The Knowledge of God, Treatise
OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
AMong all the viſible Workes of God, Man hath the precedencie; In man that part is of greateſt excellence which is called the Soule, for a body is common to us with Beaſts, but a ſoule with Angels.
Now ſeeing there are many faculties of the Soule, that is of greateſt dignity, which is called the Mind or Vnderſtanding; for it gives light unto the Will, and ſitting at the Helme doth ſteere and guide the affections, from whence it is called of the Greekes foreign the Regent or the Empreſſe.
The principall ornament and perfection of this Vnderſtanding is the knowledge of the Truth, which is ſo affected to the Mind as light unto the eye.
But not the knowledge of every Truth makes the Vnderſtanding ſo exact, as the knowledge of thoſe things that are moſt high and perfect; among which, ſince it is not to be expreſt by what a tranſcendent diſtance God excells, it evidently followeth that the true knowledge of God is the moſt abſolute perfection of the Mind: for ſeeing the knowledge of the Truth is the ſame to the Vnderſtanding, as light is to the eye, it is evident that by the true knowledge of God the Vnderſtanding is moſt accompliſhed, ſince that God is the Fountaine of Light, the Father of Illuminations, nay Light it ſelfe; in compariſon of whom the ſplendor of the Sunne is neerer darkeneſſe.
But againe, not every knowledge of God doth accompliſh or illuſtrate the Vnderſtanding; but only that which revealed by God himſelfe is contained in his Word: For as we doe not behold the Sunne in the ſame manner as we doe other things, for other things are diſcerned by the light of the Sunne, but the Sunne illuſtrates himſelfe unto us by his owne light; So God cannnot bee knowne but by his proper Light, and unleſſe he be pleaſed to infuſe into our Soules the true knowledge of himſelfe.
But before wee ſettle our Meditation on this knowledge of God which is revealed in his Word, it will bee a labour worth the obſervation to expreſſe how farre humane reaſon, having no relation to the Word of God, can advance it ſelfe; for this is no ſluggiſh Meditation, and from hence great light of rectifyed Reaſon ſhines, from hence great knowledge of Divine wiſedome ſpringeth forth. Before therfore we enter into the Chancell of this Temple, it will be profitable awhile to ſtay in the Courts thereof, where no little ſplendor doth appeare, and where God hath left no obſcure repreſentations of his power and his Wiſedome: for ſo will we aſcend by method and degrees to the Doctrine of the Church, that it may appeare how much the Church doth differ from the Lycaeum, how much the Schoole of Chriſt doth excell the Schooles of the Philoſophers, how much the Revelation of God doth overcome the relation and Capacity of Man.
That in all men there is inherent ſome apprehenſion of a God, by experience and the teſtimony of all ages it is manifeſt, among whom there is none ſo wild or barbarous that hath not received ſome forme of Religion, and that eſtabliſhed under moſt grievous puniſhments: for this is not a written but a native Law, to which we are not taught, but made, not inſtructed by precepts, but by the principles of Nature; from whence it comes, that in the moſt unreclaimed there is a remorſe of Conſcience, which ſummons their guilts, and drawes them (though unwilling) to the Tribunall of God, cauſing the prophaneſt wretch to tremble with horrour at the almighty Iudgement; Suetonius reporteth of Caligula, that thus hee was heard to threaten Iupiter.
foreign.
VntoUnto the Land of Greece will I
Thee a confined Bond-man tye.
He would often alſo rehearſe that in Homer of Menelaus encountring with Paris: foreign.
Thou Father Iove of all the Gods
The moſt pernicious art by ods.
Yet as often as he heard it thunder, he ſought out holes wherein to hide him from his feares, and wakened from ſecurity, ſtartled at the apprehenſion of the revenging God: for every one, as hee is moſt abandoned to vice, ſo at the ſhaking of a leafe, or if
Virides rubum dimovêre Lacertae,
Et corde & genibus tremit.
The Lizards greene but move the bramble,
He in his heart and knees doth tremble.
Hence it is, that we obſerve wicked men, who in the courſe of proſperity had ſhaken off all thought that there was a God, in ſudden dangers to cry out, O God, and to fly to his aſſiſtance whom prophanely they deſpiſed, and ſurely theſe words fall from them unpremeditate, it being an acknowledgement that in ſuddaine apprehenſion of extremities is forced from them by victorious Nature.
Nay Idolatry it ſelfe the more abſurd it is, and the more addicted to vaine inventions, the more evidently it declares that there is planted in Man by Nature a knowledge of Divinitie, a knowledge that muſt needs ſit deepe within him, and throughly be imprinted; when Man a creature of glory, doth chooſe rather to debaſe himſelfe beneath the beaſts, to worſhip Stocks and Stones; and from his naturall hight of pride to ſubmit himſelfe to the vileſt of things, then to acknowledge at all no deity; neither could they who invented thoſe monſters of gods, hauehave ever found men ſo prone unto obedience, had they not incountred with minds already incenſed with the perſwaſion of a God, from which perſwaſion there ariſeth an inclination to religion.
Nevertheleſſe, to come to the knowledge of God, the vulgar tread in one path, the Philoſophers in another, the vulgar rowling his eyes about the Vniverſe with admiration doth contemplate the fixed ſeaſons of the yeare, the beauty and operation of the Sunne, the Ebb and flowing of the Sea, the weight of the Earth hanging in the ayre, and by the becks thereof compacted into a Globe, and balanced with equall weights.
Defectus Solis varios, Lunaeque labores,
Vnde tremor terris, qua vi maria alta tumeſcant,
Objicibus ruptis, rurſumque in ſeipſa reſidant,
Quid tantum Oceano properent ſe tingere Soles,
Hiberni, vel quae tardis mora noctibus obſtet.
The fainting Sun, the Moone in labour oft, (aloft, The Earthquakes birth, what mounts the Deepes
Their barres being broke, calm'd by what powre they runne
Backe to themſelues; what makes the Winters ſun
So ſoone into the Ocean diue, What ſtay
In ſummer keepes the tardy Night away.
Hee wonders at the perpetuall glidings of the ſtreames, the growth and vertue of the Plants, at the divers formes of living creatures, at their motions, their inclinations and inſtincts. Finally at the great perfection of the Vniverſe, that the particular parts thereof are impediments to the contemplation of the whole: As in an unfeld Wood, the particular hight of every tree would bee remarkable, were not the whole Forreſt ſeene to be of an equall hight. There is ſcarce therefore any ſo ſtrongly dull, who obſerving theſe will not acknowledge their Author, and value with himſelfe the greatneſſe of the Workeman by the excellence of the Worke.
If any Man ſhould behold a Library well furniſht, in which the ſhelues are faire, and well ſet up, the books rankt in order, all things are kept neate, and bruſht, and handſome. Is it credible that any man can bee ſo ſottiſh, as to conceiue that this came done by chance, and will not rather impute it to the induſtry of Man: for Confuſion comes by chance, but Order is by Induſtry. But there is no Library ſo aptly digeſted, ſo full, ſo beautifull, that may any wayes compare with the perfection and ſtructure of the fabricke of the World. A man may carry in the skirt of his garment a promiſcuous number of Printers Characters, which his garment being ſhaken, hee may alſo ſhake and ſcatter on the ground; but will the Characters ſo aptly fall, or will there be ſo fine an induſtry in the Chance, that ſome elegant verſes or neate Oration may be reade? Surely there is no Oration ſo polite, no Verſe compoſed with ſo much art, that may any wayes parallel the Artifice and Beauty of the World.
This is the firſt way, whereby God affects even barbarous men with ſome touch of divinity, drawing even the perverſeſt underſtanding to a knowledge of himſelfe by theſe dumbe Maſters, Pſal. 19. The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the Firmament ſheweth his handy Workes: For the inviſible things of him from the creation of the World are clearely ſeene, being underſtood by the things that are made, even his power and divinity.
Adde unto theſe the naturall preſervations and the ſeedes of honeſty and equity, and thoſe pricks of conſcience which gaule even the moſt obdurate with ſecret tortures; for this is a confeſſion of good authority, whereby men profeſſe that they acknowledge a Iudge to whom accounts are to be given, and who doth looke into their manners and their actions.
Neither doe the Devils and malignant Spirits conduce a little to imprint in our minds a deepe perſwaſion that there is a God; for ſeeing it is knowen by daily experience, how great and hurtfull the power of the Devill is, how they raiſe up tempeſts, ſend forth diſeaſes, tranforme men into Wolues, tranſport Groues and Corne (which Pliny reporteth to hauehave happened in the PROVINCE of Marrucia;) how they affright men with viſions, and with perplexing Oracles illude thoſe that craue their counſell, and entangle them in errours: Surely mankind expoſed to the injuries of ſo many inviſible enemies, ſhould hauehave periſhed; nay and the fabricke of the World it ſelfe would hauehave diſſolv'd, did not theſe Spirits depend on the becke of a ſupreamer power, who bridles their rage, and barres them up in the limits of his eternall Providence.
Theſe are but obvious and careles obſervations, which fall into the vulgar, even not mindfull of them: But the Philoſophers to the true knowledge of God hauehave gone the higher way; for they make them bonds and links with Demonſtrations, by which they ſo chaine the underſtandings, that they draw from them what they will.
Ariſtotle wrote eight bookes of naturall Philoſophy, the ſixe laſt whereof containe no other ſubject but of Motion onelyonly and the affections of it: But the laſt doth▪ end in the firſt Moover, in him who is immoueable, for ſeeing all things that hauehave motion are moved by ſome one thing, and that againe by another, and ſo forward: In this chaine of things motionary wee cannot proceed to what is infinite, but wee muſt needs ſtay at one firſt Moover, who although hee moue all things, is himſelfe immoueable. Even ſo in the body of Man, the joynts are moved by the Arteries, the arteries by the ſinnewes, the ſinnewes by the Spirits animall, the Spirits animall by the Spirits vitall, the Spirits vitall by the ſoule, which is not moved but by Accident, or by Another, that is, by the motion of another; as Wiſedome walketh in a wiſe man, or as the Governour of a ſhip ſitting at the helme doth ſo reſt, that notwithſtanding by the motion of the ſhip hee is moved himſelfe. But if there be any thing that moues it ſelfe, it muſt bee compounded of parts, and one part muſt bee moved of another: But the Firſt Being muſt needs be moſt purely ſimple, and not compoſed of parts.
Beſides it is eaſie to bee ſeene by evident demonſtration, that in the order of Efficient cauſes it is impoſſible to proceed unto what is infinite, for if there was no chiefe and primary Cauſe, there would be no ſecond, nor any third Cauſe; and ſo of the reſt, ſo that by this meanes, there would be no Cauſe at all; beſides wee ſhould never arriue unto the laſt effect, for before wee could travaile to it, infinite Cauſes muſt be gone over, now that is infinite which cannot bee gone through, and of which as there is no beginning, ſo there is no ending.
Neither doe the divers degrees of Goodneſſe and wiſedome (by which Angels are better and wiſer then men, and men themſelues differ among themſelues) availe a little to the knowledge of God and of divine perfection: For this Axiome doth ſtand unſhaken, that qualities (ſuppoſe Heate or Whiteneſſe) are more or leſſe imperfect according as they are neerer or farther off from the Soveraigne degree of perfection, or are diſtant from the chiefe degree of Heate or Whiteneſſe: Among creatures therefore that is the better which commeth moſt neere to the chiefe or primary Goodneſſe; But this Soveraigne Goodneſſe, what is it elſe but God who is Goodneſſe it ſelfe. For as in the order of efficient cauſes, ſo in degrees of Vertue and Perfection, there can be no procedencie to what is infinite, but it muſt needs be that there muſt be ſome chiefe and primary Perfection.
Adde againe to this, what all the World confeſſeth, that it is impoſſible that any thing ſhould make it ſelfe, for if any thing could make it ſelfe, wee muſt neceſſarily then conclude it, to hauehave beene, before it was; for to doe, doth preſuppoſe to be: ſince therfore the heaven could not forme it ſelfe, it muſt bee formed by ſome one elſe, who muſt truely be both of Soveraigne Power, and of infinite Wiſedome, for to ſo great a worke, he had neither patterne whereby to imitate, no materialls ready wherewith to worke, nor Iourneyman to helpe him. For if theſe had then beene, it would bee againe demanded who had created him, his Matter or his Men, who had indued them with abilities as to ſet forward God, and helpe him in his worke; So that of neceſſity we muſt ſtay at ſome one, who wanteth not the ayde of any, and from whom all things are, who ſeeing that of nothing hee hath made all things, cannot but bee of an Infinite Power, ſince from Nothing to Something, there is an infinite diſproportion; for ſottiſhly profane is that ridiculous inſolence of the Epicure Velleius, who, in the firſt Booke of Cicero, Of the Nature of the Gods, deriding the Creation, demandeth what was the foundation, what were the tooles, what were the Leavers, who were the Apprentices, in ſo great a worke.
Beſides the Miſtery of Numbers convinceth plainely, that there was a beginning of the World, and therevpon, that it was created by God, for every Number ariſeth from vnity, when therefore dayes are numbred, it muſt needes bee that there was one firſt Day, and therevpon one firſt Converſion of the heaven, for there is no number infinite in Act, neither can there bee Dayes infinite in number, for if any number were infinite, the number of ten, would infinitely fill vp that infinite number, from whence it would follow, that five would ariſe no oftner then ten, and that one halfe would bee no leſſe then twice as much, nay, in that infinite number there would be as many tennes as vnityes, which ſurely cannot ſtand together, and imply a contradiction.
Beſides the terme of life and proportions of men ſo much contracted in reſpect of the vigour and the Stature of our forefathers, doe not obſcurely teſtifie, that there was one firſt Man, and one primary perfection, from which by ſtaires Generations hauehave deſcended, for the Diminution of things cannot bee infinite: for ſhould wee runne them over in the Ages paſt vntounto Infinitie, wee ſhould at length advance Man vntounto a Stature higher then heaven it ſelfe.
The Scope of all this, is, that by Arguments borrowed from the light of humane Reaſon, although but clouded and dusky, wee may teach, that as the beames of Light ſhed over all the World doe flow from one beginning, namely the Sunne, and as Numbers proceede all from vnity, and in the body of Man as all the Arteryes and Vitall facultyes, proceede from one heart, ſo every Being doth depend and is ſuſtained by one Chiefe and Soveraigne Beeing, who ſhould hee withold, or but withdraw his Vertue, and his Influence, All things preſently would diſſolue and returne into their ancient Nothing; No otherwiſe than if the Sunne being taken from vsus, whatſoever there is of Light would bee turned into Darkeneſſe.
Now if any ſhould demand what moved God to put his hand vntounto this Worke, the anſwer is ready, For God made all things for himſelfe, and was mooued with no other conſideration than with his owne LoueLove: For God is not onelyonly the efficient Cauſe of all things but the finall alſo as the Apoſtle witneſſeth in the ſecond of the Hebrewes, where hee alledgeth, that God is for whom and by whom all things are: All things are for God, as hee is the End of all things and moſt Good; all things are by God, as hee is the efficient Cauſe of all things and moſt great: Deſeruedly therefore doe wee title God Moſt Good, Moſt Great, but firſt moſt Good, before moſt Great: for hee is moſt Good as hee is the End, for the End is alwayes the foremoſt in the Intention, and the Efficient Cauſe is but mooued by it. Seeing therefore there is no Reaſonable or Intellectuall Agent which vndertaketh any thing without propoſing to himſelfe the End which ever appeareth Good▪ the moſt chiefe and Soveraigne AGENT could not worke; but for the laſt and beſt End, And ſeeing there is nothing better then God, nay, Seeing all things whatſoever are Good come from God, God could not worke for any other End but for himſelfe; And ſeeing there is nothing that ſhould bee rather pourtrayed or repreſented in a picture, then what doth ſeeme moſt beautifull, God who is the firſt Beauty, and the firſt Light, was pleas'd to draw his owne Picture, and as in Phidias his Minerva, the Artiſt himſelfe hath imprinted in his worke, an vndefac'd reſemblance of himſelfe.
But ſeeing now of things created, part are Bodies part are Spirits and immateriall Subſtances, among the Spirits the Angels are moſt eminent, next vntounto which are the Soules of Men, among the Bodyes the firſt Heaven is aboue all moſt honourable; Wherefore when God in all his creatures hath imprinted ſome tracks of his power and his wiſedome, the Spirits by a more ſpeciall priviledge have ingraven in them the image of himſelfe, and that not drawne by a pencil as Painters vſe, expreſſing onelyonly Colours and proportions, but ſuch an image, as is beheld in a Glaſſe, which repreſents euen our motions and our Actions; For God hath powred into Spirits the Light of vnderſtanding, and knowledge of the Truth, which is as a certaine ſparke of the Diuine Light, hee hath adorned their Wills (whoſe faculty it is to mooue and produce Actions) with Holineſſe and Righteouſneſſe, hee hath conferred on them Immortality and a liberty of choyce, which are the Lineaments of the Diuine Image, and Reſemblances of God himſelfe.
Which image of God as it is the moſt glorious ornament of the Intellctuall creature, ſo there is nothing more vgly than the deformation of it, which is occaſioned, when the Soule, the eye of the vnderſtanding beeing pulled out by Ignorance, and the lineaments of this Image beeing ſoiled by Vice, is turned into a Monſter, and beeing hated by God hath rendred it ſelfe ſo miſerable by its owne default, that it is not any wayes worthy of the Mercy of God; For as the Image of a King ſtampt on ſiluer, with much rubbing and often fretting againſt the Ground becomes defaced, ſo in our ſoules, the image of God is deformed, addicted to earthly things, and as it were wallowed in the mire, they are turn'd away from divine contemplation, and from the Love of God.
Nay, and in the firſt body too (which is heaven) God hath imprinted certaine tokens, I had almoſt ſayd a certaine Image of himſelfe: For God hath turned it into a roundneſſe, an imitation of his diuine infiniteneſſe, becauſe this figure hath neither beginning nor ending, and in the ſame firſt Body hee hath engraven no obſcure reſemblances of his immobility and eternall Reſt, a reſt which is yet notwithſtanding in continuall motion; For although the Heaven is continually mooved by Parts, while one Part doth ſucceede another, ſo it is, that the whole Body reſteth, neither is it mooved from its place; Hee hath alſo placed in the heavens an imitation of his Power, diſpoſing of his Worke in ſuch a method, that the elementary bodyes are governed by the heavenly, and ſuperiour bodyes worke into the inferiour their powerfull influences, And indeed moſt true is that of Ariſtotle in his ſecond Booke de Gen. Cap. 10. That the perpetuall durance and continuance of things ought to be imputed to the ſimple & daily motion of the Sun from the Eaſt into the Weſt; But that Generation and corruption doth ariſe from the oblique Courſes of the Sun and Planets through the Zodiack, whiles acording to their Situation they change their Aſpects, and by their acceſſe neerer to vsus, or receſſe farther from vsus, the affections and Qualities of things differ.
That this Heaven is the palace of the Almighty, not onelyonly the ſacred Word, but the conſtant opinion of all Nations juſtifies; For though the Eſſence of God filleth all things, and is not circumſcribed by any limits, yet by nature it is ingrafted in man in meditation and holy excerciſes to remooue his mind, what in him lyes, from earthly things, and to advance it vntounto heaven; Wherefore wee pray vntounto God with knees humbled to the Earth, but with eyes lift vp to heaven, the one of which expreſſeth our humility, the other teſtifieth our Hope, the one abates our pride, the other doth advance our thoughts. Neither without good Cauſe hath humane Reaſon placed the throne of God in Heaven, For what more convenient habitation can there bee for God that mooveth all things, then that Body, by which hee mooueth all things? What fitter ſeate can there be for the Father of Lights, then that Region illuſtrious of it ſelfe, and allwayes ſhining with its natiue ſplendor? what more agreeable to the Nature of God, who is the God of Peace, and not ſubject vntounto change, then there to hauehave his throne, where is everlaſting Peace, vntroubled reſt, nor ſigne of Change; Hence it is as Iuſtinus obſerves, in his Exhortation to the Greekes, that Iupiter in Homer tooke Ate or Diſcord by the haires of the head, and threw her headlong downe from heaven, who fell on this lower Region, which is ſhaken with Winds, with tempeſts, and with Earthquakes, where there reignes Warre, Tumult, and Rebellion againſt God himſelfe.
By theſe ſtaires, as it were, the mind of Man aſcends to the knowledge of God▪ by this wing ſhee doth mount her ſelfe: Theſe are thoſe backe▪ parts of the Almighty which it is permitted to Man to ſee, Exod. 33. to wit, the workes of God which are knowen to us onelyonly ex poſteriori by the events and the effects: Or rather by this doth not the Scripture giuegive us to underſtand, that God comming cannot be perceived, but after that hee hath paſſed by and ſtrooke us, then we know him: For wee are altogether ignorant what God will doe; but after the execution of the Act, then wee acknowledge his power either by afflicting or delivering us.
Neither doth our Intention levell our Diſcourſe to proue that there is a God whom the devils themſelues acknowledge, whom who denies he deſerues rather the Executioner to torment him, then the Philoſopher to inſtruct him; but theſe things are brought forth to ſhew, on what weake rods Mans reaſon leaning hath yet upheld it ſelfe, and ſtrengthned that glimmering light which it had by Nature concerning the Divinity; and how although imperfectly it hath arrived to the knowledge of a God: As alſo to expound that which Saint Paul ſaith, Act. 14. That God never left himſelfe without witneſſe, which may be underſtood not onelyonly of outward teſtimonies ſuch as are raine and fruitfull ſeaſons, but may alſo be extended as well to the inward teſtimony of every Conſcience, as the outward teſtimony of the Creatures.
Neither by this doe I inferre that this Aſſertion that THERE IS A GOD, is of the number of thoſe which are knowen by their owne Nature. Ariſtotle in the ſecond of the Poſteriors text 6. ſaith, that thoſe Enuntiations are knowen by Nature which are no ſooner underſtood but they are beleeved: As who underſtands what the WHOLE is, and what a PART is, hee cannot but know and beleeue that the whole is more then the parts thereof: Neither can a man perſwade himſelfe to beleeue the contrary; but this Aſſertion that THERE IS A GOD is not of that Nature; For after the termes are underſtood there are found of thoſe that dare deny him.
Although I beleeue they are but few in number, yet every Age hath encounterd with many others, who for all they acknowledge that there is a God, doe yet deny his Providence; for this opinion is moſt flatter'd and ſtroakd by vices, and is moſt apt of all to unbutton to Intemperance; but of thoſe that hauehave altogether denyed God, you ſh…ll ſcarce find any one in any one Age: It is manifeſt indeed that Diagoras Melius was accuſed of Atheiſme, not that hee denyed that there was a God, but that hee deſpiſed the counterfeit Gods of the Athenians, and their empty ſuperſtitions; this is he, that taking the wooden Statue of Hercules by the legge threw it into the fire, thus upbrayding it: This (ſaith hee) ſhall bee thy thirteenth labour; and Clemens Alexandrinus in his booke intituled Protrepticon doth affirme, that the ſame opinion is to bee had of Theodorus the Syrenian, Evomerus, Hippone, Nicanor, which were all accounted Atheiſts.
Hitherto therefore humane Reaſon hath not unhappily diſputed, for by the Conduct of Nature, and aſſiſtance of Philoſophy it hath come ſo farre as to affirme that there is a God.
But when they come to deſcribe the Nature of God, and endeavour themſelves to ſatisfy the Queſtion, wherein it is demanded what God is, a huge and thicke miſt of ignorance doth overſpread and cloud the ſenſe, and the light of God himſelfe, turnd into darkneſſe, doth ſtrike the Vnderſtanding with blindneſſe and aſtoniſhment.
Some there are, as Plato, Cicero, and Virgil Aen. 6. who have thought that God is the Soule of the world, who doth ſo moove and guide it, as the ſoule doth the body; Others have affirmed God to bee whatſoever is. That of Euripides is well knowne.
foreign,
foreign,
foreign.
Seeſt thou the Aires uncompaſt height about,
Seeſt thou the greatnes of the Earth throughout,
And what ſhe doth in watry armes incloſe,
Count all that God, and doe it Iove ſuppoſe.
There have beene of them who have affirmed that God is a Circle, whoſe center is every where, and Circumference no where: It is commonly reported how by long procraſtinations Simonides deluded the demands of Hiero, who deſired to know what God was, craving at firſt the liberty of one day to reſolve him, then two dayes, afterwards three, daily augmenting the number, always acknowledging his inability to anſwer the requeſt, and that the more hee conſidered what God was, the more the difficulties did ariſe and multiply.
The Iewes that they might ſhew the Eſſence of God to be inexplicable, they would have the name of God unutterable, and which neither could nor ought to be pronounc'd by man, which the Angell who is alſo called God, who wraſtled with Iacob, ſeemes to imply: for Iacob defiring him to declare his Name, he refus'd it, ſaying, Wherfore is it that thou doſt aske after my name? So the Angel who is called God alſo, Iud. 13. checked the curioſity of Manoah, who deſired to know what his name was, in theſe words, Wherefore askeſt thou after my name, ſeeing it is wonderfull? In Hebrew bookes, even to this day, the name of God is written Iehovah, which name it ſeemes was wrote on purpoſe by the Rabbins, that the name of God which was written on the front of the Miter might bee hidden: For Ioſephus, who was both a Prieſt and Phariſee, doth teſtify in the ſixth booke of the Iewes warres, that the Name praefixed on the Miter of the Prieſthood had foure vowels, whereby it doth plainely appeare that this name was not Iehova, but IOVA, by pronouncing I and V not like Conſonants, but diſtinctly by themſelves as they are Vowells: which the word Iove among the Heathens doth alſo intimate: nor much diverſe from this is Diodorus the Sicilian, who in the firſt Booke of his Hiſtoricall Library doth affirme that the God of Moſes was called ΙΑΩ. But Clemens Alexandrinus in the fifth Booke Stromat. pag. 240, doth ſay that the foure-lettered name which was writ about the Sacerdotiall Tyare was ΙΑΟΤ, which word conſiſts of the ſame vowels, as the word ΙΟΤΑ, although the letters are otherwiſe diſpoſed: but howſoever it was, they are as wide from truth as Heaven, that thinke by this word, or any other, the Eſſence of God can be expreſt; for no name can bee given which can expreſſe the eſſence of Man, nay of a ſtone, ſeeing there are no names eſſential, but names are given unto things by common inſtitution, and as pleaſed thoſe who firſt did practiſe the diverſity of tongues to impoſe upon them: thoſe names only expreſſe the Eſſence of the things they ſignify, which doe imitate their ſounds, as the creaking of the Crow, the lowing of the Bullocke.
But the Eſſence of God, as it cannot be expreſt by words, ſo it cannot be conceiv'd by the Vnderſtanding, the cauſes of which are many; for a thing infinite cannot be comprehended by a thing finite, and the inacceſſible light of God doth dazle the Vnderſtanding. Ariſtotle confeſſing in the ſecond of his Metaphyſicks, that as the eyes of Owles cannot endure the beames and ſplendor of the Sunne, ſo the edges of our Vnderſtanding doe rebate themſelves in the apprehenſions of the primary Beings: The ſame Philoſopher affirmes, that there is nothing in the Vnderſtanding that was not firſt in the ſenſe: but God cannot be preſented to the ſenſe. Againe, as long as Vnderſtanding is in the body, it comprehendeth nothing but by the helpe of the Fancie, and in the act of Vnderſtanding it turneth to the Fancie, a fancie which doth as much annoy, as helpe the Vnderſtanding whiles it repreſenteth God cloath'd in the conditions of Nature, as of quantities, of extenſion of parts, and many other accidents. Againe, every punie knowes that things are defined by their Genus and their difference, or if that they bee not at hand they are then defined by their proper Accidents: But of God there is no Genus, no ſpecificall difference, no Accident at all, ſince God is all ſubſtance.
To theſe Inconveniences and impediments in attayning to the Knowledge of God, there is added not onelyonly Mans ſlowneſſe and infirmity, but his perverſeneſſe and neglect: For many are called from this ſtudy by the ſloth and dulneſſe of their wit, rebating it ſelfe in the contemplation of heavenly things; ſome are taken from it by publicke or private affaires, which call downe to earthly things the mounting endeavours of the mind, and (as I may ſo ſay) doe pull the wings of Meditation; and many, the ſlaves of pleaſure, and given to their belly, miſpriſe the ſtudy of Salvation, as a thing they have no need of; nay, as it were ſome trifling importunity, ſome light or empty Meteor.
And of thoſe who apply their underſtandings to the knowledge of God, there are but few that perſevere in the right courſe, but either they fall off from their deſigne, or ſtrucken with a giddineſſe, doe ſtumble on the threſhold, or turning aſide to vaine delights, doe wrap themſelues in errors; from hence ariſe thoſe monſters of the Gods, and illuding Vizards which were worſhipped by the Heathen, who wanting an able Maſter to inſtruct them did follow the cuſtome of their Countrey, which commanded them to adore the peculiar Gods of their countrey or their family, thinking it would bee better with them if every particular man ſhould chooſe him a private and particular God: From this ſprang up ſuch a multitude of Gods, that in Heſiods time they amounted to the number of thirty thouſand: Againe it is planted in Men, which is their great folly, to meaſure God by themſelves, & to cloth him not only with mans figure but with his affections alſo; they doe not thinke that they ſerue God aright, unleſſe they make him like a Man or Beaſt, that they may hauehave before them ſome preſent object, on which they might ſettle their eyes and their devotion; This was the language of the Iſraelites to Aaron, Make us gods which ſhall goe before us, Exod. 32. And becauſe God had made Man to the Image of God; Man againe to require the courteſie would make God to the Image of Man: By which God after they had diſcharged themſelues of ſome Ceremonies to him, they conceited themſelues not onelyonly ſafe againſt all ſins already committed, but thought for the time to come, they had got a licence and a priviledge to ſinne.
For theſe cauſes there hauehave not beene wanting ſome, who turning deſperation into cenſure, hauehave beene of judgement that God could not be knowen, and that in vaine they travaile that beſtow their labours in ſearching out his Nature, whoſe modeſty indeed deſerues to bee excuſed, were there not too much of ſloth in it, and were not the diminution of his knowledge an occaſion of the diminution of his louelove, and by the ſame contempt whereby the knowledge of the Divine Nature is neglected, the knowledge alſo of the Divine Will would be deſpiſed.
Plato in whoſe tracks Cicero treads, hath beene more happy in this inquiry, for hee hath delivered to the world many true and excellent things concerning God; as when he ſaith, That he is the Author and Governour of all things, moſt Good, moſt Great, who ſeeth and ſuſtaineth all things, and that the life of a wiſe man is nothing elſe but a returne to God, and that the way to God is by the ſtudy of Piety and Iuſtice: This and much more to this purpoſe, wee may reade in Platoes Politicon, his Philebus, Theatetus, and Timaeus, where we may find many things taken from the Ancient Divinity which he had learned in Egypt and in Siria.
Aristotle more ſharpe in underſtanding, doth adde, that God is the firſt Moover, the firſt Being, and moving Power; who notwithſtanding is unmoueable, to whom as to their End the Caeleſtiall Intelligences perpetually mooue, and that he is the cauſe of the continuall Motions of the heavens, which cauſeth other Motions, and from whom the inferiour bodies receiue their influences.
For although to ſee into the myſteries of God, and to know his Eſſence is not granted unto any Creature, no not unto the Angels, becauſe there is no proportion betwixt a finite faculty and an infinite object, yet thoſe holy inſtructions are not to bee neglected, which preſent themſelues unto the creature concerning God, or which the power of the underſtanding hath attained by meditation, neither are the naturall Sparkes of the knowledge of God to be ſmotherd in us, but to be awakened and blowen up, that from them our louelove to God might be inflamed; For we louelove not things unknowne, but from the knowledge of good, the louelove and deſire of enjoying it doth increaſe.
And although there be no Genus of God that is Synonimall, or fully able to define him; and although there be no ſpecificall difference, yet there is a Genus which is called Analogicall, and a Difference too; although but by way of Negation; as when wee ſay that a Beaſt is a creature that is not reaſonable, both which Genus and which Difference being apprehended by the underſtanding as proper Qualities doe conduct our minds unto ſome knowledge of God.
I am of opinion, moſt aptly and as farre as Mans capacitie is able to conceiue that God may be thus defined, God is the firſt, the moſt chiefe, and moſt perfect Being, from whom there floweth and dependeth all Entity and Perfection: For other things which are his Attributes, as his Eternity, his Simplicity, his Wiſedome, and of like Nature are all contayned under this word of chiefe Perfection.
I ſay that not onelyonly every Being proceeds from God, but every Entity doth ever and altogether depend on him: for God doth giuegive unto his creatures both their Being and their life, after the ſame manner as the Sun doth communicate his beames, which doe ſo flow from him, as they are alwayes depending on him; who, ſhould he but a little hide his face, incontinently the Light would ceaſe, and his beames vaniſh away; which the Pſalmiſt doth imply, If thou hideſt thy face they are troubled, if thou takeſt away their breath they dye, and returne unto their duſt: Pſal. 104.
Moreover, although wee cannot in mind conceiue, or in words expreſſe the divine perfection; nevertheleſſe wee may after a manner ſhaddow it forth.
This word Perfect is taken many wayes, commonly a Worke is ſaid to be perfect when it is finiſhed or accompliſhed; as a houſe where the Workeman hath no more worke to doe, or a booke to which the Author hath put his laſt hand; God is not ſaid to be perfect in this manner, for this perfection proceeds to perfection from imperfection, of which there never any was in God.
That alſo is ſaid to be perfect, that wanteth nothing by which it may attaine the end to which it was ordained: In which ſenſe all the workes of God are in their kinds perfect; and Momus himſelfe can find nothing in them, that he might taxe either for exceſſe or for default; neither is God ſaid to be perfect after this manner, for he is not ordained to any particular end, who is himſelfe the chiefe End of all things.
But ſo wee doe ſay God is perfect, as no perfection is wanting to him; for every thing is ſaid to bee imperfect which is in potentiâ paſsiuâ, in a paſſiue power to ſome Act; but God is a pure Act, and in him there is no power that is paſſiue.
Wherefore it muſt needs enſue, that whatſoever perfection and vertue there is in the creatures, it muſt not onelyonly flow from that primary perfection which is in God, but muſt alſo bee included in it; For as the reaſonable ſoule comprehends the vertues of the ſoule Senſitiue, and Vegetatiue, and all the power of inferior Magiſtrates is included in the power of the Prince, and as humane Diſcourſe is contained in the Angelicall Intellect; ſo all the perfections of the Creatures are incloſed in the perfection of the Creator.
But thoſe Perfections of the Creatures are excepted which are either the remedies of euills or the Helps and Aydes of Imperfections, for to attribute ſuch perfections to God is rather a reproach then Praiſe (as for example) The motionary faculty whereby the liuing Creature mooues it ſelfe by a locall Motion, is a perfection in the Creature which is not a perfection in God, becauſe this perfection is but the crutch of imperfection, for becauſe the Creature cannot bee in the ſame time in many places the motionary faculty is given to him, which in ſome ſort doth remedy this imperfection, for by it ſucceſſiuely at leaſt, and in diuerſe times, the creature may bee in diuerſe places; This perfection muſt not bee look'd for in God, for ſeeing hee is every where, there is no place for him to mooue vntounto.
So to diſcourſe and frame a Sillogiſme is a perfection indued by God into the mind of Man, a ſearchereſſe out of Truth, and by things more knowen working out a Way to things vnknowne; this perfection ſeing it is the remedy of Ignorance and a helpe vntounto our weakeneſſe, it would bee prophane to look for it in God, who diſputeth not, nor makes it his labor to find out the truth, nor collecteth one thing by another, for all things are knowen to him alike, and hee vnderſtandeth all things in one pure and ſimple thought, there is no need that God ſhould turn the eye of his Vnderſtanding to thoſe things which hee would know, for he but beholds himſelfe and finds in his owne mind the eternall Modell of all things, and in his will the efficient Cauſe of all Events; And as a man that had his whole body beſet with eyes, or was all one eye had no need to turne his body or his eyes to behold the things that are about him, for in one and the ſame point of time, whitherſoever hee caſts his eye, all objects round about him preſent themſelues vntounto him with an equall viewe, ſo ſeeing that one thing cannot bee more preſent to God then another, there is no need that he ſhould turne about the eye of his vnderſtanding, or behold things in a ſucceſſion of order, or ſhould bring a new intention of the mind to attaine new knowledge, for there is not any thing that is or can bee new vntounto him.
So the memory of things paſt, and foreſight of things to come are the Vertues and Perfections of a Man that is borne in time, and whoſe Actions and Duration are meaſured by time, which vertues God hath endowed him with, that hee might preſerue the inſtructions receiued and eſchew things hurtfull; Theſe perfections (ſeeing they are the remedies of Imperfections and the aydes of our Infirmities) cannot bee attributed to God, but vnproperly; and what in this Subject wee attribute to God which belongs to man, it muſt bee vnderſtood in a ſenſe moſt agreeable to the Majeſtie of God, for neither the memory of things paſt, nor the conjecture of things to come, can bee ſaid to bee in God becauſe all things are preſent to him; the maker of Time, is before time and above it, neither is his duration meaſured by it; for as the Infiniteneſſe of God doth not onelyonly conſiſt in this that hee is not circumſcrib'd by limits, but moſt eſpecially in this, that hee is all in every place; ſo his eternity likewiſe is not placed in this onelyonly, that hee is without beginning and without end, but rather in this, that his life is not a Courſe of Motions as ours, but a perpetuall Reſt, and in which there is no ſucceſſion of Parts, for otherwiſe hee ſhould dayly looſe a part or portion of his life, but hee enjoyes all his life and perfection, together, and in a Moment: for Aeternity, as Boetius doth define it, is the whole, together, and the perfect poſſeſſion of a life vnlimited. And as to a Man ſitting on the banke of a River, onelyonly that Water is preſent to him which is obſerved by him in that inſtant Moment and point of time, but that part of the River is not preſented to his eyes which is not yet come to them or but now gone from them, yet the ſame Man, were hee exalted into the vpper region of the ayre, might behold the whole River, and at one view obſerue both the fountaine and the courſes of it; So by the eye of God who is above time, together, and in a moment, is obſerued the whole flux of tranſitory things, neither in him is there addition or ſubtraction, for all things that are, are preſent to him.
There is another difference and that too a remarkable one, for theſe perfections which are diverſe and ſcattered in the creatures, in God are one and the ſame perfection; As if there were a creature which could excerciſe all thoſe faculties by one ſenſe, which wee doe by five: And as all lines drawen from the circumference to the Center of the Circle are vnited in the Centers point, and the farther they are from the Center the more they ſcatter and enlarge themſelues; ſo all the vertues which are diſpenſed among the Creatures are collected in God into one Vertue, and the farther they depart from God, the more ſcattered & thin they doe appeare, till at length they degenerate into the vileſt of vices.
The Cauſe of this difference is, that theſe perfections and vertues of the creatures are Qualities and ornaments added to their Subſtances, but the onelyonly perfection of God is the Eſſence of God himſelfe, which though it be moſt pure, yet becauſe it hath diverſe effects, it hath diverſe names; In Man indeede it is one thing to know, and another thing to Will, neither is the foreknowledge of Man the cauſe of the event to come, But ſeeing the foreknowledge of God is the very Eſſence of him, it is neceſſary that it muſt bee the ſame perfection with his Will and Providence, and that in his foreknowledge hee hath a power not onelyonly foreſeeing but alſo diſpoſing of things to come; Neither muſt we thinke that God foreſees ſtormes to come, or Earthquakes, or Ecclipſes, becauſe they are to come, but wee muſt rather ſay, that they will come becauſe that God foreſees them.
Neither would I by this inferre, that if at any time the ſame perfections bee attributed to God and to the Creatures, that the ſame perfections are equall in the Creatures as in God, Wiſedome and Righteouſneſſe are not attributed to the Angells as to God, in one and the ſame Senſe, for in God they are Subſtances, but in Angels Qualities, neither can theſe bee ſaid to bee termes equivocall, that is words of the ſame ſound, for words purely equivocall (ſuch as the word Lupus in Latine, which ſignifieth the creature of prey and Rapine, as alſo the bitte or ſnaffle of a bridle) hold no intelligence together, neither hauehave they any order in Nature, neither by one doe we proceed to the knowledge of another; but the wiſdome and the Righteouſneſſe of Angells are reſemblances of the diuine Righteouſneſſe and ſparks ſhining from it, and the knowledge of one doth advance our ſpirits to the Contemplation of another; Thoſe things therefore may bee ſaid to hauehave an Analogicall reference which are as Ens, or Being, which is in Logick called the Genus Analogum of Subſtances and Accidents, and ſo a foote is ſpoken either by the foote of a liuing creature or by the treſsle of a bed or table, for in the greateſt diuerſity there is no little Analogy or Reſemblance.
Whoſoever therefore will exalt his thoughts without danger to the contemplation of the Diuine perfection, muſt runne over in his owne Mind all the perfections that are in a Creature, and abſtract and ſever from him whatſoever ther is of Imperfection, and alſo thoſe perfections which are the helps and Crutches of Imperfections, all theſe being ſubſtracted, that which remaineth will bee GOD; As, from Man to whom God hath given, to bee, to liue, to vnderſtand, take away but theſe things, To bee a Body, to hauehave a Beginning, to bee circumſcribed by Limits, to bee compounded of Parts, to bee the Subject of Accidents, to bee remooued from one place to another, to diſcourſe, to remember, to forget, to learne, to bee ignorant, to bee able to ſinne, to depend on a Superiour Beeing, and ſuch like, theſe things taken away, that which remaineth will bee GOD, namely a liuing Beeing, vnderſtanding, incorporeall, without beginning, not depending on another, infinite, ſimple, vnchangeable, vnmooveable, all-knowing, perfectly Iuſt, and perfectly Wiſe.
Moreover, although wee cannot demonſtrate what God is by any thing that is precedent, for ſubſtances are not the Subjects of Demonſtrations, or graunt they were, yet the Eſſence of God muſt bee exempted, becauſe no Cauſe can bee rendred of it; howſoever (I ſpeake after the manner of men) ſome of the divine Attributes are demonſtrated by what goes before, while one Attribute is deduced from another by a neceſſary Concluſion; ſo, out of the Infiniteneſſe of God, his immobility is demonſtrated, for whither can hee mooue himſelfe who is every where? and in the ſame manner from the Simplicity of the Eſſence of God, wee may deduce his incorruptibility, for all corruption doth proceede from the diſſolution of the Compound; Nay, from the ſame ſimplicity of Gods eſſence, wee doe neceſſarily inferre that in God there are no Accidents, for hee were not moſt pure and Simple, if hee did conſiſt of Subſtance and of Accidents; then againe, from the omniſcience of God is collected the vnchangeableneſſe of his decrees, For then Men doe change their reſolutions and fall off from their enterpriſes, when any thing doth happen vnthought of, or vnlook'd for.
The vnderſtanding of man Mounted on theſe wings, can exalt her ſelfe to ſome knowledge of the Divine Nature, by which preexercitations the Mind being ſtirred vp doth more greedily receiue, and more eaſily digeſt the Inſtructions reveiled in the Word of God, which excellent and ſublimed knowledge of the Word of God, ſhall bee now the Subject of our Diſcourſe.
God therefore who with a courſer pencill hath ſhaddowed himſelfe in his creatures, hath expreſt himſelfe in his Word in more bright and liuely Colours, and that two wayes; For there is one knowledge of God which is deliuered in his law, and another which is contained in the Goſpell, which two knowledges doe anſwer the two trees which God firſt planted in Paradiſe, whereof one gaue the knowledge of Good and Euill which is the office of the Law, the other doth beare the fruit of Life which is the benefit of the Goſpell.
For wee hauehave three wayes of knowing God, one by the workes of God, the ſecond by the Law, the third by the Goſpell, among which the knowledge by the Goſpell is farre moſt excellent, for the other two knowledges preſent God to our vnderſtandings, as a Creator, a Lord, and as the Maſter of our life, but this as a father and Redeemer; The two former knowledges of God doe teach what God is in himſelfe, but this latter what God will bee towards vsus, the former doe ſtrike feare and wonder into vsus, the latter advanceth Hope and createth Love: ſo that without the knowledge of God by the Goſpell, the knowledge of him by his workes is but a lazy ſpeculation, and the preſſe of him by the law is terrible, and doth preſſe our Conſciences with a burden vnſupportable.
It ſeemed not enough therefore to God, to teach us by his creatures, who in throngs as it were and by admirable conſent giuegive teſtimony of him, but hee hath unlocked his ſacred mouth, that by his word hee might endue us with the knowledge of himſelfe, and by that knowledge inflame our loues.
For by the Architecture of the world, the Power and the Wiſedome of God is acknowledged but not his Iuſtice, nor his Mercy, without the knowledge of which there is no ſalvation; alſo the works of God doe witneſſe the greatneſſe of the Workeman, but they lay not open unto us his will, nor deliver in what manner he is to bee worſhipped: Beſides, when the contemplation of the creatures doth repreſent God unto us, as hee is armed with thunders and ſhaking heaven and earth but with the turning of his eye, this contemplation doth affect us with aſtoniſhment, with the feare and horrour of an Armed Iudge, were there not another doctrine which doth appeaſe our conſciences, and giuegive unto us aſſurances of the louelove of God, for then doe wee with filiall eyes behold heaven as the portall of our fathers Palace, when God in his word hath given to us the evident teſtimonies of his paternall louelove.
Moreover, wee ſhould grow darke in the very contemplation of the workes of God, did we not diſtinctly ſee them by the word as through ſpectacles, which of themſelues would hardly be diſcerned; this doth the Apoſtle teach us in the 11. Heb. Through faith wee underſtand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, ſo that things which are ſeene were not made of things which doe appeare; giving us to underſtand, that they onelyonly beleeue, as they ought, the creation of the world to be without any praeexiſtent matter, which receiue the word of God with the obedience of faith; would you hauehave it made legible by examples? The hiſtory of the Creation is well knowen as it is related by Moſes in the beginning of Geneſis: It is there declared that the Sunne was created but in the fourth day; ſo that three dayes and as many nights were paſt when the Sunne was firſt created; this being to informe us that God did ſo uſe the Sunne to illuſtrate the world, that yet without it and before it, hee ſhined into the world by his owne light, being no wayes obliged to ſecond cauſes; And when Moſes aſſigneth a beginning and ending to every day, in theſe words, And the Evening and the Morning were the firſt day, and ſo of the other dayes, onelyonly in the ſeventh day Moſes maketh no mention of the Evening, for the Reſt of the ſeventh day is the ſhadow and the figure of the heavenly and eternall Reſt of which there is no End; ſo when the Naturaliſts report many things of the Rainebow, the onelyonly end and ſignification of the Rainebow can be learned out of the word of God▪ But how many myſteries and inſtructions doth the Creation of Man and Woman containe? Surely God forming the body of Man out of clay, did conforme his mind alſo to humility, and a religious lowlineſſe by remembring him of his diſcent and ignoble parentage; alſo when God created a Wife for the man when he was aſleepe, it doth inſtruct us, that a good Wife is not obtayned by a mans owne induſtry or wiſedome, but by the Providence of God, which doth bring her to him while hee is aſleepe: Againe, the creation of the Woman from the part moſt neere unto the heart, what doth it imply? but faith and louelove: and that I may not diue into hidden myſteries, and by what meanes Adam overcome with a deepe ſleepe, (which is called by Homer foreign, the brother of Death) was a figure of Chriſt in the ſleepe of Death, which ſleepe God made uſe of to raiſe unto him his Spouſe which is the Church.
And truely a Spirit that is exerciſed in the word of God, will receiue much fruite and pleaſure from the contemplation of the creatures: For beſides, that hee beholds the fields▪ the woods, and whatſoever elſe is pleaſant on earth as the poſſeſſions of his father, and doth walke in them as in his owne inheritance, and gathers thoſe fruits which hee knowes by right are his, as being created for the uſe of the Sonnes of God, there is this addition more, that hee cannot beſtow his eyes on any place wherein a reſemblance of vertue ſhall not encounter them, and refreſh his memory with ſomething duplicate page duplicate page which hee hath heard or read in the word of God: If a godly man and one that knowes God by his word, beholds a fountaine of running waters, they wil preſently prompt his memory to the fountaine of life, in Iohn 4. And to the waters ſpringing up to everlaſting life: If he beholds the Sunne he contemplates how greater farre is the Light of the Sun of Righteouſneſſe: If he conſiders the viciſſitude of the dayes and nights he comforts himſelfe in the remembrance of the aſſurance of the Covenant of God, God himſelfe ſo ſpeaking by the mouth of Ieremy: If you can breake my Covenant of the day and my Covenant of the night, & that there ſhould not be Day and Night in their ſeaſon, then ſhall you alſo be able to breake my Covenant with David: If he beholds a Shepheard driving of his flocke, hee remembers preſently that in the Pſalme; The Lord is my Shepheard I ſhall not want: Finally, whereſoever hee turnes his eye hee will find an ample ſubject of prayſe and of thankeſgiving, and a wide field will be opened for holy meditation.
That which we ſpeake of the workes of Creation, is to be vnderſtood alſo of the workes of Gubernation and of the divine Providence, the effects of which, man is not able to diſcerne, unleſſe he annoynt his eyes with the ſalve of Gods word, and wipe the filmes from off them.
There are not wanting examples among the Heathens, who being oppreſt by calamities, have acknowledged God the revenger of their offences, or freed from evills have aſcribed to him the praiſe of their deliverance. Moſt remarkable is that of Sethon King of Aegypt, who holding a Mouſe in his hand, ſtood cut in ſtone in the Temple of Vulcan, on his Statue was inſcribed.
foreign.
Whoſoever lookes on mee,
Let him godly learne to be.
Giving thankes to God, who by multitudes of Mice ſent in among them had disbanded the army of Sennacherib the King of the Aſſyrians. And Phlegas in the ſixt of the Aeneids, among a thouſand torments, in hell is perſonated crying out:
Diſcite justitiam moniti & non temnere Divos.
By me learne Iuſtice, and be wiſe,
Nor doe the holy Gods deſpiſe.
From hence they feigne Nemeſis and Rhamnuſia hanging over the ſucceſſes of the wicked, and ſtopping the courſes of their proſperity; from hence in their Tragedies if any horrible crime worthy a God to revenge it, was preſented, ſome God was then produced advancing his head from behind a frame or property: but theſe things were rare, and, as it were, forced by neceſſity, and but light compared to theſe which out of the Word of God wee learne concerning his providence, as of the haires of our head, which are all numbred; of the Sparrowes, not one of which falls on the ground without the will of God, of the wicked rejoycing in their follies while the hand of God hollowes their pitte the deeper; of God ſearching our reynes▪ and ſeeing the ſecrets of our hearts; of giving an account before the Tribunall Seat of God, not onelyonly of evill actions, but of an idle word.
And as the people in the ſtreet, looking on the Dyall or the Clock, know by the hand what houre of the day it is; but are altogether ignorant of the hidden motions, and of the worke within that moves it ſelfe; but he that goes into the place where the Clocke is, doth with admiration behold the wheeles and poyſes of it, and proceeding from the wheele which moveth firſt, to that which is moved laſt, he obſerveth how the motions are involv'd and depend on one another: So the Vulgar ſeeth the events of things, as they expoſe themſelves to the eye and obſervation of all; but hee who is admitted into the Sanctuary of the Word of God doth wonder at the linked order of the divine Counſells, and poyſeth with himſelfe the weights of providence: So David, Pſal. 73, confeſſeth that at the beginning he envyed the ſucceſſe of ungodly men, and was not a little afflicted to ſee them flow with bleſſings, not onelyonly according to their deſires, but alſo above them, while the righteous and they who are called the people of God in full boles drinke deep of waters mingled with gall, which affliction of his mind was eaſed after hee was entred into the Sanctuary of God▪ from whence, as from a Watch-Tower, he beheld the end of the Vngodly, and acknowledged that the happineſſe of men was not to be adjudged by the preſent condition of their ſtate; but by the counſell of God, and the laſt event of things: the holy man owed this his rectifyed judgement of humane affaires to the Word of God, from which in many places hee confeſſeth, that hee had derived the wiſedome of his knowledge.
Adde to this, that, if we had no other Maſter, but the Creatures onelyonly, to inſtruct us in the ſervice of God, every man would frame a Religion to himſelfe according to his owne pleaſure, and as every Creature was moſt profitable to the life of man, accordingly divine honours ſhould be aſcribed to him; from hence it is that the Perſians worſhipped the Sunne, becauſe they ſaw nothing more faire, they found nothing of a more quickning vertue then the Sunne; from hence it is that the Aegyptians worſhipped an Oxe, of which creature there is a ſpeciall uſe in manuring of the Earth; from hence it is, they worſhipped alſo the Bird Ibis, who with his horned beake did deſtroy the Snakes, and purged Aegypt from her Serpents; whereupon as every man became more renowned, either by valour, or by the praiſe of civill pollicy, or by the invention and ſtudy of the Arts, hee was more eaſily exalted by poſterity into heaven, and numbred in the Catalogue of the Gods.
But did not the light of the Word of God ſhine downe from heaven, it cannot be related what prodigies of Religion, what vaine obſervations men would fancie, with what painted fables would they delude themſelves and God, attributing thoſe things unto God, which would misbecome a man but indifferently ſober? This was the vanity that firſt brought Atheiſme into the World; for a man civilly wiſe, that beholds Cities and Nations to be diſtracted by contrary opinions, and all things to be full of fables, ſuffers himſelfe eaſily to be traduc'd to a beliefe, that Religion is but a meere invention, to which opinion Plutarch ſeemes to be more inclined, for in his booke expreſſely written on the ſame ſubject he endeavours to prove, that Atheiſme is more tolerable then Superſtition: and Cicero in his ſecond Booke De Natura Deorum doth affirme, that they are called ſuperſtitious who whole dayes doe offer prayers and Sacrifice, that their children may ſurvive them; and they are ſaid to be religious, who ſequeſter, and with carefull reverence touch thoſe things which appertaine to the ſervice of the Gods; But, good man, he was altogether ignorant that this which he calls Religion is nothing elſe but Superſtition.
Neither is it to bee wondred at, that they were inclouded in ſo thicke a darkneſſe, on whom the light of Gods word not ſhone; for as the Nations which underſtand not the courſes of the ſtarres, or of the Sunne, confound the order of the Moneths and yeares; So the Nations to whom the Word of God was not revealed, did infinitely intangle themſelves in many errourts concerning Religion; for they who worſhip not God according to the rule preſcribed in his Word, are without God in the world, As the Apoſtle hath it in the Second of the Epheſ. Although they worſhip millions of Gods, nay although the Samaritans came neere and next in conformity to the true Religion, acknowledging that they worſhipped one onelyonly God, the Creator of the Vniverſe, the God of Abraham, Iſaac, and Iacob, and were ſigned with the ſigne of the Covenant, & acknowledged Moſes too their Law-giver, yet becauſe they revolted from the rule of the Word of God, and by a ſtubborne ſeparation did divide themſelves from the Iſraelites, our Saviour ſaith in the Fourth of Iohn, that the Samaritans knew not what they worſhipped; So neceſſary it is, in the buſineſſe of ſalvation, to have God to leade us, and to make his Word our Rule.
But when the light of Gods word hath once ſhined into a Nation, preſently all falſe Religions are blowen away, and the inventions of Mans braine vaniſh, and the kingdome of Sathan which preſerved it ſelfe in darkeneſſe, fals downe before the Light; then not unelegantly may be rehearſed that of David, in the 104. Pſalme: As ſoone as darkeneſſe is ſpread over the Earth, the Beaſts of the Forreſt come out of their Dens, and the young Lyons reare after their prey: but as ſoone as the Sunne ariſeth they hide themſelues in their Dennes and dare not come forth, but Man then goeth forth unto his worke and to his labour untill the Evening: Indeed when the darke miſt of Ignorance overſpreads the Earth, Satan and his Miniſters triumph ſecurely like unruly Beaſts, but as ſoone as the Sunne of the word of God hath begunne to ſhine, they fly away that hate the truth; then doe the godly goe forth unto their labour untill the Evening; that is, they labour in the ſervice of God and the exerciſe of good workes, untill by a happy Death they arriue to the evening of their life.
To come therefore to the true and ſaving knowledge of God, wee hauehave need of another maſter, and more bright inſtructions then thoſe which are learned out of the workes of the Creation, or borrowed from humane reaſon: It was not enough for thoſe Wiſe men to hauehave ſought the Cradle of the Redeemer, to hauehave had the conduct of a Star, but they muſt further be inſtructed by the teſtimony of the Prophets: did we exactly underſtand the greatneſſe of the Stars, their motions, their vertues, and their diſtance, wee ſhould never come by theſe directions unto God, unleſſe the voyce of God ſhould withall informe us in the inſtructions of the Prophets and the Apoſtles, therefore the Pſalmiſt in the 19. Pſalme, after hee had ſaid, That the Heavens declare the glory of God, attributing ſo great an eloquence to the heavenly bodies, although but ſpeechleſſe, that not a nation under heaven but heares them, he preſently paſſeth to the Law of God, leading us by the hand to a better maſter, to more cleare and certaine inſtructions; the Law of God (ſaith hee) is entire, converting the ſoule, the teſtimony of the Lord is true, giving wiſedome to the Simple.
Neither doe theſe things appertaine, to excuſe thoſe who being taught by the onelyonly workes of God, hauehave not attained to the knowledge of him; for although, without the inſtructions and the conduct of the Word of God they could not attaine to ſuch a knowledge of him, as is ſufficient to ſalvation, yet they are juſtly condemned becauſe they fought againſt the generall notions of Nature, and endeavoured to put out her light; neither vſed the inſtructions of the creatures to that advantage which they might; wherefore they are convinced by Saint Paul in the firſt of the Romanes, For ſuppreſsing the Truth, and detayning it in vnrighteouſneſſe, and becauſe that when they knew God they did not glorifie him as God.
Neither ſinned they onelyonly by their ignorance, but alſo by their perverſeneſſe and their pride; as the ſame Apoſtle in the ſecond of the Coloſſ. who ſaith, That hee who fals off from the ſervice of God to the worſhipping of Angels foreign, doth intrude into thoſe things which hee hath not ſeene, vainely putt up by his fleſhly mind; and in the 1. of the Rom. hee ſaith, When they profeſt themſelues wiſe, they became fooles, and were therefore delivered over to vile affections.
By this I thinke it is evidently ſhewed, wherefore, beſides the inſtructions which wee learne out of the workes of Creation and Providence, wee hauehave need of another doctrine, to wit the word of God; But wherefore God, who could without the preaching of the Word convert our hearts, and immediately infuſe into them the knowledge of himſelfe, had rather leade us to the knowledge of himſelfe, and by this knowledge to Salvation, by his Word, it is not curiouſly to bee ſought into: For God who reſerues the reaſon of his Counſailes to himſelfe, and is not ſubject unto any, is not to bee called to an account, neither is it for man to argue with God; nevertheleſſe the reaſon of this divine Counſell is evident, and it is eaſie enough to aſſigne the Cauſe; for be cauſe Death entered into the World by the eare, it pleaſed God that the doctrine of Salvation ſhould enter in by the ſame way too; And becauſe that Man fell by beleeving the words of the Devill, it was fitting that man ſhould bee raiſed from his fall by beleeving the Word of God; for it was requiſite that contrary evils ſhould be cured by contrary Remedies; wherefore God ſends us by Eſay the Prophet to the Law and to the Prophets, pronouncing that it cannot be that without theſe, the morning Light ſhould ſhine on any; and in Luk. 16▪ Abraham teacheth us, That it is in vaine to hauehave recourſe unto the dead, and to expect Revelations from thence, when we hauehave at hand the Law and the Prophets. Neither is it to be doubted, but that Chriſt, reſtoring ſight unto the blind by annoynting his eyes with ſpittle, did ſecretly therby intimate, that, only that which proceedeth from his mouth illuminates the underſtanding, and ſcatters the darkeneſſe of naturall ignorance: Hence it is that in the hiſtory of the old & new Teſtament, there are found examples of ſome holy men whom God chaſtiſed with blindneſſe, as Ahia the Prophet, or with dumbnes, as Zachary the father of Iohn Baptiſt, but of a religious man whom hee ſtrooke with deafeneſſe, and from whom hee tooke the ſenſe by which his Word ſhould bee conveyed unto him, there is not any Example in the Scriptures; but the Devill is called the deafe Spirit in the Goſpell, becauſe they who are poſſeſſed with him doe deafe their eares at the Word of God.
This Word of God was firſt delivered by the Oracle of his voice, afterwards God ſo pleaſing, it was commended to us in writing, and engraven in publicke Tables that it might neither bee raz'd by Oblivion, corrupted by Errour, or prophaned by reprobate Raſhneſſe; this is the Booke, which by excellence is called THE BIBLE, as if other bookes valued with this, did not deſerue to bee called Bookes.
But among many and great Authorities which confirme the credit and prerogatiue of the holy Scripture, that teſtimony is moſt certaine, and aboue others of greateſt efficacie which the Holy Ghoſt doth giues it, unto it to wit, the ſecret power of the Spirit with hidden ſtings, piercing the hearts of thoſe that heare and reade it, a power aboue all reaſon infinite; to expreſſe which in fitting accents all Eloquence is dull, all language barren, and words doe faint and faulter under the greatneſſe of the thing. Let Demoſthenes be read, or Princeps Romani Tullius Eloquij,
Tully the reputed Prince
Of the Roman Eloquence.
OnelyOnly while they are read they doe affect, there being a kind of ſoft harmony and gentle titillation that ſtroakes the eare, but when the hearer is departed, the ſenſe of that delight departeth alſo, as the face is ſeene no more in the glaſſe when the perſon is retired from it; But if there bee a faithfull and attentiue hearer or reader of the Word of God, it will ſit deepe within him, and graven in his heart bee euer preſent, breathing forth Diuinities, governing the affections, cheering the heart, and finally renewing the whole Man.
But becauſe this teſtimony is onelyonly perceiued by thoſe whom God hath endowed with his Spirit, in whom the letter of the Word dead in it ſelfe is quickned, and as it were ſharpened by the Spirit of God, in vaine with this weapon doe wee fight againſt the prophane, who deride and reject what ever they hauehave not experienced, and meaſure the power and vertue of God by their owne ſottiſhneſſe; how euer, beſides this efficacy of the Scripture, there are many things more, which can ſtop the mouthes of Infidells, and giuegive both authority and beliefe to the holy Scripture.
And firſt of all, there is no other booke which in ſuch a ſimplicity of language hath ſo great a Majeſty, ſpeaking vntounto Kings and Subjects with equall Authority, for men howſoever they bee vnequall in dignity compared among themſelues, compared to God they bee all equall; As the Mountaines and the Vallies make both one plaine in the Globe of Earth, when Earth is compared vntounto heaven.
Satan the Ape of God imitating this Simplicity, whiles hee affects the roughneſſe of the Stile could not attaine the Majeſty if it; hee fancied the Etrurian diſcipline and the Salian verſes in a rude and rugged phraſe, but he forbade them to be publiſh'd as being aſhamd of his owne doctrine, nay, he could not bee believed among his owne Prieſts to whom he did entruſt his Myſteries, whereupon Cato was wont to ſay that hee wondred how one Southſayer looking on another could refraine from laughter, becauſe acknowledging among themſelues the impoſtures of their profeſſion, by a ſecret combination they would nevertheleſſe counterfet themſelues as ſerious.
Againe it is remarkeable that every booke bee it never ſo ancient, Compared to the antiquitie of the Bible will bee found but of a late edition, the Grecians fed on Acornes, yea their Names were ſcarce knowen in the World when Moſes wrote his five bookes intituled the Pentatenche, with which all the Philoſophy in the World cannot compare.
Homer and Heſiod the moſt ancient of the Greeke Poets liued at leaſt a hundred and fifty yeares after David, yet Davids inſpired Poems are diſtant as far from Homers as heaven from Earth, or the fables of man from the truth of God, neither doth Plato diſſemble in the beginning of his Timaeus that the Aeygptians would ſay that the Grecians were alwayes boyes, who neuer could bee men of Age as being altogether ignorant of true Antiquitie.
Why ſhould I heere rehearſe the moſt ſtupendious miracles and with what a Majeſtie the Law was pronounced, & what were the wonders in Aegypt, and the Wildernes, and thoſe not actedin a corner, or before but a few witneſſes, but all Aegypt both beholding and repining at it, and before the eyes of ſixe hundred thouſand armed Men, and the moſt mightie Nation that was fed with Manna, which followed the pillar of fire conducting them, and heard the voice of the trumpet, who with horror did behold the burning mountaine, and flames of fire whirling high as heauen, invironed with waving ſmokes and thicke clouds of rowling darkeeneſſe; And that no man may conceiue that this was feigned by Moſes in fauour of the Iſraelites, with moſt terrible threatnings he thunders againſt that nation, and every where convinceth them of folly and pride, and Rebellion againſt God himſelfe.
Now with what integritie Moſes wrote this, it is apparent, that hee conceales not his owne offences, but rehearſeth the chaſtiſement wherewith God afflicted him, and that hee was commanded to die on the borders of the promiſed land becauſe hee beleeued not the voice of God; And how farre hee was from Ambition, wee may ſee by this, that hee would not hauehave his ſonnes ſucceede him in his Governement, but elected Ioſhua that was of another tribe; And how ſmall the dignity of Moſes ſonnes was among the pireſts wee may learne out of Ioſephus, lib. 1. Orig. cap. 11. Who recites that in the diſtribution of ſacred things which was made by Dauid, the charge which Moſes poſteritie had, was but the keeping of the treaſurie, and the Gifts which were offered in the temple.
Neither muſt wee leaue out, the Antiquitie and Certaintie of the prohecies, for by what inſpiration could Eſay foretell the name of Cyrus and that hee ſhould bee a deliuerer of the Iewes 160 yeares before Cyrus was borne; Or what other but the Spirit of God could foretell to Ieroboam that a King ſhould bee borne of the Stocke of David, Ioſias by name, who ſhould overthrow and demoliſh their profaner Alters, and that, three hundred fiftie and ſixe moneths before it was done; What ſhall I ſay of Ieremie, who expreſſelie ſet downe the 70 yeares of Captivitie in Babilon; What of Daniell, who from the reſtauration of Ieruſalem to the death of Chriſt, preciſely numbers ſeventie weeks of yeares, that is 490 yeares, the predictions of the ſame Daniell of the foure Empires, and of the Kings Seluci, ſeeme rather to bee hiſtories then prophecies; Which may bee affirmed alſo of the prophecies of Eſai, of whom Saint Hierom in his Epiſtle to Paulinus ſaith, that hee ſeemes rather to bee an Evangeliſt then a Prophet; theſe things certainely could not bee ſuggeſted into the Prophets by any other then by him onelyonly, who as hee hath a foreſight of all things ſo hee hath an inſight alſo, and knows them well, becauſe that hee will doe them.
The dignity therfore of holy Scripture is above all hazard or doubt of oppoſition, and the authority of it is ſo great, that Chriſt himſelfe greater then the Law, and who inſpired the Prophets, was accuſtomed to defend himſelfe with the teſtimony of the Law and Prophets againſt the Phariſees, and therefore when many in defence of the authority of the ſacred Scripture have ſacrificed their lives, there is no man found, that in defence of Platoes or Ariſtotles opinion, yet ever ventured to encounter death; Indeed I could be content to ſay that Cleombrotus the Ambrocian was Platoes Martyr, who (as Cicero in his third Tuſculan doth relate) having read the Booke of Plato entituled Phaedo, where Socrates neere unto death diſputes of the immortality of the Soule, did force himſelfe into a headlong death; this man, I ſay, might bee called the Martyr of Plato, had he done this in any hope of ſalvation to be attained by Platoes meanes, and not through the tediouſneſſe of life.
Now the bookes of the myſteries of the Aegyptians, and the Religion of the Druids are periſhed, the Hetrurian▪ Diſcipline is extinguiſhed, and the Verſes of the Sybills are aboliſhed, only the holy Writ hath remained untouched, as having God its Authour; neither to extinguiſh it, could prevaile the horrible inſolence of Antiochus Epiphanes, or the impious cunning of Iulian Caeſar, or the pernicious writings of Lucian and Porphyrius, nay, theſe execrable perſons were the admirable examples of the Divine Iuſtice. It is knowne how Antiochus Epiphanes, conſtrained to raiſe his Siege, and abandon Elemais through griefe of mind, in the flower of his age and Kingdome breath'd forth his unrighteous ſoule: how Iulian in his very entrance into the Empire, ſtrooke through with an arrow, gave up his impure ſpirit: how (if we may beleeve Suidas) enraged dogs tore Lucian in pieces.
Neither is that an Argument of little conſequence, to confirme the authority of the Scripture, which Ioſephus writeth in the twelfth Booke of his Iewiſh Antiquities, Chap: 2. where Demetrius Phaleraeus, the Keeper of the Kings Library, ſpeakes thus to Ptolomaeus Philadelphus out of Hecataeus Abderita, concerning the ſacred Bookes of the Iewes, foreign, as being pure and holy, it was unlawfull that they ſhould be expreſt by a prophane mouth: the ſame Demetrius Phaleraeus relates out of Aristaeus that Theopompus having wrought into his ſtory ſome part taken from the ſacred Word, was for fourty dayes together ſtrucken with an Apoplexy, untill, by ſome reſpits of releaſement from his ſickeneſſe, he appeaſed God by his prayers, and deſiſted from his enterpriſe, being admoniſhed in a dreame that theſe things happened to him becauſe he intruded into holy things: In the ſame manner Theodoctes the Poet, having inſerted into a Tragedie of his ſomething taken from the Word of God, being ſtrucke with blindneſſe, was inforced to abandon the enterpriſe which ſo raſhly he beganne.
Agreeable to this is that which Clemens ſpeaketh in his firſt Booke of Tapiſt: and Tertullian in his Booke of Womens habites, that Ieruſalem being taken and razed by the Babylonians, all the Bookes of the Iewes were reſtored againe by Eſdras; their intention is not, that the holy Bookes were utterly extinguiſht and abolliſhed, and then againe reſtored by Eſdras; for ſo the holy Bookes, which at this day we reade, ſhould not be the Bookes of Moſes, of David, or of Eſay, but of Eſdras, who by new inſpirations did compile them; the intention of Clement and Tertullian is, that the Bookes of the Old Teſtament, during the Captivity of Babylon, diſperſed, or but rarely and negligently tranſcribed, were digeſted by Eſdras into order, more accurately written, and reſtored to their native beauty.
And ſince that time theſe bookes with ſo much Religion were obſerved by the Iewes, whom it pleaſed God to make the Library of the Chriſtians, that if the booke had at any time fallen to the ground, they would enjoyne themſelues a ſolemne and extraordinary faſt; and at the end of every booke they did uſe to write, not onelyonly the number of the verſes, but the number of the letters alſo; in which ſcrupulous ſedulity of theirs, the true honour due unto the Scripture doth not conſiſt, but hee doth reverence it as hee ought, who reads it with ſuch eyes, as the conſtant wife doth the contract of her marriage, or the good Sonne doth his fathers Will, who never heares the Scripture mentioned but his heart doth leape, and his filiall affections earne, who by this rule doth compoſe, and ſquares all his life, his deeds and words, nay, and his thoughts alſo: But as young Samuel being awaked from ſleepe by the voice of God, lay preſently downe to ſleepe againe, thinking it to be but the voyce of Man, and not of God; ſo the greateſt part of men, the word of God being heard, and they awakened by it, in a light feare they beginne a little to ſtirre & ſtretch themſelues, but by and by they fall againe into a ſleepe of vices, becauſe they heard this word as the word of man, and not as the word of God.
What is contained in theſe bookes it would bee too tedious to deſcribe, it ſhall be ſufficient to propoſe unto the eye, the elements of Chriſtian Religion, that wee may ſee in what things the true knowledge of God conſiſteth.
The Scripture therefore teacheth, that Man was firſt created to the Image of God, endued with Holineſſe and Righteouſneſſe, and revolted from God by his owne conſent, and by the ſuggeſtion of the Devill, whereupon came ſin into the world, and by ſinne Death and Malediction; notwithſtanding the Image of God in Man is not ſo disfigured, that there remaine not certaine traces of it; to wit, a certaine perceiving of Divinity, and ſome graines of honeſty and civill juſtice, which notions that God might helpe, and that no man might excuſe his ſinne by pretending ignorance, God hath given his Law written by man, which Law is reduced to theſe two heads: To louelove God with all our heart, and with all our ſtrength, and to louelove our neighbour as our ſelues, which Law with great terrour hee pronounced in a voice, whoſe accents were thunders and ſhining with flames of Lightning, that the people might underſtand that their Lawgiver was armed, and who ſo deſpiſed his commandements ſhould not eſcape unpuniſhed; this dreadfull clauſe adjoyned to it, Curſed is he that continueth not in all things, which are contayned in the booke of the Law to doe them.
When therefore Man by nature prone unto ſinne cannot fulfill theſe Commandements; this Law were nothing elſe then the torment of the conſcience, and the miniſtery of Death, had not God according to his mercy releeved Man in this forlorne eſtate.
Hee therefore in his appoynted time preſcribed by the Prophets, ſent his Sonne the everlaſting Word, the wiſedome of his Father, whom hee begat from all eternity, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit is one God, into the world, and endued him with humane fleſh; ſo the Word was made fleſh, and God in vnity of perſon aſſumed humane Nature without any diminution of the Divinity, or mixture of the Natures; for it was requiſite that the Mediator betwixt God and Man, ſhould bee God and Man, and touch both extreames by the Communion of Nature.
In this Nature of Man, this Sonne of God, our Redeemer finiſhed the worke of our Redemption, perfectly fulfilling the Law, by expiating our ſins by his Death, and triumphing over Death by his Reſurrection, hee is the Author of eternall life to all thoſe that beleeue in him: Wherefore as the Sinne of Adam is imputed to all his poſterity, ſo the Righteouſneſſe of Chriſt is imputed unto all thoſe who by the Spirit of Adoption and faith in him are made the Sonnes of God.
By this marke Chriſtian Religion is diſcerned, and diſtinguiſhed from all Religions which humane reaſon hath invented, that it ſhewes the way by which onelyonly we hauehave acceſſe to God by his Sonne who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; that is, the true way to life: And though God inhabites light which none can come unto, yet after ſome manner hee hath made himſelfe viſible in his Sonne, who is the Image of God inviſible, and God with us, whoſoever ſhall endeavour to come to God by any other way, hee ſhall find him a Iudge and not a Father, and the more he haſts, the more hee erres, and headlong fals into a certaine ruine.
To the finiſhing of this worke of our Redemption, the perſon of the Sonne was choſen rather, than the perſon of the Father or the Holy Ghoſt, for if the Father had beene made Man, and aſſumed our Feſh, there had beene in the Trinity two Sonnes, one by eternall Generation, and another by Generation in Time: Neither was there any thing more agreeable, than that hee who was the Middle in the perſons of the Trinity, ſhould alſo be the Middle betwixt God and Man, and bee the linke and tye of all affinity betwixt heaven and earth; And what could bee more apt and ſutable to the Wiſedome of God, than that we ſhould be reſtored into the Right and Degree of ſonnes, by him who is the onelyonly Sonne of God, and that God ſhould renew Man by the ſame Word by which he created him, and that God ſhould ſpeake unto us by him, who is the Eternall Word of God, and by him ſhould teach us true wiſedome who is himſelfe the wiſedome of the Father.
This is that Doctrine which is called the Goſpell, which God hath left as a pledge in his Church, that by this prerogatiue it ſhould bee diſtinguiſhed from the reſt of mankind, which doctrine he hath commanded to bee publiſhed throughout all the world, by his Apoſtles and their Succeſſors, preſcribing, that thoſe who joyne themſelues to the Church ſhould bee baptized In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghoſt, and that the people ſhould bee inſtructed in the faith of Chriſt by the preaching of the Goſpell, by which to the Penitent and Beleeving, Remiſſion of ſinnes and everlaſting life is promiſed, and that the faithfull ſhould attend the ſecond comming of Chriſt, in which hee ſhall raiſe up the dead, and taking into his knowledge an Account of all Mans actions, ſhall render unto every one according to his workes.
By the Church I underſtand not onelyonly the Church under the new Teſtament, which is called the Chriſtian Church, but alſo the whole Church in all Ages, whoſe beginning is deduced from Adam, and which ſhall laſt unto the End of the World; for the Scripture teſtifieth, that the Fathers before Chriſt were ſaved by faith in Chriſt; Abraham rejoyced to ſee my day and hee ſaw it, Iohn. 8. And Moſes preferred the reproach of Chriſt to the treaſures of Egypt, Heb. 11. And it pleaſed the Father to reconcile all things by the blood of the Croſſe, whether they were things in Heaven, or things in Earth, Col. 1. And there is no man of ſober underſtanding, that ever yet made doubt, but that theſe words of, Things in heaven, did comprehend the Patriarchs and the Prophets; to which purpoſe ſome of the Ancients hauehave not unaptly applyed an Allegory of a Branch laden with Grapes, which hanging on a ſtaffe was carried on two mens ſhoulders, by him that went formoſt they underſtood the Church of the old Teſtament, by him that came after, the Church of the new Teſtament, and by the branch of Grapes, Chriſt himſelfe; for the old Church ſaw not the comming of Chriſt, becauſe it went before in order of Time, but this latter hath Chriſt ever before her eyes and beholds him come: Nevertheleſſe the Branch of Grapes is as much the food of one as of the other, for Chriſt equally unto both Churches conveigheth life and foode ſpirituall.
Theſe are thoſe inſtructions in which the true and ſaving knowledge of God conſiſteth; a knowledge which farre tranſcends all other Arts and Sciences; The Sciences are all either contemplatiue or practicke, the excellence of the Contemplatiue conſiſts in theſe three things, the Dignity of the Subject, the Certainty of the Demonſtrations, and the Perſpicuity of the Inſtructions; the excellence of the Practicke conſiſts in theſe, the Excellence of the End, the Aptneſſe of the Meanes, and the Rules to attaine that End.
In Divinity that part is contemplatiue, which treateth of the nature of God, and of the workes of Creation, Gubernation, and Redemption; but that part which treateth of the offices of Piety towards God, and Charity towards our Neighbour is practicall; for although in this there bee great need of Contemplation, yet all this Contemplation is directed to the Practicke, in one as in the other, Divinity doth infinitely excell all Sciences:
The Subject of the Part contemplatiue is God himſelfe, betwixt whom and the body of Man, or twixt Lands and Chattles, the Subiects of Law and Phiſicke there is no compariſon, but in certainty it wonderfully tranſcends them all: For whatſoever the Philoſophers doe diſpute concerning the chiefe or principall good, are ſo different among themſelues, ſo contrary one unto another, that their chiefe good ſeemes rather to bee grounded on opinion then on nature. Augustine in the nineteenth booke of the Citty of God, reckons up out of Marcus Varro, a hundred and foureſcore diſagreeing opinions of Philoſophers concerning their Summum Bonum, or Chiefeſt Good; and Phyſicians doe rather ſuſpect, then ſee the inward affections of the bodies, and the cauſes of diſeaſes; and hereupon it often comes to paſſe, that in pretence of curing the diſeaſed, officiouſly they kill them: But how great the uncertainty of humane Law is, the infinite diverſity of cuſtomes and countries, the endleſſe diſcord of municipal Rights, and of the Roman and Barbarian Lawes, doth plainely teſtifie: but the foundations of Divinity ſtand ſure and unſhaken, being laid by the hand of God himſelfe, and are more firme then Heaven or Earth: The Heaven and Earth ſhall paſſe away, but my words ſhall not paſſe, ſaith God himſelfe.
Neither doth it any thing derogate from this certainety, that Men in the buſines of Religion are divided into ſo many Sects, and diſpute with ſuch contentious heate concerning the interpretation of the Scripture; for this doth not ariſe from the uncertainety of Gods Word, but from the pravity of Man, who wilfully doth blind his owne eyes, and takes delight to ſtumble in ſo faire a way, ſubjecting Religion to his belly, and by depravation of the moſt certaine things, with full Sailes doth fly to Avarice or Ambition; For whoſoever will not deſtine himſelfe to a peculiar and ſet opinion, ſhall find in the Holy Scripture many cleare and evident ſentences, wanting no Interpreter which abundantly wil ſuffice him both for faith & maners.
I confeſſe in the Scriptures there are many things full of obſcurity but if the pious ſtudent ſhall weigh them well, hee ſhall find them either prophecies or figures, and not foundations of faith or of the nature of thoſe things which are neceſſary to Salvation; for God by plaine and eaſie things doth inſtruct us to Salvation, and by obſcure ones doth exerciſe us in prayer, or workes in us ſobriety, or pulling the wings of our curioſitie doth retaine us in the bounds of modeſty: And this muſt bee a received Maxim, that the leaſt knowledge derived from the word of God, is more excellent then the exacteſt knowledge of earthly things; For a little of the knowledge of God faithfully received doth abundantly ſuffice to inflame our minds with the louelove of God, and to leade our liues both well and happily.
The End Remaines by which Divinity, whatſoever there is of Arts or Sciences by a tranſcendent Diſtance doth excell; For the Politicks onelyonly ininforme a man as he is a Citizen, the Oeconomicks as hee is the maſter of a family, But Divinitie doth inſtruct him as hee is a man, and diſcourſeth not of the parts of Life but of the Whole, neither doth it propoſe unto it ſelfe any particular or ſubordinat end, but the laſt end of all, viz. eternall bleſſedneſſe, which conſiſteth in an vnion with God, to which end it is requiſite that other Ends and our whole eourſe of Life ſhould be obedient, vnles peradventure we would bee carefull of our life in ſome little portions and pieces of it, but in the whole be vnthrifts, & ſo of many litles (as we thinke wiſely laid together) one entire folly ſhould bee made, and there would bee a good Lawyer, a good Phyſitian, a good Senator, but a bad man.
But the meanes which Divinitie doth vſe to attaine to this laſt End, which is our vnion with God, namely Faith in Chriſt and the ſtudie of good Workes are ſo apt, ſo certaine, ſo well knowen, that no doubt is to bee made of them, vnleſſe wee would make a doubt of the promiſes of God who is Truth himſelfe.
Finally the knowledge of God (God himſelfe recording it) is ſo much to be eſteemed, that though to glory in other things is an extreame vanitie and the firſt point of folly, in this onelyonly God would hauehave us with a religious pride to glory, in our ſelues; For thus ſaith he in the ninth of Ieremy, Let not the Wiſe man glory in his Wiſedome, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not a rich Man glory in his riches, but let him that glorifieth, glory in this, that hee vnderſtandeth and knoweth mee, that I am the Lord who excerciſe Iudgement and Righteouſneſſe on the Earth.
Now ſeeing there may bee gathered from the knowledge of God many and excellent fruits through the whole courſe of our life, this is aboue all the moſt principall, that we cannot maſter our Corruptions, or ſtop our deſires in their Careere with a ſtronger reyne than with the knowledge of God; For hee that knows God, knows him to bee a ſearcher of the ſecrets of the heart, whoſe eyes cannot bee curtain'd with the flattering clouds of lying or hypocriſie, to whom Accounts are to bee given of every idle Word; wherefore the holy Scripture did aſſigne this the Cauſe, of the Wickedneſſe of the ſonnes of Heli, they were wicked men, the ſonnes of Belial not knowing the Lord, and Hoſea the 4. Becauſe there is no knowledge of God in the Land, perjury, and Lying, and Stealing, and committing Adulterie hath broken forth, and bloud toucheth bloud; On the contrary from the knowledge of God ariſe all examples of Vertues; wich Eſay witneſſeth, Chap. 11. They ſhall not hurt nor deſtroy in all my holy mountaine, for the Earth ſhall bee full of the knowledge of the Lord; And truly a holy Man who conſiders alwaies, that God beholds him, will ſo liue in private as in publicke, ſo in publicke as in the Temple, ſo in the Temple, as before the eyes of God who is his Iudge, his Maſter and his father; Neither doth Satan open a wider window vntounto all kind of vice than by perſwading Men that God looks not downe on things ſo low; For then a deepe ſleepe overwhelmes the Conſcience, and the feare of the Iudge being taken off, the barres are broken and Men dare doe any thing, running headlong into all kind of Villanie, although reſtrain'd a little by the power of the law or by the feare of Infamy.
Neither is the knowledge of God of little moment in chaſing from vsus all reſtleſſe Cares, in calming the troubles of our mind, and in ſilencing the tongues of Murmurers; For hee that knowes God, knowes all his workes to bee as full of Iuſtice as of providence, to complaine of whoſe providence as it is vnrighteous, ſo to oppoſe it, is not onelyonly vnprofitable, but Raſh and Dangerous; And hee who is aſſured that God ſo workes that even evills themſelues doe turne to Good to thoſe that feare him, doth ſecure himſelfe in his care and LoueLove.
The ſame knowledge of God is greatly profitable in teaching vsus to obſerue an honeſt and profitable vſe of earthly things, leſt by an vngratefull oblivion wee bury his bleſſings, or abuſe them vntounto Riot or to luſt, or reſemble the beaſts that drinke of the River never thinking of the fountaine from whence thoſe waters flow; For hee who knowes God, knowes him to bee the Author of all Good things, and in that title doth pay homage to him, and is induſtriouſly wary leſt thoſe things which God hath given vntounto vſe and matter of thankſgiving, be corrupted by ingratitude or abuſe.
What ſhall I ſay more, ſeeing, without the knowledge of God it is impoſſible for vsus to know our ſelues, for then the bubbles of our Pride ſinke downe, and our plumes doe fall, when wee looke on God; For as long, as a Man lookes on himſelfe or compares himſelfe with inferiour things, hee takes himſelfe to bee a creature of ſome reckoning, and applaudes the humour, overcome with a vaine and flattering opinion of his ſtrength or Wiſedome; But whē he preſents himſelfe before the tribunall ſeate of God, hee is preſently touch'd with an apprehenſion of his weakeneſſe, and his naturall pollutions and deformities preſent themſelues before him, and is invironed with ſo great a Light, that he is inforced to confeſſe that the Light of his Vnderſtanding is but vtter darkeneſſe; In the ſame manner, they that onelyonly behold the things which are before their feete, beleeue their ſight is good and cleere enough, but the ſame Men when they behold the Sunne, hauehave ſtrait their eyes ſo blinded that they are compelled to confeſſe, that the ſharpeſt diſcretion of their eye is both darke and dull, when it turnes it ſelfe vntounto heavenly things.
Seeing then ſo great is the exellence of this divine knowledge, and the fruit thereof ſo abundant that it may bee extended into every part and portion of our life: I cannot but here lament the condition of humane vnderſtanding which in trifling things doth expreſſe a moſt ſubtle and ingenious Induſtry, but in the knowledge of God alone, doth languiſh in a drowſie ſloth; For how Rare is hee that diſregardeth not theſe ſacred ſtudies to addict himſelfe toi things that tend to the advantage either of publcke or private dignity? How many beate their braines in curing the bodies and skinnes of others, who within their owne, hauehave Dropſie humours? How many ſit in the ſeate of Iudgement to decide the Differences of others, which are themſelues at diſcord with God, and conſider not that he muſt iudge them? How many are expert in the Account of Numbers and Lines, whoſe owne lives are Irregular as being altogether without the knowledge of God? So ſtrange beſides is the garbe and Condition of humane things, that we preferre delights even aboue neceſſities; So the Confectmaker is valued aboue the husband man, and wee thinke the embroiderer to bee a more Subſtantiall fellow then the Taylor; And commonly thoſe ſtudies are more eſteemed that make for gaine, then thoſe that inſtill into our minds the elements of divine Wiſedome; It falls out with theſe, what Ariſtotle reports, to hauehave befalne the ſuiters of Penelope, who becauſe they could not obtaine the Miſtreſſe, enjoy'd their deſires with her Maides; For the Arts are the handmaids of divine Wiſedome, neither doe they deſerue a place in the Ranke of honeſt diciplines if they profeſſe not themſelues to bee attendants on it, theſe are thoſe handmaids which the Divine Wiſedome ſendeth forth, as it is recorded in the ninth of the Proverbs.
Peradventure ſome peremptory puny will heere ſtep forth and to depreſſe Divinitie beneath other Sciences, will alleadge that it is ſubordinate unto them, and that it borrows of them many things, as Ornament from Rhetorick, Acuteneſſe from Logick, the knowledge of the chiefe principles from the Metaphyſicks, the nature and helpes of vertues from the Ethicks, and that the Student in Divinitie, after hee hath received the headed ſpeares from Divinitie, doth hurle them with greater force and certainety with the armes of Philoſophy; Finally, that Divinitie ſhould bee vnarmed and unnerved, ſhould it be deſtitute of the helpe of the Arts.
But they who breath forth theſe empty noiſes, doe not diſtinguiſh Divinitie from the Divine, that is the Science from the Man; As when the Phiſician profeſſeth the Art of Phiſicke onelyonly for gaine, this is not the end of the Art but of the Man; The Divine indeede every where doth ſearch and collect together, the aides and ornaments of Eloquence, but Divinitie doth not therevpon increaſe either in excellence or Abundance, for it ſubſiſteth of it ſelfe and needeth not the aide of any; Neither hauehave thoſe Coryphaei in Divinitie, the Prophets and Apoſtles begg'd theſe ornaments; their Simplicity being more powerfull than all Eloquence, and their Majeſtie of greater vertue than all acuteneſſe of Logick or Philoſophy; As the chaſt Matron is moſt adorned, that hath on no ornaments at all, leaving to the vnchaſt or the vnbeautiful, their falſe and artificiall dreſſes, and borrowed Complexions; What if the Iudge doth ſell his purple, or the mercenary Lawyer the braver hee is cloath'd, doth eſteeme his tongue at the deerer rate, muſt the Taylor therefore advance his needle aboue the law? One Science is ſubordinate vntounto another, when it borroweth it's principles from it, or, when the Concluſions in the ſuperiour Science, are made the principles of the inferiour, ſo the Opticks are ſubordinate to Geometry, and Muſicke to Arithmetick; Or when the End of one Art is ſubordinate to the End of another, So the Art of making bridles, is ſubordin'd to the Art of Horſe-manſhippe, and that Art is ſubordinate to Military Diſcipline; But no ſuch thing is to bee found in Divinity.
But if the Divine doth gather ſome of the more graue and morall ſentences out of the writings of the Philoſophers, hee doth not that for want or for neceſſitie, but to ſet a bluſh on Chriſtians cheekes, who by their prophane life diſhonour their moſt holy profeſſion, that ſo they who will not heare God, may heare Men, endued only with the light of Reaſon, and by their teſtimonies and accuſations may bee as well convinced as aſhamed.
But neither doe wee graunt that the Divine takes theſe things from the Philoſopher either by intreaty or by loane, ſeeing he doth rather force them from him as from an vnlawfull owner, for whatſoever ſparks there are of Religion in the whole world, they ought to bee brought to the Altar of God, and whatſoever inſtructions there are that Concerne true vertue, they appertaine to his Temple, no otherwiſe then the veſſels of Gold and Silver, taken from the Aegyptians in pretence of Loane were converted after to the building of the Tabernacle.
Hither therefore being bound let vsus labour with wind and oares, and to arrive to this knowledge let vsus plough the Deepes of this preſent World, with ſweating induſtry; For if the Philologer when from the Rubbiſh of Antiquitie, hee finds out words hoary with Age and covered with duſt, or when he expoundeth ſupeeannuated Cuſtomes about meates or habits, bee heard with great attention and applauſe, what eares and Attention ſhould wee lend to them, who vnfold things more Ancient than heaven it ſelfe, and declare the Wiſedome of the Ancient of Dayes, drawen not from the defectiue Ciſterne of the Critick, but from the vnfaddom'd deepes of the Oracles of God? If the Lawyer bee heard pleading of eaue-droppings, of tenements, or of Wills, how, with more purged eares ſhould the Divine, not diſcourſing of drops of waters, but of the fountaine of Life it ſelfe, not of the tenure of houſes, but of the liberty of the Spirit, not of the teſtament of dying men, but of the Will of the living God?
Labour after this then, you that hauehave all a deſire to bee good, and that you may attaine to the true knowledge of God, endeavour that no ill affection may corrupt, or wanton ſaftneſſe may degenerate your reſolutions; for if the Heathens deferred long, and kept at the doore thoſe that were to be inſtructed in the ſervice of holy things, if they were not admitted into Ceres Temple, but after many ſighs and tedious preparations by often purifyings; what manner of man ought he to be, whom God admits into the Chancell of his moſt ſacred diſcipline? And if Ariſtotle in the firſt of his Ethicks, and the 3. Chap▪ would hauehave his hearer of civill ſciences, to be neither foreign, neither foreign, young in age or manners, how much more requiſite is it, that all youthfull heates ſhould be cooled in him, who is to addreſſe himſelfe to that Science, to which all other ſciences are but ſervants?
Nevertheleſſe wee muſt take heed, leſt while too much wee employ our ſelues in this ſtudy we offend God by our ſedulity; which comes to paſſe, when not content with what belongs unto ſalvation, wee labour in things unneceſſary, and by a prophane curioſitie ſearch after thoſe things which exceed the compaſſe of our underſtanding or ſobriety: For as heretofore when the Law was publiſhed, there were bounds ſet round about the Mountaine, which it was death to breake thorow, ſo there are certaine bounds ſet round the doctrine of the Goſpell, which it is ſacriledge to tranſgreſſe: A religious ignorance is better then a curious knowledge; and as the fire giueth light to thoſe that are a farre off, warmeth thoſe that are neerer and in a reaſonable diſtance, but conſumeth thoſe that approach ſo neere to touch it; So God illuſtrates all with ſome light, yea even the moſt removed from ſalvation, but thoſe that are admitted neerer, he warmes them with his louelove, and inſpires them with his Spirit, but who with a wilfull curioſitie intrude themſelues, and even dare invade him, he overcomes and deſtroyes them with amazements, Who ſeeketh after Majeſtie ſhall bee conſumed with the glory of it. This corruption beganne in Adam, affecting that knowledge of Good and Evill which onelyonly appertaineth unto duplicate page duplicate page God; wherefore as in the eating of the Paſchall Lambe, the Iſraelites were to feed onelyonly on the fleſh and not to meddle with the bones; ſo in the doctrine which inſtructs us in the knowledge of God, wee muſt labour after thoſe things which ſerue for the nouriſhment of our ſoule, and abſtaine from thoſe which by their hardneſſe would breake our teeth, and turne the edge of our underſtanding: then onelyonly in the knowledge of God ſhall we obſerue a meane betwixt an affected negligence and a ſawcie curioſitie, when we ſhall referre all our knowledge and meditation to piety and manners, and to the louelove of God.
Le Sr de la Primaudaye en ſes Quatrains.
L'aeuvre excellent des cieux, & l'entour, & le ſpace,
Rendent leur Architecte admirable à tous yeux:
Mais ſa divine loy reſtaurant l'ame en mieux,
L'eſleue ſur ce tout pour voire Dieu face à face.
The glorious Vault, and fabricke of the skies,
Preſents their wondrous Maker to all eyes:
Whoſe Law divine, reſtoring ſoules by grace
Mounts them o're all, to ſee HIM face to face.
FINIS.