The Arraignment of Pride, Chapter 21
CHAP. 21. Of Pride of Learning and Knowledge.
GReat was the flaw natural reaſon met with in Adams fall; that that breach might in ſome meaſure be made up, God did not only lighten that Luminare magnum, his holy Scripture, but lightned alſo luminare minus, a leſs light, the light of reaſon; by the help of arts and ſciences he enlarged mans capacity even to the apprehenſion of his ſupernatural properties. Whither humane ſciences began before the flood, or ſince; whither they were derived from Abraham to the Chaldeans, or from Joſeph to the Egyptians; and whither Cadmus brought learning to the Greeks, and Carmenta to the Latines, or whither it came in by the Phaenicians or Aſſyrians, in general, I have now nothing to do to enquire; but this that I ſhall ſay, is, that whereſoever or in whomſoever they are, they be of God. This I note to ſtop thoſe mouths that ſpend their invectives againſt humane learning: humane learning is with them like Sauls armour; tis too cumberſome, too unweildy to bear.
Object. But the Scripture ſaith, God will deſtroy the wiſdome of the wiſe, and bring to nought the underſtanding of the prudent, 1 Cor. 1.19. and Paul bids the Coloſſians beware, leſt any man ſpoile them through Philoſophy and vain deceit, Coloſ. 2.8.
Anſw. 1. When he ſaith, he will deſtroy the wiſdom of the wiſe, it is not ſuam his own, nempe divinam illam quam ipſis dedit, viz. that divine wiſdom that he hath given them, but fucatam illam, Summa cura provideto, ne cum accepta ſcientia tenchras ignorantiae petit, lumen humilitatis tollat; & ſic vera ſapientia eſſe nequit, quae licet elocutionis fulgore luceat, cor tamen loquentis obſcurat. Greg. moral.quam ſibi arrogarunt, that adulterate wiſdom which they have arrogated to themſelves, and ſo grow proud therewith; Thoſe ſentences which Paul quoteth out of the Greek Poets in the Acts and elſewhere, are (as Auſtin ſpeaketh) thereby delivered ab injuſt is poſſeſſoribus, as it were redeemed out of the hands of unjuſt uſurpers: then indeed was the Mathematical and Chaldaick learning truly owned, when it was ſcituate in Moſes and Daniel: then was the Oratorial and Greek learning rightly placed, when it was in the tenure of Paul and Apollos: all humane ſciences, holy ſentences and aphoriſms are then in their due and un-uſurped poſſeſſion, when they fall into the hands of the Saints generally, and ſpecially, when they reſide in Gods Miniſters, whoſe lips muſt preſerve knowledge.
2. When the Apoſtle ſpeaks againſt Philoſophy, you are to know that he neither condemneth the whole body of Philoſophy in general, nor any part thereof in particular being rightly uſed; t'is only that empty nominal and equivocal Philoſophy that goes about to ſeduce with enticing words, that Paul condemneth; Davenant in Coloſ. 2.he only inveigheth againſt the abuſes thereof, by men that are pufft up with fleſhly wiſdom: he rejects it not ſimply, but only in ſome reſpects, when it containeth not it ſelf within its own bounds, and keeps not within its compaſs; but intrencheth and intrudeth upon Divinity, to the diſhonour of God, and diſadvantage of the truth, and thus it becometh vain deceit, which is added interpretative, Calvin in Coloſ. 2.8.by way of interpretation, as Calvin obſerveth upon the place: that old ſerpent the Devil is not more ſubtile in his turnings and windings, L'Apoſtolo non condanna la filoſofia ſemplicemente uſando, egli à le volte i principii communi con la vera filoſofia main quanto ch' ella non ſi contienne ſuoi termini ne indrizzata à la gloria dei. Ital. Annot. in loc.whereby he compaſſeth the earth, then were the hereticks of former times, turning and winding in their Philoſophical ſubtilties; the practice of the Fathers in thoſe times, was out of ſolid and ſubſtantial Philoſophy to convince them, and ſo to do by them as David by Goliath, to wound them with their own weapon.
It were eaſie to ſhew divers Paradoxes in Philoſophy, which cannot ſtand in divinity, wherein mans pride ſets him to diſpute againſt the wiſdom of God; As
1. The eternity of the world: Philoſophers ſay, the world is from eternity, becauſe they ſay, Ex nihilo nihil fit: Out of nothing, nothing is made; and Divinity teacheth us; that God made all things out of nothing: Quod quidem verum eſt phyſice, & juxta naturae regulas, ſed non Metaphyſice, ſi ad primam cauſam & cauſam cauſarum, ſc. deum reſpicias, qui mundum hunc viſibilem ex nihilo creavit, & creare poteſt quicquid vult.that Maxime in Philoſophy is true Phyſically, and according to the rules of nature, but not Metaphyſically, if we look to the firſt cauſe, to God the cauſe of cauſes, who made this viſible world out of nothing, and can create whatſoever he will.
2. The ſecond is, that there ſhall be no reſurrection, A privatione ad habitum nullus eſtregreſſus.becauſe its an axiome in Philoſophy, that from the privation to the habit, there is no regreſs; a natural body reduced to its firſt matter, whereof it was made cannot poſſibly take up the ſame again, and live after death: the Athenians therefore mock at Paul, when he teacheth at Athens the doctrine of the reſurrection, a doctrine croſs to Philofophical principles: which alſo is true naturally and phyſically, but falſe if you take it in a Metaphyſical and ſupernatural ſenſe, referring it to God.
3. Divers diſpute alſo Philoſophically againſt juſtification by faith only, or by Chriſt alone, as the imputation of his righteouſneſs to us, Rom. 5.19. 2 Cor. 5.21. Pſal. 32.1. Here again they wrangle and proudly cavil, ſaying, How can one be juſt or righteous by anothers righteouſneſs, any more then be wiſe by another mans wiſdom, or learned by another mans learning? I anſwer, that theſe things be not of the ſame ſort or kind; for the former be alſo inherent in their ſubjects, as they cannot be ſeparated from them, or imparted to any other; But the other may and are, virtute unionis Chriſti & Chriſtianorum, by vertue of the union of Chriſt and Chriſtians.
And a man may be fed with another mans meat, if it be given him, and he eat of it; or warm in another mans garments, if he wear them, or moſt properly pay his debts with another mans money, if it be either given him or lent him.
Divers other devices there are in Philoſophy, or more truly, divers conceits and odd opinions of Philoſophers, which cannot ſtand with the truth of Divinity.
1. As all their ſorts and kinds of Magick, and judicial Aſtrology.
2. That the ſoul is not an immortal ſubſtance.
3. That all things come to paſs and are carried either by chance and fortune, and at all adventures, and meer contingences, as the Epicuraeans: or elſe by fatal deſtiny, and a concatenation of ſecond cauſes, as the Stoicks: Item all their fond and fooliſh falſe opinions de ſummo bono, concerning true happineſs: Some of the learned have reckoned up above two hundred and eighty opinions concerning this point: Thus when any thing taken out of the writings of any men, though never ſo antient or learned, or what ſhew of wit or wiſdom ſoever it make, if it be contrary to the Scriptures, and the written Word of God, its no better then vain deceit, and therefore we muſt beware of it, avoid it, leſt we be ſpoiled by it: In a word, we muſt not fet principles in divinity or the articles of our faith, Aquinas hath a good and modeſt rule, Rationi naturali verae nunquam contrariatur Theologia, ſed eam excedi ſaepè, & ſic videtur repugnare; non enim vera ratio dicit, illa ſuperiora fieri non poſſe abſolute, ſed non poſſe fieri virtute aliqua finita, quod etiam theologia fatetur. In his & hujusmodi Philoſophia Theologiae ſe ſubmittat, ut Hagar Sarae; Patiatur ſe admoneri & corrigi. Sin nimus pareat, ejice ancillam Aquin. Clem. Alexan. Struther.out of the writings of Philoſophers, nor ſet up our reſt to believe no more then we can ſee reaſon for; for there be divers things in the Scriptures, beyond the courſe of nature, and above the reach of humane reaſon, Rom. 1.22. 1 Cor. 2.14.
All knowledge if it be not ſanctified, is apt to puff a man up with pride, 1 Cor. 8.1.as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of it. One obſerveth that a great wit without learning, Knowledge when it is uſed to oſtentation, it is no better then a drunken knowledge; therefore he that is pufft up with it, had need be let blood, in vena ſapientiae.is a good knife without a whet-ſtone; and learning without ſolid judgement, is as the edge of glaſs, it is ſharp, but in brittle mettle; and to this I may add, that wit and learning without humility are a body without a ſoul, and but a ſharp ſword in the hand of a mad man; reaſon doth not ſo far exalt a man above a beaſt, or learning the knowing man above the ignorant, as humility doth the godly man above them both; but where all theſe three meet together they make a compleat man, and Chriſtian. This kind of pride that I am now ſpeaking of, is diſcovered in popular preachers, whoſe end ſhould be to win ſouls to Chriſt, but they deſire to get into a croud and there preach only for oſtentation, and to get applauſe, pretending before their Sermons earneſtly to beg the Spirits aſſiſtance, Hi quaerunt potius faſtū hominum, quam paſtū ovium. Bernard.and yet truſt more to their own wit, memory, and eloquence in the venting of their quaint phraſes and neat compoſitions, in the framing whereof they never ſought for the direction and aſſiſtance of God.