Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
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A69226
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A confutation of atheisme by Iohn Doue Doctor of Diuinitie. The contents are to be seene in the page following
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Dove, John, 1560 or 61-1618.
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1605
(1605)
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STC 7078; ESTC S110103
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85,385
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102
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but damned deuils Rome had not bin sacked ouer the sooner because they were taken but they had bin taken sooner had they not bin kept by the Cittie The Kingdome of the Iewes saith St. Augustin was founded by one God and not by a multitude of Gods and was maintained by that one God so long as they serued him That one God multiplyed the people in Aegipt but neither did their women vse the helpe of Lucina in their childe-birth neither did the man vse the helpe of Neptune when they passed ouer the Red Sea neither of the Nimphes when they dranke water out of the Rocke neither of Mars when they conquered Amalac but they obtained more at the handes of their owne God then euer did the Romans at the handes of their multitude of Gods whome they serued Lactantius proposeth this question whether the world is gouerned by one God or manie Not to stand vpon his authoritie because he was a Christian but to wey his reasons because I dispute against neathens and insidels which as I shewed in the first Chapter are also comprehended vnder name of Atheistes although they doe not denie God because they serue as the Apostle saith the thinges which by nature are not Gods What neede saith Lactantius hath the worlde of many Gods Vnlesse they suppose that one of himselfe is not sufficient to vndergoe so great a burden which needes must be graunted if euerie God of himselfe be not able without the assistance and helpe of an other If any of them of himselfe be not omnipotent then he is not a God if he be omnipotent theÌ„he needeth not any partner If God of him selfe bomnipotent there can be but one for if the diuine power be diuided among many Gods theÌ„ no one can be all sufficieÌ„t of himselfe but by how manie more they are in number by so much the weaker they must be in power He concludeth Quid quod summa illa diuina potestas ne semel quidem diuidi potest quicquid enim capit diuisionem interitum necesse est si autem interitus procul est a Deo The diuine power which belongeth vnto God cannot be imparted vnto many for whatsoeuer is capable of diuision is also subiect to corruption theÌ„ the which thing nothing can be more repugnant to the nature of God Therefore there is but one God I say therefore with the Apostle Now to the King euerlasting immortall inuisible vnto God onely wise bee honour and glorie for euer and euer Amen Chapter 7. That the Bookes of the Bible are the word of God I Made mention before of the Booke of nature which might worthily be called Gods booke because as I said it was a letter or Epistle wherein God did make himselfe knowne vnto mankinde and did instruct vs so farre as to knowe and confesse that there was a God But because that knowledge was but bare and naked and no way sufficient to bring vs to saluation onely it serued to make vs search and inquire farther that by inquiring farther we might bee saued there is an other booke which is more especially called Gods booke I meane his holy Bible wherin we are taught not onely to knowe God in his vissible creatures but also in his Sonne Iesus Christ whereby wee are saued And it stood verse much with his Diuine wisdome so prouiding for euerye thing as the seuerall nature and quallitie of each creature doth require to write such a booke for mans instruction in his feare true worship because man coÌ„sisteth of a body as wel a of as soule and conceaueth visible things easier then such things as are onely spirituall and are not seene and by such things as are subiect to his outward sences man is brought to vnderstand It pleased him therefore of his great mercie to instruct vs by these visible Characters and written Letters which dayly we doe reade And as S. Augustin saith De illa ciuitate vnde peregrinamur hae literae nobis venerunt ipsae sunt Scripturae quae nos hortantur vt bene viuaenius These letters sent vnto vs from that Cittie the heauenly Ierusalem from whence yet wee doe wander they are the Scriptures which doe exhorte vs to liue well And I cannot denie but the writers themselues of these holy bookes were so immediately instructed from God himselfe which is the fountaine of all heauenly wisdome that they needed no writings But yet with vs it is otherwise they are the foundation wee are but the walles which are builded vpoÌ„ that foundation we saith the Apostle are builded vpon the foundation of the Prophets and the Apostles Because by their writings we are edified but they by whose meanes we are edified builded doe leane their selues immediately vppon the chiefe corner stone which is Iesus Christ There are great oddes betweene the high mountaines and the little hillocks and lowe valleyes they are lightned immediately vpon the first rising of the Sunne but light heate commeth by degrees from them to the lower partes As also God foresawe in his wisdome and we know by experience of the former ages froÌ„ the beginning of the worlde vnto Moses when there was no written worde that there could not be veritatis et doctrinae puritatis salua custodia sine scripto soundnesse of doctrine could not be preserued but by committing of it to writing And therefore it pleased God that these Volumes of the Bible should bee written And that these are the holy Scriptures giuen by inspiration of God profitable to teach to conuince to correct and to instruct that the man of God may be absolute to all good workes That the man of God which writte them spake inspired by the holy Ghost that they were written for the saluation of mens soules not for the maintenaÌ„ce of ciuil gouernment I proue by these arguments following The first is the truth of all the prophecyes which haue fayled in nothing w c spake of things long before they came to passe so certainely as if they had bin already fulfilled And y t I may make due proofe therof certissimus fidelissimus vaticiniorum interpres est euentus the surest faithfull est interpreter of prophecies is the euent of thinges Now wee see their predictions are alreadie come to passe we are eye witnesses that they are true which truth argueth that they were written by the finger of God which is the holy Ghost which onely could not erre in writing and not by man for asmuch as all men are lyers humanum est errare it is the nature and propertie of a man to eâ—â—e in so much that if hee bee without error hee is not a man And therfore it is impossible but in so manie predictions foretolde so many yeares before the time so coÌ„nary to humane reason but they shold haue bin deceiued if men had bin the authors of these bookes I will instance for breuitie sake in some one or two