to which questions I answer as followeth The incarnation of the Sonne was the worke of the whole Trinitye yet one person was incarnate as if three sisters should make a Coate and one put it on Pater Spiritus imple erunt carnem Christi maiestate Filius tantum assumptione The Father and the holy Ghost filled the flesh of Christ by their maiesty but the Sonne by assumptioÌ„ of it vnto him selfe Quia congruum fuit vt qui erat in deitate Filius Dei esset in humanitate filius hominis It was most fit that the Sonne onely should be incarnate and not the father nor the holy Ghost that he which in his diuinity was the Sonne of God might be in his humanitye the Sonne of man He could not haue beene man had he not beene conceiued And forasmuch as he came into the world to redeeme mankind which he could not doe vnles he were without sinne he could not haue beene without sinne had he not beene conceiued onely and not begotten For if man had begotten him he had begotten him in sinne because omne simile generat sui simile euerye thing which begetteth doth beget that which is like to it selfe and therfore he was not begotten but onely conceiued without the helpe of man and he could not haue beene so conceiued but by the holy Ghost He was therefore conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne As he was conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne so he was borne of a Virgin that he might be borne without sinne But they aske how he could be borne of a Virgin I could aske them how Eue could be borne of Adam without a mother or Adam of the earth without father or mother why could not Christ aswell be borne of a mother without a father as Eue of a man without a woman or Adam without man or woman And because this doth not onely concerne the A theist but also the Iewe and the Maniche S. Augustin for confutation of them both sayth Ego tibi ostendam incredule Iudaee detestande Manichaee peperisse Virginem I will proue to the vnbeleeuing Iewe and the curssed Maniche how a Virgin may bring forth a Childe Against the Iewe he alleageth that twelue roddes according to the number of the 12. Tribes were put into the Arke of the couenant among the rest Aarons rodde wanting moysture and all the rightes of nature contrary to nature brought forth fruite Quod virga potuit virgo non potuit virga potuit contra naturam Nuces producere nunquid Virgo non potuit contra naturam Dei filium generare ostendas mihi quo modo virga Nuces pratulit ego tibi ostendam quo modo Virgo filium peperit That which a rodde could doe could not a Virgin doe a rodde could contrary to nature bring forth Almonds and could not a Virgin contrary to nature bring forth the Sonne of God shewe me how the rodde brought forth Almonds and I will shewe thee how a Virgin brought forth a Childe Rubus sustâ—…uit ignem non amisit viriditatem sic Virgo peperit Christum non amisit virginitatem The Bush burned and yet continued greene but as the Bush bore the heat of the fire without losse of viriditye so the Virgin bore a Childe wtthout losse of virginitye This may suffice to confute the Iewe which doth allow the authoritye of the bookes of Moses but it wil not serue for the confutatioÌ„ of the Atheist for he will aske me how it may stand with humane reason and with the rules of arte how this may be and how there may be penetratio corporum that one body should penetrate an other I will not therfore cyte the authorityes exaÌ„ples of the scriptures how Christ arose out of his graue the graue being shut vp the stone not rolled away how after his resurrection he went into the house where his Disciples were the doores being locked how at his ascension he peirced the heauens how he is as before I haue shewed liberrimum agens medijs non alligatum a free agent and not tyed to meanes whereby he worketh how he hath metaphysicum imperium in singula a supernaturall power whereby he ouer-ruleth all creatures But I will dispute by reason against the Atheist as S. Augustin doth against the Maniche Solis radius specular penetrat soliditatem illius insensibili soliditate pertransit talis videtur foris qualis intus nec quum ingreditur violat nec quum egreditur dissipat quoniam ad ingressum egressum specular integrum perseuerat Specular non rumpit solaris radius neque igitur integritatem Virginis vitiare potuit ingressus aut egressus Deitatis The Sun-beame peirceth through the glasse the glasseis not broken how it passeth through so solid hard a body the eye or sense of man cannot perceiue it looketh alike both within and without wheÌ„ it entreth in the glasse is not cracked by the entrance of it when it goeth out agayne the glasse remaineth without blemish as it was before and so it is with our Sauiour Christ which passed through the Virgins wombe He came in forme of a seruant that he might suffer si enim cognouissent Dominum gloriae non crucifixissent for if he had beene outwardly glorious that the Iewes had knowen him to be the Lord of glory they had neuer put him to so vnglorious a death And seeing that he came to dye it behoued him to dye vpon the Crosse to choose that death aboue all other Placuit Deo hominem reconciliasse eodem modo quo nouit cecidisse homo damnatus est in ligno reconciliatus est in ligno vixit in ligno vitae mortuus est in ligno scientiae reuixit in ligno Crucis Quia primus Adam deceptus est in ligno secuÌ„dus Adam passus est in ligno It pleased God that maÌ„ should rise by the same maner as he fel but maÌ„s saluatioÌ„ came by the wood of y e tree therfore his saluatioÌ„ came throgh the wood of the tree Because the first Adam was deceiued in the tree the secoÌ„d AdaÌ„ suffered in the tree Man liued in the wood of life man dyed in the wood of knowledge man reuyued agayne in the wood of the crosse The differeÌ„ce being shewed between creating redeming how hard it was for the Son to redeeme ouer that it was for the Father to create as namely the Father did his work by speaking the Son his worke by doing the Father commauÌ„ding the Son by obeying the father in 6. dayes the Son in no lesse time theÌ„ 33. yeares the father w t ease the Son with groning the Father as an ageÌ„t the Son as a pacieÌ„t the Father with the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He which is but an aspiration the Sonne in the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thau which representeth the gallowes or the Crosse
his wickednes to be a monster of men a very slaunder and reproch to mankinde as Nero was that slewe his Mother his Master and him selfe when he hath committed any haynous crime he doth in his conscience see that God doth behold it that God doth pursue him that God wil worke reuenge although there be no witnes to accuse him no humane power aboue him to execute iustice vpon him I will not dwell vpon many exāples neither wil I instance in Adam which as soone as euer he had eaten the Apple hid him selfe from the presence of God in the thicket in Herod which when he had beheaded Iohn the Baptist wrongfully did think y t he was haunted by Iohn the Baptist his ghost saying of Christ surely this is Iohn risen from the dead nor in Cain which but intending to murther his brother watched a time when he was in the field out of the sight of his parents I will not alleadge the authoritye of the Prophet which saith Impius fugit nemine persequente The wicked man flyeth when no man doth pursue him And of the Apostle which saith The Gentils which haue not the lawe written meaning the Bible yet haue by nature the effect of the lawe of God written in their hearts their conscience bearing witnes and their thoughts accusing or excusing one an other because they thinke the Bible to be a partiall iudge and no way competent betweene them vs and therefore I will alleadge one or two examples out of indifferent Authors tending to the same purpose Tully pleading for a man which was accused as a Parecide or one which had murthered his owne father alleageth this as an especiall proofe of his innocencie that in the whole course of his behauiour after his father was slayne nothing could be obserued in him which did sauour of a troubled conscience And for the better cleering of Sextus Roscius whose cause was then in hand he alleageth a former example of a father and his sonne which in their trauayle tooke vp their lodging and after supper lay together in one bed the morowe after the master of the house comming by chance into the chamber found the father strangled in his bed and the sonne sleping by his side when the matter was examined by the Iudges the sonne was acquitted by the equitye of the lawe as a man innocent because it was then held and by them so adiudged to be a matter impossible that he should in so short a time haue slept if so be that he had committed murther A man saith Tully which hath slayne his father shall feele a thousand vexations and furyes of hell tormenting his conscience according to that saying of the wise man A good conscience is a continuall feaste but non est pax impijs no inward peace no quietnes of conscience with such men as are notoriouslye wicked A man I say that hath committed any crying sinne shall betraye him selfe by the working of his owne conscience it will not suffer him to take his bodily rest it will alter his very face and countenance as the Poet saith Heu quam difficile est crimen non prodere vult◠Oh how hard a thing is it for a man to keep his countenance not to blush which hath committed an offence The Lord said to Cain after he had committed murther Why is thy countenance cast downe such a man feareth the wagging of euery leaf and the flying of euery bird An obnox ous man watching is like to a phrensie man sleeping for the one resteth not sleeping and the other resteth not waking he cannot sit still hee cannot lye stil he cannot stand still nor abide long in any place Caligula the tyrant was afeard of euery blast Nero when he had massacred the christiās put St. Paul to the sword St. Peter to the gibbet was so terryfied by apparitions as he thought of S t Paul and St. Peter which appeared at his bedside in a dreame and after he had put his mother Agrippina to death he was so terrified in his conscience that he knewe not where to bestowe him selfe at the end for very greife of minde he ran into a priuye and there stabbed himselfe That I may come to religion Tully saith Sunt qui negant Deos procurationem habere rerum humanarum quorum sententia falsa est quoniam sic omnis religio inanis esset Religion sheweth there is a God for if there were no God then could there be no religion But euery mans soule naturally hath somtimes a feeling of religion although he dispise God and religion neuer so much This appeareth by the very heathens them selues which be they neuer so rude and barbarous and depriued of the knowledge of God yet doe make vnto themselues idols euen of their owne accorde as Mr. Caluin verye well obserueth Dei conceptionis apud Ethnicos saith he idolotria satis est argumenti quum lapidem potius quam nullum deum colant y e mansown conceit doth naturally leade him to knowe there is a God the verye idolatrie of the heathens is a sufficient proofe which chose rather to worship a stone then no God at all And as Statius saith Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor as soone as men be in danger and extremitye be they neuer so vngodly yet they erect Altars carue Images flye to thē for succour shewing that in their owne naturall iudgement which they haue by the light and instinct of nature there is one higher then them selues one whose power is aboue the power of man to whome they ought to flye vnto for help and deliuery out of trouble and who is that but God Nay witnes in this point the Atheistes them selues that there is a God for in their extremitye of greife they crye out ô God It is an olde and true Prouerb Qui nescit orare transeat mare if a man knowe not how to serue God let him sayle vpon the sea and it will make him to serue God When the Lord sent a great winde that the Ship was like to be rent the Mariners were afeard euery one cryed vnto his God they said vnto Ionas Thou sleeper arise and call vpon thy God if so be that God will think vpon vs that we perish not and as the Text saith Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifices vnto him and made vowes And for this cause namely that men by the instinct of nature doe incline to religion and a man is as much distinguished from a beast by his feeling of religion as by his reasonable soule After the floud Mercurius Trismegistus and Menna prescribed lawes and rules of religion to the Aegiptians Melissus to the Cratians Ianus to the Latines Numa Pompilius to the Romanes Orpheus and Cadmus to the Grecians aswell as Moses and Aaron to the Hebrues the difference onely this that the Hebrues were in the right way al the rest
in the wrong But yet all nations besides had their Priests their Altars their Gods their rules and principles of the religion which they professed which is an argument that by nature they knewe there was a GOD. And that I may descend vnto the work-manship of man to shewe that there is a God It is truely said that hominis fabricatio est innumeris Dei testimonijs ornata the verye work-manship of man him selfe doth aboundantly witnes that there is a God Let vs therefore first of all looke into the soule of man and afterward into the state of his bodye There is in it not onely an infinite capacitye in so much that the more it knoweth the more it is able to learne It is able to conceiue not onely the whole worlde but also two worldes yea infinite worldes It is of infinite desire which is neuer satisfied I will not speak of Daniel which was called vir multorum disideriorum a man of manye desires nor of Moses which in this transitorye life desired to see the very face of God but of Alexander the great which when he thought he had subdued the whole worlde yet was not therewith contented but affected more worldes and hearing a Philosopher say there were infinite worldes wept for greife to thinke how great a labour it should be for him to subdue them all as if he had hoped to conquer all Mans appetite is neuer satisfied giue him a Citye he desireth a Kingdome giue him a kingdome he affecteth an Empire giue him an Empire he desireth a worlde If he could be made Lord of the whole world and knew that besides that there were no more yet would he not rest there but desire somwhat which is greater then the worlde And what can that be but only God So then forasmuch as man is not satisfied with knowledge and contemplation but laboureth to knowe more that still Aristotles proposition shall be veryfied in him Omnes homines naturaliter scire desiderant all men naturallye are desirous of knowledge neither yet with possession but desireth to haue more what can that be but Dei maiestas in mente voluntate tanquam in speculis reflexa et vnita euen the Maiestie of God in mans minde and in his will as it were in two glasses seene and reflected backe againe Againe forasmuch as the proper obiect of the minde is truth as Tully writeth but the minde of man is infinite as I haue declared the obiect must be correspondent vnto the minde therefore truth must be infinite and there must be no end of the knowledge and apprehension of truth And forasmuch as that truth which is in creatures dependeth vpon vncertaintyes therefore there is some other truth which is immutable and most certayne and that is God Also the substance of mans soule hath not his originall or beginning from any materiall thing because it is not of seed as in due course I will proue vnto you neither yet is it mortall as I will shewe when I come to speake of the soule Therfore it is not of any naturall cause but is the effect of such a cause as is supernaturall and metaphisicall and that is God But to leaue the soule of man and come to his bodye Mercurius Trismegistus writeth of it in this sorte Si vis opisicem etiam per mortalia intueri cogita ô fili hominis in vtero fabricam opificis exacte artificium expende disce quisuam artifex pulchram hanc diuinam hominis imaginem cordat quisnam sit qui oculos circumscribat nares aures perforauerit os aperuerit nertias extenderit colligauerit venas in canales efformauerit ossa indurauerit carni cutam circum diderit digitos articulos distiuxerit pedibus basim dilatauerit splenem extenderit poros cauauerit heper latum fecerit pulmonem perforauerit ventrem capacâ—â—… fecerit honorabilia palam figurauerit turpia absconderit vide quot artes in vna materia quis haec omnia fecit qua mater quis pates nisi solus immanifestus Deus If thou ô man wilt see the inuisible workeman doe but thinke vpon man how he is framed in the wombe who made his eyes round his eares and nostrels holowe his mouth open who stretched out his sinewes hardned his bones skinned his flesh parted his fingers who made the passage from his veynes who widened the bottomes of his feet dilated his splene who opened his pores his lunges dilated his liuer made his belly of such capacitye his honest partes to be open and his secret partes to be hidden who did all these thinges but onely the inuisible God A third reason to proue there is a God is the generall consent not onelye of the learned men of the worlde but also of the worlde it selfe And why should any fewe wicked men thinke them selues wiser then the worlde The denyers of the God head haue beene these men of name Diagoras Theodotus Cyrenaeus Euemarus Tegeates Callimachus Podicus Caeus Plinius Lucianus Lucretius Doletus Epicurus some of them denying that there was a God others that he tooke the care of gouerning and guiding the worlde and besides these verye fewe But as for the famous and learned Philosophers of the worlde they confessed there was a God Empedooles said Deus est cuius centrum est vbique circumferentia autem nusquam God his center is euerye where his circumference no where Socrates called him magnum Iudicem the great Iudge as Tully witnesseth Plato acknowledged him in all his workes Aristotle the greatest of all which in deed was equiualent to all the Philosophers I may iustlye say there is almost no leafe in his workes but in it he inserteth the name of God euen as almost no page of the Bible but in it is vnderstood the name of Christ who is called by him prima causa causa causarum ens entium primus mortor author omnium lux aterna simplicissimus actus conditor mundi infinitus immensus inaffabilis Deus The first cause the cause of causes the essence of all thinges of whome all things haue their being the first mouer the author of all thinges the eternall light most pure act maker of the world infinite vnmeasurable vnspeakable God Aristotle when he liued was accused by Hiero the Priest because Contra patrios mores ritus multitudine deorum vnum solum â—erum Deum agnouit Contrary to the religion of his countrye where many Gods were worshipped he acknowledged but one onely true God And when he dyed the last wordes which he spake were these Ens entium miserere mei God haue mercy vpon me The like was acknowledged by Mercurius Trismegistus Quid Deus immutabile bonum Mundus factus est propter hominem homo propter Deum What is God an immutable goodnes the worlde was made for man and man for God Ego fi lt et humanitatis gratia et erga Deum pictatis haec scribo I write