The Portraiture of the Image of God in Man, Part 1 · Chapter 1 – Chapter 2
CHAP. I. Of the Creation in Generall.
GOd by his goodneſſe is the ſole and onelyonly cauſe of creation. Prop.
In all other of Gods workes hee uſeth meanes as in generation, Illuſt. corruption, dimunition: in theſe, hee is not the ſimple and ſole cauſe; but in creation hee is the onelyonly cauſe, and uſeth no meanes. Duplex Cauſa, ſimpliciter & eſſendi in hoc.Deus eſt cauſa ſimpliciter in creatione, at eſsendi in hoc in alijs: God is the onelyonly ſimple cauſe in creation; but in his other workes, hee is onelyonly the cauſe of beeing this or that.
God is the firſt cauſe, and being is the firſt effect; Illuſt. 2 but nothing can intervere betwixt the firſt cauſe and the firſt effect; and therefore there can be no inſtrumentall cauſe in the creation; if any thing ſhould intervene betwixt the firſt cauſe and the firſt effect, it ſhould be Non ens, that which is nothing: but an inſtrument cannot be Non ens; therefore no inſtrument can intervene betweene the firſt cauſe and the firſt effect.
God is the onelyonly cauſe of creation, Inter priman Cauſam & primum Effectum nihil intervenit Thom. contra Gentiles.therefore the Angels can bee no inſtrument in creation, farre leſſe can they create a thing, Augustine ſaith, Daemones non poſſunt quicquam creare, ſed creata ſpecie tenus mutare; Conſequence, 1 The ſpirits can create nothing, but they may change in ſhew the things that are already created. Secondly, the Angels may haſten the production of things, but not in an inſtant, as God made Adam a perfect man in an inſtant, and Aarons Rod to budde and to bring forth almonds in an inſtant, Num. 17. becauſe it was a Creation and a Miracle. Thirdly, as they can haſten nature, ſo they can bring accidents into nature: for if Iacob by laying peeled rods before the ſheepe, made them to conceive ſpeckled Lambs, Gen. 30.37. much more can an Angel worke ſuch things in nature. Auguſtine in his booke called the Citie of God, giveth an example of this; the Oxe which they worſhipped in Egypt was marked with many divers ſpots; when hee dyed, how could they finde another marked after the ſame manner? Auguſtine anſwers, that the divell repreſented to the Cow ingendring, a Bull with the like markes, and ſo the Cow brought forth the like. And thus the Divell continued Idolatry in Egypt. Here we ſee how they can bring accidents into nature, but the Devils could not create the Oxe of Egypt. Conſequence. 2
God only creates: this diſtinguiſheth him from the heathen God, and the vanities of the Gentile. Ier. 10.11. So ſhalt thou ſay to them, Curſed be the gods that made not heaven and earth. This verſe is ſet downe in the Chaldee tongue, whereas all the reſt of the prophecie is ſet downe in the Hebrew tongue: why did the Lord this? to this effect, that when the Iewes ſhould goe into Babylon, and there ſhould bee ſolicited to worſhip their Idols, they ſhould have this verſe ready in their owne language; Curſed be your gods, for they made neither heaven nor earth.
God created the world of nothing. Prop.
Nothing is taken ſundry wayes in the Scriptures: Illuſt. firſt privatively, as 1 Cor. 8.4. an Idol is nothing, that is, it hath no divinity in it; it is nothing privatively, here, but not negatively, for it is of wood or ſtone. So 1. Cor. 7.9. Circumciſion is nothing, Nihil eſt negativum, comparativum, & privativum.that is, it hath no efficacy in it after the aboliſhing of it, yet it is not ſimply nothing, for it is the cutting of the fore-skin. Secondly, a thing is nothing in compariſon, one thing being compared with another of greater excellencie. Eſai. 48. All the world is nothing before him; that is, all the world is nothing, being compared with God. Thirdly, a thing is nothing negatively or ſimply, Marke 11.13. There was no fruit upon the fig-tree. When we ſay that God made the world of nothing, it is not meant of nothing privatively or in compariſon, but of nothing negatively and ſimply. Rom. 4. Hee calleth upon things that are not, as though they were.
He proceeded in the Creation from the negation to the habite, Deus in creatione proceſs it a negatione ad habitum, a totali privatione ad habitum, & a partiali privatione ad habitum.when hee made the world of nothing ſimply; ſecondly, from a totall privation to the habite, when hee made light to ſhine out of darkeneſſe. 2. Cor. 4.6. thirdly, from a partiall privation to the habit; when he made the day to ſucceede to the night.
God hath ſundry royall prerogatives which onelyonly belong to himſefe. Prop.
Firſt God can create a thing of nothing; Illuſt. therefore the Magitians of Egypt, who in ſhew had many things, yet could not truely make the baſeſt creeping things, Exod. 8.18. Secondly, it is Gods prerogative to turne a thing to nothing; Tanta eſt diſtantia ab ente ad non ens, ut à non ente ad ens.for there is as great a vaſtneſſe of motion from that which is, to that which is not, as is from that which is not, to that which is. A man may diſſolve a body into duſt by burning it, but he cannot ſimply turne it to nothing, for onelyonly God by his power muſt doe this; Annihilatio eſt ſubſtractio Divini influxus, a thing is turned to nothing, Solius Dei eſt creare de nihilo, convertere in nihilum, transformare, addere formas rebus, viviſicare, & conſervare.when God withdrawes his influence from it. Thirdly, it is God that can in a moment without natural preparation turne one ſubſtance into another, as water into wine, Iohn 2. and Lots wife into a piller of ſalt, Gen. 19. therefore the Divell when hee would take a proofe of Chriſt whether he was God or not, bids him change ſtones into bread, Mat. 4. Fourthly, it is Gods prerogative, onelyonly to adde formes to things, man cannot ſimply invent a forme, but compoſe, adde, or diminiſh from that which he hath ſeene already; a man can make a mountaine of gold, becauſe he hath ſeene both a mountaine and gold; ſo he can make Dagon halfe man, and halfe fiſh, becauſe he hath ſeene both fiſh and a man before, but hee cannot ſimply invent a forme. Fiftly, it is God that onelyonly can put life into the creatures. Sixtly, to preſerve and guide them continually.
Hee who needeth moſt helpes to his worke, Illuſt. 2 is the moſt imperfect worker. There are three ſpeciall workers conſidered in their place and decree; Art, Nature, Ars, Natura, Deus, operimur. Eſt agens independens.and God. Art needeth many helpes, Nature needeth few, but God none, for his working depends upon nothing, and he preſuppoſeth nothing to worke upon. The perfection of art is to imitate nature, the perfection of nature, is to imitate God in his firſt creation, when Art degenerates from nature; then ſhee is aſhamed, and when nature degenerates from the firſt creation, ſhee bringeth forth but monſters.
The tradeſman when he worketh, Illuſt. 3 hee muſt have matter to worke upon, and his patterne before him; our minde when it worketh, hath not neede of matter to worke upon, but of a forme; but God when he worketh needeth neither matter to worke upon, nor patterne to worke by.
God when hee made the world of nothing. Firſt, hee made it of nothing ſimply. Secondly, of a ſubject that had no hability to produce, Ex inhabili ſubiccto.as when hee made the plants out of the earth, there was no more power in the earth at the firſt to produce theſe plants, then there was in the rocke to give water, Exod. 27. Thirdly, he created man out of a ſubject that had no hability to produce the matter, and of nothing ſimply, touching the forme, as hee made his body out of the earth, Creatio in materia, ſed non ex materia.which had no diſpoſition in it for making of the body; ſo he created the ſoule of nothing, which is the forme of the body, hee produced the ſoule of beaſts, both in the body, and of the body.
He made the world of nothing, E X, hic non not at m… teriam ſed ordinem. OF. ſignifieth not here any matter, but onder onelyonly.
Queſt. How were the creatures with God before the creation.
Anſw. Eſſe in ſua cauſa ideale, reale.The creatures are ſaid to bee three manner of waies. Firſt in the cauſe, as the Roſe in winter is in the roote, although it bee not ſpred. Secondly, when they are in the mind by repreſentation. Thirdly, when they have a reall exiſtence. The creatures were with God before their creation, as in the cauſe, ſo they were with God in his underſtanding before the creation: and of this ſort of beeing, David ſpeaketh, Pſal. 139.16. ſaying, Thine eyes did ſee my ſubſtance yet being imperfect, and in thy booke all my members were written, which in continuance were faſhioned, when as yet there were none of them: but the creatures had not a reall exiſtence with God, as after when they were created. The creatures, eminenter ſunt in Deo, they are by way of excellency in God, but in themſelves they have a finite being. Prop.
God is the exemplar of all things. Prop.
The creatures are but as the ſhaddow to the body, or as the reflex of the glaſſe preſently vaniſheth when the face is turned away; So when God turneth away his face from the creatures, they periſh and turne to nothing Pſal. 104.29. They die and returne to their duſt. God in the creation created ſome things actually, other things potentially, in their firſt principles; as Hony, Wine, The order of the Creation.Oyle, Balme, and ſuch.
God in the creation kept this order; in the univerſe, he proceedeth from the imperfect, to the perfect, Progreſſus ab imperfectis ad perfecta in univerſi creatione, at in particulartum creatione a perfectis ad minus perfecta.as the Elements were firſt created, and then the things made of the Elements; the things without life; before things with life; and of things with life, hee made man laſt, as moſt perfect; but in particular things, hee proceeded from the more perfect, to the more imperfect; as firſt he made the trees, and then hee made the ſeede; ſo hee made the Woman after the Man, as more imperfect and paſſive.
Queſt. Whether could God have made the world better than he made it?
Anſw. Duplex perfectio, graduum, & partium.The world is confidered either in reſpect of the whole, or in reſpect of the parts. In reſpect of the whole, the world is perfect, both in reſpect of degrees and parts: but reſpecting the parts ſeverally, the world was not perfect in reſpect of degrees, for God by his power might have made particular things better than they were. This the Scripture ſheweth us, Gen. 1. when it ſaith, That every dayes worke was good, but when it ſpeakes of all together, it ſayes, They were very good; Propter ordinum univerſi, & hac eſt ultima & nobilisſima perfectio in rebus; This is the laſt and moſt excellent perfection of the creatures, and this could not be made better. In a Campe, there are Captaines, Souldiers, and a Generall, a Souldier conſidered by himſelfe, might be in a better place than hee is in; for it were better for him that he were a Captaine, But conſider him with the whole Campe, which conſiſts as well of inferior members as ſuperior, it is better for him to be a Souldier. So conſider the ſeverall workes of God by themſelves, they might have beene made better; but conſider them with the whole, Thom. part. prim queſt. 15. art. 6. Eſſentia cuiuſque, rei conſiſtit in indiviſibile, Ergo nihil poteſt add… vel detrahi. Vp. natura eſt intenſa aut poten ia in hibita non eſt creatio.they could not have been made better. Conſider Chriſts humane by it nature ſelfe, it had beene better if it had not been paſſible; but conſider it in order to our redemption, it was better that his body was made paſſible, and ſo could not have been made better, becauſe it was better for the curing of our miſerie, that his body ſhould be mortall and paſſible. Secondly, it may be anſwered, God could have made theſe things which he made better accidentally, but not eſſentially, becauſe hee could have made Man or Angel with more excellent gifts than hee made them with: but hee could not make them in eſſent better than they were. Thirdly, it is anſwered, by others: that God could not make the world with more wiſedome, or after a better manner than he made it; but reſpecting the things which were made, he could have made them better, Ad optimum non pertinet ut optima faciat, ſed ut optimè & ſumma potentia & ſapientia; It belongs not to the chiefe good, to make things good in the higheſt meaſure of goodneſſe, but by his poewre and wiſedome onelyonly to make them good.
Queſt. Whether are Miracles a Creation or not.
Anſw. Where Nature is onelyonly enlarged or hindred; they are not called a Creation, but a Miracle: but where the things are ſuddenly brought foorth, or the Eſſentiall formes multiplyed, there is a Creation as well as a Miracle. Example of the firſt, when Nature is onelyonly extended, it is not a Creation but a Miracle; as when the eye of Stephen ſaw to the third heaven, Chriſt ſtanding at the right hand of God, Act. 7. or when Sara that was barren conceived, Gen. 21. or when the Sunne went backe ten degrees, Eſay 38. or when it ſtandeth ſtill, Ioſh. 10. theſe are Miracles, but not a Creation. But when the Virgin Mary conceiveth, and beareth a Sonne, here is both a Miracle, and a Creation. It was a miracle becauſe a Virgin brought forth a Son, and yet remained ſtill a Virgin. It was a Creation, becauſe ſhee conceived a child without a naturall meanes, Reſpectu cauſae efficient is non materiae, In reſpect of the efficient, and not of the materiall cauſe: Shee knew no man, for the holy Ghoſt over-ſhadowed her, Luk. 1. Manna made for the ſuſtentation of the Iſraelites, is both a Miracle and a Creation, Ex. 16.22. In reſpect of the place from whence it commeth (from Heaven) it is a Miracle; in reſpect of the quantitie that there fell ſo much to feede ſo many hundreth thouſand people, it was a Creation; In the taſte it was ſweet like honey, a Miracle; in the colour tranſparent, a Miracle; in a quality that the heate of the Sun melted it, and the heate of the fire bak't it, a Miracle; but that their fell double of it on the evening before the Sabbath, both a Creation and a Miracle: that it fell not upon the Sabbath day, a Miracle; that it corrupted when it was gathered contrary to the command of God, a Miracle; that it fell onelyonly about the campe of Iſrael, and in no place elſe, a Miracle; that it laſted till they came to Canaan a Miracle; that it was preſerved for ſo many hundred yeares in the golden pot, a Miracle.
Quest. Whether ſhall the Reſurrection of the Body be a Creation or not.
Baſil anſwers, In epiſt. ad caeſarienſes. Creatio ex nihilo, regenerationis et reſurrectionis.that it is a creation, & he ſhewes that there are three ſorts of Creation, the firſt, when a thing is made of nothing, as in the firſt Creation. The ſecond, when a thing of evill is made good; as in regeneration, Pſal. 51. Create in me a new heart. The third, when the bodies ſhall be raiſed out of the duſt, at the reſurrection: the firſt is called foreign, and the reſurrection is called foreign, or a new creation, Matth. 19.3.28
CHAP. I. Of the Creation of Man.
MOſes in the firſt of Geneſis brings in God making man. Doctrine. Hence we learne a difference betwixt Divinitie and all other ſciences: for although all other ſciences be buſied about man; as Phyſick, for the health of his body; Ethickes, for his civill converſation, &c. Yet none of them leads him to the converſation of his Maker, Differt theologia ab omnibus alijs ſcientijs.but Divinity, till Moſes come in and ſhew this. The Anatomiſt will deſcribe every member of his bodie, but never ſpeake of his Maker. Here wee ſee the prophaneneſſe of man, for hee maketh leſſe account of this ſcience than of any other; hee accounts more of the painter that paints him, or of the tayler that makes his cloathes, than of him that ſheweth him who made him. Laertius writes of one Crates who beſtowed his goods very fooliſhly, for he gave to his flatterer ten talents, to his whore a talent, to his cook ten Mna's, to his Phyſitian a Drachme, to his Philoſopher three halfe penny's, to his Counſellor, Fumum, Smoake; in effect, men now eount baſelieſt of the moſt worthieſt ſciences: but let men paint thee, dreſſe thee, cure thee as they pleaſe; if Moſes come not in and tell thee, that God made thee, they ſhall have all but ſhame of their handiworke. The Philoſopher being asked, what was the cauſe that Philoſophers attended at the gates of rich men, & rich men attended not at the gates of Philoſophers? he anſwer'd, becauſe the Philoſophers knew what they ſtood in need of, but the rich men knew not what need they had of Philoſophie. So if men knew how much they ſtood in need of Divinity, to leade them to their Creator, Cauſa materiatis, formatis, officiens, finalis.they would make more of them that leade them to this knowledge.
Divinity paſſeth for the moſt part from the materiall and formall cauſe, and thinketh upon the Efficient and finall, the firſt and the laſt cauſe, and ſo while other ſciences are either plunged in the baſeneſſe of the matter, or curiouſly ſearching into the formes of things (which can hardly bee knowne) the Divine is carried backe to the contemplation of the firſt cauſe, to eternitie, and to the laſt cauſe in eternity, which are the onelyonly comfortable meditations.