that it were more Tautological if he did use the same words here but he doth not express it here at-large having exprest it in the former Chapter And if he did use the same expression here as he did in the former Chapter Have we not very many repetitions of things in Scripture mentioned in a former Chapter and in the same Chapter also XIII His fifth Argument is much the same with the third comparing the whole destruction of the Heavens and the Earth with the destruction of the Heavens and the Earth in the former World To this I answer as I did there that if he will needs compare both then the Heavens as well as the Earth must be destroyed in the former for you see he speaks in the Plural number as I said before the Heavens not the Firmament or Region of the Air as our Theorist would have it but the Superior Heavens that of old at the Creation were made by the Word of God which certainly are the same now as they were at the beginning and did not perish Neither did S. Peter mean this perishing of the Earth or Air but after he hath named the Heavens and the Earth he doth not say they perish'd but the World that is the World of the ungodly mentioned in the former Chapter Nor can it be properly said that the Earth perish'd if it were broken and the fashion of it changed as our Theorist would have it We do not say if a man hath broken his Legs or Arms by a fall that he perish'd but when he dies and all his Body perishes Perishing implies a total destruction But of the World of the ungodly it was properly said they perished being wholly destroyed And the main business of St. Peter was to Preach perishing and destruction to these Scoffers and for their sakes and such-like Sinners the Heavens and the Earth shall be consumed together with them XIV I know St. Austin and some others have applied these words of St. Peter to the perishing of the Firmament or Region of the Air yet very few in comparison of those that have thought otherwise but I wish him to observe a Rule that St. Austin gives of distinction between the Scripture and other mens Writings as well as a Rule he shews us ut quantalibet sanctitate doctrinaque praepolleant non ideo verum putem quia ipsi ita senserint sed quia c. That how holy or learned soever Men are I do not therefore believe it to be true because they say so but as far as they bring Scripture for it or some very probable reason And I am sure the words themselves in Scripture are the Heavens in the Plural and not the Firmament in the Singular and therefore we may more surely adhere to them than to the words of some few Men And yet they allow no such perishing of the Earth or Air as our Theorist would have but some small alteration It was the World of the ungodly the Animate World that wholly perish'd XV. I think it sit to answer here an Argument that our Theorist seems mightily to boast of the Rainbow which he affirms never appeared in the World till after the Flood and from thence would prove an alteration in the Airy Region What tho it do prove an alteration yet it proves no perishing which St. Peter affirms of the old World that it perish'd And how doth he prove this alteration He assirms it 't is true but proves it not by any other Argument but that God set his Bow in the Clouds to assure Noah of his promise that the World should never be destroyed by Water again No doubt a most clear proof I would fain ask this Theorist whether a Man of years being Baptized doth not take the sign of washing in that Sacrament for an assurance of his regeneration and forgiveness of his Sins tho perchance he hath been often washed before And thus tho Rainbows had often appeared before the Flood yet God might afterwards appoint it for a sign unto Noah to assure him that he would never destroy the World again by Water And so you see what becomes of this Mans convincing Argument he much boasts of But to return to St. Peter XVI Having thus expounded his words and shewed as I humbly conceive that our Theorist hath little or no ground for his vain siction I shall be bold to tell him further that it is very impertinent to talk to the Apostles of an Antithesis and Apodosis Tautologies or Redundancies and such-like terms of Rhetorick or Grammar-Rules fitter for School-boys to learn than for them whom our Saviour chose as unlearned and poor Fisher-men to Preach his Gospel to the Learned and Wise men of this World and by the Foolishness of Preaching as St. Paul calls it that is by plain and simple Preaching which the World calls Foolishness to confound all their Learning and Wisdom for the Apostles observed no such curious method and exactness of discourse but in their Preaching or Prophesying out of Zeal spake sometimes very abruptly and incoherently sometimes relating to one matter sometimes to another as the Spirit gave them utterance XVII And now I shall prove from these very words of St. Peter the clean contrary to what he affirms viz. His Antediluvian Earth without any Sea For St. Peter here in plain words affirms that the Earth before the Deluge stood part out of the water and part in the water These are his plain words without any such long Comment as he hath brought upon them But he objects that this our English Translation doth not accord with the original Greek which doth express it otherwise saying The earth standing Out of the water and By the water not In the water However these words of St. Peter express two distinct situations of the Earth Out of the water and By the water Let our Theorist tell me what those two distinct situations are out and by and I will presently shew him how that they cannot agree with his new-found Earth where the Waters were all in one manner situated within the Earth and none at all without But I shall now shew him from Gen. 1. which these words have a relation to that the words of St. Peter agree very well with the exposition of our English Translators Out of the water and in the water for Gen. 1. 9 10. it is said God gathered the waters together unto one place and made the dry land appear And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas Here you see the Earth out of the Waters in one place And I pray you let our Theorist tell us where the other part of the Earth was Was it not in the Waters for the Waters covered it It may be said also it was by or near the Waters as St. Peter hath it but yet more properly in the Waters And the Author of this Epistle whoever he was must needs intend the same if
I hope may give satisfaction And so we will end this matter of the Deluge though there be many other extravagancies contained in his fanciful way SECTION III. CONTAINS The Fabrick of his New World I. I Have entertained you long enough with the wild and vain fansie of this Man concerning the Deluge that was but a Praeludium to usher in his rare Conceit of a new World which is the Master-piece and very Quintessence of his Philosophy And by this he means to set up a new Sect of Philosophers something like Epicurus and his Atoms but far exceeding him and therefore hopes that his Name will be much more famous than his or any other Philosophers of old and will be a Monument aere perennius more lasting than any brass and a Fabrick far more sumptuous than the men of the old Worlds great Babel which they thought should have continued to future Ages But by God the builders were soon dispersed confounding their Language and scattering them all the World over And 't is much to be feared this Man's Tower may have the like success from God's Word confounding him for he begins his building with a very ominous foundation a Chaos of Confusion and from thence hopes to raise a Monument everlasting which doth not hang well together But he undertakes the work very confidently and as he faith himself makes a bold step into his new World a very bold step indeed for the World that Moses describes Gen. 1. was nothing to it that had onely one spot of delicious ground in it which he called Paradise But the World this Man hath framed is Paradisiacal all over as he termeth it a very Garden of Delight It wants onely one thing There is not a Mountain in all his World to carry you to as the Devil did our Saviour from whence you might have a large prospect of this delicious Land for then doubtless you would fall down and worship him for his admirable contrivance of it II. But before we examine the Fabrick of it self let us confider what motive put our Philosopher upon this rare contrivance and admirable Design why he was much unsatisfied with the misshapen appearance of our present Earth it was so rude and deformed a Mass as it looked like the ruins of some goodly Structure and a confused heap of rubbish rather than the compleat workmanship of a Master-builder consisting of parts so unproportioned here a Mountain there a Valley here vast broken Rocks there smooth and pleasant Plains here great Promontories shooting out into the Sea there the Sea running into the Land in sinus's aud creeks without any order or regularity but lying in a confused manner as happening by chance rather than contrived with any Method or Order Such is the outside of it and the inside also as irregular with dismal Vaults and Caverns such as fright a man to look into it far from affording any pleasure to the beholders and therefore our Philosopher cannot think this to be a piece of workmanship and perfection becoming such a Master-builder as that great God who made the beautiful Heavens with all those Stars and glorious Lights but rather like the broken ruins of his magnificent Building Thus he describes the present Earth But what if it do appear that God was the framer of such a confused heap as he represents this Earth to be Will not then a strange confusion surprise this hasty and rash Philosopher for thus censuring the workmanship of God III. I defire him to give me leave to set forth our Microcosm Man in some such deformed way as he doth the Megacosm or great World I might affirm him to be a most mis-shapen creature also and his Head to be like a Jug or Bottle with the neck turned downwards much deformed in it self one side all rough and hairy the other bald as it were all battered and broken a broad forehead at the top under that two holes dented in for Eyes then a great and hollow Trunk of a Nose standing forth then a gaping mouth filled with bones and a lump of flesh between them with two flaps for lips hanging over then a Chin as it were a great Promontory stands out beyond a small dwindling neck at the bottom whereof stretch forth two mighty overgrown shoulders and at each side of them Arms as small hanging down fastened on as it were with strings to move up and down and at the end of them two Hands ragged and jagged with Fingers down his Back runs a great ridg of Bones with Ribs encompassing his Breast next unto that a great Potbelly with hips and buttocks swelling out far larger than his Wast and all this divided into two Thighs as if some wedges had been driven in to rend his Body from the twist downward And his inside as deformed as his outside his Breast and Belly all hollowed with Caverns and filled with divers disproportioned parts of heart liver lungs guts and panch as if they had been tumbled into him in confused heaps so that a Bears unlick'd whelp is of a far finer smoother and evener shape Yet we believe this misshapen Body was framed by God himself and our Philosopher acknowledges the same Yea we are mightily taken and in love with our own form and although the parts seem thus uneven and disproportioned we greatly commend the beauty of them altogether and much admire the wonderful structure and usefulness of every part as several Physitians and Anatomists have set it forth And so this great body of the Earth taken all together hath a wonderful beauty and admirable structure even in those parts which he sets forth as most disagreeing and deformed The high and rocky Mountains immediately adjoyning to the boundless Seas quite of another nature represent unto us the infinite Power and Majesty of God as he himself speaks Page 39. saying The greatest Objects of Nature are the most pleasing to behold and next to the great Concave of the Heavens and those boundless Regions where the Stars inhabit there is nothing that I look upon with more pleasure than the wide Sea and Mountains of the Earth there is something August and stately in the Air of of these things that inspires the mind with great thoughts and passions We do naturally on such occasions think upon God and his greatness c. Surely he much forgot his fomer thoughts of the rude Earth when he uttered these words for what can be more agreeable with the goodness and greatness of God than to set forth this lower Earth in such a form as may lift up our minds to contemplate that Divine Omnipotent Power which wrought these mighty works such as strike our minds with a pleasing astonishment And surely all men who behold these things have the same delightful contemplation as he acknowledges to have felt when he beheld them and yet we never looked upon them as broken ruined fractions of a former Structure which we poor Souls never dream'd of till his Theory
gave us notice of them And then if we turn our Eyes from the Hills down to the pleasant Valleys below what variety do we there discern of great Plains and Fields chequered with divers colours and adorned with several beautiful Flowers and fruitful Trees All which we are deprived of in his smooth spherical Earth where we find all to be of one even uniform shape without any variety to raise up our minds to the contemplation of God's Greatness and Goodness or to invite us to move a foot from our own Habitation to see the rest of the World all being but one and the same a smooth Earth without any Sea which gives occasion to men of the boldest and noblest Invention that is in the World when in a small Vessel they lanch out into a boundless Ocean many thousands of miles together seeking out new and unknown Countries Really I should grow an extream dull Creature to be confined to such a smooth uniform Habitation and should desire to be transplanted into this misshapen irregular World he finds us in where we have the variety of delightful motions and prospects both by Sea and Land Now if we further consider That from Moses and several other Writers of Scripture it appears that God created this World in that form and fashion as now it is which this Man hath so boldly called Rude and Deformed Will not he as I said before be strangely confounded at this But I shall not at present disorder him in the Fabrick of his new World as he sets it forth in his Theory IV. In the first place he tells us that all originally proceeded from a Chaos and saith All the Antients were of Opinion that such a thing there was from whence the World did arise I desire to know whom he means by those Antients whether Heathens or Christians If Heathens Is he then to learn from them how the World was made Sure all Christians take Moses to be the onely true Historiographer for the Worlds Creation and are no way concerned with the several vain opinions of Heathen Poets or Philosophers but thank God we have a better light to guide us than those Ignes fatui Yet I desire him to tell us whether all the ancient Heathens were of this opinion sure not all but very different among themselves and some said the World was made of Fire some of Water some of Atoms and I know not what some that it was never made but eternal And therefore we shall conclude this Chaos especially in such a manner as he describes it to be an Idea framed out of his own brain and reject it as we do Epicurus's Atoms We desire him then to declare unto us who was the framer of his Chaos for he doth not plainly express whether he thinks his Chaos was the workmanship of God or no or when it had beginning And if he saith that God created it methinks he should have thought such a rude confused Chaos far more improper and unbecoming Gods perfection than this rude World we live in but he finds fault with as unbecoming the perfection of God for God doubtless could as easily have made the Heavens and the Earth in a perfect form as leave them to his Chaos to produce I see he is strangely in love with Nature and Natural Productions and God must produce only a rude fluid Mass and from thence Nature must work it out in her orderly way into delicate Heavens and Earth 5. But where doth he find that God created this Chaos He saith Moses mentions it in his description of the Creation Let us then look into Moses and fee how he relates the framing of this mighty World Moses saith Gen. 1. In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and the Earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the Deep Here we find within the time of one day the Heavens and the Earth and the Waters above the Earth all framed But our Philosopher tells us of a strange Chaos to be in the beginning such a one as came not to the consistency of Earth in many days or rather in many years I know not how many we find not a word in Scripture of any such thing Yes saith he Moses doth affirm such a thing in saying The earth was void and without form If the earth was without form there was then an Earth the first day though without form But this Chaos was a confused mass of several parts intermingled together which came not to the confistency of earth in a long time as I said before so that this is wholly contrary to Moses's description which saith both Heaven and Earth were created the first day firm solid earth and farther tells us how that the earth though rude the first day was clothed with Grass Herbs and Trees the third day which more fully confutes his fluid intermingled mass of all things But let us proceed 6. He tells us Pag. 53. That by the Chaos he understands the matter of the Earth and Heavens without Form or Order intermingled in a fiuid Mass wherein are the materials and ingredients of all Bodies Earth Water Fire Air yea and Oyl also all confused and mixt together And of these were composed the Earth with all its Creatures Fishes Fowls and Beasts I have often heard of four Elements whereof all things are framed but I never heard of this fifth Element of Oyl before which in framing his Earth is the principal for it seems it was composed mainly of that But he saith it was not Oyl but of an Oyly substance as Cream may be said to be of an oyly or unctuous substance and such this fifth Element was for so I must call it it being neither Earth Water Fire nor Air or else it must arise from somewhat else as Cream doth from Milk and so this must arise from one of the four principal Elements And sure it could not arise from Fire or Air they are of too thin a substance to produce such a thick fat and unctuous matter And for Water that is too barren in it self to produce such a creamy substance The Earth likewise is originally a dry heavy and cold substance very unfit to produce it So that I cannot find out whence it should arise And therefore for ought I see it must be a distinct Element of it self But whencesoever it did arise or whatever it be it is a main principle in his mass of which consists the Fabrick of all his new-found Earth So that here we have the ingredients of all sublunary things whatsoever all intermingled and for ought I find in his Theory all above the Moon also for he doth not tell us of what the Heavens with all those glorious Stars Sun Moon and Planets were composed or when Created or whether Nature had a hand in the framing of them from some other kind of fluid Mass. Surely these things were worth his mentioning for Moses in his
IMPRIMATUR July 8. 1685. C. Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. Ã sacris Domesticis SOME ANIMADVERSIONS Upon a BOOK Intituled THE THEORY OF THE EARTH BY THE Right Reverend FATHER in GOD HERBERT Lord Bishop of HEREFORD JOB xi 12. Vain man would be wise tho man be born like a wild asses colt LONDON Printed for Charles Harper at the Flowerdeluce over against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1685. THE PREFACE MANY years ago I chanced to be in a Stationer's-shop where lay a Pamphlet with a Picture in the Front reprefenting the Moon on one hand in the top and below on the other hand a Chariot with a Gentleman feated in it and three pair of flying Gaunces so he called them that is Geese fastened to this Chariot and taking their straight course up towards the Moon whither this Gentleman was hastening how he finished his course and what became of him I staid not to look There is a Gentleman of late come into the World which I have not seen but by many circumstances conclude it to be the same man and to assure you that he hath been there he tells you of a Deluge and wonderful Fraction that hath been in that World much like the same which he hath represented unto us of our World with feveral other such rare Moonish Inventions set forth unto us in a Book called The Theory of the Earth which he daily contemplated during his remain there being frequently wheeled round about it And by such violent circumferences daily made his head became so giddy as he is not well recovered thereof since his return from thence But I fear this Gentlemans displeasure otherwise I would tell you more of him For I remember towards the end of his Book he desires that if any man undertook to answer it he should forbear extravagant excursions and stick close and seriously to the business I may ask him then why he would trouble the World with more extravagant fancies in his Book and talk to us Christians of a certain Chaos and Fluid Mass and several Particles moving therein and how from thence an Earth was framed in a perfect Spherical Form with a Sea contained in the bowels of it and how that this Earth was so fertile as to produce all the several Animals in the World not only Worms Snails Snakes and Adders but Horses Bears and Lions Ravens Swans and Eagles all grew out of this fat and fertile Mass. And here you might have seen their heads first peeping out of the Earth and then their bodies legs tails and all thus frisking forth and taking their carreer And so Fowls coming forth by degrees at last to grow compleat take wing and fly abroad in the Air. And then he tells us how this whole frame of Earth like a great Pitcher heated sixteen hundred years together by the Sun at length the Water in its bowels sent forth such violent fumes and vapours as burst the whole frame of it to pieces and so boiling up overflowed all the Earth with the several Creatures in it May I not now conclude for certain that this man hath been in the Moon where his head hath been intoxicated with circulating the Earth and is now come down to us with these rare Inventions which he very gravely calls Philosophical Speculations and Rational Deductions whereby he hath framed this admirable Theory which he hath pulbished as a new light come into the World to enlighten the understandings of all men This is just as Seneca saith Sobrie insanire per gravitatem furere a grave and sober madness And these his wild Inventions he would have pass in the World as I said for Philosophical Truths and says If a Prince should complain of the poorness of his Exchequer and the scarcity of money in his Kingdom would he be angry with his Merchants if they brought him home a Cargo of good Bullion or a Mass of Gold out of a forein Country and give this reason for it he would have no new Silver neither should any be current in his Dominions but what had his own stamp and image upon it So we complaining of the great ignorance of mankind should be no less fantastical if we should refuse any new Hypothesis or Theory proposed unto us To this I Answer first That setting aside the Divine Truths which we have by Revelation from God in all other matters we complain of our want of knowledg because we cannot acquire in this Life the sure knowledg of any thing with all our contemplation study and enquiry and the more we study the more we come to know our own ignorance as that Wise man said Hoc unum scio me nihil scire I know this one thing that I know nothing And therefore the Preacher saith Eccles. 1. 18. He that increaseth knowledg increaseth sorrow to find himself so ignorant notwithstanding all his study and endeavours for the gaining thereof Secondly I Answer That I believe no King would be so foolish as to suffer that little Gold he had in his Kingdom to be transported out and exchanged for a great deal of brass or leather Coin So we will be very wary how we suffer our selves to be deluded and cheated of our Scripture-Truths and receive this mans fabulous Inventions And I pray you observe in his Discourse the Method he uses In one Chapter he confidently sayes such a thing is an old gross Errour or that in this the Antients were much mistaken but proves neither and sometimes cites a Scripture nothing to his purpose And then in some following Chapter tells you with all confidence he has proved that in a former Chapter and thus goes on deducing one Errour from another Yet this rare Man notwithstanding all his confidence seems somewhat to doubt whether this his Theory would have a current passage in the World and therefore to take men off from any Opposition to it in his Preface doth brow-beat them calling them Narrow-spirited Men that do not approve his wide wild and extravagant fancies Some he calls giddy and hasty Spirits because they will not spend time to consider and weigh his light and trivial Inventions Some he calls such dul-spirited Men that they would not receive his Theory tho an Angel from Heaven had delivered it unto them And I confess my self one of those dull Souls which should have rejected it tho an Angel from Heaven had brought it and S. Paul to the Galatians would have been my sufficient Warrant it being so contrary to Scripture in several parts He tells us also of some that think themselves witty in calling his Book a Philosophick Romance I wonder much he should be displeased at this Title for certainly it is the most honorable Title that could be affixed to it And there is great reason to suspect that this Gentleman fearing some meaner and more reproachful Title might be given it to prevent the worst found out this himself for how could any man else who had not
Deluge came upon the Old World So now they are willingly heedless and will not believe that this Conflagration will assuredly destroy them No man can discover more from these words of St. Peter unless his head be so filled with this mans Theory that neither sleeping nor waking he thinks of any thing else VII I said a little before that in the Flood The Animate World was destroyed But our Theorist will needs have it that the Natural World as he calls it that is the Body and Frame of the Earth was also destroyed by this Flood And for the ground of this his assertion he desires us to take notice that St. Peter in the former Chapter speaking of the Flood saith that it was brought upon the World of the ungodly but does not mention the ungodly here I pray you what need was there to mention it here having in the former Chapter declared particularly what he meant by the World the World of the ungodly destroyed by the Flood And so here he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Singular number the World perished not the Heavens and the Earth perished in the Plural number But after he had mentioned the Heavens and the Earth had he meant their perishing there had been no need at all to add 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but should have said they perished It had been very superfluous or redundant to repeat the same again which he exprest immediately before by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore the Apostle must needs mean somewhat more by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World of the ungodly and moreover adds O` 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the World of the ungodly that then was in being or then lived that World perished And farther to shew you that he here meant the World of the ungodly he ends the following verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The World which perished in the former verse in the next verse is reserved unto judgment and perdition of ungodly men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VIII But if there were any doubt the business would be cleared by looking into Gen. 6. 5. where Moses tells us God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually v. 7. And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air Here God plainly declares what he will destroy viz. Man and Beast not a word mentioning the Earth or Frame of it to be destroyed And therefore we may well conclude that the addition of the Earth it self is this mans invention only no intention of Gods And again v. 17. And behold I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven and every thing that is in the earth shall die Here likewise is no mention of destroying the Earth or Frame of it but all Flesh shall Die nor is any thing else mentioned in the Chapter following where he plainly describes the Flood and what was destroyed by it Wherefore we may well conclude that St. Peter intended no more than the World of the ungodly which he himself mentioned in the second Chapter upon the same Subject and repeats the same in the third Chapter IX But he objects That the ground that these Scoffers went upon was taken from the Natural World its constancy and permanency in the same state from the beginning therefore if the Apostle answers ad idem and takes away their Argument he must understand and shew that the Natural World hath perished and been changed The first part of his Argument I grant is true That the ground these Scoffers went upon was taken from the Natural World its constancy and permanency in the same state from the beginning yet I deny the second part That if the Apostle answers ad idem and takes away their Argument he must understand and shew that the Natural World hath perished and been changed For I shall take away their Argument without any change in the former World and Answer more ad idem than he doth For notwithstanding all things continued as they did yet by the Word of God a Flood came upon the old World And so tho all things continue now as they did from the beginning a Fiery destruction shall come upon them For as I said in all this Argument of the Apostle The Word of God is declared to be the Cause of all By the Word of God the Heavens and the Earth were of old By the Word of God a Deluge came upon the World of the ungodly And so by the Word of God a Fiery destruction shall come upon them notwithstanding the Heavens and the Earth and all things continue as they did This was the Scoffers Argument and S. Peter thus confutes it X. Secondly our Theorist argues that these Scoffers could not be ignorant of the Deluge and therefore it was the change in the old World that they were ignorant of This man will not attend to what St. Peter saith when it does not serve his turn no more than those Scoffers did attend unto the old Testament for St. Peter tells them that tho they had the old Testament read frequently unto them yet they were willingly ignorant that is wilfully and would not attend unto it But such a change as this man would have in the old World they were wholly not wilfully ignorant of and could not understand from Moses any such change for Moses hath not a word of it And therefore this is a plain Argument that there was no change at all in the old World But they were willingly ignorant of that which they might have plainly learnt from Moses both the Creation and the Deluge XI Thirdly he saith St. Peter takes his Argument from the Conflagration which was a real destruction of the World and from thence must infer the destruction of the old World I say St. Peter doth not take his Argument from the destruction of the Heavens and Earth by the Conflagration for then the Heavens must have been destroyed in the old World as well as the Earth I say the Heavens not the Firmament or the Air altered but the whole Heavens all quite consumed by Fire But St. Peter takes his Argument all along from the Word of God as I said before That as by the Word of God the Deluge came unexpected so by the same Word the Conflagration shall come unexpected XII His fourth Argument is the redundancy of the Apostles discourse making the fifth verse wholly supersluous But there is no redundancy in it if you take the Argument as I lay it from Gods Word And that he saith I make the Apostle Tautological if he mean in this Chapter the World of the ungodly for he mentioned it in the former Chapter To this I say
these Heavens nor this Earth can declare unto us the glory of God or his Handy-work for this present Earth is a strange mishapen thing full of broken Rocks and Mountains Hills and Valleys Lakes and Seas the ruines only of a former Earth which carried a smooth spherical form a beautiful and rich Soil delicately adorned with Fruitful Trees and pleasant Flowers without Seas or Lakes and in a word all over a very Paradise The Heavens also were then of a temperate Serene Air no Storms or Tempests no Scorching or Freezing Weather but pleasant Seasons throughout the year fit to breed and nourish all things which now clean contrary is filled with boistrous Winds Storms and Hurricanes Heats and Colds distempered and infectious Airs so that men are now cut off in the beginning or midst of their daies or if they fulfil the whole number of them it doth not amount to half a quarter of their former longevity This he undertakes to set forth to us in a Book entituled the Theory of the Earth Which I shall now examine and pass some brief Animadversions upon it III. The whole Discourse of this mans Theory ariseth from the great dissatisfaction he had in two things the first was concerning the common belief we have of the Deluge that the Earth was wholly overflowed and quite encompassed with so much Water all at once as to extend to the tops of the highest Mountains and fifteen Cubits over fo so we understand Moses's description of it This seems to him a thing not intelligible and consequently not credible as we shall see hereafter The second thing that troubles him is the mishapen form of our present Earth as he thinks not becoming the Omnipotent Power of God who Created all things and after every Work affirmed that it was good which no man can say of this imperfect World for it hath scarce any thing in it of form or order but lies like a confused Mass of Ruins But tho the Creation was the first thing in order yet in his Book he puts it in the second place and begins with the Deluge as most to his purpose shewing the impossibility of it according to his Scheme of Philosophy for by that we are to rule our thoughts and words in all things appertaining to the Natural World as he calls it But the plain truth is both these difficulties are but pretended to bring in his new devised fancy of making another World very different from that which Moses describes in the Creation This is his beloved Darling which he would gladly compel us to receive by shewing us first the impossibility of such a Deluge in this World as now it appears And from thence he introduces a World of his own framing and shews thereby his admirable Wit and Parts as he conceives in its composure which we shall see when we come to it At present we will follow his method and begin with the Deluge the common opinion whereof he rejects because it is not Intelligible IV. He lays down this Rule That in all things appertaining to this Natural World which consist of matter and form we must not allow of any thing that is not agreeable to the ordinary course of nature which he supposes may be conceived in a rational way As for example That two material bodies cannot penetrate the one into the other this is against the Principles of his Philosophy And therefore we ought not to allow that the Blessed Virgin continued a Virgin in bringing forth our Saviour into the World And that Accidents cannot subsist without a Subject to support them this also is unintelligible and therefore we allow not the Popish Transubstantiation So likewise we reject their Purgatory because it is unintelligible how the Soul separated from the Body being a pure Spiritual Substance can suffer by material Fire and suchlike their Tenets Yet we believe the first that the Blessed Virgin continued a Virgin in partu that is in bringing forth our Saviour as well as in conceiving him because we have a sufficient ground for this in Scripture both in the Prophet Isaiah and in the Gospel A Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son Her Virginity is jointly affirmed both of her conceiving and bearing And therefore all the Christian Church have ever affirmed it and say according to the Creed called the Apostle's born of the Virgin Mary But we find no compelling Scripture to make us believe the Popish Tenets we mentioned If the Papists could shew us as plainly in Scripture their Transubstantiation as we can that the Virgin both conceived and bare a Son we should as readily believe the one as the other Wherefore our Rule of Belief is the Scripture and whatsoever is plainly declared there we presently submit unto whether the manner of it be intelligible or not intelligible whether it relate to the material World or the Spiritual World for I know no reason why we should make that distinction of Material and Spiritual if Gods Word plainly declares it for by reason we are more assured that Gods Word must be Truth than that any material thing can be or can not be so Who doth understand the union of Mans Material Body with his Spiritual part the Soul Where the faculties of the Soul are lodged his understanding Will and Memory and how they are distinguished How material accidents of the Body work upon the Soul and disorder sometimes the understanding sometimes the memory Nay in things wholly material How little doth man understand or can give a reason why a dry yellow Seed of Wheat should spring up in a green moist Blade and that grow into an Ear and become Wheat again Or who doth understand the various flowings and ebbings of the Sea These are things our very Senses tell us are so yet our Reason doth not at all understand how they came to be so Shall man then who understands not himself nor the mean works of God by his shallow weak Reason examine and determine the great and wonderful Works of God God forbid V. But this man perchance will say that he hath found out an explication of Scripture in this business of the Deluge which never was found before and such as may accord as well with Moses's relation as that we commonly receive To this I answer If his way of interpreting the Scripture be extravagant Romantick and ridiculous in it self not any thing becoming the gravity of Scripture and also put a sense extreamly forced and even contrary to the words as they have been understood by the whole World hitherto we have reason to reject it And now let any knowing serious Person not light and giddy Persons who are pleased with any novelty consider and weigh the Arguments he brings and the Answers herein contained and then let him judg of the whole matter wherein we will now proceed VI. His first Chapter is only by way of Introduction to bring in the rest And in his second Chapter he endeavours to shew us