Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	apostle_n	faith_n	temperance_n	815	5	10.9534	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01093	Atheomastix clearing foure truthes, against atheists and infidels: 1. That, there is a God. 2. That, there is but one God. 3. That, Iehouah, our God, is that one God. 4. That, the Holy Scripture is the Word of that God. All of them proued, by naturall reasons, and secular authorities; for the reducing of infidels: and, by Scriptures, and Fathers, for the confirming of Christians. By the R. Reuerend Father in God, Martin Fotherby, late Bishop of Salisbury. The contents followes, next after the preface.	Fotherby, Martin, 1549 or 50-1620.	1622 (1622)	STC 11205; ESTC S121334	470,356	378

sense in the same hight of words Nimirùm Spiritus Sanctus quum natura sua sanctus sit Deus nos homines sanctificat ac Deos reddit The Holy Ghost being by nature both holy God by sanctifying vs men maketh vs become Gods So likewise Dionysius Salus non aliter existere potest nisi ij qui salutem consequuntur Dij fiant A man cannot otherwise attaine vnto saluation then if he first be made a God Which exaggerations of those fathers and Scriptures must not be expounded according to the letter as thogh men could be made to be Gods indeed for that is a thing vnpossible But the true meaning of them is that by our imitation of Gods vertue and goodnesse we are made so like vnto him and so neerely ioyned with him that we may bee sayd in some sense to be made partakers of his diuine nature because all those vertues in him are nature And therefore we may obserue in al the forenamed places that there is a mollification vsed to reduce the fore-named Apotheosis and Deification within the compasse of this sense Dionysius Areopagita where hee saith that All they which shall attaine the saluation of God must first be made Gods addeth for explication Dei porrò effectio est Dei quoad fieri potest imitatio cum eodem coniunctio atque vt ita dicam vnio The being made a God is nothing else but the imitation of God and a coniunction with him and that I may so speake a very vnion Elias Cretensis where hee saith that the Holy Ghost doth make men Gods addeth that it is per adoptionem gratiam that this making of them Gods is but onely Gods adopting them by grace to be his Sonne So Nazianzen expoundeth His being made a God to be nothing but onely His coniunction with God Quo pacto me Deum reddit vel quo pacto me coniungit Deo Which coniunction with God as Trismegistus teacheth is onely effected by religion and godlinesse Propè Deos accedit qui mente qua Dijs iunctas est diuina religione Dijs iunxerit That man commeth neere vnto God indeed that ioyneth his soule vnto him by piety and religion So likewise Boetius where hee saith that Beatus omnis Deus Th●t euery one which is blessed is thereby made a God hee addeth for the qualification of that speech Sed n●tura quidem vnus participatione verò nihil prohibet esse quamplurimos Yet there is but one God by nature but there may be many Gods by participation Not by the true participation of his naturall deitie but of his vertue and of his felicitie Yea and euen the Apostle Peter himselfe doth vse a further modification euen of this participation For where hee telleth vs that there be great and precious promises giuen vnto vs That we should be partakers of the Godly nature lest wee should misconstrue this participation to be intended of Gods true nature or deitie hee expoundeth himselfe plainely that this participation of the diuine nature must bee gotten by flying of corruption by ioyning vertue with our faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience goodlines and with godlines brotherly kindenes and with brotherly kindnes loue Which is the bond of perfection and tyeth a man strictly vnto God And this is the first degree of our felicitie with God which is affoorded vnto vs in this present life There be two degrees more which come not vnto men before the life to come The first that vertue brings vs vp to Heauen which is the place of Gods owne dwelling and there maketh vs to liue aeternally with him A thing plainely confessed euen by the very Heathen Pythagoras affirmeth in his verses that Si relicto corpore ad purum aethera perveneris Eris immortalis Deus incorruptibilis nec ampliùs mortalis When as our Soules our Bodies shall forsake And to the Heauens they shall themselues betake Then shall we be as Gods immortall beene All incorrupt no longer mortall men For we shall then enioy God who is our very life as the Prophet Moses testifieth yea the life of our life our vita vitalis as the Orator speaketh whereas this our present life is but vita mortalis a transitory and a mortall life But this saith the Apostle Paul we know that if our earthly Tabernacle be dissolued we haue a building giuen vs of God which is an house not made with hands but aeternall in the heauens And therefore saith Musonius that Vir bonus est civis vrbis Iovis quae constat ex hominibus Dijs That he which is a good man shall bee a Citizen of the Citie of God which is a Citie common vnto Gods with men Which is a probable ayming at the Heauenly I●rus●lem which in the Booke of the Apocalypse is described vnto vs. I saw the Holy Citie new Ierusalem come downe from God out of heauen praepared as a Bryde trimmed for her husband And I heard a great voyce out of Heauen saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and hee will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himselfe will be their God with them Vpon which our cohabitation with God Tullie saith that we are Deorum quasi Gentiles the Countrymen of the Gods Nay generis divini the Kinsmen of the Gods as he addeth in that place of their owne generation as Aratus speaketh And therfore Tullie in another place speaking of the state of God and vertuous men after this present life he saith that they shall liue among the Gods Qui in corporibus humanis vitam sunt imitati Deorum his ad eos a quibus sunt profecti facilis reditus patet Such as haue liued the life of a God in the body of a man shall finde an easie passage vnto God because from him they haue descended So that God calleth those men to liue with him in heauen with whom he himselfe hath liued vpon earth Now the way whereby they ascend vp into Heauen there to liue with God is by instructing themselues in the knowledge of God As some euen of the Heathens themselues haue taught vs. Trismegistus saith expresly that Vnica salus homini est cognitio Dei haec ad Olympum ascensio The happines of man is the knowledg of God and this is our way of ascending into heauen Agreeing well with that of our Sauiour Christ This is life aeternal to know thee to be the onely true God and whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ. For as Bernard truly noteth Summum bonum hominis est plena perfecta agnitio Creatoris The happines of the Creature is the knowledg of his Creator Not a naked or an idle knowledg but a knowledg which is ioyned with the practise of vertues As the Apostle Peter teacheth vs. Ioynes with vertue knowledge For if they be

helps but yet onely as Gods inferior and ministeriall instruments Nature may plant it Art may prune it Industry may water it but as the Apostle Paul teacheth vs Neither is he that planteth any thing nor yet hee that watereth but onely God that giueth the increase And hee that giueth the increase vnto plants is hee that giueth the increase vnto vertues which are his heauenly plants as euen Homer acknowledgeth Iupiter virtutem viris augetque minuítque Prout quidem voluerit God giueth vertue his increase And lesseneth it euen as He please And therefore it is confessed with one mouth by all the Heathen that it is God that is the giuer of vertue vnto men Which is the second Branch of our first position Simonides saith expresly that Nemo sine Dijs virtutem accepit neque vrbs neque Homo That neither Man nor Citie without Gods speciall grace could euer attaine to vertue So likewise Pindarus Boni sapientes ex Deo solo proueniunt Men are made both wise and good only by the helpe of God So likewise Theognis Nemo hominum neque malus sine numine neque bonus There is no man made either good or bad but onely by God According to that of Salomon that God hath made all things for himselfe yea euen the wicked for the day of euill And yet is not God the cause of mens wickednesse Because hee maketh them not euill inserendo malitiam but onely subtrahendo gratiam as Aquinas distinguisheth Not by inserting into any man the motions of sin but by withholding his grace which is the bridle of sinne which being withdrawne men rush violently of themselues like vntamed horses into all kinde of wickednesse But though God giue not vice inserendo malitiam yet giueth he vertue inserendo gratiam And therefore the Romanes as Saint Augustine obserueth did consecrate vertue for one of their gods Thereby plainely acknowledging that Vertue is of God yea The free gift of God as Saint Augustine there affirmeth Virtutem quoque Deum fecerunt quae quia Dea non est sed donum Dei ipsa ab illo impetretur a quo solo dari potest They haue named Vertue for one of their Gods Which because it is no God but the gift of God it must onely of him bee sought who hath onely power to giue it that is to say of God who by the consent of the chiefest Philosophers is the onely bestower of all vertues Anax●goras saith that Mens which is his word for God is Bonirectique causa The cause of all goodnes And so likewise Proclus Quicquid bonum salutare competit animabus causam a Dijs definitam habet Whatsoeuer is good and healthfull to the soule it hath his cause defined and appointed of God Yea and hee addeth there also the opinion of Plato Virtutum omnium corporaliúmque bonorum velut sanitatis roboris institiae temperantiae exemplaria Plato probat procedere penès Deum Plato proueth the Patternes of all vertues and of all corporall endowments as of Health of Strength of Iustice of Temperance to proceede from God Yea and as Plutarch obserueth God hath giuen vnto vertue a kind of naturall sweetnesse whereby it is no lesse delightfull vnto such as doe practise it then it is vnto those among whom it is practised Deo adiuuante placidi mansueti humani mores nemini eorum quibuscum viuitur ita grati iucundique sunt vt ei ipsi qui ijs est praeditus And this God doth to allure vs vnto vertue by the sweetnesse of it Yea and as Iamblicus obserueth God doth not only prouoke vs vnto vertue but also reuoketh vs from vice Ad iusta quidem adiuuans ab iniustis reuocans And this we may euidently see in the Scriptures by diuers notable examples For when Abimelech intended to haue corrupted Abrahams wife God withheld him from it And when Dauid intended to haue destroyed Nabal God withheld him from it And Opheus in his hymne vnto Venus by whom hee vnderstandeth Diuine and heauenly Loue hee maketh a prayer vnto her to withhold his minde from all filthy and vicious loue O Dea nam vbíque habes audiendi acumen Exaudi laboriosam vitae meae viam Dirigas tuis ô veneranda iustissimis telis Profanarum extinguens horrendam libidinem cupiditatum O Goddesse heare for thou canst whate're where I pray Direct me by thy righteous helpes in my lifes tedious way Quenching prophane and fearefull lusts that leade my mind astray He prayeth to God to withhold him because hee could not withhold himselfe And so when Achilles intended to haue killed Agamemnon Pallas withheld him from it as Homer also testifieth by that fiction implying this vnfayned truth that it is God which withholdeth vs from euill as well as which helpeth vs in good Both which points together wee may euidently see in the prayer of the Pharisee O God I thanke thee that I am not as other men are extortioners vniust adulterers Here be the vices from which God had withheld him and for which hee thanketh him Hee proceedeth on vnto those vertues wherewith God had adorned him I faste twice in the Weeke and I giue tithe of all that euer I possesse So that if a man be not infected with all kinde of vice he may thanke God for it And if hee be indued with any kind of vertue he may thanke God for that too For it is onely by the grace of God that he is as he is In which action of the Pharisee we may euidently see a direct confutation of Tullies obseruation that Nemo quòd bonus vir esset gratias Dijs egit vnquàm And againe in the same place that Virtutem nemo vnquàm acceptam Deo retulit That no man had euer thanked God that he had made him a good man For we see the plaine contrarie in the prayer of the Pharisee He expresly thanked God that hee had made him so good So that here is a confutation of his first position His second is this That no man euer acknowledged his vertue to haue descended vnto him from God Which we see againe confuted by all those seuerall testimonies that before I haue recited For they all haue professed that Vertue is Gods gift As for the reason which in that place hee bringeth to fortifie his position That men are praysed for their vertues which they could not iustly be if it were the gift of God and not gotten by themselues That is a very false and insufficient reason For men are praised both for their Beautie and for their strength of bodie And yet are both these the good gifts of God and not purchased or gotten by our selues And therefore as error is alwayes vnconstant and neuer true vnto it selfe so hee in another place both renounceth his owne position and confuteth his owne reason His position hee renounceth by a contrarie position directly

affirming that Si inest in hominum genere Mens Fides Virtus Concordia Vnde haec in terram nisi a superis defluere potuerunt If there be among men either Wisdome or Faith or Vertue or Peace Whence could any of these come to men vpon earth but only from the God of heauen Naming Vertue among the rest And his Reason he confuteth by the instance of Metellus Maximus Marcellus Africanus Cato Scipio Laelius who were the most vertuous and the most prayse-worthy persons of the Romane Commonwealth And yet he affirmeth of them all that Horum neminem nisi iunante Deo talem fuisse credendum est That none of all these could euer haue beene such a man as he was if he had not beene helped and assisted by God So that hee ascribeth their Vertues and consequently their prayses vnto God Thereby plainly ouer-throwing the ground of his position and shewing that vertue may be praysed although it be of God Thus you see the great agreement which the Heathens Philosophers haue with the Scriptures in ascribing vnto God to be the Author of all Vertues 3 Neither is God onely the Author and giuer of growne and perfect Vertue when it is formed into an habit but also of all those good motions and affections which are as it were the praeparatiues vnto it or rather indeed the inchoations of it Those good inclinations and vertuous propensions which being adult and growne vp doe proue the true substance and bodies of our vertues are indeed not in vs any naturall dispositions as Tullie would haue them but supernaturall inspirations and Gods owne celestiall seminations as the Prophet Moses expresly affirmeth The Lord thy God wil circumcise thy heart that thou mayst loue him with all thy heart liue So that the first motions of our loue towards God are onely the motions of his loue towards vs. Hee moueth vs to loue him that we may liue with him Without whose grace thus mouing vs we could haue no motion in vs at the least not vnto good For the Apostle plainely teacheth vs that it is God that giueth vs both the will and the worke Hee both giueth vs the vertues and the feede of them too which are good affections For as the same Apostle in another place telleth vs We are not able of our selues so much as to thinke any thing but all our sufficiencie is of God So that with the Prophet Isaiah we may truely professe O Lord thou it is that hast wrought all our works for vs. And this euen the Heathen themselues doe acknowledge running through all the steppes of the Apostles former doctrine One of them telleth vs that Nil agimus nisi sponte Dei By vs there can be nothing done But by the will of God alone Another of them that wee speake nothing but by the will of God Natura humana nec rationem nec orationem de Dijs suscipere potest sine Dijs nedum divina opera perficere sine illis The nature of man can neither conceiue nor vtter any thing of the nature of God without the helpe of God much lesse can it doe any worke of God without him Another of them telleth vs that wee cannot thinke any thing without him because all our cogitations and thoughts doe come from him Talis enìm mens est terrestrium hominum Qualem quotidiè ducit pater virorúmque Deorúmque saith Homer Such thoughts Men haue on earth that liue As Men may craue but God doth giue And so likewise Archilocus vnto the same purpose Mortalium mens talem praebet identidem Sese Tonantis summa qualem Quotidie exhibuit voluntas Mans minde doth dayly such it selfe explay As Gods great Will doth frame it euery day So that all the good motions and affections of the minde the very Heathens doe professe to proceede from God And therefore Orpheus in his hymme vnto Nemesis prayeth to that Goddesse to giue a vertuous and good minde vnto men and to remooue all euill cogitations from them Da verò mentem bonam vt habeant Extinguens odiosas cogitationes profanas nimis suprebas scelestissimas Giue Nemesis ô giue a vertuous minde to men Repressing odious base and vile proud thoughts in them Acknowledging all good motions to bee Gods inspirations And so likewise on the contrarie they againe professe that all those wicked and depraued affections whereby the minde of a man is corrupted and so led headlong into all kinde of vice are indeede nothing else but the suggestions and temptations of Diuells and wicked spirits Daemon vltor saith Trismegistus ignis acumen incutiens sensus affligit ad patranda scelera armat hominem vt turpioris culpae reus acriori supplicio sit obnoxius eúmque sine vlla intermissione ad insatiabiles concupiscentias inflammat The reuenging spirit inflaming the minde with a quicke and sharpe fire afflicteth our senses and armeth a man vnto all kinde of wickednesse that so he being guilty of a greater fault may bee obnoxious to a greater punishment And therefore hee ceaseth not to kindle in our mindes vnsatiable concupiscences And againe in another place Nocentes Angeli humanitati commisti ad omnia audaciae mala miseros manu iniecta compellunt in bella in rapinas in fraudes in omnia quae sunt animorum naturae contraria The ●urtfull Angells insinuating themselues into mens mindes do hale-on poore wretches as it were by the collars into all kindes of euills into wars into robberies into frauds and into all those vices which are contrary vnto the true nature of our soules So likewise Orpheus Daemones humani saeui hostes atque maligni Qui nostris animis vacuis infanda ministrant Vt semper diram vitam cum crimine ducant The Diuells Mens fierce and cruell Enemies Obiect vnto their mindes strange vilanies To make their li●es curs'd with Impieties Which is largely and notably layd open by Porphyrius out of whom it is transcribed by Eusebius Thus euen the very Heathen doe both beleeue that there bee Diuells and that they bee mans most hatefull and cruell enemies and that they pi●rce and insinuate into the mindes of men seeking there with all kind of wicked lusts to corrupt them that so they may bring them vnto vtter destruction And so on the contrarie they doe likewise beleeue not onely that there is a God but also that hee is the Author of all good both giuing vnto vs all kindes of vertues and giuing vnto vertues all their growth and increase yea and their first seedes too by inspiring into our mindes good thoughts and affections Insomuch that Hippodamus affirmeth that Homines habent virtutem propter diuinitatis commercium That men attaine vnto vertues onely by the commerce and conuersation of the Gods Who not only helpe vs vnto vertue by furthering and cherishing our good motions affections but further by extinguishing those

wicked lusts and concupiscences wherewith the Diuell endeauoureth to extinguish vertue in vs. For that also they adde Adsum ego Mens ijs saith Pimander in Trismegistus who professeth himselfe to bee the spirit of God Mens diuinae potentiae qui boni pij puri religiosi sanctique sunt praesentia mea fert illis opem I am present with those men that are good and godly pure religious and holy And that my presence giueth them great helpe and assistance In what manner hee sheweth after Ipsa Mens ianitoris munere fungens incidentes in insidias corporis haudquaquam permitto finem consequi suum Aditus enim per quos turpes blanditiae manare solent iugiter intercludo libidinùmque●omites omnes extinguo The Spirit performing the part of a Porter when as any of them fall into the snares of the flesh will not permit and suffer them to finish their designe but shutteth vp the passages of all flattering inticements and extinguisheth the incentiues of all filthy lusts By faith thus quenching the fiery darts of the Diuell as the Apostle speaketh For this Spirit is water in quo omnia ignita illius peruer si tela extinguuntur as Nazianzene obserueth He is a Water that extinguisheth all the darts of the Diuell because they bee of fire And as this good Spirit like a Porter repelleth euill spirits that they cannot enter so hee also like a Souldier expelleth them againe if they chance to enter Hee taketh from those strong men the armour wherein they trusted and casteth them out of the house which they possessed And this also the Heathen then haue expresly confessed Dij vera bona dant bonis quibuscum versantur saith Iamblicus suoque commercio prauitatem passionémque longè ab ijs propulsant suoque splendore tenebrosos indè spiritus arcent Mali enìm spiritus intrante Deorum lumine velut sole tanquàm tenebrae subterfugiunt The Gods doe giue to good men those things that are truly good when they come vnto them expelling by their presence all passions and vices driuing from them by their light the Angels of darkenesse For the light of the Gods when it entreth mens mindes driueth away the Diuels as the light of the sunne driueth away darkenes So that though the Diuell be neuer so malicious in seeking to doe men hurt yet is God no lesse gracious in seeking to doe them good the Diuell by euill temptations seeking to corrupt them and so bring them to miserie God by good inspirations seeking to correct them and so bring them to felicitie Which is our next point 4 For as the Heathen doe confesse that God is the Giuer of all Vertue and Goodnes so doe they likewise confesse that God is the Giuer of all Felicitie Happinesse He giueth vs Vertue as the way of Felicity he giues vs Felicity as the reward of Vertue And therefore the Apostle Peter telleth vs that God hath called vs both vnto vertue and vnto Glory to Vertue as the way to Glory as the reward For so Aristotle himselfe hath termed it expresly Praemium finisque Virtutis optimum diuinúmque quiddam atque beatum esse constat It is most certaine that the reward and ende of vertue is such a thing as is both the best of all other things and a diuine thing and a blessed thing He calleth the reward and ende of vertue Beatum that is to say a blessed thing because it is Blessednesse it selfe He calleth it Optimum that is to say the best thing because there is nothing that is beter then Blessednesse And hee calleth it Diuinum that is a diuine thing because it is giuen by God himselfe vnto vs. And this is plainely confessed both by Christians and Heathens The Apostle Iames telleth vs that Euery good gift is giuen vs of God And Plato confirmeth this testimonie to be true Nihil nobis est bonum quìn Dij praebeant We haue nothing that is good but it is giuen vs of God And therefore Hesiodus calleth the gods Bonorum Datores The giuers of good things And so likewise doth Homer in the very same words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Plutarch also obserueth in him But Iamblicus goeth further For he calleth the Gods not onely Datores but also Largitores bonorum Yea Omnium bonorum The bountiful bestowers of all good things God giueth all good things and he giueth them not sparingly not digitulis duobus sumens primoribus as the Comick speaketh not taking vp a little between his thumbe and his finger but in a far larger manner He giueth to the full with an open hand He openeth his hand and filleth all things with his goodnesse measuring out his blessings not modio nor trimodio but ipso horreo as the Comick speaketh in another place not by the bushell nor by the sackfull but by the whole Barnefull For all the Barnes-full in the world are nothing else but Gods bounty and Gods gifts vnto their Possessors So that hee may be called truely Largitor bonorum he giueth them so largly And yet as Turtullian truely noteth God is not Profusor bonitatis but Dispensator He is not a rash powrer-out of his benefits but a wise Disposer of them Because as in another place he addeth Nec ratio sine bonitate ratio nec bonitas sine ratione bonitas est Neither is reason without goodnesse reason nor goodnes without reason goodnes And therefore God who is not irrationabiliter bonus not good without reason disperseth his good things with a liberall hand but he disperseth them with an exact and vpright iudgement Now if God be the giuer of all good things then must hee needs be the giuer of Felicitie too which is the principall good thing If of the smaller and lower goods then much more of Felicitie which is the greatest and highest For Plato maketh that collection Ipsum bonorum omnium authorem cur non maximi etiam boni causam arbitrabimur He that is the Author of all good why should hee not be the Author of the greatest good Yea and Aristotle himselfe inferreth the same conclusion Si aliquod aliud Deorum est munus hominibus consentaneum est rationi felicitatem a Dijs ipsis dari eò magis quò 〈◊〉 humanis bonis est praestabilius If God hath giuen vnto men any other gift or bounty then st●ndeth it with reason that hee should also giue felicitie yea and that so much the more by how much that gift is better Whence he concludeth that Felicitie is giuen to men by God because it is the best of all other gifts As Plato from the same ground concludeth the same for wisedome in the place before alledged Which in another place he affirmeth directly to be the true Felicitie Sapientia ipsa felicitas est Quod puer quivis intelligat Wisedome is the true felicitie as euery Child may vnderstand very easily And

therefore Homer doubteth not to affirme expresly that it is onely God himselfe that is the giuer of Felicitie Iupiter ipse distribuit felicitatem Olympius hominibus The highest God is th' onely He That giues to Men felicitie And Solon prayeth vnto the Muses to obtaine felicitie for him from the Gods Musae Felicitatem a Dijs immortalibus mihi praebete O Muses bring me happines Which must come from Gods Holines For as Eu●ipides truly noteth Nemo Dijs invitis vel felix est vel infelix No man against Gods will Is either well or ill And as I obserued before of Vertue so may I now againe obserue of felicitie that the Romans consecrated it for one of their Gods thereby plainely insinuating that as Vertue so Felicity is the onely gift of God Both which points are affirmed by Maximus Tyrius in expresse and plaine words Ex Iovis nutu actiones virtutis felicitatésque hominum pendent Both the actions of vertue and all humane felicitie doe absolutely depend vpon the beck of God Thus the Heathens confesse that not onely Vertue which is the way vnto felicitie but also that Felicitie which is the reward of Vertue are both of them the gifts of Almighty God And therefore they must needs confesse There is a God 3 Nay they goe yet further For they not onely teach vs that There is a God and that hee is the Giuer of Felicitie vnto men but also that hee himselfe is the true Felicity of them Which the Romanes implyed in consecrating Felicitie for a God For thereby they insinuated not only that Felicity is of God the point before noted but also that God is the onely true Felicity the point now in hand Which they demonstrate vnto vs by a Gradation of three degrees First that Vertue and Godliness● doe so strictly vnite a man vnto God that in some degree that it maketh him partaker of the diuine and heauenly nature Secondly that this neere coniunction of man vnto God doth bring him vnto heauen which is the place of Gods dwelling And thirdly that there it maketh him partaker of Gods most blessed and beatificall vision which is the highest summitie of all true felicity And all these three points are so taught by the Heathens as though they had bene catechized in the Schoole of Christians For the first of which three points it is the constant doctrine of the wisest of the Heathen that mans felicitie consisteth especially in conforming himselfe vnto the nature of God and in making himselfe to be like vnto him So saith Iamblicus Felix est qui Deo quatenus fieri potest similis est He is an happy man that maketh himselfe as like vnto God is hee possibly can So Syrianus the master of Simplicus Boni causa est vt cum Deo similemur It is the cause of all good to make a mans selfe to bee like vnto God Now that likenesse with God cannot bee attained by any thing else but onely by Iustice Vertue and Goodnesse as Seneca truely teacheth Parem Deo pecunia non facit sed animus hic rectus bonus magnus It is not thy money but it is thy minde which maketh thee conformable and like vnto God if it be a iust and vpright mind a vertuous and good mind a noble and a great mind This vertue makes a man not similem Deo but parem Deo saith Seneca not like vnto God but in some sort euen equall with God For Aristotle citeth it as a common opinion that Ex hominibus Dij fiunt ob virtutis excellentiam That by the excellencie of vertue euen men doe attaine to a kinde of Diuinity A very excessiue and hyperbolicall speech but yet diuers such there be vsed not onely by Heathens but also by Christians to expresse that great affinitie and neere coniunction which vertue maketh betweene God and man Saint Augustine saith that it maketh a man partaker of God Dei sunt participatione foelices quicunque sunt veritate non vanitate foelices They that haue indeed the true possession of blessednesse and not the false imagination of it are blessed by a kinde of participation of God The Apostle Peter saith that it maketh a man partaker of the diuine and godly nature For as Porphiry obserueth of wickednesse and vice that it transformeth a man into the nature of a Diuell so is it also true of vertue and goodnesse that it conformeth a man vnto the nature of God Yea and some haue gone so farre as to say it makes vs Gods So saith Hierocles that Finis vitae est Deum facere ex homine The end of mans life is to make a man become a God So Seneca in the fore-alledged place Animus rectus bonus magnus nihil est aliud quàm Deus in humano corpore hospes A good and vertuous minde is indeed nothing else but a very God abiding for a time in the body of a man Neither haue Christians themselues abstayned from these exaggerated amplifications the better to recommend vertue and goodnesse vnto vs. The Apostle Paul telleth vs that He which is ioyned to the Lord is but one spirit with him And Boetius telleth vs that God only is our blessednesse and that therefore whosoeuer by God is made blessed hee is made by him A God Deum esse ipsam Beatitudinem necesse est It is absolutely necessary that God himselfe should bee mans Felicity So likewise Palingenius Deus ipse supremum est Eximiumque bonum propriè vereque vocandus Quem qui habet is debet foelix dici atque beatus God is the onely supreme good so properly exprest Whom whosoeuer hath he may be happy call'd and blest And so it is indeed because Felicity is Summum Bonum that is The supreme and the chiefest Good And therefore if God were not The true Felicity he should not be The supreme good but should haue a superior good aboue him and himselfe bee but a second and inferior good Whereupon hee addeth but a little after that if God himselfe be the supreme Good that hee which obtaineth that same supreme good hee therewith obtayneth to bee made a God Quoniam beatitudinis adeptione fiunt homines beati beatitudo vera est ipsa diuinitas diuinitatis adeptione fieri beatos necesse est sicut iustitiae adeptione iusti sapientia sapientes fiunt Omnis igitur beatus Deus Because by the getting of blessednesse men are made blessed and true Blessednes is nothing else but God therefore by the getting of God men get to bee blessed as by the getting of Iustice to bee iust and of Wisedome to be wise Therefore whosoeuer is blessed hee also is a God So Nanzianzene proueth the Holy Ghost to be God because otherwise he could not make him a God Si eodem mecum est in ordine quo pacto me Deum reddit And his Expositor Elias Cretensis deliuereth his