by the words increase and multiply the number of 〈◊〉 â—…nat were fulfilled then should a better haue beene giuen vs namely 〈◊〉 the Angells haue wherein there is an eternall security from sinne 〈◊〉 and so should the Saints haue liued then after no tast of labour sorâ—… death as they shall do now in the resurrection after they haue endured 〈◊〉 L. VIVES 〈◊〉 The desire is a sinne aswell as the act not onely by the Scriptures but by the â—…ct discipline of humanity also Cic. Philippic 2. Though there be no law against it for 〈◊〉 â—…th not if this man desire thus much land let him be fined as Cato the elder pleaded 〈◊〉 â—…odians The fall of the first man wherein nature was made good and cannot be repaired but by the maker CHAP. 11. BVt God foreknowing althings could not but know that man would fall therefore wee must ground our City vpon his prescience and ordinance not vpon that which we know not and God hath vnreuealed For mans sinne could not disturbe Gods decree nor force him to change his resolue God fore-knew and preuented both that is how bad man whome hee had made should become and what good hee meant to deriue from him for all his badnesse For though God bee said to change his resâ—… as the scriptures a tropically say that hee repented c. Yet this is in respect of mans hope or natures order not according to his own prescience So then God made man vpright and consequently well-willed otherwise he could not haue beene vpright So that this good will was Gods worke man being there-with created But the euill will which was in man before his euill worke was rather a fayling from the worke of God to the owne workes then any worke at all And therefore were the workes euill because they were according to them-selues and not to God this euill will being as a tree bearing such bad fruite or man himselfe in respect of his euill will Now this euill will though it do not follow but oppose nature being a falt yet is it of the same nature that vice is which cannot but bee in some nature but it must bee in that nature which God made of nothing not in that which he begot of himselfe as his word is whereby althings were made for although God made man of dust yet hee made dust of nothing and hee made the soule of nothing which he ioyned with the body making full man But euills are so farre vnder that which is good that though they be permitted to bee for to shew what good vse Gods prouident iustice can make of them yet may that which is good consist without them as that true and glorious God him selfe and all the visible resplendent heauens do aboue this darkned misty aire of ours but euills cannot consist but in that which is good for all the natures wherein they abide being considered as meere natures are good And euill is drawne from nature not by abscission of any nature contrary to this or any part of this but by purifiying of that onely which was thus depraued Then b therefore is the will truely free when it serueth neither vice nor sin Such God gaue vs such we lost and cannot recouer but by him that gaue it as the truth saith If the sonne free you you shal be truly freed it is all one as if hee should say If the sonne saue you you shal be truely saued c for hee is the freer that is the Sauiour Wherefore d in Paradise both locall and spirituall man made God his rule to liue by for it was not a Paradise locall for the bodies good and not spirituall for the spirits nor was it a spirituall 〈◊〉 the spirits good and no locall one for the bodies Noe it was both for both But after that e that proud and therefore enuious Angell falling through that pride from God vnto him-selfe and choosing in a tiranicall vain glory raâ—…r to rule then to be ruled fell from the spirituall paradise of whose fall and 〈◊〉 fellowes that therevpon of good Angells became his I disputed in my ninth booke 〈◊〉 God gaue grace and meanes hee desiring to creepe into mans minde by his ill-perswading suttlely and enuying mans constancy in his owne fall chose the serpent one of the creatures that as then liued hurtlesse with the man 〈◊〉 â—…oman in the earthly paradise a beast slippery and moueable wreatchd â—…ots and fit f for his worke this hee chose to speake through abusing it 〈◊〉 subiect vnto the greater excellency of his angelicall nature and making it 〈◊〉 â—…rument of his spirituall wickdnesse through it he began to speake deceitâ—… vnto the woman beginning at the meaner part of man-kind to inuade the 〈◊〉 by degrees thinking the man was not so credulous nor so soone deluded 〈◊〉 would be seing another so serued before him for as Aaron consented not by â—…sion but yeelded by compulsion vnto the Hebrewes idolatry to make 〈◊〉 an Idol nor Salomon as it is credible yeelded worship to idols of his owne â—…ous beleefe but was brought vnto that sacriledge by his wiues perswaâ—… So is it to bee thought that the first man did not yeeld to his wife in this â—…ession of Gods precept as if hee thought shee said two but onely being â—…elled to it by this sociall loue to her being but one with one and both of 〈◊〉 â—…ture and kind for it is not in vaine that the Apostle saith Adam was not 〈◊〉 â—…iued but the woman was deceiued but it sheweth that the woman did 〈◊〉 the serpents words true but Adam onely would not breake company 〈◊〉 â—…is fellow were it in sinne and so sinned wittingly wherefore the Apostle 〈◊〉 not He sinned not but He was not seduced for hee sheweth that hee sinned 〈◊〉 by one man sinne entred into the world and a little after more plainely after â—…er of the transgression of Adam And those he meanes are seduced that 〈◊〉 the first to be no sinn which he knew to bee a sinne otherwise why should 〈◊〉 Adam was not seduced But he that is not acquainted with the diuine seâ—… might therein be deceiued to conceiue that his sinne was but veniall And 〈◊〉 in that the woman was seduced he was not but this was it that i deceiâ—… that hee was to bee iudged for all that he had this excuse The woman 〈◊〉 gauest me to be with me she gaue me of the tree and I did eate what need we 〈◊〉 then though they were not both seduced they were both taken in sin 〈◊〉 the diuells captiues L. VIVES â—…ally a Say Figuratiuely A trope saith Quintilian is the translation of one word 〈◊〉 the fit signification of another from the owne that God repented is a Metaphor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 figure that who so knowes not and yet would learne for the vnderstanding of scripâ—… not go vnto Tully or Quintilian but vnto our great declamers who knowing not y◠〈◊〉 betweene Gramar
haire of their head they desire and waite for the resurrection of their bodies wherein they suffred such paines and are neuer to suffer more b For if they hated not their flesh when they were faine to bind it from rebelling by the law of the spirit how much shall they loue it becomming wholy spirituall for if wee may iustly call the spirit seruing the flesh carnall then so may we call the flesh seruing the spirit spirituall c not because it shal be turned into the spirit as some thinke because it is written It is sowne a naturall bodie but it arisâ—…th a spirituall bodie but because it shall serue the spirit in all wonderfull and ready obeisance to the fulfilling of most secure will of indissolluble immortality all sence of trouble heauynesse and corruptibility beeing quike taken from it For it shall not bee so bad as it is now in our best health nor as it was in our first paâ—…ts before sinne for they though they had not dyed but that they sinned 〈◊〉 â—…aine to eate corporal meate as men do now hauing earthly and not spiritual bodies and though they should neuer haue growne old and so haue died the 〈◊〉 of life that stood in the midst of Paradise vnlawfull for them to tast of affording them this estate by GODS wonderfull grace yet they eate of more 〈◊〉 then that one which was forbidden them because it was bad but 〈◊〉 their instruction in pure and simple obedience which is a great vertue in a â—…ble creature placed vnder God the creator for though a man touched no 〈◊〉 â—…et in touching that which was forbidden him the very act was the sinne 〈◊〉 obedence they liued therefore of other fruites and eate least their carnall 〈◊〉 should haue beene troubled by hunger or thirst but the tast of the tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was giuen them to confirme them against death and weakenesse by age 〈◊〉 rest seruing them for nutriment and this one for a sacrament the tree of life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earthly paradise being as the wisdome of God is in the heauenly whereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…itten It is a tree of life to them that imbrace it L. VIVES VNâ—… them a That Luc. 21. 7. b For if Ephes. 5. 29 no man euer yet hated his owne flesh c Not because Saint Origen faith that all our corporall nature shall become spirituall and all 〈◊〉 â—…ance shal become a body purer and clearer then the light and such an one as man canâ—…â—…ine God shall be all in all so that euery creature shall be transmuted into that which 〈◊〉 then all namely into the diuine substance for that is the best Periarch Of the Paridise wherein our first parents were placed and that it may be taken spiritually also without any wrong to the truth of the history as touching the reall place CHAP. 21. WHerevpon some referred that a Paradise wherein the first man was placed as the scripture recordeth al vnto a spiritual meaning taking the trees to 〈◊〉 â—…es as if there were b no such visible things but onely that they were 〈◊〉 signifie things intelligible As if there were not a reall Paradise because 〈◊〉 vnderstand a spiritual one as if there were not two such women as Agar 〈◊〉 and two sonnes of Abraham by them the one being a bond woman and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 free because the Apostle saith that they signified the two Testaments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rocke gushed not forth in water when Moyses smot it because that 〈◊〉 â—…ay prefigure Christ the same Apostle saying the rocke was Christ No man 〈◊〉 that the Paradise may be vnderstood the blisse of the Saints the c foure 〈◊〉 foure vertues prudence fortitude temperance and iustice the trees all 〈◊〉 â—…sciplines the tree of life wisdome the mother of the rest the tree of the â—…edge of good and euill the triall of transgression for God decreed a puâ—…nt for sinne iustly and well if man could haue made vse of it to his owne 〈◊〉 These things may also be vnderstood of the Church and that in a better 〈◊〉 as prophetique tokens of things to come Paradise may be taken for the Church as wee d read in the canticles thereof The foure flouds are the foure Ghospels the frutefull trees the Saints their fruits their workes the tree of life the holy of holies Christ the tree of the knowledge of good and euill free election of will for if man once forsake Gods will he cannot vse him-selfe but to his owne destruction and therefore hee learneth either to adhere vnto the good of all goods or to affect his owne onely for louing himselfe he is giuen to himselfe that being in troubles sorrowes and feares and feeling them withall hee may sing with the Psalmist My soule is cast downe within me and being reformed I will waite vpon thee O God my defence These and such like may be lawfully vnderstood by Paradise taken in a spirituall sence so that the history of the true and locall one be as firmely beleeued L. VIVES PAradise a Augustine super Genes ad lit lib. 8. recites three opinions of Paradice 1. Spirituall onely 2. locall onely third spirituall and locall both and this he approues for the likeliest But where Paradise was is a maine doubt in authors Iosephus placeth it in the east and so doth Bede adding withall that it is a region seuered by seas from all the world and lying so high that it toucheth the moone Plato in his Phaedo placeth it aboue the cloudes which others dissalow as vnlikely Albertus Grotus herein followeth Auicen and the elder writers also as Polibius and Eratosthenes imagining a delicate and most temperate region vnder the equinoctiall gainst the old Position that the climate vnder the equinoctiall was inhabitable The equinoctiall diuides the torrid Zone in two parts touching the Zodiacke in two points Aries and Libra There did hee thinke the most temperate clime hauing twelue howers day and twelue night all the yeare long and there placed hee his Paradise So did Scotus nor doth this controull them that place it in the east for there is cast and west vnder the equinoctiall line Some say that the sword of fire signifieth that burning clymate wherein as Arrianus saith there is such lightning and so many fiery apparitions where Paradise was Hierome thinketh that the Scriptures doth shew and though the Septuagintes translate in Eden from the east Oriens is a large signification Hierome saith thus for Paradise there is Ortus Gan. Eden is also Deliciae pleasures for which Symmachus translateth Paradisus florens That also which followeth Contra Orientem in the Hebrew Mikkedem Aquila translateth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we may read it from the beginning Symmachus hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Theodotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both which signifie beginning and not the east whereby it is plaine that God had made Paradise before he made heauen and earth as we read also in the Hebrew God had planted the
an horne thus much Hierome In Spaine this Prouerbe remaineth still but not as Augustine taketh it The Lord wil be altogither seene but in a manner that is his helpe shall bee seene d Obeyed Ob-audisti and so the old writersvsed to say in steed of obedisti Of Rebecca Nachors neece whome Isaac maried CHAP 33. THen Isaac being forty yeares old maried Rebecca neece to his vncle Nachor three yeares after his mothers death his father being a hundred and forty yeares old And when Abraham sent his seruant into Mesopotamia to fetch her and said vnto him Put thine hand vnder my thigh and I will sweare thee by the Lord God of heauen and the Lord of earth that thou shalt not take my sonne Isaac a wife of the daughters of Canaan what is meant by this but the Lord God of Heauen and the Lord of Earth that was to proceed of those loynes are these meane prophesies and presages of that which wee see now fulfilled in Christ. Of Abraham marrying Kethurah after Sarahs death and the meaning therefore CHAP. 34. BVt what is ment by Abrahams marrying Kethurah after Sarahs death God defend vs from suspect of incontinency in him being so old and so holy and faithfull desired he more sonnes God hauing promised to make the seed of Isaac 〈◊〉 the stars of Heauen and the sandes of the Earth But if Agar and Hismaell did signifie the mortalls to the Old-testament as the Apostle teacheth why may not Kethurah and her sonnes signifie the mortalls belonging to the New-testament They both were called Abrahams wiues his concubines But Sarah was neuer called his concubine but his wife only for it is thus written of Sarahs giuing Agar vnto Abrahā Then Sarah Abrahams wife tooke Agar the Egiptian her maid after Abraham had dwelled tenne yeares in the land of Canaan and gaue her to her husband Abraham for his wife And of Kethurah wee read thus of his taking her after Sarahs death Now Abraham had taken him another wife called Kethurah Here now you heare them both called his wiues but the Scripture calleth them both his concubines also saying afterwards Abraham gaeue all his goods vnto Isaac but vnto the sonnes of his concubines he gaue guiftes and sent them away from Isaac his sonne while he yet liued Eastward into the East country Thus the concubines sonnes haue some guifts but none of them attayne the promised kingdome neither the carnall Iewes nor the heretiques for none are heyres but Isaac nor are the sonnes of the flesh the Sonnes of God but those of the promise of whome it is said In Isaac shal be called thy seede for I cannot see how Kethurah whome hee married after Sarahs death should bee called his concubine but in this respect But hee that will not vnderstand these things thus let him not slander Abraham for what if this were appointed by God to shew a those future heretiques that deny second mariage in this great father of so many nations that it is no sinne to many after the first wife be dead now Abraham died being a hundred seauenty fiue yeares old and Isaac whome hee begat when hee was a hundred was seauenty fiue yeares of age at his death L. VIVES THose a future The Cataphrygians that held second mariage to bee fornication Aug ad quod vult Hierome against Iouinian doth not onely abhorre second mariage but euen disliketh of the first for he was a single man and bare marriage no good will The appointment of God concerning the two twins in Rebeccas womb CHAP. 33. NOw let vs see the proceedings of the Citty of God after Abrahams death So then from Isaacs birth to the sixtith yere of his age wherin he had children there is this one thing to be noted that when as he had prayed for her frutefulnes who was barren and that God had heard him and opened her wombe and shee conceiued the two twins a played in her wombe where-with she being trou bled asked the Lords pleasure and was answered thus Two nations are in thy wombe and two manner of people shal be diuided out of thy bowells and the one shall bee mightier then the other and the elder shall serue the younger Wherin Peter the Apostle vnderstandeth the great mistery of grace in that ere they were borne and either done euill or good the one was elected and the other reiected and doubtlesse as concerning originall sin both were alike and guilty and as concerning actuall both a like and cleare But myne intent in this worke curbeth mee from further discourse of this point wee haue handled it in other volumes But that saying The elder shall serue the yonger all men interpret of the Iewes seruing the Christians and though it seeme fulfilled in b Idumaea which came of the elder Esau or Edom for hee had two names because it was afterward subdued by the Israelites that came of the yonger yet not-with-standing that prophecy must needs haue a greater intent then so and what is that but to be fulfilled in the Iewes and the Christians L. VIVES THe two twinnes a played So say the seauentie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or kicked Hierome saith mooued mouebantur Aquila saith were crushed confringebantur And Symmachus compareth their motion to an emptie ship at sea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Idumaea Stephanus deriueth their nation from Idumaas Semiramis her sonne as Iudaea from Iudas another of her sonnes but he is deceiued Of a promise and blessing receiued by Isaac in the manner that Abraham had receiued his CHAP. 36. NOw Isaac receiued such an instruction from God as his father had done diuerse times before It is recorded thus There was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in Abrahams time and Isaac went to Abymelech king of the Philistines in Gerara And the Lord appeared vnto him and said Goe not downe into Aegypt but abide in the land which I shall shew thee dwell in this land and I will bee with thee and blesse thee for to thee and to thy seed will I giue this land and I will establish mine oath which I sware to Abraham thy father and will multiply thy seede as the starres of heauen and giue all this land vnto thy seede and in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth bee blessed because thy father Abraham obeyed my voyce and kept my ordinances my commandements my statutes and my lawes Now this Patriarch had no wife nor concubine more then his first but rested content with the two sonnes that God sent him at one birth And hee also feared his wiues beautie amongst those strangers and did as his father had done before him with-her calling her sister onely and not wife She was indeed his kinswoman both by father and mother but when the strangers knew that she was his wife they let her quietly alone with him Wee not preferre him before his father tho in that hee had but one
and in my selfe avowed Moreouer as they tell that haue tryed you are open-handed hearted to such kind of presents then which scarse any may be more welcome to you For who should offer you gold filuer or gems garments horses or armoâ—… should power water into the sea and bring trees to the wood And truely as in all other thinges so in this you do most wisely to thinke that glory beseeming your vertue and deserts is purchased with al posterity by bookes monumeÌ„ts of learned men if not by mine or those like me yet surely by shewing your selfe affable and gratious to learned men you shall light vpon some one by whose stile as a most conning pencill the picture of that excellent and al-surmounting minde purtraied and polished may be commended to eternity not to bee couered with the rust of obliuion nor corrupted by iniury of after ages but that posterity an vncorrupted witnesse of vertues should not be silent of what is worthy to bee spoken of both to the glory of your selfe when you are restored to heauen though that be the best and best to be regarded and also which is principall and most to be aspired to the example of them that shall then liue Besides all this this worke is most agreeable to your disposition and studies wherein Saint AVGVSTINE hath collected as in a treasury the best part of those readings which hee had selected in the ancient authors as ready to dispute with sharpest wits best furnished with choisest eloquence and learning Whereby it is fallne out that he intending another point hath preserued the reliques of some the best things whose natiue seate and dwelling where they vsed to be fet and found was fouly ouerturned And therfore some great men of this later age haue bin much holpen by these writings of AVGVSTINE for VARRO SALVST LIVY and TVLLIE de republica as HERMOLAVS POLITIANVS BLONDVS BEROALDVS all which you shal so read not as they were new or vnheard-of but recognize them as of old Adde herevnto that you and Saint AVGVSTINES point and purpose in writing seeme almost to intend attaine the same end For as you wrote for that better Rome against Babylon so Saint AVGVSTINE against Babylon defended that ancient christian and holier Rome This worke not mine but Saint AVGVSTINES by whom I am protected is also sutable vnto your greatnesse whether the author bee respected or the matter of the worke The author is AVGVSTINE good GOD how holy how learned a man what a light what a leane to the christian common-wealth on whom onely it rested for many rites many statutes customes holy and venerable ceremonies and not without cause For in that man was most plentifull study most exact knowledge of holy writ a sharpe and cleare iudgement a wit admirably quick and piercing He was a most diligent defender of vndefiled piety of most sweet behauior composed and conformed to the charity of the Gospell renowned and honored for his integrity and holinesse of life all which a man might hardly prosecute in a full volume much lesse in an Epistle It is well I speake of a writer knowne of all and familiar to you Now the worke is not concerning the children of Niobe or the gates of Thebes or mending cloathes or preparing pleasures or manuring grounds which yet haue beene arguments presented euen to Kings but concerning both Citties of the World and GOD wherein Angells deuills and all men are contained how they were borne how bred how growne whether they tend and what they shall doe when they come to their worke which to vnfold hee hath omitted no prophane nor sacred learning which hee doth not both touch and explane as the exploites of the Romanes their gods and ceremonies the Philosophers opinions the originall of heauen and earth of Angells deuills and men from what grounds Gods people grew and how thence brought along to our LORD CHRIST Then are the Two Citties compared of GOD and the World and the Assyrian Sicyonian Argiue Attick Latine and Persian gouernments induced Next what the Prophets both Heathenish and Iewish did foretell of CHRIST Then speaking of true felicity he refuteth and refelleth the opinions of the ancient Philosophers concerning it Afterwards how CHRIST shall come the iudge of quick and dead to sentence good and euill Moreouer of the torments of the damned Lastly of the ioyes and eternally felicity of Godly men And all this with a wonderfull wit exceeding sharpenesse most neate learning a cleare and polisht stile such as became an author trauersed and exercised in all kinde of learning and writings and as beseemed those great and excellent matters and fitted those with whom hee disputed Him therefore shall you read most famous and best minded King at such houres as you with-draw from the mighty affaires and turmoiles of your kingdome to employ on learning and ornaments of the minde and withall take a taste of our Commentaries whereof let mee say as Ouid sayd of his bookes de Faestis when he presented them to GERMANICVS CaeSAR A learned Princes iudgement t' vnder goe As sent to reade to Phaebus our leaues goe Which if I shall finde they dislike not you I shall not feare the allowance of others for who will be so impudent as not to bee ashamed to dissent from so exact a iudgement which if any dare doe your euen silent authority shall yet protect me Farewell worthiest King and recon VIVES most deuoted to you in any place so he be reconed one of yours From Louaine the seauenth of Iuly M. D. XXII AN ADVERTISMENT OF IOANNES LODOVICVS VIVES Of Ualentia DECLARING VVHAT Manner of people the Gothes were and how they toooke Rome WHERE AS AVGVSTINE TOOKE OCcasion by the captiuity of the Romaines to write of the Cittie of GOD to answer them which iniuriouslie slaundered the Christian Religion as the cause of those enormities and miseries which befell them It shall not be lost labour for vs sounding the depth of the matter to relate from the Originall what kinde of people the Gothes were how they came into Italie and surprized the Cittie of Rome ¶ First it is cleare and euident that the former age named those Getes whome the succeeding age named Gothes because this age adulterated and corrupted many of the ancient wordes For those two Poets to wit RVTILVS and CLAVDIAN when-soeuer they speake of the Gothes doe alwaies name Getes OROSIVS also in his Historie sayth the Getes who now are named Goths departing out of their Countrie with bagge and baggage leauing their houses emptie entred safely into the Romaine Prouinces with all their forces being such a people as ALEXANDER said were to be auoided PYRRHVS abhorred and CaeSAR shunned HIEROME vpon Genesis testifieth that the Gothes were named Getes of the learned in former time Also they were Getes which inhabited about the Riuer Ister as STRABO MELA PLINIE and others auerre possessing the Region adiacent a great part of it lying waste and vnmanured being
much moment as the natiuitie d We haue knowne Such were Procles and Cyresteus Kings of Lacedaemon Cic. de diuinat lib. 2. e Diuersitie of This is one of the cauâ—…es why an Astrologian cannot iudge perfectly of natiuities Ptol. Apoteleusmaton lib. 1. f Horoscope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the looking vpon an houre and is that part of the Zodiake which ascendeth our Hemisphere at any euent For the reuolution of this Zodiake is perpetuall and still one part of it ariseth in our Horison and the part directly opposite setteth all the other are diuided amongst the other houses of heauen g Cannot be found Nature neuer bound any one thing to another in such proprietie but she set some differencs betweene them what skilleth it whether those two had originall from one feede Euery man is framed and borne to his owne fortune and be they two or three brethren borne at once their destinies promise no fraternitie but each one must vndergoe his particular fate Quintil. In Geminis Languentibus h Difference of parents why should not the riuers be like that flow both from one head Of Nigidius the Astrologians argument in this question of the twinnes drawne from the potters wheele CHAP. 3. FRustrate therefore is that notable fiction of the Potters wheele which Nigidius a they say answered to one that plunged him in this controuersie whervpon he was called b Potter Turning a potters wheele twice or thrise about as fast as he could he tooke inke in the turning made two markes as it seemed in one place of the wheeles egde and then staying the wheele the markes were found far a sunder one from another vpon the edge of the wheele c euen so saith he in the swift course of heauen though one child be borne after another in as short a time as I gaue these two markes yet in the heauens will be passed a great space And that quoth he is the cause of the diuersity of conditions and fortunes betwixt two twinnes d Here is a figment now farre more brittle then the Pottes that were made by that wheele for if there bee thuâ—… much power in Heauen and yet cannot bee comprehended by the constellations that one of the twins may bee an heyre and inherite and not the other how dare those Astrologians giue such presages vnto others that are not twinnes when as they are included in those secret points in natiuities which none can comprehend But if they say they do prognosticate this to others because they know that it belongeth vnto the knowne and discerned spaces that passe in natiuities and that those moments that may come betweene the birth of two twins do but concerne slight things and such as the Astrologian vseth not to bee troubled with for no man will aske the calculator when he should sit walke or dine How can this be said when wee shew such diuersity in the manners states actions and fortunes of two twinnes L. VIVES NIgidius a they say P. Nigidius figulus was borne of a very honest family and came to be Praetor he was of great wit and exellent both in many other worthy sciences so that hee was compared with Uarro in whose time or thereaboutes he liued and especially in the Mathematiques Tully nameth him often Suetonius saith that out of Octauius his figure of natiuity he presaged that he should be Lord of all the world Lucane lib. 1. At Figulus eâ—…i â—…ra deos Secretaque caeli Nâ—…sse fuit quem non stellarum Aegiptia Memphis 〈◊〉 â—…isu numerisque mouentibus asâ—…a c. But Figulus whose study was to scan Heauens high presage whome no Aegiptian In Mathematique skill could paralel c. b Called Potter In latine Figulus This man was of the Nigidian family there were other Figuli of a more honored house namely the Martians whereof one was confull with L. Iul. Caesar two yeares before Ciceros consulship Another with Nasica but was put from his place because the auguries were against his election c So quoth he How much time thinke you saith Quintilian was betweene the first birth and the second but a little truely in mortall mens iudgement but if you will consider the immensity of this vniuerse you shall find much passed betweene their two productions In geminis langu d Here is a figment This one answere of Nigidius which the Mathematitians thinke was most acute doth vtterly subuert all their presages positions and calculations in natiuities for if so little a space of time bee capable not onely of diuersities but euen of contraries who can prognosticate any thing of any childe borne when as the moment both of his conception and his natiuity is so hard to be knowne So that were it graunted that the starres haue power in vs yet vnto man it is incomprehensible the moments whereto the figure must be erected being impossible to bee found and the swift course of the Heauens ouerrunning our slow consideration Iulius firmicus a man idlely eloquent hauing obiected this reason against him-selfe and his arte and promising to dissolue it after he hath tumbled himselfe sufficiently in a multitude of common places lets it alone with silence and thinkes he hath done very wel supposing that this whirle-winde of his eloquence had cast dust inough into the readers eies to make him forget the aduerse argument But it is neither he nor any Chalde of them al that can answer it Thomas Aquinas in like manner entangleth himselfe exceedingly in circumstances of times and minuites and places for in his booke De fato he saith that twins are of diuers dispositions because the seed of generation was not receiued into the place of conception al at one time so that the center of the heart being not one in both they must needs haue different egresses and Horizous But how small a space is their spent in the full receiuing of the â—…eede how little a time passeth betweene the coagulation of the hearts that this should be sufficient to tâ—…asmute the whole nature of man So that hereby it is not sufficient to tel the Mathematician that such an one was borne at Pariâ—… or Ualencia but hee must know in which streete in which chamber nay in what part of the chamber But in another worke I will handle this theame of another fashion and proue that there is no trust to be put in those vaine superstitions but that all dependeth vpon our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ whome we are to intreat for them all Of Esau and Iacob two twinnes and of the diuersity of their conditions and qualities CHAP. 4. IN the memory of our fore-fathers to speake of men of note there were two a twins borne so nere to gether that the second held the first by the heele yet in their liues maners and actions was such a maine disparity that that very difference made them enemies one to another I meane not this that the one sat when the other stood nor that the one
fourth the goods of the soule sciences artes and good opinions But in the first he putteth measure moderation and oportunity All which as hee writeth to Dionysius import that GOD is the proportion cause measure author and moderator of all goodnesse And in his 2. de Repub. hee calleth GOD the greatest good and the Idea of good And therefore Apuleius defineth GOD to bee the professor and bestower of Beatitude Dogm Plat. And Speusippus defineth him to be A liuing immortall and supernaturall essence sufficing to beatitude and cause of nature and all goodnesse The contemplation of this good didde Plato say made a man happy For in his Banquet Diotima a most wise woman biddeth Socrates to marke her speach well And then falling into a discourse that our loue concerned beauty at last shee drew to a deeper theame affirming a beauty that was eternall immutable and vndiminished nor increased nor fayre in one part and not in another nor beeing subiect to any vicissitude or alteration of times Nor beautyfull in one respect and not in all Whose beauty is neyther altered by place nor opinion nor is as a part or an accident of that essence wherein it is But it is euer existem in one and the same forme and from thence flowes all the Worldes beauty yet so as neyther the originall of any thing decreaseth it nor the decay augmenteth it or giueth any effect or change to it This holy and venerable beauty when a man beginneth to behold truly that is beeing dislinked from the loue of other beauties then is not hee farre from the toppe of his perfection For that is the way to thinges truly worth desiring Thus must wee bee truly ledde vnâ—… it when a man ascendeth by degrees from these inferior beauties vnto that supreme one transporting him-selfe from one fayre obiect vnto two and so vnto all the rest of all beautyfull desires where-vppon the like disciplines must needes follow of which the onely cheefe and cheefly to bee followed is the contemplation of that supreme beauty and from thence to draw this lesson thus must a man internally beauteous direct his life Saw you but this once cleare you would scorne ritches honours and exterior formes Tell me now saith shee how great a happynesse should hee giue thee that should shew thee this sincere this purest beauty not circumscript with a forme of mortality nor with coullors nor mettals or such like trash but in it selfe meerely diuine and one and the same to all eternity I pray thee wouldst thou not admire his life that should haue his wisnes so full as to behold and inioy this gloryous beauty O gloryous pertaker of vnchanged solid vertue Friend of the all powerfull God and aboue all other Diuine and immortall These are the wordes of wise Diotyma vnto Socrates to which hee replyeth that hee beleeued her and that hee laboureth to perswade man-kinde that there is no such meane to attaine the possession of this pulchritude as the loue of it and that no man should thinke it were ynough to dispute of it in wordes or to contemplate there-vppon with an vnpurged heart Which things is hard nay neere impossible saith Plato yet teacheth hee that beatitude is attained by imitation of GOD De leg 4. where speaking of GODS friendes and enemies hee saith That it must bee a wise mans continuall meditation how to follow God and make him the rule of his courses before all mortall men to whose likenesse his cheefe study must bee to â—…old him-selfe what it is to be like GOD hee sheweth in his Thaeatetus it is to bee iust wise and holy And in his Epistle to Hermeas and his fellowes hee saith That if any man bee a Phylosopher hee aymeth at the knowledge of God and his father as farre as happy men can attayne it And in his Epinomis speaking of GOD hee saith Him doth each man especially admire and consequently is inflamed with the power of humaine witte to labour for this beatitude in this life present and expecting a place after death with those that haue serued vertue This saith Plato who placed the greatest beatitude in the life to come For hee sayth in the same booke That none or very few can attayn happynesse in this life but great hope there is after this life to inioy the happynesse for which wee haue beene so carefull to keep and continue our courses in goodnesse and honesty And towards the end hee saith It is wickednes to neglect God the reason of all beeing so fully already discouered Hee that can make vse of all this I câ—…t him truly wise and firmely avow that when hee dyeth he shall not be any longer in the common fashion of this life but haue a certayne peculiar excellence alloted him to bee both most wise and most happie And liue a man so where he will in Iland or continent hee shall pertake this faelicity and so shall he that vseth these directions wheresoeuer in gouernment of others or in priuate estate referring all to God But as wee sayd before so say wee still very few attaine this perfection 〈◊〉 this life this life this is most true and no way rashly spoken Thus much out of his 〈◊〉 In the end of his De Repub. thus Behold now the rewards stable and glorious which 〈◊〉 shall receiue both of god and man besides the particular benefits that his iustice doth reâ—… 〈◊〉 But all these are nothing neither in number nor quantity in respect of those after death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phaedon wherefore saith Socrates while wee liue here on earth let vs haue as little 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…h the body as may be for so wee shall get to some knowledge and keeping a good watch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God set vs free from it wee shall passe away pure from contagion to conuerse with 〈◊〉 â—…ies and by our selues haue full vnderstanding of that sincere and pure truth which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a going my way hath a great hope to bee there crowned with the fruition of 〈◊〉 â—…ch in his life he suffered so many afflictions And after If he be a true Philosopher that 〈◊〉 Gods must needs beare a great stroke with him namely that he cannot attaine the pure 〈◊〉 â—…ill after this life Thus much out of Plato in diuers places partly the words and 〈◊〉 â—…te which being assumed to shew his opinion out of his owne workes maketh 〈◊〉 â—…s to ad any quotations out of other Platonists b Euen those that loue I wounder 〈◊〉 his logike saith that their is no loue but delight the world controules him I 〈◊〉 â—…ent friend yet my delight departed with him But this is not the least nor the last 〈◊〉 â—…hat booke To enioy is to take delight of in any thing as Augustine writeth in his 〈◊〉 Wee enioy that wee take pleasure in of the vse and the fruit hereafter in the 〈◊〉 â—…ke c Whether the Ionian Though Plato had much from Pythagoras yet was 〈◊〉 Philosopher for hee followed Socrates more
to you that knowe such things and ought to inioyne your selues to beleeue it can iâ—… seeme incredible to you that GOD should assume mans nature and bodye you giue so much to the intellectuall part of the soule beeing bâ—… humaine that you make it consubstantiall with the Fathers intellect which you confesse is his Sonne How then is it incredible for that Sonâ—… to assume one intellectuall soule to saue a many of the rest by Now nature teacheth vs the cohaerence of the body and the soule to the making of a fâ—… man Which if it were not ordinary were more incredible then the other For wee may the more easily beleeue that a spirit may cohere with a spirit beeing both incorporcall though the one humaine and the other diuine then a corporall body with an incorporeall spirit But are you offended at the strange child-birth of a Virgin This ought not to procure offence but rather pious admiration that he was so wonderfully borne Or dislike you that hee changed his body after death and resurrection into a better and so carried it vp into heauen being made incorruptible and immortall This perphappes you will not beleeue because Porphyry saith so often in his worke De regressu aniae whence I haue cited much that the soule must leaue the body intirely ere it can bee ioyned with God But that opinion of his ought to be retracted seeing that both hee and you doe hold such incredible things of the worlds soule animating the huge masse of the bodily vniuerse For Plato b teacheth you to call the world a creature a blessed one and you would haue it an eternall one Well then how shall it be eternally happy and yet neuer put off the body if your former rule be true Besides the Sunne Moone and Starres you all say are creatures which all men both see and say also But your skill you thinke goeth farther calleth them blessed creatures and eternally with their bodies Why doe you then forget or dissemble this when you are inuited to Christianity which you otherwise teach and professe so openly why will you not leaue your contradictory opinions subuerting them-selues for christianitie but because Christ came humbly and you are all pride Of what qualitie the Saints bodyes shall be after resurrection may well bee a question amongst our greatest christian doctors but wee all hold they shall be eternall c and such as Christ shewed in his resurrection But how-so-euer seeing they are taught to bee incorruptible immortall and no impediment to the soules contemplation of God and you your selues say that they are celestiall bodies immortally blessed with their soules why should you thinke that wee cannot bee happy without leauing of our bodies to pretend a reason for auoyding christianitie but onely as I said because Christ was humble and you are proud Are you ashamed to bee corrected in your faults a true character of a proud man You that were Plato's d learned schollers shame to become Christs who by his spirit taught a fisher wisdome to say In the beginning 〈◊〉 the worde and the word was with God and GOD was the word The same was in the beginning with God all things were made by it and without it was made nothing e that was made In it was life and the life was the light of men And the light shineth in the darkenesse and the darknesse comprehended it not f Which beginning of Saint Iohns Gospell a certaine Platonist as olde holy g Simplictanus afterwards Bishop of Millaine tolde mee sayd was fitte to bee written in letters of golde and set vp to bee read in the highest places of all Churches But those proud fellowes scorne to haue GGD their Maister because the word became 〈◊〉 and dwelt in vs. Such a thing of nothing it is for the wretched to be sicke and weake but they must axalt them-selues in their sickest weaknesse and shame to take the onely medicine that must cure them nor doe they this to rise but to 〈◊〉 a more wretched fall L. VIVES TRue a â—…latonist Plato in Phaed. Epinon hereof already booke the 8. b Teacheth in his Timaeus c And such Sound incorruptible immortall pertaking with the soule in happinesse Phillip 3. We looke for the sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ who shall change our vile body that 〈◊〉 may be fashioned like vnto his glorious body c. ver 21. d Learned What an insolent thing is it to boast of wisdome As if Plato were ashamed of his Maister Socrates that said hee knew nothing and did not glory in all his life that he was scholler to that stone cutters sonne and that all his wisdome whatsoeuer was his Maisters And as if Socrates him-selfe in Plato and Xenophon chiefe founders of that discipline did not referre much of his knowledge to Aspasia and Diotima his two women instructers e That was made The point is so in the greeke as we haue lest it as if the world should become nothing but for the care of the creator as the Philosophers held The Coleyn copy also pointeth it so but wee must let this alone as now f Which beginning Augustine Confess lib. 8. saith that hee had read the beginning of Saint Iohns Gospell In the beginning was the word In Plato but not in the same words Amelius the Platonist saith And this was that word by which all things were made that were made yet being eternall as Heraclitus saith and disposed in their order and dignity with god as the other Barbarian held that word was God and with God and by it was all things made and it was the life and being of all things that were made thus farre Amelius calling Saint Iohn a barbarian But we teach it out of Plato that by the word of God were althings made and out of Plotine that the Sonne of God is the creator Numerius will not haue the first God to be the creator but the second g Simplicianus Bishop of Millaine a friend of Augustines betweene whome many letters were written He being but as yet a Priest exhorted Augustine to vse his wit in the study of holy writ Gennad Catolog viror illustr What opinions of Plato Prophiry confuted and corrected CHAP. 30. IF it be vnfit to correct ought after Plato why doth Porphiry correct such and so many of his doctrines a Sure it is that Plato held a transmigration of mens soules into beasts yet though b Plato the learned held thus Porphiry his scholler iustly refuted him holding that mens soules returned no more to the bodies they once left but into other humane bodies Hee was ashamed to beleeue the other least the mother liuing in a mule should cary her sonne but neuer shamed to beleeue the later though the mother liuing in some other maid might beecome her sonnes wife But how farre better were it to beleeue the sanctified and true Angels the holy inspired prophets him that taught the comming of Christ and the blessed Apostles that spread the gospell
for the other the Romaines had those gods and this worship and the Grecians others the French others from theirs Spaine Scythia India Persia all seuerall Bâ—… all that professe CHRIST haue one GOD and one sacrifice d All for the world Liuing vnder Diocletian a sore persecutor of Christianity e Witnesses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a witnesse f â—…hy câ—…eth Why came it not ere now or so g Mountaine Some bookes leaue out of 〈◊〉 â—…se the 70. read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the mount of the Lord and house of our God h Iâ—…â—…er It was the beginning or seminary of Gods Church i Commanded Some adde the deuills to depart but it is needlesse k Maternall The mistery is that nothing that oâ—… Sauiour touched is stained or corrupted l In prophecies In Moyses lawe m Performances In our law by Apostles and other holy Preachers n Concerning health Or to befal the health better o Confirming or the rule of which they challenge to themselues in fitting wicked aâ—…fections with correspondent effects For they can vse their powers of nature farre mâ—…re knowingly then we in procuring health or sicknesse Finis lib 10. THE CONTENTS OF THE eleuenth booke of the City of God 〈◊〉 Of that part of the worke wherein the deâ—…ion of the beginnings and ends of the â—…es the Heauenly and Earthly are deâ—… 〈◊〉 Of the knowledge of God which none can 〈◊〉 but through the Mediator betweene â—…d Man the Man Christ Iesus 〈◊〉 Of the authority of the canonicall scripâ—…â—…de by the spirit of God 〈◊〉 â—…at the state of the world is neither eâ—… nor ordained by any new thought of 〈◊〉 â—…f he meant that after which he meant â—…re 〈◊〉 â—…at we ought not to seeke to comprehend â—…te spaces of time or place ere the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the World and Time had both one â—…g nor was the one before the other 〈◊〉 Of the first sixe daies that had morning â—…g ere the Sunne was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must thinke of Gods resting the 〈◊〉 â—…fter his six daies worke 〈◊〉 â—…is to bee thought of the qualities of 〈◊〉 â—…ording to scripture 〈◊〉 â—…e vncompounded vnchangeable 〈◊〉 Father the Sonne and the Holy 〈◊〉 God in substance and quality euer 〈◊〉 same 〈◊〉 â—…ether the Spirits that fell did euer 〈◊〉 the Angells in their blisse at their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 happinesse of the iust that â—…as yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reward of the diuine promise comâ—… the first men of Paradise before sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whether the Angells were created in 〈◊〉 of happinesse that neither those that 〈◊〉 â—…hey should fall nor those that perseueâ—…â—…ew they should perseuer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this is meant of the deuill Hee aâ—… in the truth because there is no 〈◊〉 him 〈◊〉 Thâ—… meaning of this place The diuell 〈◊〉 from the beginning 〈◊〉 Of the different degrees of creatures 〈◊〉 â—…ble vse and reasons order do differ 17. That the vice of malice is not naturall but against nature following the will not the Creator in sinne 18. Of the beauty of this vniuerse augmented by Gods ordinance out of contraries 19. The meaning of that God seperated the light from the darkenesse 20. Of that place of scripture spoken after the seperation of the light and darkenesse And God saw the light that it was good 21. Of Gods eternall vnchanging will and knowledge wherin he pleased to create al things in forme as they were created 22. Concerning those that disliked some of the good Creators creatures and thought some things naturally euill 23. Of the error that Origen incurreth 24. Of the diuine Trinity notifying it selfe in some part in all the workes thereof 25. Of the tripartite diuision of all philosophicall discipline 26. Of the Image of the Trinity which is in some sort in euery mans nature euen before his glorification 27. Of Essence knowledge of Essence and loue of both 28. Whether we draw nearer to the Image of the holy Trinity in louing of that loue by which we loue to be and to know our being 29. Of the Angells knowledge of the Trinity in the Deity and consequently of the causes of things in the Archetype ere they come to be effected in workes 30. The perfection of the number of sixe the first is compleate in all the parts 31. Of the seauenth day the day of rest and compleate perfection 32. Of their opinion that held Angells to be created before the world 33. Of the two different societies of Angells not vnfitly tearmed light and darkenesse 34. Of the opinion that some held that the Angells were ment by the seuered waters and of others that held waters vncreated FINIS THE ELEVENTH BOOKE OF THE CITTIE OF GOD. Written by Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo vnto Marcellinus Of that part of the worke wherein the demonstration of the beginings and ends of the two Citties the heauenly and the earthly are declared CHAP. 1. WE giue the name of the Citty of GOD vnto that society wherof that scripture beareth wittnesse which hath gotten the most excellent authority preheminence of all other workes whatsoeuer by the disposing of the diuine prouidence not the affectation of mens iudgements For there it is sayd Glorious things are spoken of thee thou Citty of God and in an other place Great As the LORD and greatly to bee praised in the Citty of our God euen vpon his holy mountaine increasing the ioy of all the earth And by and by in the same Psalme As wee haue heard so haue wee seene in the Citty of the Lord of Hoastes in the Citty of our God God â—…th established it for euer and in another The riuers streames shall make glad the Citie of God the most high hath sanctified his tabernacle God is in the middest of it vnâ—…ed These testimonies and thousands more teach vs that there is a Citty of God whereof his inspired loue maketh vs desire to bee members The earthly cittizens prefer their Gods before this heauenly Citties holy founder knowing not that he is the God of gods not of those false wicked and proud ones which wanting his light so vniuersall and vnchangeable and beeing thereby cast into an extreame needy power each one followeth his owne state as it were and begs peculiar honors of his seruants but of the Godly and holy ones who select their owne submission to him rather then the worlds to them and loue rather to worship him their God then to be worshipped for gods themselues The foes of this holy Citty our former ten bookes by the helpe of our Lord King I hope haue fully â—…ffronted And now knowing what is next expected of mee as my promise viz. to dispute as my poore talent stretcheth of the originall progresse and consummation of the two Citties that in this worldly confusedly together 〈◊〉 the assistance of the same God and King of ours I set pen to paper intending 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shew the beginning of these two arising from the difference betweene 〈◊〉 â—…gelical powers Of the
deuill 〈◊〉 from hence-forth The truth of the Gospell tells the faithfull that 〈◊〉 bee like the Angels and that they shall goe to life eternall But if 〈◊〉 â—…re neuer to fall from blisse and they bee not sure wee are aboue 〈◊〉 like them but the truth affirming and neuer erring that wee 〈◊〉 their like and equalls then are they sure of their blessed eternitie whereof those other being vncertaine for it had beene eternall had they beene certaine of it it remaines that they were not the others equalls or if they were these that â—…ood firme had not this certaintie of knowledge vntill afterwards Vnlesse we will say that which Christ saith of the Deuill Hee hath beene a murtherer 〈◊〉 â—…he beginning and abode not in the truth is not onely to be vnderstood from the beginning of mankinde that is since man was made whom hee might kill by deceiuing but euen from the beginning of his owne creation and therefore because of his auersion from his creator and b proud opposition herein both erring and seducing was dâ—…bard â—…uen from his creation from happinesse because he could not delude the power of the Almighty And he that would not in piety hold with the truth in his pride counterfeits the truth that the Apostle Iohns saying The deuill sinneth from the beginning may be so vnderstood also that is euer since his creation he reiected righteousnesse which none can haue but a will subiect vnto God Whosoeuer holds thus is not of the heretikes opinion called the c Manichees nor any such damnations as they that hold that the Deuill had a wicked nature giuen him in the beginning they do so doate that they conceiue not what Christ said He aboade not in the truth but thinke he said He was made enemie to thâ—… truth But Christ did intimate his fall from the truth wherein if he had remained hee had perticipated it with the holy Angels and beene eternally blessed with them L. VIVES WErâ—… a created The time betweene their creation and rebellion was so little that it seemed none b Proud opposition So the approoued copyes do read c Manichees Hearing that the Deuill sinned from the beginning they thought him created sinfull and vicious by nature rather then will for that is naturall and inuoluntary in one which the creator inâ—…eth him with in his creation How this is meant of the Deuill He abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him CHAP. 14. BVT Christ set downe the reason as if wee had asked why hee staid not in the truth because there is no truth in him Had he stood in it truth had beene in him The phrase is improper it saith He aboade not in the truth because there is 〈◊〉 truth in him whereas it should renuerse it say there is no truth in him because â—…e aboade not therein But the Psalmist vseth it so also I haue cryed because thou hâ—… â—…ard 〈◊〉 ô God whereas properly it is Thou hast heard me ô God because I haue cried But he hauing said I haue cryed as if he had beene asked the reason adioyned the cause of his crie in the effect of gods hearing as if he said I shew that I cryed becâ—…use thou hast heard â—…e ô God The meaning of this place The Deuill sinneth from the beginning CHA. 15. ANd that that Iohn saith of the Deuill The a deuill sinneth from the beginning 〈◊〉 â—…hey b make it naturall to him it can be no sinne But how then will they 〈◊〉 the Prophets as Esayes prefiguring the Prince of Babilon saith How art tâ—… 〈◊〉 â—…rom heauen O Lucifer sonne of the morning and Ezechiel Thou hast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gods garden euery precious stone was in thy raiment This prooues him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so doth that which followes more plainly Thou wast perfect iâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…y tâ—… wast created c. Which places if they haue none other fitâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do prooue that he was in the truth but abode not therein that 〈◊〉 place Hâ—… 〈◊〉 not in the truth prooues him once in the truth but not perâ—…uering â—…nd that also He sinneth from the beginning meaneth the beginning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his pride but not from his creation Now must the place of Iob conâ—…â—…he deuill He c is the beginning of Gods works to be deluded by the Angels 〈◊〉 â—…f the Psalme this dragon whom thou hast made to scorne him are to bee taâ—… God had made the deuil at first fit for the Angells to deride but yâ— that 〈◊〉 â—…ned for his punishment after his sin Hee is the beginning of Gods workes 〈◊〉 is no nature in the smallest beast which God made not from him is all 〈◊〉 â—…sistence and order wherefore much more must the creature that is anâ—… by the natural dignity haue their preheminence of al Gods other works L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a deuill Wee may not drawe nay wrest the gospell to those grammâ—…ticismes A moâ—… or two breakes no square in this phrase from the beginning So we say Enuy in broâ—… from the beginning a little time doth not prooue this false b They The Maniâ—…â—…as and those that say the Angells could not sin in the moment of their creatiâ—… it because otherwise the author of their worke should beare the blame rather then 〈◊〉 worke And so Origen seemes to hold saying The serpent opposed not the truth nor was 〈◊〉 go vpon his belly euer from the point of his creation But as Adam and Eue were a while 〈◊〉 â—…o was the serpent no serpent one while of his beeing in the Paradice of delight for 〈◊〉 not malice In Ezechiel So Augustine thought that the first parents offended not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were created c He is Iob. 44. the words to bee deluded by the Angells are 〈◊〉 Septuagints Of the different degrees of creatures wherein profitable vse and reasons order doe differ CHAP. 16. 〈◊〉 â—…ll things that God made and are not of his essence the liuing is before â—…ad the productiue before these that want generation in their liuing â—…ue before the sencelesse as beasts c. before trees in things sensitiue â—…able before the vnreasonable as Man before beasts in things reaâ—…â—…mortalls before mortalls as Angels before men but this is by natures 〈◊〉 they esteeme of these is peculiar and different as the diuers vses are 〈◊〉 some sencelesse things are preferred before some sensitiue so farre that 〈◊〉 power we would roote the later out of nature or whether we know or 〈◊〉 what place therein they haue put them all after our profit For who â—…ther haue his pantry ful of meate theÌ„ mice or possesse pence then fleas 〈◊〉 for mans esteeme whose nature is so worthy will giue more oftenâ—… a horse then for a seruant for a ring then a maide So that in choice 〈◊〉 of him that respects the worth often controlls him that respects his â—…de or pleasure nature pondering euery thing simply in it selfe
Of the Sonnes of the flesh and the Sonnes of promise CHAP. 2. THe shadow and propheticall image of this Citty not presenting it but signifying it serued here vpon earth at the time when it was to bee discouered and was called the holy Citty of the significant image but not of the expresse truth wherein it was afterwards to bee stated Of this image seruing and of the free Citty herein prefigured the Apostle speaketh thus vnto the Galatians Tell me you that wil be vnder the law haue yee not a heard the law for it is written that Abraham had two Sonnes one by a bond-woman and the other by a free But the sonne of the bond-woman was borne of the flesh and the sonne of the free-woman by promise This is b allegoricall for these are the two Testaments the one giuen c from Mount Syna begetting man in seruitude which is Agar for d Syna is a mountaine in Arabia ioyned to the Ierusalem on earth for it serueth with her children But our mother the celestiall Ierusalem is free For it is written Reioyce thou barren that bearest not breake forth into ioye and crie out thou that trauelest not without Child for the desolate hath more Children then the married wife but wee brethren are the sonnes of promise according to Isaac But as then he that was borne of the flesh e persecuted him that was borne after the spirit euen so it is now But what saith the scripture Cast out the bond-woman and her sonne for the f bond-womans sonne shall not bee heire with the free womans Then bretheren are not we the children of the bond-womaÌ„ but of the free Thus the Apostle authorizeth vs to conceiue of the olde and new Testament For a part of the earthlie Cittie was made an image of the heauenly not signifying it selfe but another and therefore seruing for it was not ordeined to signify it selfe but another and it selfe was signified by another precedent signification for Agar Saras seruant and hir sonnewere a type hereof And because when the light comes the shadowes must avoide Sara the free-woman signifying the free Cittie which that shadowe signified in another manner sayd cast out the bond-woman and her sonne for the bond-womans sonne shall not bee heire with my sonne Isaac whom the Apostle calls the free womans sonne Thus then wee finde this earthlie Cittie in two formes the one presenting it selfe and the other prefiguring the Citty celestiall and seruing it Our nature corrupted by sin produceth cittizens of earth and grace freeing vs from the sinne of nature maketh vs celestiall inhabitants the first are called the vessells of wrath the last of mercie And this was signified in the two sonnes of Abraham thâ—… one of which beeing borne of the bond-woman was called Ismael beeing the sonne of the flesh the other the free-womans Isaac the sonne of promise both were Abrahams sonnes but naturall custome begot the first and gratious promise the later In the first was a demonstration of mans vse in the second was acommendation of Gods goodnesse L. VIVES NOt a heard Not read saith the Greeke better and so doth Hierome translate it b Allegoricall An allegorie saith Quintilian sheweth one thing in worde and another in sâ—…ce some-times the direct contrary Hierome saith that that which Paul calleth allegoricall â—…ere he calleth spirituall else-where c From mount So doe Ambrose and Hierome read it d Syna is I thinke it is that which Mela calles Cassius in Arabia For Pliny talkes of a mount Câ—…s in Syria That of Arabia is famous for that Iupiter had a temple there but more for Pomâ—… tombe Some thinke that Sina is called Agar in the Arabian tongue e Persecuted In Gâ—…sis is onely mention of the childrens playing together but of no persecution as Hieromeâ—…eth â—…eth for the two bretheren Ismael and Isaac playing together at the feast of Isaacs weaâ—…g Sara could not endure it but intreated her husband to cast out the bond-woman her â—…e It is thought she would not haue done this but that Ismael being the elder offered the yâ—…ger wrong Hierome saith that for our word playing the Hebrewes say making of Idols or â—…ing the first place in ieast The scriptures vse it for fighting as Kin. 2. Come let the children 〈◊〉 and play before vs whether it be meant of imaginary fight or military exercise or of a 〈◊〉 fight in deed f Bond-womans sonne Genesis readeth with my sonne Isaac and so doe 〈◊〉 â—…o but Augustine citeth it from Paul Galat. 4. 25. Of Saraes barrennesse which God turned into fruitfulnesse CHAP. 3. FOr Sara was barren and despaired of hauing any child and desiring to haue 〈◊〉 childe though it were from her slaue gaue her to Abraham to bring him â—…en seeing shee could bring him none her selfe Thus exacted she her a due 〈◊〉 husband although it were by the wombe of another so was Ismael borne 〈◊〉 begotten by the vsuall commixtion of both sexes in the law of nature and â—…-vpon said to be borne after the flesh not that such births are not Gods beâ—… or workes for his working wisdome as the scripture saith reacheth from 〈◊〉 to end mightily and disposeth all things in comely order but in that that 〈◊〉 the signification of that free grace that God meant to giue vnto man such a 〈◊〉 should be borne as the lawes and order of nature did not require for naâ—… denieth children vnto all such copulations as Abrahams and Saras were b 〈◊〉 and barrennesse both swaying in her then whereas she could haue no childe 〈◊〉 yonger daies when her age seemed not to want fruitfulnesse though fruitâ—…esse wanted in that youthfull age Therefore in that her nature being thus afâ—…d could not exact the birth of a sonne is signified this that mans nature beâ—… corrupted and consequently condemned for sinne had no claime afterward 〈◊〉 any part of felicity But Isaac beeing borne by promise is a true type of the â—…s of grace of those free cittizens of those dwellers in eternall peace where 〈◊〉 priuate or selfe-loue shall be predominant but all shall ioy in that vniuersall 〈◊〉 and c many hearts shall meete in one composing a perfect modell of â—…y and obedience L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a due by law of mariage b Age and For she was both aged and naturally barâ—… So some both men and women as Aristotle saith are borne so c Many hearts that â—…e concord of the Apostles of whom it is said The multitude of the beleeuers were of 〈◊〉 Acts. 4. 32. Of the conflicts and peace of the earthly Citty CHAP. 4. BVt the temporall earthly citty temporall for when it is condemned to perpetuall paines it shall be no more a citty hath all the good here vpon earth and therein taketh that ioy that such an obiect can affoord But because it is not a good that acquits the possessors of all troubles therefore this citty is diuided in it selfe into warres altercations and appetites of bloudy and deadly
Hercules and Faunus daughter The Greeks called him â—…elephus that is illustrious b And from him The common report is they were first called Aborigines and afterwards Latines Dion and others But Philelphus brings in Orpheus against this calling them Latines ere Latinus was borne But let him looke which Orpheus it was that wrot both the Argonautica and the Hymmes not the Thracian Orpheus hold all the learned but for the Hymmes the Pythagorists hold them the workes of a certaine cobler Aristotle saith there neuer was such a Poet as Orpheus was But if it be called Latium of Saturnes lying hid there then are they called the Latines of Latium But Uarro deriueth it from Latinus c Sore afflicted Ulisses his wandrings are well knowne Menelaus was driuen into Egipt Oyleus Aiax into Lybia The whole nauy was drawne vpon the rockes of Caphareus neare Euboea by a false light Nauplius father to Palamedes hung out Virgill lib. 2. Seruius diriues all this mischiefe from Mineruas wrath either for Cassandras rape or for their contempt shewen in not sacryficing vnto her d Diomedes Sonne to Tydeus and Deiphile A soldior before Troy and almost equalized with Achilles by Homer Hee maketh him foyle Mars He was King of Aetolia but would not returne thither because of his wife Egiale that playde the whore with Cylleborus Sthenelus his sonne so went he into Apulia where he built Adria Argyripa Sipunte and Salapia and there are Diomedes fieldes which hee shared with Danaus his step-father There was an elder Diomedes a bloudy King of Thrace that fed his horses with mans-flesh and Hercules fed them with him-selfe His sister Abdera built that citty in Thrace where Democritus was borne Neare vnto which was Diomedes tower the Greekes say those horses were his filthy daughters whome hee made strangers to lye withall and then killed them Palaphatus referreth it vnto the wasting of his patrimony vpon horses as Acteon did his vpon dogs e Became birdes Because Agmon Diomedes his fellow had rayled on Venus Ou. Met. 4 or because Diomedes had hurt both Uenus and Mars before Troy the later the likelier Homer Ili 5. Pliny saith these birds are called Cataractae by Iuba and that their teeth and eyes are of the collour of fire their bodies are white one euer leadeth the shole and another followes it and they are onely seene in the I le Diomedea where his tombe and his Temple is ouer against Apulia If any stranger come there they set vp a monstrous cry But if a Greeke come they will play with him that you would wounder to see how they seeme to acknowledge their country-men Origen saith their washing of his temple is but a fable They were transformed sayth Seruius through their impatient sorrow after the losse of their leader and that they will fly in flocks to the Greekes ships still as knowing their old kindred but do the Barbarians all the Greefe they can for that Diomedes was killed by the Illyrians In Geor. 2. yet Aristotle saith Aeneas slew him In Psyl. Seruius saith the Greekes called them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Gaza translateth Hearons Suidas saith they were like storkes or storkes them-selues They may be like storkes or hearons or swans as Ouid saith but they are neither storkes hearons nor swans f In the I le Some as Augustine here Suidas festus c. will haue but one Ile thus called but there are two in one of which Diomedes lies buried Some will haue fiue or sixe of them But Pliny and Strabo do name onely two ouer against the promontory Garganus which lyes three hundred furlongs into the sea the one of them is inhabited but not the other in which they say Diomeds was lost and neuer seene more so the Venetians both there and in there owne seate gaue him diuine honours Of the incredible changes of men that Varro beleeued CHAP. 17. VArro to get credite vnto this reports a many strange tales of that famous a witch Circe who turned Vlisses his fellowes into beasts and b of the Arcadians who swimming ouer a certaine lake became wolues and liued with the wolues of the woods and if they eate no mans flesh at nine years end swimming 〈◊〉 the said lake they became meÌ„ againe Nay he names one Daemonetus who tasâ—… of the sacrifices which the Arcadians killing of a child offered to their 〈◊〉 â—…us was turned into a wolfe and becomming a man againe at ten yeares 〈◊〉 â—…ee grue to bee a c champion and was victor in the Olympike games Nor doth he thinke that Pan d and Iupiter were called Lycaei in the Arcadian history for any other reason then for their transforming of men into wolues for this they held impossible to any but a diuine power a wolfe is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in greeke and thence came their name Lycaeus and the Romane Luperci saith hee had originall from their misteries L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a famous witch Cyrce Daughter to the Sun Aunte vnto Medea Her mother is vnâ—…â—…ne some say she was Asteria Latona's sister Homer saith that Persa Oceanus his daughâ—… mother But Diod. tells this tale Perseus and Aâ—…etas were sonnes to Perâ—…â—…ot â—…ot Hecate a cruell huntresse who vsed to strike men in stead of beasts with dartes 〈◊〉 in Aconytâ—…m the vse whereof shee first found And she had Medea Cyrce and a sonne 〈◊〉 Aegias by her vncle Aetas Cyrce became an excellent Herbarist and could make Philâ—… â—…-drinks she married Scytha King of Sarmatia and poysoned him when she had done â—…pon shee was chased into a little desert I le in the Ocean or as some say vnto the proâ—… that beares her name Some thinke it is an I le but indeed it is but a promontory 〈◊〉 â—…insula Strabo It was once an I le but time hath knit it vnto the continent as it hath â—…ny more Seruius In the bigger Ile of the two Pharmacussae is Circes tombe to bee 〈◊〉 This is shee that turned Vlisses his consorts into beasts Homer hath much of her So 〈◊〉 â—…ritus Virgill and many other poets and Historians b Of the Arcadians Euantes 〈◊〉 Pliny lib. 8. a credible Greeke author writeth that the Arcadians vsed to choose one 〈◊〉 the family of one Anteus and to bring him to a certaine lake where he putting off his 〈◊〉 and hanging them on an oke swam ouer and became presently a wolfe running 〈◊〉 â—…o the desert and lyuing nine yeares amongst the wolues where if hee eate no mans 〈◊〉 â—…hat space hee returned to the lake and swimming ouer againe became man as hee â—…ly nine yeares elder Fabius saith hee had the same cloathes againe also So saith 〈◊〉 Neuâ—… a people in Scythia that they haue set times wherein they may turne wolues 〈◊〉 will and wherein they may turne men againe if they will c A champion Properly a 〈◊〉 with whirlebats for that wrastling running leaping and quoiting were the Greekes 〈◊〉 and the practisers of them all were called in
whole fourth Aeglogue is and his digression vpon the death of Caesar. Georg. 1. And likewise in Ouid wee read these Esse quoque in fatis 〈◊〉 affore terris Quo â—…are quo tellus corrept aque regia 〈◊〉 Ardeat èt mundi moles operosa laboret There is a time when heauen men say shall burne When ayre and sea and earth and the whole frame Of this â—…ge 〈◊〉 shall all to ashes turne And likewise this Et Deus 〈◊〉 lustrat sub imagine terras God takes a view of earth in humaine shape And such also hath Lucaâ—… in his Pharsalian warre liber 12. Now if they say that all the assertions of ours recorded by great Authors bee fictions let mee heare the most direct â—…th that they can affiâ—… and I will finde one Academike or other amongst them that shall â—…ke a doubt of it Whether any but Israelites before Christs time belonged to the Citty of God CHAP. 47. â—…erefore any stranger be he no Israelite borne nor his workes allowed for 〈◊〉 â—…onicall by them if hee haue prophecied of Christ that wee can know or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bee added vnto the number of our testimonies not that wee need 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but because it is no error to beleeue that there were some of the Genâ—… 〈◊〉 whom this mystery was reuealed and who were inspired by the spirit of propâ—… to declare it were they elect or reprobate taught by the euill spiâ—… whom we know confessed Christ being come though the Iewes denied him 〈◊〉 do I thinke the Iewes dare auerre that a no man was saued after the proâ—… of Israel but Isralites Indeed there was no other people properly calâ—… 〈◊〉 people of God But they cannot deny that some particular men liued in 〈◊〉 â—…orld and in other nations that were belonging to the Heauenly hierarchy 〈◊〉 deny this the story of b holy Iob conuinceth them who was neither a 〈◊〉 Isralite nor c a proselite adopted by their law but borne and buried 〈◊〉 â—…aea and yet d is hee so highly commended in the scriptures that 〈◊〉 was none of his time it seemes that equalled him in righteousnesse whose 〈◊〉 though the Chronicles expresse not yet out of the canonicall authority of 〈◊〉 owne booke wee gather him to haue liued in e the third generation after 〈◊〉 Gods prouidence no doubt intended to giue vs an instance in him that there might be others in the nations that liued after the law of God and in his â—…ice thereby attaining a place in the celestiall Hierusalem which we must 〈◊〉 none did but such as fore-knew the comming of the Messias mediator beâ—… God and man who was prophecied vnto the Saints of old that he should 〈◊〉 iust as we haue seene him to haue come in the flesh thus did one faith vnite 〈◊〉 â—…he predestinate into one citty one house and one Temple for the liuing God 〈◊〉 what other Prophecies soeuer there passe abrod concerning Christ the viciâ—… may suppose that we haue forged therefore there is no way so sure to batter 〈◊〉 all contentions in this kinde as by citing of the prophecies conteyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iewes bookes by whose dispersion from their proper habitations all ouer 〈◊〉 world the Church of Christ is hapily increased L. VIVES 〈◊〉 a No man Nature being vnpolluted with vicious opinion might possibly guidâ—… 〈◊〉 to God as well as the law of Moyses for what these get by the law those might get â—…out it and come to the same perfection that the Iewes came seeking the same end nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 difference other then if one traueller should cary an Iâ—…erary of his way with him 〈◊〉 â—…he other trust onely his memory So may he also now a dayes that liueth in the faithâ—… of the Ocean and neuer heard of Christ attaine the glory of a Christian by keeping 〈◊〉 abstracts of all the law and the Prophets perfect loue of God and his neighbour such 〈◊〉 is a law to man and according to the Psalmist He remembreth the name of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the night and keepeth his lawe This hath hee that seeth the Lords righteousnesse so 〈◊〉 blessing is it to bee good although you haue not one to teach you goodnesse And 〈◊〉 wanteth here but water â—…or here is the holy spirit as well as in the Apostles as Peter 〈◊〉 of some who receiued that before euer the water touched them So the naâ—… that haue no law but natures are a law to them-selues the light of their liuing well is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of God comming from his sonne of whome it is said Hee is the light which lighteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that commeth into the world b Holy Ioh. His holy history saith hee was of the 〈◊〉 of Huz Hierome saith Huz buylt Damascus and Traconitide and ruled betweene Palesâ—… and Caelosiria this the seauenty intimate in their translation Huz was of the sonne of 〈◊〉 the brother of Abraham There was an other Uz descended from Esau but Hierom 〈◊〉 him from Iobs kindred admitting that sonne of Aram for that saith hee it is 〈◊〉 â—…nd of the booke where hee is said to be the forth from Esau is because the booke was 〈◊〉 out of Syrian for it was not written in the Hebrew Phillip the Priest the next 〈◊〉 vpon Iob after Hierom saith thus â—…uz and Bâ—…z were the sons of Abraâ—…â—…ther â—…ther begot of Melcha sister to Sarah It is credible that this holy man Iob dwelt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bore his fathers name and that hee was rather of the stocke of Nachor 〈◊〉 though some suspect the contrary but the three Kings to wit Eliphaz Bildad 〈◊〉 were of the generation of Esau. Thus saith Phillip So that Iob was sonne 〈◊〉 by Melcham Origen followeth the vulgar and saith that hee was an Vzzite borne bred and there liued Now they the Minaeites and Euchaeites the Themanites are all of the race of Esau or Edom Isaacs sonne and all Idumaea was as then called Edom but now they are all called Arabians both the Idumaeans Ammonites and Moabites This is the opinion of Origen and the vulgar and like-wise of some of the Gentiles as of Aristeus Hist. Iudaic. c. c A proselite Comming from heathenisme to the law of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come to d So highly commended In the booke of Iob and Ezech. 14. e In the third generation Some thinke that Genesis mentioneth him vnder the name of Iasub but there is no certenty of it Hierome saith that Eliphaz Esau's fonne by Adah is the same that is mentioned in the booke of Iob which if it be so Iob liued in the next generation after Iacob Aggees prophecy of the glory of Gods house fulfilled in the Church not in the Temple CHAP. 48. THis is that House of God more glorious then the former for all the precious compacture for Aggees prophecy was not fulfilled in the repayring of the Temple which neuer had that glory after the restoring that it had in Salomons time but rather lost it all the Prophets
the causes of those arch-heretiques deliuery For an Apostata 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the faith hee hath once professed is worse then hee that opâ—…â—…hat hee did neuer professe Secondly in that the Apostle himselfe 〈◊〉 them concluding of the workes of the flesh that They which 〈◊〉 â—…ll 〈◊〉 the Kingdome of GOD. 〈◊〉 therefore and wicked men secure themselues by their continuance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is written He thâ—… endureth to the end hee shal be saued nor by 〈◊〉 â—…quity renounce Christ their iustice in committing fornication and either 〈◊〉 any part of those fleshly workes which the Apostle reâ—… counteth or such vncleanesses as hee would not name for of all such hee â—…aith expressely they shall not inherite the Kingdome of GOD. Wherefore the doers of such deeds cannot but bee in eternall paines in that they are excluded from the euerlasting ioyes For this kinde of perseuerance of theirs is no perseuerance in CHRIST because it is not a true perseuerance in his faith which the Apostle defineth to bee such as worketh by loue And loue as hee sayth elsewhere worketh not euill So then these are no true receiuers of CHRISTS bodie in that they are none of his true members For to omit other allegations they cannot bee both the members of CHRIST and the members of an harlot And CHRIST himselfe saying hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me I in him sheweth what it is to receiue Christ not onely sacramentally but truely for this is to dwell in Christ and Christ in â—…m For thus hee spoke as if hee had sayd Hee that dwelleth not in mee nor I in him cannot say hee eateth my flesh or drinketh my bloud They therefore that are not members of CHRIST are not in him they that make themselues the members of an harlot are no members of CHRIST vnlesse they purge away their badnesse by repentance and returne to his goodnesse by a true reconciliation L. VIVES EXpressed a in this sacrament For all pertake of one bread which is a great bond of 〈◊〉 Againe this mysticall bread is made of many graines of corne loosing their proper formes to bee all incorporated into one masse or body So many are receiued into the church and at thâ—… entrance they put off their owne proper enormities and being linked to the rest 〈◊〉 loue and charity seeme now no more what they were before but are incorporate into one body the church Baptisme maketh vs both bretheren and one also and mutuall charity giueth forme collour taste and perfection to the whole body So that there could not haue bin giuen a more fit type of the Church then that which CHRIST gaue in his institution What it is to haue CHRIST for the foundation who they are that shal be saued as it were by fire CHAP. 26. I But christian Catholiques say they haue CHRIST for their foundation from whom they fell not though they built badly vpon it in resemblance of timber straw and stubble So that faith is true which holds CHRIST the foundation and though it beare some losse in that the things which are built vpon it burne away yet hath it power to saue him that holdeth it after some time of suffrance But let Saint Iames answere these men in a word If a man say hee â—…th faith and haue no workes can the faith saue him Who then is that say they of whom Saint Paul sayth Hee shal be safe himselfe neuerthelesse as it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 well wee will see who that is but surely it is no such as these would haue 〈◊〉 for else the Apostles condradict one another For if one saith though a man haue liued wickedly yet shall hee bee saued by faith through fire and the other If hee haue no workes can his fayth saue him Then shall we soone find who it is that shal be saued by fire if first of all wee finde what it is to haue Christ for the foundation Togather which first from the nature of the simyly there is no worke in building before the fâ—…dation Now euery one hath CHRIST in his heart thus farre that 〈◊〉 â—…ct of temporall things and some-times of things vnlawfull still â—…eth Christ for the foundation thereof But if hee preferre these things 〈◊〉 CHRIST though hee seeme to hold his fayth yet CHRIST is no foundation vnto him in that hee preferres those vanities before him And if â—…ee both contemne good instructions and prosecute badde actions how much the sooner shall hee bee conuinced to set Christ at nothing to esteeme him at no value in vainer respects by neglicting his command and allowance and in preuarication of both following his owne lustfull exorbitances wherefore if any christian loue an hâ—…r lot and become one body with her by coupling with her hee hath not Christ fâ—… his foundation And if a man loue his wife according to Christ who can denie but that hee hath Christ for his foundation Admit his loue bee 〈◊〉 worldly concupiscentiall as the Gentiles loued that knew not Christ all this the Apostle doth beare with and therefore still may Christ bee such a mans foundation For if hee preferre not these carnall affects before Christ though hee build straw and stubble vpon his foundation yet Christ is that still and therefore such a man shal be saued by fire For the fire of tribulation shall purge away those carnall and worldly affections which the bond of marriage doth acquit from beeing damnable and vnto this fire all the calamities accident in this kinde as barrennesse losse of children c. haue reference And in this case hee that buildeth thus shall loose because his building shall not last and these losses shall grieue him in that their fruition did delight him Yet shall the worth of his foundation saue him in that if the persecuâ—… should put it to his choice whether hee would haue Christ or these his 〈◊〉 hee would choose Christ and leaue all the rest Now shall you heare 〈◊〉 describe a builder vpon this foundation with gold siluer and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The vnmaried saith hee careth for the things of the LORD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the LORD And now for him that buildeth with wood straw and 〈◊〉 Hee that is married caretb for the things of the world how hee may please his wife Euery mans worke shal bee made manifest for the day of the LORD shall declare it that is the daie of tribulation for it shal be reuealed by the fire This tribulation hee calleth fire as wee reade also in another place The furâ—… proueth the potters vessell and so doth the temptation of tribulation trie mans thoughts So then the fire shall trie euery mans worke and if any worke 〈◊〉 as his will that careth for the things of the LORD and how to â—…ase him hee shall receiue wages that is hee shall receiue him of whome 〈◊〉 thought and for whome hee cared But if any 〈◊〉 worke burne hee shall 〈◊〉 because hee shall not haue his
Surgeons b Anotamists they call them haue often cut vp dead men and liue men sometimes to learne the posture of mans inward parts and which way to make incisions and to effect their cures yet those members whereof I speake and whereof the c harmony and proportion of mans whole body doth consist no man could euer finde or durst euer vndertake to enquire which if they could bee knowne we should finde more reason and pleasing contemplation in the forming of the interior parts then wee can obserue or collect from those that lye open to the eye There are some parts of the body that concerne decorum onely and are of no vse such are the pappes on the brests of men and the beard which is no strengthning but an ornament to the face as the naked chins of women which being weaker were other-wise to haue this strengthning also do plainly declare Now if there be no exterior part of man that is vse-full which is not also comely and if there bee also parts in man that are comely and not vse-full then GOD in the framing of mans body had a greater respect of dignity then of necessity For necessity shall cease the time shall come when wee shall doe nothing but enioy our lustlesse beauties for which we must especially glorifie him to whom the Psalme saith Thou hast put on praise and comlinesse And then for the beauty and vse of other creatures which God hath set before the eyes of man though as yet miserable and amongst miseries what man is able to recount them the vniuersall gracefulnesse of the heauens the earth and the sea the brightnesse of the light in the Sunne Moone and Starres the shades of the woods the colours and smells of flowres the numbers of birds and their varied hewes and songs the many formes of beasts and fishes whereof the least are the rarest for the fabrike of the Bee or Pismier is more admired then the Whales and the strange alterations in the colour of the sea as beeing in seuerall garments now one greene then another now blew and then purple How pleasing a sight sometimes it is to see it rough and how more pleasing when it is calme And O what a hand is that that giueth so many meates to asswage hunger so many tastes to those meates with-out helpe of Cooke and so many medecinall powers to those tastes How delightfull is the dayes reciprocation with the night the temperatenesse of the ayre and the workes of nature in the barkes of trees and skinnes of beasts O who can draw the perticulars How tedious should I be in euery peculiar of these few that I haue heere as it were heaped together if I should stand vpon them one by one Yet are all these but solaces of mans miseries no way pertinent to his glories What are they then that his blisse shall giue him if that his misery haue such blessings as these What will GOD giue them whome hee hath predestinated vnto life hauing giuen such great things euen to them whome hee hath predestinated vnto death What will hee giue them in his kingdome for whome hee sent his onely sonne to suffer all iniuries euen to death vpon earth Wherevpon Saint Paul sayth vnto them Hee who spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all vnto death how shall hee not with Him giue vs all things also When this promise is fulfilled O what shall wee bee then How glorious shall the soule of man bee with-out all staine and sinne that can either subdue or oppose it or against which it need to contend perfect in all vertue and enthroned in all perfection of peace How great how delightfull how true shall our knowledge of all things be there with-out all error with-out all labour where wee shall drinke at the spring head of GODS sapience with-out all difficulty and in all felicity How perfect shall our bodies bee beeing wholy subiect vnto their spirits and there-by sufficiently quickned and nourished with-out any other sustenance for they shall now bee no more naturall but spirituall they shall haue the substance of â—…sh quite exempt from all fleshly corruption L. VIVES PArtly a necessary Such as husbandry the Arte of Spinning weauing and such as man cannot liue without b Anatomists that is cutters vp of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a section incision or cutting c Harmony The congruence connexion and concurrence of any thing may be called so it commeth of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to adapt or compose a thing proportionably Of the obstinacie of some few in denying the resurrection which the whole world beleeueth as it was fore-told CHAP. 25. BVT as touching the goods of the minde which the blessed shall enioy after this life the Philosophers and wee are both of one minde Our difference is concerning the resurrection which they deny with all the power they haue but the increase of the beleeuers hath left vs but a few opposers CHRIST that disprooued the obstinate euen in his proper body gathering all vnto his faith learned and vnlearned wise and simple The world beleeued GODS promise in this who promised also that it should beleeue this It was a not Peters magick that wrought it but it was that GOD of whome as I haue said often and as Porphyry confesseth from their owne Oracles all their Gods doe stand in awe and dread Porphyry calles him GOD the Father and King of GODS But GOD forbid that wee should beleeue his promises as they doe that will not beleeue what hee had promised that the world should beleeue For why should wee not rather beleeue as the world doth and as it was prophecied it should and leaue them to their owne idle talke that will not beleeue this that the world was promised to beleeue for if they say wee must take it in another sence because they will not doe that GOD whome they haue commended so much iniury as to say his Scriptures are idle things Yet surely they iniure him as much or more in saying they must bee vnderstood other-wise then the world vnderstandeth them which is as GOD both promised and performed Why cannot GOD raise the flesh vnto eternall life Is it a worke vnworthy of God Touching his omnipotencie whereby hee worketh so many wonders I haue sayd enough already If they would shew mee a thing which hee cannot doe I will tell them hee cannot lye Let vs therefore beleeue onely what hee can doe and not beleeue what hee cannot If they doe not then beleeue that hee can lye let them beleeue that hee will doe what hee promiseth And let them beleeue as the world beleeues which hee promised should beleeue and whose beleefe hee both produced and praised And how prooue they the worke of the resurrection any way vnworthy of GOD There shall be no corruption there-in and that is all the euill that can be-fall the body Of the elementary orders wee haue spoken already as also of the possibility of the swift motion