Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 157
§ 157.
FIrſt, They not alwayes the wiſest which know moſtnot the humaniſt; for they are not alwayes the wiſest, which know moſt, as I have proved at large §. 50.51. I will further confirme it.
There are a generation of men, that mightily thirst after wiſdome and knowledge; and to get it, they are no niggards of their labour, for they leave nothing unſtudied, but themſelves; they know all parts and places of the created world, can diſcourſe of every thing, viſible, and inviſible, divine, humane, and mundane, whether it bee meant of ſubſtances, or accidents, are ignorant of nothing, but the way to heaven; are acquainted with all Lawes and cuſtomes, ſave the Law of God, and cuſtomes of Chriſtianity; they are ſtrangers no where, but in the Court of their own conſciences; yea, they build as hard, and erect as high, as did the Babel projectors, but never come to the roofe; they ſpend all their time in ſeeking after wiſdome; as Alchymiſts ſpend all their preſent eſtates to finde the Philoſophers ſtone, but never find it; for their thirſt after knowledge being a natural thirſt (which ſtands more upon the quantity, then the quality, themſelves being like Ballances, which make no difference betwixt Gold and Lead, but in the weight; for a worldling is as well pleaſed with the handmaid, humane, or mundane wiſdome, as with the Miſtreſſe, divine and ſupernaturall; wheras none but this will content the generous Chriſtian; natural men reſembling the three lower elements, of Aire, Water, and Earth, which are pleaſed with lower roomes; the regenerate, the element of Fire, which no place will content, but the uppermoſt, it's owne Region) they never attaine to that which is true wiſdome indeed. For as the ragged Poet told Petronius, that Poetry was a kind of learning, which never made any man rich; ſo may I tell theſe, that humane learning, of it ſelfe, never made a wiſe man. For ſo long as men deſire knowledge, and not a bleſſing with it, for no other end, but to remove their ignorance; as Pharaoh uſed Moſes, but to remove the plagues; and ſtudie the Scriptures and other bookes, only to make gaine thereof, or to bee the abler to diſpute and diſcourſe, as boyes go into the water to play and paddle there, not to waſh and be cleane, as many, with Eue, doe highly eſteeme the tree of Knowledge, but regard not the tree of Life, they may heape up knowledge upon knowledge, bee ever powring into their brains, as the fifty daughters of King Danaus, who killed their husbands, are faigned to b…e alwayes filling of a Tunn, with water, that is bored full of holes, but labour they never ſo much about it, yet they can never bring it to paſſe; for whenſoever they dye, they are undone, that houre, like Penelope's night, will undoe all that ever the day of their life did weave; wherein they reſemble Albertus Magnus, who beſtowed thirty yeares ſtudie and paines upon an Image, or Statua, till with engines and wheeles within, he had made it able to ſpeake divers words very diſtinctly, the which Thomas Aquinas utterly ſpoyled in one minute
But to make it more plaine. I would faine know, what it is, or what it profits a man, to have the Etymology and derivation of wiſdome and knowledge, without being affected with that which is true wiſdome indeed? to be able to decline vertue, yet not love it? to have the theory, and be able to prattle of wiſdome by roate, yet not know what it is by effect and experience? to have as expert a tongue, and as quicke a memory, as Pertius, who never forgat any thing that hee had once read? A perfect underſtanding, great ſcience, profound eloquence, a ſweet ſtile, to have the force of Demoſthenes, the depth of Theſeus, the perſwaſive art of Tully, &c. if withall he live a wicked life? with the Aſtronomer, to obſerve the motions of the Heavens, while his heart is buried in the earth? with the Naturaliſt, to ſearch out the cauſe of many effects, and let paſſe the conſideration of the principall, and moſt neceſſary?
Viz.
1. Sinne the cauſe of all Miſery and wretchedneſſe.
2. Grace the cauſe of all Good and happines.
3. God's will of all other cauſes, the cauſe
4. God's glory of all other cauſes, the effect
With the Hiſtorian, to know what others have done, and how they have ſped, while hee neglects the imitation of ſuch as are gone the right way? with the Law-maker, to ſet downe many Lawes in particular; and not to remember the common law of nature, or law generall, that al muſt dye? or laſtly, with Adam, to know the nature of all the creatures, as appeared in his naming of them; and with Solomon, to be able to diſpute of every thing, even from the Cedar to the Hyſope, or Pellitory, when in the meane time hee lives like Dives, dies like Nabal, and after all goes to his owne place, with Iudas? alaſſe! many a foole goes to hell with leſſe coſt, leſſe paines, and more quiet.
That is true knowledge, The religious man wifer than the humaniſt.which makes the knower bleſſed; to be wiſe and happy, are reciprocall termes, ſaith Ariſtotle in his Ethicks; and mans happineſſe, ſaith another, conſiſts in believing the Goſpell, and obeying Gods commands, which is ſure to be crowned with everlaſting felicity: yea, Socrates could ſay, that learning pleaſeth me but a little, which nothing profits the owner of it to vertue; and being demanded who was the wiſeſt man? he anſwered, he that offends leaſt.
Hee is the beſt ſcholer that learnes of Chriſt obedience, humility, &c. he is the beſt Arithmetician that can adde grace to grace; he is the beſt learned, that knowes how to be ſaved; yea, all the Arts in the world are artleſſe Arts to this.
But few are thus wiſe and learned; becauſe they thinke that to bee wiſdome, Several miſpr…ſions of wiſdomewhich is not; like Eve, who thought it wiſdome to eat the forbidden fruit; or Abſalom, who thought it wiſdome to lye with his Fathers Concubines, in the ſight of all the people; or the idle ſervant, who thought it wiſdome to hide his Talent; or the falſe Steward, who thought it wiſdom to deceive his Maſter: for, if a man take his marke amiſſe, hee may ſhoot long enough, ere he hit the White: and theſe men, are as one that is gone a good part of his journey, but muſt come backe againe, becauſe he hath miſtaken his way: for however theſe mens knowledge may ſeeme wiſdome, (as a Briſtow ſtone may ſeeme a Diamond) yet it only ſeemes ſo, it is not ſo; for if they were wiſe, ſaith Saint Bernard, they would foreſee the torments of hell, and prevent them: yea, Epaminondas could ſay, that of all men he was the wiſeſt, that lived well, and died well; for, quoth hee, the art of dying well, is the ſcience of all ſciences, and the way to learne this art, is to live well. We only praiſe that Mariner, which brings the Ship ſafe to the Haven. Againe, if thou wert a wiſe man, thou wouldeſt know what wiſdome is, and not miſtake one thing for an other: as Iacob in the dark miſtooke Leah for Rachel, and then choſe the beſt: as a traveller for his proviſion & convenience in his journey, carrieth his money in Gold, thou wouldeſt like a wiſe Merchant fraight thy felfe with that commodity, or coyne, which for mettall and ſtamp will paſſe for currant, both in this world, and in heaven: wheras thy lip-learning, and tongue-wiſdome, and braine-knowledge, is periſhing, and wil ſtands thee in no ſtead in the next life, nor any way further thee in the way to bliſſe. For thou art but like a Powdermaſter, who hath proviſion againſt an enemy, but is ever in danger of being blown up: or ſome covetous churle, who though hee have lights good ſtore, yet is content to ſit in the dark: or an irregular Phyſitian, who preſcribes a wholſome diet to others, when himſelfe feeds foully, and ſurfets with intemperance; which in reaſon is to play the foole, and to imitate the Miletians, who as Ariſtotle writeth, were not fooles, but did the ſelfe ſame things that fooles were accustomed to doe: wherein this is all the difference, a man ſhall be the rather puniſhed, and the more, becauſe he hath knowne good, and done evill, for knowledge without grace, will but ſinke men lower in Hell. And great reaſon ſhall all ſuch have, who either know, and believe not; or believe, and repent not; or repent, and amend not; or amend, and perſevere not in well doing, to cry out upon their death-beds, as Tully did in his latter age, would God I had never known what wiſdome meant.
Again, as themſelves are never the better for their great wiſdome and learning: ſo, no more are others: for commonly they reſemble dark Lanthornes, which have light, but ſo ſhut up and reſerved, as if it were not: and what is the difference betwixt concealed skill, and ignorance? It is the nature and praiſe of good, to be communicative, whereas if their hidden knowledge do ever looke out, it caſts ſo ſparing a light, that it onelyonly argues it ſelf to have an unprofitable being.
Wee know the Unicorne hath but one horne, but hee doth more good with that, then other beaſts do with two: ſo an holy man doth more good with a little knowledge, then a worldling with a great deale; yea, he thinks himſelfe as happy, in giving light to others, as in receiving it into himſelfe.
Now ſuppoſe a mans greateſt learning be religion, and his knowledge only lyes in the beſt things, as the weaker veſſell may hold the better liquor; yet a competent eſtate well husbanded, is better then avaſt patrimony neglected. Never any meere man, ſince the firſt, knew ſo much as Salomon; many that have known leſſe, have had more command of themſelves.
True it is, in ſome kind of skill they outſtrip even the beſt of Gods people; who, if they are put to it, may anſwer as Themiſtocles did, when one invited him to touch a Lute for, as he ſaid, I cannot fiddle, but I can make a ſmall Town a great State: ſo may the godly ſay, wee cannot give a ſolid reaſon in nature, why Nilus ſhould overflow only in the Summer, when waters are at the loweſt: why the Load-ſtone ſhould draw Iron, or incline to the Poleſtarre; how the heat of the ſtomack, and the ſtrength of the nether chap, ſhould be ſo great: why a flaſh of lightning ſhould melt the Sword, without making any impreſſion in the Scabbard; kill the child in the wombe, and never hurt the mother: how the waters ſhould ſtand upon an heape, and yet not overflow the earth: why the clouds above, being heavie with water, ſhould not fal to the earth ſuddainly, ſeeing every heavie thing deſcendeth, except the reaſon which God giveth, Gen. 1.6. and Iob 26.8. but we know the myſtery of the Goſpell, and what it is to be borne anew, and can give a ſolid reaſon of our faith, wee know that God is reconciled to us, the law ſatisfied for us, our ſins pardoned, our ſoules acquitted, and that we are in the favour of God: which many, with their great learning, doe not know. And thus the godly are proved wiſer, then the wiſeſt humanist, that wants grace.