stand with sence reason that three should be one and one should be three First let the Atheist take example by Olimpius the Arrian which washing himselfe in the Bathe contempteously asked how this might be but was suddenly distroyed by three fierie dartes sent from heauen and the pointes of these three ioyning all in one to teach others by his example howe it is necessarie to beleeue but no way safe to make a doubt of the principles of Diuinitie and to call into question such deep misteries of our faith and yet to shew that three might be one and one three Secondly the number of three are one number yet three vnities in Arithmetic a triangle is three angles and one figure in Geometrie three gimballes compacted together are one ring yet three as they be disioyned and concerning these things do doubt is made So you see by familiar examples how one may be three and these three notwitstanding one Thirdly in the Sunne which shineth in the firmament there are the bodie of the Sunne the brightnes which proceedeth from the body and the heate which procedeth from them both So in the Trinitie there is the Father from whome all thinges are the Sonne which is the brightnes of his Fathers glorie and ingrauen forme of his person and the holy Ghost which is the heate and loue of them both Fourthly in the fire there are light flame heate the fier cannot be deuided neither can the Trinitie Fiftly there are three powers and faculties of the soule of man the memorie the vnderstanding and the will these three are seuerall faculties yet the soule is one All these three doe comprehend one another For man remembreth that he hath memorie will and vnderstanding The vnderstanding likewise comprehendeth al three for man vnderstandeth that he hath vnderstanding will and memorie The will comprehendeth all three for man is willing that he shall will vnderstand and remember So the Father comprehendeth him selfe the Sonne the holy Ghost the Sonne comprehendeth himselfe the Father and the holy Ghost the holy Ghost comprehendeth himselfe the Father the Son Sixtlye that which vnderstandeth that which is vnderstood are all one when the minde reflected vpon it selfe vnderstandeth it selfe So God the Father from euerlasting vnderstanding himselfe begat his Sonne coeternall with himselfe as a vninitie is not of any other but of it selfe and yet begetteth a vnitie of it selfe so God the Father which is of none yet vnderstanding of himselfe alierum se non aliud generat begetteth of himselfe an other not in nature but in person from himselfe which yet is all one with himselfe Againe that which vnderstandeth and is vnderstood is all one with that which is beloued when the vnderstanding doth loue it selfe and then it is one and the selfe same thing which loueth and is beloued and there is the holy Ghost all one with the Father and the Sonne And so as it were in the glasse of nature is represented a liuely image of that essential loue and vnderstanding by which the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost doe loue and vnderstand each other from all eternitie Last of all in euery thing which is made and framed by the arte of man there be necessarilie three thinges and yet these three make one matter shape and order by the matter is represented the Father by the shape the Sonne which is the Image of his Father by order the holy Ghost which ordereth and disposeth all thinges I conclude with St. Augustin Te patrem ingenitum te filium vnigenitum te spiritum paracletum ab vtrisg procedētem colimus veneramur we praise worship thee ô God the Father vnbegotten the Sonne onely begotten the holy Spirit the comforter proceeding from them both Chapter 6. That there is but one God DAuid sayth that the God of Gods euen the Lorde hath spoken and called the earth euen from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe therof In which wordes notwithstanding he doth not intimate that there be many Gods but one for he called the other Gods so by a figure called Ironia or Sarcasmus as God did by Adam when he said Beholde Adam is like one of vs when he ment nothing lesse Such Gods are but creatures as I haue shewed by nature they are not Gods Such Gods were the Idols of the nations of which S. Paule saith they turned the truth of God into a lye and worshipped the creature for the creatour Such Gods were Dagon Remphan Astoroth the Gods of the Philistines Moabites Sidonians But euen as Aarons rodde deuoured the Serpents of the sorcerers so the God of the Philistines Dagon fel down before Arke the of the couenant where the true God was present to shewe that such Gods were but counter faite Gods and vaine like them which put their trust in them Of such Gods saith S. Augustin Nec ideo Troiaperijt quia Mineruam perdidit quid enim ipsa prius Mincrua perdidit vt periret an forte custodes suos hoc sane verum est quippe illis coesis potuit auferri neque homines a simulachro at simulacrum ab hominibus sernabatur Quo modo ergo celebratur vt patriam custodiret et ciues quae suos non potuit custodire custodes Troy was not therfore ouerthrowne because it lost the idoll of the Goddesse Minerua but tell I pray you what the Idol did loose first that itself shold be also lost you will say shee lost her keepers and ye say the truth for when the keepers of her Temple were slaine it was no masterie to steale the Goddesse away for it was not the idoll that kept the man but the man did keepe the Idoll How absurde a thing therefore was it to worshippe such a Goddesse as a defendour and keeper of the Cittie which was not able to keep her selfe nor the keepers of her Chappell whereas Virgill sayth Victosque Deos paruumque nepotem suosque tibi commendat Troia penates Si autem Virgilius tales deos victos dicit et vt vel victi quo quo modo euaderent homini commendatos que dementia est existimare his tutoribus Roman sapienter fuisse commissam nisi eos amisissat non potuisse vastari Imo Deos victos tanquam defensores colere quid aliud est quam non numina bona sed daemonia mala Non Roma perijsset si illi perijssent sed illi multo antea perijssent nisi eos Roma seruasset Hector in Virgill sayth his God was conquered and hee commendeth them to the tuition of Aenaeas But what madnesse was it to imagin that Rome was wisely committed to the protection of such Gods as were conquered and had neede their selues of mans protection and that Rome could not bee sacked so long as these Gods were in safetie Nay to worship conquered Gods as patrons of the Citie is not to serue blessed Gods
not confesse the same are in that poynt worsse then deuils Last of all it stan leth with good reason that it should be the safest opinion for the Atheists to holde that there is a God For if so be that there were no God there could come no hurt vnto them for thinking so because all men besides them selues holding the same there were none that would punish them for their opinion But if so be that there be a God as I haue prcued vnto them that there is surelye one day he will torment them in hell fire for their contempt because they would not belceue in him and confesse his name Therefore I conclude with the Apostle Corde creditur ad iusticiam orefit confessio ad salutem Let the heart belecue to righteousnes and the tongue consesle vnto saluation At the name of Iesus let euery knee bow both of thinges in heauen and thinges in earth thinges vnder the earth and let euery tongue confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord vnto the glorye of God the Father Amen Chapter 5. What God is SAint Chrisostom saith Ego omne quod intelligo sinc Christo Spiritu Sancto Patre nolo intelligere nisienim intellexero in Trinitate quae me seruabit mihi dulceesse non potest quod intelligo I can vnderstand no other God when I heare the name of God mencioned but the Father the Sonne and the holy-holy-Ghost For vnlesse I vnderstandd it to be ment by the holy and vndiuided Trinitye whereby I am saued my vnderstanding shall content me nothing So thē according to S. Auguste God is a diuine nature consisting of three persons the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost God the Lord the Cōforter He which begetteth which is begotten he which regenerateth newe begetteth Of one all things In one al things By one al things Frō whence By whome in whom are al things Life w c liueth Life of him which liueth the quickner of al things which are liuing One of him selfe One of an other One of thē both The principles of humane artes and liberall sciences are by themselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to bee proued by the same artes An Arithmetician cannot proue by Arithmeticke that Omnis numerus est par aut impar euerye number is euen or odde The Musitian cannot proue by his owne Arte that two crotchets make a quauer because these be principles of Arithmeticke and Musicke All principles as Aristoile teacheth in his Demonstrations if they be demonstrated must be demonstrated by the Metaphysics which are of an higher nature but that the principles of the Metaphysics cannot be demonstrated because there is no higher science But forasmuch as Diuinitye is the highest it is enough for vs to belceue the principles thereof without farther serching and happy is the man which seeth not the reason how they should be so and yet belecueth that they are so No man hath seene God at any time because he is inuisible Tully saith Vtioculus it a anima sereliqua videns seipsum non videt The eye seeth not it selfe and the soule vnderstandeth other thinges better then it selfe And that this saying Nosce teipsum know thy selfe is meant in regarde of the soule of man because it is so hard to conceiue what it is But if so be that an eye cannot see it selfe no meruaile though it haue not seene God if a man cannot fullye vnderstand him selfe how should he so perfectly conceiue and define what God is which is so infinitelye aboue himselfe That which is finite him which is infinite the creature the Creator the pipkin the pipkin maker he which is made of vile claye him that hath made all thinges of nothing But as Moses when he was a mortall and sinfull man was not able to beholde the glorye of God and therfore sawe but his backe partes onelye as he passed by So let vs which haue but shallowe braynes so far demonstrate faith by reason as faith may be discerned by reason The Philosophers as S. Augustin saith seeking after the nature of God found that he could not be a body therefore concluded that he was farre more excellent then all bodyes and therfore a Spirit that he could not be subiect to change and therfore that he was aboue all bodyes and soules which are subiect to alteration that all mutable thinges haue their beginning from that which is without all shadowe of change or mutabilitye and that hee which is not thus subiect is simply of him selfe depending of nothing but all other thinges haue their dependance on him Againe they considered that al substances are other bodyes or Spirits and that a Spirit is more excellent then a bodie but that to be moste excellent which hath made both the bodie and the Spirite They considered likewise that the shape of the body is discerned by the outward sences and the spirit is perceaued by the vnderstanding but that which is onely vnderstood is better then that which is seene and that there was something more excellent then both these by so many waies God is known Therfore for asmuch as God is one simple essence not compounded of any partes not consisting of any accidents and yet subsisting and the Apostle speaketh of him in the plurall number saying the inuisible things of him are seene by the creation of the worlde because the truth of God is knowne and perceaued by many meanes through the thinges which he hath made by the continuance of his creatures is vnderstood his eternitie by the greatnes of them his omnipotencie by the excellent order wherby he hath disposed them his wisdome by his gouernment and preseruation of them in that comely and decent order his goodnes and all these thinges doe belong to the vnitie of his substance Therefore not to speake of the authoritie of the holy Bible where at the Baptisme of our Sauiour the blessed Trinitie did sencibly appeare the Father in a voice the Sonne in a man the holy Ghost in a doue how in the beginning the Father made the Son spake and the holy Ghost mooued vpon the waters Bara elohins creauit dij seu Deus Trinus a verbe of the singular number is Ioyned to a nominatiue case of the plurall to shew that these three are one how when three Angels came to Abraham his house he prostrated himselfe to them as vnto God which could not bee without the crime of idolatrie vnlesse they had bin God howe sometimes he spake to them in the plurall number as vnto three persōs sometimes in the singular as vnto one God how the Angels crie in heauen Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth three times holy once Lord to show that there were three persons one God But if I come onely to shewe the backe partes of God so farre as by earthlie comparisons he may be made manifest vnto sinfull man the Atheist doth aske how it can
to which questions I answer as followeth The incarnation of the Sonne was the worke of the whole Trinitye yet one person was incarnate as if three sisters should make a Coate and one put it on Pater Spiritus imple erunt carnem Christi maiestate Filius tantum assumptione The Father and the holy Ghost filled the flesh of Christ by their maiesty but the Sonne by assumptioÌ„ of it vnto him selfe Quia congruum fuit vt qui erat in deitate Filius Dei esset in humanitate filius hominis It was most fit that the Sonne onely should be incarnate and not the father nor the holy Ghost that he which in his diuinity was the Sonne of God might be in his humanitye the Sonne of man He could not haue beene man had he not beene conceiued And forasmuch as he came into the world to redeeme mankind which he could not doe vnles he were without sinne he could not haue beene without sinne had he not beene conceiued onely and not begotten For if man had begotten him he had begotten him in sinne because omne simile generat sui simile euerye thing which begetteth doth beget that which is like to it selfe and therfore he was not begotten but onely conceiued without the helpe of man and he could not haue beene so conceiued but by the holy Ghost He was therefore conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne As he was conceiued by the holy Ghost that he might be conceiued without sinne so he was borne of a Virgin that he might be borne without sinne But they aske how he could be borne of a Virgin I could aske them how Eue could be borne of Adam without a mother or Adam of the earth without father or mother why could not Christ aswell be borne of a mother without a father as Eue of a man without a woman or Adam without man or woman And because this doth not onely concerne the A theist but also the Iewe and the Maniche S. Augustin for confutation of them both sayth Ego tibi ostendam incredule Iudaee detestande Manichaee peperisse Virginem I will proue to the vnbeleeuing Iewe and the curssed Maniche how a Virgin may bring forth a Childe Against the Iewe he alleageth that twelue roddes according to the number of the 12. Tribes were put into the Arke of the couenant among the rest Aarons rodde wanting moysture and all the rightes of nature contrary to nature brought forth fruite Quod virga potuit virgo non potuit virga potuit contra naturam Nuces producere nunquid Virgo non potuit contra naturam Dei filium generare ostendas mihi quo modo virga Nuces pratulit ego tibi ostendam quo modo Virgo filium peperit That which a rodde could doe could not a Virgin doe a rodde could contrary to nature bring forth Almonds and could not a Virgin contrary to nature bring forth the Sonne of God shewe me how the rodde brought forth Almonds and I will shewe thee how a Virgin brought forth a Childe Rubus sustâ—…uit ignem non amisit viriditatem sic Virgo peperit Christum non amisit virginitatem The Bush burned and yet continued greene but as the Bush bore the heat of the fire without losse of viriditye so the Virgin bore a Childe wtthout losse of virginitye This may suffice to confute the Iewe which doth allow the authoritye of the bookes of Moses but it wil not serue for the confutatioÌ„ of the Atheist for he will aske me how it may stand with humane reason and with the rules of arte how this may be and how there may be penetratio corporum that one body should penetrate an other I will not therfore cyte the authorityes exaÌ„ples of the scriptures how Christ arose out of his graue the graue being shut vp the stone not rolled away how after his resurrection he went into the house where his Disciples were the doores being locked how at his ascension he peirced the heauens how he is as before I haue shewed liberrimum agens medijs non alligatum a free agent and not tyed to meanes whereby he worketh how he hath metaphysicum imperium in singula a supernaturall power whereby he ouer-ruleth all creatures But I will dispute by reason against the Atheist as S. Augustin doth against the Maniche Solis radius specular penetrat soliditatem illius insensibili soliditate pertransit talis videtur foris qualis intus nec quum ingreditur violat nec quum egreditur dissipat quoniam ad ingressum egressum specular integrum perseuerat Specular non rumpit solaris radius neque igitur integritatem Virginis vitiare potuit ingressus aut egressus Deitatis The Sun-beame peirceth through the glasse the glasseis not broken how it passeth through so solid hard a body the eye or sense of man cannot perceiue it looketh alike both within and without wheÌ„ it entreth in the glasse is not cracked by the entrance of it when it goeth out agayne the glasse remaineth without blemish as it was before and so it is with our Sauiour Christ which passed through the Virgins wombe He came in forme of a seruant that he might suffer si enim cognouissent Dominum gloriae non crucifixissent for if he had beene outwardly glorious that the Iewes had knowen him to be the Lord of glory they had neuer put him to so vnglorious a death And seeing that he came to dye it behoued him to dye vpon the Crosse to choose that death aboue all other Placuit Deo hominem reconciliasse eodem modo quo nouit cecidisse homo damnatus est in ligno reconciliatus est in ligno vixit in ligno vitae mortuus est in ligno scientiae reuixit in ligno Crucis Quia primus Adam deceptus est in ligno secuÌ„dus Adam passus est in ligno It pleased God that maÌ„ should rise by the same maner as he fel but maÌ„s saluatioÌ„ came by the wood of y e tree therfore his saluatioÌ„ came throgh the wood of the tree Because the first Adam was deceiued in the tree the secoÌ„d AdaÌ„ suffered in the tree Man liued in the wood of life man dyed in the wood of knowledge man reuyued agayne in the wood of the crosse The differeÌ„ce being shewed between creating redeming how hard it was for the Son to redeeme ouer that it was for the Father to create as namely the Father did his work by speaking the Son his worke by doing the Father commauÌ„ding the Son by obeying the father in 6. dayes the Son in no lesse time theÌ„ 33. yeares the father w t ease the Son with groning the Father as an ageÌ„t the Son as a pacieÌ„t the Father with the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He which is but an aspiration the Sonne in the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thau which representeth the gallowes or the Crosse
aswell as the other but is not the subiect of my Treatise There are other sortes of men or rather beastes I meane such beasts as S. Paul stroue with at Ephesus in the shape of men farre more abhominable then the other two of which so ofteÌ„ I spake I may iustly say with Eliphas Feare coÌ„meth vpon me dreade which maketh all my bones to tremble and a winde passeth before me which causeth the hayres of my head to stand vp and that I may vse the wordes of the Lord to Samuel such a wickednes as shall not be purged by sacrifice nor offering for euer Such a slaunder to States Kingdomes so offensiue to all chast religious eares that whosoeuer shall heare of it his eares shall tingle These beastes holde there is no God and they are of foure sortes The first saith in broade tearmes without blushing Non est Deus there is no God of that brood were not onely the olde Philosophers Diagoras Lucretius Epicurus and others but also since the Gospell was published to the worlde many of them haue been known of whome Theodoret an ancient Father hath written as also Prateolus and other writers of later times and especially Lilius Grigorius Giraldus Ferrariensis maketh mention of a whole Iland lately inhabited by such as deny God And I wish all Atheists were banished out of Christian States and Kingdomes and sent into that Iland that other places might not be infected by them The second doth scoffe at God and deride him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his name and make open profession of contempt against him and all Religion Such an Atheist was Holophernes which said vnto Achior Because thou hast prophefied amongst vs to day hast saide that the people of Israel is able to sight because their God will defend them and who is God but Nabuchodonozor he will send his power and destroye the face of the earth and their God shall not deliuer them Such an Atheist was Pharao which said Who is the Lord that I should heare his voyce and let the people goe I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel goe And Senacherib who said by the mouth of Rabshakah Let not Ezekias deceiue you for he shall not be able to deliuer you out of my hand neither let Ezechias make you to trust in the Lord saying The Lord will surely deliuer vs this Land shall not be giuen euer into the hand of the King of Ashur Ezechias doth deceiue you saying The Lord will deliuer vs. Who are they among all the Gods of the nations that haue deliuered their Land out of my hand that the Lord should deliuer Ierusalem out of my hand Such Atheists were Lucian which in his writings that he might be thought to confesse no God mocked all Gods Iulian the Apostata which scoffed at religion Olimpius the Arrian which as he was washing himselfe in his Bath spake blasphemy against the Trinitye Doletus which called Moses Helias and Christ the three deceiuers of the worlde And such Atheists are the swaggerers of our age which are not ashamed to call them selues The damned crue Of the saluation of such there is no hope whose God is their bellye whose glory is their shame and whose end is damnation as the Apostle speaketh Their damnation sleepeth not nay they are condemned alreadye because they speake blasphemye against the Holy Ghost Of such as offend God vpon weakenes there may be some hope that they will come to repentance because their sinne is against the Father which is strength Concerning them which offend him vpon ignorance there is also hope of their conuersion because they sinne against God the Sonne which is wisedome But as for these they mocke God in 〈◊〉 of him they sinne vpon malice therefore their blasâ—â—â—â—â—… against the Holy Ghost which is loue and charitye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no hope of their conuersion because our Sauiour hath already pronounced sentence of damnatioÌ„ against them saying Their sinne shall neuer be for giuen neither in this life nor in the life to come The third professe the religion which is professed in the place where they dwell so farre as lawes may not take holde of them but otherwise are of all religions which may bring them profit and are of no religion farther then to serue their turne For example whereof I cannot instance in any man better then in William Rusus King of England which professed him selfe to be a Christian for feare of the Pope the Ecclesiasticall censure because else he could not haue held his Kingdome Of him it is written that the Iewes being many in England one of them was conuerted to be a Christian and the olde Iewe his Father taking the matter greiuously desired the King to interpose his authoritye and to commaund him to renounce his Christian faith againe The King vpon consideration of 80. Markes of siluer before hand payed vnto him vndertooke the conuersion of the young man to the Iewish religion againe Whereupon the partie was conuâ—nted before the King hee gaue him charge to renounce Christ but he answered Sir you professe Christ yourselfe how then can you perswade me to be a Iewe If you be a Christian in deed you will not perswade me to renounce Christ but if your selfe professing Christ will commaund me to denye Christ you are not of any religion but an Atheist and if you be so it is fit the Popes holynes should vnderstand so much The King fearing the Popes displeasure dismissed the man but saide in great furye Get thee out of my presence else by S. Lukes face I will scratch out thine eyes The olde Iewe his Father expostulated with the King because the bargaine was not performed and required restitution of his money But the King answered holde ye contented Sir heere is halfe I will haue the other halfe for my endeauour I did the best I could Of such Atheists we haue many The fourth sorte are they which insinuate them-selues into Noble-mens houses and Princes Courts taking vpon them to be the great Polititians of the worlde and account all men fooles besides themselues They also make open profession of religion but for aduantage I meane them which haue turne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Machiauel Their Diuinitie is policye their zeale is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their God is the deuill These English Italiana and 〈◊〉 incarnat doe holde these damnable opinions That there was no creation of the world that there shall be no day of iudgement no resurrection no immortallitye of the soule no hell they dispute against the Bible reckon vp Genealogyes more auncient then Adam alleadge arguments to proue that the story of Noah his Arke and the Deluge were fables Finally they holde that the Scriptures were deuised by men onely for policye sake to maintaine peace in states and Kingdomes to keep subiects in obedience to lawes and loyaltie to Magistrates by thus terrifying them from enormities when their consciences
Adam which was committed so long before For it is not to be thought that God which forgiueth vs our owne sinnes will impute an other mans sinnes vnto vs. The soule saith hee at the first creation is eyther pure or corrupted impure it cannot be because it commeth immediately from God and being at the first cleane how commeth it to be vncleane how can a spirit bee infected by a body that which is immateriall bee polluted by that which is materiall But Mr. Caluin doth satisfie that doubt saying that although corruption be inherent both in the soule and the body yet the cause of that hereditarye corruption is not in the substance eyther of the body or the soule but onely it was ordayned of God that the imperfections of the first parents should bee common to all the Children euen as according to the lawes of earthly Princes such as are descended of parents attainted of high treason are also stayned in their bloud preiudiced in respect of their landes and honors by their fathers offences committed before their time and wherof they were ignorant and it is but imitatio diuinae iusticiae an imitatiō of that iustice w c is with God So thē we are borne of impure seede as the Psalmist teacheth and not onely the bodie but also the soule is infected with sinne by reason of this our birth although sinne be more apparent in the body then in the soule and the onely cause why the soule is thus infected is this our impure and vncleane birth and yet the soule is not of seede or any materiall thing but it commeth immediately from God And it is a weake argument which Pelagius vseth that because beleeuing parents doe sanctifie their Children therefore Children cannot receaue infection from their Parents which are regenerate For the children doe lineally descend from their parents by carnall generation but not by spiritual regeneration because regeneration is not from beneath but from aboue not from men but from the holy Ghost Sanctification is an especial blessing giuen in particular but so that the general course of al mankinde may take holde of all men for as much as they all are the Sonnes of men Natus est homo natura sanctificatus ex supernaturali gratia that wee are borne it is the worke of nature that we are sanctified it is supernaturall of the especiall grace of God But I returne to the Atheist The soule I say as it appeareth by these premises is of a more excellent and diuine nature thē that it should be subiect to mortalitie and corruption And therfore that we may not complaine with Theophrastus who accused Nature because she gaue to Rauens and Harts a long life whome length of life did no way profit but made mās life of that shortnes vt tum extingueretur qùum incaepisset sapere that euen then hee was cut off and vtterly extinguished when hee did but begin to be wise I will produce these arguments which are alleadged by naturall Philosophers to prooue the immortallitie of the soule that I may refute Theophrastus and shew plainely that wee are not vtterly extinguished by death and that although wee doe but then begin to bee wise when we are neare our death yet wee doe not then cease to bee wise but then we increase in wisdome when the soule is separated from the bodie My reasons are these The first is drawne from the vnderstanding of man for mans soule is of infinit capacitie the more it vnderstandeth the more it is able to vnderstand It is able to comprehend not onely the whole world but infinit worldes In numbring it can adde and multiply so farre that of addition and multiplication there shall bee no end It is able to imagin infinit perfection But whatsoeuer is infinit in capacitie is also infinit in continuance because as the proprietie of any thing is so is the existence of the same But for asmuch as it is infinitlye capable in this life and cannot bee satisfied in this life therefore it must bee satisfied in the life to come 2. The obiect of mans vnderstanding is truth as Tully speaketh not in particular but in general which is the way wherby all thinges are knowne And therefore it cannot be satisfied vntill it come vnto that in which all truth consisteth and that is God which is truth it selfe according to his essence for no accidents are in him And for asmuch as this cannot be attained vnto in this life therefore it is reserued vnto a better life 3. The obiect of mans vnderstanding is ENS euerie thing that is but because there are some thinges material and some spirituall it must conceaue them both and as for the thinges which be immateriall and without bodies it cannot distinctly conceaue them in this fraile body therfore the conceiuing of them belongeth to the soule when it is separated from the bodie 4. All men by nature desire knowledge as the Philosopher speaketh but scire est rem per causas cognoscere to knowe a thing is to iudge discerne of the causes of it So then because it is naturall to euery man when hee seeth any effect to search out the causes of that effect and againe when hee hath found out the cause to search farther and examine what is the cause of that cause and so to ascend higher vntill he come to the highest cause which is God And that cannot be in this life because the essence of God is not conceaued by discoursing of him but by perfectly seeing of him and beholding of him face to face euen as he is My second reason is drawne from the will of man That also is infinite for he can loue that which is good not onely in the first degree but also in the second and third neyther can there be any end of his loue but still his louing and liking may increase as St. Augustin saith in his Meditations En amo te Domine et si hoc non sufficit amo teplus et si hoc parum est amabo te validius Behold Lord I loue thee if this be not enough I wil loue thee more and if that be not yet enough I wil stil loue thee more Man may desire that which is infinitely good this infinite capacitye of the will must bee fulfilled and because not in this life therefore after death 2. The libertie also and freedome of mans will I meane not in Diuine but in ciuill and Domesticall affayres is of an infinit power which is a sufficient argument to proue the immortality of the soule For if man will not no creature is able to force his will to loue this thing or that voluntas potest cogi who can impose a necessitie vpon man to bee willing or vnwilling to do this or that but onely God which hath created both the will and vnderstanding and is therefore aboue them both 3. The obiect of the wil is that whatsoeuer is good I meane
of Christ for asmuch as they did yeelde benignos influxus et amica lumina as the Astrologers call them the best influences and moste fauourable Aspects vnto the natiuitie of him of whome they receaued their influences their lights their Aspects and all their heauenly vertues The wise men which came from Persia to Bethleem although they could not knowe Christ by the heauens yet the heauens gaue them two manner of wayes to vnderstand that a man shold be borne which in glorie honour vertue and pietie should farre exceede all other men For first the sixt yeare before our Sauiour was borne there was a coniunction of Iupiter and Saturne in Cancer which mooued all the Astrologers then liuing to say that shortly after there should insue a verie great change and alteration of Religion Secondly the constitution of the heauen which was at the time of our Sauiour his birth in the 42. yeare of the Empire of Augustus the 24. of December a little before midnight did testifie the same For in it the Horoscopus was the eight part of Virgo which signifieth change of Religion Saturne was in the highest part of the heauen Sol in the lowest which did shewe that such a Childe was borne which might cause the world to wonder And as Albertus Magnus citeth out of Albumasar the great Astrologer ascendi in prema facie illius signi virgo pulchra et honesta habens in manu sua duas spicas et nutrit puerum et vocat ipsum puerum quaedam gēs Ipsum et ascendit cum eastella virginis Non quod subiaceret stellarum motui qui creauit ipsas stellas sed quia quum extenderet coelum sicvt pellem formans librum vniuersitatis noluit literis eiusdem de esse ex his quae secundum prudentiam suam in libro aeternitatis sunt scriptae etiam elegantissimum illud a natura quod de virgine nasceretur et per hoc innueretur homo carnalis et verus qui non naturaliter nascebatur There arose in the first aspect of the signe Virgo a faire and chaste Virgin hauing two eares of Corne in her hand and a Childe in her armes which Childe some nations doe call Iesus not as if he that made the starres were any way subiect to the motion of the Starres but that hee which stretcheth foorth the heauens as a scrole of Parchment when hee writ the booke of nature might not want witnes out of the booke of nature of that which before was contayned in the book of aeternitie which was his secret decree that a Virgin should bring foorth a Childe and so he should be described to vs to be a natural man although not borne after a naturall manner Thus haue I proued the comming of Christ by manie witnesses of mē of deuils of stars senseles creatures cyted out of prophane stories because the Atheist wil not beleeue the testimony of God Angels in the holy Bible Yet for their better satisfactiō concerning diuers particulars I will alleage them reason so far as faith may bee made manifest by reason that if possibly it may be they may be brought to the acknowledgment of the truth They aske vs what neede there was that the Son of God should take our flesh and whether God was not able to saue vs by other meanes I answer Man offended God therfore it behoued man to make satisfaction but mā alone was not able to satisfye therefore God mā were ioyned together I proue the minor that man alone was not able to satisfie because God would not be satisfyed but by sacrifice no sacrifice vnlesse it were infinite could suffice That an infinite sacrifice was requisit I proue by these reasons An infinite offence cannot be purged but by a sacrifice answerable to the offence but mans offence was infinite in two respects first of the infinite God-head w t was offended secondly of man himself w t was the offender which although he be finite yet voluntate peccandi in infinitum rapitur hee hath an infinite wil desire to cōmit offences And againe as man alone was not sufficiēt so it was not for God alone to worke this worke of our redēption because there was no sacrifice sufficiēt to pacifie God but by death as man without God could not ouer-come death so God without man could not suffer death therefore it was required that the Sauiour of the worlde should be God incarnate and so God and man to make one Christ might be vnited together They aske how it came to passe that man offended For their satisfaction I answere God made two especiall creatures to his owne Image indued with vnderstanding Angels and men hee gaue thē two giftes wherby they might continue their happy estate knowledge to distinguish betweene good and euill freedome of will to choose one leaue the other so that they might choose whether they would fall or stand The Angelles first fell the cause of their fall was pride the obiect by which they were puffed vp the reflection of themselues vpon their own selues beholding their owne glorie and that excellencie whereunto they were created For they could not be proud without an obiect there could be no other obiect to make thē proud but themselues For God was so farre aboue them in glorie that the sight of him would make them rather to haue a meane conceite of themselues and as for man he was farre beneath them that they took no such delight in looking so stedfastlye vpon him as to compare him with themselues And therfore they beheld themselues in themselues and so being delighted with their owne glory manie of them forgot their owne selues how they were subordinate vnto God and so their seruice duetie towards God was interrupted which did consist in perfect loue sincere adoration and imitation of him And for this cause they were cast downe After their fall they enuied that man should stand and mooued him to disobedience the outward obiect which allured him to disobedience being an Apple they mooued him to take the Apple by false suggestions that so his estate should bee aduanced Now both Angells men had fallen it pleased God to restore man againe but not Angells for these two causes First the Angells being first in the praeuarication seduced man and were the cause of his fall Secondly the Angells being Spirits and not bodies were of greater perfection then man was therefore better able to withstand sinne and all manner of temptations then man was and therefore God was more highly displeased with the sinne of Angells then he was with the sinne of men And therefore hee sent his Sonne for the redemption of Man but not of Angells They aske why the Father tooke not flesh rather then the Sonne why the Sonne being incarnate had his conception of the holy Ghost without begetting how he could be borne of a Virgin and wherefore he was so borne