The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 28
The xxviii. Of the partes of the world, and firſt of the Ethereall, and Elementare region.
S.
WHiche then bee the principall partes of the world, whereof the ſcripture maketh mention?
M.
They are of ſundrie kindes. For ſome bee integral, which are the partes conſtituting the whole world, whiche wee terme ſubſtanciall: otherſome diſtinguiſhing it onelyonly, and limited by reaſon of certeine vſes, and commodities.
S.
Whiche are the integrall, and conſtituting partes of the world?
M.
There are briefly twayne, for the moſt part propoſed by the Scripture, to wit, the heauen and earth: as it appeareth to the Coloſsians the 1. chapter and 16. verſe: and Geneſis the 1. chap. and 2. verſe: and Iſay the 1. chap. and 1. verſe, and in other places almoſt infinite: although in Geneſis the 49. cha. and 25. verſe, heauen and the deapthes bee alſo reckned.
S.
What did the Scripture then conteine vnderunder the name of heauen?
M.
All that region of this world, whiche is called by the Philoſophers Ethereall, and conteineth the celeſtiall and vnengendred bodies, which continue, and are not chaunged ſince the firſt day of their creation, as ſayth S. Peter, 2. of Peter, the 3. chapter, and 4. verſe.
S.
And what vnderunder the name of the earth?
M.
Not onelye this bodye, and element whiche wee properly call the earth, but alſo that whole region of this world, whiche by the Philoſophers is termed Elementare, which conteineth in it ſuch bodies as are engendred, and are continually ſubiect to alteration.
S.
Doe theſe twoo regions differ?
M.
Yea, very much both in name and effect. In name, for that the firſt is called heauen, and this latter parte of the worlde is tearmed by the name of the elementes, yea and that by the ſcripture. For S. Peter in the 2. Epiſtle, the 3. Chapter, the 10. and 14. verſes, diſtinguiſheth theſe words, Heauen, and y• Elementes. In effect, for that this endureth and continueth in the old ſtate: the other is dayly chaunged, and at one time is engendred, and at an other tyme periſheth. The firſt, God hath reſerued to himſelfe, the other hee hath giuen to the vſe of man: Pſalme 115. and 16. verſe. The firſt, as wee are taught, ſhall periſhe at the latter day but with ſinale noyſe, and a lyght flaſhe of flame, for that it conſiſteth of a fine and ſubtill nature: but the other ſhall burne with great heat, and bee diſſolued with mightie rage of fyre, eeuen in ſuch ſorte, as looke how it hapeneth in our earthly & material fire whē it flameth, the ſtickes crack, & ſmoke, & ſende foorth a vapour, which proceedeth from the moyſt partes therof: ſo it is ſaide that the elementes ſhall glowe with heat, and melt, for that they are of an hard, thick and clammie nature, and not pure and cleane. This difference alſo may bee obſerued betwene the two partes of the worlde, that the thinges which are in the firſt, are the efficient & principall cauſes, of thoſe thinges that are engendred in ye other. But the thinges that are in the ſecond & elemētare part of the world, are the materiall cauſes of thoſe thinges whiche are heare engendred. Wherefore they be in the things, & doe conſtitute and make their ſubſtance: which vſe and functiō ye woord, element, when it is properly taken doth ſignifie.
S.
How farre doth eche of theſe regions extend, & which bee the fartheſt endes and boundes of them both?
M.
I will nowe touche them in fewe woordes, and at an other tyme perhapes declare them more at large. Some determine the ethereall and heauenly region, from the higheſt heauen vntounto the circle of the Moone. And the elementare, from that place whiche is vnderunder this circle & ſphere, vntounto the loweſt center of the earth. Howbeit, otherſome ſuppoſe rather, that the Moone belongeth to the elementare and earthly region of the woorlde: concerning which varictie of mens opiniōs, reade Plutarches booke of the face whiche appeareth in the globe of the Moone. Howbeit, I hauehave alwayes thought the firſt opinion to bee trueſt.
S.
What thincke you then, of that generall diuiſion of thinges, whereby all thinges that are in this worlde are diuided, not into two partes, but into foure generall kindes, to wit, of thinges that are in heauen, vppon the earth, vnderunder the earth, and in the ſea, as it is to bee ſeene in the Reuelat. the 5. chapter and 13. verſe? And Sainct Paule likewiſe, hath plainly diſtinguiſhed three kindes of things to wit, of heauen, of the earth, and of vnderunder the earth: To the Philip. the 2. chapter, and 20. verſe.
M.
Thoſe generall diuiſiōs of things wherof you ſpake, and whatſoeuer other there bee, may eaſily bee reuoked vntounto theſe two generall kindes of thinges which I propoſed. For that which is called the earthly and elementare Region, comprehendeth all thinges that are vponupon the earth, and in the earth, & in the waters: yea, thoſe things alſo that are called things vnderunder the earth: whiche for the moſt part are none other in the Scripture, than the things that are in the ſea, as it apeareth by the interpretatiō which God himſelf made in the 20. chap. of Exodus, and 4. verſe. And the ethereall region conteineth all things that are called heauenly.