The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 19 – Chapter 20
The xix. Chapter. Of the ende for which God created and made this worlde.
S.
WHat cauſe mooued God ſpecially to make this worlde, hee himſelfe lacking nothing, and dwelling in that euerlaſtinge felicitie, vntounto which there can bee no encreaſe of felicitie & immortalitie added, by meanes of al this gret woorke?
M.
Euen his mere goodnes, that is to ſaye, his moſte louing good will to communicate the ſame his felicitie vntounto certeine thinges, ſo farre foorth as the nature of thoſe thinges whiche hee created, was able to receiue the ſame. Wherefore, hee created Angels in heauen, and men vponupon the earth, to the intent hee might make them, after a ſort, companions and partakers of his felicitie, beeing hymſelf moſt good, moſte louing, moſte perfect, and alſo in himſelfe and through himſelf moſt perfectly and wholy bleſſed.
S.
How proue you this?
M.
Both by auctoritie, and reaſon. And auctoritie is that whiche is cheifly taken out of the Scriptures: as the the 36. Pſalme, the 5. verſe: Lord, thy mercy ſtretcheth vntounto the heauens. Pſalme 33. the 5. verſe: The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. Pſalme 34, the 9. verſe: See how good the Lord is, and in the 103. Pſalme, the 17. verſe: The merciemercy of the Lord indureth from one age vntounto another. And in the 111. Pſalme, and 4. verſe. But ſpecially in the 136. Pſalme, throughout, and in the Pſalme 145. and 9. verſe: The Lorde is good to all, and his mercies are ouer all his woorkes. And next out of the Fathers. For S. Auguſtine in his 1. booke of Geneſis vponupon the letter, the 8. chapter: and alſo is his Enchiridion the 9. booke, ſayeth plainly, that the only goodnes of God was the cauſe, wherefore God made all theſe things. The ſame is likewiſe affirmed by Ireneus in his third boooke, the 45. and 46. chapters: and alſo by Fulgentius in his booke de fide ad Petr. the 3. chapt. And if you will alſo commend Heathen writers in this reſpect, you hauehave Plato in Timeo a moſt graue auctour among them, who beeing led by a naturall light, and the teſtimonie of his owne conſcience, wrote in this maner, whiche Cicero hath expreſſed is his booke de vniuerſitate: Let vsus thā ſeeke out the cauſe which mooued hym that made theſe thinges, to beegin a new originall and frame of thinges. Hee was good: And hee that is good enuieth no man. And therefore ſome ſay thus: God knew, and would hauehave his felicitie to bee communicated to others. For although that the diuine goodnes is, and was in God moſt fully and moſt perfectly without al theſe thinges, as it appeareth in the 60. Pſalme, and is alſo kepte vndefiled: Notwithſtandyng theſe things which are created are manifeſtatiue, as they ſpeake in the ſcholes, & do declare the excellencie of Gods goodnes, that is to ſaye, they ſhewe that the ſame goodnes is altogether agreeable vntounto God. This muche ſay they.
S.
I hauehave heard the auctorities, declare now the reaſons.
M.
Foraſmuche as there proceedeth nothyng from vsus men, neither from the bleſſed and elect Angels, wherby God may be more eſtabliſhed in reſpect of his eternitie: or more bleſſed in reſpect of his ſtate and condicion, as it is written in the 16. Pſalme, and 2. verſe (for it is not poſſible that any thing ſhould bee added vntounto hym, who of himſelf is altogether perfect) truely ther was no neede that draue him to make theſe thinges, but only this one cauſe, to wit, his owne louing good will. Wherefore, like as it is writen in the 3. chapter to Titus, the 4. verſe, that the mere goodnes of GOD was the cauſe of mans ſaluation: ſo was it alſo the cauſe of mans creation. And if it were the cauſe of men, doubtleſſe it was alſo the cauſe of the creation of all other thinges.
The xx. Chapter. This world, cannot bee called the Sunne of God.
S.
I Do wel vnderſtand ſo much as you hauehave hetherto ſayd of God, who is the efficient cauſe of thys world, not as a woorkeman onelyonly, or a diſcriber, or painter, or trimmer vp: but rather as a creator, and a bringer foorth of it out of nothyng. Tell mee now this one thing more, whether in reſpect of theſe cauſes this world may bee called the Sunne of God?
M.
You renue an old queſtion, which S. Auguſtine plainly diſcuſſeth in his Enchiridion, the 38. and 39. chapters. Truely if we will ſpeake properly and to vnderſtandyng, this world neither can nor ought bee called the Sun of God. Firſt, bicauſe it is not made of the ſubſtance of GOD. For they that are properly called a mans children or ſunnes, are beegotten of the fathers ſeede and ſubſtance. Moreouer, whatſoeuer is ſaid to ſpring and come of another, ought not by and by to be called the ſunne of that from whiche it ſpringeth. For Lice doe breede out of a mannes fleſhe, yet are thei not called the ſunnes of men, or of their fleſhe. To cōclude ſince the compariſon and reſpecte of GOD vntounto the worlde, is rather like the woorkeman to the woorke, than like the Father to the Sunne, truely the worlde may bee termed the woorke and perfected labour of God, but by no meanes called his Sunne.