in confuting the cause 'T is an excellent rule to bee observed in all disputes That Men should give soft Words and hard Arguments that they would not so much strive to vex as to convince an Enemy If this were but diligently practised in all cases and on all sides wee might in a good measure bee freed from those vexations in the search of Truth which the wise Solomon by his owne experience did so much complaine of Ecclesiastes 1. 18. In much Wisedome there is much Griefe and he that increaseth Knowledge increaseth Sorrow To conclude Though there should be nothing in this discourse conducible to your Information and Benefit yet it may serve in the Perusall as it did in the Composure for the recreation of such leisure houres as may conveniently bee spared from more weighty imploiments Farewell THE PROPOSITIONS that are insisted on in this Discourse PROP. I. THat the seeming Novelty and Singularity of this opinion can bee no sufficient reason to prove it erroneous PROP. II. That the places of Scripture which seeme to intimate the diurnall motion of the Sun or Heavens are fairely capable of another interpretation PROP. III. That the Holy Ghost in many places of Scripture do's plainly conforme his expressions to the errour of our conceits and do's not speake of sundry things as they are in themselves but as they appeare unto us PROP. IV. That divers learned men have fallen into great absurdities whilest they have looked for the grounds of Philosophy from the grounds of Scripture PROP. V. That the words of Scripture in their proper and strict construction doe not any where affirm the immobility of the Earth PROP. VI. That there is not any Argument from the words of Scripture Principles of Nature or observations in Astronomy which can sufficiently evidence the Earth to bee in the centre of the Vniverse PROP. VII 'T is probable that the Sun is in the centre of the World PROP. VIII That there is not any sufficient reason to prove the Earth incapable of those motions which Copernicus ascribes unto it PROP. IX That it is more probable the Earth do's move than the Heavens PROP. X. That this Hypothesis is exactly agreeable to common appearances Imprimatur A. FREVVEN Vicecan Imprimatur LONDINI SAMUEL BAKER That the Earth may be a Planet PROP. I. That the seeming Noveltie and Singularitie of this opinion can be no sufficient reason to prove it erronious IN the search of Theologicall Truths it is the safest method first of all to looke unto Divine Authority because that carryes with it as cleer an evidence to our Faith as any thing else can be to our reason But on the contrary in the examination of Philosophicall points it were a preposterous course to begin at the testimony and opinion of others and then afterwards to descend unto the reasons that may bee drawne from the Nature and Essence of the things themselves because these inartificiall Arguments as the Logicians cal them doe not carry with them any cleere and convincing evidence and therefore should come after those that are of more necessary dependance as serving rather to confirme than resolve the Iudgement But yet so it is that in those points which are besides the common opinion men are carried away at the first by the generall cry and seldome or never come so farre as to examine the reasons that may bee urged for them And therfore since it is the purpose of this discourse to remove those prejudices which may hinder our judgement in the like case 't is requisite that in the first place there bee some satisfaction given to those Arguments that may bee taken from the Authoritie of others Which Arguments are insisted on by our adversaries with much heate and violence What say they shall an upstart Noveltie thrust out such a Truth as hath passed by successive tradition through all Ages of the World and hath bin generally entertained not onely in the opinion of the vulgar but also of the greatest Philosophers and most learned men Shall wee thinke that amongst the multitude of those who in severall times have been eminent for new inventions and strange discoveries there was none able to finde out such a Secret as this besides some fabulous Pithagorians and of late Copernicus Is it possible that the World should last for above five thousand yeares together and yet the Inhabitants of it be so dull and stupid as to be unacquainted with it's motion Nay shall wee thinke that those excellent men whom the Holy Ghost made use of in the penning of Scripture who were extraordinarily inspired with supernaturall Truths should notwithstanding be so grossely ignorant of so common a matter as this Can wee beleeve if there were any such thing that Iosuah and Iob and David and Solomon c. should know nothing of it Certainly it must needs argue a strong affectation of Singularitie for a man to take up any groundlesse fancy against such antient and generall Authority I answer As wee should not bee so fondly conceited of our selves and the extraordinary Abilities of these present ages as to thinke every thing that is antient to be absolute Or as if it must needs bee with opinions as it is with cloths where the newest is for the most part best So neither should we be so superstitiously devoted to Antiquitie as to take up every thing for Canonicall which drops from the pen of a Father or was approved by the consent of the Antients 'T is an excellent saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It behoves every one in the search of Truth alwaies to preserve a Philosophicall liberty not to be so inslaved to the opinion of any man as to thinke what ever he sayes to be infallible We must labour to find out what things are in themselves by our owne experience and a through examination of their natures not what another sayes of them And if in such an impartiall enquiry we chance to light upon a new way and that which is besides the common rode this is neither our fault nor our unhappinesse Not our fault because it did not arise from Singularity or Affectation Not our unhappinesse because it is rather a Priviledge to be the first in finding out such Truths as are not discernable to every common eye If Noveltie should alwaies be rejected neither would Arts have arrived to that perfection wherein now wee enjoy them nor could we euer hope for any future reformation though all Truth be in it self Eternall yet in respect of mens opinions there is scarse any so antient but had a beginning and was once counted a Noveltie and if for this reason it had been condemned as an errour what a generall darknesse and ignorance would then have been in the World in comparison of that light which now abounds according to that of the Poet Quod si tam Antiquis Novit as invisa fuisset Quam nobis quid nunc esset vetus aut quid haberet Quod
name unto divers constellations Now if the Holy Ghost had intended to reveale unto us any naturall secrets certainly hee would never have omitted the mention of the planets Quorum motu nihilest quod de Conditoris sapientiâ testatur evidentius apud eos qui capiunt Which doe so evidently set forth the wisedome of the Creator And therefore you must know that 't is besides the scope of the old Testament or the new to discover any thing unto us concerning the secrets of Philosophy 't is not his intent in the new Testament since wee cannot conceive how it might any way belong either to the Historical exegeticall or propheticall parts of it nor is it his intent in the old Testament as is well observed by our Countrey-man Master WRIGHT Non Mosis aut Prophetarum institutum fuisse videtur Mathematicas aliquas aut Physicas subtilitates promulgare sed ad vulgi captum loquendi morem quemadmodum nutrices infantulis solent sese accommodare 'T is not the endeavour of Moses or the Prophets to discover any Mathematicall or Philosophicall subtilties but rather to accommodate themselves to vulgar capacities and ordinary speech as nurses are wont to use their Infants True indeed Moses is there to handle the History of the Creation But 't is certaine saith Calvin that his purpose is to treat only of the visible forme of the world and those parts of it which might be most easily understood by the ignorant and ruder sort of people and therefore we are not thence to expect the discovery of any naturall secret Artes reconditas aliunde discat qui volet hic spiritus Dei omnes simul sine exceptione docere voluit As for more hidden Arts they must be looked for else-where the Holy Ghost did here intend to instruct all without exception And therefore 't is observed that Moses does not any where meddle with such matters as were very hard to be conceived for being to informe the common people as well as others he does it after a vulgar way as it is commonly noted declaring the originall chiefely of those things which are obvious to the sense and being silent of other things which then could not well be apprehended And therefore Pererius proposing the question why the Creation of plants herbs is mentioned but not of mettalls and mineralls Answers Quia istarum rerum generatio est vulgo occulta ignota Because these things are not so commonly knowne as the other and hee adds Moses non omnia sed manifesta omnibus enarranda suscepit Moses did not intend to relate unto us the beginnings of all things but those onely which were most evident unto all men And therefore too Aquinas observes that hee writes nothing of the ayre because that being invisible the people knew not whether there were any such body or no. And for this very reason St. Ierom also thinks that there is nothing exprest concerning the Creation of Angels because the rude and ignorant vulgar were not so capable of apprehending their natures And yet notwithstanding these are as remarkable parts of the Creation and as fit to be knowne as another world And therefore the Holy Ghost too uses such vulgar expressions which set things forth rather as they appeare than as they are as when he calls the Moone one of the greater lights whereas 't is the least that wee can see in the whole heavens So afterwards speaking of the great raine which drowned the world hee sayes The windowes of heaven were opened because it seemed to come with that violence as if it were poured out from windowes in the Firmament And in reference to this a drowth is described in sundry other places by the heavens being shut up So that the phrases which the Holy Ghost uses concerning these things are not to be understood in a literall sense but rather as vulgar expressions and this rule is set down by Saint Austin where speaking concerning that in the Psalm who stretched the earth upon the waters he notes that when the words of Scripture shall seeme to contradict common sense or experience there are they to be understood in a qualified sence and not according to the letter And 't is observed that for want of this rule some of the Ancients have fastned strange absurdities upon the words of the Scripture So Saint Ambrose esteemed it a heresie to think that the Sunne and Starres were not very hot as being against the words of Scripture Psalm 19. 6. where the Psalmist sayes that there is nothing that is hid from the heat of the Sunne So others there are that would prove the heavens not to be round out of that place Psal. 104. 2. Hee stretched out the heavens like a curtaine So Procopius also was of opinion that the earth was founded upon the waters nay hee made it part of his faith proving it out of Psal. 24. 2. He hath founded the earth upon the seas and established it upon the floods These and such like absurdities have followed when men looke for the grounds of Philosophy in the words of Scripture So that from what hath beene said I may conclude that the silence of Scripture concerning any other world is not sufficient argument to prove that there is none Thus for the two first arguments Vnto the third I may answer that this very example is quoted by others to shew the ignorance of those primitive times who did sometimes condemne what they did not understand and have often censur'd the lawfull and undoubted parts of Mathematicks for hereticall because they themselves could not perceive a reason of it And therefore their practise in this particular is no sufficient testimonie against us But lastly I answer to all the above named objections that the terme World may be taken in a double sense more generally for the whole Vniuerse as it implies in it the elementarie and aethereall bodies the starres and the earth Secondly more particularly for an inferiour World consisting of elements Now the maine drift of all these arguments is to confute a plurality of Worlds in the first sense and if there were any such it might perhaps seem strange that Moses or St. Iohn should either not know or not mention its creation And Virgilius was condemned for this opinion because hee held quòd sit alius mundus sub terrâ aliusque Sol Luna as Baronius that within our globe of earth there was another world another Sunne and Moone and so he might seeme to exclude this from the number of the other creatures But now there is no such danger in this opinion which is here delivered since this World is said to be in the Moone whose creation is particularly exprest So that in the first sense I yeeld that there is but one world which is all that the arguments doe prove but understand it in the second sense and so
Trent were not such confident defenders of Ptolomy's hypothesis against Copernicus as many now are For speaking of those intricate subtilties which the Fancies of men had framed to maintain the practice of the Church they compared them to Astronomers who say they do faine Excentricks and Epicijcles and such engines of Orbes to save the Phenomena though they know there are no such things But now because this opinion of Copernicus in later times hath been so strictly forbidden and punished it will concerne those of that Religion to take heed of medling in the defence of it but rather to submit the liberty of their reason unto the command of their Superiors and which is very absurd even in naturall Questions not to assent unto any thing but what authoritie shall allow of 3. A iudging of things by sence rather than by discourse and reason a tying of the meaning of Scripture to the letter of it and from thence concluding Philosophicall points together with an ignorance of all those grounds and probabilities in Astronomie upon which this opinion is bottomed And this in all likelihood is the reason why some men who in other things perhaps are able Schollers doe write so vehemently against it and why the common people in generall doe cry it downe as being absurd and ridiculous Vnder this head I might referre the opposition of Mr. Fuller Al. Ross. c. But now no prejudice that may arise from the bare authoritie of such enemies as these will be liable to sway the judgement of an indifferent considering man and I doubt not but that hee who will throughly weigh with himselfe these particulars that are here propounded may find some satisfaction for these Arguments which are taken from the seeming Noveltie and Singularitie of this Opinion PROP. II. That there is not any place in Scriptures from which being rightly understood wee may inferre the diurnall motion of the Sunne or Heavens IT were happy for us if we could exempt Scripture from Philosophicall controversies if we could bee content to let it bee perfect for that end unto which it was intended for a rule of our Faith and Obedience and not stretch it also to be a Iudge of such naturall truths as are to be found out by our owne industry and experience Though the Holy Ghost could easily have given us a full resolution of all such particulars yet hee hath left this travell to the sonnes of men to bee exercised therewith Mundum reliquit disputationibus hominum that being busied for the most part in an inquisition after the creatures we might find the lesse leisure to wait upon our lusts or serve our more sinfull inclinations But however because our Adversaries generally doe so much insult in those Arguments that may be drawne from hence and more especially because Pineda doth for this reason with so many bitter and empty reproaches revile our learned countryman Dr. Gilbert In that renewing of this opinion he omitted an answer to the scripture expressions therfore 't is requisite That in the prosecuting of this discourse wee should lay down such satisfaction as may cleere all doubts that may be taken thence Especially since the prejudice that may arise from the misapprehension of those Scripture phrases may much disable the Reader from looking on any other Argument with an equall and indifferent minde The places that seem to oppose this are of two kinds First such as imply a motion in the Heavens or secondly such as seeme to expresse a rest and immobilitie in the Earth Those of the first kind seem to beare in them the cleerest evidence and therfore are more insisted on by our Adversaries They may be referred unto these three heads 1 All those Scriptures where there is any mention made of the rising or setting of the Sunne or Starres 2 That story in Iosuah where the Sunne standing still is reckoned for a miracle 3 That other wonder in the dayes of Hezekiah when the Sunne went back ten degrees in the Diall of Ahaz All which places doe seeme to conclude That the diurnall motion is caused by the Heavens To this I answer in generall That the Holy Ghost in these Scripture expressions is pleased to accommodate himselfe unto the conceit of the vulgar and the usuall opinion whereas if in the more proper phrase it had been said That the Earth did rise and set or that the earth stood still c. the people who had been unacquainted with that secret in Philosophy would not have understood the meaning of it and therfore it was convenient that they should be spoken unto in their own Language I but you will reply It should seeme more likely if there had been any such thing that the Holy Ghost should use the truest expressions for then he would at the same time have informed them of the thing and reformed them in an errour since his authoritie alone had been sufficient to have rectified the mistake I answer 1 Though it were yet 't is beside the chiefe scope of those places to instruct us in any Philosophicall points as hath been proved in the former book especially when these things are neither necessary in themselves nor do necessarily induce to a more ful understanding of that which is the maine businesse of those Scriptures But now the people might better conceive the meaning of the Holy Ghost when he do's conforme himselfe unto their capacities and opinions than when hee talks exactly of things in such a proper phrase as is beyond their reach And therefore 't is said in Isaiah I am the Lord which teacheth thee utilia profitable things where the glosse ha's it non subtilia not such curiosities of Nature as are not easily apprehended 2 'T is not only besides that which is the chiefe purpose of those places but it might happen also to be somwhat opposite unto it For men being naturally unapt to beleeve any thing that seemes contrary to their senses might upon this begin to question the authoritie of that Booke which affirmed it or at least to retch Scripture some wrong way to force it to some other sence which might be more agreeable to their owne false imagination Tertullian tels us of some Hereticks who when they were plainly confuted out of any Scripture would presently accuse those texts or Books to be fallible and of no authority and rather yeeld Scripture to bee erroneous than forgoe those Tenents for which they thought there was so good reason So likewise might it have been in these points which seem to beare in them so much contradiction to the sences and common opinion and therfore 't is excellent advise set down by S. Austin Quod nihil credere de re obscur â temere debemus neforte quod postea veritas patefecerit quamvis libris sanctis sive testamenti veteris sive novi nullo modo esse possit adversum tamen propter amorem nostri erroris oderimus That wee should not hastily settle our
opinions concerning any obscure matter lest afterwards the truth being discovered which however it may seeme cannot bee repugnant to any thing in Scripture wee should hate that out of love to the error that wee have before entertained A little reading may informe us how these Texts have bin abused to strange and unmeant Allegories which have mentioned any naturall truth in such a manner as was not agreeable to mens conceits And besides if the Holy Ghost had propounded unto us any secrets in Philosophie we should have bin apt to be so busied about them as to neglect other matters of greater importance And therefore Saint Austin proposing the question what should be the reason Why the Scripture do's not cleerely set down any thing concerning the Nature Figure Magnitude and Motion of the Heavenly Orbes hee answers it thus The Holy Ghost being to deliver more necessarie Truths would not insert these lest men according to the varietie of their dispositions should neglect the more weighty matters and bestow their thoughts about the speculative naturall points which were lesse needfull So that it might seeme more convenient that the Scripture should not meddle with the revealing of these unlikely Secrets especially when it is to deliver unto us many other mysteries of greater necessitie which seeme to be directly opposite to our sense and reason And therefore I say the holy Ghost might purposely omit the treating of these Philosophicall Secrets till time and future discoverie might with leisure settle them in the opinion of others As he is pleased in other things of a higher kind to apply himselfe unto the infirmitie of our apprehensions by being represented as if hee were a humane nature with the parts and passions of a man So in these things likewise that he might descend to our capacities do's he vouchsafe to conforme his expressions unto the errour and mistake of our judgements But before we come to a further illustration let us a little examine those particular Scriptures which are commonly urged to prove the motion of the Sun or Heavens These as was said might be distributed under these three heads 1 Those places which mention the rising or setting of the Sunne as that in the Psalme The Sun like a Bridegroome commeth out of his chamber and rejoyceth as agyant to runne his race His going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the end of it and there is nothing hid from the heate thereof And that in Ecclesiastes The Sunne ariseth and the Sunne goeth downe c. In which Scriptures we may observe divers phrases that are evidently spoken in reference to the appearance of things and the false opinion of the vulgar And therefore 't is not altogether unlikely That this which they seem to affirme concerning the motion of the Heavens should also bee understood in the same sence The Sun like a Bridegroome commeth out of his chamber alluding perhaps unto the conceit of ignorant people as if it took rest all the while it was absent from us and came out of it's chamber when it arose And reioyceth as a Gyant to run his race because in the Morning it appeares bigger than at other times and therfore in reference to this appearance may then be compared unto a Giant His going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it Alluding againe unto the opinion of the vulgar who not apprehending the roundnesse of the Heavens doe conceive it to have two ends one where the Sun riseth the other where it setteth And there is nothing bid from the heate thereof speaking still in reference to the common mistake as if the Sunne were actually hot in it self and as if the heate of the weather were not generated by reflection but did immediately proceed from the body of the Sun So likewise for that in Ecclesiastes where 't is said the Sun riseth and the Sun goeth downe c. which phrases being properly understood doe import that he is sometimes in a higher place than at others whereas in a circumference there is no place higher or lower each part being at the same distance from the centre which is the bottome But now understand the phrase in reference to the Suns appearance and then we grant that he do's seem sometimes to rise and sometimes to go downe because in reference to the Horizon which common people apprehend to bee the bottome and in the utmost bounds of it to joyne with the heavens the Sun do's appeare in the Morning to rise up from it and in the Evening to goe down unto it Now I say because the Holy Ghost in the manner of these expressions do's so plainly allude unto vulgar errours and the false appearance of things therefore 't is not without probabilitie that hee should be interpreted in the same sence when he seemes to imploy a motion in the Sun or Heavens 2 The second place was that relation in Iosuah where 't is mentioned as a miracle That the Sunne did stand still And Iosuah said Sunne stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon So the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven and hasted not to goe downe about a whole day And there was no day like that before it or after it In which place likewise there are divers phrases wherin the Holy Ghost do's not expresse things according to their true nature and as they are in themselves but according to their appearances and as they are conceived in common opinion As 1 When he sayes Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon or over Gibeon Now the whole Earth being so little in comparison to the body of the Sun and but as a point in respect of that Orbe wherein the Sun is supposed to move and Gibeon being as it were but a point of this Globe of Earth therefore the words cannot be understood properly but according to appearance 'T is probable that Iosuah was then at Azecha a little East from Gibeon and the Sunne being somewhat beyond the Meridian did seeme unto him as he was in that place to bee over against Gibeon and in reference to this appearance and vulgar conceit do's hee command it to stand still upon that place 2 And so secondly for that other expression And thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon This Planet was now a little East from the Sun it being about three or foure dayes old as Commentators guesse Ajalon was three miles from Gibeon Eastward and Iosuah commanded the Moone to stand still there because unto him it did then seeme to be over against that valley whereas 't is certaine if he had been there himselfe it would still have seemed to be as much distant from him Iust as men commonly speak in shewing another the Stars we point to a Star over such a chimney or such a tree because to us it appeares so wheras the Star in it selfe is not sensibly more over
of which I shall endeavour to confirme these two particulars 1 That the Holy Ghost in many other places of Scripture do's accommodate his expressions unto the errour of our conceits and do's not speake of divers things as they are in themselves but as they appeare unto us Therefore 't is not unlikely that these phrases also may bee liable unto the same interpretation 2 That divers men have fallen into great absurdities whilest they have looked for the grounds of Philosophy from the words of Scripture and therefore it may bee dangerous in this point also to adhere so closely unto the Letter of the Text. PROP. III. That the Holy Ghost in many places of Scripture do's plainly conforme his expressions unto the errors of our conceits and do's not speake of divers things as they are in themselves but as they appeare unto us THere is not any particular by which Philosophy hath been more endamaged than the ignorant superstition of some men who in stating the controversies of it doe so closely adhere unto the meere words of Scripture Quam plurima occurrunt in libris sacris ad naturam pertinentia c. They are the words of Vallesius There are sundry things in holy Writ concerning naturall points which most men think are not so to be understood as if the Holy Ghost did intend to unfold unto us any thing in that kinde but referring all to the salvation of our soules do's speak of other matters according to common opinion And a little after Ego divina haec eloquia c. I for my part am persuaded that these divine Treatises were not written by the holy and inspired pen-men for the interpretation of Philosophy because God left such things to be found out by mens labour and industrie But yet whatsoever is in them concerning nature is most true as proceeding from the God of nature from whom nothing could be hid And questionlesse all those things which the Scripture do's deliver concerning any naturall point cannot be but certaine and infallible being understood in that sence wherein they were first intended but now that it do's speake somtimes according to common opinion rather than the true nature of the things themselves was intimated before wherfore by the way Fromondus his triumph upon the later part of this quotation is but vaine and to no purpose 'T is a good rule set downe by a learned Commentator to bee observed in the interpretation of Scripture Scriptura sacra saepè non tam ad veritatem ipsam quam ad hominum opinionem sermonem acommodat that it do's many times accommodate it's expressions not so much to the truth it selfe as to mens opinions And in this sence is that speech of Gregorie concerning Images and Pictures attributed by Calvin unto the Historie of the Creation viz. Librum esse ideotarum that it is a Booke for the simpler and ignorant people For it being written to informe them as well as others 't is requisite that it should use the most plaine and easie expressions To this purpose likewise is that of Mersennus Mille sunt Scripturae loca c. There are very many places of Scripture which are not to bee interpreted according to the Letter and that for this reason because God would apply himselfe unto our capacity and sence Presertim in ijs quae adres naturales oculisque subject as pertinent more especially in those things which concerne nature and are subject to our eyes And therefore in the very same place though hee be eager enough against Copernicus yet hee concludes that opinion not to be a heresie because saith he those Scriptures which seeme to oppose it are not so evident but that they may bee capable of another interpretation Intimating that it was not unlikely they should be understood in reference to outward appearance and common opinion And that this manner of speech is frequently used in many other places of scripture may be easily manifest from these following examples Thus though the Moone may be prooved by infallible observation to bee lesse than any of the visible Stars yet because of its appearance and vulgar opinion therefore doth the Scripture in comparison to them call it one of the great Lights Of which place saith Calvin Moses populariter scripsit nos potius respexit quam sydera Moses did not so much regard the nature of the thing as our capacitie and therefore uses a popular phrase so as ordinarie people without the help of Arts and Learning might easily understand him And in another place Non fuit Spiritus Sancti concilium Astrologiam docere It was not the purpose of the Holy Ghost to teach us Astronomy but being to propound a Doctrine that concernes the most rude and simple people hee do's both by Moses and the Prophets conforme himself unto their phrases and conceits lest any should thinke to excuse his owne ignorance with the pretence of difficultie As men commonly do in those things which are delivered after a learned and sublime manner Thus Zanchi likewise Moses majorem rationem habuit nostri humanÃque judicij c. When Moses calls the Moon a great light he had a more especiall reference to mens opinions of it than to the truth of the thing it self because he was to deale with such who do usually judge rather by their sense than by their reason Nor will that distinction of Fromondus and others avoid this interpretation when he tells us of magnum Materiale which referres to the bulke and quantitie of the body and magnum Formale which imports the greatnesse of it's light For we grant that it is really unto us a greater light then any of the Stars or than all of them together yet there is not any one of them but is in it's selfe a bigger light than this And therefore when wee say this speech is to be understood according to it's appearance we do not oppose this to reality But 't is implied that this reality is not absolute and in the nature of the thing it selfe but only relative and in reference to us I may say a candle is a bigger light then a Star or the Moone because it is really so to me How ever any one will thinke this to be spoken onely in relation to it's appearance and not to be understood as if the thing were so in it selfe But by the way it do's concerne Fromondus to maintaine the Scriptures authority in revealing of natural secrets because from thence it is that he fetches the chiefe Argument for that strange Assertion of his concerning the heavinesse of the winde Where Iob sayes that God makes the weight for the winde Thus likewise because the common people usually thinke the rain to proceed from some waters in the expansum therefore doth Moses in reference to this erroneous conceit tell us of waters above the Firmament and the Windowes of Heaven Of which saith Calvin Nimis
evidence unto us that the Scripture do's not only not speak exactly in these subtle and more secret points of Philosophy but also in the ordinarie obvious numbring of things do's conforme unto common custome and often use the round number for the whole 4 'T is yet objected by another adversarie That wee have no reason to expect the Holy Ghost should reveale unto us this secret in Nature because neither Archimedes nor any other had then found it out I reply and why then should we thinke that the Scripture must needs informe us of the Earths Motion when as neither Pithagoras nor Copernicus nor any else had then discovered it 5 In taking the compasse of this vessell they measured somewhat below the brim where it was narrower than at the top and so the circumference there might bee exactly but thirty cubites whereof it 's diameter was ten I answer 't is evident this is a meere shift there being not the least ground for it in the Text. And then besides why might not we affirme That the diameter was measured from that place as wel as the circumference since 't is very probable that the Holy Ghost did speak ad idem and not tell us the bredth of one place and the compasse of another So that all our adversaries evasions cannot well avoid the force of the Argument that is taken from this Scripture Again common people usually conceive the Earth to be such a plaine as in it's utmost parts is terminated by the Heavens so that if a man were in the farthermost coasts of it hee might touch the skie And hence also they think that the reason why some countries are hotter than others is because they lie neerer unto the Sun Nay Strabo tells us of some Philosophers too who in this point have grossely erred affirming that there was a place towards the utmost coasts of Lusitania where a man might heare the noise that the Sunne made as he quencht his Beames in his descent to the Ocean which though it be an absurd mistake yet we may note that the Holy Ghost in the expression of these things is pleased to conforme himselfe unto such kinde of vulgar and false conceits And therefore often speaks of the ends of Heaven and the ends of the world In this sence they that come from any far countrey are said to come from the end of Heaven Isaiah 13. 5. And in another place From the side of the Heavens Deut. 4. 32. All which phrases doe plainly allude unto the errour of vulgar capacities saith Sanctius which hereby is better instructed then it would be by more proper expressions Thus likewise because ignorant people cannot well apprehend how so great a weight as the Sea and Land should hang alone in the open aire without being founded upon some Basis to uphold it therefore in this respect also do's Scripture apply it selfe unto their conceits where it often mentions the foundations of the Earth Which phrase in the letter of it do's manifestly allude unto mens imaginations in this kinde Thus also the common people usually conceive the Earth to be upon the Water because when they have travelled any way as farre as they can they are at length stopped by the sea Therefore doth Scripture in reference to this affirme That God stretched the Earth upon the Waters founded the Earth upon the Seas and established it upon the Flouds Of which places saith Calvin Non disputat Philosophicè David de terrae situ sed populariter loquens ad rudium captum se accommodat 'T was not Davids intent to speak philosophically concerning the Earths scituation but rather by using a popular phrase to accommodate his speech unto the capacities of the ruder people In this sence likewise are wee to understand all those places of Scripture wherein the coasts of Heaven are denominated from the relations of Before Behinde the right hand or the left Which do not imply saith Scaliger any absolute difference in such places but are spoken meerely in reference to mens estimations and the common opinion of those people for whom the Scriptures were first penned Thus because it was the opinion of the Iewish Rabbies that man was created with his face to the East therefore the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Ante or the East 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Post or the West 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dextra or the South 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sinistra or the North. You may see all of them put together in that place of Iob Behold I goe forward and he is not there and backward but I cannot perceive him on the left hand where he doth work but I cannot behold him He hideth himselfe on the right hand that I cannot see him Which expressions are by some interpreters referred unto the foure coasts of Heaven according to the common use of those originall words From hence it is that many of the Antients have concluded hell to be in the North which is signified by the left hand unto which side our Saviour tels us that the Goats shall be divided Which opinion likewise seems to be favoured by that place in Iob where 't is said Hell is naked before God and destruction hath no covering And presently 't is added Hee stretched out the North over the empty place Vpon these grounds S. Ierome interprets that speech of the Preacher Eccles. 11. 3. If the tree fals towards the South or towards the North in the place where the tree falleth there shal it be Concerning those who shal go either to heaven or hell And in this sence also do's some expound that of Zachary 14. 4 Where 't is said that the mount of Olives shall cleere in the midst halfe of it shall remove towards the North and halfe of it towards the South By which is intimated that amongst those Gentiles who shall take upon them the profession of Christ there are two sorts Some that go to the North that is to Hell and others to the South that is to Heaven And therefore it is say they that God so often threatens evill out of the North and upon this ground it is saith Besoldus that there is no Religion that worships that way We read of the Mahumetans that they adore towards the South the Iewes towards the West Christians towards the East but none to the North. But of this onely by the way However certaine it is that the Holy Ghost do's frequently in Scripture set forth the severall coasts of Heaven by those relative tearmes of right hand and left hand c. which expressions doe not denote any reall intrinsicall difference betwixt those places but are rather fitted for the apprehension of those men from whose fancy it is that they have such denominations And though Aristotle concludes these severall positions to be naturall unto the Heavens yet his authoritie in this particular is not available because he delivers
it commeth nor whither it goeth In another place God is said to bring it out of his treasures and elsewhere it is called the breath of God And so likewise of the thunder Concerning which Iob proposes this question The thunder of his power who can understand and therefore too David do's so often stile it the voice of God All which places seeme to imply that the cause of these things was not to be discovered which yet later Philosophers pretend to know so that according to their construction these phrases are to be understood in relation unto their ignorance unto whom these speeches were immediately directed For this reason is it Why though there be in nature many other causes of Springs and Rivers than the Sea yet Solomon who was a great Philosopher and perhaps not ignorant of them do's mention onely this because most obvious and easily apprehended by the vulgar Vnto all these Scriptures I might adde that in Amos 5. 8. which speakes of the Constellation commonly called the seven Starres whereas later discoveries have found that there are but sixe of them discernable to the bare eye as appeares by Gallilaeus his glasse the seventh of them being but a deceipt of the eye arising from their too great neernes and if a man try in a cleere night to number them distinctly he shall find that there will sometimes appeare but sixe and some times more True indeed the originall word of this Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do's not necessarily imply any such number in it's signification but yet our English translation renders it the seven Starres and if it had been expresly so in the Originall too it might have spoken true enough because they are usually esteemed of that number And when it had been said He made the seven Stars and Orion we might have easily understood the words thus Hee made those Constellations that are commonly knowne unto us under such names From all these Scriptures 't is cleerly manifest that it is a frequent custome for the Holy Ghost to speake of naturall things rather according to their appearance and common opinion than the truth it selfe Now it is very plaine and our enemies themselves do grant it that if the World had bin framed according to the Systeme of Copernicus futurum esset ut vulgus de Solis motu Terrae statu proinde ut nunc loqueretur The vulgar phrase would have been the same as now it is when it speakes of the Sunnes motion and the Earth's standing still Wherefore 't is not improbable that such kind of Scripture expressions are to be understood only in relation to outward appearances and vulgar opinion PROP. IIII. That divers learned men have fallen into great absurdities whilest they have looked for the grounds of Philosophy from the words of Scripture IT ha's bin an antient and common opinion amongst the Iewes that the Law of Moses did containe in it not only those things which concerne our Religion and Obedience but every secret also that may possibly be known in any Art or Science so that there is not a demonstration in Geometrie or rule in Arithmeticke not a mysterie in any trade but it may be found out in the Pentateuch Hence it was say they that Solomon had all his wisedome and policie Hence it was that hee did fetch his knowledge concerning the nature of Vegetables from the Cedar of Lebanon to the Hysop that growes upon the wall Nay from hence they thought a man might learne the art of Miracles to remoove a Mountaine or recover the dead So strangely have the learneder sort of that Nation been befooled since their owne curse hath lighted upon them Not much unlike this foolish superstition of theirs is that custome of many Artists amongst us who upon the invention of any new secret will presently find out some obscure text or other to father it upon as if the Holy Ghost must needs take notice of every particular which their partiall fancies did over-vallue Nor are they altogether guiltlesse of this fault who looke for any secrets of nature from the words of Scripture or will examine all it's expressions by the exact rules of Philosophy Vnto what strange absurdities this false imagination of the learneder Iewes hath exposed them may be manifest by a great multitude of Examples I will mention only some few of them Hence it is that they proove the shin-bone of Og the Giant to bee above three leagues long Or which is a more modest relation that Moses being fourteen cubites in stature having a Speare tenne Ells in length and leaping up ten cubits could touch this Giant but on the Ancle All which they can confirme unto you by a Cabalisticall interpretation of this story as it is set downe in Scripture Hence it is that they tell us of all those strange Beasts which shall be seen at the comming of the Messias as first the Ox which Iob calls Behemoth that every day devoures the grasse on a thousand mountaines as you may see it in the Psalme where David mentions the cattell or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon a thousand hils If you aske how this Beast do's to finde pasture enough they answer that hee remaines constantly in one place where there is as much grasse grows up in the night as was eaten in the day They tell us also of a Bird which was of that quantitie that having upon a time cast an egge out of her neast there were beaten down by the fall of it three hundred of the tallest Cedars and no lesse than threescore villages drowned As also of a Frog as big as a Town capable of sixty houses which Frog notwithstanding his greatnesse was devoured by a Serpent and that Serpent by a Crow which Crow as she was flying up to a Tree eclipsed the Sun and darkned the World by which you may guesse what a pretty twig that Tree was If you would know the proper name of this Bird you may finde it in Psal. 50. 11. where it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or in our Translation the Foule of the mountains It seems it was somewhat of kinne to that other Bird they tell us of whose legges were so long that they reached unto the bottome of that Sea where there had bin an axe head falling for 7 yeres together before it could come to the bottome Many other relations there are which containe such horrible absurdities that a man cannot well conceive how they should proceed from reasonable creatures And all this arising from that wrong Principle of theirs That Scripture did exactly containe in it all kind of Truths and that every meaning was true which by the Letter of it or by Cabalisticall interpretations might be found out Now as it hath been with them so likewise hath it happened in proportion unto others who by a superstitious adhering unto the bare words of scripture have exposed themselves unto