equal with him And whereas wee comprehend not our selues that commeth of the darknesse and lumpishnesse of our flesh which maketh vs vnlike our selues We say then that the Sonne is equall to the Father and the image of the Father But yet moreouer the being of the Father and his vnderstanding are both one his being or essence being vnderstoode of it selfe is none other thing than the being of the Sonne who is bred and begotten by the Fathers vnderstanding or mynding of himself Wherevpon we conclude againe that the essence of the Father is the essence of the Sonne that is to say that looke whatsoeuer the Father is the Sonne is the same so as they differ not but by way of relation and consequently that they be Coeternall Coequall and Coessentiall that is to say of one selfessame euerlasting continuance of one selfesame state condition and degree and of one selfesame substance or being which is the thing that we be taught in the Church This second person for diuers respects is betokened by diuers names He is ordinarily called the Sonne because he is a Conception of the vnderstanding which is in God and a perfect resemblance of him And here wée haue to consider that according to the diuersities of natures the maner of bréedings or begettings doe varie also For euery life if I may so speake begetteth or bréedeth a Sonne issue or ofspring in it selfe afore it send it out and the excellenter that the life is the more inward to it is that which procéedeth or is bred thereof Herevpon some haue supposed the Fire to be a liuing wight because it bréedeth or begetteth another fire like it selfe But howsoeuer the case stand like as the Elements are naturally the bacest things in degrée so hath Fire the bacest maner of bréeding or begetting as which is not able to doe it but out of it self and by the applying of some outward matter to him The Plant conceyueth moysture in it selfe which springeth foorth into bud from bud into flower and from flower into fruite which fruite being ripe falleth to the ground and there bringeth foorth another Plant. Now this second Plant liued in the first Plant ere it liued in it selfe and all liuing wights doe liue moue and feele in their Dammes bellies afore they come foorth which is yet a more inward maner of bréeding and begetting than the other The sensitiue life conceyueth an imagination which hoordeth vp it selfe in the memorie but as it procéedeth from the Sences and sensible things so doth it depart out of it self The reasonable life hath his conceptions and bréedings yet more inward than all the rest For it hath his reflexion backe to it selfe and wée commonly terme the doings or actions thereof by the name of Conceptions or Conceyts after which maner the learâ—ed sort doe call their bookes their Children But yet there is this more in this matter namely that in men this conceyuing procéedeth of imagination which is an outward thing vnto it because nothing can enter into the vnderstanding of man but by the Sences and moreouer for that the thing which is mynded or vnderstood and the mynd or vnderstanding it selfe are not both one in vs. But forasmuch as onely God is altogeter life and his life is altogether vnderstanding which is the highest degrée of life he hath his maner of conceyuing and begetting most inward of all For he conceyueth in himself and of himself and his conceyuing is a begetting and this begetting abideth still in himselfe because his vnderstanding can neuer any where méete with any thing but that which he himselfe is And that is the second person whom wee call the Sonne and vnto whom that name doth so much the more properly agrée because his resembling of him is more perfect and his begetting or Sonneship if I may so terme it is more inward than all the bréedings and begettings which we commonly see or than any other that we can imagine Also we cal him Logos which some translate Word or Speech and othersome Reason Eyther of those significaâ—ious is ordinary to the word Logos and agréeable to that which is ntended to be signified thereby so farre foorth as diuine things can be expressed by the spéech of man When we call him Spéech or Word it is according to the doctrine of the Philosophers who haue marked that there is in man a dubble Spéech the one in the mynd which they call the inward Spéech which wee conceyue afore we vtter it and the other the sounding image thereof which is vttered by our mouth and is termed the Spéech of the Uoyce eyther of both the which we perceyue at euery word that wee intend to pronounce which thing those folke might yet much better obserue which had neuer learned any Language because they should not cease to haue those inward Conceyts in themselues though they could not speake For the witte or vnderstanding doth by and by conceyue an inwarde Spéech vppon the thing which is offered vnto it and begetteth or bréedeth that conceyt in our mynde as it were by a suddein flash of Lightning and afterward our mynd vttereth it more at leysure by the voyce the which voyce notwithstanding is vnable to represent or expresse the inward Spéech perfectly insomuch that wee see many men haue a great number of goodly conceyts in their mynds which they be not able to expresse and that in expressing them eyther by worde or by writing they mislike their owne doings because they bee farre inferiour to the things which they had conceyued in their mynds Now the spéech of the mynd is very Reason it self and looke what the spéech of the mynd reasoneth and debateth that doth the voyce vtter and eyther of them is the image of the next that went afore For looke what proportion is betwéene the voyce or Spéech of the mouth and the Spéech of the mynd the like proportion is betwéene the Spéech of the mynd and the Spéech of the vnderstaÌ„ding The voyce hath néede of ayre and is diuided into parts and requireth â—eysure The Mynd in déede is vndiuidable but yet hath it néed of tyme to passe froÌ„ one coÌ„clusion or reason to another But as for the vnderstaÌ„ding it accomplisheth his action or working in lesse than a moment and with one onely act doth so fill the Reason and mynd that it is constreyned to make many acts of one And this diuersitie may euery man marke in himself notwithstanding that all these acts seeme to be done together like Thunder and Lightning Now then the said Conception or Conceyt which Gods vnderstanding hath conceyued euerlastingly in himselfe wee call Speech or Word which is the perfect image of his vnderstanding and Gods vnderstanding is God himself Also wee call it Reason because Reason is as ye would say the Daughter Spéech or worde of the vnderstanding and we say that by the same Spéech or word God made al things For as the Craftsman maketh
is by his Sonne as we shall see hereafter and moreouer it is an action that passeth into the thing saued and abydeth not in God alone Therefore it maketh not to the stablishing of a fourth person or inbeing for then it ought to be Coessentiall To be short all Gods operations doe eyther procéede from within him and abyde still in the worker and in their first ground or els they procéed from without and passe into the outward effect That worke or action which procéedeth from within can bee of none other essence than the thiug from whence it commeth for in GOD there is nothing but essence and in that esseuce can nothing abyde but the essence it selfe That which procéedeth from without is alwaies of a sundrie essence as are the Creatures and workes of God which come nothing nere the essence of the Creator The thing which doth the worke without is Gods power howbeit accompanyed with his vnderstanding and will And the thing that doth the work within is his vnderstanding and will and nothing els as wee may discerne in our selues who are but a very slender image thereof And like as in beholding a paynted Table or in reading the verses of a Poet we imagine not therefore that there was a peculiar and immediate abilitie of paynting or versifying in the mynd or souereyne part of their Soule but we referre those skilles and al other like vnto Wit and Will euen so and much more according to reason of all the workes and doings which we see done by Gods power we cannot gather any other persons or inbeings in him than those which procéede immediatly of his Understanding and Will and alonly those and none other can be Coessentiall in him Now Understanding and Will in GOD are essence and his essence is merely one and most single And moreouer the Word or Spéech conceyueth not another Spéech but turneth wholly vnto the Father neither doth the Spirit conceyue another loue than the loue of those two but resteth and reposeth it selfe altogether in them So then there can but one onely word or spéech procéede by the vnderstanding nor but only one Loue procéede by the Will neither can any other procéede of that Word and that Loue. And so there remayne vnto vs the onely thrée persons of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost by the which two the Father gouerneth and loueth all things because he himself alone is all things Now as we haue read in nature that there is but one God as a thing which we finde written euen in the least creatures so may we now perceyue the euident footsteps of the chrée inbeings or persons in one eâ—sence as a marke of the worker that made them in some more and in some lesse according to their dignitie which yet notwithstanding are such as we could not well perceine them vntill the doctrine thereof was reuealed vnto vs no more than we can vnderstand the letters of Cyphering which wee can neither reade nor decypher vnlesse we haue some knowledge of the matter which they import from other folkes hands or by coniecture or by some other way Wee finde an Unitie in all things yea euen in those which haue but only being For all things are inasmuch as they be one and whensoeuer they ceasse to bee that one they consequently ceasse also to be Againe we see in them a forme or shape and that is the marke of that witfull action that is to say of the euerlasting Word or Conceyt whereby God made them which hath bred vs the essentiall forme or shape and all other maner of formes and shapes Also we see an inclination or disposition in some more apparant than in othersome in some to mount aloft as in fire in some to sincke downe towards the Center as in a Stone and in all to hold themselues vnited in their matter forme This is the marke of the workfull Will wherein God hath voutsafed to stoope vnto them and of the vnion which procéedeth therof wherein he loueth vpholdeth preserueth all things But euen in some of the things of this bacest sort there appeareth not onely a trace but almost an image thereof For the Sunne breedeth or begetteth his owne beames which the Poets doe call the very sonne of the Sunne and from them two proceedeth the light which imparteth it selfe to all things here beneath and yet is not the one of them afore the other for neither is the Sunne afore his beames nor the Sunne or his beames afore the light otherwise than in consideration of order and relation that is to wit as in respect that the beames are begotten and the light is proceeding which is an apparant image of the Coeternitie Likewise in Waters we haue the head of them in the earth the Spring boyling out of it the streame which is made of them both and sheadeth it self out farre of from thence It is but one selfesame continuall and vnseparable essence which hath neither forenesse nor afternesse saue only in order and not in tyme that is to say according to our considering of it hauing respect to causes and not according to trueth For the Welhead is not a head but in respect of the Spring nor the Spring a Spring but in respect of the Welhead nor the Streame a Streame but in respect of them both and so all three be but one Water and cannot almost be considered one without another howbeit that the one is not the other It is an expresse mark of the originall relations and persoâ—s Coessentiall in the only one essence of God The like is to bee sayd of Fire which ingendreth fire and hath in it both heate and brightnesse vnseparable Also there are other examples to bee found of such as list to seeke them out In Hearbes and Plants there is a roote which yeeldeth a slippe stocke or ympe and the same ympe groweth afterward into a Tree It cannot well be named or deemed to be a roote but that therewith it hath also ingendred an ympe or stocke for in that respect is it called a roote and so is the one as soone as the other Also there is a sappe which passeth from the one to the other ioyning knitting and vniting them together by one common life without the which life neither the roote should bee a roote nor the slip a slip and so in effect they bee altogether the one as soone as the other Moreouer among all liuing wights euery of them ingendreth after his owne kind and forme of whom one is an ingendrer and another is ingendred among men a father and a sonne and by and by through knowledge there procéedeth a naturall loue and affection from the one to the other which knitteth and linketh them together All these are traces footsteps and images howbeit with the grossest of that high misterie and also I haue told you afore that no effect doth fully resemble his cause and much lesse that cause which in
And yet notwithstanding in peinting of an Image thou lookest vpon it a hundred times and diuers dayes thou amendest it and thou busiest all thy wits about it If thou be the dooer of this woorke in the making of man tell mee why thou hast not children when thou wouldest and why thou hast them sometime when thou wouldest not Why hast thou a Daughter when thou wouldest haue a Sonne or a Sonne when thou wouldest haue a Daughter In peinting thy Pictures thou doest not so disapoint thy felfe Also if thou beest this good workemaister in making of thy child tell me how thou hast fashioned it Whence is the hardnesse of his bones the liquor of his veynes the spirite of his Heartstrings and the beating of his Pulses Seest thou this which is also as smally in thy power as if it were none of thine Tell mée what is hidden in his breast and the whole workemanship that is couched within him If thou hast not seene it in the opening of thy like thou knowest nothing thereof Tell mée yet further the imaginations of his brayne and the thoughts of his heart nay tell mee thine owne which oftentimes thou wouldest fame alter or stay and canst not It is a bottemlesse Pit the which thou canst not gage and therefore it followeth that thou madest it not Knowe thou therefore O man that all this commeth too thee from some cause that is aboue thy selfe And séeing that thou hast vnderstanding needes must that cause haue vnderstanding too and seeing that thou vnderstandest not thy selfe needes must that vnderstand thee and seeing that thou after a sort art infinite in nomber but much more infinite in thy thoughts and deedes needes must that bee infinite too And that is it which we call God What shal I say more or rather or what remaineth not for mee too say I say with the auncient Trismegist Lord shall I looke vpon thee in the things that are here beneath or oâ— the things that are aboue Thou madest all things and wholâ—â—ature is nothing els but an image of thée And I will conclude with Dauid Blesse ye the Lord all ye workes of his yée Heauens yée waters yée Winds yee Lightenings yee Showers yee Seas yee Riuers and all that euer is blesse yee the Lorde yea and thou my soule also blesse thou the Lord for euer For to lay forth the proofes which are both in the great world and in the little world it would stand me in hand to ransacke the whole world as the which with all that euer is therein is a plaine booke laide open to all men yea euen vnto Children to reade and as yee would say euen to spell God therein Nowe like as all men may reade in this booke as well of the world as of themselues so was there neuer yet any Nation vnder heauen which hath not thereby learned and perceiued a certeine Godhead notwithstanding that they haue conceiued it diuersly according to the diuersitie of their owne imaginations Let a man ronne from East to West and from South to North let him ransacke all ages one after another and wheresoeuer he findeth any men there shall he find also a kind of Religion and Seruing of God with Prayers and Sacrifices The diuersitie whereof is very great but yet they haue alwayes consented all in this poynt That there is a GOD. And as touching the diuersitie which is in that behalf it beareth witnesse that it is a doctrine not deliuered alonly from people to people but also bred and brought vp with euery of them in their owne Clymate yea and euen in their owne selues Within these hundred yeres many Nations haue bene discouered and many are daily discouered still which were vnknowen in former ages Among them some haue bene found to liue without Lawe without King without House going starke naked and wandring abroad in the fields but yet none without some knowledge of God none without some spice of Religion to shewe vnto vs that it is not so natural a thing in man to loue company and to clad himselfe against hurts of the wether which things wee esteeme to be verie kindly as it is naturall vnto him to knowe the author of his life that is to say God Or if wee yeeld more to the iudgement of those which were counted wise among the Heathen nations whome afterward by a more modest name men called Philosophers The Brachmanes among the Indians and the Magies among the Persians neuer began any thing without praying vnto God The lessons of Pythagoras and Plato and of their Disciples began with prayer and ended with prayer The auncient Poets who were all Philosophers as Orphey Homer Hesiodus Pherecides and Theognis speake of none other thing The Schooles of the Stoikes Academikes and Peripatetikes and all other schooles that florished in old time roong of that The very Epicures theÌ„selues who were shamelesse in all other things were ashamed to denie God To be short the men of old time as witnesseth Plato â—hose their Priestes which were to haue regard of the seruice that was to be yéelded vnto God from among the Philosophers as from among those which by their consideration of nature had atteined to knowe God And so which sildome happeneth but in an apparant trueth the opinion of the comon people and the opinion of the wise haue met both iump togither in this point Well may there bee found in all ages some wretched kaytifes which haue not acknowledged God as there be some euen at this day But if we looke into theÌ„ either they were some yong fooles giuen ouer to their pleasures which neuer had leysure to bethinke them of the matter and yet when yeeres came vppon them came backe againe to the knowing of themselues and consequently of God or els they were some persons growen quite out of kind saped in wickednesse and such as had defaced their own nature in theÌ„ selues who to the intent they might practise all maner of wickednes with the lesse remorse haue striued to perswade themselues by soothing their owne sinnes that they haue no Soule at all and that there is no Iudge to make inquirie of their sinnes And yet notwithstanding if these fall into neuer so little daunger or be but taken vpon the hip they fall to quaking they crye out vnto heauen they call vpon God And if they approch but a farre of vnto death they fall to fretting and gnashing of their téeth And when they be well beaten there is not any shadowe of the Godhead so soone offered vnto them but they imbrace it so ready are nature and conscience which they would haue restreined and imprisoned to put them in mind thereof at all howres They be loth to confesse God for feare to stand in awe of him and yet the feare of the least things maketh them to confesse him Nay because they feare not him that made all things therefore they stand in awe of all things as wee see in the Emperour
sort in like case towards God as our eye is towards the Sunne Neither the Sunne nor any thing vnder the Sunne can well bee seene without the Sunne likewise neither God nor any thing belonging to God can bee seene without God how good eyesight or myndsight so euer wee haue But when the Sunne shineth then our eye seeth the things which it sawe not afore iudgeth of them at his ease notwithstanding that the eye bée but the same it was afore and haue but the same power of sight which it had afore without receyuing any newe increase thereof Likewise when GOD voutsafeth to vtter any doctrine vnto vs the selfsame reason which otherwise could neuer haue perceyued it doth then see it and discourse it and allowe of it without receyuing any newe power abilitie or chaunge in it selfe We haue concluded by reason that God is a most single essence And we beléeue by discouery from heauen that in the same most single essence are thrée persons or Inbeings Reason of it selfe could neuer haue atteyned to the finding thereof for we cannot distinguish things vnlesse we conceyue them and yet neuerthelesse reason will serue vs to proue it First of all we haue alreadie acknowledged by Gods effects or doings that there is in him a working nature or power I must be faine to speake in the speech of man seeing that the diuine spéech is vnknowne to vs which is the beginner and mouer of al things And in euery of his workes wee see a singular cunning and in the knitting of all both great and small together wée see a wonderfull order as I haue discoursed heretofore and wee see there is neither order nor cunning where there is no vnderstanding It followeth therefore that the souereine vnderstanding is in God from whom this great order and cunning procéede Againe albeit that of the things which are in this world some vnderstand and some vnderstand not yet notwithstanding all of them are appoynted to some certeyne end and marke as the Sunne to make the day to heate the Moone to lighten the night and all the Planets and Starres to marke out the Seasons and so foorth of all other things Nâ—ne of them stumbleth in his way none steppeth aside from his endâ— and yet notwithstanding the most part of them could not prescribe it to themselues For the beginner of all ends is vnderstanding and in the most of these there is no vnderstanding Néedes must it bee therefore that God the maker of them did also appoynt them their ends and consequently that he had vnderstanding for them Now the innumerable multitude of things and the linking of their ends one to another as they now be do shewe that al of them haue their beginning from one selfsame vnderstanding Then must it néedes be that this common author of their being that is to say the souereine being must also be the souereine vnderstanding séeing he imparteth the effects of vnderstanding to so many things which haue it not Moreouer the things which haue vnderstanding are the disposers and orderers of the other things and not contrarywise Man buyldeth planteth reareth vp Cattell and maketh his commoditie of all of them together Of men themselues the skilfullest make Lawes and take vpon them to rule others To be short the things which haue no vnderstanding doe naturally serue as instruments to those which haue it and the thing which hath the lesse of it serueth that which hath the more of it and no part in nature dealeth to the contrary And as wée haue proued by all the Philosophers themselues it is God that created all things that haue vnderstanding as well those which are not tyed to bodies as those which haue bodies allotting to them their offices and ends and so consequently he is the very beginner and end of them himself Then once againe so farre foorth as we can describe this vnderstanding by the outward effects thereof it must néedes be in God a most excellent abilitie if it may bee so named by direction whereof he executeth most wisely the actiue or inworking vertue power and nature which we marke in all things in this world howbeit so as the chiefe working of them doth abide and rest still in him I haue proued heretofore that God is infinite which being so nothing can be imagined in him which is not infinite likewise for otherwise he should bee as well finite as infinite both together And infinite he were not if he could vnderstand or knowe that to day which he vnderstood not afore Néedes then must it be that he from al eternitie vnderstandeth and knoweth the things which haue bin which are and which shall be the whole and the parts the generalles the specialles and the particulars the originalles the procéedings and the aftercommings the doings sayings and thoughts of men and so foorth â—o as this vnderstanding in God is euerlastingly infinite Againe vnderstanding is an inworking which abideth and remayneth in the partie which hath it and passeth not into any outward thing For when we vnderstand the course of the Sunne we become the more skilful therof in our selues but as for the Sunne he is nothing altered thereby Also I haue told you alreadie that God is most single and that there is not any thing in him which is not his very essence or being Whervpon it followeth that God not onely hath vnderstanding but also that his vnderstanding is his very essence that is to say he is the very vnderstanding it self Now then let vs see what it is that this vnderstanding begetteth I haue told you that God is a mere doing and that whatsoeuer he doth he doth it from euerlasting and that on the other side being most single there is nothing in him which is not a dooer Wherevpon it followeth that this vnderstaÌ„ding is euerlastingly occupyed in doing And wherein then is it occupyed What is the thing that it worketh vppon Surely it can méete with nothing but it selfe God then conceyued and vnderstood himselfe and it must néedes be that he vnderstood himselfe seeing that the chiefest wisedome is to knowe ones selfe whereof he could not fayle Therefore it was of necessitie that this vnderstanding of God should yéeld a reflexion backe againe to it self as a face doth in a Lookingglasse and as our mynd doth when it setteth it self to the considering of it owne proper nature and that it should conceyue and beget in it selfe a perfect image of it owne selfe which image is the same thing which in the Trinitie we call the Sonne the Word or the Spéech namely the liuely and perfect image and wisedome of the Father Now this vnderstanding is actually euerlasting that is to say euerlasting in â—éede and euerlastingly actuall that is to say euerlastingly doing and therefore wee say that the second person which it begetteth is also euerlasting and God in his vnderstanding had not conceyued any thing that is lesse than himself for it is
his worke by the patterne which he had erst conceyued in his mynde which patterne is his inward word so God made the World and all that is therein by that sayd Spéech of his as by his inward skill or arte For he being but one conceyueth all things by conceyuing himselfe To be short we call him also the Wisedome of the Father yea and euen meerely and simply wisedome For Wisedome euen in man is nothing els but a hauiour procéeding of diuers Conceyts or inward spéeches whereby our mynde is perfected in the knowledge of high things Now God is the heyghth of all heyghthes and by the conceyuing of himself he knoweth himself But yet we must take this withall that the thing which is a hauiour in vs is essence in him that is to say that he is the very things themselues which wee obteyâ—e to haue by meanes and that he himselfe is the ground of his owne wisedome whereas the true wisedome of men hath not any other ground than God Now then can there bee any greater wisedome in God than to knowe himselfe And is not that knowledge bred of vnderstanding Let vs come to the third person We haue acknowledged heretofore that in the most single essence of God there is a workfull power abilitie or nature matched with an vnderstanding according whereuto the sayde vertue or power executeth his actions Now in the selfesame essence should there not also be a Will besides the sayd vnderstanding If wee consider all the things in the world we shall finde in them a kynd of Will tending to the seuerall welfare of euery of them the more vnderstanding they haue the more wil also haue they becasue that the more their welfare is knowne vnto them the more also is it desired the more it is desired the more also is their will vniforme and the lesse parted I omit the sencelesse things as Plants Herbes and Stones which haue certeine naturall inclinations sufficiently marked by the fearâ—hing out of their natures But yet it cannot bee denyed but that the Beastes haue a sensitiue appetite to followe the thing which their Sence taketh hold of to be good for them Men also doe runne with all their harts after the thing which they suppose to bee good for them whether it bee honor riches or pleasure And the more they knowe it or thinke themselues to knowe it the more doe they yéeld their will vnto it and the more they hold and possesse therof the more is their hart settled therevpon Only their vnderstanding being bewitched by vanitie is deceytfully driuen to choose the euill for the good by meanes wherof the will which ought to be discréete and full of wit and vnderstanding is forced of necessitie to degenerate into fleshly and beastly lust The Angelles likewise as say the Philosophers haue also a will and much more simply one more liuely than ours And as by their vnderstanding they know the very good it self that is to wit God so haue they their will euer settled on him alone without turning it aside to any of all the great multitude of obiects wheron we be wont to set our mynds Now shall not he himself haue a will who hath giuen will to al liuing things and imprinted it in them And he that hath imparted so many benefites to all things to some mo and to some lesse hath not he say I bestowed those benefites vppon them willingly And he with the beholding of whom the blesseddest Spirits do féede their willes hath not he the pleasure of contenting himself throughly with him selfe seeing he knoweth himselfe perfectly And what els is this pleasure than will fulfilled yea euen filled to the full with the true Good which sufficeth to himselfe which is the onely peculiar thing whereon the very will resteth in déede Againe the nature of will is to applye all abilities to their actions To no purpose haue wée hearing if wee lift not to heare to no purpose haue we sight if wee list not to see to no purpose haue wee abilitie to doe things if wee liâ—t not to doe them And this appeareth dayly in all our doings which neuer come to effect till they be quickened and put foorth by the will But we see that God hath applyed his power to the doing of many things yea of things infinite and infinitely diuers Therefore it followeth that he listed to doe them and that he listed to make one thing to one ende and another to another and one of them for another and finally all for himselfe and so consequently that he hath a will And this will so farre as we be able to discerne it by the effects is a certeyn abilitie wherby he applyeth his workfull power when where and how he thinketh good guyding and performing it according to his owne mynd howbeit that the chiefe act thereof is performed within it selfe Neuerthelesse this is spoken alwaies after the manner of men For if we haue much a doe to discerne the difference betwéene the abilities of Will and Understanding in our owne Soules by reason of the linking of them together much more reason is it that in this essence of God which is most single and infinitely more one than ours we should déeme all these things to be but one in him notwithstanding that they differ in certeyne respects God vnderstandeth but I haue told you that to be and to vnderstand is all one in him Also God willeth or listeth but too will and too vnderstand are likewise both one in him and so all three come into one essence that is bee all one thing The reason hereof is very euident namely that willing or listing of is no more an action that passeth into the outward thing than Understanding is but abideth still in the Willer For by our listing of a thing we may perceiue some alteration in our selues but the thing it self that is listed or willed feeleth nothing thereof Now I haue proued heretofore that whatsoeuer is or resteth in God is his very being and moreouer God willeth not any thing but as in respect that he vnderstandeth it for the knowne good is the ground of his will and he vnderstandeth not but by his essence that is to say for that he is the very vnderstanding it selfe It followeth then that in God his Will is his very essence as well as his vnderstanding insomuch that he is both Power Understanding and Will all in one But let vs see now what procéedeth of GOD by his Will I haue sayd afore that God is mere Action and moreouer that he is most single therfore he is still doing from all eternitie and so likewise is whatsoeuer els we consider in his essence Now there we haue found an Understanding by the Inworking whereof he knoweth himself and also a Will whereby he cannot but will himself seeing he knoweth himselfe And this Understanding by a certeine Reflexion of it selfe vpon it selfe hath begotten vs a second person whom
we call the Sonne and the Wisedome of the father This will then which worketh euerlastingly hauing likewise none other thing to worke vppon but it selfe doth also by his working strike backe vpon himselfe and delight it selfe in the infinite good which it knoweth there and so sheadeth out it selfe wholly to the louing thereof and by this action it bringeth vs foorth a third person if I may so terme it whom we call Gods Spirit and the holy Ghost that is to wit the mutuall kindnesse and louingnesse of the Father and of the Sonne of the Father the vnderstander towards the Sonne conceyued and begotten by his vnderstanding and of the Sonne backe againe towards the Father acknowledging all that he hath and all that he is to be of the Father And this sayd Will is the essence of God himselfe and consequently eternally actiue and actiuely eternall For in the euerlasting all things are euerlasting and in a mere act all things are act and of such can nothing procéede which shall not be like them Néedes therefore must this Spirit this Louingnesse or this goodwill bee also actually euerlasting Moreouer the will extendeth as farre as the vnderstanding for as I haue sayd afore will and vnderstanding are both one in God and vnderstanding doth perfectly comprehend the thing that is vnderstood namely the thing that is beloued that is to wit God himselfe The will then doth by his action which is loue liking extend it selfe as farre as God himselfe and so the third Person is equall to the second and the first And yet doth this third Person procéede of the will and the will is Gods essence of that essence can nothing procéede which is not his essence Therefore he is not onely coeternall and coequall but also coessentiall Againe wee see that in vs there goeth alwaies some act of the vnderstanding afore the act of our will for the cause why we will things is that we think wee vnderstand them and wee desire them for the good which wee perceyue in them the loue of a thing cannot be in the louer thereof but vppon his knowing of the thing loued neither is will any thing els than appetite bred of vnderstanding The third Person therefore procéedeth from the first not only by the will but also by the vnderstanding and by the knowledge which the vnderstanding bréedeth And because it procéedeth of two and not by way of resemblance but by act of Will we terme him Proceeding and not Begotten which is in effect the reason of all that is taught vs in the Church concerning that matter Notwithstanding whereas wee say that the action of Understanding goeth afore the action of Will our meaning is not to imagine any going afore or comming after in these persons but onely to lay foorth this procéeding by the order of Nature which wee could not haue done so well by the trueth of the matter as if wee should say that the Sonne is considered afore the holy Ghost in like maner as the knowing of a thing goeth afore the desire of it because that if they could haue had any beginning the Sonne had bin formost in that case As touching names we call him most coÌ„monly the holy Ghost Holy because there is nothing in God which is not pure and holy whereby he is discerned from al other Spirits and Ghost or Spirit because we commonly call those things Spirits the beginning of whose mouing is vnknowne to vs as the Wyndes whose beginning is vnknowne vnto vs the breathing of the Heartstrings which procéedeth from an inward beginning that is hidden from vs and such other things and to be short because that in all things which haue life the inwarde force procéedeth from some kynde of will by a certeyne Spirit Now as for loue it is nothing els but a certeyne couert forewardnesse or foorthgoing of the will towards the thing that is loued insomuch that the very benefite which we receyue by his loue is a secrete and insensible through breathing which worketh in vs yet we cannot well perceyue from whence it commeth Againe wee call him also Loue and Charitie because all the actions of will are in loue and wellyking as in their roote in like maner as all the doings of Gods Understanding méeâ—e altogether in his wisedome For whereas wee desire the thing which we want or be glad of the thing which wee haue the cause thereof is that we loue it or like well of it Likewise also whereas we feare a thing or lothe it that commeth of a hatred which can haue no place in God whose will nothing is able to withstand Therefore as we haue God of God that is to wit the Sonne of the Father by the euerlasting inworking of his Understanding so also haue wee God of God againe that is to wit the holy Ghost or loue of them both by the ioyntworking of the Understanding and Will together Wherevpon we conclude thrée distinct persons or Inbeings in one essence not to exclude the singlenesse thereof which it behoueth vs to hold still but to expresse the diuersitie thereof after a sort which ought not to bee vnknowne namely the power of the Father the wisedome of the Sonne the goodnesse of their loue for whom by whom and in whom it hath pleased the sayd onely one vnspeakable essence to create and to loue all things But there is yet more namely that as there are thrée Inbeings or Persons in this essence so also there can bee no mo but thrée which thing may be made euident by the same reason Whoso denyeth that there is Understanding and Will in God as wee haue seene afore must also denye that he hath made any thing or that he doth any thing for all the things which wee see here belowe are marked both with the one and with the other Likewise he that confesseth that all things are in him according to their preaching vnto vs must néedes also confesse the Sonne and the holy Ghost to bee the wisedome and the loue for they bee but actions of those two which cannot be without their action neither can action bee euerlastingly any where els than in God himself Now as we can not imagine God without his actions so can wee not consider any other than those to abyde in him nor consequently any other Underbeings that procéede from thence wherevpon we say also that a fourth person cannot be admitted As for example we say he is the Creator and we say true and in so saying wee finde also a relation to the Creatures But this power of Creating procéedeth from the power which is in the Father and is not an action that abideth still within him but passeth directly into the thing created which in respect of the Creator is as nothing in comparison of infinitenesse whereof it cannot haue the preheminence Also we say he is a Sauiour and that is all one with the other For his being a Sauiour
will whereby he disposeth all things wherevppon in the last Chapter I coucluded a second and a third persone Insomuch that in a certayne place he sayeth playnly that God is to be honored according to the nomber of thrée and that the same is after a sort the Lawe of Nature Now for asmuch as this doctrine is not bred of mans brayne if it bee demaunded whence all the Philosophers tooke it wee shall finde that the Greekes had it from out of AEgipt Orpheus witnesseth in his Argonawts that to seeke the Misteries that is to say the Religion of the AEgiptians he went as farre as Memphis visiting all the Cities vpon the Riuer Nyle Through out the land of AEgipt I haue gone To Memphis and the Cities euerychone That worship Apis or be seated by The Riuer Nyle whose streame doth swell so hy Also Pythagoras visited the AEgiptians Arabians and Chaldeans yea and went into Iewry also and dwelt a long tyme at Mount Carmel as Strabo sayth insomuch that the Priestes of that Countrey shewed Strabo still the iourneyes and walkes of him there Now in AEgipt he was the Disciple of one Sonchedie the chiefe Prophet of the AEgiptians and of one Nazarie an Assyrian as Alexander reporteth in his booke of Pythagorasis discourses whom some miscounting the tyme thought to bee Ezechiel And Hermippus a Pythagorist writeth that Pythagoras learned many things out of the lawe of Moyses Also the sayd AEgiptian Priest vpbrayded Solon that the Greekes were Babes and knewe nothing of Antiquitie And Solon as sayth Proclus was Disciple in Says a Citie of AEgipt to one Patanit or as Plutarke sayth to one Sonchis in Heliople to one Oeclapie and in Sebenitie to one Etimon Plato was the Disciple of one Sechnuphis of Heliople in AEgipt and Eudoxus the Guidian was the Disciple of one Conuphis all which Maysterteachers issewed out of the Schoole of the great Trismegistus aforenamed To be short Plato confesseth in many places that knowledge came to the Greekes by those whom they commonly called the barbarus people As touching Zoroastres and Trismegistus the one was an Hebrewe and the other an AEgiptian And at the same tyme the Hebrewes were conuersant with the AEgiptians as is to be séene euen in the Heathen Authors Whereby it appeareth that the originall fountayne of this doctrine was to bee found among them which is the thing that wee haue to proue as now I meane not to gather hether a great sort of Texts of the Byble wherein mention is made as well of the second person as of the third of which sort are these Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee The Lord sayth Wisedome possessed me in the beginning of his wayes afore the depths was I conceyued c. Also concerning the holy Ghost The Spirit of the Lord walked vpon the waters The Spirit of Wisedome is gentle And it is an ordinary spéech among the Prophetes to say The Spirit of the Lord was vpon me And in this next saying are two of them together or rather all three The Heauens were spred out by the word of the Lord and all the power of them by the Spirit of his mouth For they be so alledged and expounded in infinite bookes howbeit that the Iewes at this day do labour as much as they can to turne them to another sence But let vs sée what their owne Doctors haue left vs in expresse words for the most part culled by themselues out of writtē bookes afore that the cōming of our Lord Iesus Christ had made that docttrine suspected In their Zohar which is one of their Bookes of greatest authoritie Rabbi Simeon the sonne of Iohai citeth Rabbi Ibba expoūding this text of Deuteronomie Hearken ô Israel The Euerlasting our God is one God The Hebrewe standeth thus Iehouah Echad Iehouah Eloh enu By the first Iehouah which is the peculiar name of God not to bée communicated to any other Rabbi Ibba saith he meaneth the Father the Prince of al. By Eloh enu that is to say our God he meaneth the Sonne the Fountaine of all knowledge And by the second Iehouah he meaneth the holy Ghost proceeding from them both who is the measurer of the voyce And he calleth him One because he is vndiuidable and this Secret saith he shall not be reuealed afore the comming of the Messias The same Rabbi Simeon expoūding these words of Esay Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hostes sayth Holy is the Father Holy is the Sonne Holy also is the holy Ghost In so much that this Author who is so misticall among them doth in other places call them the Three Mirrours Lights and Souerein fathers which haue neither beginning nor end and are the name and substaunce to the Roote of all Rootes And Rabbi Ionathas in many Copies of his Chaldey Paraphrase sayth the same And therefore no maruell though the Thalmudists of olde tyme commaunded men to say that Uerse twise a day and that some obserue it still at this day Upon these words of the 50. Psalme El elohim Iehouah dibber that is to say The Lord of Lords the Euerlasting hath spoken The ordinary Commentarie sayth also that by the sayd repetition the Prophet meaneth the thrée Middoth Properties wherby God created the world According whereunto Rabbi Moyses Hadarsan sayeth that hee created by his word And Rabbi Simeon sayeth he created by the breath of his mouth And this saying of the Preacher That a thréefold Corde is not so soone broken is expounded by the same glose I examine not whether filthy or no that the inisterie of the Trinitie in the one God is not easie to bee expressed Nowe these thrée Properties which the Hebrewes call Panim the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we the Latins call Persons are betokened by diuers names among the men of old tyme but yet they iumpe all in one according as they vnderstoode them some more clearely than other some Some name them the Beginning the Wisdome the Feare of Loue of God and they say that this Wisedome is Meensoph as the Cabalists tearme it that is to saye of the infinite and most inward vnderstanding of God who beholdeth hymselfe in himself for so doe they expound it Which is the selfesame thing that I spake of in the former Chapter namely that God begetteth his Sonne or Wisdome by his mynding of himselfe Othersome call him Spirit Word and Voyce as Rabbi Azariell doth in these words following The Spirit bringeth foorth the Word and the Voyce but not by opening the Lippes or by speeche of the tongue or by breathing after the maner of man And these three be one Spirit to wit one God as we reade sayeth he in the booke of the creating of man in these termes One Spirit rightly liuing blessed bee hee and his name who liueth for euer and euer Spirit Word and Voyce
Coessentiall And this desire sayth he in another place is in the Mynd which alwaies desireth and alwaies posseth the first This Loue then procéedeth not alonly from the first person but also from the second according to his former teaching concerning the Soule of the World which is that it procéedeth from the first person by the second Aud thus haue wee the three Persons or Iubeings acknowledged and layd foorth by Plotinus whom I haue alledged somewhat the more at length because he auowweth it to be a very auncient doctrine and that he had learned it of his predecessors Numenius Seuerus Cronius Gaius Atticus Longinus and Philarchaeus and did afterward teach it to his Discipies who estéemed him as a God as we shall see hereafter in their writings Iamblichus sayth plainly that God made the World by his diuine Word but he playeth the Philosopher more profoundly in this behalfe The first God sayth he being afore the Beeër and alone is the father of a first God whom he begetteth and yet neuerthelesse abydeth still in the solenesse of his vnitie which thing farre exceedeth all abilitie of vnderstanding This is the Originall patterne of him that is called both Father to him selfe and Sonne to himself and is the Father of one alone and God verely good in deede Now when he sayth that he is father to himselfe and father to a second therein he distinguisheth the persons And whereas he sayth that notwithstanding this begetting yet he abydeth one still he sheweth that there is no separating of the essences And he speaketh there after the opinion receyued among the Diuines of AEgipt But let vs heare Porphirie to whom Plotinus committed the ouerlooking of his bookes the best learned of all the Philosophers as sayth Saint Austin and yet neuerthelesse the sworne enemie of Christenfolke In his Historie of the Philosophers these are his words Plato taught sayth he that of the Good that is to say of the first person is begotten an vnderstaÌ„ding by a maner vnknowne to men and that the same vnderstanding is all whole next vnto himselfe In this vnderstanding are all things that truely are and all the Essences of all things that haue beeing It is the first beautifull and beautifull of it selfe and hath the grace of beautie of himselfe and before all world 's proceeded from God as from his cause selfeborne and father of himself And this proceeding of his was not as ye would say by Gods mouing of himselfe to the begetting of him but by his owne proceeding of himselfe from God and by his issewing of him selfe I say by proceeding howbeit not at any beginning of tyme for there was not yet any tyme and tyme is nothing in comparison of him But this Mynd is without time and only euerlasting Yet notwithstanding as the first God is alwaies one and alone although he haue made all things because nothing can match or compare with him so also is this Vnderstanding or Mynd euerlasting alone without tyme the tyme of things that are in tyme and yet alwaies abyding in the vnitie of his own substance Of a trueth he could not haue sayd more plainly that the Sonne is the Sonne eternally and of the fathers owâ—e substance Againe expounding that foresaid so greatly renowmed place of Platoes Episte The Essence of God sayth he extendeth euen vnto three Inbeeings For there is the highest GOD or the good and next him the Second who is the workmayster of all things and lastly the third who is Soule of the World for the Godhead extendeth euen vnto the Soule And that is the thing that Plato meÌ„t in speaking of three Kings for although all things depend vppon these three yet is their depending first vpon the first God secondly vpon the God that isseweth of him and thirdly vpon the third that proceedeth from him Now in that he raungeth them in order thus one vnder another he seemeth to play the Arrian And yet is that very much in a Heathen man But whereas he acknowledgeth one selfsame essence he sheweth that the diuersitie is only in the functions and in the order of causes which is one steppe beyond the Arrians Also S. Austin saith that he did put the third person as a meane betwene the other two after which maner we also doe call him the band and vnion of them two notwithstanding that Plotine doe put him vnder the Understanding But in his booke of the chiefe Fathers or first Authors of things Proclus setteth doune his opinion yet more plainly saying that there is an euerlasting or eternall Mynd and yet notwithstanding that afore the same there is a Foreëternall or former euerlasting vnto whom the euerlasting sticketh because the Foreeuerlasting is beyond all and that in the euerlasting beeing there is a second and a third and that betwne the Foreeuerlasting and the Euerlasting Eternitie resteth in the middest Now forasmuch 〈◊〉 Eternities are alike equall this forenesse and afternesse which are attributed to the persons is not in respect of tyme but as Plotine sayth in respect of Nature and as ye would say inconsideration of cause Proclus the Disciple of Iamblichus sayeth that the aunâ—â—ent Platonists did set downe three Beginners whome wee call Persons Of the which the first they called the One The second namely the sayd Understanding they called the one many and the third that is to wit the Soule of the world they called the One and many But it is best for vs to heare what he himself saith The Essence or vnderstanding sayeth he for among the Platonists both are one is sayd first of all to haue his being of the Good and to be about the same Good and to be filled with the light of trueth which proceedeth from it and to be partaker thereof by the vnion which it hath therewith and is most diuine because it dependeth originally vpon the Good Here ye see now a second persone Light of Light hauing his fulnesse from the first And whereas hee saieth of the first light that it is most diuine it is because he knoweth not by what words to expresse the prehemâ—nence of the Father In another place hee sayeth that this vnderstanding that is to say the Soule is become One with the Good that is to say with the Father And also that by his inyndly Inworking he is the very eternitie it selfe sauing that hee dependeth vpon the Unitie and that he is like vnto the One and that the Soule or third persone is like to the mynde from whence it procéedeth But here is yet a more euident thing The most part saith he doe set downe three Beginnings the Good the Vnderstanding or the Beeër the Soule The first principall and vncommunicable is the One who is before and beyond all things Next vnto him is the one Vnitie which hath his being about the sayd first substance and aboundeth by participation of him that is the One first
euill meanest thou towardes him when thou weanest him from his Dugge Now then thinkest thou it straunge that GOD should cast thy goodes into the Sea which els would haue helped to drowne thée in destruction O how greatly did Platoes Shipwracke aduauntage him to make him wise Or that he should plucke the Sword of authoritie out of thy hand wherof thou art so desirous which els peraduenture had slayne thyne owne Soule Or that to prepare thée to another life better than this he should serue thee with such fit meanes as might make thée to bee in loue with it Thou wilt say that thou wouldest haue vsed them well but what a number of men haue bin seene which vnder the chastisement of pouertie were good men whom riches and honor did afterward marre corrupt Thou sufferest the Phisition to take frō thée some kynds of meates which thou louest well and to abridge thée both of thy fare and of thyne exercises and of thy pleasures because he hath seene thy water or felt sometymes thy pulse and wilt thou not suffer God who hauing created thee and shaped thee feeleth euerlastingly the pulse of thy Soule wilt thou not suffer him I say to bereue thée of some outward thing which he himselfe made and which would worke thy destruction Thou commendest the Captayne who to make his iourney the speedier against his enemie dispatcheth away all bag and baggage from his Armie that his Souldiers may go the lighter and that the breaking of a Chariot may not stay him by the way and canst thou not finde in thyne heart that he which made thee and gouerneth thée should dispose of thy baggages that is to wit of thy purchases or inheritances which thou hast gotten heere belowe to make thée the nimbler against vice and against the continuall temptations of this world But Enuie pricketh thee Why taketh he them not sayst thou aswell from this man and that man as from mée And why loueth he thée perchaunce better than them Tell mée why the Phisition appoynteth thee a greater portion of Rhewharbe than him Because such a one is more moued with one dramme than another is with three One is better purged with a single Clister than another is with a very strong Purgation One man is sooner warned of God by the losse of his cropp of Grapes or Corne than another is by the burning of his house the losse of all his goodes and the taking of his Children prisoners So Iob sawe the losse of his Cattell the burning of his houses and the death of all his Children and yet for all that he praysed God still That which was constancie in him might haue seemed blockishnesse in another But when God came once to the touching of his person he could not then forbeare to dispute with him Now then séeing that the things which thou termest euilles and mischiefes are in very déede both Medicines and Salues wilt thou not haue them ministred according to the complexion of the patient And thinkest thou thy selfe wiser in discerning the disposition of thy Soule thā he that created it thou I say which darest not trust to thyne own knowledge in the curing of thy bodie The same is to bee sayd of diuers Nations whereof some one may happen to be afflicted a longer tyme more sharply with the Plague or with Warre than another and oftentymes also euen for the selfesame causes For God knoweth both the common nature of whole Nations and the peculiar natures of euery seueral person Some nature if it should not sée the scurge alwaies at hand would become too too proude and presumptuous Another if it should see it continually would be quite out of hart and fall into dispayre If some were not kept occupyed with their owne aduersities they could not refrayne from working mischief to others Another agayne beeing more giuen to quietnesse is contented to sweate in tilling his grounds in trimming his Gardynes without coueting other mens goodes so he may keepe his owne In like case is it with Plants some require dunging some rubbing to make them cleane some proyning some new graffing againe with the same to take away the harshnesse of their fruite and some to haue their head cropped quite and cleane off One selfesame Gardyner doth all these things and a Childe of his that stands by and sees it woonders at it but he that knoweth the natures of things will count him the skilfuller in his arte Yea sayst thou but though these euilles may be Medicines and Salues how may death be so For what a number of Innocents doe wee see slayne in the world What a number of good folke doe we see put to the slaughter not onely good in the iudgement of vs but also euen in the iudgement of those that put them to death Nay rather what is death but the common passage which it behoueth vs al to passe And what great matter makes it whether thou passe it by Sea or by Land by the corruption of thyne owne humors or by the corruptnesse of thy Commonweale Agayne how often haue Iudges condemmed some man for a cryme whereof he hath bene giltlesse and in the denyall whereof he hath stoode euen vpon the Scaffold and yet hath there confessed himselfe faultie in some other cryme vnknowne both to the Iudges and to the standers by a manifest reproofe either of the ignorance or of the vniustice of the Iudges but a playne acknowledgement of the wisedome and iustice of the eternall God And if God hring them to that poynt for one fault and the Iudge for another what vniustice is in God for suffering them to bee condemned wrongfully by the Iudge yea and to be punished with death or otherwise for a cryme whereof their owne conscience cleareth them as giltlesse when as God and their owne conscience doo iustly condemne them for some other As for example The Iudge condemneth them for conspiracie against the commonweale whereas God condemneth them perchaunce for behauing themselues loosely in defending the commonweale The Iudge vnder colour of offence giuen to the Church and God for not rebuking the Churchmen freely inough For I speake as well concerning Heathenfolke as Christians in this behalfe And what a nomber doe wee see which confesse of themselues and witnesse of their familiar freends that by thy punishing of them wherewith thou being the Iudge mentest to haue put them in feare and too haue restrained them they haue taken warning to amend and bin the more quickened vp and incoraged And what els is this but that as in one selfesame deede God had one intent and thou another so also he guyded it to the end that he himselfe amed at yea and to a contrarie end to that which thou diddest purpose But what a thing were it if thou sawest the fruite that GOD draweth out of it The Childe that beholde his Father treading of goodly Grapes could find in his heart too blame him for so doing for he thinketh
haue an eye vnto him are by and by healed of the Serpents deadly sting And whereas some thinke it straunge that so great a thing should bee figured by so vyle and base things the figure is the more profitable and the lesse dauÌ„gerous in that it is so For had so high things bene figured 〈◊〉 foretokened by things approching to their highnesse men might haue bene deceyued by theÌ„ and haue taken the figures for the things themselues and so haue rested vpon the gaynesse of the sheath without looking into it As for example if in stead of the Goate they should haue Sacrificed the man of greatest reputation in the Congregation Men béeing giuen to yéeld too much vnto man would haue mistaken him for the very Mediatour himselfe But when the figure of our reconcilement vnto God and of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes is taken at a brute beast which hath nothing sutable thereto sauing that he is giltlesse and capable of death wee bee taught that it is but a figure and that it behoueth vs to â—ade into the thing it selfe that so much the more because those Sacrifices are so solemnely and so expressely commaunded to posteritie as things which for the welfare of mankynd ought to be alwaies in remembrance or rather present before mens eyes But yet the Hebrewes held opinion that Asar Elcana and Abiasaph the three sonnes of Chore mentioned in the sixt Chapter of Exodus were authors of diuers of the Psalmes that are gathered into the second booke of Dauids Psalter and so is Moyses also of some one or two in the third booke whereby they comforted the Fathers in the wildernesse assuring them of the coÌ„ming of Christ. Unto Dauid who was of the Trybe of Iuda God himselfe constâ—â—ieth the sayd promise telling him that the blessed séed should come of him I will rayse vp saith he thy seede after thee which 〈◊〉 come one of thy loynes his kingdome will I stablish for euer I will be to him for a Father and he shall be to mee for a sonne And although this may séeme to be ment of Salomon Dauids sonne who was in déede but a figure of Christ yet notwithstanding the often repeating of these words eternally euerlastingly and for euer giueth vs to vnderstand that it cannot bee 〈◊〉 but of the thing figured that is to wit of the eternall or euerlasting King And in very deede Dauid sheweth well in his Psalmes that hee hath looked further with the eyes of his mynde than to his sonne Salomon For in the second Psalme Thou art my sonne saith the Euerlasting this day haue I begotteÌ„ thee I will giue thee the Gentyles for thyne inheritance and the vtmost coastes of the earth for thy possession And in the fiue and fortieth Psalme speaking of the mariage of this Sonne with an extraordinary preface Thy Throne ô God sayth he is from euerlasting and the Scepter of thy kingdome is a Scepter of righteousnes And in the seauen and fortith The princes of the Nations are assembled togither sayth he to be the people of the God of Abraham And in the thréescore and seauenth Thou shalt iudge folk righteously Thy sauing health shal be knowen to al Nations and thou shaâ—t direct the Nations of the earth And this later clause is shet vp with this worde Selah which the Hebrewes are not wont to vse but in some profound misterie To be short in the thréescore and twelfth Psalme after he hath sayde All Kings shall worship him and all Nations shall serue him Hée addeth for he shall deliuer the poore that cry vnto hym and the distressed that hath no helpe Yea and which more is All Nations shall report themselues to be blessed in him and they shall also blesse him Dauid is full of such sentences which shewe that he speaketh of a King howbeit of another than Salomon his owne sonne For Salomons kingdom extended not much further than his fathers neither did the Nations méete togither vnder him and as for his kingdome it ended wich his beath and within day or twayne after was rent in peeces And therefore the auncient Synagog did alwayes vnderstand those texts to be ment of Christ who was to be borne of the séede of Dauid as we may perceyue by the Chaldee translation which interpreteth them to be spoken concerning the same partie Howbeit sith it is not said in any of the Psalmes Reioyce thou Israel for thou shalt reigne ouer the Gentiles but Reioyceye Gentyles be glad ye Nations and Kings for I will giue you a King surely it is euident that the ioy which he reporteth to be so greate is not for that they should haue a Iewe to be their king for euery Nation had leuer to haue one of their owne countrie or for that this King should haue a souereine Monarke aboue them all to controll them for euery of them had leuer to reigne by himselfe alone but rather because this King should bee of a farre other nature and qualitie than all other Kings namely a King of soules a deliuerer of men from the bondage of sinne and a spirituall Monarke Also the Song of Songs is an expresse poetrie coÌ„ceruing the vnion of Christ his Church and hath bene so vnderstoode of the Iewes as it appeereth by the Chaldee Paraphrase therof which we haue As for the Prophets we find nothing els in them almost line by lyne but foretellings of Christ to come of the Nature of his Kingdome of the calling of the Gentiles of the stablithing agein of godlynes and such other matters as wel to put the people then present in remembrance of them as to prepare the aftercommers to receiue them Insomuch that if the Prophets speake of the returne from Babylon of the stablishing ageine of the kingdome of the building ageine of the Temple and such other things by and by within two or thrée verses yee shal see them caried away to the spirituall kingdome of Christ and to the true Temple which is the Church as though they had ment to say vnto vs that we must not rest vpon these temporall things which are but shadowes but remember that we be men that is to say Soules and that our welfare coÌ„sisteth not in liuing in gouerning and in reigning heere but in seruing God that we may be vnited vnto him ruled by him howbeit not so as we should reigne in the world but that God should reigne in vs by the Scepter of his word and by the power of his spirit and be obeyed of vs. It shall come to passe sayth Esay that in the latter dayes the hill of the Lords house shal be set vp vpon the toppe of the mountaynes and that all Nations shal come flocking to it and many folke shall say Come let vs goe vp to the Lords hill and to the GOD of Iacobs house This text is spoken manifestly of Christ and of his reigne and of the blessing that was to be shed out vpon all