The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 1
¶The firſt Chapiter. ¶What naturall Philoſophie is, and how many kindes there bee thereof.
S.
WHat is naturall Philoſophie?
M.
It is the true knowledge or diſcourſe concerning the Creation and diſtinction of all this whole worlde with the partes therof, of the cauſes by whiche it was ſo wrought, and likewiſe of the effectes whiche followe thereon, apperteinyng to the praiſe of God the Creatour.
S.
From whence do you gather this your definition?
M.
Specially out of twoo places of holie ſcripture, wherof the firſt is the. 30. chapt. and 4. verſe of the Prouerbes. The other the firſt chapiter of Geneſis, in whiche thoſe fower poinctes are briefly recited, vntounto whiche alſo that place maie bee added whiche is in the 7. Chapter and 17. and 18. verſes, where it is euidently declared, that ſuche thinges bee handled in this Science.
S.
Is this knowledge termed by this name onelyonly, or is it called by ſome other alſo?
M.
Yea truely. For out of S. Paule it maie bee called The knowledge of Gods woorkes, Rom. the 1. chap. and 20. verſe. Out of the Epiſtle to the Hebrewes, The knowledge ofſeculare thynges. And finally wee maie as fitly and conueniently call it The knowledge of thinges created, as naturall Philoſophie was ſo called Of the ſearchyng of Nature, if ſo bee that the vſe of that name had bin familiar, and receiued by the Greekes and Latines.
S.
Why then, doe you call it naturall Philoſophie, which is a woorde vſed by the Heathen Philoſophers?
M.
For twoo cauſes. The firſte is, for that Chriſtians ought not to bee ſo ſcrupulous, or rather ſuperſtitious, that thei ſhould bee afeard to vſe ſuche common woordes and names as the Heathē doe, for ſomuche as with them wee do vſe and enioy the ſelf ſame Sū, aire, earth, water, light, meates, and Cities. Neither doeth the Scripture it ſelf refuſe that woorde as vnſeemely or monſtrous, as appeareth in the 2. chapiter and 3. verſe to the Epheſians, and the 1. Chapiter and 5. verſe of the ſeconde Epiſtle of S. Peter. Alſo the auncient and Catholike fathers in eueryevery place, doe terme this knowledge of thynges by the name of Naturall Philoſophie, as did Baſile, Chriſoſtome, Ambroſe, Auguſtine in his Enchiridion to Laurence: Naturall Philoſophers, ſaieth hee, are thei that ſearche the nature of thynges. Secondly, that for as muche as this woorde, Nature, in the common vſe of the Greeke tongue, is, for the moſte parte, applied to ſuche thynges as doe conſiſte, not of eſſence onelyonly, of whiche ſorte GOD is, but are compounded with certein accidentes adioined, ſuche as are all the thynges that wee beholde with our eyes, and whereof this viſible worlde conſiſteth: that knowledge ſeemeth moſte properly to bee termed naturall Philoſophie, whiche is buſied in the handlyng of the mixt, cō poūded, and materiall thinges, that it maie bee diſtinguiſhed from Diuinitie. Wherefore, Naturall Philoſophie, ſaie thei, is the knowledged of Materiall and Inſtrumentall beginnynges.
S.
How many ſortes are there of naturall Philoſophie?
M.
Twoo: the one Generall, the other Particulare.
S.
Whiche is the Generall part?
M.
That whiche entreateth of the Generall and moſte principall partes of the worlde, with their originall, nature, and cauſes: ſuche are heauen and the fower elementes, for that theſe, in reſpect of the other partes, are, as it were, the firſt beeginnynges, and principles, and cauſes of their beeyng and compoundyng: And likewiſe that is the Generall part of naturall Philoſophie, which ſheweth vsus the generall maner and order of preſeruyng and increaſyng of all thynges, beecauſe it deliuereth vntounto vsus all thynges in generall. And theſe poinctes, for the more part, are comprehended in the firſt chapiter of Geneſis.
S.
Whiche is then the Particulare part?
M.
That whiche diligently ſetteth doune the peculiare natures, operations, properties, and effectes of eueryevery kinde, which are ſeuerally diſtinguiſhed in theſe created and viſible thynges, as for example: What is the Nature of a Man, what of an Horſe, what of eueryevery kinde of liuyng Creature, with the operations alſo of Trees and Hearbes. Theſe thynges are partly conteined in the rules of Phiſick, and partly alſo in thoſe treatiſes whiche by the Auctours thereof are intitled by the names of Hiſtories of liuyng thynges, and of Plantes, and ſuche like: certaine partes whereof and ſparkes are founde ſhinyng heere and there diſperſed in holie Scripture, as it were beautifull precious ſtones. Howbeit the whole hiſtorie & general diſcourſe of theſe thinges is not conteined in the Scripture: ſince that Salomons Bookes whiche were written copiouſly of the Nature of all thynges, are, through the negligence of men, periſhed.