Gamalielles was sent with Commission to persecute the Christians In his way sayth Luke a light shone about him and being smitten to the ground he heard this voyce Saule Saule why persecutest thou me To bee short of a Iewe he became a Christian and of a Persecuter a Martir And if thou beléeuest not S. Luke S. Paule himselfe toucheth his owne historie in diuers places What hath vnbeléefe to bring against this saue onely peraduenture a bare denyall according to common custome If Peter sawe it he is but a Fissherman say they If Paule heard it he is an Orator So then belike if God offer thee his grace in an earthen vessell thou mislykest of it and if he offet it thee in a vessell of some valewe thou suspectest it eyther the one is beguyled or the other beguyleth thee sayest thou What wilt thou haue God to doe to make thee to beleeue him Examine this case well Paule in the way to growe great he is in good reputation with the Magistrate the Priestes and sodeinly he chaungeth his Copie out of one extremitie into an other to bee skorned scourged cudgâ—led stoned and put to death Put the case that neither S. Luke nor S. Paule did tell thee the cause thereof What mayst thou imagine but that it was a very great and forcible cause that was able to chaunge a mans heart so sodeynly and so straungely Is it not daylie sâ—ene wilt thou say that men are soone changed and vpon light causes Yes fooles are But he debateth the matter he vrgeth his arguments and he driueth his conclustons to an ende The best learned of his enemies finde fault with his misapplying as they terme it of his skill and yet commend his writings Yea and he knoweth that vnto thee his preaching will seeme folly and yet that as much folly as it is it is the very wisedome of God and that by following it he shall haue nothing but aduersitie and yet for all that he doth not giue it ouer How shall he be wise that counteth himselfe a foole or rather which of the wiser sort is not rauished at his sayings and doings But if he be wise learned and weladuised as thou seest he is what followeth but that his chaunge proceedeth of some cause And seeing the chaunge was great the cause must néedes be great also and seeing it was extreame and against 〈◊〉 surely it must needes proceede of a supernaturall and souereine cause Uerely the reason that leadeth thee to this generall conclusion ought to leade thee to the speciall also that is to wit that it was a very great and supernaturall cause that moued him namely the same which Sainct Luke rehearseth and which he himselfe confirmeth in many places for the which he estéemeth himselfe right happie to â—ndure the miserie which he caused and procured vnto others and in the end after a thousand hurts and a thousand deaths he willingly spent his life Also the death of Herod striken by the Angell for not giuing glorie vnto God is reported vnto vs much more amply by Iosephus than by S. Luke Herod sayth he made showes in Caesarea and the second day of the solemnitie he came into the Theatre being full clad in robe or cloath of Siluer which by the stryking of the Sunnebeames vppon it made it the more stately Then began certeyne Clawbacks to call him God and to pray him to bee gracious vnto them But forasmuch as he did not refuse that flatterie he sawe an Owle sitting vpon his head and by and by he was taken with so straunge torments that within feawe daies after he dyed acknowledging Gods iudgement vpon him and preaching thereof to his flatterers This Historie is set out more at large by Iosephus which in effect is all one with that which is written by S. Luke who sayeth that the people cryed out It is the voyce of God and not of a man and that thervpon an Angell of God strake him and he was eaten with wormes and so dyed These bee the things which they finde scarce credible in the historie of our Euangelistes which yet notwithstanding are coÌ„firmed by the histories of the Iewes and Gentyles who report the things with words full of admiration which our Euangelistes set downe simply after their owne maner And seeing that in these things which exceede nature they bee found true what likelyhoode is there that they should not also deliuer vs Christes doctrine truely specially being as I haue shewed afore miraculously assisted with the power of his spirit according to his promisses and moreouer hauing witnessed the sinceritie of their writings by suffering so many torments and in the end death Seeing then that the new Testament conteyneth the trueth of the doctrine of Iesus and proceeded from the spirit of Iesus whom I haue shewed to be the Sonne of God what remayneth for vs but to imbrace the Scriptures as the worde of life and Soulehealth and as the will of the Father declared vnto vs by his Sonne and to liue thereafter and to dye for the same considering that by the same wee shall be raysed one day to glorie and reigne with him for euer But forasmuch as we make mention of rysing ageine from the dead that is yet one scruple more that remayneth What lykelyhod is there of that say they séeing that our bodyes rotte Woormes deuour vs yea our bodyes do turne into woormes and a nomber of other chaunges â—o passe ouer them This is a continewall stumbling alwayes at one stone namely to stand gasing at Gods power who can do all things when ye should rather rest vpon his will He will do it for he hath knit the body and Soule togither to be parttakers of good and euill togither and hee hath giuen one Lawe on them both togither so as they must suffer togither and ioy togither yea and suffer one for another and one by another in this lyfe and what Iustice then were it to separate them in another lyfe He will do it for he made the whole man who if he were but Soule alone were no man atall He will do it for to the intent toâ— saue man his Sonne hath takeÌ„ the flesh of man vnto him Now to saue the Soule it had bin inough for him too haue taken but a Soule but he that made the whole man will also saue the whole man To be short he will do it for he hath sayd it and he will doo it for he hath done it already He hath sayd it by his Sonne and he hath also done it in his Sonne and his sonne adorneth vs with his victorie and he will surely adorne vs with his glorie Looke vpon the grayne that is cast into the ground if it rotte not it springeth not vp if it spring not vp it yeldeth no foyson Agein of one graine come many Eares of Corne of a kernell a goodly Tree of a thing of nothing as yée would say a perfect liuing Creature
intent that the voluptuous may seeke their ioy the coâ—etous their gaine and the ambitious their glorie there bending themselues with their whole hearts vnto that alone which all onely can fill their harts and satisfie their desires That is the thing which I indeuor to doo in this worke and GOD of his gratious goodnesse vouchsafe to guide my hand to his owne glorie and to the welfare of those that are his But afore I enter into the matter I haue to answere vnto two sortes of people The one are such as say that Religion cannot bee declared vnto Infidels or vnbeleeuers by reason The other sorte are those whiche vphold that although reason doo somewhat inlighten it yet it is neyther lawfull nor expedient to doo it But let vs see what reason they can haue to exclude reason from this discourse The first sort say It is to no purpose to dispute against such as denie grounded principles And by this meanes because one grounded principle is denied them they breake of quite and cleane as though all meane of conference were taken awaie Surelie this principle of theirs is very true but yet in my iudgement it is very ill vnderstood I graunt it is to no purpose to dispute against such as denie grounded principles by the same principles which they denie That is very true But there may be some other principles common to both sides by the which a man may profitably dispute with them and by those common principles oftentimes prooue and verifie his owne principles And that is the thing which I intend to doo in this worke As for example The Christian groundeth himselfe vpon the Gospell the Iew denieth it and therefore it were to no purpose to alledge it vnto him But both the Iew and the Christian haue one common principle and ground which is the old Testament By this may the Christian profitably dispute against the Iewâ—yea eueÌ„ to the verifying of the gospel as if ye should make one to call some maÌ„ to his knowledge by the draughts or descriptions of his portraiture Likewise the Iew is grounded vpon the old TestameÌ„t which the Gentile would mocke at if he should alledge it vnto him But both the Gentile and the Iew haue one common nature which furnisheth them both with one common Philosophie and with one common sort of principles as that there is one God which gouerneth all things that he is good and no author of euill That he is wise and doth not anie thing in vaine Also that man is borne to be immortall that to be happie he ought to serue God and continew in his fauour And therewithall that he is subiect to passions inclined to euill weake vnto good and so forth Of these common principles the Iew maie draw necessarie conclusions which the Gentile shall not perceiue at the first like as when a man vnderstandeth a proposition but conceiueth not yet the drift and consequence thereof He that marketh that the Adamant or Loadstone pointeth to the North perceiueth not foorthwith that by the same a man maie goe about the world although he was of capacitie to cenceiue it After the same maner by this principle He that from equall things taketh equall things leaueth the remainder equall and by a few other propositions which children learne in playing the Mathematician leadeth vs gentlie and ere we be aware of anie mounting vnto this so greatlie renowmed proposition and experiment of Pythagoras that in a Triangle the side that beareth vp the right Angle yeeldeth a square equall to the other twaine which at the first sight seemeth vnpossible and yet by degrees is found to be so of necessitie Thus shall the Iew by common principles and conclusions verifie his owne ground which is the old Testament For he shall proue vnto the Gentiles by their owne Philosophers that vnto God alone things to come are present and that vnto Spirits they be knowen but onelie by coniecture and so farre forth as they can read them in the starres And he shall proue by their Astrologers that the names of men and the circumstances of their doings cannot be betokened nor red in the starres And he shall proue by their Historiographers that the bookes of the old Testament which containe so manie and so perticular prophesies were written manie hundred yeares afore the things came to passe Now what will reasonablie insue hereof but the proofe of the principle which is in controuersie by the principles which are agreed vpo betweene them both namelâ—e that the old Testament is of God seing it cannot be from anie other And what else is all this than that which is commonlie done in Geometric and Logicke which by two lines or by two propositions that are coÌ„monlie knowen certeine do gather a third proportion that was vnknowen or a third proposition that is to saie a conclusion that was erst either doubted of or hidden and by meanes of the other two is euidentlie found out and necessarilie prooued Such are these proofes against the Atheists nothing hath mouing of it selfe It is nature that saieth so The world turneth about and the heauenlie bodies haue a mouing and that doth man himselfe see Therefore they must needs be moued by some other power and that is the Godhead which our eie seeth not and yet by means of the eie our reason conceiueth and perceiueth it in all things Against them which denie â—hristes Godhead we alledge this principle of their owne That naturally of nothing nothing is made It is the saying of Aristotle and the schooles would haue him by the eares that should denie it Iesus Christ hath of nothing made verie great things yea euen contraries by contraries The Heathen wonder at it all ages crie it out our eies do still behold it He that will denie this must denie the world he must denie all things he must denie himselfe It followeth then that Christ wrought by a powre that is mistresse of Nature Aristotle himselfe saw it not and yet Aristotle maketh vs to see it The writers of Histories tooke no heed of it and yet they themselues make vs to beleeue it The Philosopher thought but onelie vpon nature and the Histographer but onelie vpon his owne writing And yet from both twaine of them wee drawe both the Godhead of Christ and the truth of our Scriptures Certesse in like manner as by Arithmetike out of two and sixe wee draw out one continuall proportionable line hidden after a sort in either of them and yet greater than both of them togither which is Eighteene as out of two sticks chafed one against another we draw out fire which is not seene in the two the consuming of theÌ„ both out of hand To be short the marke that our faith looketh at is the Author of Nature principle of all principles The rules therefore the principles of Nature which he hath made cannot be contrarie vnto himselfe And he is also the verie reason and truth it selfe All other
is by his Sonne as we shall see hereafter and moreouer it is an action that passeth into the thing saued and abydeth not in God alone Therefore it maketh not to the stablishing of a fourth person or inbeing for then it ought to be Coessentiall To be short all Gods operations doe eyther procéede from within him and abyde still in the worker and in their first ground or els they procéed from without and passe into the outward effect That worke or action which procéedeth from within can bee of none other essence than the thiug from whence it commeth for in GOD there is nothing but essence and in that esseuce can nothing abyde but the essence it selfe That which procéedeth from without is alwaies of a sundrie essence as are the Creatures and workes of God which come nothing nere the essence of the Creator The thing which doth the worke without is Gods power howbeit accompanyed with his vnderstanding and will And the thing that doth the work within is his vnderstanding and will and nothing els as wee may discerne in our selues who are but a very slender image thereof And like as in beholding a paynted Table or in reading the verses of a Poet we imagine not therefore that there was a peculiar and immediate abilitie of paynting or versifying in the mynd or souereyne part of their Soule but we referre those skilles and al other like vnto Wit and Will euen so and much more according to reason of all the workes and doings which we see done by Gods power we cannot gather any other persons or inbeings in him than those which procéede immediatly of his Understanding and Will and alonly those and none other can be Coessentiall in him Now Understanding and Will in GOD are essence and his essence is merely one and most single And moreouer the Word or Spéech conceyueth not another Spéech but turneth wholly vnto the Father neither doth the Spirit conceyue another loue than the loue of those two but resteth and reposeth it selfe altogether in them So then there can but one onely word or spéech procéede by the vnderstanding nor but only one Loue procéede by the Will neither can any other procéede of that Word and that Loue. And so there remayne vnto vs the onely thrée persons of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost by the which two the Father gouerneth and loueth all things because he himself alone is all things Now as we haue read in nature that there is but one God as a thing which we finde written euen in the least creatures so may we now perceyue the euident footsteps of the chrée inbeings or persons in one eâ—sence as a marke of the worker that made them in some more and in some lesse according to their dignitie which yet notwithstanding are such as we could not well perceine them vntill the doctrine thereof was reuealed vnto vs no more than we can vnderstand the letters of Cyphering which wee can neither reade nor decypher vnlesse we haue some knowledge of the matter which they import from other folkes hands or by coniecture or by some other way Wee finde an Unitie in all things yea euen in those which haue but only being For all things are inasmuch as they be one and whensoeuer they ceasse to bee that one they consequently ceasse also to be Againe we see in them a forme or shape and that is the marke of that witfull action that is to say of the euerlasting Word or Conceyt whereby God made them which hath bred vs the essentiall forme or shape and all other maner of formes and shapes Also we see an inclination or disposition in some more apparant than in othersome in some to mount aloft as in fire in some to sincke downe towards the Center as in a Stone and in all to hold themselues vnited in their matter forme This is the marke of the workfull Will wherein God hath voutsafed to stoope vnto them and of the vnion which procéedeth therof wherein he loueth vpholdeth preserueth all things But euen in some of the things of this bacest sort there appeareth not onely a trace but almost an image thereof For the Sunne breedeth or begetteth his owne beames which the Poets doe call the very sonne of the Sunne and from them two proceedeth the light which imparteth it selfe to all things here beneath and yet is not the one of them afore the other for neither is the Sunne afore his beames nor the Sunne or his beames afore the light otherwise than in consideration of order and relation that is to wit as in respect that the beames are begotten and the light is proceeding which is an apparant image of the Coeternitie Likewise in Waters we haue the head of them in the earth the Spring boyling out of it the streame which is made of them both and sheadeth it self out farre of from thence It is but one selfesame continuall and vnseparable essence which hath neither forenesse nor afternesse saue only in order and not in tyme that is to say according to our considering of it hauing respect to causes and not according to trueth For the Welhead is not a head but in respect of the Spring nor the Spring a Spring but in respect of the Welhead nor the Streame a Streame but in respect of them both and so all three be but one Water and cannot almost be considered one without another howbeit that the one is not the other It is an expresse mark of the originall relations and persoâ—s Coessentiall in the only one essence of God The like is to bee sayd of Fire which ingendreth fire and hath in it both heate and brightnesse vnseparable Also there are other examples to bee found of such as list to seeke them out In Hearbes and Plants there is a roote which yeeldeth a slippe stocke or ympe and the same ympe groweth afterward into a Tree It cannot well be named or deemed to be a roote but that therewith it hath also ingendred an ympe or stocke for in that respect is it called a roote and so is the one as soone as the other Also there is a sappe which passeth from the one to the other ioyning knitting and vniting them together by one common life without the which life neither the roote should bee a roote nor the slip a slip and so in effect they bee altogether the one as soone as the other Moreouer among all liuing wights euery of them ingendreth after his owne kind and forme of whom one is an ingendrer and another is ingendred among men a father and a sonne and by and by through knowledge there procéedeth a naturall loue and affection from the one to the other which knitteth and linketh them together All these are traces footsteps and images howbeit with the grossest of that high misterie and also I haue told you afore that no effect doth fully resemble his cause and much lesse that cause which in
vnitie and settled state and that the nature of the Mynded which is behild is an act that isseweth from him that Myndeth which act consisteth in beholding or mynding him and in beholding him becometh one selfesame thing with him Againe he sayth in a◠other place To bee and to vnderstand are both one thing in God and if any thing proceede therof inwardly yet is it no whit diminished therby because the Mynder and the Mynded are both one same thing For the beholding of ones selfe in his selfe is nothing but himselfe But yet must there needes be alwaies both a selfesamenesse and also an othernesse Now then let vs conclude thus that these two Inbeings or Persons namely The Mynded and the Mynder are both one thing and therefore that they differ not but only in way of relation And that forasmuch as there must néedes bee euer both a selfesamenesse and also an othernesse If I may so terme them the selfesamenesse is in the Essence or beeing because that from God there procéedeth nothing but God and the othernesse is in the Inbeings or Persons as in respect that the one is the begetter and the other is the begotten Moreouer this Plotinus calleth the begetter the Father and the begotten the Sonne after the same maner that we doe Certesse sayth he the vnderstanding is beautifull and the most beautifull of all and therefore in diuers other places he termeth him the Beautifull as he termed the First the Good and sitteth in cleere light and brightnesse and conteyneth in him the nature of all things that are As for this Worlde of ours although it be beautifull yet it is scarce an image or shadowe of him but the world that is aboue is set in the very light itself where there is nothing that is voyd of vnderstanding nor nothing darke but euery where is led a most blessed lyfe Now lyke as he that beholdeth the Skye and the Starres falleth by and by to seeking the author of this World So he that considereth aud commendeth the World that is not to be discerned but in vnderstanding doth lykewise seeke the author thereof namely who he is that begate that World and where and how he begate that Sonne that vnderstanding that Child so bright and beautifull euen that Sonne full of the Father As for the souerein father hee is neither the vnderstanding nor the Sonne nor the Child but a Mynd higher thā Vnderstanding and Child And next vnto him is the Vnderstanding or Child who needeth both vnderstanding and nourishment and is next to him that hath neede of nothing And yet for al this the Sonne hath the very fulnesse of vnderstanding because hee hath it immediatly and at the first hand But as for him that is the higher that is to wit the Father he hath no neede of him for then should the Sonne be the very good it selfe So say we also that the Sonne hath all fulnesse howbeit of the Father and that the Father hath all fulnesse but of himselfe and that the Father is not the Sonne or the Worde but that the Sonne or the Worde is of the Father And in another place hee sayth What shall a man haue gayned by seeing or beholding God That hee shall haue seene God begetting a Sonne and in that Sonne al things and yet holding him still in him without payne after his conceyuing of him of whom this World as beautifull as we see it to be is but an Image In which sort a painted Table is after a maner a portreyture of the mynd of him that made it I sayd moreouer that this Sonne is the Wisedome of the Father the like whereof Plotinus also sayth vnto vs. All things sayth he that are done eyther by Art or by Nature are done by Wisedome If they bee done by Arte from Arte we come to Nature and of Nature againe we demaund from whence she hath it whereby wee finally come to a Mynd and then are we to seeke whether the Mynd haue begotten Wisedome And if that bee graunted wee will inquire yet further whereof And if they say it begetteth it of it self That cannot be vnlesse the Mynd be the very Wisedome it selfe Wisedome therfore shal be the Essence and the very Essence shal be Wisedome and the worthinesse of the Essence shal be Wisedome And therefore euery Essence that wanteth Wisedome is in deede an Essence as in respect that Wisedome made it but forasmuch as it hath no Wisedome in it selfe it is no true Essence in deede Now the ordinary teaching of Plotine is to call the Understanding or second Person the very Béeer in déed or the very true Essence and the first person a thing higher than Understanding or Essence Wherevpon it should followe that with him Wisedome and true Essence are both one that is to say that the second person is Wisedome To the same purpose also he sayth that the sayd Mynd possesseth all things in his homebred Wisedome That all shapes are but beames and effects thereof and that the same is the trueth yea and King of trueth which is a name that the Scripture also attributeth to the second person As touching the third person whom he calleth the Soule of the World he seemeth in his other bookes to lay vs a foundation of a better opinion For God saith he hath wrought he wrought not vnwillingly and therefore there is a will in GOD. Now surely he whose power is answerable to his will should by and by become the better God then who is the good it self than the which nothing can be better filleth his owne will to the full so as he is the thing that he listeth to be and lifteth to be that which he is and his will is his very Essence This will againe is his act or operatiō and that act is his very substance And so God setteth downe himself in this act of Beeing And this is in a maner all one with the things which I spake in the former Chapter namely that God by his will produceth a third person that is to say the loue of himself by delighting in himself And in another place This same GOD sayth he is both the lonely and loue and this Loue is the loue of himselfe for of himselfe and in himselfe is he altogether beautifull And whereas he is sayd to be altogether with himselfe it could not be so vnlesse that both the thing which is and also the person which is together therewith were both one selfesame thing Now if the together beer for I must be fayne to vse that word the thing together wherewith he is be both one and likewise the desirer and the thing desired be one also Surely the desire and the Essence must also needes be one selfesame thing And this desire of the Mynd is the Loue it self whom we call the holy Ghost which procéedeth by the Will and so by the foresayd reasons is proued to bee
bee fathered but vpon God as vnto whome alone things absent or to come are present And to shewe the vncorruptnesse of the Scripture the more cléerly it cōcealeth not that the same man of God by whose mouth God had vttered the sayd Prophesie was slaine by a Lyon for going back ageine to eate with the Prophet of Samaria contrarie to the word of the Lord which doth vs to vnderstand that men are nothing of themselues but onely so farforth as they be Gods tooles and instruments Now then by what coniecture can we deeme that man to haue bin the deuiser of a lye who to tell the trueth sticked not to dishonor the remembrance of so great a Prophet whose sinceritie appéered by so many circumstances Wonderfull is Esay in the things that hee foretelleth concerning the kingdome of the Messias and the calling of the Gentiles for he seemeth rather an Euangelist than a Prophet Also when he threateneth Hierusalem with the captiuitie of Babylone or chéereth them ageine with hope of their deliuerance his maner of inditing sheweth that he speaketh as one that sawe them both and in that respect also were the Prophets called Seërs And in very trueth he saith not the Lord will doe the Lord will call the Lorde will destroy and so foorth but he doth he calleth he destroyeth Yea and oftentimes he hath done he hath called he hath destroyed and so foorth as though he spake not of things that were but onely néere the execution or performance but of things already come to passe After that maner did he foretel things in the time that the people prospered and trusted in the allyance of the Chaldees and that all likelihods were to the contrarie But I aske of such as doubt of our Prophesies by what spirite could Esay say I am the Lord that doeth things in deede which doe say vnto Cyrus Thou art my Shepherd thou shalt fulfill al my will and which sayeth vnto Hierusalem Thou shalt be builded ageine vnto the Temple Thou shalt be founded agein And ageine Thus sayth the Lord to Cyrus his anoynted whom I haue tataken by the right hand to subdue the Nations before him to weaken the reynes of Kings I will goe before thee and leuell the croked wayes I will breake open the Brazen gates wring asunder the yron barres and so foorth that thou mayst knowe how that I am the Lord the God of Israell which calleth thee by the name For loue of my seruant Iacob and for Israels sake haue I named thee by thy name and called thee though thou knewest me not c. How many wonders shall we find in these fewe words if wee list to examine them At the same tyme that the people of Israel triumphed vnder their allyance with the Chaldees Esay threatened them with destruction by the selfe-same people This is somewhat But some will say that mans wisedome may reache as farre as that Yea but he foretelleth not onely the captiuitie of that people the sacking of the Cittie and the ouerthrowe of the Temple but also the destruction of the Chaldees by the Persians and the building vp of Hierusalem and the Temple by them again Well may mans skill wade into Wéekes and monethes but considering the vncerteintie of worldly matters it can neuer wade into yéeres and much lesse into hundreds of yeres and into the whole continuance of a mightie and long lasting Monarchie as Esay doth there In so much that hee nameth Cyrus a hundred yeeres afore hee was borne And afore his Graundfathers were named in the world hée calleth him by name to deliuer Israel And in another place he summoneth the people of Cethim that is to say of Macedonie to the destroying of the Persians And in his eight Chapter he taketh Vrias and Zacharias the sonnes of Iebarachias by name to be witnesses of his Prophesie who were vnborne a hundred yeres after Let the greatest enemies of the trueth enter into their owne consciences and tell me what humane skill or cunning there could be in those things They cannot say here that these Prophesies were forged by some man vpon the euent For by the remouing of the Iewes vnto Babylon the Lawes Prophesies and Scriptures of Israell which were cōmon among that people were conueied into diuers places of the world amōg the which they had this Prophesie afore Cyrus was borne and beeing in diuers mens hands it was vnpossible to be falsified And in good sooth sith we see that the Kings of Persia being conquerours caused the Temple to be builded ageine it ought to bee a marke vnto vs that in the Idolatrie out of which they came they had séene wonders of the God of Israell and that according to Esaies saying they perceiued themselues to be called by him The same is to bee considered of vs in Icremie and Ezechiell who beeing in places farre one from another the one in Ierusalem and the other in captiuitie at Babylon foretell the selfesame things as sure Registers of one Court But Ieremie is the more wonderfull in this behalfe in that he prophesieth expresly that the people which were caryed away prisoners should bee brought home againe at the ende of thréescore and ten yeeres contrary to all likelyhood and yet with such assurednesse as a man would verely haue sayd that he had led them home againe by the hand into Hierusalem And in very déede at the thréescore and tenth yeeres end the people were conueyed home againe at the forenamed instant as though Cyrus had bene bent of set purpose to verifie the Prophesie or as though hee had bene waged by the Prophet And it appeareth by the nineth Chapter of Danyell where this prophesie is alledged that it was common among al the people As for Danyell himselfe who being borne vnder the first Monarchie seemeth rather an Historiographer than a Prophet as in respect of the Monarchies and things that insewed for he speaketh of the Persians Greekes and Romaines of the tyrannie of Antiochus of the vnhallowing of the Temple and of other things that were done sixe hundred yeeres after his tyme as of things alreadie come to passe like as he closeth vp the Prophesie from the creation of the world to the comming of Christ so ought he to stop all mens mouthes that will speake against him For if a man wil not beleue the Iewish Chronicles in that they report that the Prophesie of Danyell was read vnto Great Alexander at his comming to Hierusalem to shewe him what was foretold of him yet is it euident and cannot bee denyed but that when Prolomie caused the Scriptures to be translated the Prophesie of Danyell was then extant and was translated with the residue which was long tyme afore the Tyrannie of Antiochus the which he describeth to the eye And therefore if it could not bee falsified in that behalfe as little could it be falsified in all the rest considering that all of it doth equally and infinitely exceede the
mée to whom they be vnpossible to whom they bée vncredible séeing they father them not but vpon God the maker of Heauen and Earth to whom all things are alike easie The Poets say that Iupiter thundreth aboue and that Neptune turmoyleth the Seas and rowleth vp the Earth and wee knowe that both Iupiter and Neptune were men as we be and therefore we say iustly that they report Fables for they father things vpon men which are aboue the abilitie of man to doe and which surmount the power of all Creatures But when things that are vnpossible to Creatures are reported of GOD whose power is infinite although men doubt whether they were doone or noe yet can they not deny but that hee was able to doe them And if their suspecting of them bee because they reade the lyke things in their owne Fables I haue proued already that these things were written long tyme afore they had either wryters of Histories Poets yea or any writing at all And therefore they ought to thinke that their Fables were deuised vpon our Histories and their Leasings vpon our truethes For lyke as a man hath bene afore his portraiture good Coyne afore counterfet Coyne a true Seale afore a forged Seale and a true Copy afore a forgerie so also was the true declaration of things afore Fables according to this rule of the Philosophers That euill hath not any being of it selfe but in another thing ne is properly a substance but a corruption of a substance Therefore we beléeue not the Fables of Homere nor the Inuentions of Euripides and Sophocles made vpon the battell of Troy and yet wee deny not but there was a Warre of Troy As little also doo wee beléeue the Romanes which vaunt of the twelue Péeres of Charles the greate the King of Fraunce and yet wee doubt not but there was a greate Charles that did greate things in his tyme and had greate store of Noble Parsonages in his seruice To be short had there neuer bene any Dogge Horse Beare or Lyon in the world neither Poets had feined nor Peinters had peinted vs any Cerberus Pegasus or Chymere Lykewise had there not bene a trueth of the things whereon the Poets made their Fables we should not haue had at this day any Fables in the Worlde Let vs come to particularities In all the whole Scripture there is not a more woonderfull thing than the Creation of the world and of man And if we admit those two poyntes nothing ought to séeme straunge vnto vs in the residew of the Byble For all the miracles which wee wonder at are but sparkes of the infinite power which vttered it selfe at that tyme in the creating of all things Now I haue proued alreadie both by liuely reasons and by witnesse of the auncient writers that the world and al things therein were created and that they were created by the only will of God at such tyme as pleased him and that it cannot bée otherwise imagined Uppon this trueth haue the Phenicians and AEgiptians fashioned their Fables saying that in the beginning there was a darknesse and a spirituall Ayre and in an infinite Chaos that this spirit couered the Chaos and that of the coniunction of them twayne was bred a certeine Moth that is to say a certeyne slyme whereof all liuing things were ingendred It can not be denyed but that this was a mistaken Copy of the holy and natiue Copie written by Moyes Concerning the creation of Man the AEgiptians say hee was created both Male and female Herevpon Plato gathereth that he was a Manwoman or Herkinalson and the Scripture had sayd that God had created them Male and female So befalleth it properly to a Portrayture that is drawen by another That which is taken at the lyuely image loseth a little of his nature That which is taken at the Patterne loseth somewhat more And so from one to another they varry in the ende so farre from the very originall that a man can scarsly find any resemblance thereof The fall of man hath bene proued of mée by many reasons and approued by all the Philosophers and euen by the very feeling of our corruption All men are inforced to confesse it But Moyses is the only man that setteth vs downe both the Historie and the cause therof Herevpon the Emperour Iulian quareleth thinking it straunge that a Serpent should speake which is no more but that the diuell spake by the Serpent And what is there herein which befell not dayly among the Gentyles diuels to deceiue men spake to them from out of Images The Féend of Dodon spake out of an Oke Phylostratus sayth that an Elme spake to Apollonius of Thyaney A Riuer sayeth Porphirius saluted Pythagoras Euen Iulian himself his Philosopher Maximus heard the diuell speake in diuers voyces in diuers maners in al this geare there is thought to be no straungenes at all For séeing that the diuell of himselfe is not visible to our eyes must hee not bee faine to put on a borowed shape And if he borowe one why should he rather take some other shape than the shape of a Serpent And if he speake why should he not speake as well by the mouth of a Serpent as of another liuing wight and as well of a liuing wight as of a thing that hath no lyfe Nay further this creature hath a manifest figure in that it trayleth vpon the ground and liueth of the dust and in that wée by our winding away from God to the base and Earthly things are brought to the same poynt at this day We reade of the men of the first age that they liued seuen eight or nine hundred yeres which thing some thinking to be incredible haue imagined that those yéeres were but moneths notwithstanding that in the historie of the vniuersall Flud which insewed the moneth is set downe to be of eight and twentie daies and the yéere to be twelue moneths and that otherwise wee must be faine to admit that they begate Children at lesse than ten yéeres of the sonne And yet is that one of the griefes which they conceiue against our Scriptures as who would say it were not as easie vnto GOD to extende our liues vnto ten thousand of yeeres as to a hundred to God I say who hath made both the life it selfe and the yéeres and the worlds of yeeres Yet notwithstanding Manethon the AEgiptian Berosus the Chaldean Moschus Hestiaeus and Hierom who wrate the Stories of the Phenicians doe confirme the saying of Moyses concerning the first men Also Hesiodus Hecataeus Acusilaus Hellanicus and Ephorus agree thereunto affirming that they were ordeyned to liue so long tyme as well for to studie the Sciences as to inuent the Handycrafts and specially for the finding out of Astronomie because say they if they had liued lesse than sixe hundred yéeres their obseruations had bene in vayne because the great yere cōtinueth so long To be short the matter was so cléere
Coniurations of the AEgiptians they vsed these words to the Deuils The God of Israell the God of the Hebrewes the God that drowned the AEgiptians with their King in the red Sea which sheweth euidently that the matter was commoÌ„ly knowen and out of al doubt And I remember not any Author that denyeth Moyses to haue conueyed the people of Israell out of AEgipt with great myracles For soothly it had bin a myracle of all myracles to haue made them to suffer so many aduersities without myracles But yet some Authors haue attributed those myracles to Magicke and othersome to naturall reasons There is sayth Plinie a kynd of Magicke which dependeth vpon Moyses and the Cabale but yet had Magicke neuer so great scope sayth he as vnder Nero neither was it euer found to be more feeble and vayne And in trueth what likenesse is there betwéene the Illusions of a Magician which vanish away in the twinckling of an eye and the leading of a mightie great Nation through the Sea and which more is the mainteyning of them from hunger thirst so long a time But yet hath the Scripture prouided against this slaunder For no lawe els in the world doth so expressely forbid Magick as doth the lawe of Moyses and the Cabale whereof Plinie had heard speake is further of froÌ„ such doings than eyther Arithmeticke or Grammar And whereas others doe report that Moyses marked the ebbing of the water that he might passe the red Sea surely they make the counsell of the AEgiptians very grossewitted in casting themselues away so rashly Nay I say further that if it had bene so the waters that drowned the one people would not haue spared the other But euery man knowes that the Gulfe of Arabie is not subiect to such tydes as those are and though it were yet cannot the like cauill take place in all the residue of the myracles that are attributed vnto him As vnméete also to bee admitted is the slaunder of Iustine the Historiographer and others That Moyses was driuen out of AEgipt because he was a Leaper and that he caryed all the Leapers of the Realme away with him For it is a cléere case by record of all auncient writers that the people whom he caryed away was a straunger in AEgipt and when he himself rehearseth openly the benefites which that people had receiued at Gods hand You knowe sayth he that there hath not bene any sicknesse or disease among you since the tyme you came out of AEgipt And on the contrarie part he menaseth them with the Plagues Byles and Botches of AEgipt if they offended God Insomuch that whereas in any other auncient lawes there is no mention made of any order for them that are infected with the Leaprosie in this Law as though GOD had ment to preuent that slaunder they be separated from the companie of men their clothes are to bee layd away their houses to be scraped and certeyne other things are to be done which is a sufficient proofe that those which gouerned that people and had authoritie ouer them were no Leapers This people then went out of Egipt and the Scripture sayeth that they were Sixhundred thousand men on foote besids women and Children Heare ageyn they krye out They were but threescore and ten when they went into Egipt and how then is it possible that they should be so manie at their going out I wilnot alledge any miraculousnes though the Scripture declare that that people increased very greatly insomuch that it termeth them by the woord Frye as though it spake of Fisshes But I beséeche them to make somewhat a nearer reckening not with the largest but after the ordinarie maner what nomber myght rise of threescore and ten persones in fower hundred yeeres or thereabouts which was the tyme that they were in Egipt and they shall find their full nomber afore they come to Twohundred and fiftye yeeres After the same maner do we sée that Thréescore households of Arabians passing into Affrica in the tyme of the diuision vnder Calis had peopled it throughout in lesse than thréehundred yeeres insomuch that euen at this day the Prouinces beare the names of Beni Megher Beni Guariten Beni Fensecar and so foorth that is too say the Children of Megher of Guariten and of Fensecar And there was not that Familie which peopled not some one Shire or other Also the West Indyes which haue not bin knowen vnto vs aboue one hundred yeeres will within one hundred mo be peopled with Spanyards To be short Viues saith he sawe an honest man in Spayne which had peopled a village of a hundred houses with the issew of his owne body so as the names of kinred fayled And this present yeere there dyed a noble Ladie in Germanie which had seene a hundred and threescore Children borne of hirself and hirs and yet the one half of hir Children dyed afore they were maryed and those that are maryed are of age to haue manie mo Their saying therefore bewrayeth a manifest ignorance lyke as theirs doth who being ignoraÌ„t of progression in Arithemetik will easely bargayne for a horse or some other thing to giue euery day doble for it during a whole mooneth beginning with a pennye who by that tyme that they come but too the midds of the mooneth begin to perceiue that which no reason could haue beaten into their heads afore namely that all the goods they haue are not able too serue the turne After Moyses succeded Iosua who brought the people into the promised Land so as the Chananytes did partly flée before him and partly were made tributaries vnto him He that shal reade the voyage of this people from iourney to iourney and consider the bounds and coasâ—s of their porcioâ—s will byandby iudge the trueth of the storie But yet Procopius in his historie of the Vandales leaueth vs a notable marke thereof in these words Al the Country saieth he which lyeth from Sidon to Egipt was in old tyme called Phenice and they that wrate the History of the Phenicians report that in old time it was all vnder one only King In these costes dwelt the Gergesites Iebusites other nations who at such tyme as they sawe the great army of Iosua comming towards them remoued into AEgipt But within a while after bycause that Country could not beare them they passed into Afrik where they buylded many Cities and peopled the whole Country euen to the Pillers of Hercules and their language is half Phenician Also in Numidy among other Cities they builded Tingit the seat whereof is very strong where are two Pillers of white stone to be seene nere vnto a greate Fountain wherein are grauen these words in the Phenician tongue we be those that fled from the Robber Iosua the sonne of Nun. Such sayeth he is the original of those Nations whom we call at this day Maurusians And Eupolemus sayeth that Iosua Prophesied a hundred and ten yeeres and placed
Insomuch that their owne Historywriter beholding so many records of Gods wrath was in maner cōstreyned to come somewhat nye the cause thereof which he affirmeth to be that the Highpriest Ananus had vniustly and hastily caused Iames the brother of Iesus to be stoned to death and certeine others with him to the great griefe of good men and of such as loned the Lawe To the which purpose also may this saying of the notablest of their Rabbines be applyed That the second Temple was destroyed for their selling of the Rightuous and for hating him without cause according to this saying of Iesus concerning them They haue hated me without cause And whereas some Iewes at this day doe say that they bee punished because some of them receiued this Iesus for the Christ there is no likelyhood of trueth in it For considering that Gods maner is to saue a whole Citie for some ten good mens sakes if they be found in it he would much rather haue saued his own people for so many mens sakes being the chiefe and representing the state of the Realme of Iewrie which did put their hands to the accusing of Iesus and for so great a multitudes sake which cryed out Away with him away with him crucifie him And if God confirmed the Priesthood vnto Phinees for his zealousnesse in punishing a simple Israelite what thinke you your selues to haue deserued for crucifying as you beare your selues on hand an enemie of God one that named himselfe Christ the Lords Anoynted yea and which sayd he was very God himselfe Yet notwithstanding in the middes of all these calamities the Citie and Temple of this Iesus were builded vp first in Iewrie it selfe and afterward in the whole world and according to Daniels Prophesie the Couenant of Saluation was stablished among all Nations by the preaching of his Apostles and the Sacrifices of the Iewes were then put downe and neuer anywhere reuyued againe since that tyme. And within a while after the very ydolatries of the Gentyles which had possessed the whole world were likewise dasshed also as wée shall see hereafter Whereof Rabbi Hadarsan writing vpon Daniell seemeth to haue giuen some incling in that he sayth Halfe a weeke that is to say three yeeres and a half shall make an end of Sacrificing And so doth R. Iohanan in that he sayth Three yeeres and a half hath the presence of the Lord cryed out vppon Mount Oliuet saying seeke God while he may be found and call vpō him while he is nere hand And vpon the Psalmes it is sayd That by the space of three yeeres and a halfe GOD would teache his Church in his owne persone Now it is manifestly knowen that Iesus preached betwéene thrée and fower yeres about Hierusalem and that his preaching was pursewed and continued afterward by his Apostles Sothen we haue in the Prophets a Christ the sonne of God which was to be borne of a Uirgin in the end of the thréescore and and ten wéekes mention in Daniel at Bethleem in Iewrie whom being foregone by an Elias it behoued to preache the kingdome of God to dye a reprocheful death to mans Saluation and to ryse agayne with glorie shortly wherevpon should follow the destruction of Hierusalem and of the Temple And at the very selfesame tyme we haue in our Gospels in the stories of the Iewes themselues one Iesus the sonne of God borne of the Uirgin Marie at Bethleem in Iewrie who beeing foregone by Iohn the Baptist preached the kingdome of Heauen both in woord and déede was crucified at Hierusalem beléeued on by the Gentiles and reuēged by the ouerthrowe and destruction of the Temple And all these circumstances and markes are so peculiar vnto him that they can by no meanes agrée to any other Wherefore let vs conclude that this Iesus is the very same Christ that was promised from time to time in the Scriptures and exhibited in his dew time according to our Gospell For that is the thing which wee had to proue in these last two Chapters The xxxj Chapter An answere to the Obiections which the Iewes alledge ageinst Iesus why they should not receiue him for the Christ or Messias NOw let vs examine the obiections of the Iewes and sée what they can say ageinst the Testimonie of all the Prophetes which agreeth fitly to Iesus and can agree to none but him First If Iesus say they were the Christ who should haue knowen and receiued him rather than the great Sinagogue which was at that time This obiection is very old for in the Gospell the Pharisies say Doe any of the Pharisies or chiefe Rulers beleeue in him saue onely this rascall people which know not the Lawe who be accursed Here I might alledge Simeon surnamed the rightuous a Disciple of Hillels who had serued fortie yeres in the Sanctuarie how hée acknowledged Iesus for the Sauiour of Israell and the light of the Gentiles in the which Simeon the Iewes themselues confesse that Spirit of God to haue sayled which was woont to inspire the greate Sinagogue and inspired him still during all his lyfe Also I could alledge Iohn the Baptist whom they called the great Rabbi Iohanan who acknowledging Iesus to be the sonne of God sent his Disciples vnto him And likwise Gamaliel whom in the Acts of the Apostles we reade to haue sayd If this Doctrine be of God it will continew if not it will perish and in Clement to haue bene a Disciple of the Apostles and in their owne bookes to haue bene the Disciple of the sayd Simeon And finally S. Paule him selfe a disciple of the sayd Gamaliel soothly a very great man and of great fauour and authoritie among them of whom they cannot in any wyse mistrust To bee short Iosephus reporteth that this Iesus was followed among that Iewes of all such as loued the trueth and that as many as loued the Lawe did greatly blame Ananus the highpréest for causing the disciples of Iesus to be put to death Also R. Nehumia the sonne of Hacana hauing recounted the miracles of Iesus within a litle of whose tyme he was sayth expresly I am one of those which haue beleeued in him and haue bene baptized and haue walked in the right way Likewise the S. Rabbi seemeth to haue hild of Iesus and if he did not then is it yet more wonderfull than if he had knowen him considering that he séemeth to describe this Iesus by the selfsame circumstaunces that the very Christ is described by him But without any stāding vpō that poynt I say further to them That whereas the Synagogue receiued not Iesus for the Messias their so doing is a token that he was the very Messias in deede and that their receiuing of Barcozba for the Messias was a sure proofe that Barcozba was not the Messias For it is expresly sayd by the Prophetes that when the Messias came vnto them they should be so blynde as not too
looked into the consciences of those Rabbines I beléeue hee should haue seene that they made not so good account of GOD as of themselues As for the Scriptures they expound not one text of them among a hundred to the purpose no nor scarsly without blasphemie sauing where they followe or alledge the Rabbines of old time The residew are either toyes or oldwiues tales or horrible blasphemies or things either too fond for Children or to wicked for men and such as euen the Diuell himself would be ashamed of To be short I can not tell how they that wrate that booke could bee Iewes or howe the reading of it now should not make them all become Christians Yet they reply still and say What lykelyhod is there that this Iesus was the Messias comming so attyred as he did Or were not we at least wyse woorthie to be excused for not knowing him comming disguysed after that manner Nay I demaund of you after what other sort he could or should come considering that hee came to humble himself and to be crucified for vs You looked to haue had him princelyke and he was forepromised poore a Warryour and it was told you he should be beaten and wounded with a greate trayne and he is descrybed alone vppon an Asse with a companie of wyues and there was no mo spoken of but only one with tryumphing and feasting and yee were informed aforehand that his bread should be stéeped in vineger and his Cup be full of gall and bitternesse You imagin vnder him eyther the Peace of Salomon or the Conquests of greate Alexander peace to manure Iewrie at your ease and Warre to reape the riches of the Gentyles But he came to appease Gods wrath and to vanquish the Diuell and thenceforth to make Iewes and Gentyles equall Of these two commings which is most meete both for Gods glorie and for his owne Admit he had the Empyre of Cyrus and Alexander admit he had all the power and riches of all the Kingdomes that euer were in the world what were all this but a witnesse of his want and an abate 〈◊〉 of his glorie As for example Moyses led Sixhundred thousand feyghting men out of Egipt and with the stroke of his rod he passed the red Sea and drouned the Egiptians therein Now in whether had Gods glorie more appeared and the calling of Moyses bin better warranted â— by his winning of a battell ageinst the Egiptians with so greate a nomber of men or by ouerthrowing them with one stroke of a rod In reducing the King to reason by force of armes or in making him to seeke mercy by an hoste of fleas and lyce Let vs come now to Christ. He was to subdewe the world vnder his obedience Whether was it more to his glorie and more correspondent to his Godhead to haue done it by inuesting himself in an Empyre or by ridding himself of all worldly meanes by force of armes or by his only word By conquering men with shewe of pompe or by winning them with suffering reproche at their hand By tryumphing ouer them or by being crucified by them By being alyue or euen by being dead By killing his enemyes or by yéelding vnto them By ouerthrowing his foes or by sending his seruants to suffer whatsoeuer they would do vnto them For who séeth not that in the victories of Princes their men bée partakers with them of their glorie And that in battells betwéene men the Horse and the speare haue their part And that oftentimes the harnesse and the very shadowe of the Crests of their helmets as yee would say do step in for a share Surely therefore wee may well say that Iesus could not haue shewed his Godhead better than in comming like an abiect miserable man nor his strength better than in comming in feblenesse nor his myght than in infirmitie nor his glory than in despisednes nor his eternitie than in dying nor his rysing ageine than in being buryed nor his whole presence than 〈◊〉 his way hence nor finally his quickening life than in conquering the world by the death of his Diciples For had he come otherwise man had had the glory thereof the stronglyer he had come the lesse had bin his victorie and the more pomp he had pretended outwardly the lesse had he alwayes vttered his Godhead and the more excusable had both the Iewes and Gentyles bin in not receyuing him To be short wil ye sée that he was the same sonne of God which was present with God at the creating of the world God created the world without matter or stuffe whereof and without help by his only word And Iesus being destitute of all help and meane hath conquered the world with his only word euen by his 〈◊〉 death which séemeth to haue bene a cleare dispatch of him What greater maiestie or greatnesse can we imagine than this Yea but say they where bee the signes promised by the Prophets and specially the euerlasting peace which Christ was to bring vnto the world which should turne Swords into Mattocks and Speares into Coulters To this we may answer that Iesus was borne vnder the Emperour Augustus at which tyme the Histories tell vs that the Temple of Iauus at Rome was shut vpâ— and all the world was at peace throughout as who would saythat by that meane God meant to open a free way to the preaching of his Gospell But let them first of all marke here their owne contrarietie of speech in that they require of vs here a generall peace and in other places speake of battelles against Gog and Magog and of the bathing of themselues in the blud of the Gentyles insomuch as they say that their second Messias the Sonne of Ioseph shal be slayne in battell Nay as he is a spirituall King so bee his warres and peace spirituall also Esay calleth him a man of warre but of his warres he sayth They shall turne their swordes into Coulters On the contrary part he calleth him that Prince of peace but of such peace wherof it is sayd The chastisemeÌ„t of our peace was layd vpon him and by his stripes are we healed that is to wit he was wounded for our misdeedes and torne for our iniquities To be short Micheas sayth He himselfe shal be the peace Neuerthelesse to the intent ye should not thinke he meaneth of your manuring of your grounds of your dressing of your â—ine-yards yet shall not the Assyrian sayth he ceasse to come into our Land and to march in our Palaces And therefore doth Ieremie well say He shall breake the yoke from thy necke burst asunder thy bonds howbeit as he expoundeth himselfe in another place in such sort as thou shalt not serue straunge Gods any more that is to say he will both winne vs victorie and be our victorie himself against the Deuil and also both purchace vs peace and be our peace vnto God according to this which he sayth another where
The Euerlasting will be our rightuousnesse And in trueth in the booke of Sabbath where these texts are examined Rabbi Eliezer sayth plainly That warres shall not ceasse at the first comming of the Messias but only at his second comming that is to wit when he commeth in glorie to iudge the world Of the same stampe are the obiections that followe It is written say they that Mount Oliuet shall bee split asunder in the middes and the one halfe fall towards the East and the other half towards the West which thing wee sée not yet come to passe Well they cannot denye but that this text speaketh plainly of the destruction of Hierusalem and if they will néedes followe the letter they shall see in their owne Histories that when the Romanes beseeged the Citie they made their trenches on that side Againe it is sayd That the Lords hil shal be aduaunced aboue al hilles and therevppon they dreame that Hierusalem shal be hoyssed vp thrée leagues into the ayre But these people which otherwhiles delight so much in Allegories ought to vnderstand these euen by the text it selfe For sayth the Prophet folke shall say let vs goe vp to Syon and God will there teach vs his waies The Lawe shall come out of Syon and the word of the Lord from Hierusalem And I pray you when came they better out than when the Apostles of Iesus did spread them abroade from Hierusalem thorowe the whole world And therefore Rabbi Selomoh saith vpon those texts that the Lord should at that tyme be magnified in Hierusalem by a greater signeâ— than he was in Sinai Carmel Thabor And Rabbi Abraham the sonne of Ezra sayth that this Aduaunced hill is the Messias who shal be highly aduaunced among the Gentyles Also it is sayd in Esay The Woolfe shall feed with the Lambe and in Malachie The Angell of the Lord shal make the waies playne which things say they wee see not yet performed nor many other such like But yet doth Rabbi Moyses Ben Maimon their great teacher of Rightuousnesse say Let it neuer come in thy head that in the tyme of Christ the course of the world shall any whit bee chaunged but when thou readest in Esay that the Woolfe shal dwell with the Lamb call to mynd how Ieremie sayth A Woolfe of the wildernesse hath wasted them and a Leopard watcheth at their Cities to snatch â—p them that come out For the meaning thereof is that both Iewes and Gentiles shal be coÌ„uerted to the true doctrine and not hurt one another but feede both together at one Crib according to this saying of Esay in the very same place The Woolfe shall eate Hay with the Oxe And after that maner sayth he must we expound all such maner of speeches which belong to the tyme of Christ for they be parabolicall and figuratiue of the same sort also is the exposition of Rabbi Dauid Kimhi howbeit that ordinarily he followed the letter the translation of Ionathan himselfe And as touching the Angell or Ambassador that should leuell the waies mentioned in the text of Malachie The meaning thereof sayth Ramban is that a great Prince shall bee sent afore the Messias come to prepare the harts of the Israelites to the battell But Malachie expoundeth himselfe more fitly in these wordes He shall turne the hearts of the fathers to their Children that is to say he shall exhort Israell to repentance The Obiections that insewe hereafter haue a little more weight in them It is written I will destroy all the Idolles of the earth Also I will hungerstarue all the Gods of the Gentyles And againe They shall all serue mee with one shoulder Would God that the abuses which are crept into the Christians Church against Christes ordinance were not so great a Stumbling blocke to the Iewes Neuerthelesse let them consider the great nomber of Gods woorshipped by the Assyrians Persians Greekes and Romaines at what tyme euery Countrey euery Citie euery Household and euery person had his peculiar God and his Idols by himselfe and they shall finde that within a little while after the Apostles had preached the doctrine of Iesus to the world they were all gone and not so much as any rememberance of them had now remayned but that in publishing the glorie of God wee had also declared their ouerthrowe Let them reade the Histories of the Heathen and aske of them what is become of their Oracles I meane the Deuilles which hild them in with their Lyes and Dreames and would not bee pacified but with the Sacrificing of men yea and euen of their owne Children and of all those wickednesses which had taken roote all the world throughout can they now shew any print at all Euen in the tyme of Tyberius began men to aske these questions namely what was the cause that Oracles spake not any more that Deuils wrought not as they had done aforetymes And that their Priestes wanted liuing And the Heathen themselues were driuen to answer that since the tyme that Iesus had dyed and his Disciples had preached abroade Arte Magicke and the Deuils had lost their power So sodeine so vniuersall and so wonderfull to our very enemies was the chaunge in that tyme and of so great force was the onely name of Iesus in the mouth of those poore men against Kings and Emperours against their Kingdomes and Empyres and against the vpholders and worshippers both of the Deuilles and of their Idols For briefnesse sake I omit this Obiection following and such other as that all Nations haue not followed Iesus For the Prophets haue tolde vs that but a remnant shall bee saued and Iesus himselfe sayth that Many be called and fewe chosen And it suffiseth that the voyce of the Gospell hath bene heard ouer all the world and that the gate of the Church is set open to all Nations Againe to come to an issewe they knowâ— that the word Col that is to say All betokeneth not that all men without exception shall followe him but that all Nations without difference shall bee his people Againe the seede of Christ say they should be euerlasting but we see not the seede of Iesus to bee so They say very well in that by the word Seede they meane Christs Disciples and in their owne language they terme them Sonnes or Children thankes be to the Lord there are Disciples of his still euerywhere through the whole world But the principall Obiection remayneth yet behind and that is this If Iesus be the Sonne of God say they why chaungeth he the Lawe of God his father deliuered by Moyses beeing as hath bene sayd alreadie both holy and inuiolable which who so doth how can hee bee receiued for the Messias Surely in this poynt where they charge Iesus with the changing and abolishing of the Law we be flat contrarie to them affirming that he did not change it or abolish it but more plainly