bring vs to God and the onely schoolemistresse of whome we ought to learne our saluation To bee short we say not that because Reason comprehendeth not this or that therefore lette vs not beleeue it for that were a measuring of Fayth by Reason as they say But wee say that Reason and Nature haue such a Rule and that that is the common way and yet notwithstanding that this thing or that thing is done or spoken beyond reason and beyond nature I say then that the worke and word of God are an extraordinarie case that forasmuch as they are of God it behoueth vs to beleeue them and to beleeue is to submit our reason and vnderstanding to him And so it is a making of reason seruant to faith by reason and a making of reason to stoope to the highnesse of faith and not an abasing of faith to the measure of reason Now forasmuch as we take reason to our helpe against the Infidels the proofes which she shall yeeld vnto vs to guide vs to the doctrine and schoole of faith shal be chiefly of two sorts namely Arguments Records The Arguments which we will vse against the Iewes we will take out of the grounds of the Iewish Religion the maiestie of God the nature and state of man and the most euident and best authorised principles or conclusions among them Against the Gentiles wee will take them out of their substantiallest Rules out of the most renowmed Authors of Philosophie and out of the expositions of their owne most approued Interpreters one while abiding vpon their principles another while standing vpoÌ„ the conclusions which they themselues do gather of them sometimes drawing such necessarie consequents and sequeales out of them my selfe as they oftentimes perceiued not as though they had not vnderstood what they themselues spake Also against either of them wee will iudge of the cause by his effects and of the effects by their cause of the end by the instrument or moouer thereto and of the mouer by the end so forth of other things which are the strongest arguments that can be as which are either demonstratiue or very neere demonstratiue At a word we will not alledge any argument which shall not be substantiall or at leastwise which we shall not thinke to be so neither will wee vrge any thing whereof we be not throughly perswaded in our selues choosing alway the euidentest easiest that we can to apply our selues to all mens capacities Notwithstanding let not any man looke here for arguments that may bee felt as that I should proue fire to be hotte by touching it or the mysteries of GOD and Religion by the outward sence but let it suffise him that mine argumentes shal bee fully as apparant and commonly more apparant than the argumentes which the Philosophers alledge in naturall things Howbeit that Aristotle would haue men to looke for argumentes of lesse sorce at his hande in his first Philosophie then in his discourses of naturall thinges and for reasons of lesse force in his morals so they be likely than in his first highest Philosophie which thing we may with much better right require in the thinges that surmount both nature and man that is to witte in Diuinitie Moreouer oftentimes heere shall bee questions propounded to vnfold or obiections made to bee confuted which might trouble the Reader if he were not satisfied in them or else breake off the continuance of our proofes And in them I shal be compelled now and then to be obscure either by reason that the nature of the thing depending in controuersie may perchaunce bee of some old forworne opinion or els in respect of the tearmes peculiar to the case which may hap to be lesse vnderstood of the common sorte and more diffuze and lesse pithie in our language wherein such things haue not hitherto bene treated of Neuerthelesse I hope to take such paines in the opening of them that the Reader whosoeuer he be if he take any heede at all shall easily attaine to the vnderstanding of them As touching the Records they shal be in my iudgement of the worthiest sort and such as are least to be suspected or refused as neere as I can choose We be to declare our doctrine vnto men men themselues are a part of the doctrine which we set foorth And what more clearenesse can there bee than to make themselues parties in the proofe Iudges in their own case and witnesses against themselues Vnto men therefore we will bring the witnessings of men euen the things that euerie man readeth in his owne nature and in his owne heart from whence hee vttereth them either wittingly or vnwittingly as things that are so written there that he cannot wype them out though he would neuer so faine These are common insightes or inseâ—s as a man may tearme them namely the perswasion of the Godhead the conscience of euill the desire of immortalitie the longing for felicitie and such other thinges which in this neather world are incident vnto man alone and in al men without the which a man is no more a man insomuch that hee cannot deny them except he be out of his wittes nor cal them in question without beiying of himself wrongfully And here of proceedeth the agreeable consent of all mankind in certainâ— beleefes which depend immediatly vpon the said Principles which consent we ought to hold for certaine and vndoubted For the vniuersalnesse of this consent she weth that it is nature and not instruction imitation or bringing vp that speaketh the voice or nature is the voice of truth As for lying or vntruth it is a fondling and not a thing bred a meere corruption and not a fruit of nature Neuerthelesse whether it were thorough ignorance which hath as good as choked the or through frowardnesse which hath turned reason a wrong way made man as a stranger to himselfe those common and generall Insets haue remained baâ—ren in the most part of men Yet notwithstanding some men in sundrie nations haue mounted aboue the common rate and indeuored to cherish and aduaunce the said Insights and drawen some small sparkes of truth and wisedome out of them as out of some little fire raked vp vnder a great heape of ashes the which they haue afterward taught vnto others and for so doing haue bene called Sophies and Philosophers that is to say Wise men and louers of wisedome These also doo we take for witnesses of our doctrine and amongst them the notablest and such as the world hath esteemed to be wisest And wheresoeuer they shall disagree either one with another or with themselues there shall common reason be Iudge And like as they haue caught some sparkes from the fire so will we kindle a fire of their sparkes how be it in verie deed not to lead vs to saluation the hauen of our life for in that behalfe we haue neede of God himselfe to be our Pilote but to shew vs as it were
Porphirius and Proclus notwithstanding that now and then they passe their bounds suffering their wits to runne royet For in their Philosophie they had none other rule than only the drift of their owne reason It was commonly thought that Alexander of Aphrodise beléeued not the immortalitie of the Soule because he defined it to be the forme of the body proceeding of the mixture temperature of the Elements Surely these words of his doe vs to vnderstand either that he ment to define but the sensitiue lyfe onely as many others doe and not the reasonable soule or els that he varieth from himselfe in other places And in very déede hee sayeth immediatly afterward that he speaketh of the things which are subiect to generation and corruption But speaking of the Soule he sayeth it is separable vnmateriall vnmixed and voyd of passions vnlesse perchaunce we may thinke as some doe that by this Soule he meane but onely God and not also the Soule that is in vs for the which thing he is sharply rebuked by Themistius who notwithstanding speaketh neuer a whit better thereof himselfe Howsoeuer he deale elsewhere these words of his following are without any doubtfulnes at all The Soule sayth he which is in vs commeth from without and is vncorruptible I say vncorruptible because the nature thereof is such and it is the very same that Aristotle affirmeth to come from without And in his second booke of Problemes searching the cause why the abilities of the Soule are oftentimes impeached If a mans brayne be hurt sayth he the reasonable soule dooth not well execute the actions that depend thereon But yet for all that it abydeth still in itselfe vnchaungeable of nature abilitie and power through the immortalitie thereof And if it recouer a sound instrument it putteth her abilities in execution as well as it did afore But I wil reason more at large hereafter against the opinion that is fathered vpon him What shall we say of Galene who fathereth the causes of all things as much as he can vpon the Elements and the mixture and agréeble concord of them if after his disputing against his owne Soule he be constreyned to yéeld that it is immortall Surely in his booke concerning the manners of the Soule he doeth the worst that he can against Plato and in another place hee doubteth whether it be immortall and whether it haue continuance of it selfe or no. Yet notwithstanding in his booke of the doctrine of Hippocrates and Plato It must needes be graunted sayeth hee that the Soule is either a sheere body and of the nature of the Skye as the Stoiks Aristotle himself are inforced to confesse or els a bodilesse substance whereof the body is as it were the Chariot and whereby it hath fellowship with other bodyes And it appeareth that hee inclyneth to this latter part For hee maketh the vitall spirit to be the excellentest of all bodily things and yet he graūteth the Soule to bee a farre more excellent thing than that What shall we then doe Let vs wey his words set downe in his booke of the conception of a Child in the Moothers Wombe The Soule of Man sayeth he is an influence of the vniuersall Soule that descendeth from the heauenly Region a substance that is capable of knowledge which aspyreth alwayes to one substance lyke vnto it selfe which leaueth all these lower things to seeke the things that are aboue which is partaker of the heauenly Godhead and which by mounting vp to the beholding of things that are aboue the heauens putteth it selfe into the presence of him that ruleth all things Were it reason then that such a substance comming from elsewhere than of the body and mounting so farre aboue the body should in the ende dye with the body because it vseth the seruice of the body Now hereuntoo I could adde infinite other sayings of the auncient authors both Greeke and Latin Philosophers Poets and Orators from age to age wherein they treate of the iudgement to come of the reward of good men of the punishment of euill men of Paradise and of Hell which are appendants to the immortalitie of the Soule but as now I will but put the reader in mynd of them by the way reseruing them to their peculiar places To bée short let vs runne at this day from East to West and from North to South I say not among the Turkes Arabians or Persians for their Alcoran teacheth them that mans Soule was breathed into him of God and consequently that it is vncorruptible but euen among the most barbarous ignorant beastly people of the Wold I meane the very Caribies and Cannibals and we shall find this beléefe receiued and imbraced of them all Which giueth vs to vnderstand that it is not a doctrine inuented by speculations of some Philosophers conueyed from Countrie to Countrie by their disciples perswaded by likelyhods of reasons or too be short entered into mans wit by his eares but a natiue knowledge which euery man findeth and readeth in himself which he carieth euerywhere about with himselfe and which is as easie to bée perswaded vnto all such as viewe themselues in themselues as it is easie to perswade a man that neuer sawe his owne face to beléeue that he hath a face by causing him to behold himselfe in a glasse There remayne yet two opinions to be confuted The one is the opinion of Auerrhoes and the other is the opinion of Alexander of Aphrodise who affirme themselues to hold both of Aristotle namely in that they vpholde that there is but one vniuersall reasonable Soule or mynd which worketh al our discourses in vs howbeit diuersly in euery seuerall person And this thing if wee beléeue Auerrhoes is done according to the diuersitie of the Phantasies or Imaginations wherewith the mynd is serued as with instruments But if we beléeue Alexander it is done according too the diuersities of the capable mind as they terme it that is to say of the abilitie or capabilitie that is in men to vnderstand things by receyuing the impression of the vniuersall mynd that worketh into euery of them which in respect thereof is called of them the woorker Soothly these opinions are such as may bee disprooued in one worde For this onely one Mynd whether in possibilitie or in action could not haue receiued or imprimted in euery man one selfesame common beléef and conceit of the immortalitie of the Soule in so great diuersitie of imaginations and in so many Nations as we sée doe beléeue it considering that the very same conceit is directly repugnant against it Nay it may well bée sayde that Auerrhoes and Alexander had very diuers conceits and imaginations one from another and very contrary to all other mens seeing they had so diuers and cōtrarie opinions imprinted either in their mind or in their imagination Howbeit forasmuch as there may be some the will make a doubt of it Let
reason then all other truth dependeth vpon him relieth vpon him neither is there or can there be any reason or truth but in him So far off is it that the thing which is trewe and reasonable in nature is or can be false in Diuinitie which to speake properly is not against nature but against the corruption of nature and in verie deede about nature Nowe come I consequently to the other sort which say that although it bee possible in some sorte yet the faith that is to say the Christian doctrine ought not to be proued or declared by reason And their reason is because it consisteth in manie things which exceed the capacitie of man therefore that he which should measure them by reason shoulde diminish the dignitie and greatnes of them Surely I will say more for them than they require namely that mans reason is so farre off from being the measurer of farâ—n which very far exceedeth nature that it is not so much as the measurer of nature of the least creatures which lie farre vnderneath man because of the ignorance and vntowardnes which is in vs and raigneth in vs. But in this they deceiue themselues that they imagine vs to vpholde that wee should beleeue no further than reason can measure comprehend For what a great way doth the truth of thinges excend further than mans reason But we say that mans reason is able to lead vs to that point namely that we ought to beleue euen beyond reason I meane the things whereunto all the capacitie of man cannot attaine And like wise that when things are reuealed â—nto vs which reason could neuer haue entered into nor once imagined no not euen when it was at the soundest the same reason which neuer could haue found them out maketh vs to allow of them the reason I say whereunto those mysteries were insuisible afore maketh them credible vnto vs surely euen after the same maner that our eye maketh vs to see that in the visible things which we ought to beleue of the invisible without the which the visible could haue no beeing that is to wit the inuisible God by the visible Sonne also to see many things when the Sun is vp which were hidden afore in darknesse not that the eie-sight was of lesse force or the thing it selfe lesse visible afore but because the Sonne is now vp which lighteneth the aire with his brightnes which is the meane both wherby the eie seeth wherby the thing is seen As for example we beleeue that there is one God the Father the Son the holy Ghost This is the article which they oppose against vs therfore doe I take the very same This article caÌ„not in any wise fal within the coÌ„passe of vnderstaÌ„ding much lesse be coÌ„prehended by mans reason But yet doth reasoÌ„ lead vs to the said point that there is a God that he hath created man to liue for euer that whereas man hath stepped out of the way to followe his owne sway he reformeth him again by his word That this word as I haue said already heretofore is the olde and new Testament which conteine thinges that cannot proceed from creatures Heere Reason stayeth holdeth it selfe contented For seeing that God speaketh it becommeth man to holde his peace and seeing that hee vouchsafeth to teache vs it becommeth vs to belecue Nowe wee reade this doctrine in Gods foresaid bookes yea oftentimes repeated Lo how Reason teacheth vs that which she her selfe neither knewe nor beleeued namely by leading vs to the teacher whom we ought to heare and beleeue and to the booke wherein he vouchsafeth to open himselfe vnto vs in giuing vs infallible markes and tokens whereby to discerne what commeth of God and what commeth not of him But when Reason commeth to the reading of the doctrine and is perswaded thereof then she awaketh and if the Gentile refuse it as impossible and repugnant to reason and truth then steppeth she forth stoutly and marketh the likenesse thereof in nature the images thereof in her selfe to set it fooâ—th and the Recordes of the Gentiles themselues to incounter them withall Also she findeth out solutions of their arguments and aunswers to their absurdities For surely all truth cannot be sufficiently proued by reason considering that many thinges exceede reason and nature But yet cannot any vntruth prâ—â—ayle by reason against truth nor any truth bee vanquished by the iudgement of reason For vntruth is contrary to nature nature helpeth reason reason is seruaunt to truth and one truth is not contrary to another that is to say to it selfe For truth cannot be but truth and Reason reason The like may wee say of the incarnation of the Sonne of God that no man could of himselfe haue imagined it nor as now also conceiue itâ— and yet not withstanding that reason 〈◊〉 able both to teach it vs and to defende it What will she say then to vs in this behalfe That the workes which IESVS wrought could not proceede neither from a man nor from a deuil nor from an Angell considered in their seuerall kindes but onely from God the maker of heauen and earth And this will she proue vnto vs both in the respect of the history and in respect of the kindes of his workes as well by the Historiographers and Philosophers who were enemies to Christ and his doctrine as by conclusions of necessitie conueyed from the principles which remaine in the natures of euery of them And what will ensue thereof but that Iesus woorking by the power of God was sent of God and therefore ought to bee heard and beleeued Beleeued say I to bee God the sonne of God because hee sayth it and to bee man borne of woman because the world sawe him to be so that otherwise he should be an enemie to God and God an enemie to mankind God I say too good to assist him with his power to our ouerthrowe and too wise to lend him his spirit to the defacing of his owne glory But if vngodlines stirre coales Reason will open her mouth and shewe that it was agreable to Gods Iustice and necessary for mans welfare possible to the power of the creator and agreeable to his wil and promises behooffull for our basenes and beseeming his glorie And euen in vngodlines it selfe she will find wherewith to put vngodlines to silence howbeit that euen in all godlines she findeth not wherewith to speake thereof sufficiently The same is to bee vnderstood of other like misteries which shal be treated of in their due places And this bringeth vs backe againe to the saide point that the truth beeing reuealed enlighteneth reason and that reason rowseth vp her selfe to rest vpon truth And so farre off is Reason from abasing fayth to make vs attaine thereto that contrariwise she lifteth vs vp as it were vpon her shoulders to make vs to see it and to take it for our guide as the onely thing that can
from a Tower which way it standeth in the darke wherin we now be to the end we may call to God for helpe and euer after make thither ward with all our whole hart Particularly against the Atheists and Epicures we will bring themselues the world the creatures therein for witnesses For those are the Recordes which they best loue and most beleeue from the which they be lothest to depart Against the false naturalists that is to say professors of the knowledge of nature and naturall things I will alledge nature it selfe the Sectes that haue sought out nature such writers in euery Sect as they hold for chiefe Disciples Interpreters and Anatomists or Decipherets of nature as Pyt hagoras Plato Aristotle the Academikes and peripatetikes both old and new and speciallie such as haue most stoutly defended their owne Philosophie and impugned our doctrine as Iamblich Plotin Porphirie Procle Simplice and such others whose depositions or rather oppositions against vs I thinke men will wonder at Against the Iewes I will produce the old Testament for that is the Scripture where to their fathers trusted and for the which they haue suffered death whereby they assure themselues of life And for the interpreting thereof I will alledge their Paraphrasts those which translated it into the Greeke and Chaldey tongues afore the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ. For they were Iewes borne of the notablest men among them chosen by publike authoritie to translate it and at that time reason was not so intangled with passions as it hath bene since Also I will alledge their ancient doctors dispersed as well in their Cabales as in their Talmud which are their bookes of greatest authoritie and most credit And diuerse times I will interlace the Commentaries of their late writers which generally haue bene most contrarie to the Christen doctrine whom notwithstanding the truth hath compelled seuerally to agree in expounding the Texts whereon the same is chiefly grounded Now in these allegations I shall sometimes be long and peraduenture tedious to the Reader whome manifest reason shall haue satisfied alreadie so as to his seeming there needed not so manie testimonies But I pray him to beleeue that in this longnesse of mine I straine my nature to apply myselfe to all men knowing that some like better of Reasons and othersome of Testimonies and that all men notwithstanding that they make more account of the one than of the other are best satisfied by both when they see both reason authorised by witnesses for that is as much to say as that many men had one selfe same reason and also Recordes declared by reason for that is as much to say as that credit is not giuen to the outward person but to the diuine thing which the person hath within him that is to wit to Reason Herewithall I thought also that all men haue not either the meane to come by all bookes or the leysure to read them whose labour I haue by that meane eased And oftentimes I am driuen to doo that in one Chapter whereof others haue made whole volumes To conclude I pray the Reader first to read this booke throughout for without mounting by degrees a man cannot attaine to high things and the breaking of a ladders steale casteth a man backe maketh the thing wearisome which was easie Secondly I desire him to bring his wit rather than his will to the reading thereof For foredeemings and foresetled opinions doo bring in bondage the reason of them that haue best wits wheras notwithstanding it belongeth not to the will to ouerrule the wit but to the wit to guide the will Thirdly and most of all I beseech him to beare alwaie in mind that I am a man and among men one of the least that is to say that if I satisfie him not in all points my reason attaineth not eueriewhere so far as truth doth to the end that mine ignorance and weakenesse preiudice not the case mine vndertaking whereof in good sooth is not vpon trust of mine owne wit or of mine owne abilitie but vpon assured trust of the cleernesse soundnesse substantialnesse and soothnesse thereof Now God vouchsafe to shead out his blessing vpon this worke and by the furtherance thereof to glad them that beleeue to confirme them that wauer to confute them which go about to shake downe his doctrine This is the onely pleasure that I desire the onely fruit which I seeke of my labour And to say the truth I feele alreadie some effect and contentment thereof in my hart But lette vs praie him also to vouchsafe in our daies to touch our stonie harts with the forceâ— of his spirit and with his owne finger to plant his doctrine so deeply in them as it may take roote and bringâ— foorth fruit For certesse it is Gods worke to perswade and win men albeit that to counsell them yea and to mooue them seemeth in some sort to lie in man The Summes of the Chapters That there is a God and that all men agree in the Godhead That there is but onely one God That the wisedome of the world acknowdelged one onely God What it is that man is able to comprehend concerning God That in the one substance of God there are three persons which we call the Trinitie That the Philosophie of olde time agreed to the doctrine of the Trinitie That the world had a beginning When the world had his beginning That the wisdome of the world acknowledged the creation of the world That God created the world of nothing that is to say without any matter substance or stuffe whereof to make it That God by his prouidence gouerneth the world and all things therein That all the euill which is or which seemeth to bee in the worlde is subiect to Gods prouidence That mans wisedome hath acknowledged Gods prouidence and howe the same wadeth betweene destinie and fortune That mans soule is immortall That the immortalitie of the soule hath bene taught by the auncient Philosophers and beleeued by all nations That mans nature is corrupted and hee himselfe fallen from his first originall by what meanes That the men of olde time are of accorde with vs concerning mans corruption and the cause thereof That God is the souereigne welfare of man therefore that the chiefe shootanker of maÌ„ ought to be to return vnto god That the wisest of all ages are of accorde that God is the chiefe shootanker and souereigne welfare of man The true Religion is the way to atteine to that shootanker souereigne welfare and what are the markes thereof That the true God was worshipped in Israel which is the 1. mark of true religionâ— That the Gods which were woâ—shipped by the heathen were men consecrated or canonized to posteritie That the Spirites which made men to woorship them vnder the names of those men were wicked spirites that is to saye fiendes or diuels That in Israel Gods worde was the Rule of his Seruice
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
now foretold shall stand all desolate Being asked another tyme as sayth Porphirius whether was the better of the Word or the Lawe he answered likewise in verse That men ought to beléeue in God the begetter and in the King that was afore all things vnder whom quaketh both Heauen and Earth Sea and Hell yea and the very Gods themselues whose Lawe is the Father that is honored by the Hebrewes And these Oracles were wont to be sung in Uerse to the intent that all men should remember them the better as Plutarch reporteth Now I haue bin the longer in this Chapter because most men thinke this doctrine so repugnant to mans Reason that Philosophie could neuer allowe of it not considering that it is another matter to conceyue a thing than to prooue or allow it when it is conceyued And therefore aswell for this Chapter as for that which went afore let vs conclude both by reason added to Gods reuealing and by the traces thereof in the World and by the Image thereof shining foorth in our selues and by the Confession of all the auncient Diuines and by the very depositious of the Deuilles themselues that in the onely one Essence or substance of God there is a Father a Sonne and a holy Ghost the Father euerlastingly begetting the Sonne and the Spirit euerlastingly procéeding from them both◠the Sonne begotten by the Mynd and the Spirit procéeding by the Will which is the thing that we had here to declare And let this handling of that matter concerning Gods essence bee taken as done by way of preuention howbeit that it depend most properly vppon the reuelation of our Scriptures which being proued will consequently yéeld proofe to this poynt also There may bee some perchaunce which will desire yet more apparant proofes but let them consider that wee speake of things which surmount both the arguments of Logike and also Demonstration For inasmuch as Demonstrations are made by the Causes the Cause of all Causes can haue no Demonstration But if any be so wilful as to stand in their owne opinion against the trueth which all the World prooueth al Ages acknowledge let them take the payne to set doune their Reasons in writing and men shall see how they be but eyther bare Denyalles or Gesses or simple distrusts or misbeleefs of the things which they vnderstand not and that they be vnable to wey against so graue and large Reasons and Recordes as I haue set downe heretofore And therefore the glorie thereof be vnto God Amen The vij Chapter That the World had a beginning LEt vs now retyre backe againe from this bottomlesse gulfe for the thing that is vnpossible to be sounded is vnpossible to be knowen And séeing that our eysight cānot abyde the brightnesse of so great a light let it content vs to beholde it in the shadowe Now this sensible world wherein we dwell is as the Platonists terme it the shadow of the world that is subiect to vnderstanding for certesse it cannot be called an Image thereof no more than the buylding of a Maystermason is the Image of his mynd And yet for all the greatnesse beautie and light which wee see therein I cannot tell whether the woord shadowe doe throughly fit it or no considering that shadowes haue some measure in respect of their bodies but betwéene finite and infinite is no proportionable resemblance at all We that are héere in the world doe woonder at it and we would thinke wee did amisse if we should beléeue that any thing is better or more beautifull than that For our flesh and complexions are proportioned after the Elements thereof and to the things which it bringeth foorth as our eyes vnto the light thereof and all our sences too the sensible nature thereof and those which are of the world seeke but onely to content the sensualitie that is in them But as we haue a Mynd so also let vs beléeue that the same is not without his obiect or matter to rest vpon And as the sencelesse things serue the things that haue sence so let vs make the sensible things to serue the Mynd and the Mynd it selfe to serue him by whom it is and vnderstandeth My meaning is that wee should not wonder at the world for the worlds sake it selfe but rather at the woorkemaister and author of the world For it were too manifest a childishnes to woonder at a portraiture made by a Peinter and not to woonder much more at the Peynter himselfe Now the first consideration that offereth it selfe to the beholder of this woorke is whether it hath had a beginning or no a question which were perchaunce vnnecessarie in this behalfe if euery man would consult with his owne Reason whereunto nothing is more repuguant than to thinke an eternitie to bee in things which wee not onely perceiue with our sences but also doe sée to perish Howbeit forasmuch as the world speaketh sayth the Psalmist both in all Languages and to all Nations let vs examine it both whole together and according to the seuerall parts thereof For it may be that the worldlings if they distrust their owne record will at leastwise admit that which the world it selfe shall depose thereof Let vs then examine the Elements all together they passe from one into another the Earth into Water the Water into Ayre and Ayre into Water againe and so foorth Now this intercourse cannot be made but in tyme and tyme is a measuring of mouing and where measure is there can be no eternitie Let vs examine thē seuerally The Earth hath his seasons after Springtime commeth Sommer after Sommer succeedeth Haruest and after Haruest followeth Winter The Sea hath his continuall ebbing and flowing which goeth increasing and decreasing by certeyne measures Diuers Riuers and especially Nyle haue their increasings at certeyne seasons and to a certeyne measure of Cubits The Ayre also hath his Windes which doe one while cléere it and another while trubble it and the same Windes doe reigne by turnes blowing sometime from the East and sometime from the West sometime from the North and sometime from the South And vppon them dependeth Rayne and faire wether Stormes and Calmes These interchaunges which are wrought by turnes cannot bee without beginning For where order is there is a formernesse and an afternesse and all chaunge is a kind of mouing insomuch that the alterations which are made successiuely one after another must of necessitie haue had a beginning at some poynt or other on the Land by some one of the Seasons on the Sea by ebbing and flowing and in the Ayre by North or by South and so foorth For if they began not at any one poynt then could they not hold out vnto an other poynt The Land then by his Seasons the Ayre by his chaunges and the Sea by his Tydes ceasse not to crye out and to preach vnto all that haue eares to heare that there is no euerlastingnesse in them but that they
that be seeing that the liuing Creatures dye and the Elements passe from one into another and that as Plato affirmeth the Skye it selfe is in continuall wheeling If we say that the Elements and the liuing wights coÌ„tinue their perpetuities in their kynds why doth the Heauen continue his perpetuitie rather in number and particularitie If the cause thereof bee that nothing can slippe out of it because it coÌ„teyneth all things how can that reason agree to the Starres and Planets which doe not conteyne al things as the Heauen or Skye doth and yet we affirme them to be euerlasting And if nothing impeach it without what should let that something may not impeach it within seeing that all liuing wights doe naturally perish through the distemperaÌ„ce of their parts notwithstanding that they liue euen while they bee a dissoluing And what inseweth hereof but that both sortes of bodies as well Coelestiall as terrestriall doe perish yea and both Heauen and Earth likewise sauing that the Coelestiall indure a longer tyme and perish more slowly than the Earthly Certeynly sayth he if we tooke this word eternitie as well in the whole world as in the parts thereof not to betoken an euerlastingnesse that is to say a perpetuitie or continuance without beginning or end but only a difference of continuance there would be the lesse doubtfulnesse in the matter But all shall be out of doubt if we father the same eternitie vpon the will of GOD which of it selfe is able enough to vphold the World for so shall things haue their continuance according to his pleasure some in their kyndes and some particularly in themselues Now if the World were eternall were it not impossible that it should be otherwise than it is But if it haue this being from the will of GOD is it not discharged of that necessitie And what shal then become of this saying of his which he setteth doune in diuers other places namely that the World is of necessitie because it would behoue a second Nature to accompanie the first vnlesse we vnderstand it to be spoken of the necessitie that is conditionall and not of the necessitie that is absolute as they terme it Againe the same will which made the World to bée and hath giuen continuance to the parts thereof some after one sort and some after another and hath disposed of them as it listed it selfe shal it not also haue made them when it listed it selfe Whosoeuer then â—aith that the béeing of the world as well in the whole as in the partes dependeth vpon the will of God taketh from the world all necessitie of béeing And hee that sayeth that there is no necessitie that it should haue bin from euerlasting let vs vse those words for want of other sayth therewithall that it is not euerlasting In his booke of Eternitie and of Tyme he sayth that eternitie and tyme differ in this respect that eternitie is verifyed but of the euerlasting nature and tyme is to be verified of the things that are created So as eternitie is and abideth in God alone whom he calleth the World that is to bee conceyued but in mynd or vnderstanding and tyme abydeth in the worlde that is subiect to the sences adding neuerthelesse that the world to speake properly was not made in tyme after which maner wee also doe say that it was not made in tyme but together with the tyme. But when he hath deliberatly scanned all the definitions of time made by the former Philosophers and hath searched all the corners of his wit too find out the best in the ende heâ— concludeth thus Wee must needes come backe sayth hee too the sayd first nature which I affirmed heretofore to be in eternitie I meane the vnmouable nature which is wholly all at once the infinite and endlesse lyfe and which consisteth whole in one and tendeth vnto one But as yet there was no tyme at all or at leastwise it was not among the Natures that consist in vnderstaÌ„ding but was to come afterward by a certeine maner and kynd of posterioritie Now then if a man will vnderstand how tyme proceeded first from the hygher Natures which rested in themselues good cause shall he haue to call the Muses too his helpe for the vttering therof For it may be that the Muses also were as then Therefore let vs say thus Afore such time as Forenesse issued foorth and had neede of afternesse Tyme which as then was not rested in God with the residew of all things that now are But a certein nature bent to many doings that is to wit the Soule of the world beeing desirous to haue more than the present began to moue it self and so from thence immediatly issewed tyme which passeth on continualy and is neuer the selfsame And we beholding the length therof haue imagined tyme to be the image of eternitie And what is ment by all this contemplation but that a certeine Soule or mynd proceeding from God that is to wit the Spirit of God did mooue and cary the worlde about That with that mouing and of that mouing tyme was bred and brought foorth That afore that moouing there was a settled state or rest as eternitie afore time And that as he himselfe saieth there Tyme and Heauen were made both at once and eternitie was afore them both As touching that it is demaunded what God did afore the World doth not Plotinus himselfe furnish vs with sufficient answere in that he sayth that God not woorking at all but resting in himself doth and performeth very greate things And is not the lyke concluded by the godly doctrine of Gods prouidence whereof he treateth in bookes expresly bearing that tytle for if it be possible for the World to be eternall as well as God where then can there bee any prouidence For what else is Prouidence than the will of God vttered foorth with Reazon and orderly dispozed by vnderstanding And if Gods will bee required where is then the necessitie of béeing which in other places hee attributeth too the world Also where is this saying of his become that our Soules are immortall and that some of them are eternall and afore all tyme And lykewise this that afore God had created the world and breathed a soule into it it was but a dead corse a mingle-mangle of earth and water a darke matter a thing of nothing and at a woorde such a thing as euen the Goddes themselues were abashed at it and that after that God had shed this Soule into the world both lyfe mouing were therby breathed into the Starres Planets and Liuing wyghts For seeing that from notbeing notliuing and notmouing there is an infinite distance to being liuing and mouing Doth it not follow also that there is infinite odds betweene him that is liueth and moueth that is to say God and the thing that wayteth to haue being lyfe and mouing at his hand that is to wit the forementioned Chaos And what is it that
With these fellowes wee our selues shall not néede to deale but only heare Porphyrius disprouing them after this maner If neither God sayth he be of Matter nor Matter of God but both of them be Beginnings alike whereof then commeth it that there is so great ods betwixt them sith we hold opinion that God is Good and the very worker or Doer and contrarywise that Matter is Euill and but only a Sufferer The cause of this difference cannot proceed from the one to the other at leastwise if our saying be true namely that the one of them is not of the other And much lesse proceedeth it of any third considering that wee acknowledge not any higher cause which beeing admitted it followeth that these two so disagreeable Beginnings met and matched together by chaunce and consequently that all things are tossed and tumbled together by Fortune Agayne If God sayth he bee apt to the beautifying and orderly disposing of Matter and Matter be apt to receiue beautie and orderlines at Gods hand I demaund froÌ„ whence this mutuall aptnesse and disposition commeth For considering that they bee so disagreeing and so full contrary one to another surely they could neuer haue agreed of themselues but must of necessitie haue had a Third to make the attonemeÌ„t betwixt them Now I am sure you will not say that there was any third to commaund them Neither wil I beleeue that they fell to greement by aduenture To bee short seeing that Matter is not sufficient of it self to be in happie state but needeth Gods helpe thereunto but God is of himself abundantly sufficient both to be and to be happie who seeth not that GOD is of more excellencie than Matter and that Matter is not of it selfe so much as able to be For were it able to bee it were also able to be happie And therefore it is not to be denyed but that he whom wee confesse to haue perfected Matter was also the very first maker and Creator of Matter But how could he make it of nothing Let vs heare once agayne what the sayd Porphyrie sayth vnto this poynt Handycrafts saith he haue need of instruments or tooles For their working is outwaâ—â—â— and they haue not their matter or stuffe at commaundment But the naturall Powers as more perfect being within things doo performe all their doings by their only being After that sorte the Soule by his essentiall life doth nourish growe ingender breathe feele and so foorth So likewise the Imagination by the only one Inworking of it selfe giueth diuers qualities and mouings to the bodie all at one instant So also the bodilesse Spirites themselues as the Diuines report doe worke wonderous things by their imaginations without instrument or action Much rather therefore shall the workemayster of the whole world who is a Mynd giue substance to the whole by his owne only being that is to wit to this diuidable world himselfe being vndiuidable For why should it be thought strauÌ„ge that a thing which is without a bodie should produce things that haue bodies considering that of a very smal seede there groweth so great a Beast composed of so many so great and so differing parts For though the seede bee little the reason of the seede cannot bee small seeing it worketh so great things neither on the other side can it be great forasmuch as it vttereth and sheweth it selfe euen in the smallest percelles Now this reason of the seede needeth matter to worke vppon but so doth not the Reason of God for he needeth not any thing but maketh and frameth all things and notwithstanding that he bring foorth and moueth all things yet abydeth he still in his owne proper nature Now when as the sorest and learneddest enemie that euer ChristiaÌ„s had acknowledgeth this doctrine in good faith and in so expresse wordes who dareth open his lippes any more against it Dare the Epicures with their motes doo it How can they alledge any reason for them selues being by their owne opinion made by haphazard at aduenture without reason Or shal the naturall Philosophers do it with their temperings and mixtures First let them examine their Maister Galene concerning the things which I haue alledged out of him in the former Chapter and if that will not suffize them they shall heare him yet agayne in this Chapter Certesse as it cannot bee denyed but that as he laboureth by all meanes possible to father the causes of all things vppon the Elements and vppon the mixture of them together so is he driuen at euery turne to acknowledge somewhat in them which he is ashamed to father vpoÌ„ them In discoursing how the babe is formed in the moothers wombe he findeth himselfe turmoyled with many opinions But yet in the end Soothly concludeth he I see so great a wisedome and so mightie a Power that I cannot thinke that the Soule which is in the child that is begotten maketh the shape thereof considering that it is altogether voyde of reason but rather that it is formed by that which we call Nature In his booke of the tempering of things a place that serued best for the exalting of the powers of the Elements to the vttermost he very sharply reproueth those which father the cause of the forming of the parts of the bodies of liuing things vpon the qualities of the Elements Notwithstanding saith he that these Qualities be but instrumeÌ„ts and that there bee another that is the framer or fashioner of things In his booke of the opinions of Plato and Hippocrates he maketh the vitall spirite to bee the excellentest of all things that haue a bodie and yet for all that he will not haue it to be eyther the substance or the dwelling place but only the instrument of the Soule And in his booke of Flesshes he procéedeth further sayth that in treating of Leachcraft he spake often according to the common opinion but that if it came to the poynt of vttering the opinioÌ„ that he himslfe hild he declared that both man and Beast haue their beginning from aboue and that their Soules are from Heauen and finally that the Soule procéedeth neither from the qualities of the Elements nor from any of all the things that wee see here beneath Now if the Soule of man or of the very Beastes procéede not of the Elements how should it possibly procéede of the Matter And if it procéede not of the Matter must it not néedes procéed of the forme or rather must it not néedes be the very forme it selfe And what els is so excellent a forme than an excellent substance And from whence is that by his owne saying but from a former fashioner or shaper And what els shal that former be than a Creator seeing that euen shaping is a creating of a substance Now therefore let vs conclude for this Chapter both by vnsoluble reasons and by the testimonies aswell of our enemies as of our friends that God both was able to create and also did
man the Countie of Mirandula praying them to consider at least wyse whether the greate studye and peynes which those greate Clerks haue takâ—n to disprooue this destinie can by any meanes bee fathered vppon destinie Now then for a small conclusion of this whole discourse let vs say that God is a souereine Beeing and a souerein mynd and that Beeing and Mynding are all one in him and therefore that as in creating things the might and power of his Beeing extended euen to the least things or els they had not bin at all so the Prouidence forecast and direction of his mynd extend to all things or else they could not continue Let not the confusion of things which we see â—eere belowe trubble vs for the greater the same is the greatâ—â— doth Gods prouidence shewe it self therein as the skill of a Phisition doth in the intricatenesse of a disease But who is he that can limit the sight of the Euerlasting God Surely not the prosperities of the wicked for they be but visors nor the aduersities of the godly for they be but exercises nor the Deathes of the giltlesse for it is but a poudering of their vertewes to preserue them to the vse of posteritie Nay let not euen sinne it selfe which is the very euill in deede cause any grudge of mynd in vs for God Created Nature good but euill is sproong thereof He Created freedome and it is degenerated into Loocenesse But let vs prayse God for giuing vs powers and let vs condemne our selues for abusing them Let vs glorifie him for chastising vs by our owne Loocenesse for executing his Iustice by our vniust Dealings and for performing the ordinaunce of his rightfull will by our inordinate passions It we see a thing whereof we knowe not the cause let vs acknowledge our ignorance and not name it fortune The causes that are furthest a sunder are neere at hand vnto him to performe whatsoeuer he listeth If we do any vnreasonable thing let vs not alledge necessitie He can skill to vse all things without marring them the moouable according to their moouings the things indewed with will according to their passions and the things indewed with reason according to their reasonings In thinking to do our owne will we bring his to passe We be free to followe out owne Nature and our Nature is becomme euill through sinne O wretched fréedome which bringeth vs vnder such bondage And aâ—fore this nature of ours we can neither shun it nor driue it from vs for we be bonâ—â—laues to it and it to sinne and there behoueth a stronger than our selues to rid vs thereof Therefore let vs pray God to bring the fréedome of our wills in bondage to his will and to frée our soules from this hard and damnable kind of fréedome and to graunt vs by his grace not as to the wicked to doe his will in béeing vnwilling to do it but as to his Children at least wise to be willing to doe it euen in not doing it The xiiij Chapter That the Soule of Man is immortall or dyeth not HIthertoo I haue treated of the world that is to be conceiued in vnderstanding and of the sensible World as the Platonists tearme them that is to say of God and of this World Now followeth the examining of the Little World as they terme it that is to say of man Concerning God we haue acknowledged him to be a Spirit and as touching the World we haue found it to be a body In man wee haue an abridgment of both namely of God in respect of Spirit and of the World in composition of body as though the Creator of purpose to set forth a mirror of his woorks intended to bring into one little compasse both the infinitenesse of his owne nature and also the hougenesse of the whole world together Wee see in mans body a Woonderfull mixture of the fower Elements the veynes spreading forth like Riuers to the vttermost members as many instruments of sence as theere be sensible natures in the world a greate nomber of sinewes Fleshstrings and knitters a Head by speciall priuiledge Directed vp too Heauen-ward Hands seruing to all maner of seruices Whatsoeuer he is that shall consider no more but onely this instrument without life without sence and without mouing cannot but think verily that it is made to verie greate purpose and he must needes krie out as Hermes or as the Sarzin Abdala doth that man is a miracle which farre surmounteth not only these Lower Elements but also the verie Heauen and all the ornaments thereof But if he could as it were out of himself behold this body receiuing life and entering into the vse of all his motions with such forewardnesse hands bestirring themselues so nimbly and after so sundrie fashions and the Senses vttering their force so farre of without stirring out of their place think you not that he would be woonderfully rauished and so much more woonder at the sayd life mouing and sence than at the body as he woondered afore at the body to behold the excellencie of the proportion thereof aboue the masse of some stone For what comparison is there betweene a Lute and a Luteplayer or betweene a dumb instrument and him that maketh it to sound What would he say then if he could afterward see how the same man being now quickned atteyneth in one moment from the one side of the earth to the other without shifting of place descending downe to the centre of the world and mounting vp aboue the outtermost circle of it both at once present in a thousand places at one instant imbracing the whole without touching it kreeping vpon the earth and yet conteyning it beholding the Heauens from beneath and beeing aboue the Heauens of Heauens both at once Should hee not be compelled to say that in this sillie body there dwelleth a greater thing than the body greater than the earth yea greater than the whole world togither Then let vs say with Plato that man is dubble outward and inward The outward man is that which we see with our eyes which forgoeth not his shape wheÌ„ it is dead no more than a Lute forgoeth his shape when the Luteplaier ceasseth from making it to sound howbeit that both life mouing sence and reason be out of it The inward man is the Soule and that is properly the very man which vseth the body as an instrument whereunto though it be vnited by the power of God yet doth it not remoue when the body ronneth It seeth when the eyes be shut and sometymes seeth not when the eyes be wyde open It traueleth while the body resteth and resteth when the body traueleth that is to say it is able of it self to parforme his owne actions without the help of the outward man wheras on the contrarie part the outward without the help of the inward that is to wit the body without the presence of the Soule hath neither sence mouing life no nor continewance of
which we see afarre of is round whereas our reason deemeth it to be square or that a thing is small which our reason telleth vs is greate or that the ends of lyues in a long walke do meete in a poynt whereas our reason certifieth vs that they runne ryghtfoorth with equall distance one from another For want of this discretion certeine Elephants sayth Vitellio which were passing ouer a long bridge turned backe beeing deceyued and yet they wanted not sight no more than we do But they that led them were not deceyued Their Leaders then besides their eysight had in them another vertue or power which corrected their sight and therefore ought to be of hygher estimation In lyke â—ase is it with the rest of the other sences For our hearing telleth vs that the thunderclappe is after the lyghtening but skill assureth vs that they be both togither For there is a certeine power in vs which can skil to discerne what proportion is betweene hearing and seeing Also the tong of him that hath an Agew beareth him on hand that euen sugre is biâ—â—er which thing he knoweth by his reason to be vntrew To be short those which haue their sences most quicke and lyâ—ely be not of the greatest wisdum and vnderstanding A man therefore differeth from a beast and excelleth men by some other power than sence For whereas it is comonly sayd that such as haue séene most are comonly of greatest skill we see that many haue traueled farre both by sea and land which haue come home as wise as they wentfoorth A horse hath as good eyes as he that rydes vpon him and yet for all his traueling neither he nor paraduenture his Ryder whom he beareth become any whit the wyser by that which they haue seene whereby it appereth that it is not enough to see things vnlesse a man do also mynd them to his benefite Now there is great difference betweene the lyuelynes of the Sence and the power that gouerneth the Sence lyke as the report of a Spye is one thing and the Spye himself is another and the wisdum of the Capteine that receyueth the report of the Spye is a third Nay who can deny that Sence and Reason are dyuers things or rather who wilnot graunt that in many things they be cleane contrarie Sence biddeth vs shun and eschew greef whereas Reason willeth vs to profer our leg sometyme to the Surgion to be cut of Sence plucketh our hand out of the fire and yet we our selues put fire to our bare skin He that should sée a Sceuola burne of his owne hand without so much as once gnashing his téeth at it would thinke he were vtterly senslesse so mightily dooth Reason ouerrule sence To be short Sence hath his peculiar inclination which is appetite and Reason lykewyse hath his which is will And lyke as reason doth oftentymes ouerrule sence and is contrarie to it so will correcteth the sensuall appetyte or lust that is in vs and warreth ageinst it For in an Agew we couet to drink and in an Apoplexie we couet to sleepe and in hungre we couet to eate and yet from all those things doth our will restreyne vs. The more a man followeth his lust the lesse is he led by will and the more he standeth vpon the pleasing of his Sences the lesse reason vseth he ordinarily Againe let vs consider the brute Beastes which haue this sensitiue part as well as we If we haue no more than that how commeth it to passe that a little child driueth whole flockes and heards of them whether he listeth and sometymes whether they would not Whereof commeth it that euery of them in their kynd doe all liue nestle and sing after one sorte whereas men haue their lawes Commonweales maners of buylding and formes of reasoning not only diuers but also commonly contrary Now what can harber these contrarieties together but onely that which hath not any thing contrary vnto it and wherein all contrary things doe lay away their contrarietie Surely it is not the Sence that can doe it whose proper or peculiar obiect is most contrary to the sence Besides this as I haue sayd afore whereas we conceyue wisedome skill vertue and such other things which are all bodilesse our sences haue none other thing to worke vpon than the qualities of bodily substances And whereas we make vniuersall rules of particular things the Sences atteyne no further than to the particular things themselues And wheras we conclude of the causes by their effects our Sences perceyue no more but the bare effects And whereas concerning the things that belong to vnderstanding the more vnderstandable they bee the more they refresh vs Contrarywise the stronger that the sensible things are the more do they offend the Sence To be short the selfesame thing which wee speake in behalfe of the Sences procéedeth from elswhere than from the Sences And we will easely discerne that he which denyeth that besides the common Sence there is in man a reason or vnderstanding distinct and seuered from the Sence is voyd both of vnderstanding and of Sence But see here a grosse reason of theirs This reason or power of vnderstanding say they which is in man is corruptible as well as the power of perceyuing by the Sences I thinke I haue prooued the contrary alreadie neuerthelesse let vs examine their reasons yet further The forme or shape of euery thing say they doth perish with the matter Now the Soule is as ye would say the forme or shape of the body therfore it corrupteth with the body This argument were rightly concluded if it were ment of the materiall forme But I haue proued that the Soule is vnmateriall and hath a continuance of it selfe And in déede the more it is discharged of matter the more it reteyneth his owne peculiar forme Therefore the corrupting of the matter toucheth not the Soule at all Again if mens Soules liue say they after their bodies then are they infinite for the world is without beginning and without ending and as wee knowe nature can away with no infinite thing therefore they liue not after their bodies Yes say I for I haue proued that the world had a beginning and that with so substantiall reasons as thou art not able to disproue Therefore it followeth that the inconuenience which thou alledgest can haue no place Another saith If dead mens Soules liue still why come they not to tell vs so And he thinketh he hath stumbled vpon a woonderful suttle deuise But how doth this followe in reason There hath not come any man vnto vs from the Indies of a long tyme ergo there be no Indies May not the same argument serue as well to proue that wee our selues are not because wee neuer went thether Againe what intercourse is there betwéene things that haue bodies and things that haue no bodies or betwene heauen and earth considering that there is so small intercourse euen betwéene men which liue all vnder
contrarywise if an honest man come in while wee bee angrie by and by our rage is repressed as who would say our vyce did hyde it selfe from him and if a man come vpon vs vnawares in taking our pleasure yea though it bee well lawfull wee blush as if our blud were desirous to hide and to couer our doings Yea and how secretly soeuer we be alone by our selues in executioÌ„ of our vyces wee incounter continually with a companyon in our selues which not only beareth witnesse of them but also condemneth and punisheth them in vs. Soothly then the motions of anger and lust against reason in man are not naturall nor originall that is to say they procéede not of his first creation but are come in afterward by corruption And therefore the remorse which happeneth vnto vs in those passions is nothing but a secrete howbeit very liuely warning of nature which is ashamed to play the brute beast which thing she would not be if those things were originally of mans nature And in very déede the vniuersall consent of mankynd in being ashamed to goe naked insomuch that they had leuer to see the skinne of a Beast or the excrement of a Woorme vppon themselues than to sée their owne flesh and the thing which Saint Austin noteth in all men namely that they will rather doe open wrong in all mens sight than haue to doe with their lawful wines openly doe euidently shewe that the beastlinesse that is to say the concupiscence or lust that is in carnall copulation is not an originall nature but a mere corruption thereof Which thing our present age but surely nothing to her prayse may better proue vnto vs than al the reasons in the world For certeynly considering the excessiue ouerflowing of vices which is to be seene the customable vse of them yea euen of such as are against nature turned almost into nature if euer voluptuousnesse could haue transformed it selfe into nature and preuayled against nature it must néedes haue bene in this our age wherein notwithstanding as strongly armed authorised and reigning as vyce seemeth to be yet is she inforced to hyde herselfe euen in the middest of her tryumphs vndoubtedly as acknowledging that she reigneth not ouer her owne but ouer another mans Agayne if ye haue an eye to friendship to charitie to the bringing vp of Children to societie in Mariage who will not say that for all our trayning vp to leade vs thereto and for all our reading to instruct vs therein yet we had néede to resort to the brute beastes to learne of them and to take example of them which is a token as I sayd afore that their nature is lesse corrupt than ours If the case concerne the turning away from the vyces of Intemperance Lecherie Drunkennesse Incest such others who would thinke that our nature being so excellent and besides the discourse of reason hauing so many Lawes Statutes Penalties Magistrates to helpe it and being brydled with so many daungers sorowes and paynes insewing the same should yet notwithstanding not bee restreyned whereas on the contrary part the brute beastes doe naturally forbeare both foode and pleasure sauing onely so farre foorth as nature requireth that is to wit for the maintenance and preseruation of them selues and of their kind And séeing their nature doth so vphold it selfe and that our nature beeing stayed so many wayes and closed in with so many barres cannot bee vpheld nor kept within compasse who can say that our nature in case as it is nowe is not in worse plyght than theirs is And yet who wil say that the Nature of the excellentest of all other Creatures hath alwayes bene such from the first originall beginning thereof All the sayd things are comon both to Man and Beast but yet moreouer Man glorieth of an excellencie of mynd inriched by God with infinite goodly gifts What is to be said then if in the thing whereby he surmounteth them he be found inferiour to them Or if in that which of it self is vncorruptible corruption be most open and euident Of so many men indewed with Reason I pray you how many be there that vse it That is to say Of so many men how many be not brute beastes Or what rarer thing is there among men than a very man in deede And of such as vse Reason how many be there that vse it well that is to say how many bee there which be not Diuels Now take mee out of mankind the beastes and the diuels and who will thinke it straunge that a Philosopher tooke a Torch at high nooneday to seeke for a Man in the middes of a multitude One sort all their life long doe set their mynd vppon nothing but this lyfe they spare not so much tyme as to consider what that power is which woorketh that thought in them What booteth it these more to haue a mynd than it booteth a man to haue eyes that doth nothing but sléepe Others imploy it about the defyling of some mans wife or the deflowring of some maiden or the glosing of some wrong or the eluding of some right or the sowing of discord in some household or the setting of fyre on the fower corners of some Realme To what purpose ageine is it for these men to haue a mynd which is bent and intended to nothing but mischief Or what els is such a mynd than the eye of the beast of AEgipt which killeth those whom it looketh vpon and it self also by the rebounding back of his owne sight Some in deede doo lift vp the eye of their mynd aloft but how farre or what see they Surely as saith Aristotle euen as much as an Owle in the bright sunne The Edge of vnderstanding rebateth at the outside of the least things that are and how then shall it be able to enter into them Our mynd is dazeled with vapors and what will it be then at the vnaprochable light for which it was created GOD created the World for man therefore his intent was that man should haue the seruice thereof and that he might haue the seruice of things it behoued him to knowe them Contrariwise what thing doe wee knowe-sufficiently What knowe wee in comparison of that wee knowe not And how can wée vse the seruice of them seeing euen the least things commannd vs not the Beastes the Herbes and the Stones only but also euen the Earth and the very drosse thereof God hath created man for his owne glory and as man is the end of the World so is GOD the end of Man And it is not to be doubted but that as God gaue man knowledge of the worlde that hee might vse it too his behoofe so hee gaue him knowledge of his Godhead that he might serue him But how many be there which ame at this marke and how shall wee hit it if wee ame not at it and how shall we ame at it if we see it not and how shall wee â—ee
of all sorts of Serpents wyld Beastes And doubtlesse that was because they had learned that man doth couertly carie in his breast all maner of Beasts the which it behoueth him to kill in himselfe according to this saying of the Platonists That the readiest way to returne vnto God and consequently to a mans first nature is to kill his owne affections But what shall we say to that which we haue learned in these our daies among the barbarous Nations of the West Indies There came a man into their Countrey say they which called himself the Sonne of the Sonne who by his word and power replenished the Land with men and women whom hee created and gaue them great abundance of fruits Who doth not herevppon call by and by to remembrance the creation of man and woman in the Scripture where God sayth vnto them Increase and multiply and fill the earth I haue giuen you al hearb bearing seede and all trees bearing fruite and so foorth But sayth the booke of their Diuinitie because some men prouoked his displeasure he afterward chaunged the good soyle which he had giuen them into drye and barreyne sands and bereft them of Rayne and left them nothing but a few riuers to helpe themselues withall by their great labour and trauell Who espyeth not here agayne the sinne of man Gods curse vppon the earth and namely these words In the sweate of thy browes shalt thou eate thy bread all the daies of thy life And who should bee ignorant of God when as euen those knowe him whom wee estéeme to bee almost of another kynd than we be But here the wicked perceyuing themselues to want matter to replye do fail to rayling against God Séeing that man say they sinned through the fréewill which GOD gaue vnto him how can God be called good hauing giuen man wherewith to sinne By the same reason I say at once for all if God be good why hath he made Man or any thing for Man If he should take from thée all that thou abusest I pray thee what should bee left thée Thy Reason What is there in thée that maketh thée more vnreasonable Thy Sences To what other seruice doest thou put them than to the marring of thy Sences Thy Tongue How much more eloqueÌ„t is it in speaking euill than in speaking good To bee short where shal the good things become which he hath giuen thée for the maintenance of thy health and life Nay on the contrary part which of them is it that thou turnest not to thy death and to thy bane Now is the founder of them to blame if thou kill thy self with the things without the which thou couldest not liue Or if thou become euill by the things without the which thou couldest not be good GOD hath giuen thée a will and without will thou couldest not bee good Unto will hee hath added a good wit to guyde it and without wit thou couldest not be wise If thou be loth to be eyther good or wise it is but because thou art loth to bee a man Thy will was giuen thée to loue God withall Now loue delighteth to bee fréeharted neither would God bee loued of vs as inchaunted to it but freely and vtterly vnconstreined Therfore it behoued this will to be frée Likewise thy wit was giuen thée to behold God withall And haddest thou but onely thy Sences what haddest thou more than the brute Beastes And if thou haddest no more than they why were they and all the whole world made for thee Now then which of these two canst thou finde fault with seeing that without them both thou couldest be neither good nor wise no nor a man Thou wouldest haue bin created vnchaungeable howbeit not as a Rock or a Mountayne but as a Man Surely the vnchaungeablenesse of Spirits was created to depend vppon their linking in with their maker Thou wouldest peraduenture haue bin an Angel but there are euen of the Angels that are falne and as thei were farre higher than thou so was their fall more daungerous than thyne O man acknowledge the goodnes of the Creator in creating thée good and acknowledge the vanitie of the creature which cannot stand in his owne goodnesse but in the goodnesse of the Creator But especially aboue all things commend thou his goodnesse and mercie in that he hath not onely reléeued thée in thy fall but also as it were vphild thée that thou mightest fall the softer Another taketh exception to Gods Iustice. What Iustice is it sayth he to punish a man so rigorously for so small a fault Nay what is more iust than nature What is more naturall than to runne into darknesse when a man turneth away from the Sunne Or as Plotin sayth to impayre and wex naught when a man departeth from the souereyne good But O thou man which thinkest thy self iuster than God what punishment wouldest thou appoynt to thy Sonne not being a babe or a yoong childe but being come to yéeres of discretion and a mangrowen not pinched and pyned but flowing in all wealth if vpon a brauerie and lustinesse of courage he would disobey thée for a thing of nothing TheÌ„ set thou Adam also before thyne eyes newly come into the world by the goodnesse of the Creator not starke naked but furnished with the whole world to serue him not witlesse but with a pure sound and skilfull mynd not subiect to his lustes but able to holde them in awe to his will and hauing his will obedient to reason Now whether thou consider his sinne his rebellion his vnfaithfulnes and his pride or whether thou haue an eye to the easines of absteyning from sinne what punishment wilt thou not déeme him worthie to haue Yea sayest thou but why vseth he this rigour against his children Nay rather say why is he so mercifull why is he so gracious as to kéepe them low in their fathers fall least they should fall more gréeuously through the same rashnesse Thou buildest a Citie and the custome is to beautifie it with Priuiledges Afterward this Citie rebelleth thou takeâ—â— away their priuiledges their Belles their Armour and their weapons and this punishment of their Insurrection extendeth to all their posteritie albeit they were but fewe at the beginning and grewe to bee mightily multiplyed afterward The graunting of the Priuiledges to the first was a poynt of goodnesse for otherwise they might haue had occasion to complayne of thée Likewise it is Iustice to take them so from theÌ„ and mercie to withhold them from their posteritie who haue the same rebellious mynd in them and had els runne headlong into extreme punishments God gaue thée the priuiledge of freedome and inriched thée with singular gifts both of body and mynd praise thou his goodnesse Now because thou hast abused them he eyther taketh them cleane away or els diminisheth them acknowledge thou his Iustice. And because thy children might doe as thou hast done and would not be amended by thine
a bringging of vs to Hellgate or rather a shewing of Paradise vnto vs a farre of howbeit with such a horrible and infinite gulfe betwixt vs and it as man and all the whole world can neither fill vp nor passe ouer Yet must there néedes be a passage For the end of Man is to be vnited vnto God and this end is not in vaine the meane to be vnited aboue is to be reconcyled here beneath and the meane to be reconcyled here beneath is as I haue sayd alreadie but onely one which is that God himselfe acquit vs without our discharging of the debt which wee owe vnto him Onely that Religion then and none other which leadeth vs streight to the said passage and by the following whereof we find it is the true Religion as that which allonly atteineth to the ende of Religion which is the sauing of man May not men wil some say worship God diuersly some lifting vp their eyes to heauen and othersome casting their faces downe to the ground Yes for the worshipping is but one and the humbling of mens selues is but one still though there bee difference in the signes But our disputing here is not of the Ceremonies but of the substance of them Also may not men offer Sacrifice diuersly Yes But if thy Sacrifices haue no further ende then the sheading of the blud of a beast then as sayth Hierocles they be to the Fyre but a feeding thereof with fewell and vapors and to the Préestes a superfluous maintenance of butcherie It is requisite therefore that sacrifices should bee referred to somewhat namely that by them thou shouldest protest that whereas the sillie innocent beastes doo suffer death it is thou thy selfe that hast deserued it both in body and Soule Againe if thou haue nothing els in thy Religion but Sacrifices and prayers how goodly a showe soeuer they make thou hast nothing but a confession of thy fault and a sentence of death against thee for the same For if those Ceremonies aime not at a certein marke they be trifling toyes and if that be the end whereat they aime then come they short as which doe but leade thee vnto death and there leaue thee There are some that would beare vs on hand that Religion is but an obseruation of certeyne Ceremonies in euery Countrie by which reason that which is holy here should be vnholy in another place and that which is godly in one Land should be vngodly in another To be short they make it lyke the Lawes that depend vppon Custome which passe no further than the bounds of the place where they be vsed If Religion be nothing else but so what science art or trade is more vayne than that Or rather what is to be sayd of it but that in deede it is no Religion at all Leachecraft is vncerteine in many respects as of aire of water of age and of clymate but yet the which is Leachecraft in one Countrie is not manquelling in another Lawecraft hath almost as many sundry Lawes as caces and the caces that are in the world are infinite Yet notwithstanding who séeth not that all these diuersities of caces are brought vnder one vpryghtnes and reason and that they which yéeld not thereunto are not reputed for men but rather for enemies of mankynd and wyld beasts Also vertue hath the affections to woorke vpon a ground more mouable than the Sea and the wind And yet who wil say that that which is hardines betweene the too Tropiks is Cowardlines in all other Countryes or that that which is stayednesse in one half of the world is vnstayednesse in the other half To be short what thing is more subiect to rising and falling or to be cryed downe or inhaunced than coyne of siluer and gold as which séemeth to followe the willes of princes And yet notwithstanding for all their ordinances and proclamations both gold and siluer do alwayes kéepe a certeine rate and valew What shall we say then to Religion which hath a firmer and substantialler ground than all these I meane not mennes bodies goods affections or fantasies but the very soule and mynd of man who also hath such a rest to stay vppon as is settled vnmouable and the Lord of all Chaunges that is to wit God How much more wysely doth our Pythagorist Hierocles teache vs that Religion is the gouernesse of all vertewes and that all vertewes tend to her as to their certeine end as who would say they be no vertewes if they swarue from her insomuch that hardynesse being referred to any other than godlynesse becommeth rashnesse wisedome becommeth wylynes lynes and Iustice becommeth Iuggling and at a woord all vertue is but masking and hipocrisie If Religion be the end of all vertewes must it not needs be fixed and vnmouable Or if it be mouable what is there then that is iust good or vertuous And if the case stand so what thing in the world is more vnauaylable than man or to speake more ryghtly what thing is to lesse purpose in man than his mynd But there is vertue and the wickeddest man that is will auow it Therefore there is also a certeine Religion which maketh it to be vertue and whereunto vertue referreth itself and the vngodlyest man that is cannot scape from it Let vs looke yet further into the absurdities of this opinion Who can denie but that among the diuersities of Religions there were many sorts of wickednes and vngodlynes openly executed some woorshipping the creatures in Heauen yea and on earth as the Egiptians did in old time and as the Tartarians do at this day some offering vp men in Sacrifice as the Carthaginenses did in old tyme and as the Westerne Iles do yet at this day and othersome permitting things not only contrarie to all Lawes but also euen horrible and lothsome to nature If all this be good I pray you what good is there or rather what euill is there in the world But if it be euill in itself who can deny but that there were wicked and vngodly Religions in the world I vse the woord Religion after the comon maner and that a man had neede of a Rule whereby to discerne the good Religion from the bad And in verie deede it is so rooted in nature to beléeue that there is but one Religion to be had as well as to beleeue that there is but one God that as we may daily see a man will rather indure the change of a temperate aire into an extreme whot or into an extreme cold of freedom into bondage and of Iustice into Tyrannye than any alteration atall though neuer so little in the case of Religion verily as who would say it were not so naturall for a man too loue his natiue Countrie to be frée and to be at his easie as to haue some one certeine Religion to gwyde him to saluation Now my meaning hath bin to lay foorth this trueth after the mo sorts of purpose to
estimation of them Let vs examine the reasons which they giue them One saies that they were tyed to the Starres and yet they mocked at the diuinations of the Chaldees euery where Now then of so many Astrologers as were among the Gentiles and haue made bookes thereof name me any one that hath foretold the doings not of an Empire but of some one man not a hundred yeeres aforehand but a yeere aforehand sauing that the diuell now and then by Gods sufferance hath executed the same euill which hee himselfe foretold vpon the partie that asked counsell of him But Ptolomie wil say the foretellings of the Astrologers are a meane betwéene necessitie and chaunce for they foresée not the euentes or fallings out but ouely the inclinations or dispositions of things as many as promise any further doe but abuse men What thinke wee then that this Ptolomie would haue sayd if he had read these prophesies so particular that they séeme rather stories of things past than foretellings of things to come Surely he would haue sayd that they could not haue proceeded but onely from God as he setteth downe and deemeth very wel in letter things And that they which foretell particular things must needes be inspired of God And agein that the iudgements of such as gaze vpon the Starres are doubtfull howbeit that they which foretell the good part approch neerer the trueth by reason of a certeine power that beareth sway in their Soule although that otherwile they haue no skill at all in the arte And in very deede the best Astronomers haue reiected Iudiciall Astrologie as in vain and without foundation yea euen after they haue well tyred themselues in it But in Israel we reade of a Neateheard called Amos whose Prophesies were no lesse euident for the matters they treated of than were the Prophesies of Daniell and Esay Auerrhoes and his followers haue a peculiar opinion of mans Soule namely that we haue a certaine capacitie of vnderstanding which they terme an vnderstanding in possibility the which informeth and teacheth by the working of an vniuersall mynd which by the particular imaginations of euery man commeth to be ioyned to the vnderstanding in possibilitie that is common to all And therefore they say that Prophesying proceedeth properly of that Coniunction in men that haue a strong and liuely imagination If it be so I would haue the disciples of Auerrhoes who had so goodly an imagination to imagine this to shewe mee some Prophesie of their Maisters or of their owne Also let them answere mée how it happeneth that our Prophetes for the most part haue commonly bent old men seeing that after their doctrine old men cannot Prophesie by reason of the féeblenes of their imagination But forasmuch as these men doe preache vnto vs that the worlde is eternall how happeneth it that Prophesying hath not bene instilled into men by the sayde coniunction euerlastingly concerning tyme and in all tymes séeing that to become a Prophet there néedeth no more but to haue a very strong imagination forasmuch as the separated vnderstandings are euermore readie and disposed to the said Coniuntion How happeneth it also that a man being come to that point Prophesieth not of all things that he can imagine But hereby we see manifestly that this Prophesying of theirs is not an habit but a passion that fadeth a way like the sound of a Lute when the player ceasseth to strike Or if they say that a man must first get him both the actiue and the contemplatiue habits and then the said vnderstanding matcheth it selfe with our imagination as the forme of a thing matcheth with the substance thereof whereof commeth it that Dauid being a Shepheard and Amos a Neteheard did prophesie so wonderfully Some will haue it that Prophesying is deriued into man by the Starres conditionally that he be disposed to receiue it Herevpon they prescribe him a certeine diet whereby he must make his body equall and euenly counterpeysed by Alchimie and afterward he must gather togither the Beames of the Skie into a mirrour which they call Alchemusie made according to the Rules of Catoptrik and finally he must stellifie by Astrologie as well the man himselfe as the foode that he vseth And they say that Apollonius of Thianey prophesied after that maner These are Toyes to bee laughed at rather then worthie to bee answered And let euery man consider whether our Prophetes being Shepherds Neateheards and vnlearned were framed with such curiousnes to Prophesie according to diet Nay when his wittes bee somewhat well wakened he shall perceiue that they were inspired with things which the Starres could neither doe nor betoken nor knowe forasmuch as they bee still in the hand of the first cause and are not come downe so lowe as to bee subiect to the second causes The Platonists therfore come somewhat nearer the truth specially Iamblychus and Porphyrius by name For they say that the foretelling of things farre of aforehand cannot be done nother by art nor by nature but only by inspiration from God Howbeit forasmuch as they speake of many Gods and tooke the diuels for Angells it may be obiected ageinst vs that our Prophesies proceeded eyther from diuells or from Angells But if we call to mynd the Oracles of diuells and compare them with our Prophesies there will appeare as much difference betwixt them as is betweene the discretion of a wise man and the tittlecattle of a foole Therefore let vs heare what they say The Gods sayeth Porphyrius foretel naturall things by the order of naturall causes which they marke and they foretell things that depend vpon our owne wil by coniectures takē of our doings But forasmuch as they be swifter than we they preuent vs and outrunne vs and that in such sort that as naturall things are deceyuable and mens cases are variable vncerteyne so they both as welthe good as the bad bee subiect to lying What els is this to say but that they can foretell nothing of vs furtherfoorth than they learne by our doings nor of naturall things furtherforth than they reade them in nature that is to say than they reade them as in a booke howbeit with a sharper and swifter eysight than we But nother diuell nor Angell can reade that in the Starres which is not there nor in men that which men themselues knowe not specially considering that the greatest learned men doe hold opinion that they enter not so farre In the Starres they could not reade the names of Iosias Vrias or Cyrus niether in the hearts of Iosias Vrias and Cyrus themselues who were not at that tyme in the world could they reade the déedes which they were to do certeine hundred yéeres after For only vnto God are those tymes present which are to come but as for to Angells and vs there is no more of the roll of tyme knowen than it pleaseth God of his gracious goodnes to vnfold vnto vs. It followeth then by the doctrine
was with child by the holy Ghost for otherwise it had bin to no purpose to haue spoken of the holy Ghost of whoÌ„ they had not heard any speaking afore The same is also in the Preaching of Iohn the Baptist Chapter 3. verse 20. He shall baptise ye with the holy Ghost with Fyre And in diuers other places And in very deede the name of the holy Ghost is rife among all the Rabbines Philo in his Treatise vpon the sixe Daies In his treatise That Dreames are of God In his booke of the World In his booke of the remouings of Abraham Philo in the Allegories of the law in his Bookes of of Dreames of Tyllage of the firy sword of the Heire of HeaueÌ„ly thiÌ„gs of the euil that layeth snares for the good c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo in his bookes concerning the Heyre of Heauenly things of the moâ—esty of Women and of the word c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say as a print printed in Waxe The later Pythagorians Academiks Numenius in his booke of the Good Looke Eusebius and Cyrillus lib. 8. The Reader must vnderstand that by three gods thei meane three Inbeeings as they theÌ„selues do declare it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Plotinus liued vnder the Emperour Galien about the yere of on Lord 25 or Plotin Enn. 5 lib. 1. Of the three souerein or cheefe persons or Inbeings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the intent the Reader think not any obscuritie in this or other that follow he must remember that to the first Inbeeing that is to say Persone the Philosophers giue the names of the One The Mind the Good the Father and the Begetter vnto the second persone the names of Beeër or he that is wit or vnderstanding the Beautifull and sometimes Speech word Reason wisdom Sonne and the begotten and vnto the third persone the names of Loue Will Power and the Soule of the World sometimes the second world c. In respect of this Third thei call the First the Amiable and in respect of the Second they call him the Mynd as shall be seene by examples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Another persone and not another thing Plotin Enn. 5. lib. 2. lib. 3. Chap. 85. Ernead 3. lib. 9. Cap. vlt. The vnderstanding of the Good Plotinus Enn. 5. lib. 2. lib. 3 Chap. 5. 6. 7. 12. lib 4. Chap. 2. Plotin Enn. 5. lib. 5. Ch. 3. lib. 6. Ch. 1. lib. 8. ch 12. Enn. 3. lib. 8. cap. 7. 8. 10. Plotin Enn. 5. lib. 9. Chap. 1. Plotin Enn. 6. lib. 7. ch 39. lib. 7. The same in one respect another in another respect or all one in one respect diuers in another respect Plotin Enn. 5. lib. 5. cap. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plotin Enn. 5. lib. 8. Chap. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plotin in his booke of Inshapes Enn. 3. lib. 9. Chap. 2. Plotin Enn. 6. lib. 8. 8. Chap. 13. 15. 27. Plotin Enn. 3. lib. 8. Chap. 10. Plotin Enn. 3. lib. 9. Chap. 1. Cyril against Iulian lib 8. Porphyrius in the lyfe of Plotâ—â—us Plotinus agaiÌ„st the Gnostiks Enn. 2. lib. 9. Chap. 1. Iamblicus of the sect of the Pythagorists and in his booke of the Mysteries of the Egyptians Chap. 37. and 39. Porphirie in his 4. booke of 〈◊〉 Philosophers Cyrill against Iulian. lib. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyrill against Iulian. lib. 1. Porphyrius in his booke of the chiefe fathers alledged by Proclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Proclus in Platoes Diuinitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amelius a Platonist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril against Iulian. lib. 8. Austin in the Citie of God lib. 10. The Latin Philosophers Chalcidius vppon Platoes Timeus Macrobius vppon the Dreame of Scipio God Mynd begotten of God Auicen The Oracles of Diuelles Sybill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas in the lyfe of Thulis Porphirius as he is alledged by S. Austin in his ninth book of the Citie of God Cha. 23. The world it selfe telleth vs that it had a beginning An obiection Man had a beginning An obiection The linking of things togither The inwoorking of the Mynd beginneth at the end The Originall of Sciences Lucr Carus This nature reason of thiÌ„gs was lately foâ—d out and I mâ—y selfe was one of the first that did stumble vpon it am able to turne it into my natiue language â—â—d Persius sayth It came hither after the time that my Countrymen began to taste of Pepper and Dates Austin lib. 18. of the Citie of God Cha. 37. Cicero Iamblicus Porphyrius Orpheus in his Argonauts Proclus vpon Timeus Plutark in his Isis and Osiris Iamblicus in his booke of Mysteries Chap. 1. Clemens Alexandrin in his booke of Stromats alledging Alexander Hermippus Clearchus Porphyrius alledged by Ensebius lib. 11. Laertius in the lyfe of Thales Thales in his Epistle to Pherecydes in Clemens AlexaÌ„d Plinie lib. 5. 6. Plinie lib. 2. Plutark in the lyfe of Niceas Quintilian lib. 1. Censorius coÌ„cerning Christes birthday Cap. 9. Varro Arithmetik Geometry Plato in his Epinomis The Originall of Crafts Trades and Artes. Varro in his fifth booke first Chapter of Husbandry Leachecraft which comprehendeth Phisik and Surgerie Cicero in his booke of the nature of the Gods He o lotus lib. 1. The originall or gouernmeÌ„t 〈…〉 Cap. 21. Pomponius of of the first coÌ„ming vp of the Lawe Plutark in the lyues of Solon and Lycurgus and in his treatise of his and Osyris Iustine the Martyr alledgeth Diodorus in his exhortation Iosephus against Appion Iustine in his first booke Plini lib. 7. Merodotus lib. 2. 〈…〉 The originall oâ— the HeatheÌ„ Goddes Traffik of Merchandyse and bargayning buying and selling Nauigation Plinie lib. 7. Strabo lib. 16. Tibullus Eleâ—ia 7. * That is to say the Land of Canaan Berosus alledged by Iosephus against Appion Feeding Plinie lib. 7. Diodorus lib. 1. 2. 6. The first comming vp of Histories Plinie lib. 7. Apuleius in his Florishes Plutark in the lâ—fe of Theseus Censorinus Varro in his third booke of Husbandry vnto Pto Diodorus lib. 3. Clemens Alexandr in his first booke of Sâ—om Lucretius the Romane Poet. Diodorus lib. 8. 1. Plinie lib. 7. Herodotus lib. 5. Varro in his first booke of Analogie Crates the Greeke Philosopher demauÌ„ding why the Greekes declined not the names of their letters saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as wel as thei said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was answered by the Greekes themselues that it was bycause those names of their letters are not Greeke but barbarus Lucane lib. 3. Eupolemus in his booke of the Kings of Iuda alledged by Clemens of Alexandria in his fowrth booke Obiections The World scarce knowen in old time Reade the Nauigations of the Portingales and Spaniards Thucidides in his first booke