Exercitations Divine, Book 1 · Exercitation 3
EXERCITAT. III
That the end of Divinity here conſiſteth rather in practiſe than in contemplation.
Luke. 11. 28.
Bleſſed are they that heare the Word of God, and keepe it.
THe end of our Divinity here conſiſteth in doing rather than contemplation. If we ſpeake properly, doing is not in the underſtanding but in the will; when reaſon divideth, compoundeth, or frameth any propoſition within it ſelfe, then the underſtanding is not ſayd The underſtanding is ſpeculative, and ſetteth the will on worke.properly to doe, but contenting it ſelfe within it ſelfe, then it is ſpeculative: but when the underſtanding ſetteth the will on worke, then the will doth, & the underſtanding but directeth the will; and when the underſtanding reaſoneth within it ſelfe, they call this actus elicitus; Actus elicitus. imperatus.but when the underſtanding ſetteth the will on worke, they call this actus imperatus.
A propoſition in Divinity commandeth us eyther A propoſition in Divinity commandeth practiſe, virtually or formally.virtually to practiſe, or elſe formally. Virtually it commandeth us to practiſe; example, This is life eternall, to know thee to be the onelyonly true God, and whom thou haſt ſent, Chriſt, Ioh. 17. 3. 11. This is a propoſition which virtually includeth in it practiſe; for as the Hebrewes ſay, verba notitiae includunt verba affectus, Words of knowledge include words of affection: if it be life eternall for us to know God, then it is life eternall alſo for us to love God.
This propoſition againe in Divinity, Thou ſhalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy ſoule, and with all thy mind, Matth. 22. 37. and thy neighbour as thy ſelfe, verſ. 39. commandeth practiſe formally.
Secondly a propoſition in Divinity urgeth practiſe A propoſition in Divinity, commandeth practiſe, mediately or immediately,eyther mediatly or immediately: imediatly, as God is ſummum bonum the chiefe good; out of this mediate propoſition we gather an immediate, therefore we are to love him above all things.
Thirdly, theſe concluſions in Divinity which conclude for practiſe, the propoſitions out of which they If the concluſions be practicke, the propoſitions muſt be practicke.are drawne, muſt alſo be for practiſe and not for contemplation, nam nihil agit extra genus ſuum, as they ſay in the Schooles; as we cannot gather grapes of thornes, or figgs of thiſtels, Matth. 7. 16. So new wine cannot be the cauſe why the Apoſtles ſpake with divers tongues; Act. 2. So we cannot gather concluſions of practiſe from ſpeculative propoſitions.
Fourthly, theſe rules which ſerve to direct men to practiſe may be called rules of practiſe, as the Carpenters The word of God is a line and rule of practiſe.line in his hand is a line of practiſe, becauſe it leadeth him to practiſe. So the Word of God is the line by the which wee ſhould walke, therefore it is a rule of practiſe, Gal. 6. 6. As many as walke according to this rule, peace be unto them: foreign is to worke by rule or line, foreign.the Word is the rule of our working, therefore it teacheth us practiſe.
But it may be ſaid, that contemplation is the end of Object. Divinity in heaven to ſee God face to face, therefore is the end of our Divinity here upon earth.
Contemplation in heaven leadeth us alwayes to practiſe, and they can never be ſeparate; for as below here Anſw. thoſe Sciences which we call inſpectrices; as the mathematicks, phyſicke, and ſuch (whoſe end conſiſteth not in doing) are the parents of morall philoſophie and of doing, for by theſe we take up the nature of things, the goodneſſe and the truth of them, and then we begin to eſteeme of them, and love them when wee know them; ſo that contemplation bringeth forth alwayes practiſe. The glorified Saints in heaven, comming nearer to the firſt cauſe, eſteeme more highly of him, and therefore they love him more ſincerely, and returne all praiſe to him.
But it may ſeeme that contemplation is more excellent Object. than practiſe; for Mary is preferred unto Martha, Mary for her contemplation to Martha for her action.
When Mary and Martha are compared together, they Anſw. reſemble not the contemplative and the active life, but the naturall and ſpirituall life; Mary careth for the ſpirituall life, and Martha for the naturall. Did not Mary care for practiſe as well as Martha? ſate ſhee not at Chriſts feete that ſhee might learne practiſe, that ſhe might waſh them with her teares and wipe them with her haire?
And becauſe practiſe is joyned alwayes with knowledge, therefore the wiſedome which is proper to the underſtanding is aſcribed ſometimes to the will, Iob. 28. 28. to depart from evill is underſtanding: and therefore it is, that juſtice and judgement are joyned together in the Scripture, and they are called fooles who doe not according to their knowledge. And Salomon ſaith Eccle. 10. 2. The heart of a wiſe man is at his right hand, becauſe his heart teacheth his hand to put things in practiſe.
The end of our Divinity is more in practiſe than in contemplation; therefore theſe onagri or wilde aſſes, the Heremites who lived without all ſociety of men, forget the cheife end wherefore they were ſet here, living rather like beaſts than like men: and if wee ſhall take a view of the eccleſiaſticall hiſtory, as out of Theodoret and Zozomen, wee ſhall ſee how unprofitablie theſe men have ſpent their time, leaving the congregation of the Saints of God. Theodoret writeth of one Macedonius Cap. 13. de hiſtoria religioſa. foreignqui foreign & gubba dict us est; gubba in the Syriacke tongue is a Ditch, he was called gubba becauſe he ſtoode in a Ditch all his time, and he was called foreign, becauſe he eate nothing but Barley pulſe: See how unprofitablie this man ſpent his time, not giving himſelfe to reading of the holy Scriptures, for he was altogether ignorant of them; for when Flavianus the Biſhop ſent for him that hee might make him a Miniſter, he was ſo ignorant of that which the Biſhop had done unto him when he ordained him Miniſter, that being required the next Sabbath day to come againe to the Church, anſwered him who came for him, that he was affraid to be made Miniſter the next Sabbath day alſo, and ſo refuſed to come; ſee how this holy man ſpent his life for forty yeares in contemplatin and what great progreſſe he made in Chriſtian Religion. So Theodoret maketh mention of one Styllites who From foreign a pillar.ſtoode under a pillar all his life time, and never came into a houſe. So Zozomen in his eccleſiaſticall hiſtory, Lib. 6. 29.writeth of one Pior, who going out of his fathers houſe into a deſert, vowed ſolemnely that he ſhould never ſee any of his kinſmen or friends againe, and living fifty yeares there he had a ſiſter who longed to ſee him before ſhee dyed: the Biſhop pitying the poore woman, granted leave to Pior to come and viſit her, and he returning into his countrey, & ſtanding before the doore called out his ſiſter, and ſhutting his eyes, he ſaid unto her, behold, I am your brother Pior, looke upon mee as much as you pleaſe; but ſhee entreating him earneſtly to come to her houſe, he altogether refuſing went backe againe to the Wilderneſſe: and ſo wee reade in Theodoret of one Adynus; who lived ninety yeares in the In Sacra hiſt. lib. 14. 8.Wilderneſſe and never ſpake to any man, as if he had beene poſſeſſed with a dumb Divell: this is that holy contemplative life which the Church of Rome commendeth ſo much, but this is pure Religion, to viſite the fatherleſſe and widdow in their neceſsity, Iam. 1. 27. Theſe Heremites living this contemplative life were like Polyphemus having but one eye in his head, and looking ever up but never downe.
The Schoolemen differ but little in this poynt, how The opinion of the Schoolemen in this point.Divinity teacheth us practiſe. Thomas and his followers ſay, that fides non eſt recta ratio agendi, ſed recta ratio ſentiendi; and therefore Contra gentiles hee compareth faith to hearing rather than to ſight, but he addeth that practiſe followeth faith as the fruit of it: but Scotus maketh faith to be habitus practicus. Yee ſee how both of them inſiſt in this, that Divinity conſiſteth in practiſe.
The Lord Num. 15. 38. 39. commanded the Iſraelites The end of the Sadduces and Phariſes Divinity.to make fringes upon the borders of their garments, that they might remember the Commandements of the Lord and keepe them; the Sadduces gave themſelves onelyonly to looke upon the fringes, and if they had onelyonly remembred the Law, they thought then they had diſcharged their duties; but the end of the Phariſes was to remember their owne traditions. So the end of The end of the Monks and Ieſuites Divinity.the Monkes Divinity now is onelyonly idle contemplation with the Sadduces; and the end of the Ieſuites Divinity now is onelyonly to practiſe miſcheefe: and many Chriſtians when they reade the Scriptures now, they reade them not for practiſe, but for to paſſe the time with; they are like little children who ſeeke Nuts to play, but not to breake them and eate the kernels.
The concluſion of this is, Iam. 1. 22. Be yee doers of the Concluſi. word, and not hearers onelyonly, deceiving your ſelves.