The Amendment of Life, Book 1 · Chapter 8
The ſeuenth Folly. To thinke our ſelues wiſe. Chap. 8.
THis ſeuenth folly, ſheweth man in all extremity and perfection to be a foole. For being intangled in the ſixe follyes afore mentioned, & many others, he neuertheles thinketh himſelf wiſe, and well aduiſed. Among a hundred men that walke vp & downe the ſtreetes, you ſhall not finde one that will bee contented to bee called foole or mad man, but will thinke himſelfe iniured: for eueryevery man deſireth to be thought wiſe. Yet, they that beleeue not that there is a God: they that eſteeme better of man than of God: they that thinke to liue euer, and yet know not wherfore they liue: they that iudge of mans felicity or miſery by the outward ſhew, & they that beleeue their enemies rather than their friends. Are not all theſe in thinking themſelues wiſe, euen perfect fooles? yes, and ſo hauehave we at large proued them.
2 Yet may this folly be more generally conſidered, in that man (at the leaſt for the moſt part) thinketh himſelfe to be but a man, created for this temporall life, and not a Chriſtian, beleeuing lyfe euerlaſting. For therof it falleth out, that man being wiſe, diſcreet, and aduiſed, as concerning the worlde, yet a Chriſtian, fooliſh and ſenſeleſſe, in matter appertaining to life euerlaſting, thinketh himſelfe wiſe, and is in deed but a foole, becauſe he is wiſe in the leſſe, and a foole in the principall: wiſe as concerning men, and this temporall life, but a foole as concerning God and life euerlaſting. And we ſhall finde many preſidents, counſellors, aduocates, phiſitions, philoſophers, marchants and artificers, wiſe, diſcreet, and aduiſed in their arte and vocation, who all in the vocation of Chriſtianitie are but fooles, ignorant, and ſenſeleſſe. They are verie perfect in matter concerning this preſent life, but ignorant and fooliſh in matter of lyfe euerlaſting. Neither is it anie maruell. For euerie man in youth learneth a phraſe, myſterie, or arte, whereby to grow wiſe & expert in his vocation, and ſo to prouide for this preſent life: but few there are that learne the skill to bee true Chriſtians, wiſe, and well aduiſed. Beholde therefore, how weening to be wiſe, becauſe they bee wiſe men, they be but fooles, in that they be ignorant & vnaduiſed Chriſtians.
3 By experience we ſee, that the aduocate can be skilfull & learned in the vnderſtanding of the ciuill laws, & pleading other mens cauſes, yet vnderſtandeth nothing in Gods law, whereby to plead his owne cauſe againſt the deuill, and ſo be iuſtified in the ſight of God. The phiſition can be skilfull and expert in the cure of bodily diſeaſes, and yet not know wherein the cure of ſo many the diſeaſes of his owne ſoule doth conſiſt. The Arithmetician can multiply numbers, yet wotteth not how to reckon to 70. or 80. yeres of his life,Pſal. 90 12: but as all the reſt, muſt bee forced to praie to God to giuegive him grace to vnderſtand how to count his daies, that he may apply his heart to true wiſedome. The Geometrician can bee skilfull in meaſuring the earth, yet hath no knowledg of heauen, either of Ieſus Chriſt, who is the way to come thereunto. The Aſtronomer is well ſeene in the courſe and greatneſſe of the Sun, yet hath no skill in the Son of righteouſnes, our Lord Ieſus Chriſt. The philoſophers perfect in a number of the ſecrets of nature, are neuertheles ignorant in the myſteries and ſecretes of the eternall ſaluation of the ſoule, reuealed in the Goſpell. The marchant can keepe his booke of accounts, to know his eſtate, & who is indebted to him, yet wotteth not hee what account hee muſt make to God of his life. The Smith is skilful in making of keies, yet vnderſtandeth not what the keies of the kingdome of heauen are. EueryEvery one can tell what fruit apple trees, pearetrees, plumtrees, &c. do beare, yet few know what fruit Chriſtians ſhould beare. To be brief, there be men enow wiſe and aduiſed, but few Chriſtians wiſe and well inſtructed. What is it for an aduocate, a phiſition, a marchant, or an artificer, to be wiſe in his profeſsion, and yet in Chriſtianitie to be a foole, ignorant, and vnaduiſed. To bee accounted wiſe among beaſts that hauehave no immortall ſoule, yet to be ſo much the more fooliſh and vnaduiſed, as that in ſeruing men wiſely and God fooliſhly, hee looſeth both bodie and ſoule for euer.Auguſtine in his myrrour for ſinners. cap. 6 S Auguſtine reproouing thoſe that take greater delight in the writings of Plato and Ariſtotle, than of the Apoſtles, calleth them fooles. His reaſon: becauſe they reaped knowledge, like to their ſtudy, leaues in ſted of fruit, that is to ſay, words and no vertue. So men generally thinking themſelues wiſe, becauſe they be ſo in matters of this life, are yet fooliſh & ſenſles, in that they vnderſtand not what is requiſite for the obtaining of lyfe euerlaſting.
4 What doth it auaile vsus, ſaith S. Auguſtine, ſubtilly to ſearch out,Auguſtine in his booke of the ſpirit and the letter. cap. 1. &. 2 and plentifully to comprehend the nature of all things, if wee hauehave no knowledge of our ſelues? This ſentence, Know thy ſelfe, for the excellencie thereof, was thought to be brought from heauen. The rather, to the end that man ſtanding in neceſsity of the knowledge of himſelfe, his ignorance, pouertie, & miſerie, might humble himſelf, & ſeeke his felicity from other than himſelfe. The wiſe Socrates ſaid, that he knew but one thing, viz. that he knew nothing. And therein he ſpake better than hee was aware. For if man knowing much (as hee did) muſt notwithſtanding confeſſe that hee knoweth nothing, in compariſon of ſo much as hee is ignoraunt of, euen in ſuch ſciences as concerne not life euerlaſting: how much rather muſt he, were he double as wiſe as euer was Socrates, confeſſe that he knoweth nothing, if he hauehave no knowledge in the heauenly knowledge, requiſite to the ſaluation of our ſoules? It is therefore a helliſh opinion for a man to think himſelf wiſe when he is a fool, likewiſe to be a wiſe man, yet a fooliſh & vntaught chriſtian. Ieſus Chriſt ſpeaking to the phariſies, who thinking themſelues skilful, ſaid, Are we alſo blind? Said vntounto them, If yee were blind, Ioh. 9 40you ſhould hauehave no ſin: But now you ſaie, We do ſee therefore your ſin abideth in you. Thereby ſhewing, that as the beginning of a cure conſiſteth in the knowledge and feeling of the hurt, ſo the beginning of our ſight reſteth in the knowledge that we are ignorant and fooles. That we may therfore Amend our liues, we muſt giuegive ouer this folly wherby we thinke our ſelues wiſe, and heereafter being better aduiſed, confes that we know nothing, ſo long as we know not Ieſus Chriſt. Beſides, that how wiſe, diſcreet and expert ſo euer we be in worldly matters, yet knowing our ſelues to bee fooles and ſenſeleſſe in thinking our ſelues wiſe, while we are ignorant Chriſtians, we may be better aduiſed, increaſing in whatſoeuer may make vsus become true Chriſtians, and conſequently, the children of God, and inheritours of life euerlaſting.
5 This is the knowledge of all knowledge, and conſiſteth in two poyntes. Firſt, in that which Saint Paule ſayeth, I am not determined to know my other thing, 1. Cor. 2.2but onelyonly Ieſus Chriſt, and him crucifyed. Therin declaring, that he that knoweth not Chriſt, knoweth nothing, but is a foole & deuoid of ſenſe, how wiſe & diſcreet ſo euer he is in the ſight of the world: ſo he that truly knoweth Ieſus Chriſt, how ſimple ſo euer the world accounteth him, is perfectly wiſe and well aduiſed. Secondly, this knowledge conſiſteth in the beginning of wiſedome,Pro. 1.7 as the holy Ghoſt calleth it, namely, in walking in the feare of God. Whereupon Dauid addeth, that they which walke in the feare of God and keepe his commandements, Pſa. 111.10are wiſe. And on the other ſide Salomō proteſteth, that ſuch as deſpiſe this wiſdome & diſcretion are fooles.Iob. 28.…5 Iob more largely ſpeaking therof, ſayth: Wiſedome is more to bee eſteemed than ſiluer, golde, precious ſtones, or any worldly goods. Then diſcourſing vppon the wonderfull workes of God, in the knowledge whereof it ſeemeth there reſteth great wiſdome, he concludeth his ſpeech, ſaying: Then did he ſee it, and counted it, he prepared it alſo and conſidered it. And vntounto man hee ſaid, Behold, the feare of the Lord is true wiſdome, and to depart from euill is vnderstanding. Hereby we ſee, that as they that doo know Ieſus Chriſt, and walk in the feare of God, are truly wiſe: ſo they that hauehave not this wiſdome are very fooles, albeit they thinke themſelues wiſe, in that beeing eſteemed wiſe men as concerning the world, they are in deed fooliſh Chriſtians in the ſight of God.
6 Theſe ſeuen aforeſaid follies do euidently declare, that wyth great reaſon the holy Ghoſt warneth vsus in the firſt ſermon of Ieſus Chriſt, and of Iohn the Baptiſt, that for the good and due Amendement of our liues, the knowledge and feeling of our naturall follies ought to admoniſh vsus to be more wiſe, circumſpect, and better aduiſed hereafter. For, as in beleeuing that there is no God, In thinking better of man than of God, In thinking to liue euer, & ſo not to liue as if we ſhould die, In not knowing wherefore we liue, and ſo liuing at randon, not for the ſeruice of God and our neighbours, but for our ſelues, In iudging Gods children in reſpect of their outwarde tribulations to bee accurſed, and the wicked thorough their proſperitie to be bleſſed, Beleeuing our enemies, the world, the fleſh, and the deuill, rather than God our perfect and faithfull frend. To be ſhort, in thinking our ſelues wiſe, becauſe we are wiſe as men, and yet are ignorant and fooles as Chriſtians. Being, I ſaie, poſſeſſed of all theſe follies, the ſame are againſt vsus ſo many ropes and ſtrong chaines in the hands of our enemy the deuill, wherwith to pull vsus on to ſinne, and to make vsus continually to offend God, to heape iniquitie vppon iniquitie, and conſequently to turne awaie from God, from heauen, from life, & euerlaſting glory, & to folow after ſatan, and ſo to caſt our ſelues into the hel fire, in to death, & into euerlaſting damnation: And contrariwiſe, if beleeuing there is a God, and eſteeming him to be as he is, all wiſe, almightie, all iuſt and true, we doo louelove, feare, and put our whole confidence in him, If beleeuing that we muſt die, and that ſhortly, we doo applie our harts to wiſdome, liuing as we would euen at death wiſh wee had liued: If knowing wherefore we doo liue, we do referre the whole courſe of our liues to the glory of God, to our ſaluation, and to the ſeruice of our neighbors: If iudging of mans felicitie or miſerie, not by the outward apparaunce, but by the teſtimonie of God in his word, we doo euen perceiue that the children of God, albeit in tribulation, are bleſſed, and the wicked, though in proſperitie, accurſed: If renouncing the pernitious counſelles of our enemies, the world, the fleſh, and the deuill, we doo liſten vntounto, and beleeue the counſels and admonitions of our God. To conclude, if conſiderding, that all diſcretion, knowledge, and wiſdome of man, without the knowledge of Chriſt, and the skil of ſaluation, be but folly. Alſo, if vnderſtanding that we be but fooles & men deuoid of knowledge, ſo long as wee are not wiſe and well aduiſed Chriſtians, & therefore wee conuert and returne to God, and walke in the waie that ſhall bring vsus to heauen, to life, and to euerlaſting glorie: If (I ſaie) we doo thus conuert and amend our liues, according to the will of God, we ſhall finally become inheritours of his kingdome, through his ſonne Ieſus Chriſt our Lord.
The end of the firſt Booke.