Nature and Use of Lots, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. Of the vnlawfulnesse of such Lots.
§ 1. NOw of these extraordinarie and diuinatory Lots before mentioned (for such all of them were) some were lawfull, some were vnlawfull; but none of them are now lawfull. Those were lawfull that were vsed aDeo vel palam iubente, vel intus instigante. Riber. in Ion. c. 1.either by expresse word and warrant from God, as that b1. Sā. 10.18, 19. Consultoria diuina fuit. Malder. de superstit. c. 7. dub 9.vsed by Samuel for the election of Saul; and cIosh 7.14. Iussu Domini. Lauat. iustinctu peculiari factum. Caluin. in Iosh. c. 7.that vsed by Iosuah for the discouery of Achan; or by speciall instinct of the Spirit of God; as it is certaine of dAct. 1.14, 15, 24, 26. Diuina inspirations factum. Panormit, ad decr. de sortileg.that that was vsed by the Apostles for the supplying of Iudas his place; and it is fCredibile est petitionum hauehave natam ex instinctu Dei. Muscul. in Genes.probable, yet questionable, (for gErgo parism solidè lunius; Reieuentꝰ declarat non superstitiosa diuinatione, sed diuino instinctu motum vt hoc sibi signum prop neret. Et Zuingl. Patet pet…tionem serui suggestionem suisse spiritus Dei, Quomodo alicqui tam exactè peteret, quod Deus tam citò faceret? Et Paraeus, Eleazaru… euentus à culpa liberat.the euent of it proueth not the point, no more then in some h1. Sam. 6.7, 8. & 14 38. Ezec. 21. 19. Ion. 1.7.others that hauehave had the like successe) of eGenes. 24.12, to 26.that vsed by Eliezer Abrahams seruant; and of i1. Sam. 14.6. prophetico spiritu dixit, aut quod ita animus praesagiret. Vatabl. diuinitus intellexit, quo Deꝰ sermones eorum dirigeret. Mart.that vsed by Ionathan and his Armor-bearer, paralleled vsually with it: which though approoued in them, yet are kPriuilegia singulor… ̄s non pessunt legem facere communem. Hieron. in Ion. c. 1. & Beda in Act. c. 1. Exempla sunt hac singularia & praecellentia de quibus no… possunt certa regula praeseribi. Luther. & Paulus ab Ei…zen in Gen. 24. Peculiaria sunt ista, nee in exemplum trahenda: legibus viuendum est, non exemplis. Lauat. in I…sh. 7. Sanctorum facta heroica sunt supra regulam: nec à nobis in exempl… un trahi debent. Bart. Krakeuitz in Ion. 1.not to be imitated of vsus, because they are extraordinary examples, and such as are beside rule; and therefore are no precedents or paternes to vsus, who must walke by ordinarie precepts, not by extraordinary practises.
Those were vnlawfull that were done without either, whether the euent were expected from the true God, as in the Lot vsed l1. Sam. 14.41.by Saul that lighted vponupon Ionathan; or from false Gods, Deuils and Idoles, as in that vsed m1. Sam. 6.7.by the Philistine Sorcerers and Soothsayers; that vsed nIona 1.7.by the Mariners for the discouery of Ionas; that vsed oEzech. 21.19.by Nebuchadnezar in way of consultation for the seige of Ierusalem, and that vsed pEster 3.7.by Haman for the destruction of the Iewish nation. Of which some tooke effect indeed accordingly, as qEzech. 21.23, 24.Nebuchadnezars Lotery for his iourney and expedition against Iury, God framing the euent of it to his desire, for the effecting of his owne will in the punishment of that people; and so likewise in those Lots cast rIona 1.7.vponupon Ionas and s1. Sam. 14.41.Ionathan: Sometime they tooke not effect, as in tEster 9.1.Hamans Lotery for a fit time to destroy the Iewes, where God turned the euent to a cleane contrary issue, and made that day the downefull of him and his, and other the enemies of his people, which the Lot had assigned for their destruction by them.
For howsoeuer some uVise Gl…ss. ad c. 24. q. 3. Martyrē ad 1. Sam. c. 6. & Paul. Palat. ad Ion. c. 1.graue Authors sticke not to say, that some of these latter were done by diuine instinct: and it is true indeed that God hath a secret hand and power and prouidence in directing and ordering all proiects and purposes both of good and bad: yet we cannot safely say, that there was such a speciall and immediate instinct, as in some of the one that made their actions warrantable, so in the other whose courses were vnwarrantable in them. And the difference herein is this, that 1foreign. Plato Apolog. Multa praedicuntur instinctu quodam impulso spiritu nescientiū Aug. de trinit. l. 4. c. 17.the one speaketh and 2Non sunt operis diuini conscij. Bern. de grat. & lib. arb.worketh at randome, as xIoan. 11.51. Aug. ibid. & contr. Faust. l. 16. c. 23. Et in Leuit. q. 49. Etiā per acerrimum hostem nescientē quid dixerit, insignem protulit prophet…ā.Caiphas did sometime, yAgunt quod vult Deus, sed non volunt quod v…lt Deus. Bern. de grat. & lib. arb.not intending or regarding any such diuine motion or direction, howsoeuer God secretly direct the busines they dea…e in and their actions therein, to such euent as he seeth good himselfe: whereas in that speciall instinct that maketh an act warrantable, the party imployed in it by God knoweth it and vnderstandeth it to bee such, and zEt agunt quod vult Deus, & volunt quod vult D… us. Bern. ibid.concurreth with God as well in will as in worke, as well in intention of his end as in execution of his will. Now the former alone will not serue to iustifie an action, 3Comes, non causa.not so much built on it, as accompanied with it; no more then 4foreign. Act. 4.28. Et foreign. Act. 2.23.Gods secret counsell or purpose, his predestination or preordination will acquit the cursed Iewes from sinne in the crucifying of Christ.
None of them are at this day lawfull to vsus; neither doe either of those kindes afford vsus warrant for the like: the former being aAdmiranda, non imitanda. Martyr in 1. Sam c 14.to be admired as maruellous, the latter to be abhorred as superstitious; and neither of them to be now adaies imitated of vsus; because neither hauehave wee any such warrant, as the one had; neither may we doe ought without warrant or against warrant, as the other did.
§ 2. So that the point we propound concerning these Extraordinarie and Diuinatorie. Lots is this, that bSortes diuinatoriae toto genere sunt i…citae. Malder. de superstit. c. 7. dub. 9. Casetan. sum. Peucer. de diuinat. K…kcu…tz in Ion. & alij.It is not lawfull, (without expresse warrant or speciall reuelation from God) to vse Lots, either for the discouery of any hidden truth, or for the foretelling and presaging of any future euent: for the discouery of any hidden truth, as to tell where treasure lieth hid, to discouer a theft, to recouer things lost, and the like: or to foretell things to come, as what fortune in generall a man shall hauehave, which by fortunebookes is sought into, or what successe he is like to hauehave in some particular affaires, as in matter of mariage, in going to warre or to sea, iourneying by land, or the like: vnderunder which head are comprehended all cConsultoriae equi ac diuinatoria illicitae. Malder ibid. Et Delr. mag. disq. tom. 2. l. 4. c. 3. q. 7. §. 4 Ordinariè illicitae. Io. Buscus ad Bles. epist. 30.Consultorie Lots, with the rest therefore alike condemned.
For first God himselfe in his word hath expresly forbidden all such kindes of diuination, and this of Sorcery or Lotery (for dVise supra Chap. 10. §. 9.so that word signifieth) by name among the rest.
To passe but lightly by that place in eLeuit. 19.26.Leuiticus, though of great and sufficient weight in this point; wherein God inhibiteth his people to vse Sorcerie, and some other superstitions like it: In the booke of Deuteronomie he reckoneth vp the same amids many other detestable and abominable courses, which practised by the Heathen, whom he then threw out, he prohibiteth his people to hauehave any dealing withall. fDeut. 18.9, 10, 11, 12.When thou comest, saith he, into the land that the Lord thy God giueth thee, doe not learne to doe after the abominations of those Nations that God casteth out before thee. Let none be found among you, that maketh his son or daughter passe through the fire: a foolish ceremonie, as gMoses M…im… …is scribit solitos Ám…rraeos foe…us ex viero recentes per fl…mmam transmittere, qua ratione à calam…tatibus liberati miri nod… bant: quam & superstitionem à nutricibus in Aegypto adhibitam se vidisse. Bodin. d… monoman. l. 3. c. 5. Qu…m & …rem infantes puerosque p…r ignemtraij…endi aue… runcationis ac lustrationis ergô, ad sua vsque tempora permansisse testatur Theodoret. apud Glycam annal par. 2. …it à Tartaris etiā vsurpari Lyra ad Deut. 18. Sic vulgata Deut. 18.10. Qui lustret filium aut fi…iam suam, ducens per ignem. De bis lustrationibus Christianus in terd…ctis in Concil. sub Martino Papa apud Grat. c 26. q 5. exponunt Lyra, Wolfius, Strigel. & alij: sed & p…aerique illud 2. Chron. 33.6.many take it, vsed of Heathen to purifie their children and preserue them from perils of spels and witch-craft, as they supposed, by making them passe betweene two fires, or by drawing them hastily through the flame of the fire; though hCaluin. in Pentateuch. de pracep…. 1. Et Vatablus: Seà & Me…ter. ex Leuit. 18.21. sic interpretatur loca ill… 2. Reg. 16.3. & 21.6. & 17.17. & 2. Paralipom. 28.3. & 33.6.others expound it of burning their children in sacrifice to Idoles and Deuills, which in imitation of iDeut. 12.31.the Heathen some idolatrous kPsalm 106.37, …8 I…rem. 19 5. Ezech. 16.21. & 20.16, 31.Iewes also did: lforeign. Septuagint. Deut. 18.10. 1 Sam. 15.23. & 28.8. 2. King 17.17. Num. 22.7. Iosh. 13.22.Or that vseth any kinde of diuination; for the discouery of hidden truths, or the foretelling of future euents, without the compasse of mans naturall skill: There is mOmn… genus diuinationis diabolicae interdicitur. Procop. in Octateuch.the generall, the seuerall sorts whereof after ensue, this particular that we purposely deale with among the rest, and of the same nature and stampe therefore with the rest. But let vsus view the particulars.
The first of them is nforeign Deut. 18.10. Mica 5.11. foreign idem Esai 2.6. Ierem. 27.9. & foemin. foreign Esai 57.3. à verbo foreign … Reg. 21.6. 2. Paral. 33.6. & Leu. 19.26.a oGenen. …ralatio.Regarder or pRegia Biblia.Obseruer of times: one …hat vseth such obseruation of times as hath no ground in nature, qA foreign quod tempus constitutum significat, qui horas & tempora computat. R. Aquiba. vt fac…unt Astrologi, qui huns diem inauspicatum, illum faust…m praedicant. Munst, ex Rabbin. praecept. neg. 53. & R. Achi…as apud Pic…m contra Astrol. l. 1. & R. Salom… teste Liuel. Alij à foreign quod nubem significat, qui ex vario …ubiū si…u mot…ue futura praesagit. Aben-Ezra in Leuit. ex nubibus conijciens. Vatabl quod aerem nubium sedem exfider… inspectione superstit…è obser…ent. Lau in 2. Par. 33. Planetariis. Iun. Deut. 18. Alij deni que à foreign quod locum significat quod siderum stationes considerent. Caluin. ad Pentateuch.accounting some daies luckie and some vnluckie or dismall daies, as our common Almanack-makers doe, and as other superstitious people, that hauehave an idle conceipt of Childermas-day, as they tearme it, as an vnluckie day to vndertake ought on all that yeere, and the like: though some expound it rA foreign quod oculum significat praestigiatorem R Dauid ex communi Doctorum sententia. & Iun. in Leuit. 19. vel à foreign obnubilare. A…euat. Nec desunt qui à foreign quod est respondere deducant, (it… …din d…mon…an. l. 1. c. 6.) sicut hari…lus quasi fariolus ab effatis dictus est. Liuel. apud Heidon pro Astrolog.of jugling, or deceiuing of the sight by casting a mist before mens eyes.
The second is sforeign Deut. 18.10 à foreign conijcere. Leu. 19 26. 2. Reg. 17.17. & 21.6. vnde foreign sortilegium Num. 23.23. & 24.1.a Sorcerer, or a tConiector. …n. qui ex fort…itic futura diui…at. Detr…o mag. disq. iom. 1. l. 1. c. 2. Sor…ilegus. Peucer. de diuinat. & Bodin. daemonoman. l. 1. c. 6. qui tamen a foreign supputare, ineptè deducit. Nam quod Reg. Bibl. an Inchanter, idem est pla…è quod Charmer vers. 11. forsan quia foreign serpentem significat, qui carmine magico vi…ciri creditur: sed ob callid it atem potius Gen. 3.1. s…rpenshine dicitur, Mercer. Calu. ad Pentat.Coniecturer; one that uforeign, sine foreign. Delr mag. disq. tom. 2. l. 4. c. 2. q. 7 § 3. & C…saub. ad Sp…rt.by casting of Lots, as *Ester 3.7. …ecit. s…it. sortilegꝰ, Drus.Haman did; or xforeign. Hier. in Ezech.by drawing arowes out of a quiuer, as y… Zech. 21.19.20. mis…ns sagi…tas. Vulg.some thinke the King of Babel did; or zforeign. Theo…r. idyll 3. foreign. Schol.by a siue, as the Gentiles had wont to doe, and it is 1foreign. Lucian. … s…domant. Vise Er…s. …hil. 1. cent. 10 …ag. 8.a by-word in their bookes, and as many superstitious ones among vsus yet doe; or aforeign apud Artemidor de insomn. l. 2. Casaub. ad Spartian, foreign & foreign. D…l… vbisup. Hinc Propert l 4. eleg. 8. Me qu…que per talos Venerem quarente secundos, Damnosi sempesub…uere canes.by throwing of dice 2foreign per calcules. Cardan. de …r. ex Arte…io c. 91.or stones or bones; or bforeign Casaub. foreign. Delrio & Peucer.by opening of bookes; or cforeign & G…mantia. … …cer. & Delrio & Fr. Picus de praenot. l. 6. c. 3. &. Georg. Pictorius de mag. c. 8. & Iul. Sireniꝰ de fatol 9. c. 38. per figura… & characteres. R. Abraham.by markes and figures made in the dust or in ashes, or the like in writing drawne and done out at aduenture; or by dforeign, de qua expon…nt illud Hosh. 4.12. post Cyrillum Theophylact. post Hicronymum Montan. & Riber.stickes, or eforeign & foreign. Peucer. & Delrio. & B…din.leaues shuffled and seuered, or left to the winde; or fVt qui signa sibi praestituit, vt dicat, si eue…erit sic vel s…c, faciam, sin minus, non faciam. Munster, ex Rabb. ad praecept neg. 51. Latius R Dauid, quem vise in radic. & Fagius in Leuit.by any other such casuall course vndertaketh to coniecture and guesse at things hidden and secret.
The third is gforeign Deut. 18.10. Malac. 3.5. & D…n 2.2. qui & foreign Ier. 27.9. & foem. foreign Exod. 22.18. quae & foreign Na…em 3.4. a verbo foreign 2. Paral. 32.6.a Witch; one that hforeign, Septuagint. mal…ficus, Vulg. veneficus. De quo genere Lucan. bell. Phars. lib. 6. Hora…. epod. lib. 5. Cardan. de variet. cap. 10 & alij.by hurtfull confections doth mischiefe; or iPraestigiator. Iun. vbique. Mutantes aliquid naturale ad aspectum oculi. R. Abraham, & Dauid K. & Munst. praecept. neg. 55.by flight and collusion seemeth to alter the nature of the creature, and so to worke miracles; as those Aegyptian Magitians did, kforeign Exod. 7.11. l. 2. Timoth. 3.8. Iannis meminit & Plin. hist. nat. l. 30. c. 1. cui Mambrem adiungunt Talmudici, & vulgata.Iannes and Iambres, and sundry mMatth. 24.24.2. Thess. 2.9. Apoc. 13.13, 14.false Prophets in these latter times vnderunder the kingdome of Antichrist hauehave attempted to doe: for to this head rather would such Iuglers be referred then vntounto that former.
The fourth is nforeign. Sept. Deut. 18.11. foreign Esai 47.9, 12.a Charmer or an Inchanter, (for these two be the same) one that vseth spels and charmes, or characters and ligatures, oPsal. 58.6. quod & foreign dicitur Eccles. 10.11. & Ier. 8.17. Frigidus in pratis cantando rumpitur anguis Virgil. Eclog. 8. Vipere as rumpo & verbis & carmine fauces. Ouid. metam. lib. 7. Serpentes ex…ral, i cantu cogique in poenam. Pliu. hist. nat. l. 8. c. 16. incantari contrabique Marsevum cantu, non pauci credunt. Ibid l. 28. c. 2.for the inchanting of Serpents, pHinc foreign, amuleta, &c. qu… foreign dici Iunius antumat Esai 3.20.preuenting of harmes, r-foreign. - Homer. Odyss. T. vbi Autolyci filios Vlyssi, non Vlyssem, vt Plin. lib. 28. cap. 2. sanguinis profluuium carmine inhibuisse refer….staunching of bloud, sCarmine extent contra ambusta, & varia morborum genera. Plin. l. 28. cap. 2.asswaging of swellings, and the like; courses meerely superstitious, and such saith the Heathen man, as tforeign. Sophoel. Aiace. Incantationem negat esse medicinam Vlpian. Digest. l. 50. tit. 13. l. 1.no wise Artist will vse, his cure requiring an other course.
The fift is uforeign Pythonē requirens. Deuteron. 18 11. 1. Sam. 28.3. 7, 8, 10. quod foreign Act. 16.16.a Consulter with Spirits or with Familiars: one that dealeth directly and immediately with the Deuill, as the other all deale indirectly with him, or worke mediately from him; vsing his helpe either to hurt or to heale, to tell or to foretell ought.
The sixth is *foreign Deut. 18.11. Leu. 19.31. & 20.27. à foreign quod est scire, quasi periti, rerumqus reconditarum scientia omnimoda instructi. Wolf. in 2. Reg. 21. nam quod de foreign ane, v… Pagnin. bestia, vt Mercer. garriunt K…mchi, & Talmudici at praecept. neg. 39. fabulae sunt purae pu…a.a Wisard, or a Wise-man, as they tearme him, a Soothsaier, or a Fortune-teller; one that by xforeign, augurium, & … spicium.the flight of foules, or yforeign, quem oscines au…s faci…ban….shreiking of birds, zforeign, …rus…ina, exti…picium.or entrailes of beasts, then which nothing was more vsuall among the Gentiles, professeth to foretell future euents. To which purpose it is reported that Ex Hecat…i hist. Iud. Euseb. pr…par. Euang. l 9.when Xerxes had sometime made his armie stay while his Wisards obserued the flight of a foule, a Iew in the troope vnderstanding it, shot the foule starke dead, and then asked how the foule could tell what should befall them, which had it foreknowne what was to befall it selfe, would not hauehave flowne that way at that time.
But to returne to the text. In the last place come dforeign Deut. 18.11. foreign. Suid. Et foreign. Hesych. vbi mortui di…inare videntur. Aug. deciui…. Deil. 7. c. 35. & quatota in mortnorum inquisitione versatur. Io. Sarub. poliet. l. 1. cap. 12. Et foreign ad Acherontem …. Thespro…i…um. Herodet. lib. 5. quem vise s… ▪those that aske aduice of the dead: that eEsai ….19.go, as the Prophet speaketh, from the liuing to the dead, f1. Sam. 2….8, 11. Iude Homeritota foreign: inde Appij nostri foreign si…e foreign. Iud… in vicinia nostra Auernilacus, vnde anim… …citantur obscura vmbra, aperto …io Alti Acheront…. Cicer. Tuscul. l. 1. & dediuin. l. 1. Sed & foreign, in foreign Tyrius Max. serm. 26.consulting with those that raise vp the soules of the deceased, as the Deuill beareth men in hand, and maketh many beleeue.
So that all these courses are there ioyned together, as they hang all on one string, and they are all alike prohibited and condemned by God, as being practises that gIeuit. 19.31.pollute all that vse them, if not in body, yet h2. Cor. 6.14, 15, 16, 17. & 7.1.in soule; and that make them abominable, if not in mans eye, yet in Gods sight. So saith the text expressely. iDeut. 18.12.For all that doe such things are abomination to the Lord thy God: who will kDeut. 18.14.not therefore suffer any of his to do so. What could bee more plainely or pregnantly spoken for the condemning of these courses, and for the remouing of that obiection, which men commonly make? to wit; What hurt is there in these things? What euill is there in a spell or a charme, as long as there is nothing but good words in it? or what harme can there be, in casting of Lots, or in drawing of cuts, or in pulling an arow out of a quiuer, in holding a siue betweene two hands, making a childe run betweene two fires, breaking a bone betweene twaine, and the like? Yea but, saith God, these bee courses that I vtterly abhorre, when they are vsed to these ends; and all that so vse them, or hauehave dealing with them, by causing such things to be done by others for them, are not abominable onelyonly, but euen abomination it selfe in my sight. That which should be a sufficient argument to vsus, to make vsus *Psalm. 97.10. Amas illum? debes odisse, quod odit. Aug. ibid.if we do sincerely louelove him, to hate and abhorre them, albeit we could see no hurt or harme at all in them.
§ 3. But that wee may the better conceiue the cause why God thus forbiddeth and abhorreth these courses: (for it is not without speciall reason ordinarily that God enioynes or inhibites ought:) let vsus in the next place more particularly consider the manifold euils that are in these practises: whereby it shall euidently appeare, that men make themselues guiltie of Curiosity, of Superstition, of Idolatry, of Presumption, of diabolicall Impiety, and of high Treason against Gods maiesty.
First of lSacrilegae curiositatis vitium; nefariae curi…sitatis ars. Aug. ci…. Deil. 10. cap. 9. haec omnia (coniectura decept…ria humanis suspicionibus ab hominibus in stitutae) plena sunt pestiferae curiositatis, cruciantis solic…tudinis, mortifera seruitutis. Idem de doctr. Christ. l. 2. c. 24.Curiosity: For it is a point of vaine, yea of mImpietas est e… velle scir… quae pater in potestate sua posuit. Gerson de …ror. Mag.impious Curiosity to enquire into those things that God hath concealed and kept in his owne power: in which regard therefore nAct. 1.7.our Sauiour reproueth his Disciples when euen by lawfull meanes they enquired into things of that nature; as also oIoan. 21.22.he rebuked Peter by name for being ouer inquisitiue in that kinde. But where God hath denied men ordinarie meanes of discouery, there doth he reserue and keepe things in his owne power; concerning which therefore that rule of Gods Spirit holdeth, pDeut. 29.29.Things concealed belong to God, things reuealed to vsus. So that though they be things that concerne vsus, and might be of some vse to vsus, if by ordinary meanes and direct courses we could come to discouer them; yet when God hath either so concealed, or suffered them so to be concealed from vsus, that by ordinary courses they cannot be discouered, it is not lawfull for vsus to seeke to come to notice of them by extraordinary meanes; (no more then it was for our Sauiour Christ as he was man, and qGalat. 4.4.made for vsus vnderunder the Law, rMatth. 4.3.to seeke to his Father to hauehave stones turned into bread, when food failed him:) but sContenti nos illis debemus esse, quae nobis Deus aperir… dignatus est: reliqua nec per sortes, nec per alias superstitios as artes viasue qualescun que inuestigare debemus. Lauat. in Prouerb. cap. 16.we must be content with the good pleasure of God, and rest satisfied with so much as by lawful meanes may be knowne, vnlesse we will make our selues tCuriositatis illicitae rei. Krakeuitz in Ion. c. 1.guiltie of vnlawfull Curiositie.
And in this regard are the Arts that tend hereunto called uforeign. Act. 19.19.Curious Arts; the bookes whereof the good Christians at Ephesus that had professed them before, burnt afterward in token and testimonie of their renunciation and condemnation of them, vponupon their conuersion to Christ. Which place of the Euangelist howsoeuer it may bee vnderstoode of *Sic enim Dion. Chrysost. orat. 80. foreign Et Tertull. de idolol. In officium, in ministerium alienae idololatriae aliquas artes adhibuit curiositatis.some other curious kind of craft or mysterie tending to the furtherance of Idolatrie: yet xSic foreign quadam vocat damnatissimas artes. Syrꝰ & Arabs Magorū nomen expressit. Beza. Idem & Chrysost. in Act. hom. 41. & Theophylact. in Oecumen. & Beda & Caietan. &c.most interpreters, or all generally, expound it of this kinde of curious Arts applied to Diuination; which (as Heathen stories also testifie) were so frequent at Ephesus, and so famous, that the yforeign Diog…nian. in adag. Pausan. lexic. rhetor. Suid. Hesych. & Andro…ydes Pythagoraeus … pud Clement Alex. strom l. 5. qui & 6. magica vocabula fuisse asserit: foreign. Et exp…sitionem subiung…t mysticam foreignSpels of Ephesus were become a common by-word.
z1. Sam. 6.19.It was death for any man to looke into the Arke, or 1Num. 4.15, 20.but to peepe into the holy of holies. And as it is sinne for a man to search and pry into what God hath concealed; so to search by such courses as he hath not warranted; or to search into such things, as it is therefore apparent that he hath concealed and would hauehave hid from vsus, in that he hath taken away all ordinarie meanes of discouery, and offereth not extraordinary meanes of himselfe: which howsoeuer we may accept, yea aEsai 7.12, 13, 14.wee ought not to refuse, when God offereth and suggesteth them to vsus; for that were to contemne God; so wee ought not to desire or request at Gods hands, much lesse frame them to our selues, when God shall not see good so to doe; for that is manifestly to tempt God. bEsai 59.21. & 30.21.God hath promised his people his Word and cIohn 14.26. & 16.13. 1. Ioh. 2.27.his Spirit to direct them, and to dDeut. 18.15, 16. Ephes 4.11, 12, 13, 14. Ierem. 3.15. Hebr. 1.1, 2.raise vp Prophets, as occasion shall be from time to time to enstruct them, eSiqua nobis cognitu sunt necessaria, per spiritum pronunciabit. Tho. de sort. c. 4. Omnia nobis ad salutem necessaria Deu… per o… Prophetarum & Apostolorum, Filijque sui inprimis reuelauit. Lauat. in Prou. c. 16.in whatsoeuer shall bee necessary or needfull for them to know: so that they shall not neede to seeke to such indirect courses, as can neither probably nor profitably acquaint them with his will, being taken vp beside and against his will.
§ 4. Secondly such courses make the Vsers of them guilty of fSuperstitiosa instituta sunt molimina omnia artium magicarū. Aug. de doct. Chr. li. 2. c. 20.Superstition. For what is Superstition but gSuperstitiosū est quod causam habet nec naturalem, nec humanā, nec diuinam. Thom de sort. c. …. Superstitio est quando quis …e aliqua ad aliquid vtitur, ad quod virtus aut vis e…us naturalis extendi non potest. Ibid. Siest in ext… vis aliqua quae declaret futur…, necesse est cam …utcū rerū natura esse coniunctā, aut cōfirmari quod ammodò numine de…rū vique diuina. Cic. de diuin. l. 2.to ascribe that to a Creature, or to vse a Creature to that end, which it hath no naturall power and efficacie vntounto, or whereunto it is not by any diuine ordinance enabled. But in these cases is a Lot applied vntounto that vse, and that vertue ascribed vntounto it, which it neither hath by any naturall power of it owne, nor hath receiued by any ordinary ordinance of God, nor can atcheiue by the will or power of the Vser joined with it. For herein is the difference betweene the former Diuisory, and these Diuinatory Lots; as also betweene those speciall ones vsed at Gods expresse appointment, and these; in that the former were applied to no other ends then Lots hauehave power of themselues io…ned with mans will and consent to effect; the latter likewise to such as they had power to effect by vertue of Gods couenant or appointment ioined with them.
For example: a Lot hath a power of it selfe to light vncertainely, and yet certainely in some sort; vncertainely, because indefinitely, for it is in possibilitie to fall diuers waies: and yet certainly in some sort, because it can light actually but one way alone: this power it hath naturally of it selfe; but beside this power, from the will of men and their mutuall consent it may receiue further power to arbitrate such things as they hauehave power to dispose of. But neither hath a Lot any power of it selfe, neither can any man by his owne will, or many men by their mutuall consent giuegive any such power vntounto it as to make it light so that it shall necessarily discouer somewhat that is hidden and secret to them that so vse it: and therefore so to vse it is meere superstition.
Againe a Lot may hauehave power by Gods will and appointment to reueale and discouer some such matter, and it had so in the lawfull Lots extraordinary before mentioned. But in these we now deale with, there is no such appointment or agreement of God betweene vsus and him; and therefore they can not be sure to hauehave any such power now from him. To make that wee say by instances more euident: Water hath a naturall power to wash and to clense the body, and men may vse it therefore to that end. But to be a hRom. 4.11.signe and seale of Gods couenant of grace, that it hath not but by iMatth. 28.18. Mark. 16.16.speciall appointment from God, and therefore may not to that end be vsed of any saue *1. Cor. 12.13. Galat. 3.27.those alone that are in such couenant with God. kPsal. 104.15.Bread likewise hath a naturall power to nourish mans body, and yet not that neither, vnlesse a man receiue it and retaine it and concoct and digest it. But mMatth. 26.26. 1. Cor. 11.23, 24.to be a Type of Christs body, that it hath from his institution onelyonly; without out which no power or skill of man could make it to be such: else why might not a peice of flesh do as well as a bit of bread? and nExod. 12.3, to 9. Leuit. 1. & 4 & 16.15. 1. Cor. 5.7. Coloss 2.17.that was once, but now is not, a Type of Christs body, because there was an ordinance then for it, whereas now there is none. Againe oLuk. 10.34.the Samaritan is said to hauehave washed his neighbours wounds with wine and oyle mixt together. But our Sauiour Christ pIohn 9.6.cured the Beggar that was borne blinde with clay tempered with spittle, and qMark 7.23, 35.anothe… that was both dumbe and deafe too with spittle alone. *Agar…um & Scammoniam sumere nulla lex vetat: superstitiosis applicaturis ac magicis precaminibus vti vetat Christiana pietas Erasm. ad Pseudeuang.The one hath warrant to be vsed still, because it had and hath still such power from the nature of the creature; and therefore it is not superstitious: whereas the other can not with any good warrant be now vsed, because it had his power then not from the nature of the creature, but from the speciall will and pleasure of the Creator; which power therefore ceasing with his pleasure then, to vse the creature now to that purpose were meerely superstitious. In like manner here to vse a Lot vntounto that which of it selfe it hath a naturall power vntounto, or by humane helpe it may hauehave power to effect, is not in that regard vnlawfull: But for a man to attempt to doe that by a Lot, which neither by any naturall faculty, nor by any humane institution it hath power to performe, where there is no ordinance of God enabling it, is meere superstition.
§ 5. Thirdly those that thus vse Lotery stand guilty of Idolatry. For what is it but Idolatrie to ascribe that to the Creature that is proper to the Creator? But rDi…ini dicuntur qui futura praenoscere profitentur, quasi sibi attribuentes, quod propriū est Dei. Thom. de sort. c. 2. Haec omnia vitio…a sunt, quia quod est Dei creaturis tribuitur. Martyr in 1. Sam. c. 14.in such cases is that ascribed to the creature that is proper to the Creator, namely sEsai 41.22, 23.to foretell tell things future without the causes or grounds or naturall signes of them, such as the Lot whereby they are foretold hath no connexion or congruity at all with. For tCùm futura pendent ex causis certis & necessarijs, non pertinent ad diuinationem interdictam: ita Solis, Lunaeque praeticuntur defecti…, &c. quae autem foreign solent euenire, possunt ex causis probabilibus praeuideri, vt mors morbusue à medico. Contingentia verò quae foreign dicuntur, & in vtram que paertem aequè propendent, non praeuidentur nisi à Deo solo. Martyr in 1. Sam. c. 14.whereas wee sorted Euents before into three rankes; some necessarie, that keepe in a constant course naturally; some contingent and not casuall, that fall out for the most part alike, though they vary now and then; some Contingent and Casuall, that are altogether vncertaine, as the causes also are, whereupon they depend: The first sort, as the Eclipses of the Sunne and Moone may be certainely foreknowne and foretold, because the causes of them are constant and certainely knowne of vsus; the second sort also, as disease and death in some cases may with some good probability be preconiectured and guessed at by those that are well seene and experienced in the signes and causes of either: but the third sort depending vponupon causes vtterly vncertaine and vnknowne vntounto vsus, cannot be foreseene or foreknowne, and therefore not foretold certainly but by God himselfe alone. And uQuae praesentiri aut arte, autratione, aut vsu, aut coniectura possunt, ea non diuinis, sed peritis tribuenda. ita relinquitur, vt ea fortuita diuinari possint, qua nulla nec arte, nec sapientia praeuideri possunt. Cicer. de diuin l. 2.in this third sort of Euents alone is this kinde of Lot conuersant, which no wit or skill of man is able to foredetermine or foresee. This kinde therefore of Lot Diuinatory and Diuination by Lotery is not onelyonly, as the Canon iustly chargeth it, *Sors fidelibus prohibetur, ne sub specie diuinationis ad antiquos idololatriae cultus rediret. Gratian. c. 16.q.2. quia propter affiduitatem procliuis est lapsus in idololatriam, sicut à iuramento ad periurium. Gloss loam ibid.a step to Idolatry, but euen xSortilegi & diuini sunt excommunicandi … est enim genus quoddam culturae idolorum ex daemonum consultationibus futura praedicere. Sicut enim auarus quia cultu… Deo debitum numino impendit, idolorum cultor ab Apostolo nominatur Coloss. 3.5. sic qui futura praestigijs quibus…ibet inuenire laeborant, diuinitatis iura creaturis attribuunt. Futura eni… praescire solius Dei est, Esai 41.22, 23. Cultores verò idolarum à fidelium communione separandi s…nt, 1. Cor. 5.11. Grat. c. 26.9.5.a spice also of Idolatry and sacriledge it selfe, robbing God of that that is his proper due, and attributing that vntounto the creature that is peculiar to the Creator.
§ 6. Fourthly such lotting maketh men guilty of presumption against God. For whereas some, it may be, will say: Yea but wee expect not the euent when we vse Lots on this wise from the creature, but from God himselfe the Creator. I answer those that so say: It is impietie and presumption for any to doe so. For what is this but a tempting and a stinting of God? what is it but a prescribing of God what hee shall doe? It is not therefore true nor sound that some say, that yDe buiusmodi futuris licet per modū consultationis diuinū requirere iudicium. Thom. de sort. c. 5. Si quis per sortium proiectionem diuinum requerat iudicium, non est secuntum se peccatum. Ibid. Non est peccat…m sortibus à Deo requirere cum reuerentia, quando inueniri nequit qu…m quaeris. Paul. Palat. in Ion. c. 1.men may by Lots require an immediate sentence from God in some cases, so it be done with some cautions; and zCum non superest h umanum auxiliū, tunc ad diuinum per sortes recurrere licet. Gloss. ad Gr. c. 26. q. 2. Vbideest humanum, potest & debet absque temeritale diuinum auxilium etiam miraculosum expectari, v. g. misses sortibus. Gerson de pace consid. 4.an extraordinary, yea a miraculous hand of God may therein be expected, where humane helpes faile: as if it were *Cauendū tamen ne nimis citò ad sortes veniamus. Vtendum prius De… donis, spiritu, verbo, ratione: nee sortiendum nis… necossitas cogat. Neque verò periculum est ne Deum tentare videamur: is enimest qu… sortes dirigit. Martyrin 1. Sam. 10.then only vnlawfull for men to vse Lots in this manner, when there is no necessitie vrging and enforcing them thereunto.
For, to argue from aDeū tentare est de eius prouidentia, sapientia, voluntate periculū facere, idque cùm non est necesse: in quo …bus mod… peccatur. Primum quia non est fides: deinde quia curiosèfit, cùm necess… as nulla exposcat. Idem in 1. Sam. c. 14.that which one of those Authors himselfe laieth for a ground of his opinion in this point; bRom. 14.23. ide… rectè Origen, Vbi ex fide integra & oratione praemissa fors ducitur, ca quae voluntas Dei continet in occulto, s…rs hominibus declaration man…feslo. In Iosh. homil. 23.Where no faith is, the act done cannot be free from sinne. But there can be no faith here; because no ground or warrant out of Gods word: (and faith without ground is no faith but a fancie; it is but a meere presumption where there is no promise:) God hauing no where promised by such extraordinary courses to worke for vsus or relei…e vsus either in the one case or in the other.
Beside, as the Heathen man sometime said though to an other and an euill purpose, cMiserum est in necessitate viuere: sed in necessitate viuere necessitas nulla est. Senic, epist. 12.It is a miserable thing for a man to liue in necessitie; but there is no necessity at all for any man so to liue: So say I here, It is an hard case for a man to be driuen to that streight, that he must of necessity betake himselfe to such courses: but dIn diuinatoria sorte non videtur praedicta necessitas occurrere. Thom. de sort. c. 5.there is no necessity at any time that so hee should doe. For what necessitie speake they of that should warrant such a course? If absolute necessity; there is none such: For there cannot be any case possibly put, wherein a man is so streightned, that he cannot auoide it, but that of necessity hee must doe it. If conditionall necessity, that either a man must doe it, or he must sustaine damage, yea or hee must die if he doe it not; yet here is no such necessity as may iustifie such an act. For it is not onelyonly a tempting of God, as some hauehave described it, eHinc etiam in ipsa religione Deus tentatur, cùm sign: f…igitantur non ad salutem, sed ad experientiam. Aug. confess. l 10. c. 35. & de vera relig. c. 38. Quasi interpretatiuè D…ū tentat, qui aliquid perit vel facit ad nihil aliud vtile nise ad probandam Dei potestatem, vel bonitatem, vel cognitionem, &c. quandò ergò propter aliquā necessitatem seu vtilitatem committit se aliqu…s diuino auxilio in suis petitionibus vel factis, hoe non est Deū tentare: quando verò hoc agitur abs que necessitate & v ilitate, bocest De. tentare. Thom. sum. par. 2.a 2 c.q. 97. a. 1.when a man requireth some extraordinary worke of God for his pleasure, or to make triall thereby what God either can or will doe, when there is no need to hauehave ought done: but for a man to require some extra-ordinary worke of God euen for his profit or his safetie as well as for his pleasure without speciall warrant from God so to doe, is likewise to tempt God: As Esa …. 12, 13, 14. foreign. Homer. Odyss o', Et Iliad. foreign.not to admit it when God offereth it in such case, is to neglect and contemne him: so to require it before hee offer it, is to tempt and to stint him. The Iewes are said to hauehave tempted and stinted God, not then onelyonly gPsal. 78.17, 18, 19, 20.when they required to be fed with flesh hauing other food sufficient already, but euen then also hExod. 17.1, 2, 7.when they required to hauehave water by miracle, what time they were ready to perish for thirst, and had nothing else to drinke. And how much more then is it *Deniq…e praefigitur ibi terminus diuinae omnipotentia; praestituitur modus, quo quasi compe Ilatur operari diuinae sapientiae; statuitur finis diuinae bonitati & clementiae. Nam quid aliud sonant traditiones ista, fiant illa & i…a, proueniet abs que dubitatione effectꝰ quem querimus, s… quidem reuelau…rit Deus eis ipsi viderint. nos scimus quoniam reuelationes diuinae non tales sunt, necprohibet Dius credere, quod dignatur reuelare. Gerson de magic. error. part. 3.a tempting and stinting of God, when we prescribe him to worke thus extraordinarily for vsus, for the recouerie of some trifling losse, or the discouerie of a Theife?
§ 7. Fiftly this kinde of Lotery or Sorcerie (for that is the right sense of that tearme) is no other then plaine Witchery: and we finde them therefore in iDeuter. 18.10. 2. King. 17.17. & 21.6.Scripture oft coupled together. For can wee thinke that God will be at our commaund to worke for vsus vponupon our pleasure, and as wee shall appoint him, for the finding of a rag? No: it is the Deuill indeed, not God, whom wee worke with, when either wee deale so our selues, or make vse of those that deale in such sort. For whence sprang these courses? or 1Vnde ista diuinatio? q…is inuenit fissumiecoris? qui… cornicis cantum netauit? quis sortes? Cic de nat. De…r. l. 3. Medicine rationē video: diuinatio vnde oriatur non intelligo. Ibid.whom were they brought vp by? as, the finding out of a Theife by a key and a booke, or a paire of sheeres and a fiue; of foretelling what shall befall a man by Fortune-bookes, or by o pening of a Bible or any other booke at all aduentures, or by throwing of Dice, or by drawing of tickets. Are they any where found reuealed in any word of God? or were they euer deliuered by any Prophet of God? or are they grounded on any principles of reason and nature? or were they learned by any course of naturall and ordinary obseruation? no such thing at all: but kPerniciosa & à Zabulo inuenta ats s…rtilega & magica. Concil. Ancyr. can. 1. Vanitas haec magicarum artium extraditione malorum angelorum, qui per deceptos homines alios decipere guotidiè gestiunt, vt perditionis sua faciant participes. Aug. de ci…it. Dei apud Grat. c. 24. q. 3.they hauehave beene brought into vse onelyonly the most of them, either directly by Satan, or by some lims and instruments of Satan, by blinde, superstitions and ignorant persous, addicted wholy to vanity and to vngodly curiosity.
For 2Legatur Tertull. dec…ronamilit. & de Idolola…r.as for those things indeed that hauehave some ground in nature either for them or the vse of them, it is not materiall of whose inuention they are: they discouer nothing but what lay hid before in Gods worke, and apply the Creature onelyonly vntounto that vse, which God hath indued it with an ordinary power to effect. But for such things as require an extraordinary power either diuine or diabolicall to worke together with them, being not able else of themselues to effect what is required from them, how can we better iudge of such then by the first Broachers and Teachers of them?
Yet to let the Authors and Masters of them passe for the present, & to turne the course of our speech, with a graue Writer, to some one of those that now vse them. lFaci… contra sortilegos, magicos maledictos, &c. argumentum euidens apud omnes homines habentes bonum rationis iudiciam. Tu sortilege, qui promittis ista facere, aut hoc est per miraculum, aut per na…aram, aut per malam artem: non per miraculum, non per naturam; ergò per malam artem. De mala autem arte nunquam boni quicquam proueniet. Gerson serm. coram Rege Franc. part. 3. consid. 3. Ille effectus, qui n…que à miraculo, neque à causa naturali fieri cognoscitur, vt à seductorij… damonijs proueni…t consequitur. Idem de error. Mag. part. 3.Thou that by lotting professest to tell fortunes, or to finde out a theft or a Theife; either thou must doe this by miracle, or by nature, or by some euill act: By miracle (I am sure) thou darest not say; for thou art not a likely person that God should worke miracles by: And, by nature, (I am as sure) thou canst not say; for there is no such naturall efficacy in the creature thou vsest. It must needes follow then that that is done that is done by some euill Art, and so consequently by the Deuill the onelyonly Author and ordinary Assister of such Artes.
In regard whereof it is truely inferred by all Diuines generally, that mOpiniones istae dequibusdam rebus humana praesumptione institutis ad cadem ille quasi quaedam cum d…mnibus pacta & conuenta referendae sunt. Aug. de dectr. Christ l. 2. c. 22. Omnes artes huiusmodi vel nugatoriae vel noxia superstitionis ex quadam pestifera societate hominum & daemonum quasi pacta infidelis & dolosae amisitiae constituta, Christiano penitus sugienda sunt & r…pudianda. Ibid. c. 23. Quae omnia tantis valent, qu… tum praesumptione animorum qu…se communi quadam lingua cum daemonibꝰ (aedevata sunt. Ibid. c. 24. Per super stitiosas sortium inquisitiones vel quarumcunque diuinationum pacta societatis cum daemonibus conir…huntur, quam nulli Christiano licet habere. Thom. de sort. c. 5. ing…runt enim se his damones, vt diuinitatis praetextu homines in errerem inducant. Ibid. c. 4. Angelos malos in artibus magicis omnibusque superstitiosis obseruationibus, quae nec rationem naturalem nec miratulum verum habent, ex pacto note vel occulto non est dubium operari. Gerson astrolog. theolog. propos. 21. Inire pactum cum daemonibus tacitum vel expressum est idololairia vel idololatriae & apostasiae species. Et intendimus esse pactum implicitum in omni obseruatione superslitiosa, cuius effectus non debet à Deo vel à natura rationabiliter expectari. Id…m de error. mag. part. 2.there is at least a secret, if not an open, league and commerce with Satan in the practise of such superstitions, (which n1. Cor. 10.10.no Christian ought to hauehave) whatsoeuer men may pretend, yea or intend in the vse of them. For as the Apostle telleth the Corinthians that haunted the Heathens idolatrous feasts to please or pleasure their Heathen friends, that albeit in so doing they had no such purpose as to be in league and amity with Idoles or Deuills, yet o1. Cor. 10.14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.that very act of theirs was a kinde of society with either: so here the very vse of these diabolicall courses, though many it may be intend nothing lesse in the vse of them, is no other then a trading and a trafficking with Satan, pAmputari itaque & eradicari ab animo Christiano istiusmodi debent. August. de doctrina Christiana lib. 2. cap. 25.which euen in that regard therefore all good Christians ought to abhorre.
So then, dost thou make enquiry into such things as God by ordinary courses refuseth to discouer? thou becommest guilty of Curiosity. Doest thou vse the creature to that purpose that hath no naturall power thereunto? it is meere Superstition. Doest thou expect the euent of it in that kinde from the Creature that thou vsest in it? thou committest grosse idolatry: thou makest an Idole of it. Doest thou expect it from Satan? that is plaine and euident witchery. Or lastly doest thou vse onelyonly such superstitious courses as hee or his lims and instruments hauehave beene Authors and Broachers of, and which can hauehave no efficacie of themselues without him and his helpe? whether thou do expect the euent from him or no, euen so also is it no better then Witcherie; yea it is hainous impiety, and (which in the last place we now charge it with) it is high Treason against Gods Maiesty, which hee therefore hath at sundry times punished most seuerely.
§ 8. For the further yet, and fuller manifestation whereof, let it be considered, that there are in this world qAct. 26.18. Col…ss 1.13.two aduerse powers, and two contrarie kingdomes; the one of light, the other of darkenesse; the one of God the Creator, the other of the Deuill his Aduersary; who for that cause is called the r2. Cor. 4.4. D…us mundi huius Diabolus, qui & mundi huius Princeps. Ioan. 12.31. & 14.30. & 16.11. Sic exponunt Tertull. contra Marc. l. 5. Aug. contr. Faust l. 21. c. 9. Ambros. & Primas. in not. Cyril. ad regin. & Schol. Grae. ex Cyril. quanquam de Deo vniuersitatis vero, quē & mundi Deum appellat Tertull. de resurr. carn. & cont. Marc. l. 1. intelligunt Irenaeus contra Valent. l. 3. c. 7. Aug. contra Faust. l. 21. c. 2. Chrysust. & Theophyl in 2. Co r. 4.God of this word, that is, sMundus pro malis mandi amatoribus, sicut Ioan. 17 9, 16. & 1. Ioan. 5.19. Origen. in Rom. 3.6. Aug ep. 8 & de diuers. 16. & alibisaepe.of the wicked of the world, because they place him in the roome of God by following and obeying him rather then GOD. Now so opposite are these two powers and parties either to other, that tMatth. 6.24. 1. Cor. 10.21. 2. Cor. 6.14, 15, 16he can not be a subiect of the one that belongeth to the other; and he falleth from, and rebelleth against the one, that flieth or seeketh to, or hath ought to doe with the other. As therefore when a Prince shall hauehave proclaimed open war against some foraine foe, or rather when he shall hauehave proclaimed some one of his Subiects a Rebell and a Traitor, yea such an one as hee will neuer vouchsafe to pardon, or receiue to grace or merciemercy againe, and shall thereupon hauehave prohibited and forbidden any of his other Subiects to resort vntounto him or to hauehave any commerce with him, or with any of those that follow him and fight vnderunder his colours, yea shall hauehave taken a corporall oath of each of them to that purpose; if any of his people now, notwithstanding this charge publikely giuen, and oath solemnely taken to the contrary, shall resort to such an one, and hauehave entercourse with him, either directly or indirectly, with himselfe in person, or with those that shall deale betweene him and them, shall hee not vndoubtedly be held guiltie for so doing of periury and disloyalty and high treason against his Soueraigne, and accordingly suffer, and that deseruedly, as a periured person, and as a Rebell and Traitor to his Prince? In like manner then here, our Soueraigne LORD and Maker hauing uG…nes 2.15. Ephes. 6.12.proclaimed open war, as I may so say, against Satan, yea eternall hostility without hope of reconcilement, hauing pronounced him a Rebell & a Rebell irrecouerable, 12. Pet. 2.4. Iude 6.such an one as he will neuer receiue againe on any tearmes whatsoeuer, and therefore streightly charged and bound all his Subiects and seruants by xIn Liturgia bapt. & nustra & v…ter… vt patet ex Cl…ment. constit. l. 7. c. 41, 42. Dionys. Areop eccles. bier…r. cap. de bapt. Origen in Num homil. 12. Tertull. de spectac. deil…lol. & de coron. mil. Cyprian. de dupl. Martyr. Cyril. Hier. cat…ch. mystag. …. B…sil. de Sp. Sa…ct. c. 11. & 27. Ambros. de sacram. l. 1. ca. 2. & li. 2. ca 7. Chrysost. ad popul. Antioch. homil. 21. Hier nym. in Amos c. 6. Aug de symb. l. 1. c. 1. & de peccat. mer. & rem. l. 1. c. 34.a solemne oath vnderunder paine and perill of his perpetuall displeasure, neuer to hauehave any dealing, either directly or indirectly, either with him or with those that associate themselues vntounto him, either by seeking to him immediately, or by vsing such courses 2Autor horum & dispensator diabolꝰ. Feucer. de diuin.as he hath beene the Author and Aduiser of, and doe require his helping hand; if any of Gods people now shall be found faulty in any of the premisses, must not such a one needes be held guilty of periury and disloialtie and high treason against Gods Maiesty, and looke to suffer accordingly as a Breaker of his oath, as a Violator of his vow, as a Forsaker of God and Christian religion, and a Follower of Satan and his accursed faction?
Beside if when a Prince shall hauehave disgraced or amerced one of his Nobles or other Subiects, and depriued him of goods or dignity for some offence vponupon some displeasure, or (as it may be) but to try how he will take it, and what course he will take in it; if the party so vsed by his Prince shall repaire to such a Rebell to seeke helpe against his Prince at his hands, and by his aide to recouer such losses and damages as at his Soueraignes hands he hath sustained, could his Soueraigne choose but take such an act exceedingly euill? yea were it not the next way to mooue his Soueraigne to deale in like manner with him, as he had done before with the other, whom he seeketh to for succour; not onelyonly to proclaime him a Rebell and a Traitor, but euen to deny him all hope of grace or fauour againe? Now Christian men know well all, (or at least they should know; and cannot but know, if they hauehave read and obserued ought in Gods word) that there is yAmos 3.6. Lament. 3.37, 38. Esai 45.7. 2. Sam. 12.11. 1 King 11.14, 23.no euill befalleth any man in the world, be it losse of life, or health, or goods, or good name, (by what meanes so euer it be effected, or by what persons soeuer inflicted) but it commeth from God, zforeign.either 3Iam. 1.2, 12. & 5.11. 1. Pet. 1.7. & 4 12. Heb. 11.36.for the exercise and triall of his obedience and patience, or as 4Psal. 1 19 75. Ierem. 30.14, 15. Lament. 3.39, 42.a punishment iustly laid vponupon him for his sinne. If any man then when hee sustaineth losse or damage some way in his person or in his worldly estate, (which must needes bee acknowledged to come so to passe by the holy permission and iust iudgement of God,) shall seeke vntounto the Deuill Gods vtter and professed enemy, or his wicked and wretched Factors for helpe and releife, for the recouery of his losses, or for the discouery of the party by whose meanes he susteineth them, as if aFlectere … nequeo superos, Acherontamouebo. Virgil. Aen 7.he meant to make triall what the Deuill in Hell will doe for him, when the God of Heauen hath afflicted him, or refuseth to releeue him; how can it but exasperate the wrath of God against such a partie as shall set so light by him, as that for so small a trifle he is so ready to forsake him, and to resort to an enemie, whom he is known to hate so extremely? Yea how a meaner man would take it, any one that hath tenants, or children, or seruants, if some one of them that depend on him or belong to him, should vponupon some hard vsage of him, or because he refuseth presently to right and releeue him, when he may, in some wrongs that he hath sustained at some enemies hand, or by meanes of a bad neighbour, betake himselfe instantly to his deadly and irreconcileable enemie, one that he knoweth his Land-Lord, or Father, or Master cannot endure or abide of all men in the world; how offensiue, I say, such a course would be vntounto any euen the meanest of vsus, I may well leaue to each ones particular heart to determine. And can wee thinke or hope then that God will take it better at our hands, (God, I say, whom we wholly depend vponupon, and who hath gratiously promised b1. Pet. 4.5. Psal. 9.18.to right all our wrongs, and not to c1. Cor. 4.5. Eccles. 12.14.discouer onelyonly, but dLuk 18.7, 8. 2. Thess. 1.6.take vengeance vponupon all our wrong-doers, if we will stay but eAct. 17.31. Rom. 2.16.his time) when we deale with him in the same sort? and that when he hath so often, so expresly, so straitly forbidden vsus so to doe, enacted grieuous penalties against all offendors in that kinde, and inflicted fearfull punishments vponupon the transgressors.
§ 9. The prohibitions some of them we saw before what they were: consider wee further now the fearfull penalties and comminations annexed vntounto them, together with some examples wherein God hath made the same good. As God therefore hath streightly forbidden such courses, so hee hath set a penaltie of death on the practise or vse of them. fExod 22.18.Thou shalt not, saith he, suffer a Witch to liue: where by name also he mentioneth the gforeignwoman Witch; (for so the word is in the originall) hVise apud Munsterum ad praecept. …eg. 198. & Iun. in not. h. l.partly because iHi…c illud in Pirke Aboth; foreign Quo plus mulierū, to plus magorum. Et Quintil. in de…lamat. Latrociniis in vi…o facilius, v… nesicium in faemina …edam. Sed & Plin. hist. nat. l. 25. c. I. In veneficio faeminarum scientiam praeu…l…re tra…tae persuasio. Et Bodin. contra Wierum; Quinquagen… sagae reperiuntur vnius viri loco.women are more prone vsually to offend in that kinde; and partly also to shew that no infirmitie or weaknesse (k1. Pet. 3.5. the woman being the weaker) shall serue to priuiledge or to excuse any whatsoeuer in that case.
Yea further lLeuit. cap. 20.else-where enacting lawes against capitall crimes, and mentioning many such onelyonly as he would hauehave punished by death, as mVers. 2, 3.idolatry, nVers. 10.adultery, oVers. 11, 12, 14, 17, to 22.incest, pVers. 13.Sodomie, and qVers. 15, 16.such like, sinnes so horrible and vnnaturall as they are not almost to be named; sQuale delictum sit iam intellige, cuius cuhibition…m post idololatri…m ordina uit. Nihil secundum longinquat à primo. Nihil tam proximum primo quàm secundum. Quod fit ex primo aliud quodammodò primum est: itaque idololatri… adfine est. Etiam sorte …cniungetur ti, sicut & serie… Etiam damnatione co…aerebit illi, fieut & dispositione. Tertull…an. de pudicitia.next after Idolatry, to shew the hainousnesse of tDe loco medum, de ordine statum, de confinio delicti cuiusqu… meritum dignoseas. Est & malidignitas, quod in summo aut medio pessim…um collocatur. Pompaem quandā atque suggestum aspicio maechiae, hinc ducatum idololatriae antecedentis, hinc comitatum homicidij insequentis inter du… apices facimorum … minentiss…mos dignae consedi…; & per medium corum quasi v… a…te… l… cum pari crimini… autoritate compl… uit. Idem ibid.the sin by the neighbourhood of it, and betweene it and uOnerauit maechiam quam homicidi… (magiā quam m… chiae) anteponit. Idem ibid. Et prout i…e de maecho, Idololatrae successor, homicidae antecessor, vtriusque collega: Ita de Mago disere licet, Idolol. s…c…. maechi ant…c. vtr. collega.Adultery, he placeth this sin of rVers. 6.Witchery; which he sVers. 27.reiterateth also againe in the conclusion of that sanction, (because *Vise Cic. d… oratore l. 2. Quintil. instit. or…t. l. 5. …. 12. & R…. dialect. l. 2. c. 19.that which commeth last, is wont to sticke best in mind) wherein he includeth them all also within compasse of the former constitution, that seeke vntounto the Witch or the Wisard, as well as the Witch or Wisard him or her selfe. But let vsus weigh the words themselues a little. xLeuit. 20.27.Whosoeuer man or woman shall hauehave a familiar spirite, or shall be a Wisard, let them die the death; their bloud be vponupon them: or they deserue well to die; yCaedis eorum causa est in ipsis. Iun. Mort… digni, qui à mort… covantur scientiam …tnari. Io. Sarisb. l. 2. c. 27.they are the cause of their own death. And again, zLeuit. 20.6.If any turn aside after such as worke with Spirits, or Wisards, to go a whooring after them, I will set my face against that person, and will cut him of from among his people. Where obserue we how God saith that not onelyonly Witches and Wizards, but such also as seeke to them, doe turne aside and go from him, and that euen they also commit spirituall whoredome or adultery, that is, idolatry, in making the Deuill their God, while they seeke to him in a manner for helpe against God, or for helpe at least where God refuseth to helpe them: And therefore threatneth he euen these as well as the former, that hee will set his face (or his 2Ira… …faci…, I….wrathfull countenance) against them: (a fearefull thing for God in anger aDeut. 32.10. Psal. 27.9.to turne his face away from one; much more fearefull for him in angerbPsal. 34.16. to set his face full against one) that hee will set himselfe against them, as they set themselues against him; and both cut them of by temporall death through the Magistrate cRom. 13.4.his Ministers hand here, as also dEt his & in futuro saeculo à sanctorum consortio …xcludetur. Ium. ad Gen 17.14.seuer and sequester them to their eternall perdition from the society of his Saints in heauen for euer hereafter: or, as eLeuit. 20.4, 5.before he had said of some Idolaters, and the like fExod. 20.7. Prou. 19.5, 9.else-where of other Transgressors, that though men and Magistrates should winke at and neglect such, yet he himselfe will take vengeance for it both on them and theirs.
§ 10. But some, it may be, will not sticke either to say or to suppose, that gMulta ad terrorem constat esse emissa. Giral. Cam…r topogr. Hib. d. 3. c. 31.many things in this kind are spoken but to terrifie men onelyonly; and that God notwithstanding, being a good and a gracious God, will be better then his word, and not so fierce in execution as he seemeth seuere in the sanction. That wee may see therefore that Gods threatnings and comminations in this kinde are hDeut. 32.47. Non sunt vanae minae dominicae. Polan. in Mal. c. ….not idle or formall, words of course onelyonly; consider we lastly some examples of the fiercenesse of Gods wrath against sundry persons and people that hauehave beene faultie this way. And to beginne with the Canaanites, and those other nations whom God cast out before the Hebrewes; God himselfe propoundeth their example, and the example of his wrath and indignation agai nst them, in dehorting his people from these practises. iDeut. 18.13, 9.Be thou vpright, saith he, with the Lord thy God; and take not such abominable courses as these Nations doe, whom the Lord expelleth before thee to place thee in their roomes: as implying that wee walke not vprightly with God, wee are not sincere and entire with him, but as k1 King. 18.21.the Israelites sometime halted betweene God and Baal, l2. Cor. 6.15.so we halt betweene God and Belial, between God and Beelzebub, when we vse courses of this kinde. mDeut. 18.14.For the nations whom thou succeedest, giuegive eare to Diuiners, Astrologers, Witches, Sorcerers, Wisards, Charmers, Coniurers, Necroman…ers; (for nVers. 9, 10, 11.all these abominations had he formerly recited as vsuall among them:) oVers. 12.and because of these abominations doth the Lord cast them out before thee: as implying, what he saith else-where in an other case, that they must looke for the like if they be found alike faulty; to wit, pLeuit. 18.28.that their Land it should spew them out, as it had spewed those out, that were before them in it. And surely, if God destroied those Gentiles, not for doing these things themselues so much, as for hearkning to those that dealt in them, as he qDeut. 18.14, 12.there saith; if he destroyed those Gentiles, I say, for so doing, that had neuer these lawes giuen them, but the generall light and rRom 2.14, 15, 12.law of nature alone to direct them; how much more iustly may he destroy those, that after his will so particularly, so precisely, so expressely reuealed to them in this point, shall notwithstanding make no conscience of forbearing such practises, as appeare plainely to bee so offensiue to God, and may proue so preiudiciall to themselues.
§ 11. But God, it may bee, though hee be so sharpe to others, yet with his owne will not deale so rigorously, though they be this way faulty. Nothing lesse: As for these practises he destroied those Heathens; so he spared not his owne people when they tooke the like courses: his iudgements inflicted vponupon them remaine vponupon record, as well on Prince as people, yea vponupon the whole body, euen on both of them together for sins of this nature.
Where consider we the Examples, first of two Kings; then of two Kingdomes and States. The one of s2 King. 1.2, to 7.Ahazias, who for sending to Beelzebub the Idoll of Acc…ron to enquire whether he should rise and recouer againe, lying then sicke and sore bruised with a fall; as if there had beene no God for him to aduise with in Israell; hath this answere returned him from the true God, whom he should hauehave sent vntounto, by Elias his Minister, meeting by the way with the Kings Messengers, that therefore hee should not rise againe from his sicke-bed that he was laid on, but should assuredly die. The other of Saul, of whom this is noted as the maine cause of his ouerthrow: t1. Chron. 10.13, 14.Thus died Saul for his sinne, whereby he sinned against God, in that he regarded not his word; and in that hee sought to, and asked aduice of one that had a familiar, and asked not of the Lord: and therefore the Lord slew him, and turned the Kingdome to Dauid. Where are two sinnes especially pointed out as the principall causes of Sauls downefall: the former whereof is said else-where to be u1. Sam. 15.23.as Witchery and Idolatry; the latter was *1. Sam 28.8, 14.Witchery and Idolatry indeed. And yet was Sauls case more excusable, then the case of the most is that vse the like practises among vsus. For hee had not lost some sory trifle, and desired to know what was become of it: but x1. Sam. 28.5.he stood in icopardie of loosing life and li…ing, crowne and kingdome; and he had tried all the courses hee could whereby he might be resolued of the issue of it, ere hee repaired to the Witch. For it is said, y1. Sam. 28.6.He asked aduice of God, and God would giuegive him no answere, neither by Vision, nor Prophet, nor by Vrim and Thummim. And how is it said then, may some say, that z1. Chron. 10.14.hee asked not aduice of him? But the Holy Ghost accounteth it as good as no asking, when God refusing to reueale things by lawfull meanes, men rest not therein, but seeke to come to the knowledge of them by such courses as God would neuer counsel or aduise them vntounto. Againe 11. Sam. 28.1….his request to the Witch was to hauehave a word or two with Samuel onelyonly; not with the Deuill, but with a good Prophet of God lately deceased: neither did he suppose it to be the Deuill that he talked or dealt with; for a1. Sam. 28.14.he tooke him that he saw to be Samuel, though indeed bSamuel is imago. Aug. de doctrina Christ. lib. 2 ca. 23. phantasma. Tertull. de animac. 57. & Hier. in Matt. c. 6. non ipse Samuel. Cyril. de adorat. in spir. & ver. Procop. in Octateuch. Aug. quaest. vet. & nou. Test. 27. Philastr. de haeres c. 26. Raban. de mag. praestig. Grat. c. 26. q. 5. Ioan. Sarub. policr.l. 2 …. 26. See H. L. Howard of blinde prophecies.hee mistooke him. And yet for this practise of his principally, saith the Spirit of God expressely, that the Lord deseruedly depriued him both of scepter and life.
Adde we vntounto these two Kings, two whole States, two entire Kingdomes; the Kingdome of Israel, that of the ten Tribes, and the Kingdome of Iuda consisting of the other two Tribes. The Kingdome of Israel was first destroied vnderunder Hoshea. And what was the cause thereof? Other sinnes indeed withall, but these sinnes among others by name expressed in precise tearmes, c2 King. 17.17.Diuination and Sorcery; which enormitie withall is there branded with this marke, that it is dV…rs. 17, 18.a selling of a mans selfe to sinne, and to encense Gods wrath against himselfe. Againe for the destruction of the Kingdome of Iuda begunne vnderunder Iechonias, and consummate vnderunder Zedekias; God determineth to destroy Iuda, as hee had done the ten Tribes: And what is the cause of it? this is still inculcated as the principall, e2. King. 23.26, 27. & 24 3.the sinnes of Manasses. And what were his sinnes, (amiddes many other indeed) but f2. King. 21.6.Witchery and Sorcery? Yea left any should surmise that his oppressions and murthers were rather the maine cause of all those miseries that befell that State, because g2 King. 24.4.in some places there is speciall mention made of them; the Holy Ghost therefore in the story of Manasses h2. King. 21.16.commeth in with them afterward as a by-matter, i2. King. 21.6, 11, 1…, 13, 14.making the other the maine cause, for which God would stretch over Ierusalem the line of Samaria, and the leuell of Ahabs house, and doe with that famous City, as a man doth with a dish, that he wipeth, and whelmeth vpside downe when he hath done with it: and so ascribeth not his fall onelyonly, but the ruine of the whole State to Idolatry, and Sorcery, and sins of that sort.
§ 12. To draw all to an head then, and so to conclude this last argument: Seeing that God hath restrained vsus of all resort vntounto Satan, and wee our selues in our Baptisme hauehave renounced all kinde of dealing with the Deuill; wee breake our faith solemnely plighted to God, and make our selues guilty of rebellion and high treason against God, whensoeuer by these courses we seeke to him and aske aduice of him, whether we beleeue and trust in him or no.
Againe seeing that the sinne of Witchcraft (and this Sorcery is one kinde of it) is so hainous and so capitall a crime that God commandeth the Witch to be put to death, whether she helpe or hurt, euen for this cause because she is a Witch and dealeth by the Deuil, and we our selues in our owne conscience cannot but condemne such kinde of people, as those of whom, no lesse truely then vsually, wee are wont to say, that they hauehave sold themselues and their soules to Satan; then surely it must needes be a most damnable and detestable practise in vsus, though there were no further sinne on our part then so, to imploy any, or to vse the imployment of any in such actions, as we know that they hazard the casting away of their soules in them. We might as well make vse of some swaggering Cutter to reuenge vsus by murther on one that hath wronged vsus; or procure some Knight of the post to periure himselfe for the recouery of a iust debt vniustly denied vsus; or hire some light Huswife to entice a man to lewdnesse and to play the Whore with him, as kIudg. 16.5.Dalilah with Sampson, thereby to discouer something that we suspect him to hauehave wronged vsus in. For murther and witch-craft are sinnes alike notorious in Gods eies, who hath therefore assigned lExod. …2.18. with 21.12.the same penaltie for either. And Sorcery and Periury are very neere of one nature: since by the one a man wilfully casteth his soule into Gods hands; and by the other he solemnely putteth his soule ouer into the Deuills hands. And Fornication in it selfe simply considered is a farre lesse sinne then this is: as appeareth plainely hereby, in that God hath assigned only mDeut. 22.28, 29a mulct or a money paiment for the one, but hath appointed a capitall punishment, euen losse of life, for the other. But now more then that, when nLeuit. 20.6.God himselfe hath adiudged those to death also that seek vntounto such, as well as the parties themselues; and hath sealed vp his hatred and detestation of such courses, by staying two Kings for them Abazias and Saul, the one by sicknesse, the other by the sword, by his owne sword, by himselfe; yea not slaying Saul himselfe onelyonly, but rooting out his posterity and cutting the crowne of from him and his; and further yet by destroying whole Nations and ouerturning whole States for these sinnes, as the Canaanites and those that he cast out before his people, and his owne people themselues too as well as those that he cast out before them, when they tooke the like courses: We cannot but see, if we will not oEs…i 26.11.wilfully winke and shut our eies against the light of Gods truth concerning this point *Ipsius Solis radio scriptum putes: ita cl…ret. vti Tertull. de resurr. carnis.so cleerely shining forth in his word, how hainous and horrible a sinne this is in Gods sight: and we cannot but tremble to thinke of the heauy wrath of God iustly prouoked and procured by such practises, if we shall know our selues to be any way guilty of such, vnlesse we hauehave pEsai 63.17.hardened our hearts against the feare of God, or make doubt of the vndoubted truth of of Gods word: which it were much better for vsus now to beleeue the truth of qforeignvntounto wise and carefull repentance, then finde true hereafter by dreadfull and wofull experience, when it shall be too late for vsus either to beleeue or to repent, to beleeue the truth of the one, or to repent vsus of the other.