Concerning the Truth of Christian Religion, Chapter 19
The xix. Chapter.
That the wysest of all ages agree that God is the vtmost end and souereine good, felicitie, or welfare of man.
SUrely man dooth naturally desire, for the contentment of his will, to be well; and for the exercyse of his wit, to hauehave some certeine end. And therefore there is not a ryfer nor a larger place in Philosophie, than the serching out of the cheef end and souereine good of man; insomuch that Cicero saieth that the whole authoritie of Philosophie, consisteth in that poynt alone. Notwithstanding, forasmuch as by reafon of our fall, we find our selues astonished here by louelove lyke folke falne out of the Clouds, and moreouer benighted with very déepe darknesse in a place that leadeth many sondrie waies cleane contrarie one from another; wee knowe not in this perplexitie which way to take, and yet eueryevery of vsus thinks himselfe wise enough to direct his companion. One calles to the right hand, and another to the left: One poynts ye vp the hill, and another sets ye through the playnes: and yet all of them can as little skill of the right way one as another: and at the last the most part of them perceiue in the end of their trauell, that the more haste they made, the further they wandered from their way. But what woonder is it if blynd folkes, or such as are guyded by blynd folkes, or such as hauehave no guyde at all, doe goe astray? Nay rather, were it not to bée estéemed for a myracle, if any of them all, howbeit being guided from aboue, should happen to hit vponupon the right way? Natural desire causeth men to seeke their welfare. And all Philosophie lyeth in that poynt of seeking out the welfare of man. Sinne hath put vsus from it, and maketh vsus to lose it. And therefore the wiser sort hauehave laboured to recouer it by eschewing sinne. But most men knowing not that this sinne is come vppon vsus by a high fall, and therefore imagining themselues to bee nestled still in their former place: doe busie their heads about the seeking of it there, not perceyuing that they be throwne downe very low, farre from GOD, and vnderneath themselues.Austin in his xix booke and first cap. of the Citie of God. That is the cause why wee to no purpose doe seeke by groping round about vsus, for that which is not to be had there, nor is to be found there. Varro sayth that in his tyme there were twohundred fowerscore and eight opinions, concerning this poynt in the bookes of the Philosophers: that is to wit, two hundred fowerscore and eight Sects: for that was the badge or Cognisance that made the difference betwixt them. It was a wonder to see so many diuersities, and a more woonder that of so many, so fewe could hit vppon the trueth. Yet notwithstanding they tryumphed one ouer another, and were curious in confuting one another; as in déede it is alwaies more easie to reproue a fault, than to amend it; and to conuince a lye, than to finde out the trueth. But yet at leastwise we hauehave wonne thus much at the hands of them al, That there is one chiefe ende and one souereine good, whereat all men ought to ame: and wee finde euen by the contrarietie of their own reasons one against another, that it is none of all those things wherein they hauehave sought it: wherevpon wee may easely conclude, that it cannot bee anywhere els, than where wee seeke it. Had they well considered, that Man is falne from his former dignitie, and compared the glorie of his former state with the wretchednesse of his present state; they would hauehave sought none other happinesse or felicitie than to returne thether, that is to say, than to bee linked againe vntounto GOD: and they would neuer hauehave followed so many fond fancies, more worthie to be pityed than to be laughed at. Neuerthelesse there are some fewe to be found in all ages, which hauehave leueled at this marke, like as among all the rest, wee see that some hauehave had a certeyne knowledge of our first originall nature.
The Epicures sought this souereine good in the pleasures and delights of the bodie:The Epicures. Antisthenes answered foreign. and the Stoikes mocked them for their labor, perceyuing well, that there is not here so fayre and swéete a Rosebush, which hath not very sharpe prickes, and that it was the next way to make a man a beast. To be short, the Epicures themselues were so much ashamed of the matter, that to make Lady Pleasure to goe for an honest woman, they were fayne to disguyse her as much as they could, and to say that by Pleasure they ment the delights of the mynde, and not the feuerous pleasures of the bodie, which passe away in the turning of a hand. But in the ende, what were their pleasures? Forsooth (say they) to bethinke a mans selfe how oft he hath made good chere, or how oft he hath séene his trull. O straunge beastlinesse. As who would say (sayth Plutarke) that the pleasures of this world were to be kept in Conserues, or to bee layd vp as Restoratiues in the closet of mans memorie: or rather (say I) as though the rememberance of troubles past, yea or of some gréeuous sicknesse recouered, were not more delightfull than the greatest ioyes that are possible to be had.
The Stoikes The Stoiks.therefore doe giuegive vsus another kynd of happinesse or welfare; namely Morall vertue, which cōsisteth in the quiet reigning of reason in vsus. But what is this els than a mere imagination? How will they answere to the Peripateticks, which say that man is not made for himselfe alone, but for common societie: That his vertue must ame at a further ende: That vertue neither in respect of that whereat it ameth, nor of that whereon it worketh can make men happie? To bee short, what will they say to their owne companions, who for the vpholding of this their surmised felicitie, do vnderprop it with wealth, health, courage, and measurable pleasure, as vnsufficient to stand alone without ayde? But I hauehave ripped vp this poynt sufficiently in the Chapter going last before
What then do the Peripateticks The Peripatetikes or walkers.set vsus downe? As the Stoiks left the Bodie to mount vp to the Soule, so these mount vp from the Soule to the Mynd. There are (sayth Aristotle Aristotle in his Moralles. lib. 5) two sorts of Blessednesse. The one ciuill and publike, called Policie; which consisteth in action: and the other priuate & of household, called Wisedome, which consisteth in Contemplation. He thinkes verely that he hath sayd somewhat. But how can Policie be this blessednesse, considering that according to his own saying, Policie is but a cunning or skill to leade things to a certeyne end, and is not the end it self? Or how can Wisedome be it, seeing that (as he himself saith) our vnderstanding seeth as little in matters concerning God, as the eye of an Owle doth when she commeth nere the Sunne? Our vnderstanding is dull, our iudgement vncerteyne, and our memorie deceytfull. The déepest of our knowledge (sayth Socrates) is ignorance; and all Philosophie (as Porphyrius Porphyr. in his first booke of the Soule to Byrithius and Anebon.vpholdeth) is but mere coniecture, easie to bee ouerthrowne with eueryevery little push. Now then, how may this bee a happinesse, vnlesse we will graunt that the Owle is happie in comming neere the Sunne; or a blynd man happie in beholding colours?
His Disciples Alexander and Auerrhoes, perceiuing that all our contemplation is but vexation of mynd, most commonly to no purpose; hauehave found vsus out another deuyce. Which is, that all our happinesse consisteth in ioyning the capacitie of our mynde, or rather of our imagination, vntounto certeyne separated substances, to be informed by them in all maner of knowledge: for the which deuyce they bee reproued of most Philosophers, and as I beléeue, in the end they laughed themselues to skorne for it. But as I hauehave sayd alreadie, what are these separated substances of theirs? Or rather why did they not set our felicitie in being knit vntounto GOD, whom they confesse to be better than all these things? Againe, who is he, were he neuer so fantasticall, euen though it were Auerrhoes himselfe, that could vaunt himselfe to hauehave euer atteyned to that imagined Coniunction of theirs in this life?The Academiks. Plato in his Commonweale lib. 10. In his Epinomis. In his Theete…s. And seeing that (as they beare vsus on hande) the knowledged of the nature of all sensible things, is required to the atteynment of that felicitie of theirs; how shall we atteyne to the full heyghth thereof, if wee stop at the very beginning?
The Academikes therfore, who take vponupon them to weare Platoes liuery, mounted vp one step higeher, and considered very well that all our contemplation is but a continuall wrestling, one whyle against the darknesse of the things,Laertius in the life of Plato-Plato in his Phoedon. and another whyle against the darknesse of our owne mynd. And as they acknowledged our hurt to proceede of a fall, whereby we brake our wings, which (as Plato interpreteth them) were Morall vertue and contemplation: so conceiued they therevpon, that it were a great good turne for vsus to recouer them againe. But whether to bee caried by them? Let vsus heare that of Plato. All the things in this world (sayth he) which we cal goods, as Beautie, Riches, Strength, Nobilitie, and such other; are so farre of from being goods in deede, that they be rather corrupters and hinderers of good. Then are they very farre of from beeing the Souerein good of man, or consequently the End whereat he out to stay. Againe, It is vnpossible (sayeth Plato) that men should be happy in this lyfe, doe what they can: that is to be had in another lyfe, where the vertuous shal receiue felicitie for a reward. In vayne then doe wee seeke that here beneath, by our deedes and contemplations, which is not here to be found: and in vayne doe we set our vtmost end heere, where is not the furthest end of our lyfe. But in the end, what is this felicitie? It is (sayth Plato) to be ioyned vntounto GOD, and to become lyke vntounto him, who is himselfe the highest top, the furthest end, and the vtmost bound of all felicitie. Thus yee see that (by Platoes iudgement) the two things which we seeke, doe meete both togither alonly in God. The end of our life is to be ioyned vntounto God. And our Blessednes or felicitie which ought to content vsus, which consisteth in the full fruition of all good things, is the possessing of God, who is the very felicitie itselfe. Yet neuerthelesse, Aristotle seemeth to hauehave come at length to ye same point, in that he sayth,Aristotle in his booke of the World: And in his Morals; and in his first booke of the Heauens. That God is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things: and againe, that mans felicitie consisteth in the same thing wherein the felicitie of the Gods consisteth, that is to wit, in perfect contemplation of that which is aboue all mooueable things.
Pythagoras sayde that the ende of this lyfe is Contemplation;The Philosophers of old tyme. that the end of all Contemplation, is God; and that the felicitie of man is to be lifted vp vntounto God. Also he taught vsus that we be but as Pilgrims in this world,Pythagoras. Mercurius Trif megistus, otherwise called Hermes. and as folke banished from Gods presence: and what doth the banished man desire more, than to be restored home into his owne Country? And Mercurie sayeth, that our end is to liue in Soule, which in this world is as good as buryed; That in this world there is not any thing that is woorthy to be sayd to bee well or good. It is in another place therefore that man must liue and inioy his welfare, namely (as he sayth) in being become one againe with God. And Zoroastres Zoroastres.saith, that we must trauel with al our power towards the brightnes of the father, who is the giuer of our Soule. Also he hath told vsus that we be falne away from this brightnesse of light into thicke darknesse, and hauehave lost Gods fauour by going about to set our selues free from his seruice. But as the world hath taught vsus more and more that there is no good in the world: so the later Philosophers hauehave discoursed yet more largely thereof, than those that went afore. Here therefore wee might rehearse a good part of Seneca and Cicero and others, whose opinion forasmuch as I hauehave alledged already in the Chapter of the Immortalitie of mans Soule, where it may be knowen wellynough: I will content my selfe for this tyme with a fower or f…ue of them.
Surely Plutarke Plutarke.is wonderfull in confuting the beastlynes of the Epicures and the awk opinions of the Stoicks; setting against the Epicures, the pleasure that a good man receyueth in seeing God well serued here on earth, and in hauing hym for his Leader from aboue: and against the Stoiks, the stryfe which man hath ageinst hymself, which all their Philosophy is not able to appease, and therefore he resolueth hymselfe in the end, that as in the misteries of the men of olde tyme,foreign. the looking vponupon them was the ende why they tooke the orders of them vppon them; so the end of true Philosophie is the Contemplation and beholding of the myndly and immortall nature, that is to say of God the Creator.
Iamblichus was surnamed the Diuine:Iamblichus. and it is sayd that he was so called, because he spake so Diuinely of this matter. Thus therfore doth he say: Shal we say that to be healthy, to be faire, to be riche, to be honored, to be of a good wit, and such lyke are mans happines? No surely. The strength of man is but a iest, and his honour a mockery. Yea, Man himself and all that he maketh account of, are but a fleeting shadowe. Neuerthelesse, vntounto good men, they be good possessions; but vntounto wicked men, they be euill and daungerous. What then? shoulde not the possessing of them for euer, and not as in a Dreame that vanisheth away, be the true happines? No: the possessing of them for euer, if it were without vertue, were a very greate mischiefe, and the sooner they were taken from vsus, the lesse harme it should be. Nay, the very true meane to atteine to the heauenly felicitie, is praying and calling vponupon the Goddes, & cheely vponupon the great God which reigneth ouer them all. And therefore he sayth in another place, Whatsoeuer a man doeth or leaueth vndone, ought to be referred to the Godhead▪ and all this lyfe is ordeyned for nothing els but to followe God; the knowledge of whom is perfect vertue, Wisdome and Blesfulnes, which maketh vsus lyke the Goddes, that is to say (after his maner of speaking, like the Angels. Let vsus heare yet more of him. The time hath bene (saith he) that man was fast tyed to the beholding of God: but afterward he was made subiect to the body, and tyed to the necessitie of Destinie; & therfore it behoueth him to be well aduised, by what meane he may be rid of it. Now, other knowledge there is none that can deliuer him, but onelyonly the knowledge of God. For the paterne of felicitie, is to knowe the good, and the knowing of good, is the holy gate whereby to come to the maker of all things. Now (sayth hee againe afterward) the care of these inferiour things which maketh vsus to forget God, cānot be separated from this transitory lyfe wherein we be: for this body will neuer suffer vsus to play the right Philosophers in deed. It followeth then that this knowledge of God vnderunder the which he comprehendeth all vertue, all wisedome, and all studie of Philosophie, cannot be atteind vntounto nor become perfect in this lyfe, but onelyonly in the life to come.
The finall end of Man (sayth Plotin) is the pure Good,Plotin. Enn. 1. lib. 4. cap. 15. 16. that is to wit God; and all other things are but appurtenances to that end, and not the end, itself. Whosoeuer possesseth this good,Plotin. Enn. 6. lib. 9. Cap. 10. can hauehave no good taken from him, nor any good put vntounto him. For it is not only an vniting vntounto God, but almost a being of God himselfe. Now who is he that can take such possession of it in this lyfe? And therefore he addeth. There our mynd beholdeth the fountayne of life, of vnderstanding, of being, the cause of good, and the roote of the Soule. There lyeth our welfare after such a sort, that to be farre from it, is as good as not to be atall. There is the beginning and end of lyfe. The beginning; for from thence doth it proceede; and the end; for there is the welfare whereon it resteth. The welfare, say I; for in atteyning thether, it becommeth agein that which it had bin afore. For as for the being which it hath here, what is it but a downfall, whereby it hath lost hir wings? Here reigneth a bace and vile Venus; but there reigneth a heauenly one. Here a louelove of the World; there the louelove of God. And what a greefe ought it to be vntounto vsus, to be wedded to the earth? And on the contrary part, how desirous ought we to bee to feele God in all parts aboue? Yea and to be so ioyned vntounto him, as one centre is within another, so as both of them may be but as one? Now he is full of such and larger sayings; and alwayes he concludeth blesednes & euerlastingnes follow one another, wherby he excludeth them, both out of this world and out of this lyfe.
But for the more spéede, let vsus come to others. What is the end of Man (saieth Porphyrius)?Porphyrius in his worke of abstinence. lib. 1. cap. 2. It is vndoutedly to liue in Mynd. And how is that? By contemplation in this lyfe? No (sayeth he in another place). All Philosophy is but gessing, a lyght beleefe receyued from hand to hand, and which hath nothing therein which may not be called in question. What maner of Contemplation then shal the true one be? Porphyrius concerning the Soule, to Byrithius and Anebo the AEgiptian. Simplicius vponupon the Naturalles and vppon Epictetus.Not a heape of words (sayth he) nor a patching together of precepts; but a true vnion of the beholder and the thing that is behild, that is to say of our Mynd and of God.
Simplicius the Peripatetik, whether he learned it of Epictetus or some where els, speaketh of it thus. The greatest good that is in the knowledge of Nature, is that it is a fayre path to leade men to the knowing of the Soule, of the seperated substāces, and of Gods beeing. Moreouer it inflameth vsus to the seruing of God, leading vsus by the effectes to the Maiestie of the Creator; wherevpon followeth an onement with God, with assured fayth and hope, which are the things for which philosophy is cheefly to be vsed. And in another place; The beginning (sayth he) and the end of happy lyfe, and the perfection of our Soule, consisteth in being bent and turned vntounto God, as well by acknowledging that he gouerneth all things with Iustice, as by consenting to all that he doth, as proceeding from a rightfull iudgement. For so long as our Soule abydeth in him as in the roote, it abydeth in the perfection wherein GOD created it. But if it fall to starting out of him, it becometh withered and droopeth, vntill it turne backe and bee vnited againe vntounto him. The cause then of our vnhappines, is our seperating of our selues from God; and the cause of our happinesse is our linking in againe with him; and man seeketh a happinesse agréeable to his kynd, as all other things doe. The end of man therefore is to turne againe vntounto God, that he may become one with him.
Syrian the Schoolemayster of Simplicius wryting vppon VponUpon these words, foreign.Aristotle, hath comprehended the matter in one word; we deale with Philosophie (sayth he) for our owne benefite; that is to say, for our owne welfare; which welfare is to be vnyted vntounto God.
And Alexander Alexander in his booke of Prouidence, cyted by Cy…illus.of Aphrodise commeth not farre behind when he sayth, that our souereine felicitie consisteth in deuotion towards God, beyond whom there is not any further reward to be desired. For seeing (sayth he) that the worthiest operation of the Soule is contemplation; & contemplation properly is the knowing of the best things; & none are so good as the things that concerne God: our end and felicitie ought to be the contemplation of things belonging to God. To be short, the bestestéemed interpreters of Aristotle, do make him to yéeld to this poynt whether he will or nill, as mē ashamed in his behalf, that hauing sought so much for the true end of man, he hath not set it downe more certenly.
Now, the Philosophers of old tyme knew in all tymes,The ends both of the good & of the bad. not only that those which atteyne to the sayde ende for which Man was created, are happie; but also that those which despise it doe fall into extreme wretchednesse: the one sort receyuing euerlasting felicitie, the other sort being by Gods Iustice condemned to endlesse paine. Also it is an article expresly set downe in the Créedes of al people, as a poynt that is probable to all men at the very first sight, That God is rightuous and good; and that euill is accompanied with punishment, and good is accompanyed with reward.In their booke of shame concealed. As for the Cabalistes of the Iewes, it is no wonder though they hauehave handled this matter well: for they hauehave drawne matter out of the foūtaines of the holy Scripture. And therefore let vsus heare but the Heathen.
Those (sayth Hermes)Hermes Trismegistus in his Poemander. which hauehave obteyned the fauour of God, are of mortall become immortall, and conceyue the only Good, which maketh them to fall into a misliking of these inferiour things, that they may indeuer with al their power to returne to him the more speedily.
Orpheus speaking yet more cléerely,Orpheus. bringeth good men into Gods presence, to the seate of felicitie, and to the feast of the rightuous, where he maketh them dronken with the perfect and euerlasting contemplation: but as for the wicked he buryeth them in a quamyre, tormenting them with vayne thoughts, & making them to drawe water into a Siue:Pythagoras. Pindarus Diphilu… Sibylla. that is to say, he assureth the one sort of perfect contentation, and putteth the other sort in extreme dispayre.
Of Pythagoras we hauehave these verses.foreign, Tat is to say, they that worship the soothfast and euerlasting God, shall inherit lyfe for euer time without end, dwelling in Paradyse alyke euer florishing greene. But of the other sort she sayth thus.
If reason here thou followe for thy guyde,
Then at thy parting hence thou shalt be sure,
In Heauen a God immortall to abyde,
No death thensforth for euer to indure.
And these verses were followed by all Poets, who commonly represented the receiued opinion: among whom Pindarus and Diphilus procéede so farre, as to describe an excellent Garden replenished with all things, & appoynted to be a reward for good men, as if they had heard speaking of the Paradise of the Iewes; or els had read Sibilles verses concerning a certeyne greene Garden which she also calleth Paradise, affirming it to be assighed for an heritage to such as followe the way of God: that is to wit, which take him for their shootanker, with whom they shall hauehave euerlasting life and light: whereas on the contrary part, the wicked (sayth she) shall lye burning like firebrands and Torches in endlesse paynes.
Also Timeus of Locres hath not forgotten this poynt in his little booke, where he sayth thus. There is a certeyne vengeance both according to the Lawes and according to the Oracles, which maketh vsus to feare both heauen and earth. For strange and vnintreatable punishments are prepared for the wicked in hell.
Asfor Plato, he taketh so greate pleasure in this matter, that he cannot be drawen from it: and he scarsly passeth any one dialog, wherein he hath not some speeche thereof; meaning doutlesse to do vsus to vnderstand, that without that, all Philosophie and all Diuinitie be maymed; and it should seeme that the constancie of Socrates his teacher,foreign. That is to say, rosted cōtinually with fyrebrāds of peines Socrates in defence of himself. had confirmed him not a little therein; in whose defence of himself, which was as it were his last wil, we reade these woords. Death would be greeuous to me, if I were not sure, first that when I am departed hence I shal go to the wise Gods (so did they terme the Angells or Created mynds) and secondly to the men that are deliuered out of this life, who out of dout are in better case than those that are here. And vntounto Cratylus ageine he sayeth, when the good man departeth this world, he commeth to great honor and to a greate inheritance; for he becommeth a Demon according to the true signification of the word, that is to say, skilfull and wyse. Plato in his Cratylus.That then is the perfection of a Philosopher,Plato in his Theetetus. whose end and profession is to hauehave knowledge and skill. And in his Theetetus hee sayeth, that with the Gods there is no euill, but euill walketh heere beneath among these transitorie things, and therefore that we must hye vsus thither and flee from hence, that is to say, we must become ryghtuous and wyse. For (sayth he) such as shall hauehave followed the way of folly and wickednes, shalnot be admitted into the restingplace of the blessed sort which are exempted from all euill; but according to their leawd lyfe, they shall be condemned to dwell for euer with the euill. In his Gorgias Plato in his Gorgias.he maketh mention of an auncient Lawe vnderunder Saturne, which he affirmeth to hauehave bin then still in vse, namely that when good men depart out of this lyfe, they be sent into the fortunate Iles (which Iles Pindarus also descrybeth verie curiously) and the wicked into the Iayle of Uengeance, which he calleth Tartar; vndoutedly betokening these vnknowen places, by places knowen vntounto them, which they toke comonly to be eyther most pleasant or most horrible; lyke as the Iewes betokened the Restingplace of the blessed sort by a goodly Gardyne, and Hell by the valley of Onam or Ghehinom, which was an irksome place nere Ierusalem.Plato in his Phoedon, and in his tenth booke of Lawes. In his Phedon he bringeth in a certeyne Prophet raysed from the dead, which reporteth that those which are iustified, go on the right hand, pure, and cleane, and are sent vp to Heauen; and that the damned sort go on the left hand, besmeared with filth and mire, wéeping and gnasshing their téethe, and in the end are sent into lowe deepe places. Yea and he descrybeth there the blessed Countrey in such termes, that some men hauehave taken the peynes to conferre it, with that which is written there of in the Apocalips. Plato in his Axiochus.To be short, in his Axiochus he calleth ye place of Iudgment the féeld of truth; from whence (saieth he) they which hauehave followed the inspiration of the good spirit, shalbee sent into a Paradyse or pleasant Gardyn, which he descrybeth there in the delyghtfullest maner that he can deuise, to represent the things which he cannot conceyue, by the things which we see here on earth:foreign. and that they which hauehave bin led by wicked feends, that is to say by the instinct of the deuill, shalbe condemned to darknes and confusion, where he describeth a greate nomber of endlesse torments. Neuerthelesse he sheweth that these things are not to be takē according to ye letter, when he saith in his Comonweale,Plato in his Commonweale. that neither the punishments nor the rewards of this world are any thing atall eyther for nomber or for greatnesse, in respect of those which are prepared for eyther sort in the lyfe to come.
Cicero who would néedes be as a Plato in Latin, followeth him as it were step by step;Plutarke, concerning the slowe punnishing of the wicked. and so doth Plutarke also, who counterfetting Plato, bringeth in one Thespesius raysed from the dead, and maketh him to discourse of the lyfe to come. And without calling in Plotine, Porphyrius, Proclus, Hierocles & such others, whome it would be ouerlong to heare, only Iamblichus shall suffice, whose words are these: The good Soule shall dwell with GOD, and walke vp and downe in Heauen, where it shall hauehave a dwelling place. But the Soule that is defiled with cursed deedes, shalbe sent vnderunder the Earth, to the iudgements which are there executed vponupon Soules. Now what can we demaund more of the Philosophers, than that which they confesse? Namely that the happines and the ende of man, are not in this lyfe but in the other, and that the marke which man should shoote at, is to imploy this in the knowing of GOD, that in the other lyfe he may euerlastingly enioy all good things in him.
So then, let vsus conclude both by mans reason and by the authoritie of all Philosophie. That as the body of man relyeth vponupon his Soule; so his mortall lyfe relyeth vponupon the immortall lyfe that is to come: That the end wheretoo man was created in this world, is to know and serue God, and to possesse him wholy aboue. Howbeit for asmuch as by our fall wee bee falne from knowledge into ignorance, and therfore although we hauehave some little glimmering sight of our end which wee ame at, yet wee wote not how to shape our selues to it; And again, by the same fall we be falne from our souereine welfare into a bottomlesse pit of misery, where we créepe so lame as it is not possible for vsus to returne ageine to our former state: Let vsus see whether God of his merciemercy, hauehave not left vsus some remnants whereby to get vp ageine, and to bee directed into our right way; and whether hee himselfe also doe not reache vsus out his fatherly hand, through the cloudes of darknes wherewith we bee ouerwhelmed, to pull vsus backe and to call vsus home ageine to him, as very Bastards, Rebelles, and vnworthy Caytifes as we he.