the promise are accounted for the seede And thus are the sonnes of promise called to be Abrahams seede in Isaac that is gathered into the Church by Christ his free grace and mercy This promise the father holding fast seeing that it must bee fulfilled in him whom God commanded to kill doubted not but that that God could restore him after sacrificing who had giuen him at first beyond all hope So the Scripture taketh his beleefe to haue beene and deliuereth it By faith a Abraham offered vp Isaac when hee was tryed and hee that had receiued the promises offered his onely sonne to whom it was said in Isaac shall thy seede bee called for hee considered that God was able to raise him from the dead and then followeth for when hee receiued him also in a sort in what sort but as hee receiued his sonne of whom it is said Who spared not his owne sonne but gaue him to dye for vs all And so did Isaac carry the wood of sacrifice to the place euen as Christ carried the crosse Lastly seeing Isaac was not to be slaine indeed and his father commanded to hold his hand who was that Ram that was offered as a full and typicall sacrifice Namely that which Abraham first of all espied entangled b in the bushes by the hornes What was this but a type of Iesus Christ crowned with thornes ere hee was crucified But marke the Angels words Abraham saith the Scriptures lift vp his hand and tooke the knife to kill his sonne But the Angell of the Lord called vnto him from heauen saying Abraham and he answered Here Lord then he said Lay not thy hand vpon thy sonne nor doe any thing vnto him for now I know thou fearest God seeing that for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely sonne Now I know that is now I haue made knowne for God knew it ere now And then Abraham hauing offered the Ram for his sonne Isaac called the place c the Lord hath seene as it is said vnto this day in the mount hath the Lord appeared the Angels of the Lord called vnto Abraham againe out of heauen saying By my selfe haue I sworne saith the Lord because thou hast done this thing lust not spared thine onely sonne for me surely I will blesse thee multiply thy seed as the starres of heauen or the sands of the sea and thy seed shal possesse the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast a obayed my voyce This is that promise sworne vnto by God concerning the calling of the Gentiles after the offering of the Ram the type of Christ. God had often promised before but neuer sworne And what is Gods oth but a confirmation of his promise and a reprehension of the faithlesse after this died Sara being ahundred twenty seauen yeares old in the hundred thirty seauen yeare of her husbands age for hee was ten yeares elder then she as he shewed when Isaac was first promised saying shall I that am a hundred yeares old haue a child and shall Sarah that is foure score and tenne yeares old beare and then did Abraham buy a peece of ground and buried his wife in it and then as Stephen sayth was hee seated in that land for then began hee to be a possessor namely after the death of his father who was dead some two yeares before L. VIVES BY a faith A diuersity of reading in the text of Scripture therefore haue wee followed the vulgar b in the bushes This is after the seauenty and Theodotion whose translation Hierome approues before that of Aquila and Symachus c The Lord hath seene The Hebrew saith Hierome is shall see And it was a prouerbe vsed by the Hebrewes in all their extremities wishing Gods helpe to say In the mount the Lord shall see that is as hee pitied Abraham so will hee pitty vs. And in signe of that Ramme that God sent him they vse vnto this day to blow
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
away of Aarons priest-hood CHAP. 5. BVt this was more plainely spoken vnto Heli the priest by a man of God a whose name we read not but his ministery proued him a Prophet Thus it is written There came a man of GOD vnto Heli and said vnto him Thus saith the Lord did not I plainely appeare vnto the house of thy father when they were in Egiptin Pharaos house and I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to bee my priest to offer at mine Altar to burne incense and to weare b an Ephod and I gaue thy fathers house al the burnt offrings of the house of Israel for to eate Why then haue you looked in scorne vpon my sacrifices and offrings and c honored thy children aboue me to d blesse the first of all the offrings of Israell in my sight wherefore thus saith the LORD GOD of Israell I said thy house and thy fathers house shall walke before mee for euer nay not so now for them that honour me saith the Lord will I honour and them that despise me will I despise Behold the daies come that I will cast out thy seed and thy fathers seed that there shall not bee an e old man in thine house I will destroy euery one of thine from mine Altar that thine eyes may faile and thine heart faint and all the remainder of thy house shall fall by the sword and this shal be a signe vnto thee that shall befall thy two sonnes Ophi and Phinees in one day shall they both die And I wil take my selfe vppe a faithfull Priest that shall doe according to mine heart I will build him a sure house and hee shall walke before mine Annointed for euer And the f remaines of thy house shall come and bow downe to him for an halfe-penny of siluer saying Put mee I pray the in some office about the priest-hood that I may eate a morsell of bread We cannot say that this prophecy plainely denouncing the change of their old priest-hood was fulfilled in Samuel g for though Samuel were of that tribe that serued the Altar yee was he not of the sons of Aaron to whose progeny God tied the priest-hood and therefore in this was that change shadowed that Christ was to perfome and belonged to the Old Testament properly but figuratiuely vnto the New beeing now fulfilled both in the euent of the prophecy and the historie that recordeth these words of the Prophet vnto Heli. For afterwardes there were Priests of Aarons race as Abiathar and Zador in 〈◊〉 reigne and many more for the time came wherein the change was to bee effected by Christ. But who seeth not now if hee obserue it with the eye of faith that all is fulfilled the Iewes haue no Tabernacle no Temple no Altar nor any Priest of Aarons pedegree as GOD commanded them to haue Lust as this Propâ—… said Thou and thy fathers house shall walke before mee for euer Nay not so now for them that honour mee will I honour c. By his fathers house hee meaneth not Eli his last fathers but Aarons from whom they all descended as these words Did I not appeare to thy fathers house in Egipt c. Doe plainely prooue Who was his Father in the Egiptian bondage and was chosen priest after their freedome but Aaron of his stocke then it was here said there should bee no more priests as wee see now come to passe Let faith bee but vigilant and it shall discerne and apprehend truth euen whether it will or no. Behold saith he the daies doe come that I will cast out thy seed c. T' is true the daies are come Aarons seede hath now no Priest and his whole off-spring behold the sacrifice of the christians goriously offered all the world through with fayling eyes and fainting hearts but that which followeth All the remainder of thine house 〈◊〉 fell by the sword c. belongs properly to the house of Heli. And the death of his sonnes was a signe of the change of the Priest-hood of Aarons house and signified the death of the Priest-hood rather then the men But the next place to the priest that Samuel Heli his successor prefigured I meane Christ the Priest of the New Testament I will take mee vp a faith-full Priest that shall do all according to mine heart I will build him a sure house c. This house is the heauenly Ierusalem and he shall walke before mine annoynted for euer that is hee shall conuerse with them as hee said before of the house of Aaron I sayd thou and thine house shall walke before mee for euer Behold mine annointed that is 〈◊〉 annointed flesh not mine annointed Priest for that is Christ himselfe the Sauiour So that his house and flocke it is that shall walke before him it may bee meant also of the passage of the faithfull from death vnto life at the end of their mortality and the last iudgement But whereas it is said He shall doe all according to mine heart wee may not thinke that GOD hath any heart beeâ—… 〈◊〉 hearts maker but it is figuratiuely spoaken of him as the scripture doth 〈◊〉 â—…er members the hand of the LORD the finger of GOD c. And least 〈◊〉 should thinke that in this respect man beareth the Image of GOD the â—…re giueth him wings which man doth want Hide mee vnder the shadow of 〈◊〉 â—…gs to teach men indeed thaâ—…â—…hose things are spoken with no true but a â—…ll reference vnto that ineffable essence On now and the remaines of 〈◊〉 â—…use shall come and bow downe vnto him c. This is not meant of the 〈◊〉 of Heli but of Aarons of which some were remayning vntill the comming 〈◊〉 â—…RIST yea and are vnto this day For that aboue the remaynder of thy 〈◊〉 shall fall by the sword was meant by Heli his linage How then can both 〈◊〉 places bee true that some should come to bow downe and yet the sword 〈◊〉 deuoure all vnlesse they bee meant of two the first of Aarons linage and 〈◊〉 â—…cond of Helies If then they bee of those predestinate remainders whereof 〈◊〉 â—…ophet saith The remnant shal be saued and the Apostle at this present time is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remnant through the election of grace which may well bee vnder-stood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remnant that the man of GOD speakes off heere then doubtlesse they 〈◊〉 in Christ as many of their nations Iewes did in the Apostles time and 〈◊〉 though very few do now fulfilling that of the Prophet which followeth 〈◊〉 downe to him for an halfe penny of siluer to whom but vnto the great 〈◊〉 who is God eternall For in the time of Aarons Priest-hood the people 〈◊〉 â—…ot to the temple to adore or bow downe to the priest But what is that 〈◊〉 halfe pennie of siluer Onely the breuity of the Word of â—…aith as the Aâ—… saith The Lord will make a short accompt in the earth that siluer is put for â—…ord the Psalmist proueth saying
The words of the Lord are pure words as sil â—…ied in the fire what is his words now that boweth to this Gods Priest and 〈◊〉 â—…od and Priest place me in some of fice about the Priest-hood that I may eate a morâ—… bread I will not haue my fathers honours they are nothing but place me any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy Priest-hood I would faine be a dore keeper or any thing in thy seruice and 〈◊〉 thy people for Priest-hood is put heere for the people to whom Christ the â—…or is the high Priest which people the Apostle called an holy nation and a royall Priest-hood Some read k Sacrifice in the former place for Priest-hood all is one both signifie the christian flocke Whereof S. Paul saith Being many 〈◊〉 are all one bread and one body and againe l Giue vp your bodies a liuing sacrifice So then the addition that I may eate a morsel of bread is a direct expression of the sacrifice whereof the Priest himselfe saith the bread which I will giue is my flesh c. This is the sacrifice not after the order of Aaron but of Melchisedech hee that readeth let him vnderstand So then these words Place me in some office about thy priest-hood that I may eate a morsell of bread are a direct and succinct confession of the faith this is the halfe penny of siluer because it is briefe and it is Gods word that dwelleth in the house of the beleeuer for hauing said before that hee had giuen Aarons house meate of the offring of the house of Israel which were the sacrifices of the Iewes in the Old Testament therefore addeth hee the eating of bread in this conclusion which is the sacrifice of the New Testament L. VIVES HIs a name It was Phinees â—…ay the Iewes or Helias Hierome b An Ephod Of this read Hierome Ad Marcellam Contra Iouinian Ad Fabiolam The Greekes called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ioseph de Antiq. Iud. lib. 3. So do the LXX Ruffinus translateth it Superhumerale and it was open at the sides from the arme-pits downe-wards The high Priest onely wore such an one and it was embrothered with gold and silke of diuers collours The Leuits had a garment like it but that was of linnen Such an one did Anna make for Samuel and such an one did Dauid dance in before the Arke And herevpon I thinke our Rabbines or most Doctor-like sort of Friers haue got the tricke of wearing such â—…esture hanging loose from the shoulders as a badge of their super-eminent knowledg and then your Ciuilian and Pâ—…isitian in emulation of them got vp the like But the Seauenty call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Honorest So was it in the time when the Iewes priests grew wealthy and so is it now with vs for who seeketh into the priest-hood for Godlinesse rather then gaine as the world goeth now and what sonne is perswaded by the father vnto an ecclesiasticall habite but onely in hope of ritches what â—…est thinketh he doth not well to sit and spend the churches goods as they call them frankly with his sonnes if he haue them and haue them hee will vnlesse he bee an Eunuch his brethren his sisters and his cousins let the poore goe shift where they can Thus thus will it bee whilest ritches rule in the hearts of men d To blesse The vulgar is not so read it each one hath the bookes I must proceed e An old man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an high priest saith Hierome f Romaines A diuersity of reading but nihil ad rem g Though Samuel His father was a leuite Chron. 1. 6. his mother of the tribe of Iudah This place Augustine recalleth thus whereas I said hee was not of the sons of Aaron I should haue said hee was none of the priests sonnes And they most commonly succeeded their fathers in the Priest-hood but Samuels father was of Aarons seede but he was no Priest nor of his seed otherwise then all the Iewes were the seed of Iacob Retractation lib. 2. h Prophecy and history And though these words seemed to another purpose yet aimed they at Christ. i We should thinke So thought by the Anthropomorphites k Sacrifiâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is both but rather Priest-hood l Giue vp This is not in some copies yet is it befitting this place The promise of the Priest-hood of the Iewes and their kingdome to stand eternally not fulfilled in that sort that other promises of that vnbounded nature are CHAP. 6. ALthough these things were theÌ„ as deeply prophecied as they now are plainly fulfilled yet some may put this doubt how shall we expect all the eueâ—… therein presaged when as this that the Lord said thine house and thy fathers 〈◊〉 shall walke before me for euer can bee no way now effected the priest-hood being now quite abolished nor any way expected because that eternity is promised to the priest-hood that succeded it hee that obiecteth this conceiueâ—… not that Aarons priesthood was but a type shadow of the others future priesthood and therfore that the eternity promised to the shaddow was due but vnto the substance onely and that the change was prophecyed to auoyde this supposition of the shadowes eternity for so the kingdome of Saul the reprobate was a shadow of the kingdome of eternity to come the oyle where-with he was annoynted was a great and reuerend mistery which Dauid so honored that when hee was hid in the darke caue into which Saule came to ease himselfe of the burden of nature he was affraid and onely cut off a peece of his skirt to haue a token whereby to shew him how causelesse he supected him and persecuted him hee feared I say for doing thus much least he had wronged the mistery of Sauls being annoynted Hee was touched in heart saith the Scripture for cutting off the a skirt of his rayment b His men that were with him perswaded him to take his time Saul was now in his hands strike sure The Lord kepe me saith he from doing so vnto my maister the Lords annoynted to lay mine hands on him for he is the annointed of the Lord. Thus honored hee this figure not for it selfe but for the thing it shaddowed And therefore these words of Samuel vnto Saule The Lord had prepared thee a kingdome for euer in Israel but now it shal not remaine vnto thee because thou hast not obayed his voyce therefore will he seeke him a man according to his heart c. are not to be taken as if Saul himselfe shold haue reygned for euermore and then that his sinne made God breake his promise afterwards for hee knew that he would sinne when hee did prepare him this kingdome but this hee prepared for a figure of that kingdome that shall remaine for euer-more and therefore he added it shall not remaine vnto thee it remaineth and euer shall in the signification but not vnto him for neither he nor his progeny
God So did Christ found her in his Patriarchs 〈◊〉 â—…hets before he tooke flesh in her from the Virgin Mary Seing therefore 〈◊〉 Prophet so long agoc said that of this Citty which now we behold come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In steed of fathers thou shal haue children to make them Princes ouer all the 〈◊〉 so hath shee when whole nations and their rulers come freely to conâ—… 〈◊〉 proffesse Christ his truth for euer and euer then without all doubt there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ope herein how euer vnderstood but hath direct reference vnto these 〈◊〉 stations L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a generation So read the 70. whom Augustine euer followeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this reduplication is very emphaticall in the Hebrew b To those that hee neuer Christ while hee was on the earth neuer came nor preached in any nation but Israell Nor matterâ—… 〈◊〉 thaâ—… some few Gentiles came vnto him wee speake here of whole nations c Men shall call it The seauenty read it thus indeed but erroneously as Hierome noteth In Psalm 89. for they had written it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is Sion which reading some conceyuing not reiected and added 〈◊〉 reading it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an other Siâ—…n and that the rather because it followeth hee was made man therein But the vulgar followeth the Hebrew and reads it with an interrogation Of the references of the 110. Psalme vnto Christs Priest-hood and the 22. vnto his passion CHAP. 17. FOr in that psalme that as this calleth Christ a King enstileth him a priest beginning The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou at my right hand vntill I make thine enemies thy foote-stoole we beleeue that Christ sitteth at Gods right hand but we see it not nor that his enemies are all vnder his feete which a must appeare in the end and is now beleeued as it shall hereafter bee beheld but then the rest the Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion be thou ruler amidst thine enemies This is so plaine that nought but impudence it selfe can contradict it The enemies themselues confesse that the law of Christ came out of Sion that which we call the Ghospell and auouch to be the rod of his power And that he ruleth in the midst of his enemies themselues his slaues with grudging and fruitlesse gnashing of teeth doe really acknowledge Furthermore the Lord sware and will not repent which proues the sequence eternally established thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech The reason is Aarons priest-hood and sacrifice is abolished and now in all the world vnder Christ the priest wee offer that which Melchisedech brought forth when hee blessed Abraham who doubteth now of whom this is spoken and vnto this manifestation are the other Tropes of the psalme referred as wee haue declared them peculiarly in our Sermons and in that psalme also wherein CHRIST prophecieth of his passion by Dauids mouth saying they perced my hands and my feete they counted all my bones and stood gazing vpon me These words are a plaine description of his posture on the crosse his nayling of his hands and feete his whole body stretched at length and made a rufull gazing stock to the beholders Nay more they parted my garments among them they cast lots vpon my vesture How this was fulfilled let the Ghospell tell you And so in this there are diuers obscurities which not withstanding are all congruent with the maine and scope of the psalme manifested in the passion chiefly seeing that those things which the psalme presaged so long before are but now effected as it fore-told and euen now are opened vnto the eyes of the whole world For it saith a little after All the ends of the world shall remember themselues and turne vnto the Lord all the kindreds of the earth shall worship before him for the kingdome is the Lords and he ruleth among the nations L. VIVES VVHich a â—…st apeare In the end but now is onely beleeued Saint Paul writeth much of it vnto the Corynthians and Hebrewes Christs death and resurrection prophecied in psalme 3. 40. 15. 67. CHAP. 18. NEither were the psalmes silent of his resurrectioÌ„ for what is that of the third psalme I laid me downe and slept and rose againe for the Lord susteined me wil any one say that the prophet would record it for such a great thing to sleepe and to rise but that he meaneth by sleepe death and by rising againe the resurrection things that were fit to bee prophecied of Christ this in the 41. psalme is most plaine for Dauid in the person of the mediator discoursing as hee vseth of things to come as if they were already past because they are already past in Gods predestination a and praescience saith thus Mine enemies speake euill of me saying when shall he die and his name perish and if he come to see he speaketh lies and his heart he apeth vp iniquity within him and hee goeth forth and telleth it mine eneâ—… whisper together against me and imagine how to hurt me They haue spoken an vniust thing vpon me shall not he that sleepeth arise againe this is euen as much as if he had said shall not he that is dead reuiue againe the precedence doth shew how they conspired his death and how he that came in to see him went for to bewray him to them And why is not this that traitor Iudas his disciple Now because hee 〈◊〉 they would effect their wicked purpose to kill him hee to shew the fondnesse of their malice in murdering him that should rise againe saith these words â—…ll not he that sleepeth arise againe as if hee said you fooles your wickednesse procureth but my sleepe But least they should do such a villany vnpunished hee meant to repay them at full saying My friend and familiar whom I trusted and who eate of my â—…ead euen he hath b kicked at me But thou Lord haue mercy vpon me raise me vp 〈◊〉 shall requite them Who is hee now that beholdeth the Iewes beaten out of 〈◊〉 â—…nd and made vagabonds all the world ouer since the passion of Christ 〈◊〉 â—…ceiueth not the scope of this prophecy for he rose againe after they had 〈◊〉 and repayed them with temporall plagues besides those that hee reâ—… for the rest vntill the great iudgement for Christ himselfe shewing his 〈◊〉 to the Apostles by reaching him a peece of bread remembred this verse 〈◊〉 â—…alm shewed it fulfilled in himself he that did eate of my bread eueÌ„ he hath 〈◊〉 â—…e the words in whom I trusted agree not with the head but with the â—…ts properly for our Sauiour knew him well before hand when he sayd c 〈◊〉 is a diuell but Christ vsed to transferre the proprieties of his members 〈◊〉 â—…mselfe as being their head body and head being all one Christ. And therâ—… 〈◊〉 of the Ghospell I was hungry and you gaue me to eate hee expoundeth afâ—… thus
Noboar had his crowne and him did Cyrus chase out of his Kingdome when hee had reigned seauenteene yeares Now if this account bee true there are more then an hundred yeares betweene the beginning of the Iewes captiuitie and Cyrus the Persian But sure an error there â—…s eyther in the author or in the transcriber Now Cyrus being moued by the Prophecy of Esay who had fore-told the original of his Empire twenty yeares ere it came to passe sette the Iewes free and sent them to build the Temple restoring all the vessels that Nabuchodrosor had brought away This was now fourty yeares after the beginning of their captiuity Euseb. So they went and built but their enemies troubled them so that they were fayne to let it alone vntill the second yeare of Darius his reigne the sonne of Histaspis who expelled the Magi and was King alone For hee in fauour of Zorobabell sent all the Iewes home and forbad any of his subiects to molest them So in the seauentith yeare after their captiuation they returned home This is after Eusebius his account vnto whome Clement 〈◊〉 saying The Iewes captiuity indured â—…eauenty yeares vnto the second yeare of Darius King of Persia Aegypt and Assyria in whose time Aggee Zachary and one of the 12. called Angelus prophecyed and Iesus the son of Iosedech was high Priest That Darius his second yeare and the seauentith of the captiuity were both in one Zachary testifieth Chap. 1. 1. 12. But Iosephus maketh seauenty yeares of the Captiuity to be runne in Cyrus his time b The stoâ—…y of Iudith This booke sayth Hierome hath no authority in matter of Controuersie But yet the synode of Nice hath made it canonicall Bede sayth that Cambysis sonne to the elder Cyrus was called by the Iewes the second Nabuchodrosor and that the fact of Iudith was done in his time c Had profixed Chap. 25. 11. Of the times of the Prophets whose bookes wee haue How they prophecyed some of them of the calling of the nation in the declyning of the Assyrian Monarchy and the Romaines erecting CHAP. 27. TO know the times wel let vs go backe a little The prophecy of Ozee the first of the twelue beginneth thus The word of the Lord that came to Ozee in the dayes of Ozias IoathaÌ„ Achaz Ezechias Kings of Iuda b Amos writeâ—…h also that yâ— prophecy in Ozias his daies c adding that Hieroboam liued in those times also as â—…e did indeed 〈◊〉 also the son of Amos either the Prophet or some other 〈◊〉 this later is more generally held nameth the foure in the beginning of his â—…phecy that Osee named So doth d Micheas also All these their propheâ—… proue to haue liued in one time together with e Ionas and f Ioel the 〈◊〉 vnder Ozias and the later vnder his sonne Ioathan But wee finde not the â—…es of the two later in their bookes but in the Chronicles Now g these times reach from Procas or Auentinus his predecessor King of the Latines vnto Romulus now King of Rome nay euen vnto Numa Pompilius his successor For so long reigned Ezechias in Iuda And therefore in the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the rising of the Romane did these fountaines of prophecy breake â—…th that euen as Abraham had receiued the promise of all the worldes beeing â—…ed in his seed at the first originall of the Assyrian estate So likewise might 〈◊〉 â—…stimonies of the person in whome the former was to bee fulfilled be as freâ—… both in word and writing in the originall of the westerne Babilon For 〈◊〉 prophets that were continually in Israell from the first of their Kings 〈◊〉 all for their peculiar good and no way pertaining to the nations h But 〈◊〉 â—…e more manifest prophecies which tended also to the nations good it 〈◊〉 â—…te they should begin when that Citty began that was the Lady of the 〈◊〉 L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a dayes of Ozias The surest testimony of the Prophets times are in their works 〈◊〉 haue not omitted to record when they prophecied so that it were superfluous to 〈◊〉 â—…ddition of any other confirmations then those of their owne Osee prophecyed too 〈◊〉 â—…ose three Kings of the two tribes the father the sonne and the sonnes sonne in the 〈◊〉 whose dayes Salmanazar ledde the Israelites away captiue So that Osee as Hierome 〈◊〉 â—…id both presage it ere it came and deplore it when it came Ozias liued in that memoâ—…e of the Assyrian Empire by the rebellion of the Medes Some call this King Azaâ—… Amos Amos sayth Hierome the next Prophet after Ioell and the third of the 〈◊〉 was not hee that was the Prophet Esays father For his name is written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tsade beeing the first and last letters of his name which is interpreted strong and 〈◊〉 but this Prophets name is written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Ain and Samech and is translated â—…ed people Mem and Uaâ—… both of them haue alike To vs now that haue no difference 〈◊〉 nor of the letter S which the Hebrewes haue triple these wordes seeme all one 〈◊〉 can discerne them by the propriety of the vowels and accents This Prophet Amos 〈◊〉 in Thecue sixe miles South from holy Betheleem where our Sauiour was borne and â—…d that is neyther village nor cottage such an huge desert lyes betweene that and the 〈◊〉 sea reaching euen to the confines of Persia Aethiopia and India But because the 〈◊〉 is barren and will beare no corne therefore all is full of sheapheards to countervaile 〈◊〉 â—…lesnesse of the land with the aboundance of cattell One of these sheapheards was 〈◊〉 rude in language but not in knowledge For the spirit that spake in them all spoke also 〈◊〉 him Thus far Hierome Wherefore I wonder that the Prologue vnto Amos sayth diâ—… that hee was father to Esay perhaps it was from some Hebrew tradition who say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prophets fathers or grand-fathers that are named in any part of their workes titles 〈◊〉 Prophets also Hier. in Sophon c Adding that Hieroboam Not hee that drewe the 〈◊〉 tribes from Roboam for hee was a hundred and sixty yeares before this other who 〈◊〉 his sonne Micheas Hee prophecyed sayth Hierome in the time of Ioathon 〈◊〉 Ozias The seauenty make him third Prophet of the twelue and the Hebrewes the 〈◊〉 Ionas So sayth Eusebius of the times of Azarias or Ozias So sayth Hierome alâ—…â—…ommentaryes vppon Ozee and in his prologue vppon Ionas he receyteth the opiniâ—… 〈◊〉 that helde Amathi the father of Ionas to bee the widow of Sarephta's sonne 〈◊〉 Elias restored to life where-vppon shee sayd Now I know that thou art a man of 〈◊〉 that the word of God in thy mouth is truth and therefore her childe was so named For Amithi in our language is truth f Ioell In our tongue Beginning Hierome Hee prophecyed in the times of the other prophets g These times Auentinus raigned thirty â—…uen yeares and in the two
the desolate hath more children then the maried wife Enlarge thae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy tents and fasten the f curtaines of thy Tabernacles spare not stretch out â—…des and make fast thy stakes spread it yet further to the right hand and thy 〈◊〉 thy seed shal possesse the Gentiles and dwell in the desolate Citties feare not because thou â—…t shamed be not afraid because thou art vp-brayded for thou shall forget thiâ—… euerlasting shame and shalt not remember the reproch of thy widdow-hood any more for the Lord that made thee is called the Lord of Hostes and the redeemer the holy one of Israel shal be called the God of all the world c. Here is enough needing but a little explanation for the places are so plaine that our enemies themselues are forced despite their hearts to acknowledge the truth These then suffice L. VIVES ESaias a is A noble man worthily eloquent more like an Euangelist then a Prophet he prophecied in Hierusalem and Iury. Hier. ad Eustoch Paulam Manasses King of Iudah made him be sawen a two with a wooden saw of him is that ment in the Hebrewes chp. 11. verse 37. They were sawen asunder The causes of his death Hierome relateth commâ—…n in Esa. lib. 〈◊〉 b Some Hierome ad Paul Eustoch for he speaketh not in misticall manner of things as if they were to come but most plainely as if they were present or past which is not ordinary in the other prophets c Behold All this quotation out of the 52. 53. and 54. chapters of Isay the Septuagints whome Saint Augustine followeth do some-times differ from the Hebrew truth But the scope aymes all at one end namely the passion of Christ wee will not stand to decide perticulars Augustine him-selfe saith all is playne inough and omits to stand vpon them to avoyd tediousnesse d Deceipt found The seauenty leaue out found e If you giue your soule The seauenty read it if you giue him for sinne your soule shall see your seede of long continuance f The curtaines The vulgar and the seauenty read the skins Prophecies of Michaeas Ionas and Ioell correspondent vnto the New-Testament CHAP. 30. THe Prophet Michaeas prefiguring Christ by a great mountaine saith thus a In the last daies shall the mountaine of the Lord be prepared vpon the toppes of the hills and shal be exalted aboue the hills and the nations shall hast them to it saying Come let vs goe vp into the mountaine of the Lord into the house of the God of Iacob and he wil teach vs his waies and we wil walke in his paths for the law shal go forth of Sion and the word of the Lord from Hieâ—…salem Hee shall iudge amongst many people and rebuke mighty nations a farre of The same prophet foretells Christ birth place also saying b And thou Bethleem c of Ephrata art little to bee amongst the thousands of Iudah yet out of thee shall a d captaine come forth vnto mee that shal be the Prince of Israel e whose goings forth haue beene euerlasting Therefore f will he giue them vp vntill the time that the child-bearing woman do trauell and the g remnant of her brethren shall returne vnto the children of Israell And he h shall stand and looke and feed his flocke in the strength of the Lord in the honâ—…or of Gods 〈◊〉 shall they continue for now shall he be magnified vnto the worlds end Now i Ionas prophecied Christ rather in suffering then in speaking that most manifestly considering the passion resurrection For why was he 3. daies in the whals belly and then let out but to signifie Christs resurrection from the depth of hell vpon the third day Indeed Ioels prophecies of Christ the Church require great explanation yet one of his and that was remembred by the k Apostles at the descending of the Holy Ghost vpon the faithfull as Christ had promised I will not oâ—…it Afterwards â—…ith hee I will power out my spirit vpon all flesh your sonnes and daughters shall Prophecy and your old men shall dreame dreames and your yong men 〈◊〉 visions euen vpon the seruants and the maids in those daies will I poure my spirit L VIVES IN a The last daies The same is in Esay 2. 2. b And thou Bethelem Augustine and the seauenty do differ here from the Hebrew S. Mathew readeth it thus And thou Bethleem 〈◊〉 the land of Iudah art not the least among the Trinces of Iudah for out of thee shall come the gâ—…rnor that shall feed my people Israel S. Hierome vpon Michaeas lib. 2. saith that this quoâ—…ion of Mathew accordeth neither with the Hebrew nor the seauenty This question putâ—…g the holy father to his plunges hee is fayne to say that either the Apostle cited it not haâ—…g the booke before him but out of his memory which some-time doth erre or else 〈◊〉 hee cited it as the priests had giuen it in answer to Herod herein shewing their negliâ—… the first hee affirmeth as the opinion of others It is an hard thing to make the Apostle â—…ke iust contrary to the prophet Neither Prophyry nor Celsus would beleeue this in a matter 〈◊〉 concerned not themselues But the scope of both being one maketh this coniecture inâ—…de the more tollerable But it is a weake hold to say the Priest spake it thus it were â—…ly absurd in their practise of the scriptures to alter a Prophecy intending especially â—…hew the full ayme of it But before the Apostle nay the spirit of God shal be taxed with 〈◊〉 an error let the later coniecture stand good or a weaker then it as long as we can finde 〈◊〉 stronger But if we may lawfully put in a guesse after Hierome that worthy in the exâ—…tion of those holy labyrinths to grant that the Hebrew and the seauenty read this place â—…matiuely and the Euangelist negatiuely read the place with an interrogation and they 〈◊〉 both reconciled I meane with an interrogation in the Prophet as is common in their â—…es and befitting the ardor of their affections but in the Euangelist the bare sence is â—…y fit to be layd downe without figure or affection c Of Ephrata The country where â—…leem stood which the Priests omitted as speaking to Herod a stranger that knew Iuda 〈◊〉 The Euangelist gaue an intimation of Christ whence he was to come by putting in 〈◊〉 for Ephrata there was another Bethleem in Galilee as it is in Iosuah Hierome vpon 〈◊〉 â—…hew noteth it as the transcribers falt to put Iudea for Iuda for all the Bethlems that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudea Galelee where the other is being a part thereof And the like falt it may be is in 〈◊〉 which followeth But when hee heard that Archelaus raigned in Iudaea for Iuda but â—…ed Iudaea after the returne from Captiuity kept not the old bounds but was contracted 〈◊〉 country about Hierusalem the metropolitane citty thereof d A captaine The Bruâ—… copy leaueth out a captaine and so do
the seauenty But the putting of it in alters not 〈◊〉 sense e Whos 's goings out This excludeth all mortall men from being meant of in this â—…ecy inculding onely that eternall Sauiour whose essence hath beene from all eternity 〈◊〉 Will he giue them The gentiles shall rule vntill the body of their states do bring forth â—…en vnto the Lord g The remnant The bretheren of the people Israel and the spiriâ—… seede of Abraham c. they shall beleeue on that Christ that was promised to the true 〈◊〉 h He shall stand Here shal be rest and security the Lord looking vnto all his sheepe 〈◊〉 â—…eeding them with his powerfull grace i Ionas Being cast ouer-bord by the saylers â—…orme he was caught vp by a Whale and at the third daies end was cast a shore by him 〈◊〉 was he the Image of Christ him-sefe vnto the tempting Iewes Mat. 12. 39. 40. k By 〈◊〉 Apostles Act. 2. 17. 18. Prophecies of Abdi Naum and Abacuc concerning the worlds saluation in Christ. CHAP. 31. â—…Herefore the small prophets a Abdi b Naum and c Abacuc 〈◊〉 neuer mention the times nor doth Eusebius or Hierome supply that â—…ct They place d Abdi and Michaeas both together but not â—…re where they record the time of Michaeas his prophecying e which the negligence of the transcribers I thinke was the onely cause of The two other we cannot once finde named in our copies yet since they are cannonicall we may not omit them Abdi in his writing is the briefest of them all he speakes against Idumaea the reprobate progeny of Esau the elder sonne of Isaac and grandchild of Abraham Now if we take Idumaea by a Synechdoche partis g for all the nations we may take this prophecy of his to be meant of Christ Vpon Mount Syon shal be saluation and it shal be holy and by and by after They that h shall be saued shall come out of Sion that is the beleeuer in Christ the Apostles shall come out of Iudah to defend mount Esau. How to defend it but by preaching the Gospell to saue the beleeuers and translate them into the kingdome of GOD out of the power of darkenesse as the sequell sheweth And the Kingdome shal be the Lords For Mount Syon signifieth Iuda the store-house of saluation and the holy mother of Christ in the flesh and i Mount Esau is Idumaea prefiguring the church of the Gentiles whom they that were saued came out of Syon to defend that the kingdome might bee the Lords This was vnknowne ere it were done but beeing come to passe who did not discerne it Now the Prophet Naum nay God in him sayth I will abolish the grauen and molten Image and make them thy k graue Behold vpon the feete of him that declareth and publisheth peace O Iudah keepe thy sollemne feasts performe thy vowes for the wicked shall no more passe through thee he is vtterly cut off He that breatheth in thy face and freeth thee from tribulation ascendeth Who is this that doth thus remember the Holy Ghost remember the Gospell For this belongeth to the New Testament whose feasts are renewed neuer more to cease The Gospell we see hath abolished all those grauen and molten Images those false Idols hath layd them in obliuion as in a graue Herein we see this prophecy fulfilled Now for Abacuk of what doth he meane but of the comming of Christ when he saith The Lord answered saying write the vision and make it plaine on tables that he may runne that readeth it For the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the last it shall speake and not lie though it tarry awaite for it shall come surely and shall not stay L. VIVES ABdi a The Hebrewes saith Hierome say this was he that in the persecution vnder Achab and Iezabel fedde one hundered prophets in caues that neuer bowed the knee vnto Baal and those were part of the seauen thousand whom Elias knew not His sepulchrâ—…e is next vnto Heliseus the prophets and Iohn Baptists in Sebasta otherwise called Samaria This man got the spirit of prophecy because he fed those prophets in the wildernesse and of a warriour became a teacher Hier. in Abdi He was in Iosaphats time before any of the other Tiber being king of the Latines b Naum He liued in Ioathans time the king of Iuda Ioseph lib. 9. c Abacuc Of him is mention made in Daniel c. 14. that hee brought Daniel his dinner from Iuda to Babilon But Augustine vseth not this place to proue his times because that history of â—…el and all this fourteenth chapter together with the history of Susanna are Apocryphall neither written in Hebrew nor translated by the seauenty Abacuc prophecied saith Hierome when Nabucodrosar led Iudah and Beniamin into captiuity and his prophecy is all against Babilon d Abdi and Eusebius placeth Addi and Michaeas both vnder Iosaphat It is true that Abdi liued then but for Michaeas his owne words cited before by Augustine doe disprooue it For his visions befell him in the times of Ioathan Achaz and Ezechias long after Iosaphat e Which she negligence I assure you there is errour in Eusebius very dangerous both to the ignorant and the learned f Idumaea It adioyneth to Palestina and is the next countrie beyond Arrabia Pliny Ioseph Hierom. The Greeke and Latine authors call them Nabathei inhabiting the Citty Petra The land hath the name of Esau who was otherwise called Edom for diuers causes g For all the nations Idumaea is no part of israel but yet they descended both from Isaac Yet was it a foe vnto Iuda and the Iewes called the Romanes Idumaeans Iduâ—… signifieth flesh which fighteth against the spirit b Shal be saued The hebrew is shall 〈◊〉 i Mount Esau The Mountaines in Idumaea are called Seir. Ioseph Iosuah chap. 24 because they are rugged and rough as Esau was k Thy graue The hebrew addeth For thou at vile Saint Paul had not his quotation Rom. 10. 15. from hence but from the fifteeneth of Esay The prophecy conteined in the song and praier of Abacuc CHAP. 32. ANd in his praier and song who doth he speake vnto but Christ saying O Lord I heard thy voice and was afraid Lord I considered thy workes and was terrified What is this but an ineffable admiration of that suddaine and vnknowne saluation of man In the midst of two shalt thou bee knowne what are those two the two Testaments the two theeues or the two prophets Moyses and Elias In the approch of yeares shalt thou be knowne this is plaine it needs no exposition But that which followeth My soule being troubled there-with in thy wrath remember mercy is meant of the Iewes of whose nation hee was who being madde in their wrath and crucifying Christ he remembring his mercy said Father forgiue them they 〈◊〉 not what they doe God shall come from Theman and the holy one from the thick and darke mountaine from a Theman say
translation of the Seuenty is most authenticall next vnto the Hebrew CHAP. 43. THere were other translators out of the Hebrew into the Greeke as Aquila Symmachus Theodâ—…tion and that namelesse interpetor whose translation is called the fift Edition But the Church hath receiued that of the seauenty as if there were no other as many of the Greeke Christians vsing this wholy know not whether there be or no. Our Latine translation is from this also Although one Hierome a learned Priest and a great linguist hath translated the same scriptures from the Hebrew into Latine But a although the Iewes affirme his learned labour to be al truth and auouch the seauenty to haue oftentimes erred yet the Churches of Christ hold no one man to be preferred before so many especially being selected by the high Priest for this work for although their concord had not proceeded from their vnity of spirit but froÌ„ their collations yet were no one man to be held more sufficient then they all But seeing there was so diuine a demonstration of it truely whosoeuer translateth from the Hebrew or any other tongue either must agree with the seauenty or if hee dissent wee must hold by their propheticall depth For the same spirit that spake in the prophets translated in them And that spirit might say other-wise in the translation then in the Prophet and yet speake alike in both the sence being one vnâ—…o the true vnderstander though the words bee different vnto the reader The same spirit might adde also or diminish to shew that it was not mans labour that performed this worke but the working spirit that guyded the labours Some held it good to correct the seauenty by the Hebrew yet durst they not put out what was in them and not in the Hebrew but onely added what was in that and not in them b marking the places with c Asteriskes at the heads of the verses and noting what was in the seauenty and not in the Hebrew with 〈◊〉 as we marke d ounces of weight withall And many Greeke and Latine â—…pies are dispersed with these markes But as for the alterations whether the difference be great or small they are not to be discerned but by conferring of the bookes If therefore we go all to the spirit of God and nothing else as is fittest whatsoeuer is in the seauenty and not in the Hebrew it pleased God to speake it by those latter prophets and not by these first And so contrary-wise of that which is in the Hebrew and not in the seauenty herein shewing them both to be â—…phets for so did he speak this by Esay that by Hieremy and other things by othes as his pleasure was But what wee finde in both that the spirit spake by both by the first as Prophets by the later as propheticall translations for as there was one spirit of peace in the first who spake so many seuerall things with discordance so was there in these who translated so agreeably without conference L VIVES ALthough a the Iewes No man now a daies sheweth an error and leaueth it Mankind is not so wise Againe time gayneth credit vnto many and nothing but time vnto some But it is admirable to see how gently hee speaketh here of Hierome whose opinion he followed not in this high controuersie O that wee could immitate him b Marking of this Hierome speaketh Prolog in Paralip Origen was the first that tooke the paines to conâ—… the translation and he conferred the seauenty with Theodotion Hier. ep id August where he inueigheth at what hee had erst commended saying that the booke is not corrected but rather corrupted by those asteriskes and spits But this he said because Augustine would not meddle with his translation but held that of the seauenty so sacred this power oftentimes 〈◊〉 affection in the holiest men c Asteriskes Little stars d Ounces It seemes the oâ—…ce in old times was marked with a spits character Isidoâ—…e saith it was marked with the Greeke Gamma and our o thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the halfe scruple with a line thus they noted those places with a spit thus 〈◊〉 to signifie that the words so noâ—…ed were thrust through as adâ—… falsefiing the text It was Aristarchus his inuention vsed by the Grammarians in their 〈◊〉 of bookes and verses Quinti lib. 1. Which the old Grammarians vsed with such seuerity 〈◊〉 they did not onely taxe false places or bookes hereby but also thrust their authors either 〈◊〉 of their ranke or wholy from the name of Grammarians Thus Quintilian Seneca did eleâ—… call the rasing out of bastard verses Aristarchus his notes Of the destruction of Niniuy which the Hebrew perfixeth fourty daies vnto and the Septuagints but three CHAP. 44. 〈◊〉 will some say how shall I know whether Ionas said yet forty daies and Niâ—… shal be destroyed or yet three daies who seeth not that the Prophet presaging 〈◊〉 destruction could not say both if at three daies end they were to bee desâ—… then not at fourty if at fourty then not at three If I bee asked the question I answer for the Hebrew For the LXX being 〈◊〉 after might say otherwise and yet not against the sence but as pertinent to the matter as the other though in another signification aduising the reader not to leaue the signification of the historie for the circumstance of a word noâ—… to contemne either of the authorities for those things were truly done 〈◊〉 at Niâ—…ie and yet had a reference farther then Niniuie as it was true that the Prophet was three dayes in the Whales belly and yet intimated the being of the Lord of all the Prophets three dayes in the wombe of the graue Wherefore if the Church of the Gentiles were prophetically figured by Niniuie as being destâ—…oyed in repentance to become quite different from what it was Christ doiâ—…g this in the said Church it is hee that is signified both by the forty dayes and by the three by forty because hee was so long with his disciples after hiâ—… resurrection and then ascended into heauen by three for on the third day hee aroâ—…e againe as if the Septuagâ—…nts intended to stir the reader to looke further into the matter then the meere history and that the prophet had intended to intimate the depth of the mysterie as if hee had said Seeke him in forty dayes â—…hom thou shalt finde in three this in his resurrection and the other in his asceâ—…sion Wherefore both numbers haue their fitte signification both are spokâ—…n by one spirit the first in Ionas the latter in the translators Were it noâ—… for â—…diousnesse I could reconcile the LXX and the Hebrew in many places wherein they are held to differ But I study breuity and according to my talent haue followed the Apostles who assumed what made for their purposes out of both the copies knowing the holy spirit to be one in both But forward with our purpose L. VIVES YEt a forty
doe better for the solution of this question to beginne at that time chiefly because then the Holy Spirit descended vpon that society wherein the second law the New Testament was to bee professed according as Christ had promised For the first law the Old Testament was giuen in Sina by Moyses but the later which Christ was to giue was prophecied in these words The law shall goe forth of Zion and the word of the LORD from Ierusalem Therefore hee said himselfe that it was fit that repentance should bee preached in his name throughout all nations yet beginning at Ierusalem There then beganne the beleefe in CHRIST crucified and risen againe There did this faith heate the heartes of diuers thousands already who sold their goods to giue to the poore and came cheerefully to CHRIST and to voluntary pouerty withstanding the assalts of the bloud-thirsty Iewes with a pacience stronger then an armed power If this now were not done by Magike why might not the rest in all the world bee as cleare But if Peters magike had made those men honour Christ who both crucified him and derided him beeing crucified then I aske them when their three hundered three scorce and fiue yeares must haue an end CHRST died in the a two Gemini's consulshippe the eight of the Calends of Aprill and rose againe the third daie as the Apostles saw with their eyes and felt with their hands fortie daies after ascended hee into Heauen and tenne daies after that is fiftie after the resurrection came the Holy Ghost and then three thousand men beleeued in the Apostles preaching of him So that then his name beganne to spread as wee beleeue and it was truely prooued by the operation of the Holy Ghost but as the Infidels feigne by Peters magike And soone after fiue thousand more beleeued through the preaching of Paul and Peters miraculous curing of one that had beene borne lame and lay begging at the porch of the Temple Peter with one word In the name of our LORD IESVS CHRIST set him sound vpon his feete Thus the church gotte vppe by degrees Now reckon the yeares by the Consulls from the descension of the Holie Spirit that was in the Ides of Maie vnto the consulshippe of b Honorius and Eutychian and you shall finde full three hundered three score and fiue yeares expired Now in the next yeare in the consulship of c Theodorus Manlius when christianity should haue beene vtterly gone according to that Oracle of deuills or fiction of fooles what is done in other places wee neede not inquire but for that famous cittie of Carthage wee know that Iouius and Gaudentius two of Honorius his Earles came thether on the tenth of the Calends of Aprill and brake downe all the Idols and pulled downe their Temples It is now thirty yeares agoe since almost and what increase christianity hath had since is apparant inough and partly by a many whom the expectation of the fulfilling of that Oracle kept from beeing reconciled to the truth who since are come into the bosome of the church discouering the ridiculousnesse of that former expectation But wee that are christians re â—…re indeed and name doe not beleeue in Peter but in f him that Peter beleeued in Wee are edifyed by Peters sermons of Christ but not bewitched by his charmes nor deceiued by his magike but furthered by his religion CHRIT that taught Peter the doctrine of eternitie teacheth vs also But now it is time to set an end to this booke wherein as farre as neede was wee haue runne along with the courses of the Two Citties in their confused progresse the one of which the Babilon of the earth hath made her false gods of mortall men seruing them and sacrificing to them as shee thought good but the other the heauenly Ierusalem shee hath stucke to the onely and true GOD and is his true and pure sacrifice her selfe But both of these doe feele one touch of good and euill fortune but not with one faith nor one hope nor one law and at length at the last iudgement they shall bee seuered for euer and either shall receiue the endlesse reward of their workes Oâ—… these two endes wee are now to discourse L. VIVES IN the a two First sure it is Christ suffered vnder Tyberius the Emperor Luke the Euangelist maketh his baptisme to fall in the fifteenth yeare of Tyberius his reigne So then his passion must be in the eighteenth or ninteenth for three yeares hee preached saluation Hier. So â—…ith Eusebius alledging heathen testimonies of that memorable eclips of the Sunne as namely our of Phlegon a writer of the Olympiads who saith that in the fourth yeare of the two hundered and two Olympiade the eighteenth of Tyberius his reigne the greatest eclips befell that euer was It was midnight-darke at noone-day the starres were all visible and an earth-quake shooke downe many houses in Nice a city of Bythinia But the two Gemini Ruâ—… and Fusius were Consulls in the fifteenth yeare of Tyberius as is easily prooued out of Tacitus lib. 5. and out of Lactantius lib. 4. cap. 10. where hee saith that in that yeare did Christ suffer and him doth Augustine follow here But Sergius Galba afterwards Emperor and L. Sylla were Consulls in the eighteenth yeare b Honorius and In the consulship of these two 〈◊〉 draue the Gothes and Vandals into Italy Honorius the Emperor beeing Consull the fourth time Prosper saith this was not vntill the next yeare Stilicon and Aurelian beeing 〈◊〉 c Theodorus Claudian made an exellent Panegyrike for his consulship wherein hee sheweth that hee had beene Consul before Prosper maketh him Consull before Honorius his fourth Consulship but I thinke this is an error in the time as well as in the copie For it must bee read Beeing the second time Consul Eutropius the Eunuch was made Consull with him but soone after hee was put to death Wherevpon it may bee that Eutropius his name was blotted out of the registers and Theodorus Manlius hauing no fellow was taken for two Theodorus and Manlius as Cassiodorus taketh him but mistakes himselfe Yet about that time they began to haue but one Consull d Now 30. yeares Vnto the third yeare of Theodosius Iunior wherein Augustine wrote this e In him that Peter For who is Paul and who is Apollo the ministers by whom you beleeue Finis lib. 18. THE CONTENTS OF THE nineteenth booke of the City of God That Varro obserued 288. sectes of the Philophers in their question of the perfection of goodnesse 2. Varro his reduction of the finall good out of al these differences vnto three heads three definitions one onely of which is the true one 3. Varro his choise amongst the three forenamed sects following therin the opinion of Antiochus author of the old Academicall sect 4. The Christians opinion of the cheefest good and euill which the Philosophers held to bee within themselues 5. Of liuing sociably with our neighbours how
them as deceitfull deuills both in their good words and in their bad But seeing this God this goddesse cannot agree about Christ truly men haue no reason to beleeue or obey them in forbidding christianity Truly either Porphyry or Hecate in these commendations of Christ affirming that he destinied the christians to error yet goeth about to shew the causes of this error which before I relate I will aske him this one question If Christ did predestinate all christians vnto error whether did hee this wittingly or against his will If hee did it wittingly how then can hee bee iust if it were against his will how can hee then bee happy But now to the causes of this errour There are some spirits of the earth saith hee which are vnder the rule of the euill Daemones These the Hebrewes wise men whereof IESVS was one as the diuine Oracle declared before doth testifie forbad the religious persons to meddle with-all aduising them to attend the celestiall powers and especially God the Father with all the reuerence they possibly could And this saith hee the Gods also doe command vs as wee haue already shewen how they admonish vs to reuerence GOD in all places But the ignorant and wicked hauing no diuine guift nor any knowledge of that great and immortall Ioue nor following the precepts of the gods or good men haue cast all the deities at their heeles choosing not onely to respect but euen to reuerence those depraued Daemones And where-as they professe the seruice of GOD they doe nothing belonging to his seruice For GOD is the father of all things and stands not in neede of anything and it is well for vs to exhibite him his worship in chastitie iustice and the other vertues making our whole life a continuall prayer vnto him by our search and imitation of him c For our search of him quoth hee purifieth vs and our imitation of him deifieth the effects in our selues Thus well hath hee taught God the Father vnto vs and vs how to offer our seruice vnto him The Hebrew Prophets are full of such holy precepts concerning both the commendation and reformation of the Saints liues But as concerning Christianity there hee erreth and slandereth as farre as his deuills pleasure is whome hee holdeth deities as though it were so hard a matter out of the obscenities practised and published in their Temples and the true worship and doctrine presented be fore GOD in our Churches to discerne where manners were reformed and where they were ruined Who but the deuill him-selfe could inspire him with so shamelesse a falsification as to say that the Christians doe rather honour then detest the Deuills whose adoration was forbidden by the Hebrewes No that God whome the Hebrewes adored will not allow any sacrifice vnto his holiest Angels whome wee that are pilgrims on earth doe not-with-standing loue and reuerence as most sanctified members of the Citty of heauen but forbiddeth it directly in this thundring threate Hee that sacrificeth vnto Gods shall be rooted 〈◊〉 and least it should be thought hee meant onely of the earthly spirits whome this fellow calles the lesser powers d and whome the scripture also calleth gods not of the Hebrews but the Heathens as is euident in that one place Psal. 96. verse 5. For all the Gods of the Heathen are Diuels least any should imagine that the fore-said prohibition extended no further then these deuills or that it concerned not the offring to the celestiall spirits he addeth but vnto the Lord alone but vnto one God onely Some may take the words nisi domino soli to bee vnto the Lord the sunne and so vnderstand the place to bee meant of Apollo but the oriâ—…â—…nd the e Greeke translations doe subuert all such misprision So then the Hebrew God so highly commended by this Philosopher gaue the Hebrewes a â—…awe in their owne language not obscure or vncertaine but already dispersed through-out all the world wherein this clause was literally conteined Hee that sacrificeth vnto Gods shall bee rooted out but vnto the Lord alone What neede wee make any further search into the law and the Prophets concerning this nay what need wee search at all they are so plaine and so manifold that what neede I stand aggrauating my disputation with any multitudes of those places that exclude all powers of heauen and earth from perticipating of the honors due vnto God alone Behold this one place spoaken in briefe but in powerfull manner by the mouth of that GOD whome the wisest Ethnicks doe so highly extoll let vs marke it feare it and obserue it least our eradication ensue Hee that sacrificeth vnto more gods then that true and onely LORD shall bee rooted out yet God him-selfe is farre from needing any of our seruices but f all that wee doe herein is for the good of our owne soules Here-vpon the Hebrewes say in their holy Psalmes I haue sayd vnto the Lord thou art my GOD my well-dooing â—…th not vnto thee No wee our selues are the best and most excellent sacrifice that hee can haue offered him It is his Citty whose mystery wee celebrate 〈◊〉 â—…ch oblations as the faithfull doe full well vnderstand as I sayd once already For the ceasing of all the typicall offrings that were exhibited by the Iewes aâ—…d the ordeyning of one sacrifice to bee offered through the whole world from East to West as now wee see it is was prophecied long before from GOD by the mouthes of holy Hebrewes whome wee haue cited as much as needed in conuenient places of this our worke Therefore to conclude where there is not this iustice that GOD ruleth all alone ouer the society that obeyeth him by grace and yeeldeth to his proâ—…tion of sacrifice vnto all but him-selfe and where in euery member belongâ—… to this heauenly society the soule is lord ouer the body and all the bad afâ—… thereof in the obedience of GOD and an orderly forme so that all the 〈◊〉 as well as one liue according to faith g which worketh by loue in â—…ch a man loueth GOD as hee should and his neighbour as him-selfe 〈◊〉 this iustice is not is no societie of men combined in one vniformity of 〈◊〉 and profite consequently no true state popular if that definition holde â—…ch and finally no common-wealth for where the people haue no certaine 〈◊〉 the generall hath no exact forme L. VIVES 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is of Oraculous Phisosophy in which worke hee recites Apollos Orracles and others part whereof wee haue cited before b Photinus Hee was condemned by the counsell of Syrmium being confuted by Sabinus Bishoppe of Ancyra Cassiod Hist tripart He followed the positions of Samosatenus so that many accompted of both these heresies all as one c For our search Search is here a mentall inquisition whereby the mind is illustrate and purged from darke ignorance and after it hath found God studieth how to grow purâ—… and diuine like him d And whome the scripture
vnto the consummation So then as there are two regenerations one in faith by Baptisme and another in the flesh by incorruption so are there two resurrections the first That is now of the soule preuenting the second death The later Future of the bodie sending some into the second death and other some into the life that despiseth and excludeth all death whatsoeuer Of the two resurrections what may bee thought of the thousand years mentioned in Saint Iohns Reuelation CHAP. 7. SAint Iohn the Euangelist in his Reuelation speaketh of these two resurrections in such darke manner as some of our diuines exceeding their owne ignorance in the first doe wrest it vnto diuers ridiculous interpretations His words are these And I sawe an Angell come downe from Heauen hauing the keye of the bottomlesse pitte and a great chaine in his hand And hee tooke that Dragon that old Serpent which is the deuill and Sathan and bound him a thousand yeares â—…d hee cast him into the bottomlesse pitte and shut him vppe and sealed the dores vpon him that hee should deceiue the people no more till the thousand yeares were fulfilled For after hee must bee loosed for a little season And I saw seates and they set vpon them and iudgement was giuen vnto them and I saw the soules of them which were slaine for the testimonie of IESVS and for the worde of GOD and worshipped not the beast nor his Image neither had taken his marke vpon their fore-heads or on their handes and they liued and reigned with CHRIST a thousand yeares But the rest of the dead men shall not liue againe vntill the thousand yeares be finished this 〈◊〉 the first resurrection Blessed and Holy is hee that hath his part in the first resurrection for on such the second death hath no power but they shall be the Priests of GOD and of CHRIST and reigne with him a thousand yeares The chiefest reason that mooued many to thinke that this place implied a corporall resurrection was drawne from a the thousand yeares as if the Saints should haue a continuall Sabboth enduring so long to wit a thousand yeares vacation after the sixe thousand of trouble beginning at mans creation and expulsion out of Paradise into the sorrowes of mortalitie that â—…ce it is written One daie is with the LORD as a thousand yeares and a thousâ—…d yeares as one daie therefore sixe thousand yeares beeing finished as the sixe daies the seauenth should follow for the time of Sabbath and last a thousand yeares also all the Saints rising corporallie from the dead to â—…elebrate it This opinion were tolerable if it proposed onely spirituall deights vnâ—…o the Saints during this space wee were once of the same opinion our selues but seeing the auouchers heereof affirme that the Saints after this resurrection shall doe nothing but reuell in fleshly banquettes where b the cheere shall exceed both modesty and measure this is grosse and fitte for none but carnall men to beleeue But they that are really and truely spirituall doe call those Opinionists c Chiliasts the worde is greeke and many bee interpreted Millenaryes or Thousand-yere-ists To confute them heere is no place let vs rather take the texts true sence along with vs. Our LORD IESVS CHRIST saith No man can enter into 〈◊〉 strong mans house and take away his goods vnlesse hee first binde the strong man and then spoyle his house meaning by this strong man the deuill because hee alone was able to hold man-kinde in captiuity and meaning by the goods hee would take away his future faithfull whome the deuill held as his owne in diuers sinnes and impieties That this Stong-man therefore might bee bound the Apostle sawe the Angell comming downe from heauen hauing the keye of the bottomlesse pitte and a great chaine in his hand And hee tooke sayth hee the Dragon that olde serpent which is the deuill and Sathan and bound him a thousand yeares that is restrayned him from seducing or with-holding them that were to bee set free The thousand yeares I thinke may bee taken two waies either for that this shall fall out in the last thousand that is d on the sixth daie of the workes continuance and then the Sabboth of the Saints should follow which shall haue no night and bring them blessednesse which hath no end So that thus the Apostle may call the last part of the current thousand which make the sixth daie a thousand yeares vsing the part for the whole or else a thousand yeares is put for eternity noting the plenitude of time by a number most perfect For a thousand is the solid quadrate of tenne tenne times tenne is one hundered and this is a quadrate but it is but a plaine one But to produce the solide multiply ten by a hundered and there ariseth one thousand Now if an hundered bee some-times vsed for perfection as wee see it is in CHRISTS wordes concerning him that should leaue all and follow him saying Hee shall receiue an hundered-fold more which the Apostle seemeth to expound saying As hauing nothing and yet possessings althings for hee had sayd before vnto a faithfull man the whole worlde is his ritches why then may not one thousand bee put for consummation the rather in that it is the most solide square that can bee drawne from tenne And therefore wee interprete that place of the Psalme Hee hath alway remembered his couenant and promise that hee made to a thousand generations by taking a thousand for all in generall On. And â—…ee cast him into the bottomlesse pitte hee cast the deuills into that pitte that is the multitude of the wicked whose malice vnto GODS Church is bottomlesse and their hearts a depth of enuie against it hee cast him into this pitte not that hee was not there before but because the deuill beeing shut from amongst the Godly holds faster possession of the wicked for hee is a most sure hold of the deuills that is not onelie cast out from GODS seruants but pursues them also with a causelesse hate forward And shut him vppe and sealed the dore vpon him that hee should deceiue the people no more till the thousand yeares were expired he sealed that is his will was to keepe it vnknowne who belonged to the diuell and who did not For this is vnknowne vnto this world for we know not whether he that standeth shall fall or he that lieth along shall rise againe But how-so-euer this bond restraineth him from tempting the nations that are Gods selected as he did before For God chose them before the foundations of the world meaning to take them out of the power of darkenesse and set them in the kingdome of his sonnes glory as the Apostle saith For who knoweth not the deuils dayly seducing and drawing of others vnto eternall torment though they bee none of the predestinate Nor is it wonder iâ—… the diuell subuert some of those who are euen regenerate in Christ and walke in his wayes For
thinke this place obscure let him looke for no plainenesse in the Scriptures L. VIVES THy a victory Some read contention but the originall is Victory and so doe Hierom and Ambrose reade it often Saint Paul hath the place out of Osee. chap. â—…3 ver 14. and vseth it 1. Cor. 16. ver 55. b When shall death The Cittie of GOD shall see death vntill the words that were sayd of Christ after his resurrection Oh hell where is thy victory may bee said of all our bodies that is at the resurrection when they shal be like his glorified bodie Saint Peters doctrine of the resurrection of the dead CHAP. 18. NOw let vs heare what Saint Peter sayth of this Iudgement There shall come saith hee in the last daies mockers which will walke after their lusts and say Where is the promise of his comming For since the fathers died all things continue alike from the beginning of the creation For this they willingly know not that the heauens were of old and the earth that was of the water and by the water by the word of GOD wherefore the world that then was perished ouer-flowed with the water But the heauens and earth that now are are kept by the same word in store and reserued vnto fire against the day of iudgement and of the destruction of vngodly men Dearcly beloued bee not ignorant of this that one daie with the LORD is as a thousand years and a thousand yeares as one daie The LORD is not flack concerning his promise as some men count slackenesse but is pacient toward vs and would haue no man to perish but would haue all men to come to repentance But the daie of the LORD will come as a thiefe in the night in the which the heauens shall passe awaie with a noyse and the elements shall melt with 〈◊〉 and the earth with the workes that are therein shal be burnt vppe Seeing therefore all these must bee dissolued what manner of persons ought you to bee in holy conuersation and Godlinesse longing for and hasting vnto the comming of the daie of GOD by the which the heauens beeing on fire shal be dissolued and the elements shall melt vvith heate But vve-looke for a nevv heauen and a nevv earth according to his promise vvherein dvvelleth righteousnesse Thus sarre Now here is no mention of the resurrection of the dead but enough concerning the destruction of the world where his mention of the worlds destruction already past giueth vs sufficient warning to beleeue the dissolution to come For the world that was then perished saith hee at that time not onely the earth but that part of the ayre also which the watter a possessed or got aboue and so consequently almost all those ayry regions which hee calleth the heauen or rather in the plurall the heauens but not the spheres wherein the Sunne and the Starres haue their places they were not touched the rest was altered by humidity and so the earth perished and lost the first forme by the deluge But the heauens and earth saith hee that now are are kept by the same word in store and reserued vnto fire against the daie of iudgement and of the destruction of vngodly men Therefore the same heauen and earth that remained after the deluge are they that are reserued vnto the fire afore-said vnto the daie of iudgement and perdition of the wicked For because of this great change hee sticketh not to say there shal be a destruction of men also whereas indeed their essences shall neuer bee anniâ—…e although they liue in torment Yea but may some say if this old heauen and earth shall at the worlds end bee burned before the new ones be made where shal the Saints be in the time of this conflagration since they haue bodies and therefore must be in some bodily place We may answere in the vpper parts whither the fire as then shall no more ascend then the water did in the deluge For at this daie the Saints bodies shal be mooueable whither their wills doe please nor need they feare the fire beeing now both immortall and incorruptible b for the three children though their bodies were corruptible were notwithstanding preserued from loosing an haire by the fire and might not the Saints bodies be preserued by the same power L. VIVES THe a water possessed For the two vpper regions of the ayre doe come iust so low that they are bounded with a circle drawne round about the earthlie highest mountaines tops Now the water in the deluge beeing fifteene cubites higher then the highest mountaine it both drowned that part of the ayre wherein wee liue as also that part of the middle region wherein the birds do vsually flie both which in Holy writ and in Poetry also are called Heauens b The three Sidrach Misach and Abdenago at Babilon who were cast into a â—…nace for scorning of Nabuchadnezzars golden statue Dan. 3. Saint Pauls words to the Thessalonians Of the manifestations of Antichrist whose times shall immediately fore-runne the day of the Lord. CHAP. 19. I See I must ouer-passe many worthy sayings of the Saints concerning this day least my worke should grow to too great a volume but yet Saint Pauls I may by no meanes omit Thus sayth he Now I beseech you bretheren by the comming of our LORD IESVS CHRIST and by our assembling vnto him that you bee not suddenly mooued from your minde nor troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as if it were from vs as though the day of CHRIST were at hand Let no man deceiue you by any meanes for that day shall not come except there come a a fugitiue first and that that man of sinne bee disclosed euen the sonne of perdition which is an aduersary and exalteth himselfe against all is called god or that is worshipped so that he sitteth as God in the Temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God Remember yee not that when I was yet with you I told you these things And now yee know what withholdeth that he might be reuealed in his due time For the mistery of iniquity doth already worke onely he which now withholdeth shall let till he be taken out of the way and the wicked man shal be reuealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall abolish with the brightnesse of his comming euen him whose comming is by the working of Sathan with all power and signes and lying wonders and in all deceiuablenesse of vnrighteousnesse amongst them that perish because they receiued not the loue of the truth that they might be saued And therefore God shall send them strong delusion that they should beleeue lyes that all they might bee damned which beleeue not in the truth but had pleasure in vnrighteousnesse This is doubtlesse meant of Antichrist and the day of iudgement For this day hee saith shall not come vntill that Antichrist be come before it he that is called here a fugitiue
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
not the for bidden meates rehearsing the gratiousnesse of the New Testament from CHRISTS first comming euen vnto this Iudgement we haue now in hand For first he tells how GOD saith that hee commeth to gather the nations and how they shall come to see his glorie For all haue sinned saith the Apostle and are depriued of the glorie of GOD. Hee sayth also that hee will leaue signes amongst them to induce them to beleeue in him and that hee will send his elect into many nations and farre Islands that neuer heard of his name to preach his glory to the Gentiles and to bring their bretheren that is the bretheren of the elect Israell of whome hee spake into his presence to bring them for an offering vnto GOD in chariots and vpon horses that is by the ministerie of men or angells vnto holie Ierusalem that is now spread through-out the earth in her faithfull Cittizens For these when GOD assisteth them beleeue and when they beleeue they come vnto him Now GOD in a simily compares them to the children of Israel that offered vnto him his sacrifices with psalmes in the Temple as the church doth now in all places and hee promiseth to take of them for priests and for leuites which now wee see hee doth For hee hath not obserued fleshly kindred in his choise now as hee did in the time of Aurons priest-hood but according to the New Testament where CHRIST is priest after the order of Melchisedech hee selecteth each of his priests according to the merit which GODS grace hath stored his soule with as wee now behold and these b Priests are not to bee reckned of for their places for those the vnworthie doe often hold but for their sanctities which are not common both to good and bad Now the prophet hauing thus opened Gods mercies to the church addeth the seueral ends that shall befall both the good and bad in the last iudgement in these w◅ds As the new heauens and the new earth which I shall make shall remaine before mee saith the LORD euen so shall your seede and your name And from month to moneth and from Sabbath to Sabbath shall all flesh come to worshippe before mee saith the LORD And they shall goe forth and looke vpon the members of the men that haue transgressed against mee for their women shall not die neither shall their fire bee quenshed and they shal be an abhorring vnto all flesh Thus endeth the Prophet his booke with the end of the world Some in this place for members read c carkasse hereby intimating the bodies euident punishment though indeed a carkasse is properly nothing but dead flesh but those bodies shal be lyuing otherwise how should they bee sensible of paine vnlesse wee say they are dead bodies that is their soules are fallen into the second death and so wee may fitly call them carkasses And thus is the Prophets former words also to bee taken The land of the wicked shall fall Cadauer a carkasse all knowes commeth of Cado to fall Now the translators by saying the carkasses of the men doe not exclude women from this damnation but they speake as by the better sexe beeing that woman was taken out of man But note especially that where the Prophet speaking of the blessed sayth all flesh shall come to worshippe Hee meaneth not all men for the greater number shal be in torments but some shall come out of all nations to adore him in the Heauenly Ierusalem But as I was a saying since here is mention of the good by flesh and of the bad by carkasses Verelie after the resurrection of the flesh our faith whereof these words doe confirme that which shall confine both the good and bad vnto their last limits shal be the iudgement to come L. VIVES AGainst a the vnfaithfull Hierome out of the hebrew and the seauenty readeth it Against his enemies b Priests are not to be It is not priest-hood nor orders that maketh a man any whit respected of GOD for these dignities both the Godly and vngodly doe share in but it is purity of conscience good life and honest cariage which haue resemblance of that immense that incorruptible nature of GOD those winne vs fauour with him c Carkasses So doth Hierome reade it But marke Saint Augustines vprightnesse rather to giue a fauorable exposition of a translation to which hee stood not affected then any way to cauill at it How the Saints shall goe forth to see the paines of the wicked CHAP. 22. BVt how shall the good goe forth to see the bad plagued Shall they leaue their blessed habitations and goe corporally to hell to see them face to face God forbid no they shall goe in knowledge For this implieth that the damned shal be without and for this cause the Lord calleth their place vtter darkenesse opposite vnto that ingresse allowed the good seruāt in these words Enter into thy Maisters ioye and least the wicked should be thought to goe in to bee seene rather then the good should goe out by knowledge to see them being to know that which is without for the tormented shall neuer know what is done in the Lords Ioye but they that are in that Ioye shall know what is done in the vtter darkenesse Therefore saith the Prophet they shall goe forth in that they shall know what is without for if the Prophets through that small part of diuine inspiration could know these things before they came to passe how then shall not these immortalls know them being passed seeing that in them the Lord is al in all Thus shall the Saints bee blessed both in seed and name In seed as Saint Iohn saith And his seed remaineth in him In name as Isaias saith So shall your name continue from moneth to moneth and from Sabbath to Sabbath shall they haue rest vpon rest passing thus from old and temporall types to new and euerlasting truthes But the paines of the wicked that eternall worme and that neuer dying fire is diuersly expounded either in reference to the bodie onelie or to the soule onely or the fire to belong to the bodie reallie and the worme to the soule figuratiuely and this last is the likeliest of the three But heere is no place to discusse peculiars Wee must end this volume as wee promised with the iudgement the seperation of good from badde and the rewards and punishments accordingly distributed Daniels prophecy of Antichrist of the iudgement and of the Kingdome of the Saints CHAP. 23. OF this Iudgement Daniel prophecieth saying that Antichrist shall fore-run it and so hee proceedeth to the eternall Kingdome of the Saints for hauing in a vision beheld the foure beasts types of the foure Monarchies and the fourth ouer-throwne by a King which all confesse to bee Antichrist and then seeing the eternall Empire of the Sonne of man CHRIST to follow Daniell saith hee Was troubled in spirit in the middest of my body and the visions of mine head made mee
other-wise called the Angel and held by some as Hierome saith and namely by the Hebrews b to bee Esdras the Priest that wrote some other parts in the Canon prophecied of the last iudgment in these words Behold hee shall come saith the Lord of Hoastes but who may abide the day of his comming and who shall endure when hee appeareth for hee is like a purging fire and like Fullers Sope and hee shall sit downe to trye and fine the siluer hee shall euen fine the sonnes of Leui and purifie them as golde and siluer that they may bring offrings to the Lord in righteousnesse Then shall the offerings of Iudah and Hierusalem bee acceptable vnto the Lord as in old time and in the yeares afore And I will come neere vnto you to iudgement and I will bee a swift witnesse against the Sooth-sayers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that wrong fully keepe back the hirelings wages and vexe the vviddow and the fatherlesse and feare not mee saith the Lord of Hoastes for I am the Lord I change not These words doe seeme euidently to imply a purification of some in the last iudgement For what other thing can bee meant by this Hee is like a purging fire and like Fullers sope and hee shall sitte downe to trye and fine the siluer hee shall fine the sonnes of Leui and purifie them as golde or siluer So saith Esayas The Lord shall wash the filthinesse of the daughters of Zion and purge the bloud of Hierusalem on t of the middest thereof by the spirit of iudgement and by the spirit of burning Perhaps this burning may bee vnderstood of that seperation of the polluted from the pure in that paenall iudgement the good beeing to liue euer after with-out any commerce with the bad But these words Hee shall euen fine the sonnes of Leui and purifie them as gold and siluer that they may bring offrings to the Lord in righteousnesse doe intimate a purgation euen of the good who shall now be cleansed from that in-iustice wherein they displeased the Lord being cleansed and in their perfection of righteousnesse they shall bee pure offerings themselues vnto him their Lord. For what better or more acceptable oblation for him then them selues But let vs leaue this theame of paenall purgation vnto a more fitt oportunity By the sonnes of Leui Iudah and Hierusalem is meant the Church of God both of Hebrews and others but not in that state that it standeth now in for as we are now if wee say wee haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues and the truth is not in vs but as it shall be then like a threshing-flore cleansed by the fan of the last iudgement all being penally purged that needed such a purification so that now there shall need no more sacrifice for sinne for all that offer such are in sinne for the remission of which they offer to bee freed from it by Gods gracious acceptance of their offring L. VIVES MAlachiel or a Malachi I neuer read that Malachi was euer called Malachiel Malachi is in Hebrew his Angel and therefore he was called Malachi for if it were Malachiel it should be interpreted the Angell of the Lord I thinke therefore it should be read here Malachi b To be Esdras Of this lib. 18. Of the Saints offerings which God shall accept of as in the old time and the yeares afore CHAP. 26. To shew that the Citty of God should haue no more such custome it is said that the sonnes of Leui shall bring offrings to the Lord in righteousnesse therefore not in sinne and consequently not for sinne wee may therefore gather by the words following viz. Then shall the offrings of Iudah and Ierusalem be acceptable vnto the Lord as in old time and in the yeares afore that the Iewes are deceiued in beleeuing the. restaurations of their old legall ceremonies for all the sacrifices of the old Instrument were offered in sinne and for sinne the priest him-selfe who wee must thinke was the holiest was expresly commanded by the Lord to offer first for his owne sinnes and then for the people wee must therefore shew how these words As in old time and in the yeares afore are to bee taken They may perhaps imply the time of our first parents being in paradice for they were then pure and offred them-selues as vnspotted oblations to the Lord. But they transgressing and being therefore thrust out and all mankind being depraued and condemned in them since their fall no a man but the worlds redeemer and little baptized infants were euer pure from sinne no not the infant of one daies age If it be answered that they are worthily said to offer in righteousnesse that offer in faith in that the iust liueth by faith though if he say hee hath no sinne hee deceiues him-selfe and therefore hee saith it not because he liueth by faith I say againe is any one so farre deceiued as to pararell these times of faith with those of the last iudgment wherein those that are to offer those oblations in righteousnesse are to bee purged and refined Nay seeing that after that purgation there shal be no place for the least imperfection of sin assuredly the time wherein there shal be no sinne is not to bee compared with any sauing with the time before our first parents fall in Paradise wherein they liued in spotlesse felicity So that this it is which is ment by the old time and the yeares afore for such another passage is there in Esaias After the promise of a new Heauen and a new Earth amongst the other allegoricall promises of beatitudes to the Saints which study of breuity enforced vs to let passe vnexpounded this is one As the daies of the of tree life shall the dayes of my people be This tree who is it that hath read the Scriptures and knowes not yâ— God planted it and where and how our first parents by sinne were debarred from eating of the fruit thereof and a terrible guard set vpon it for euer after some may say the Prophet by that meant the daies of Christ his Church that now is and that Christ is that tree according to that of Salomon concerning wisdome She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her and againe that our first parents liued but a smal while in Paradise seeing that they had no children during that space and therefore when we speake of the time that they were there we can not speake of any yeares as this place doth In old time and in the yeares bofore well this question is too intricate to discusse at this time and therefore let it passe There is another meaning of these words also besides this which doth also exclude the interpretation of this place by the legall and carnall sacrifices as though the restoring of them were such a benefit for those offrings of the old law being made all of vnpolluted beasts
them hath declared these things The Lord hath loued him hee will do his will in Bable and his arme shal be against the Chaldaeans I euen I haue spoken it and I haue called him I haue brought him and his waies shall prosper Come neare vnto me heare yee this I haue not spoke it in secret from the beginning from the time that the thing was I was there and now the LORD GOD and his spirit hath sent me This was he that spoke here as the LORD GOD and yet it had not beene euident that hee was Christ but that hee addeth the last clause the LORD GOD and his spirit hath sent me For this hee spoke of that which was to come in the forme of a seruant vsing the preterperfect tense for the future as the Prophet doth else-where saying he was led as a sheepe to the slaughter he doth not say He shal be led but putteth the time past for the time to come according to the vsuall phrase of propheticall speeches There is also another place in Zacharie as euident as this where the Almightie sent the Almightie and what was that but that the Father sent the Sonne the words are these Thus saith the Lord of Hoastes After this glory hath hee sent mee vnto the nations which spoyled you for hee that toucheth you toucheth the Apple of his eye Behold I will lift my hand vpon them and they shall bee a spoyle to those that serued them and yee shall know that the Lord of Hoastes hath sent mee Behold here the LORD of hoastes saith that the LORD of hoastes hath sent him Who dare say that these words proceed from any but from Christ speaking to his lost sheepe of Israell for hee saith so him-selfe I am not sent but vnto the lost sheepe of Israell those hee compareth heere vnto the Apple of his eye in his most feruent loue vnto them and of those lost ones the Apostles were a part themselues but after this resurrection before which the Holy Ghost saith Iohn was not yet giuen because that IESVS was not yet glorified hee was also sent vnto the gentiles in his Apostles and so was that of the psalme fulfilled Thou hast deliuered mee from the contentions of the people thou hast made mee the head of the heathen that those that had spoiled the Israelites and made them slaues should spoile them no more but become their slaues This promised hee to his Apostles saying I will make you fishers of men and againe vnto one of them alone from hence-forth thou shalt catch men Thus shal the nations become spoiles but vnto a good end as vessell tane from a strong man that is bound by a stronger The said Prophet also in another place saith or rather the LORD by him saith In that daie will I seeke to destroy all the nations that come against Ierusalem and I will powre vpon the house of Dauid and vpon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and of compassion and they shall looke vpon mee whome they haue pearced and they shall lament for him as one mourneth for his onely sonne and bee sorry for him as one is sory for his first borne Who is it but GOD that shall ridde Ierusalem of the foes that come against her that is that oppose her faith or as some interprete it that seeke to make her captiue who but hee can powre the spirit of grace and compassion vpon the house of Dauid and vpon the inhabitants of Ierusalem This is Gods peculiar and spoken by God himselfe in the prophet and yet that this GOD who shall doe all the wonderfull workes is CHRIST the sequele sheweth plainely they shall looke vpon mee whom they haue pearced and bee sorry c. For those Iewes who shall receiue the spirit of grace and compassion in the time to come shall repent that euer they had insulted ouer CHRIST in his passion when they shall see him comming in his Maiesty and know that this is hee whose base-nesse of parentage they had whilom â—…owted at And their fore-fathers shall see him too vpon whom they had exercised such impiety euen him shall they behold but not vnto their correction but vnto their confusion These words there I will powre vpon the house of Dauid and vpon the inhabitants of Hierusalem the spirit of grace and compassion c. doe no way concerne them but their progenie onelye whome the preaching of Helias shall bring to the true faith But as wee say to the Iewes You killed Christ though it were their predecessors so shall the progeny of those murtherers bewayle the death of Christ them-selues though their predecessors and not they were they that did the deed So then though they receiue the spirit of grace and compassion and so escape the damnation of their fore-fathers yet shall they grieue as if they had beene pertakers of their predecessors villanie yet shall it not be guilt but zeale that shall inforce this griefe in them The LXX doe read this place thus They shall behold mee ouer whome they haue insulted but the Hebrews read it whom they haue pearced which giueth a fuller intimation of the crucifying of Christ. But that insultation in the LXX was continued euen through the whole passion of Christ Their taking him binding him iudging him apparelling him with sot-like habites crowning him with thorne striking him on the head with reedes mocking him with fained reuerence enforcing him to beare his owne crosse and crucifying him euen to his very last gaspe was nothing but a continuate insultation So that laying both the interpretations together as wee doe wee expresse at full that this place implyeth Christ and none other Therefore when-so-euer wee read in the Prophets that God shall iudge the world though there bee no other distinction that that very word Iudge doth expresse the Sonne of man for by his comming it is that Gods iudgement shall be executed God the Father in his personall presence will iudge no man but hath giuen all iudgement vnto his Sonne who shall shew him-selfe as man to iudge the world euen as hee shewed him-selfe as man to bee iudged of the world Who is it of whome God speaketh in Esaias vnder the name of Iacob and Israel but this sonne of man that tooke flesh of Iacobs progeny Iacob my seruant I will stay vpon him Israel mine elect in whome my soule delighteth I haue put my spirit vpon him hee shall bring forth Iudgement vnto the Gentiles Hâ—… shall not crye nor lift vp nor cause his voyce to bee heard in the streetes A bruised Reede shall hee not breake and the smoaking Flaxe shall hee not quench hee shall bring forth iudgement in truth Hee shall not faile nor bee discouraged vntill hee haue setled iudgement in the earth and the Iles shall hope in his name In the Hebrew there is no b mention of Iacob nor of Israel but the LXX being desirous to shew what hee meant by his
disgrace banishment death and bondage which of these can be performed in so little time as the offence is excepting a the fourth which yeelds euery man the same measure that hee meateth vnto others according to that of the law An eye for an eye and a toâ—…th for a tooth Indeed one may loose his eye by this law in as small a time as hee put out another mans by violencâ—… 〈◊〉 is a man kisse another mans wife and bee therefore adiudged to bee whipt is not that which hee did in a moment paid for by a good deale longer sufferance is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pleasure repaide with a longer paine And what for imprisonâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…ry one iudged to lye there no longer then hee was a doing his villaâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seruant that hath but violently touched his maister is by a iust law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many yeares imprisonment And as for damages disgraces and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are not many of them darelesse and lasting a mans whole life wherâ—… be 〈◊〉 a proportion with the paines eternall Fully eternall they cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the life which they afflict is but temporall and yet the sinnes they 〈◊〉 are all committed in an instant nor would any man aduise that the contiâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 penalty should be measured by the time of the fact for that be it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or what villany so-euer is quickly dispatched and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be weighed by the length of time but by the foulenesse of the crime 〈◊〉 for him that deserues death by an offence doth the law hold the time that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ing to bee the satisfaction for his guilt or his beeing taken away from the fellowship of men whether That then which the terrestriall Citty can do by the first death the celestiall can effect by the second in clearing her selfe of malefactors For as the lawes of the first cannot call a dead man back againe into their society no more do the lawes of the second call him back to saluation that is once entred into the second death How then is our Sauiours words say they With what measure yee mete with the same shall men mete to you againe if temporall sinnes be rewarded with eternall paines O but you marke not that those words haue a reference to the returning of euill for euill in our nature and not in one proportion of time that is hee that doth euill shall suffer euill without limitation of any time although this place be more properly vnderstood of the iudgments and condemnations whereof the Lord did there speake So that he that iudgeth vniustly if he be iudged vniustly is paid in the same measure that hee meated withall though not what he did for he did wrong in iudgment and such like he suffreth but he did it vniustly mary he is repaid according to iustice L. VIVES EXcepting the a fourth This was one of the Romanes lawes in the twelue tables and hereof doth Phauorinus dispute with Sep. Caecilius in Gellius lib. 20. The greatnesse of Adams sinne inflicting eternall damnation vpon all that are out of the state of Grace CHAP. 12. BVt therefore doth man imagine that this infliction of eternall torment is vniustice because his fraile imperfection cannot discerne the horriblenesse of that offence that was the first procurer thereof For the fuller fruition man had of God the greater impiety was it for him to renounce him and therein was hee worthy of euer-lasting euill in that he destroyed his owne good that otherwise had beene euerlasting Hence came damnation vpon all the stock of man parent and progenie vnder-going one curse from which none can be euer freed but by the free and gracious mercy of God which maketh a seperation of mankinde to shew in one of the remainders the power of grace and in the other the reuenge of iustice Both which could not bee expressed vpon all man-kinde for if all had tasted of the punishments of iustice the grace and mercy of the redeemer had had no place in any and againe if all had beene redeemed from death there had beene no obiect left for the manifestation of Gods iustice But now there is more left then taken to mercy that so it might appeare what was due vnto all without any impeachment of Gods iustice who not-withstanding hauing deliuered so many hath herein bound vs for euer to praise his gracious commiseration Against such as hold that the torments after the iudgement shall bee but the meanes whereby the soules shall bee purified CHAP. 13. SOme Platonists there are who though they assigne a punishment to euery sinne yet hold they that all such inflictions be they humaine or diuine in this life or in the next tend onely to the purgation of the soule from enormities Where-vpon Virgil hauing said of the soules Hinc metunt cupiuntque c. Hence feare desire c And immediatly Quin vt supremo cum lumine vita reliquit Non tamen omne malâ—…m miseris nec funditùs omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitùsque necesse est Multa diù concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur poenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt aliae panduntur inanes Suspensa ad ventos aliis sub gurgite vasto Insectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni For when the soules do leaue the bodies dead Their miseries are not yet finished Nor all their times of torment yet compleate Many small crimes must needes make one that 's great Paine therefore purgeth them and makes them faire From their old staines some hang in duskie ayre Some in the deepe do pay the debt of sinne And fire is chosen to cleanse others in They that hold this affirme that no paines at all are to be suffered after death but onely such as purge the soules and those shall be cleared of all their earthly contagion by some of the three vpper elements the fire the ayre or the water The ayre in that he saith Suspensae ad ventos the water by the words Sub gurgite vasto the fire is expresly named aut exuritur igni Now indeed wee doe confesse that there are certaine paines during this life which do not properly afflict such as are not bettred but made worse by them but belong onely to the reforming of such 〈◊〉 take them for corrections All other paines temporall and eternall are laid vpon euery one as God pleaseth by his Angells good or bad either for some sinne past or wherein the party afflicted now liueth or else to excercise and declare the vertue of his seruants For if one man hurt another a willingly or by chance it is an offence in him to doe any man harme by will or through ignorance but God whose secret iudgement assigned it to be so offendeth not at all As for temporall paine some endure it heere and some here-after and some both here and there yet all is past before the last iudgement But all shall not come into these eternall paines which not-with-standing shall bee
delights that hee loued yet shall hee bee 〈◊〉 in that hee held his foundation maugre all tribulation but as it were by 〈◊〉 for that which hee possessed in alluring loue hee shall forge with 〈◊〉 sorrowe This thinke I is the fire that shall enritch the one and â—…ge the other trying both yet condemning neither If wee say thâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of heere is that whereof CHRIST spake to those on his left 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from mee yee cursed into euerlasting fire and that all such 〈◊〉 builded 〈◊〉 strawe and stubble vpon their foundation are part of the sayd cursed who notwithstanding after a time of torment are to bee dedeliuered by the merit of their foundation then can wee not thinke that those on the right hand to whome hee shall say Come you blessed c. Are any other sauing those that built gold siluer and precious stones vppon the said foundation But this fire of which the Apostle speaketh shall bee as a tryall both to the good and the bad both shall passe through it for the word sayth Euery mans worke shal bee made manifest for the day of the Lord shall declare it because it shal bee reuealed by the fyre and the fire shall try euery mans worke of what sort it is If the fire trye both and he that hath an abiding worke be rewarded and hee whose worke shal burne shall bee indamaged then cannot this be that euerlasting fire For into that shall none enter but the cursed on the left hand in the last iudgement whereas the blessed shall passe through this wherein some of them shal be so tryed that their building shall abide vnconsumed and other-some shall haue their worke burned and yet shal bee saued them-selues in that their loue vnto Christ exceeded al their carnall imperfections And if they bee saued then shall they stand on Christes right hand and shall bee part of those to whome it shall bee said Come you blessed of my father inherite the kingdome c. and not on the left hand amongst the cursed to whome it shall bee sayd Depart from me c. For none of these shall be saued by fire but all of them shall be bound for euer in that place where the worme neuer dyeth there shall they burne world without end But as for the time betweene the bodily death and the last iudgement if any one say that the spirits of the dead are all that while tryed in such fire as neuer moueth those that haue not built wood straw or stubble afflicting onely such as haue wrought such workes eyther here or there or both or that mans worldly affects beeing veniall shall â—…e the purging fire of tribulation onely in this world and not in the other if any hold thus I contradict him not perhaps he may hold the truth To this tribuâ—… also may belong the death of body drawne from our first parents sinne and inflicted vppon each man sooner or later according to his building So may also the Churches persecutions wherein the Martyrs were crowned and all the rest afflicted For these calamities like fire tryed both sorts of the buildings consuming both workes and worke men where they found not Christe for the foundation and consuming the workes onely and sauing the worke-men by this losse where they did finde him and stubble c. built vppon him but where they found workes remayning to eternall life there they consumed nothing at all Now in the last dayes in the time of Antichriste shall be such a persecution as neuer was before And many buildings both of gold and stubble being all founded vppon Christe shall then bee tryed by this fire which will returne ioy to some and losse to others and yet destroy none of them by reason of their firme foundation But whosoeuer hee bee that loueth I do not say his wife with carnall affection but euen such shewes of pyety as are vtter alliens from this sensuality with such a blinde desire that hee preferreth them before Christ this man hath not Christ for his foundation and therefore shall neither bee saued by 〈◊〉 noâ—… otherwise because hee cannot bee conioyned with Christ who faith playnely of such men Hee that loueth father or mother more then me is vnworthy of me And he that loueth sonne or daughter more then me is not worthy of mee But hee that loueth them carnaliy yet preferreth Christ for his foundation and had rather loose them all then Christ if hee were driuen to the losse of one such a man shall bee saued but as it were by fire that is his griefe in the loosing of them must needes bee as great as his delight was in enioying them But hee that loues father mother c. according to Christ to bring them vnto his Kingdome or bee delighted in thâ—… because they are the members of Christ this loue shall neuer burne away liâ—…â—…ood straw stubble but shall stand as a building of gold siluer and preâ—… 〈◊〉 for how can a man loue that more then Christ which he loueth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sake onely L. VIVES 〈◊〉 day of a the Lord Where-vnto all secrets are referred to be reuealed and therefore they are worthy of reprehension that dare presume to censure acts that are doubtfull 〈◊〉 â—…rable onely by coniectures seeme they neuer so bad 〈◊〉 thâ—…se that thinke those sinnes shall not be laid to their 〈◊〉 where-with they mixed some workes of mercy CHAP. 27. NOw a word with those that hold none damned but such as neglect to doe workes of mercy worthy of their sinnes because S. Iames saith There shall be 〈◊〉 mercylesse to him that sheweth no mercy he therfore that doth shew merâ—… say they be his life neuer so burdened with sin and corruption shal not withstanding haue a mercyful iudgement which wil either acquit him from al paines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deliâ—… 〈◊〉 after a time of sufferance And this made Christ distinguish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…om 〈◊〉 â—…obate only by their performance and not performance of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one wherof is rewarded with euerlasting ioy and the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as for their daily sins that they may bâ—… pardoned through 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 the Lords praier say they doth sufficiently proue for as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 christian â—…aith not this praier so likewise is ther no daily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when we say And forgiue vs our trespasses as we forgiue them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we perform this later clause accordingly for Christ saie they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forgiue men their trespasses your heauenly father will forgiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but he said generally hee will forgiue you yours Bee they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so 〈◊〉 neuer so ordinary neuer so continual yet works of mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 them al away wel they do wel in giuing their aduice to perform works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worthy of their â—…ns for if they should haue said that any works of mercâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the greatest and most customary sins they should bee 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so â—…ight the richest man for his a ten â—…ence a day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for al his fornications homicides and other sins whatsoâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beyond comparison to affirm this then questionles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 works are that are worthy of pardon for sin and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spake saying Bring forth therfore fruits worthy of amendmeÌ„t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that such as 〈◊〉 their owne soules by continuall sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meant of in this place first because they do take vioâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thâ—…n they bestow charitably on the poore and yet in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…eed Christ b and 〈◊〉 liberâ—…y of sinning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vpon their damnation 〈◊〉 if they should giue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto the poore members of Christ to redeem one only 〈◊〉 yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euil did 〈◊〉 â—…straine them from any more such 〈◊〉 they 〈◊〉 â—…by 〈◊〉 good at all he therfore that will cleare his sins by his works must begin first at him-self for it is vnfit to do that to our neighbour which we wil not do to our selfe Christ himselfe saying thou shalt loue neighbour as thy selfe and againe Loue thine owne soule if thou wilt please God he therefore that doth not this worke of mercy that is the pleasing of God to his owne soule how can hee bee said to do workes of mercy sufficient to redeeme his sinnes for it is written Hee that is wicked to him-selfe to whome will hee bee good for almesdeedes do lift vp the prayers of men to God What saith the Scriptures My sonne hast thou sinned do so no more but pray for thy sinnes past that they may bee forgiuen thee for this cause therefore must wee do almesdeeds that when we pray our prayer may bee heard that wee may leaue our former vices and obtayne refreshment for our selues by those workes of mercy Now Christ saith that hee will impute the doing and omission of almesdeeds vnto those of the iudgement to shew how powerfull they are to expiate offences past not to protect the continuers in sinne for those that will not abiure the courses of impiety cannot bee sayd to performe any workes of mercy And these words of Christ In as much as you did it not vnto one of these you did it not vnto me imply that they did no such workes as they imagined for if they gaue bread vnto the hungred Christian as if it were vnto Christ him-selfe for GOD careth not to whome you giue but with what intent you giue Hee therefore that loueth Christ in his members giueth almes with intent to ioyne him-selfe to Christ not that hee may haue leaue to leaue him without being punished for the more one loueth what Christ reproueth the farther of doth he depart from Christ for what profiteth Baptisme vnlesse iustification follow it doth not hee that sayd Vnlesse a man bee borne againe of water and of the spirit hee shall not enter into the Kingdome of GOD say also vnlesse your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises yee shall not enter into the Kingdome of heauen why do men runne to Baptisme for feare of the first and do not draw neare to righteousnesse for feare of the later Therefore as hee that checketh his brothers sinne in charity by telling him hee is a foole notwithstanding all this is not guilty of Hell fire so on the other side hee that loueth not Christ in his members giueth no almes to a Christian as vnto a Christian though he stretch forth his hand vnto one of Christs poore members and hee that refuâ—…eth to bee iustified in Christ doth not loue Christ in any respect But if one call his brother foole in reprochfull contempt rather then with intent to reforme his imperfection all the almesdeeds this man can do will neuer benefit him vnlesse hee bee reconciled to him whome he hath iniured for it followeth in the same place If then thou bringest thy guift vnto the altar and tâ—…re remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leaue there thine offring and go thy way first be reconcyled to thy brother and then come and offer thy guift So that it is nothing worth to do workes of mercy to expiate any sinne and yet to continue in the sinne still As for the Lords prayer it doth indeed blot out our dayly sinnes it being dayly said And forgiue vs our trespasses if withall the following clause bee not onely said but performed also As wee forgiue them that â—…respasse against vs. But indeed wee say this prayer because wee do sinne not that wee might 〈◊〉 for Our 〈◊〉 sheweth vs in this that liue wee neuer so carefull of shunning corruption yet do wee euery day fall intâ—… some sinnes for the remission of which we ought both to pray and to pardon such aâ—… haue offended vs that wee may be pardoned our selues Wherefore Christ saith not this If yee forgiue men their trespasses your heauenly father wil also forgiue you yours to giue hope to any man to perseuer in daily crimes whether we be borne out by authority or commit them by sleight and suttlety but to instruct vs that we are not without sinne though wee may bee without crime as God aduised the priests in the Old-Testament first to offer for their owne sinnes and then for the peoples Let vs marke these words of our great Lord and maister with attention and diligence He doth not say your heauenly father will forgiue you any sinne whatsoeuer but he will forgiue you yours for in this place he taught his disciples being already iustified their daily prayer what meaneth he then by this same yours but such sinnes as the righteous themselues cannot be without wherefore whereas they that would hereby take occasion to continue in sin affirme that Christ meant the greatest sins because he said not your smaller sinnes but your in generall wee on the contrary side considering vnto whome he spake do vnderstand his words to concerne small sinnes onely in that they to whome they were spoken were now cleared of their greater Nor are those great sinnes indeed which euery one ought to reforme him-selfe and avoyde euer forgiuen vnlesse the guilty do fulfill the foresaid clause As we forgiue them that trespasse against vs for if the least sinnes wherevnto the righteous them-selues are prone cannot bee remitted but vpon that condition then muchlesse shall the great and Criminous ones haue this pardon though they that vsed them do cease ther further practise if they continue inexorable in forgiuing such as haue offended them for the Lord saith If yee do not forgiue men their trespasses no more will your Heauenly father forgiue you your trespasses And Saint Iames his words are to the same purpose there shal be iudgment mercilesse to him that sheweth no mercy Remember but the seruant whome his maister pardoned of a debt of 10000.
Therfore that vision is kept for vs beeing the reward of faith of which also the Apostle Iohn speaking saith When hee shall appeare wee shall bee like vnto him because wee shall see him as hee is But wee must vnderstand by the face of GOD his manifestation and not to bee any such member as wee haue in the body and doe call it by that name Wherefore when it is demanded of vs what the Saints shall doe in that spirituall body I doe not say that I see now but I say that I beleeue according to that which I read in the Psalme I beleeued and therefore I spake I say therefore that they shall see GOD in the body but whether by the same manner as wee now see by the body the Sunne Moone Starres Sea and Earth it is no small question It is a hard thing to say that then the Saints shall haue such bodyes that they cannot shutte and open their eyes when they will But it is more hard to say that who-so-euer shall shutte their eyes there shall not see GOD. For if the Prophet Heliseus absent in body saw his seruant Giezi receiuing the guifts which Naaman gaue vnto him whome the afore-said Prophet had cleansed from the deformitye of his leprosie which the wicked seruant thought hee had done secretly his maister not seeing him how much more shall the Saints in that spirituall body see all things not onely if they shutte their eyes but also from whence they are absent in body For then shall that bee perfect of which the Apostle speaking saith Wee know in part and Prophecie in part but when that shall come which is perfect that which is in part shall bee done away Afterward that hee might declare by some similitude how much this life doth differ from that which shall bee not of all sortes of men but also of them which are endewed heere with an especiall holynesse hee saith When I was a childe I vnderstood as a childe I did speake as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things Wee see now in a Glasse in a darke-speaking but then wee shall see face to see Now I know in part but then shall I knowe euen as I am knowne If therefore in this life where the prophesie of admirable men is to bee compared to that life as children to a young man Not-with-standing Heliseus sawe his seruant receiuing guifts where hee himselfe was not shall therefore the Saints stand in neede of corporall eyes to see those things which are to bee seene which Heliseus beeing absent needed not to see his seruant For when that which is perfect is come neither now the corruptible body shall any more aggrauate the soule and no incorruptible thing shall hinder it For according to the LXX interpreters these are the words of the Prophet to Giezi Did not my heart goe with thee and I knew that the man turned backe from his charriot to meete thee and thou hast receiued money c. But as Hierome hath interpreted it out of the Hebrew Was not my heart saith hee in presence when the man returned from his Charriot to meete thee Therefore the Prophet sayd That hee sawe this thing with his heart wonderfully ayded by the diuine powre as no man doubteth But how much more shall all abound with that guift when GOD shall bee all things in all Neuer-the-lesse those corporall eyes also shall haue their office and shall bee in their place and the spirit shall vse them by the spirituall body For the Prophet did vse them to see things present though hee needed not them to see his absent seruant which present things hee was able to see by the spirit though hee did shut his eyes euen as hee saw things absent where hee was not with them GOD forbid therefore that wee should say that the Saints shall not see GOD in that life their eyes being shut whome they shall all alwayes see by the spirit But whether they shall also see by the eyes of the body when they shall haue them open from hence there ariseth a question For if they shall bee able to doe no more in the spirituall body by that meanes as they are spirituall eyes than those are able which wee haue now with-out all doubt they shall not bee able to see GOD Therefore they shall bee of a farre other power if that incorporate nature shall bee seene by them which is conteined in no place but is whole euery where For wee doe not say because wee say that GOD is both in heauen and also in earth For hee saith by the Prophet I fill heauen and earth that hee hath one part in heauen and another in earth but hee is whole in heauen and whole in earth not at seuerall times but hee is both together which no corporall nature can bee Therefore there shall bee a more excellent and potent force of those eyes not that they may see more sharply then some serpents and Eagles are reported to see for those liuing creatures by their greatest sharpnesse of seeing can see nothing but bodies but that they may also see incorporat things And it may be that great powre of seeing was granted for a time to the eyes of holy Iob yea in that mortall body when hee saith to GOD. By the hearing of the eare I did he are thee before but now my eye doth see thee therefore I despised my selfe consumed and esteemed my selfe to bee earth and ashes Although there is nothing to the contrary but that the eye of the heart may be vnderstood concerning which eyes the Apostle saith To haue the eyes of your heart enlightned But no Christian man doubteth that GOD shal be seene with them when hee shal be seen which faithfully receiueth that which GOD the maister saith Blessed are the pure in heart because they shall see GOD. But it now is in question whether hee may bee seene there also with corporall eyes For that which is written And all flesh shall see the saluation of God without any knotte or scruple of difficulty may so bee vnderstood as if it had beene sayd And euery man shall see the CHRIST of GOD who as hee hath beene seene in bodie shall likewise bee seene in bodie when hee shall iudge the quicke and the dead But that hee is the Saluation of GOD there are also many other testimonies of the Scriptures But the wordes of that worthie and reuerent old man Simeon declare it more euidentlie who after hee had receiued the Infant CHRIST into his hands Now sayth hee lettest thou thy seruant O LORD depart in peace according to thy worde because mine eyes haue seene thy saluation Also that which the aboue recited Iob saith as it is found in many coppies taken from the Hebrew And I shall see GOD in my flesh Verelie hee prophecied the Resurrection of the flesh without all doubt yet hee sayd
his workes which GOD began to make For we our selues also bee the seauenth day when wee shall be replenished and repaired with his benediction and sanctification There being freed from toyle wee shall see because hee is GOD which wee our selues would haue beene when we fell from him hearing from the Seducer Ye shal be as goods and departing from the true GOD by whose meanes we should be gods by participation of him not by forsaking him For what haue wee done without him but that we haue fayled from him and gone back in his anger Of whom we being restored and perfected with a greater grace shall rest for euer seeing that he is GOD with whom we shal be replenished when hee shal be all in all for our good workes also although they are rather vnderstood to bee his then ours are then imputed vnto vs to obtaine this Sabbath because if wee shall atrribute them vnto our selues they shal be seruile when it is sayd of the Sabboth Yee shall not doe any seruile worke in it For which cause it is sayd also by the Prophet Ezechiel And I haue giuen my Sabbaths vnto them for a signe betweene mee and them that they might know that I am the LORD which sanctifie them Then shall wee know this thing perfectly and wee shall perfectly rest and shall perfectly see that he is GOD. If therefore that number of ages as of daies bee accompted according to the distinctions of times which seeme to bee expressed in the sacred Scriptures that Sabbath day shall appeare more euidently because it is found to be the seauenth that the first age as it were the first day bee from Adam vnto the floud then the second from thence vnto Abraham not by equality of times but by number of generations For they are found to haue a tenth number From hence now as Mathew the Euangelist doth conclude three ages doe follow euen vnto the comming of CHRIST euery one of which is expressed by foureteene Generations From Abraham vnto Dauid is one from thence euen vntill the Transmigration into Babilon is another the third from thence vnto the incarnat Natiuity of CHRIST So all of them are made fiue Now this age is the sixt to bee measured by no number because of that which is spoken It is not for you to know the seasons which the father hath placed in his owne powre After this age GOD shall rest as in the seauenth day when GOD shall make that same seauenth day to rest in himselfe which wee shal be Furthermore it would take vp a long time to discourse now exactly of euery one of those seuerall ages But this seauenth shal be our Sabbath whose end shall not be the euening but the LORDS day as the eight eternall day which is sanctified and made holy by the resurrection of CHRIST not onely prefiguring the eternal rest of the spirit but also of the body There we shall rest and see wee shall see and loue wee shall loue and we shall praise Behold what shal be in the end without end For what other thing is our end but to come to that Kingdome of which there is no end b I thinke I haue discharged the debt of this great worke by the helpe of GOD. Let them which thinke I haue done too little and they which thinke I haue done too much grant mee a fauorable pardon But let them which thinke I haue performed enough accepting it with a kinde congratulation giue no thankes vnto me but vnto the LORD with me Amen L. VIVES HOw a great shall that felicity be Innumerable things might be sayd but Augustine is to bee imitated in this and wee must neither speake nor write any thing rashly of so sacred and holy a matter neither is it lawfull for vs to search out that by Philosophy and disputations of men which the LORD hath commaunded to be most secret neither hath vnuailed to the eies nor vttered to the eares nor hath infused into the thoughts and vnderstandings of mortall men It is his will that we should beleeue them to bee great and admirable and onely to hope after them then at last to vnderstand them when we being made partakers of our desire shall behold openly all things being present and with our eyes and so conioyned and affixed vnto our selues that we may so know as we are now knowne neither ought we to enquire whether that blessednesse be an action of the vnderstanding or rather of the will whether our vnderstanding shal behold al things in GOD or whether it shal be restrained from some things least if we enquire these things ouer contentiously there be neither blessednesse of our vnderstanding nor of our will nor wee see any thing in GOD. Althings shal be full of ioyes and beatitudes not onely the will and vnderstanding but the eyes eares hands the whole body the whole minde the whole soule Wee shall see al things in GOD which wee will and euery one shal be content with the degree of his owne felicity nor will enuy another whom hee shall behold to bee nearer vnto GOD because euery man shal be so blessed as hee shall desire I thinke a I haue discharged the debt of this great worke And I likewise thinke that I haue finished no lesse worke and disburdened my selfe of no lesse labour then Augustine thinketh hee hath done For the burden of these meane and light Commentaries hath beene as heauy to our imbecillity and vnskilfullnesse as the admirable burden of those volumes was to the vigor and strength of his wit learning and sanctity If I haue sayd any thing which may please let the Reader giue thankes vnto GOD for mee if any thing which may displease let him pardon me for GODS sake and let things well spoken obtaine fauour for things il-spoken But if he shall kindly amend and take away the errors he shall deserue a good turne of me and the Readers which peraduenture relying vpon me might be deceiued FINIS An alphabeticall Index pointing out memorable matters contained in these bookes of the Citty of God A ARion who hee was fol. 24 Ttilius Regulus fol. 26 Abraham no murtherer fol. 37 Agamemnon who hee was fol. 34 Atis who he was fol. 56 Alcibiades his law fol. 64 Aeschines who he was fol. 69 Aristodemus who he was ibid. Attelan Comedies fol. 73 Athens lawes imitated in Rome fol. 78 Agrarian lawes fol. 84 Apollo and Neptune build Troy fol. 108 Anubis who he was fol. 76 Aedile his office fol. 103 Athenian ambassadors fol. 90 Ages of men fol. 117 Aesculapius who he was fol. 120 Aetnas burning fol. 157 Assyrian monarchie fol. 161 Anaximander who hee was fol. 299 Anaximines who hee was fol. 300 Anaxogoras who he was ibid. Archelaus who hee was ibid. Aristippus who he was fol. 302 Antisthenes who he was ibid. Atlas who he was fol. 313 Aristole who hee was fol. 318 Academia what it was ibid. Alcibiades who he was fol. 507 Arke