Readers verily striue both to finde out and to vnderstand the authors meaning whom wee reade and seeing wee beleeue him to speake truely wee dare not once imagine him to haue let fall any thing which our selues eyther know or thinke to be false Whilest euery man endeauours therefore to collect the same sence from the holy Scriptures that the Penman himselfe intended what hurt is it if a man so iudges of it euen as thou O' the light of all true-speaking minds dost shew him to bee true although the Author whom hee reades perceiued not so much seeing he also collecteth a Truth out of it though this particular trueth he perchance obserueth not CHAP. 19. Of some particular apparent truthes 1. FOr true it is O Lord That thou madest Heauen and Earth and it is true too that that Beginning is thy Wisedome in which thou createdst all and true againe that this visible world hath for his greater parts the Heauen and the Earth which in a briefe expression comprehend all made and created natures And true too That whatsoeuer is mutable giues vs to vnderstand that there is a want of forme in it by meanes whereof it is apt to receiue a forme or is changed or turned by reason of it It is true that that is subiect to no times which cleaueth so close vnto that vnchangeable forme as that though the nature of it bee mutable yet is it selfe neuer changed T is true that that vnshapednesse which is almost nothing cannot be subiect to the alteration of times T is true that that whereof a thing is made may by a figuratiue kinde of speaking bee called by the name of the thing made of it whence might heauen and earth bee sayd to bee that vnshap't Chaos whereof heauen and earth were made T is true that of things hauing forme there is not any neerer to hauing no forme then the earth and the deepe T is true that not onely euery created and formed thing but whatsoeuer is apt to bee created and formed is of thy making of whom are all things T is true that whatsoeuer is formed out of that which had no forme was vnformed before it was formed CHAP. 20. He interprets Gen. 1. 1. otherwise 1. OVt of these truths of which they little doubt whose internall eye thou hast enabled to see them and who irremoueably beleeue thy seruant Moses to haue spoken in the Spirit of truth Out of all these therefore I say hee collecteth another sence vnto himselfe who sayth In the beginning God made the heauen and the earth that is to say in his Word coeternall vnto himselfe God made the intelligible and the sensible or the spirituall and the corporeall creature And he another that saith In the beginning God made Heauen and Earth that is in his Word coeternall vnto himselfe did God make the vniuersall bulke of this corporeall world together with all those apparantly knowne creatures which it contayneth 2. And hee another that sayth In the beginning God made Heauen and Earth that is In his word coeternall vnto himselfe did God make the formelesse matter both of the creature spirituall and corporeall And he another that sayth In the beginning God created Heauen and Earth that is In his Word coeternall vnto himselfe did God create the formeles matter of the creature corporeal wherein heauen and earth lay as yet confused which being now distinguished and formed we at this day see in the bulke of this world And he another who sayth In the beginning God made heauen and earth that is In the very beginning of creating and of working did God make that formelesse matter confusedly contayning in it selfe both heauen and earth out of which what were afterwards formed doe at this day eminently appeare with all that is in them CHAP. 21. These words The Earth was voyd c. diuersly vnderstood 1. ANd forasmuch as concerns the vnderstanding of the words following out of all which truths that Interpreter chuses one to himselfe who sayth But the Earth was inuisible and vnfashioned and darknesse was vpon the deepe that is That incorporeall thing that God made was as yet a formelesse matter of corporeall things without order without light Another sayes thus The Earth was inuisible and vnfashioned and darknesse was vpon the deepe that is This All now called heauen and earth was a shapelesse and darksome matter hitherto of which the corporeall heauen and the corporeall earth were to bee made with all things in them now knowne vnto our corporeall sences Another sayes thus The Earth was inuisible and shapeless and darknes was vpon the deepe that is This All now called heauen and earth was but a formelesse and a darkesome matter hitherto out of which was to be made both that intelligible heauen which is other where called The Heauen of heavens and the Earth that 〈◊〉 say the whole corporeall 〈…〉 which 〈…〉 vnderstood this corporeall heauen also that â—â—â—ely out of which euery visible and inuisible creature 〈…〉 be created â— mother sayes thus The â—â—rth was inuisible and shapelesse and darknes was vpon the deepe that is The Scripture did not call that vnshapelynesse by the name of Heauen and Earth for that vnshapelynes sayth hee was already in being and that was it hee called the Earth inuisible without and shape and darkenesse vpon the deepe of which hee had sayd before that God had made heauen and earth namely the spirituall and corporeall creature Another sayes The Earth was inuisible and without shape and darknes was vpon the Deepe that is the matter was now a certayne vnshapelynesse of which the Scripture sayd before that God made heauen and earth namely the whole corporeall bulke of the world deuided into two great parts vpper and lower with all the common known creatures in them CHAP. 22. That the waters are also contayned vnder the names of Heauen and Earth 1. BVt if any man shall attempt to dispute against these two last opinions with this argument If you will not allow that this vnshapelynesse of matter seemd to be called by the name of heauen and earth Ergo there was something which God neuer made out of which he was to make heauen and earth Nor indeed hath the Scripture told vs that God made this heauen and earth but meerely to haue vs vnderstand that matter to be signified eyther by the name of heauen and earth together or of the earth alone whenas it sayd In the beginning God made the heauen and earth that so by that which followes And the Earth was inuisible and without forme although it pleased Him to call the formlesse matter by those termes yet may wee vnderstand no other matter but that which God made in that Text where t is written God made Heauen and Earth 2. The mayntayners of those two latter opinions eyther this or that will vpon the first hearing returne this answere Wee doe not deny this formelesse matter to be indeede created by God
did I yet observe that very Intention of mine by which I formed those Images was not any such corporeall substance which yet could not have formed them had not it selfe beene some great thing In like manner did I conceive thee O thou Life of my life to be some hugie corporeall substance on every side piercing thorow the whole Globe of this world yea and diffused every way without it and that by infinite spaces though unbounded So that the Earth should have thee the Heaven should have thee all things should have thee and that they should be bounded in thee but thou no where 4. For as the body of this Ayre which is about the Earth hindred not the light of the Sun from passing thorow it which pierceth it not by bursting or by cutting but by filling of it so thought I that not the body of the Heaven the Ayre Sea onely but of the Earth too to be at pleasure passable unto thee yea easie to be pierced by thee in all its greatest and smallest parts that all might receive thy presence which by a secret inspiration both inwardly and outwardly governeth all things which thou hast created Thus I suspected because any other thing I could not thinke of and yet was this false too For by this meanes should a greater part of the Earth have contained a larger portion of thee and the lesse a lesser and then should all things in such sort have been full of thee as that the body of an Elephant should containe so much more of thee than the body of a Sparrow by how much that should be bigger than this and take up more roome by it by which conceipt shouldest thou make thy parts present unto the severall parts of the World by bits as it were great gobbets to great parts little bits to little parts of the world But thus thou art not present But thou hadst not as yet enlightned my darknesse CHAP. 2. Nebridius confutes the Manichees 1. IT might have bin enough for me Lord to have opposed against those deceived and deceivers those dumbe praters therefore dumbe because they founded not forth thy Word That question might have serv'd the turne which long agoe whiles wee were at Carthage Nebridius used to propound at which all we that heard it were much staggered namely What that I know not which nation of darknesse which the Manichees were wont to set in opposition against thee would have done unto thee hadst thou beene minded to fight with it For had they answered It would have done thee some hurt thē shouldst thou have bin subject to violence and corruption but if they answered It could do thee no hurt then would there have beene no reason brought for thy fighting with it especially for such a fighting in which some certaine portion or member of thine or some off-spring of thy substance should have been mingled with those contrary powers those natures not created by thee by whom it should so farre have beene corrupted and changed to the worse that it should have beene turned from happinesse into misery and should have stood in neede of some assistance by which it must both be delivered and purged and that this Off-spring of thy substance was our soule which being inthralled thy Word that was free and being defiled thy Word that was pure and being may med thy Word that was entire might every way releeve and yet that Word it selfe also bee corruptible because it was the off-spring of one and the same substance 2. Againe should they affirme thee whatsoever thou art that is thy substance to be incorruptible then were all these fancies of theirs most false and execrable But if they should affirme thee to bee corruptible even that were most false and to be abhorred at the first hearing This Argument therefore of Nebridius verily had beene enough against those who deserved wholly to bee spised out of my over-charged stomake for that they had no evasion to betake themselves unto without most horrible blasphemy both of heart and tongue thinking and speaking of thee in this fashion CHAP. 3. Free will is the cause of Sinne. 1. BVt I as yet although I both said and thought most confidently that thou our Lord God who madest not only our soules but our bodies and not onely both soules and bodies but Vs all and all things else beside wert neither to bee corrupted or altered one way or other yet understood I not hitherto What should be the cause of evill And yet what-ever it were I perceived I ought in that sense to inquire after it that I might not be constrained to beleeve that the incommutable GOD could be altered by it left my selfe should bee made the thing that I desired to seeke After this therefore I inquired with more security being very certaine that the Manichees Tenet whom I dissented from with my whole heart was no way true for that I discovered them whilest they enquired after evill to be most full of maliciousnesse they thinking that thy substance did rather suffer ill than their owne commit evill Whereupon I applyed my industrie to understand the truth of what I had heard how that Free-will should be the cause of our ill-doing And thy just Iudgement that we suffered ill But I was not able cleerely to discerne it 2. Endevouring therefore to draw the eye of my soule out of that pit I was againe plunged into it and endevouring often I was plunged as often But this raised me a little up towards thy light that I now knew as well that I had a Will as that I had a life and when therefore I did either will or nill any thing I was most sure of it that I did no other thing but will and nill and there was the Cause of my sinne as I perceived presently But what I did against my will that seemed I to suffer rather than to doe That judged I not to be my fault but my punishment whereby I holding thee most just quickly confessed my selfe not to bee unjustly punished 3. But I objected to my selfe againe Who made me Did not my GOD who is not onely good but Goodnesse it selfe Whence then came it that I can both will and nill evill things that there might be cause found why I should be justly punisht for it Who was it that set this freedome in me that ingrafted into my stemme this Cyon of bitternesse seeing I was wholly made up by my most sweet God If the Divell were the Author whence is that same Divell And if he himselfe by his own perverse will of a good Angell became a Divell whence then proceeded that perverse will in him whereby he was made a Divell seeing that the whole nature of Angels was made good by that most good Creator And by such thoughts as these was I againe cast down and overwhelmed yet not so farre brought downe was I as the Hell of that Errour where no man shall confesse
there can in like manner any thing chance vnto thee that art vnchangeably Eternall that is the Eternall Creator of Soules Like as therefore thou in the beginning knewest the heauen and the earth without any variety of thy knowledge euen so didst thou in the beginning create heauen and earth without any distinction of thy action Let him that vnderstandeth it confesse vnto thee and let him that vnderstandeth it not confesse vnto thee also Oh how high art thou and yet the humble in heart are the house that thou dwellest in For thou vayself vvthose that are bowed down and neuer can they fall whose strength thou art Saint Augustines Confessions The twelfth Booke CHAP. 1. T is very difficult to finde out the truth MY heart O Lord toucht with the words of holy Scripture is busily imployed in this pouerty of my life And euen therefore in our discourse oftentimes appeares there a most plentifull pouerty of humane vnderstanding because that our enquiring spends vs more words then our finding out does and wee are longer about demanding then about obtayning and our hand that knocks hath more worke to doe then our other hand that receiues A promise haue wee layd holde of who shall defeate vs of it If God bee on our side who can bee against vs Aske and yee shall haue seeke and you shall finde knocke and it shall bee opened vnto you For euery one that askes receiues and he that seekes finds and to him that knocketh shall it be opened These be thine owne promises and who needes feare to bee deceiued whenas the Truth promiseth CHAP. 2. That the heauen we see is but earth in respect of the heauen of heauens which wee see not 1. VNto thy Highnesse the lowlynesse of my tongue now confesseth because thou hast made heauen and earth this heauen I meane which I see and this earth that I treade vpon whence is this earth that I beare about me Thou madest it But where is that Heauen of Heauens made for the Lord which wee heare of in the words of the Psalmist The heauen euen the heauens are the Lords but the earth hath he giuen to the children of men Where is that Heauen which we see not that in comparison whereof all this heauen which wee see is but meere earth For this heauen is wholy corporeall For all this which is wholy corporeall is not euery where beautifull alike in these lower parts the bottome wherof is this earth of ours but in comparison of that Heauen of heauens euen the heauen to this our earth is but earth yea both these great bodies may not absurdly bee called earth in comparison of that I know not what manner of heauen which is the Lords and not giuen to the Sonnes of men CHAP. 3. Of the darknesse vpon the face of the Deepe 1. AND now was this Earth without shape and voyde and there was I know not what profoundnesse of the Deepe vpon which there was no light because as yet it had no shape Therefore didst thou command it to bee written that darknesse was vpon the face of the deepe which what other thing was it then the Absence of light For if there had been light where should â—â— haue beene bestowed but in being ouer all by shewing it selfe and enlightening others Where therefore as light was not yet what was it that darkenesse was present but that light was absent Darknesse therefore was ouer all hitherto because light was absent like as where there is no found there is silence And what is it to haue silence there but to haue no sound there Hast not thou O Lord taught these things vnto the soule which thus confesses vnto thee Hast not thou taught mee Lord that before thou createdst diuersifyedst this vnshapen matter there was nothing neyther colour nor figure nor body nor Spirit and yet was there not altogether an absolute nothing for there was a certaine vnshapednes without any forme in it CHAP. 4. Of the Chaos and what Moses called it 1. ANd how should that be called and by what sence could it bee insinuated to people of slow apprehensions but by some ordinary word And what among all the parts of the world can be found to come neerer to an absolute vnshapednesse then the Earth and the deepe For surely they bee lesse beautifull in respect of their low situation then those other higher parts are which are all transparent and shining Wherefore then may I not conceiue the vnshapelynesse of the first matter which thou createdst without form of which thou wert to make this goodly world to bee significantly intimated vnto men by the name of Earth without shape and voyd CHAP. 5. That this Chaos is hard to conceiue 1. VVHen herein the thoughts of man are seeking for somewhat which the Sence may fasten vpon and returnes answere to it selfe It is no intelligible forme as life is or as Iustice is because it is the matter of bodies Nor is it any thing sensible for that in this earth inuisible as yet and without forme there was nothing to bee perceiued Whilest mans thoughts thus discourse vnto himselfe let him endeauour eyther to know it by being ignorant of it or to bee ignorant by knowing it CHAP. 6. What himselfe sometimes thought of it 1. FOr mine owne part O Lord if I may confesse all vnto thee both by tongue and pen what-euer thy selfe hast taught me of that matter the name whereof hauing heard before but not vnderstanding because they told me of it who themselues vnderstood it not I conceiued of it as hauing innumerable formes and diuerse and therefore indeede did I not at all conceiue it in my minde I tossed vp and downe certaine vgly and hideous formes all out of order but yet formes they were notwithstanding and this I cald without forme Not that it wanted all for me but because it had such a mis-shapen one insomuch as if any vnexpected thought or absurdity presented it selfe vnto mee my sence would straight wayes turne from it and the fraylenesse of my humane discourse would bee distracted And as for that which my conceite ranne vpon it was me thought without forme not for that it was depriued of all forme but it comparison of more beautifull formes but true reason did perswade me that I must vtterly vncase it of all remnants of formes whatsoeuer if so bee I meant to conceiue a matter absolute without forme but I could not For sooner would I haue imagined that not to bee at all which should be depriued of all forme then once conceiue there was likely to bee any thing betwixt forme and nothing a matter neyther formed nor nothing without forme almost nothing 2. My minde gaue ouer thereupon to question any more about it with my spirit which was wholy taken vp already with the images of formed bodies which I changed and varied as mee listed and I bent my enquiry vpon the bodies themselues and more deeply lookt into
him put away the bitternesse of malice and wickednesse let him not kil nor commit adultery nor steale nor beare false witnesse that the dry land may appeare and bring forth the honouring of Father and mother and the loue of our neyghbour All these sayth hee haue I kept 2. Whence then commeth such stoare of thornes if so bee the earth bee fruitefull Goe stubbe vp those thicke bushes of couetousnesse sell that thou hast and fill thy selfe with standing corne by giuing to the poore and follow the Lord if thou wilt be perfect that is associated to them among whom he speaketh wisedome he that well knoweth what to distribute to the day and what vnto the night that thou also mayst know it and that for thee there may bee lights made in the Firmament of heauen which neuer will bee vnlesse thy heart be there nor will that euer bee vnlesse there thy treasure bee also like as thou hearest of our good master But that barren earth was sorry at that saying and the thornes choaked the word in him 2. But you O chosen generation you weake things of the world who haue forsaken all that ye may follow the Lord goe yee now after him and confound the strong go after him O yee beautifull feete and shine yee in the Firmament that the heauens may declare his glory you that are mid-way betweene the light and the perfect ones though not so perfect yet as the Angels and the darkenesse of the little ones though not vtterly despised Shine yee ouer all the earth and let one day enlightened by the Sunne vtter vnto another day a speech of Wisedome and one night enlightened by the Moone shew vnto another night a word of knowledge The Moone and Starres shine in the night yet doeth not the night obscure them seeing they giue that light vnto it which it is capeable of For behold as if God had giuen the word Let there lights in the Firmament of heauen there came suddenly a sound from heauen as it had been the rusking of a mighty winde and there appeared clouen tongues like as it had beene of fire and it sate vpon each of them and there were made lights in the Firmament of heauen which had the word of life in them Ely euery where about O you holy flies O you beauteous fires for you are the light of the world nor are you put vnder a bushell he whom you claue vnto is exalted himselfe and hath exalted you Ranne you abroad and make your selues knowne vnto all nations CHAP. 20. He allegorizes vpon the creation of spirituall things 1. LEt the Sea also conceiue and bring forth your works ◠and let the waters bring foorth the mouing creature that hath life For you by separating the good from the bad are made the mouth of God by whom he sayd Let the waters bring forth not a liuing soule which the earth brings forth but the mouing creatures hauing life in it and the winged fowles that fly ouer the earth For thy Sacrament O God by the ministerie of thy holy ones haue moued in the middest of the waues of temptation of this present world for the trayning vp of the Gentiles vnto thy name in thy baptisme In the doing wherof many a great wonder was wrought resembling the huge Whales and the voyces of thy Messengers flying aboue the Earth in the open Firmament of thy Bible that being set ouer them as their authority vnder which they were to fly whithersoeuer they went For there is no speech nor language where their voyce is not heard Seeing their sound is gone thorow all the Earth and their words to the end of the world because thou O Lord hast enlarged them by thy blessing 2. Say I not true or doe I mingle and confound and not sufficiently distinguish betweene the knowledge of these lightsome creatures that are in the Firmament of heauen and these corporeall workes in the wauy Sea and those things that are vnder the Firmament of heauen For of those things whereof the vnderstanding is solid and bounded within themselues without any increases of their generations like the lights of Wisedome and Knowledge as it were yet euen of them the operations bee corporeall many and diuers and one thing growing out of another they are multiplyed by thy blessing O God who hast refreshed our soone cloyed mortall sences that so the thing which is but one in the vnderstanding of our mind may by the motions of our bodies bee many seuerall wayes set out and discoursed vpon These Sacraments haue the Waters brought forth yea indeede the necessities of the people estranged from the eternity of thy trueth haue brought them foorth in thy Word that is in thy Gospell Because indeede the Waters cast them foorth the bitternesse whereof was the very cause why these Sacraments went along accompanied with thy Word 3. Now are all things faire that thou hast made but loe thy selfe is infinitely fairer that madest these all from whom had not Adam falne this brackishnesse of the Sea had neuer flowed out of his Ioines namely this mankind so profoundly and so tempestuously swelling and so restlesly tumbling vp and downe And then had there beene no necessitie of thy ministers to worke in many waters after a corporeall and sensible maner such mysterious doings and sayings For in this sense haue those mouing flying creatures at this present fallen into my meditation in which people being trayned vp admitted into though they had receiued corporeal Sacraments should not for all this bee able to profit by them vnlesse their soule were also quickned vp vnto a higher pitch and vnlesse after the word of admission it looked forwards to Perfection CHAP. 21. He allegorizes vpon the Creation of Birds and fishes alluding by them vnto such as haue receiued the Lords supper are better taught and mortified which are perfecter Christians then the meerly baptized 1. ANd hereby by vertue of thy Word not the deepnesse of the Sea but the earth it selfe once separated from the bitternesse of the waters brings forth not the creeping and flying creatures of seules hauing life in them but the liuing soule it selfe which hath now no more neede of Baptisme as the heathen yet haue and as it selfe also had when it was couered heretofore with the waters For there is entrance into the kingdome of heauen no other way since the time that thou hast instituted this Sacrament for mē to enter by nor does the liuing soule any more seeke after miracles to worke Beliefe nor is it so with it any longer That vnlesse it sees signes and wonders it will not beleeue now that the faithfull Earth is separated from the waters that were bitter with infidelity and that tongues are for a signe not to them that beleeue but to them that beleeue not The Earth therefore which thou hast founded vpon the waters hath no more neede
of speaking it is corporeally expressed and thus doth this Fry of the waters increase and multiply Obserue againe Reader who euer thou art behold I say that which the Scripture deliuers and the voice pronounces one onely way In the Beginning God created Heauen Earth is it not vnderstood many a seuerall way not w th any deceit of errour but in seuerall kinds of very true sences Thus does mans of spring increase and multiply 4. If therefore wee can conceiue of the natures of things not allegorically but properly then may the phrase Increase and multiply very well agree vnto all things whatsoeuer that come of any kinde of Seede But if wee intreate of the words as figuratiuely spoken which I rather suppose to be the purpose of the Scripture which doth not I beleeue superfluously attribute this benediction vnto the increases of watery and humane creatures onely then verily doe we find multitudes both in creatures spirituall and creatures corporeall as in Heauen and Earth and in Soules both righteous and vnrighteous as in light and darkenesse and in holy Authors who haue beene the Ministers of the Law vnto vs as in the Firmament which is settled betwixt the higher and the lower Waters and in the society of people yet in the bitternesse of infidelity as in the Sea and in the studies of holy soules as in the dry land and in the workes of mercy done in this life as in the herbs bearing seede and in the fruitefull trees and in spirituall gifts shining forth for our edification as in the lights of heauen and in mens affections reformed vnto temperance as in the liuing soule in all these instances we meete with multitudes abundance and increase 5. But that such an increase and multiplying should come as that one thing may be vnderstood and expressed many wayes and one of those expressions vnderstood seuerall waies too wee doe no where find except in words corporeally expressed and in things intelligibly deuided By these words corporeally pronounced wee vnderstand the generations of the waters and that for the necessary causes of fleshly profundity by these things intelligibly diuided wee vnderstand humane generations and that for the fruitfulnesse of their reason And euen therefore we beleeue thee Lord to haue sayd to both these kinds Increase and multiply for that within the compasse of this blessing I conceiue thee to haue granted vs a power and a faculty both to expresse seuerall waies that which wee vnderstand but one and to vnderstand seuerall waies that which wee reade to bee obseurely deliuered but in one Thus are the waters of the Sea replenished which are not moued but by seuerall significations thus with humane increase is the earth also replenished whose drynesse appeared by its affections ouer which reason ruleth CHAP. 25. He allegorically compareth the Fruites of the Earth vnto the duties of piety I Will now also deliuer O Lord my God that which the following Scripture puts mee in minde of yea I will deliuer it without feare For I will vtter the truth thy selfe inspiring me with what thy pleasure was to haue me deliuer concerning those words But by no other inspiration then thine can I beleeue my selfe to speake truth seeing thou art the very truth and euery man a lyer He therefore that speaketh a lye speaketh it of his owne that therefore I may speake truth I will speake it from thee Behold thou hast giuen vnto vs for foode euery herbe bearing seede which is vpon the face of all the earth and euery tree in which is the fruit of a tree yeelding seede And that not to vs alone but also to all the Fowles of the ayre and to the beasts of the earth and to all creeping things but vnto the Fishes and to the greate whales hast thou not giuen them 2. Now by these fruites of the earth wee sayd before that the workes of mercy were signified and figured out in an Allegory which for the necessition of this life are afoorded as 〈◊〉 of a fruitfull earth Such an Earth was the doâ— out Quâ—siphâ—rus vnto whose housethou gauest mercy who often refreshed thy Paul and was not ashamed of his chaine With such a crop were those Brethren fruitfull also who out of Mecedonia supplied his wants But how much grieued hee for such trees as did not affâ—â—rd him the fruite due vnto him where hee sayth At my first â—â—swere no man stood by me 〈◊〉 men forsooke me I pray God that it may not be layd to their charge For these fruits are due vnto such as minister the Spirituall doctrine vnto vs out of their vnderstanding of the diuine Mysteries and they are due â—â— vnto them as they are 〈◊〉 yea and due so vnto them also as vnto liuing 〈◊〉 in that they giue themselues as patternes of imitation in all continencie â—nd so are they due vnto them also as they are flying 〈◊〉 for their Blessings which are multiplied vpon the 〈◊〉 because their found i gaue out into all lands CHAP. 26. The pleasure and the profit redounding to vs out of a 〈◊〉 turne done vnto our neyghbour 1. THey now are fedde by these fruites that are delighted with them nor are those delighted with them whose belly is their God Neither yet euen in them that yeeld them is that the fruit which they yeeld but the mind with which they affoord them Hee therefore that serued God not his own belly I plainely see the thing that caused him so to reioyce I see it and I reioyce with him For hee had receiued fruit from the Philippians who had sent it by Spaphroditâ—s vnto him and yet I still perceiue the cause of his reioycing For that which hee reioyced vpon that hee fed because hee speaking as truth was of it I reioyced sayth hee greatly in the Lord that now at last your 〈◊〉 of mâ— hath flourished againe wherein yee were also carefull but it was tedious vnto you These Philippians therefore had now euen rotted away with a longsome irkesomnesse and withered as it were in respect of the fruit of this good worke and he now reioyceth for them not for himselfe that they fliurisht again in asmuch as they now supplyed his wants Therefore sayth hee afterwards This I speake not in respect of want for I haue learned in whatsoeuer state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abasâ—i and I know how to abound euery where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer neede I can do all things through him which strengtheneth me â— Of what art thou so glad O great Paul of what art thou so glad what is it thou so feedest vpoÌ„ Othou man renued in the knowledg of God after the image of him that created thee thou liuing soule of so much coÌ„tinency thou tongue of the flying fowles speaking such mysteries for to such creatures is this foode due what
very unseemely thing to beleeve thee to have the shape of our humane flesh and to be girt up in the bodily lineaments of our members And because that when I had a desire to meditate upon God I knew not how to thinke of him but as of a Bulke of bodies for that seemed to me not to bee any thing which was not such this was the greatest and almost the onely cause of my inevitable misprision 4. For hence it was that I beleeved Evill to have been a kind of substance and had a bulke of earth belonging to it either deformed and grosse which they called Earth or else thinne and subtile like the body of the Ayie which they imagine to be some ill-natured mind gliding thorow that Earth And for that I know not what not ill-minded piety constrained me to beleeve that the good God never created any evill nature I supposed two Bulkes contrary to one another both infinite but the Evill to be lesser and the Good larger and out of this pestilent foundation other sacrilegious conceipts followed upon me For when my minde endevoured to have recourse backe unto the Catholike faith I was still stav'd off againe for that that indeed was not the Catholike faith which I beleeved to have beene And I seemed more reverently opinioned if I should have beleeved thee O my God to whom thy mercies wrought in me doe now confesse to bee infinite in other parts although on that side by which Evill was set in opposition unto thee I was constrained to confesse thee to be finite than if in all parts I should imagine thee to be finitely concluded within the shape of an humane body 5. And it seemed safer for me to beleeve thee to have never created any evill which to ignorant me seemed not some substance onely but to be corporeall also and for that I could not hit to thinke of any spirituall minde unlesse it should be a subtle body and that diffused too by locall spaces than to beleeve any thing could come from thee of that condition which I imagined the nature of Evill to be Yea and our blessed Saviour himselfe thy onely begotten Sonne reached as it were for our Salvation out of the most bright masse of thy Substance I so thought of as that I beleeved no other thing of him than that I was able to imagine by mine own vaine fancie Such a nature therefore I thought could never bee borne of the Virgin Mary unlesse it were incorporated into her flesh and how that which I had on this fashion figured out to my selfe should bee incorporated and not therewithall defiled I saw not I feared therefore to beleeve Christ to be borne in the flesh lest I should be inforced also to beleeve that he was defiled by the flesh Now will thy spirituall children in a mild and loving manner laugh at me when they shall reade these my Confessions But such a man I then was CHAP. 11. How bee compared the Manichees Tenents with the Catholikes 1. FVrthermore what-ever these Manichees had found fault withall in thy Scriptures I thought not possible to be detended but yet verily had I a good will now and then to confer upon these severall points with some man that were best skilled in those bookes and to make experience what hee thought of the matter For the speech of one Helpidius speaking and disputing face to face against the said Manichees had already begun to stirre me even whilst I was at Carthage when namely he produced such Texts out of the Scriptures which were not easily to bee withstood and that the Manichees Answer seemed but very weake unto me 2. which Answer they would not willingly be drawne to deliver in publike hearing but amongst our selves onely in private namely when as they said that the Scriptures of the New Testament had beene corrupted by I know not whom who were desirous to insert the Law of the Iewes into the Christian Faith whereas themselves all this while brought not out any Copies that had not beene so corrupted But me strongly captivated and stifled as it were with beating my thoughts about these corporeall phantasies did these bulkes keep downe under which struggling for the breath of thy truth I was not able to take it in pure and untainted CHAP. 12. The cunning tricks put at Rome by Schollers upon their Masters 1. DIligently therefore began I to put in practice that for which I came to Rome that is to teach Rhetoricke And first of all to draw some to my Lodging to whom and through whose meanes I beganne to bee made knowne abroad when as behold I came to know how that other misdemeanours were committed in Rome which I could not indure in Africke For those OVERTVRNINGS 't is true committed by desperate yong fellowes were not here practised as it was plainely told me but yet said they to avoid payment of their Masters stipend divers yong Schollers plot together and all on the sudden to avoid due payment to their Masters these promise-breakers who for the love of money make no account of just dealing remove themselves to another These sharking companions my heart hated also though not with a perfect hatred For I more hated them perchance for that my selfe was to suffer by them than for that they plaid such dishonest pranks with every man 2. Such verily bee but base fellowes and they play false with thee in loving these fleeting mockeries of the Times and in griping after this dirty gaine which when it is got hold of bemyres the hand and in embracing this sleeing World and in despising thee who abidest ever and who callest backe and grantest pardon to mans adulterated soule that returnes unto thee And now I much hated such wicked and perverse natures though I could well love them were they to bee amended and that they would once preferre Learning before their Money and above their Learning esteeme of thee O GOD the Truth and fulnesse of all assured good and the most chast peace But I was even for mine owne sake more unwilling in those dayes to beare with those that dealt ill with me than desirous that they should at last become good for thy sake CHAP. 13. He goes to Millan to teach Rhetoricke and how S. Ambrose there entertaines him 1. VVHen therefore they of Millan had sent to Rome to the Praefect of the Citie desiring to bee furnished thence with a Rhetoricke-Master for their Citie taking order also for the accommodating him in his journey upon the publike charges I put on to stand for the place and that by meanes of those very Manichees drunken with vanities to be rid of whom I purposely went away yet did neither of us know certainely whether upon my making a publike Oration for the Place Symmachus then Praefect of the Citie would so farre approve of me as to send me thither Well unto Milan I came to Bishop Ambrose a man of the best fame all
Scriptures CHAP. 6. He is baptized at Millane 1. VVHen the time was come wherein I was to giue in my name wee remooued out of the Country vnto Millane Alipius also was for company resolued to bee borne againe in thee as hauing by this time put on such humility as is â—itting for thy Sacraments and being become so valiant â— â—amer of his owne body as euen to weare the frostie earth of Italy with his bare feete with an vnusuall vndertaking We tooke along with vs the boy Adeodatus carnally begorten by me in fornication Thy part of him was well made vp for being now but almost fifteene yeeres of age he for wit excelled many agraue and learned man I confesse vnto thee thine owne gifts O Lord my God Creator of all who art abundantly able to reforme all our defects for I had no part in this boy but the sinne for that we brought him vp in thy feare t was thou and none else that inspired vs. I confesse thine owne gifts vnto thee There is a booke of ours extant called The Masters a dialogue it is betwixt him and me God thou knowest that all these conceits are his owne which goe there vnder the name of him that discourses with me When hee was once sixteene yeeres old I had tryall of many more admirable abilities of his His great wit strooke a kinde of horror into mee And who but thy selfe can bee the workmaster of such wonders 2. Soone didst thou take his life from off the earth and so much the more securer doe I now remember him for that I feare nothing committed eyther in his Childhood or Youth nor any thing at all in him Him we tooke along to make as old as our selues in grace and to bee brought vp according to thy discipline and baptized wee were together instantly vpon which all anguish of minde for our former ill-led life vanished away Nor could I be satisfied in those dayes while with admirable sweetenesse I considered vpon the deepenesse of thy counsailes concerning the saluation of Mankinde How abundantly did I weep to heare these Hymnes and Canticles of thine being toucht to the very quicke by the voyces of thy sweete Church-song The voyces flowed into mine eares and thy Truth pleasingly distilled into my heart which caused the affections of my deuotion to ouerflow and my teares to runne ouer and happy did I find my selfe therein CHAP. 7. A persecution in the Church miraculously diuerted 1. NOt long before had the Church of Millane beganne to celebrate this kinde of consolation and exhortation and that with the great delight of the Brethren singing together both with voyce and hearts For about a yeere it was or not much aboue that Iustina mother to the Emperour Valentinian prosecuted thy seruant Ambrose in fauour of her heresie to which she was seduced by the Arriane the deuout people watched day and night in the Church ready to dye with their Bishop thy seruant where my 〈◊〉 thy handmaid bearing a chiefe part of those troubles and watchings euen liu'd by prayer yea wee also not yet vnfrozen by the heate of thy spirit were yet stirred vp by the example of the amazed and disquieted City At this time was it here first instituted after the manner of the 〈◊〉 Churches that Hymnes and Psalmes should bee sung lest the people should waxe faint through the tediousnesse of Sorrow which custome being retained from that day to this is still imitated by diuers yea almost by all thy Congregations throughout other parts of the world 2. At that time didst thou by a vision discouer vnto thy forenamed Bishop the place where the bodies of Gerâ—asins and Protasius the Martyrs didlye hid whom thou hadst in the Treasury of thy secret preserued vncorrupted so many yeeres from whence thou mightst thus seasonably bring theÌ„ to light to represse the fury of this woman the Empresse for when as they were once discouered and digd vp and with due honors translated to Ambroses Church not onely they who were vexed with vncleane spirits the deuils confessing themselues to bee so were cured but a certaine man also haning beene blinde many yeeres a wel-knowne Citizen of that City asking and hearing the reason of the peoples confused ioy sprang forth desiring his guide to lead him thither and being come to the place requested the fauour that with his handkerchiefe hee might touch the Beare of thy Saints whose death is precious in thy sight Which when hee had done and put vnto his eyes they were forthwith opened Herevpon was the same spred hereupon were thy prayses zealously proclaimed to the view of the world and hereupon was the minde of that enemy though not brought to bee healed by beleeuing yet restrayned from her fury of persecuting Thankes to thee O my God whence and whither hast thou thus led my remembrance that I should also confesse these particulars vnto thee which hauing forgotten other great matters I had almost passed ouer And yet euen then when as the odors of thy oyntments were so fragrant did wee not runne after thee and for this reason did I more abundantly weepe at the singing of thy Hymnes as hauing once sighed my selfe out of breath after thee and now at last recouering so much of my winde againe as there can bee freedome of ayre afforded in this house of grasse CHAP. 8. The Conuersion of Euodius A discourse of his Mother 1. THou that makest men of one mind to dwell in one house didst bring Euodius a young man of our owne City also to consort himselfe with vs. Who beeing an Officer of Court was conuerted vnto thee and baptized before vs and hauing quit his Colours in his secular warfare had deuoted himselfe to fight vnder thy baenner We kept company with one another intending still to dwell together in our deuout purpose and seeking out now for some place where wee might more conueniently serue thee in wee remooued therevpon backe againe into Affrica whither ward being on our way as farre as Ostia my mother departed this life Many things doe I ouerpasse because I make hast Receiue my Confessions and Thankesgiuings O my God for innumerable things which I am silent in But omit I will not whatsoeuer my soule can bring forth concerning that Handmaid of thine which brought forth mee both in her flesh that I might be borne againe to this temporall light and in her heart too that I might bee borne againe to the eternall Light I will remember not her gifts but thine in her For neyther did she giue birth nor education vnto herselfe 2. For then createdst her nor did her father and mother know what kinde of creature was to proceede out of their loynesd And it was the Scepter of thy Christ the discipline of thine onely Sonne that educated her in thy feare in a house of Christians which was a good member of thy Church Yet was shee wont not so much to commend
obseruance perseuered so long in patience and meekenes that shee of her owne accord discouered vnto her sonne the tales that the maid-seruants had carried be tweene them whereby the peace of the house had been disturbed betwixt her and her daughter-in-law requiring him to giue them correction for it When he therefore both out of obedience to his mother and out of a Core to the well-ordering of his family and to prouide withall for the concord of his people had with stripes corrected the seruants thus bewrayed according to the pleasure of her that had reueal'd it her selfe also added this promise that cuery one should looke for the like reward at her hands whosoeuer to picke a thank by it should speake any ill of her daughter-in-law which none being so hardy afterwards as to doe they liued euer after with a most memorable sweetnesse of mutuall courtesies This great gift thou bestowedst also O God my mercie vpon that good hand maid of thine out of whose wombe thou broughtest mee namely that she euer did where shee wasable carry herselfe so peace fully betweene any parties that were at difference and discorded as that after shee had on both sides heard many a bitter word such as swelling and indigested choler vses to breake forth into whenas vnto a present friend the ill-brookt heart-burning at an enemy is with many a byting tittle-tattle breathed vp againe shee neuer for all that would discouer more of the one party vnto the other then what might further their reconcilement 4. This vertue might seeme a small one vnto mee if to my griefe I had not had experience of innumerable companies I know not by what horrible infection or sinne spreading farre and neere who vsed not onely to discouer the speeches of enemies angred on both sides to one another but to adde withall some things that were neuer spoken whereas on the contrary it ought to bee esteemed a meane vertue in a man to forbeare meerely to procure or increase ill will amongst people by ill speaking vnlesse hee studie withall how to quench it by making the best of euery thing And such a one was shee thy selfe being her most intimate Master teaching her in the schoole of her brest Finally her owne husband now towards the latter end of his life did shee gaine vnto Thee hauing now no more cause to complayne of those things in him when hee was once baptized which she had formerly borne withall before hee was conuerted 5. Yea shee was also the seruant of thy seruants and whosoeuer of them knew her did both commend much in her and honored and loued Thee for that they might well perceiue thy selfe to bee within the heart of her holy conuersation the fruites of it being witnesses For shee had beene The wife of one man shee had repayed the duty shee ought vnto her parents shee had gouerned her house very religiously for good workes she had a good report shee had brought vp her childen so often trauailing in birth of them againe as shee saw them swaruing from thee Lastly of all of vs thy seruants O Lord whom for this fauour receiued thou sufferest thus to speake vs who before her sleeping in thee liued in society together hauing first receiued the grace of thy baptisme did shee so take the care of as if she had beene the mother to vs all being withall so seruiceable as if she had beene the daughter to vs all CHAP. 10. Of a confernce had with his mother about the Kingdome of Heauen 1. THe day now approaching that shee was to depart this life which day thou well knewest though we were not aware of it fell out thy selfe as I beleeue by thine owne secret wayes so casting it that shee and I should stand all alone together leaning in a certaine window which lookt into the garden of the house where wee now lay at Ostia where being sequestred from company after the weary somenesse of a long iourney wee were prouiding our selues for a sea-voyage into our owne country There conferred wee hand to hand very sweetely and forgetting those things which are behinds wee reached forth vnto those things which are before wee did betwixt our selues seeke at that Present Truth which thou art in what manner the eternall life of the Saints was to bee which eye hath not seene nor eare heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man But yet wee gaped with the mouth of our heart after those vpper streames of that Fountaine which is before thee that being besprinckled with it according to our capacity wee might in some sort meditate vpon so high a mystery 2. And when our discourse was once come vnto that poynt that the highest pleasure of the carnall sences and that in the brightest beame of corporall lightsomenesse was in respect of the sweetenesse of that life not onely not worthy of comparison but not so much as of mention wee chering vp our selues with a more burning affection towards that did by degrees course ouer all these corporeals that is to say the heauen it selfe from whence both Sunne and Moone and starres doe shine vpon this earth yea wee soared higher yet by inward musing and discourse vpon Thee and by admyring of thy workes And last of all wee came to our owne soules which wee presently went beyond that wee might aduance as high as that Region of neuer-wasting plenty where Thou feedest Israel for euer with the foode of Trueth and where life is that Wisedome by which all these things are made and which haue beene and which are to come And this Wisedome is not made but it is at this present as it hath euer beene and so shall it euer bee seeing that the Termes to haue beene and to be hereafter are not at all in it but to Be now for that it is eternall For to haue beene and to be is not eternall And while we were thus discoursing and streyning our selues after it we arriued to a little touch of it with the whole stroake of our heart and we sighed and euen there wee left behinde vs the first fruits of our spirits enchayned vnto it returning from these thoughts to vocall expressions of our mouth where words are both begun and finished And what can bee like vnto thy Word our Lord who remaines in himselfe for euer without becomming aged and yet renewing all things 3. Wee said therefore If to any man the tumults of the flesh bee silenced let these fancies of the earth and waters and ayre be silenced also yea let the Poles of heauen be silent also let his owne soule likewise keepe silence yea let it surmount it selfe not so much as thinking vpon it selfe Let all dreames and imaginary reuelations be silenced euery tongue and euery signe and whatsoeuer is made by passing from one degree vnto another if vnto any man it can bee altogether silent and that because if any man can hearken vnto them all these will say vnto him We
already passed beyond such parts of it as are common to mee with the beasts whilest I called thee to mind for as much as I found not thee there amongst the Images of corporeall things I proceeded to these parts of it whither I had recommended the Affections of my mind nor could I finde thee there Yea I passed further into it euen to the very seate of the minde it selfe which is there in my memory as appeares by the mindes remembring of it selfe neyther wert thou there for that as thou art not eyther any corporeal image no more art thou any Affection of a liuing man like as when wee reioyce condole desire feare remember forget or whatsoeuer else we doe of the like kinde No nor yet art thou the minde it selfe because thou art the Lord God of the minde Moreouer all these are changed whereas thou remaynest vnchangeable ouer all who yet vouchsafest to dwell in my memory euen since that first time that I learnt to know thee But why seeke I now in what particular place of my memory thou dwellest as if there were any places at all in it Sure I am that in it thou dwellest euen for this reason that I haue preserued the memory of thee since the time that I first learnt thee and for that I finde thee in my memory whensoeuer I call thee to remembrance CHAP. 26. Whereabouts God is to bee found 1. VVHere then did I finde thee that I might learne thee For in my memory thou wert not before I learn'd thee In what place therefore did I find thee that so I might learne thee but euen in thine owne selfe farre aboue my selfe Place there is none wee goe backward and forward but particular place there is none to containe thee Euery where O truth art thou President of the Councell to those that aske Counsell of thee and at one dispatch doest thou answere all yea though they aske thy counsell vpon diuers matters Clearely doest thou answere them though all doe not clearely vnderstand thee All may aduise with thee about what they will though they alwayes heare not such answer as they desired Hee is thy best seruant that lookes not so much to heart that from thee which himselfe desireth as hee that is willing with that rather which from thee hee heareth CHAP. 27. How God drawes vs to himselfe 1. TOO late beganne I to loue thee O thou beatty both so ancient and so fresh yea too too late came I to loue thee For behold thoâ— wert within mee and I out oâ— my selfe where I made search for thee deformed I wooing these beautifull pieces of thâ— workmanship Thou indeede wert with me but I was not with thee these beauties kept mee farre enough from thee euen those which vnlesse they had their Being in thee should not be at all Thou calledst and criedst vnto mee yea thou euen brakest open my deafenesse Thou discoueredst thy beames and shynedst out vnto mee and didst chase away my blindnesse Thou didst most fragrantly blow vpon me and I drew in my breath and panted after thee I tasted thee and now doe bunger and thirst after thee Thou didst touch mee and I euen burne againe to enioy peace thy CHAP. 28. The misery of this life 1. VVHen I shall once attaine to be vnited vnto thee in euery part of me then shall I no more feele eyther sorrow or labour yea then shall my life truely bee aliue euery way full of thee Whereas now verily for that whom thou fillest thou also raysest am I a burthen vnto my selfe because I am not full of thee The ioyes of this my life which deserue to bee lamented are at strife with my sorrowes which are to bee reioyced in but which way the victory wil incline I yet know not Woe is me O Lord haue pitty on mee My sorrowes that be bad are in contention with my ioyes that bee good and which way the victory will encline I yet know not Alasse for mee O Lord haue pitty vpon mee Woe is mee behold I hide not my woundâ— thou art the Physician and I the Patient thou mercifull and I miserable Is not the life of man vpon earth a very temptation 2. Who is hee that would willingly endure troubles and difficulties These thou commandest to bee borne not to beloued for no man is in loue with the crosse which hee takes vp though hee loues well enough to take it vp For notwithstanding that he reioyces to beare yea much rather had hee that there were no crosse for him to beare In aduersity I desire prosperity and in prosperity am I afraid of aduersity what middle place now is there betwixt these two where this life of man is free from temptation Woe is threatned vnto the prosperity of this world againe againe both for the feare of aduersity and lest our ioy should bee marred Woe vnto the aduersities of this word againe and againe yet woe the third time vnto them and that because of the great desire men haue vnto prosperity Aduersity therefore being so hard a thing and which makes shipwracke oft times of our patience is not the life of man a very temptation vpon Earth and that without intermission CHAP. 29. Cur hope is all in God 1. NOw is all my hope no where but in thy very great mercy O Lord my God Giue mee patience to endure what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt Thou imposest continency vpon mee and when I perceiued as one sayth that no man can bee continent vnlesse thou giue it and that this was a point of wisedome to know whose gift it was By continency verily are wee bound vp and brought into vnity with thee from whom wee were scattered abroad into many diuisions for needes must hee loue thee lesse who loues any thing together with thee which hee loues not for thee O thon loue which art euer burning and neuer quenched O charity my God! kindle mee I beseech thee Thou enioynest me continency giue me what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt CHAP. 30. The deceitfulnesse of dreames 1. VErily thou commandest me to containe my selfe from the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the ambition of this world Thou commandest mee also to abstayne from carnall copulation and concerning wedlock thou didst now aduise me to a better course then that was which thou leftest me my free choyce in And because thou gauest it â—t was obtayned and that before I became a dispencer of thy Sacrament But yet still there liue in my memory which I haue now spoken so much of the Images of such things as my ill custome had there fixed and which rush into my thoughts though wanting strength euen whilest I am broad waking but in sleepe obey come vpon me not to delight onely but euen so farre as consent and most like to the deede doing yea so farre preuailes the illusion of that Image both in my soule and
thee for it yet is our knowledge in comparison of thine but meere ignorance CHAP. 5. How the world was made of nothing 1. IN the beginning God made Heauen and Earth But how didst thou make them and what Engine hadst thou to worke all this vast fabrick of thine For thou wentest not about it like a fleshly artificer who shaping one body by another purposes according to the discretion of his minde to cast it into such a figure as in his fancy hee seeth fittest by his inward eye But whence should hee bee able to doe all this vnlesse thou hadst made him that fancy and he puts a figure vpon some Materiall that had existence before suppose clay or stone or wood or gold or other thing but whence should these materials haue their being hadst not thou appoynted it them T is thou that madest the Artificer his body thou that gauest a soule to direct his limbs thou madest the stuffe of which he makes any thing thou madest the apprehension whereby he takes his art by which he sees in himselfe what he hath to doe Thou gauest him the Sences of his body which being his Interpreters hee may from his mind vnto his stuffe conueigh that figure which hee is now a working which is to signifie vnto his minde againe what is done already that the minde vpon it may aske aduice of its President truth whether it bee well done or no. Let all these things prayse thee the Creator of these all 2. But yet which way doest thou make them how O God didst thou make heauen and earth Verily neyther in the heauen nor on the earth stoodest thou when thou madest heauen and earth no nor yet in the ayre or waters seeing these also belong vnto the heauen and the earth Nor yet standing in the whole world together didst thou make that whole world because there was no place where to make it before it was made that it might haue a Being Nor didst thou hold any thing in thy hand whereof to make this heauen and earth For how shouldst thou come by that which thy selfe hadst not made For what hath any Being but onely because thou art Therefore thou spakest and they were made and in thy Word thou madest them CHAP. 6. He disputes curiously what manner of Word the World was created by BVt how didst thou speake after the same way that the voyce came out of a Cloud saying This is my beloued Sonne As for that voyce it was vttered and passed away had a beginning and ending the sillables made a sound and so passed ouer the second after the first the third after the second and so forth in order vntill the last came after all the rest and silence after the last By which most cleare and plaine it is that the motion of a Creature expressed it performing thy eternall Will in it it selfe being but temporall And these words of thine thus made to serue for the time did the outward care giue notice of vnto the intelligent soule whose inward eare lay listening to thy eternall Word But whenas this latter had compared these words thus sounding within a proportion of time with that eternall Word of thine which is in the Silence it sayd This Word is far another frō that a very far different Word these words are far beneath me nay they are not at all because they flee and passe away but the Word of God is farre aboue me and abides for euer 2. If therefore in sounding passing words thou spakest that heauen and earth should bee made and that way didst create heauen and earth then was there a corporeal creature euen before heauen and earth by whose motions measured by time that voyce tooke his course in time But there was not any creature before heauen and earth or if there were surely then thou didst without such a passing voyce create that whereof thou mightest make this passing voyce by which thou wert to say the word Let the heauen and the earth be made For whatsoeuer that were of which such a voyce were to be made vnlesse by thy selfe it were made it should not at all haue any being That a body therefore might be made by which these words might be made by what word of thine was it commanded CHAP. 7. The Sonne of God is the Word coeternall with the Father 1. THou callest vs therfore to vnderstand the word who is God with thee God which word is spoken vnto all eternity and in it are all things spoken vnto euerlasting For neuer is that finished which was spoken or any other thing spoken after it that so all may come to bee spoken but all are spoken at once and vnto euerlasting For otherwise there should be time and alteration and no true eternity no true immortality Thus much I know O my God thankes to thee therefore This I know as I confesse to thee O Lord yea hee knowes and blesses thee as I doe whoeuer is not vnthankfull to thy assured Veritie 2. Wee know Lord wee know that in as much as any thing is not now what sometimes it hath beene or is now what heretofore it hath not beene so farre forth it is borne and dyes Nothing therefore of thy Word doeth retyre and come in place againe because it is truely immortall and eternall And therefore vnto thy Word coeternal vnto thy selfe thou dost once and for euer say all that thou dost say and it is made whateuer thou sayest shall bee made Nor doest thou make it otherwise then by saying and yet are not all things made together or euerlasting which so thou makest by saying CHAP. 8. The Word of God is our teacher in all 1. VVHy I beseech thee O Lord my God is this so Verily I see it after afort but how to expresse it I know not vnlesse thus it be namely that whatsoeuer begins to bee and leaues off to bee beginnes then and leaues off then when in thy eternall reason it is resolued that it ought to haue begun or left off in which Reason nothing does eyther beginne or leaue off That Reason is thy Word which is also the Beginning the same that likewise speakes vnto vs. Thus much sayd it in the Gospell by our Lords humanity and so much sounded outwardly in the eares of men to the intent it might be beleeued and sought for inwardly and found in the eternall verity where that good and onely Master taught all his Disciples There Lord heare I thy voyce speaking vnto mee because hee there speakes vnto vs who teacheth vs but he that doeth not teach vs though hee does speake yet to vs hee speaketh not 2. And who now is able to teach vs but the vnalterable Truth seeing that when wee receiue any admonishment from a mutable creature wee are but ledde along vnto that vnalterable Truth where we learne truely while wee stand to heare Him reioycing greatly because of the Bridegroomes voyce and returne our selues backe to that
their mutability by which they both leaue to bee what they haue beene and begin to bee what they haue neuer beene And this shifting out of one forme into another I suspected to bee caused by I know not what thing without form not by nothing at all yet this I was desirous to know not to suspect onely But if my voyce pen should here confesse all vnto thee whatsoeuer knots thou didst vnknâ—t for me in this questioÌ„ what Reader would haue so much patience to bee made conceiue it Nor shall my heart for all this cease at any time to giue thee honour and a Song of praise for all those things which it is not able to expresse For the changeable condition of changeble things is of it selfe capeable of all those forms into which these changable things are changed And this changeablenesse what is it Is it a soule or is it a body or is it any figure of a soule or body Might it be sayd properly that nothing were something and yet were not I would say This were it and yet was it both of these that so it might bee capeable of these visible and compounded figures CHAP. 7. Heauen is greater then Earth 1. BVt whence are both these but from thee from whom are all things so far forth as they haue being But how much the further off from thee so much the vnliker thee I doe not meane farrenesse of places Thou therefore O Lord who art not another in another place nor otherwise in another place but the same and the very same and the very selfe-same Holy Holy Holy Lord God almighty didst in the Beginning which is in thine owne selfe in thy Wisedome which was borne of thine owne Substance create something and that out of nothing 2. For thou createdst heauen and earth not out of thine owne selfe for so should they haue beene equall to thine onely Begotten Sonne and thereby vnto thine owne selfe too wheras no way iust it had beene that any thing should bee equall vnto thee which was not of thee Nor was there any thing besides thy selfe of which thou mightest create these things O God who art One in Trinity and Three in Vnity Therefore out of nothing hast thou created Heauen and Earth a great thing and a small thing for thou art omnipotent and good to make all things good euen the great heauen and the little earth Thou wert and nothing else was there besides out of which thou createdst Heauen and Earth two certaine things one neere thee the other neere to nothing One for thy selfe to bee superior vnto the other which nothing should bee inferiour vnto CHAP. 8. The Chaos was created out of nothing and out of that all things 1. BVt that Heauen of heauens which was for thy selfe Lord and this earth which thou gauest to the Sonnes of men to be seene and felt was not at first such as wee now both see and feele for it was inuisible and vnshapen and there was a deepe vpon which there was no light or darkenesse was vpon the deepe that is more then in the deepe Because this deepe of waters visible now adayes hath in his deepes a light proper for its nature perceiueable howeuer vnto the Fishes and creeping things in the bottome of it But all this whole was almost nothing because hitherto it was altogether without forme but yet there was now a matter that was apt to bee formed For thou Lord createdst the World of a matter without forme which being next to nothing thou madest out of nothing out of which thou mightest make those great workes which wee sonnes of men so much wonder at 2. For very wonderfull is this corporeall heauen which firmament betweene water and water the second day after the creation of light thou commandedst it to be made it was made Which Firmament thou calledst heauen the heauen that is to this earth and sea which thou createdst the third day by giuing a visible figure vnto the vnshapen matter which thou createdst before all dayes For euen already hadst thou created an heauen before all dayes but that was the Heauen of heauens because In the beginning thou createdst heauen and earth As for the earth which thou createdst it was an vnshapely matter because it was inuisible and without forme and darkenesse was vpon the deepe Of which inuisible earth and without forme of which vnshapelynes of which almost nothing thou mightest create all these of which this changeable world consists which continueth not the same but mutability it selfe appeares in it the times being easie to bee obserued and numbred in it For times are made by the alterations of things whilest namely their figures are varied and turned the matter whereof is this inuisible earth aforesayd CHAP. 9. What that Heauen of heauens is 1. THe Spirit therefore the Teacher of thy seruant whenas it recounts thee to haue in the beginning created heauen and earth speakes nothing of any times nor a word of any dayes For verily that Heauen of heauens which thou createdst in the beginning is some Intellectuall creature which although no waies coeternall vnto thee O Trinity yet being partaker of thy eternity doth through the sweetnesse of that most happy contemplation of thy selfe strongly restrayne its owne mutability and without any fall since its first creation cleauing close vnto thee hath set it selfe beyond all rowling interchange of times Yea neyther is this very vnshapelynesse of the inuisible earth and without forme once numbred among the dayes For where no figure nor order is there does nothing eyther come or goe and where this is not there playnely are no dayes nor any interchange of temporall spaces CHAP. 10. His desire to vnderstand the Scriptures 1. O Let truth the light of mine heart and not mine owne darkenesse now speake vnto me I fell off into that and became all be-darkned but yet euen for this euen vpon this occasion came I to loue thee I heard thy voyce behinde mee calling to mee to returne but scarcely could I discerne it for the noyse of my sinnes But see here I returne now sweating and panting after thy fountaine Let no man forbid me of this will I drinke and so shall I liue For I am not mine own life if I haue liued ill my death is farre from my selfe but t is in thee that I reuiue againe Speake thou vnto me discourse thou with mee I haue beleeued thy Bible but the words of it be most full of mystery CHAP. 11. What he learnt of God 1. NOw hast thou with a 〈…〉 voyce O Lord spoken in my inner care because thou art eternall that onely possessest immortality by reason that thou canst not be changed by any figure or motion nor is thy Will altered by times seeing no Will can be cald immortall which is now one and then another all this is in thy sight already cleare to me let it be more more cleared to me
I beseech thee and in the manifestation thereof let me with sobriety continue vnder thy wings Thou toldest mee also with a strong voyce O Lord in mine inner care how that t is thy selfe selfe who made all those Natures and substances which are not what thy selfe is and which yet haue their being and how that onely is not from thee which hath no being no nor the Will that slydes backe from thee that art eminently vnto that which hath an inferior being because that all such backeslyding is transgression and sinne and that no mans sinne does eyther hurt thee or disturbe the order of thy gouernment first or last All this is in thy sight now cleare vnto mee and let it bee so more and more I beseech thee and in the manifestation thereof let mee soberly continue vnder thy wings 2. With a strong voyce thou toldest mee likewise in mine inner care how that neyther is that creature coeternall vnto thy selfe whose desire thou onely art which with a most perseuering chastity greedily drinking thee in does in no place and at no time put off its naturall mutability and thy selfe being euer present withit vnto whom with its whole affection it kepes it selfe it hauing neyther any thing in future to expect nor conueying any thing which it remembreth into the time past is neyther altered by any change nor stretcht along into any times O blessed creature if any such there bee euen for cleauing so fast vnto thy blessednesse blest in thee the eternall Inhabitant and Enlightener thereof Nor doe I find what I am more glad to call the Heauen of heauens which is the Lords then thine owne House which still contemplating that delight which in thee it finds without any forsaking thee to goe into other a most pure mind most peacefully continuing one by that settled estate of peace of those holy spirits those Citizens of thy Citty in heauenly places which are farre wes that it is not here meant of the aboue those heauenly places that we see By this now may the Soule vnderstand how farre shee is cast off by her owne straggling if namely she now thirsts after thee if her owne teares be now become her bread while they daily say vnto her Where is now thy God If she now seekes thee alone and require this one thing that shee may dwell in thy house all the dayes of her life 3. And what is her life but thou And what are thy dayes but euen thy eternity like as thy yeeres are which fayle not because thou art euer the same Hereby therefore let the Soule that is able vnderstand how farre thou art aboue all times eternall seeing that thy very house which hath at no time departed from thee although it be not coeternall vnto thee yet by continually and inseparably cleauing vnto thee suffers not the least changeablenesse of Times All this is cleare vnto me in thy sight and more and more let it bee so I be seech thee and in the manifestation thereof let mee abide vnder thy wings 4. There is behold I know not what vnshapednesse in the alterations of these last made and lowest creatures and who shall tell mee what vnlesse such a one as through the emptynesse of his owne heart wanders and tosses himselfe vp and downe with his owne fancies Who now but euen such a one would tell mee That if all figure bee so wasted and consumed away as that there onely remaines vnshapelynesse by which the thing was changed and turned out of one figure into another that that were able to shew vnto vs the changeable courses of the Times Playnely it can neuer doe it because without the variety of motions there are no times and there is no variety where there is no forms CHAP. 12. Of two creatures not within compasso of time 1. THese things considred for as much as thou giuest O my God for as much as thou stirrest mee vp to knock and forasmuch as thou openest to me when I knock two things I finde that thou hast made not within the compasse of times notwithstanding that neyther of them bee coeternall with thy selfe One which is so formed as that without any ceasing to contemplate thee without any interruption of change though in it selfe it bee changeable yet hauing beene neuer changed it may thorowly for euer enioy thy eternity and vnchangeablenesse The other was so vnshapely as that it had wherewithall to be changed out of one forme into another eyther of motion or of station whereby it might become subiect vnto time But this thou didst not leaue thus vnshapely because before all dayes thou in the beginning didst create Heauen Earth the two things that I spake of 2. And the Earth was inuisible and without shape and darknesse was vpon the Deepe In which words is the vnshapelynesse noted vnto vs that such capacities may hereby bee drawne on by degrees as are not able to conceiue so vtter a priuatiō of all the forme of it as should not yet come so low as a meere nothing out of which another Heauen was to bee created together with a visible earth a well furnished and the Waters replenished with their kinds and whatsoeuer beside is in the setting foorth of the world recorded to haue beene not without dayes created and that because they are of such a nature that the successiue changes of times haue power ouer them by reason of their appoynted alterations of motions and of formes CHAP. 13. The nature of the Heauen of heauens described 1. THis O my God is my priuate iudgement in the meane time whenas I heare thy Scripture saying In the beginning God made Heauen and Earth and the Earth was without shape and voyd and darkenes was vpon the deepe and not once mentioning what day thou createdst them This I in the mean time iudge to bee spoken because of the Heauen of heauens that intellectuall Heauen where to vnderstand is to know all at once not in part not darkly not through a glasse but in whole clearely and face to face not this thing now and that thing anon but as I sayd know all at once without all succession of times and I iudge it spoken also because of that inuisible and voyd Earth exempted in like manner from all interchangeablenesse of times which vses to haue this thing now and anon that the reason is that where there is not any figure there can bee no variety of this or that Because of these two that One first formed vtterly vnperfected Heauen meaning the Heauen of heauens and this other earth meaning the inuisible and shapelesse earth because of these two as I iudge in the meane time did thy Scripture speake without mention of any dayes In the beginning God created Heauen and Earth seeing presently hee added what earth hee spake of and because also the Firmament being recorded to bee created the second day and called
of whome are all things which are very good for as we affirme that to be a greater good which is created and formed so we confesse likewise that to be a lesser good which is made with no more then an aptnesse in it to receiue Creation and forme and yet euen that is good too But b yet hath not the Scripture set downe That God made this vnshapely Chaos no more then it hath set downe those many other things that Hee made as the Cherubins and Seraphins and the rest which the Apostle distinctly speaks of Thrones Dominions Principalities Powers all which that God made it is most apparant 3. Or if in that text where t is sayd He made heauen and earth all things bee comprehended what shall wee then say of the waters vpon which the Spirit of God mooued For if all things bee vnderstood to bee named at once in this word Earth how then can this formelesse matter bee meant in that name of Earth when wee see the waters so beautifull Or if it bee so taken why then is it written That out of the same vnshapely matter the Firmament was made and called Heauen and That the waters were created is not written For the waters remaine not formlesse inuisible vnto this day seeing wee behold them flowing in so comely a manner But if they at that time receiued the beauty they now haue whenas God sayd Let the waters vnder the Firmament bee gathered together vnto one place that so the gathering together of the waters may bee taken for the forming of them what will they answer for those waters which be aboue the Firmament seeing if they had not any forme at all neuer should they haue beene worthy of so honorable a seate nor is it written by what Word they were formed 4. So that if Genesis hath said nothing of Gods making of some one thing which yet no sound fayth nor well-grounded vnderstanding once doubteth but that he did make let no sober knowledge once dare to affirme these waters to bee coeternall with God for that we finding them to be barely mentioned in the booke of Genesis doe not finde withall where they were created Why seeing truth teaches vs may wee not as well vnderstand that formelesse matter which this Scripture calls the inuisible and vnshap't Earth and darksome deepe to haue beene created by God out of nothing and therefore not to be coeternall to him notwithstanding that this story hath omitted to shew where it was created CHAP. 23. In interpreting of holy Scripture truth is to be sought with a charitable construction 1. THese things therefore being heard and perceyued according to the weakenesse of my capacity which I cōfesse vnto thee O Lord that very well knowest it two sorts of differences doe I perceiue likely to arise whensoeuer any thing is by words related though euen by the truest reporters One when the difference riseth cōcerning the truth of the things the other when it is concerning the meaning of the Relater For we enquire one way about the making of the thing created what may be true another way what it is that Moses that notable dispencer of thy fayth would haue his reader and hearer to vnderstand in those words For the first sort away with all those which once imagine themselues to know that as a truth which is in it selfe false and for this other sort away with all them too which once imagine Moses to haue written things that bee false But let mee euer in thee O Lord take part with them and in thee delight my selfe in them that edifie themselues with thy truth in the largenesse of a charitable construction yea let vs haue recourse together vnto the words of thy booke and make search for thy meaning in them by the meaning of thy Seruant by whose pen thou hast dispensed them CHAP. 24. The Scripture is true though we vnderstand not the vttermost scope or depth of it 1. BVt which of vs all shall bee so able as to finde out this full meaning among those so many words which the seekers shall euery where meete withall sometimes vnderstood this way and sometimes that way as that hee can confidently affirme This Moses thought and This would be haue vnderstood in that story as hee may boldly say This is true whether he thought this or that For behold O my God I thy seruant who haue in this book vowed a Sacrifice of Confession vnto thee doe now beseech thee that by thy mercy I may haue leaue to pay my vowes vnto thee 2. See here how confidently I affirme That in thy Incommutable Word thou hast created all things visible and inuisible but dare I so confidently affirme That Moses had no further meaning when hee wrote In the beginning God made Heauen and earth No. Because though I perceiue this to be certaine in thy truth yet can I not so easily looke into his minde That he thought iust so in the writing of it For hee might haue his thoughts vpon Gods very entrance into the act of creating whenas hee sayd In the beginning hee might entend to haue it vnderstood by Heauen and Earth in this place no one nature eyther spirituall or corporeall as already formed and perfected but both of them newly begun and as yet vnshapen 3. For I perceiue that whichsoeuer of the two had beene sayd it might haue beene truely sayd but which of the two hee thought of in these words I doe not perceiue so truely Although whether it were eyther of these or any sence beside that I haue not here mentioned which so great a man saw in his minde at the vttering of these words I nothing doubt but that hee saw it truely and exprest it aptly Let no man vexe me now by saying Moses thought not as you say but as I say For if hee should aske mee How know you that Moses thought that which you inter out of his words I ought to take it in good part and would answer him perchance as I haue done heretofore or something more at large if I were minded to put him hard to it CHAP. 25. We are not to breake charity about a different Exposition of Scripture 1. BVt when he sayth Moses ment not what you say but what I say yet denyeth not what eyther of vs say these may both bee true O my God thou life of the poore whose brest harbours no contradiction rayne thou some thoughts of mitigation into my heart that I may patiently beare with such who differ not thus with me because they fauour of diuine things or be able to discouer in the heart of thy seruant what they speake but because they bee proud not knowing Moses opinion so well as louing their owne not for that t is truth but because t is theirs Otherwise they would as well loue another true opinion as I loue what they say when t is true 〈…〉 they say not because t is theirs but because t
call whereby thou saydest Let there be light and there was light Whereas in vs there is distance of time betweene our hauing beene darknesse and our making light but of that creature it is onely sayd what it would haue beene if it had not beene enlightened And this is spoken in that manner as if it had beene vnsetled and darkesome before that so the reason might now appeare for which it was made to bee otherwise that is to say that it being conuerted vnto the light that neuer faileth might it selfe bee made light Let him vnderstand this that is able and let him that is not aske it of God Why should he trouble mee with it as if I could enlighten any man that commeth into this world CHAP. 11. Of some Impressions or resemblances of the blessed Trinity that be in man 1. VVHich of vs does sufficiently comprehend the knowledge of the almighty Trinity and yet which of vs but talkes of it if at least it be that A rare soule it is which whilest it speakes of it knowes what it speakes of For men contend and striue about it and no man sees the vision of it in peace I could wish that men would consider vpon these three that are in themselues Which three be farre another thing indeede then the Trinity is but I doe but now tell them where they may exercise their meditations and examine and finde how farre they are from it Now the three that I spake of are To Be to Know and to Will For I both Am and Know and Will I Am Knowing and Willing and I Know my selfe to Be and to Will and I would both Be and Know. Betwixt these three let him discerne that can how vnseparable a life there is yea one life one mind and one essence yea finally how vnseparable a distinction there is and yet there is a distinction Surely a man hath it before him let him looke into himselfe and see and then tell mee 2. But when once hee comes to finde any thing in these three yet let him not for all this beleeue himselfe to haue found that vnchangeable which is farre aboue all these and which IS vnchangeably and Knowes vnchangeably and Willes vnchangeably But whether or no where these three bee there is also a Trinity or whether all three bee in each seuerall one or all three in euery of them or whether both wayes at once in admirable manner simply and yet manifoldly in its infinite selfe the and vnto it selfe by which end it is and is knowne vnto it selfe and that being vnchangebly euer the same by the abundant greatnesse of its Vnity it bee all-sufficient for it selfe what man can readily conceiue who is able in any termes to expresse it ◠who shall dare in any measure rashly to deliuer his opinion vpon it CHAP. 12. The water in Baptisme is effectuall by the Holy Spirit 1. PRoceede in with thy Confession of the Lord thy God O my faith O holy holy holy Lord my God in thy name haue we beene baptized O Father Sonne and Holy Ghost because that euen among vs also in Christ his Sonne did God make an heauen and earth namely the spirituall and carnall people of his Church Yea and our earth before it receiued the forme of doctrine was inuisible and vnformed and wee were couered ouer with the darknesse of ignorance For thou hast chastised man for his iniquity and thy Iudgements were like the great deepe vnto him 2 But because thy Spirit moued vpon the waters thy mercy forsooke not our misery for thou saydst Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heauen is at hand Repent Let there be light And because our soule was troubled within vs wee haue remembred thee O Lord concerning the land of Iordan and that hill which being equall vnto thy selfe was made little for our sakes and vpon our being displeased at our owne darkenesse wee turned vnto thee and were made light So that behold we hauing sometimes beene darknesse are now light in the Lord. CHAP. 13. His deuout longing after God 1. BVT yet we walke by faith still not by sight for we are saued by hope but hope that is soene is not hope And yet doeth one deepe call vnto another in the voyce of thy water-spoutes and so doeth hee that sayth I could not speake vnto you as vnto spirituall but as vnto carnall euen He who thought not himselfe to haue apprehended as yet and who forgot those things which are behynd and reacht foorth to those things which are before yea he groaned earnestly and his soule thirsted after God as the Hart after the water-brooks saying When shall I come desiring to be cloathed vpon with his house which is from heauen he calleth also vpon this lower deepe saying Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind And Be not children in vnderstanding but in malice be ye children that in vnderstanding ye may be perfect and O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you 2. But now speakes hee no longer in his own voice but in thine who sentest thy Spirit from aboue by his mediation who ascended vp on high and set open the flood-gates of his gifts that the force of his streames might make glad the City of God Him doeth this friend of the bridegroome sigh after though hauing the first fruites of the Spirit in himselfe alreadie yet groaneth he within himselfe as yet wayting for the adoption to wit the redemption of his body to him he sighes as being a mēber of his Bride towards him he burnes with zeale as being a friend of the Bridegroome towards him hee burneth not towards himselfe because that in the voyce of thy water-spowtes and not in his owne voyce doth hee call to that other deepe for whose sake hee is both iealous and fearefull lest that as the serpent beguiled Eue through his subtiltie so their minds should be corrupted from the simplicitie that is in our Bridegrome thy onely Sonne Oh what a light of beauty will that be when we shall see that Bridegrome as Hee is when all teares shall be wiped from our eyes which haue beene my meat day and night whilest they daily say vnto me Where is now thy God CHAP. 14. Our misery is comforted by faith and Hope 1. ANd so say I too Where art thou O my God see where art thou In thee take I comfort a little while whenas I powre out my soule by my selfe in the voyce of ioy and prayse which is the sound of him that keepes holyday And yet againe is it besadned euen because it relapseth againe and becomes a darkesome deepe or perceiues it selfe rather euen still to bee one Vnto it thus speakes my faith which thou hast kindled to enlighten my feete in this my night Why art thou so sad O my soule and why art thou so
now of that flying kind which at thy word the waters brought foorth Send thou thy word into it by thy Messengers for their labors indeede they are which we speake of but yet thou art he that worketh in them that they may worke a soule to haue life in it 2. The Earth brings forth that is the Earth is the cause that â— they worke this in the soule like as the Sea was the cause that they wrought vpon the mouing things that haue life in them as also vpon the fowles that flie in the open firmament of heauen of whome this Earth hath no neede although it seedes vpon that fish which was taken out of the deepe vpon that Table which thou hast prepared for the faythfull For therefore was He taken out of the Deepe that hee might feede the Dry land the Fowle though bred in the Sea is yet multiplyed vpon the Earth For of the first preachings of the Euangelists mans infidelity was the cause yet giue they good exhortations vnto the faythfull also yea and many wayes doe they blesse them from day to day But as for the liuing soule that tooke his beginning from the Earth for it profits not the faythfull vnlesse they can containe themselues from the loue of this world that so their soule many only liue vnto thee which was dead while it lined in pleasure in such pleasures Lord as bring death with them For t is thou O Lord that art the vitall delight of a pure heart 3. Now therefore let thy Ministers worke vpon this with i not as sometimes they did vpon the waters of Infidelity when they preached and spake by miracles and Sacraments and mysterious expressions when as Ignorance the mother of Admiration might giue good care â—o theÌ„ out of a reuerent feare it had towards those secret wonders For such is the entrance that is made vnto faith by the sonnes of Adam forgetfull of thee while they 〈◊〉 themselues from thee 〈◊〉 become a darksome deep But let thy Ministers worke â—ow as vpon dry land that is separated from the gulfes of the great deepe and let them 〈◊〉 patterne vnto the faithfull by liuing before them â—â— stirring the vp to imitation For thus are men to heare not with an intent to hearken only but to doe also Seeke the Lord and your soule shall liue That the Earth may bring forth the liuing soule Be not conformed to this world Containe your selues from it then shall your soules liue by auoyding it which dyed by affecting it 4. Contayne your selues from the immoderate wild humour of pride the litherly voluptuousnesse of lust and the false name of knowledge that so the wilde beasts may be tamed the cattell made tractable and the Serpents harmelesse For these bee the motions of our minde vnder an Allegory that is to say the haughtynesse of pride the delight of lust and the poyson of curiosity these be the motions of a dead soule For the soule dyes not so vtterly as that it wants all motion because it dying by departing from the fountayne of life is there upon taken vp by this transitory world and is conâ—â—â—ed vnto it But thy word O God is the fountaine of eternall life and that neuer calleth away wherefore this departure of the Soule is restrayned by thy word when 〈◊〉 sayd vnto vs Be not conformed vnto this world that so the Earth may in the fountyne of life bring forth a 〈◊〉 soule that is a soule 〈◊〉 continent by vertue of 〈◊〉 Word deliuered by thy 〈◊〉 and by followâ—â—â— the followers of Christ 〈◊〉 is indeede to liue after 〈…〉 because the emution a man takes is from â—â— friend Be yee sayth he â— am for I am as you are 〈◊〉 in this liuing soule shall 〈◊〉 be good beasts meeke 〈◊〉 actions For thou 〈◊〉 commanded Goe on with thy businesse in meekenesse so shalt thou be beloued of all men And there shall be good cattell in it too which neither of they eate much shall haue nothing ouer nor if they eate little any lacke and good Serpents not dangerous to doe hurt but wise to take heed such as will make such a search into this temporall nature as may bee sufficient that Gods eternity may be cleerly seene being vnderstood by the things that are made For these Creatures are then obedient vnto Reason when being once restrayned from their deadly preuayling vpon vs they liue and become good CHAP. 22. Of Regeneration by the Spirit He allegorizes vpon the Creation of man 1. FOr behold O Lord our God our Creatour soone as euer our affectioÌ„s are restrayned from the loue of the world by which we died through our euill-liuing and began to bee a liuing soule through our good liuing and that the word which thou hast spoken be thy Apostle shal be made good in vs Be not conformed to this world that next followes vpon it which thou presently subioynedst saying But be ye transformed by the renuing of your mind not as liuing now after your kind as if you followed your neighbour next before you nor yet as liuing after the example of some better man for thou didst not say Let man be made after his kinde but Lei vs make man after our own Image and similitude that we might proue what thy will is For to this purpose sayd that dispencer of thine who begets Children by the Gospell that hee might not euer haue them babes whom hee must bee sayne to feede with milke and bring vp like a nurse Be ye transformed sayth he by the renewing of your mind that ye may proue what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of God Wherefore thou sayest not Let man he made but Let vs make man Nor saydst thou According to his kind but After our own Image likenesse For man being renewed in his minde and able to discerne and vnderstand thy truth needs no more any direction of man to follow after his kind but by thy shewing doth hee proue what is that good that acceptable and perfect will of thine yea thou teachest him that is now made capeable to discerne the Trinity of the Unity and the Vnity of the Trinity Whereas therefore it was spoken in the plurall number Let vs make man vet is it presently inferred in the singular And God made man and whereas t is sayd in the plurall number After our owne likenesse yet is inferred in the singular After the Image of God Thus is man renewed vnto the knowledge of God after the Image of him that created him and being made Spirituall he now iudges all things those namely that are to bee iudged yet hee himselfe is iudged of no man CHAP. 23 Of what things a Christian may iudge He allegorizes vpon mans dominion ouer the creatures THat hee now iudgeth all things this is the meaning That he hath dominion ouer the fish of the Sea and
ouer the fowles of the ayre and ouer all cattell and wilde beasts and ouer all the earth and ouer euery creeping thing that creepeth vpon the earth For this he exerciseth by the vnderstanding of his mind by the which he perceiueth the things of the Spirit of God whereas otherwise Man being in honor had no vnderstanding and is compared vnto the vnreasonable beasts and is become like vnto them In thy Church therefore O our God according to thy grace which thou hast bestowed vpon it for we are thy workmanship created vnto good workes are there not those onely who gouerne spiritually but they also which spiritually obey those that are ouer them for male and female hast thou made man euen this way too in the account of thy grace spirituall in which according to Sexe of body there is neyther male nor female because neyther Iew nor Grecian neyther bond nor free 2. Spirituall persons therefore whether such as gouerne or such as obey doe iudge spiritually not vpon those spirituall thoughts which shine in the Firmament for they ought not to passe their iudgement vpon so supreme authority for they may not censure thy Bible notwithstanding somthing in it shines not out clearely enough for we submit our vnderstanding vnto that hold for certain that euen that which is shut frō our eyes to be most rightly and truly spoken For so a man though he be Spirituall renewed vnto the knowledge of God after his Image that created him yet may hee no presume to be a Iudge of the law but a doer onely Neyther taketh hee vpon him to iudge of that distinction of Spirituall and carnall men not of those namely which are knowne vnto thine eyes O our God and haue not as yet discouered themselues vnto vs by any of their workes that by their fruits we might be able to know them but thou Lord doest euen now know them and hast already distinguisht them yea and called them in secret or euer the Firmament was created 3. Nor yet as he is spirituall doeth hee passe his censure vpon the vnquier people of this present world For what hath Ignorant hee to doe to iudge those that are without which of them is likely to come hereafter into the sweetnesse of thy grace and which likely to continue in the perpetuall bitternesse of vnbeliefe Man therefore whom thou hast made after thine own image hath not receiued dominion ouer the light of Heauen nor ouer the secrets of heauen it selfe nor ouer the day the night which thou calledst before the foundation of the world nor yet ouer the gathering together of the waters which is the Sea but he hath receiued dominion ouer the Fishes of the Sea and the Fowles of the ayre and ouer all Cattell and ouer all the Earth and ouer all creeping things which creepe vpon the Earth For hee iudgeth and approueth that which is right and he disalloweth what he findeth amisse be it eyther in the solemnity of that Sacrament by which such are admitted into the Church as thy mercy searches out among many waters Or in that other in which that Fish is receiued which once taken out of the Deepe the deuout earth now feedeth vpon or else in such expressions and sounds of words as are subiect to the authority of thy Bible like the Fowles as it were flying vnder the Firmament namely by interpreting expounding discoursing disputing consecrating or praying vnto thee with the mouth with expressions breaking forth and a lowd sounding that the people may answere Amen 4. For the vocall pronouncing of all which words the occasion growes from the darksome Deepe of this present world and from the blindnesse of flesh blood seeing that by bare conceiuing in the minde they cannot be perceiued so that necessary it is to speake loud vnto our eares This notwithstanding the flying Fowles be multiplyed vpon the earth yet they deriue their beginning from the Waters The Spirituall man iudgeth also by allowing of what is right and by disallowing what hee finds amisse in the workes and manners of the faythfull yea in their almes too which resemble the Earth bringing forth fruit and of the whole liuing Soule that hath tamed her owne affections by chastity by fasting and by holy meditations and of all those things too which are subiect to the sences of the body Vpon all these is hee now sayd to iudge and ouer all these hath hee absolute power of correction CHAP. 24. He allegorizes vpon Increase and multiply 1. BVt what is this now and what kinde of mystery Behold thou blessest mankind O Lord that they may increase and multiply and replenish the Earth doest thou not giue vs a priuie hint to learn somthing by why didst thou not aswell blesse the light which thou calledst day or the Firmament of heauen or the lights or the starres or the Earth or the Sea I might say O God that created vs after thine own Image I might say that it had beene thy good pleasure to haue bestowd this blessing peculiarly vpon man hadst thou not in likemaner blessed the Fishes and the Whales that they also should increase and multiplie and replenish the waters of the Sea and that the Fowles should be multiplyed vpon the Earth I might say likewise that this blessing pertayned properly vnto those creatures as are bred of their own kinde had I found it giuen to the Fruit-trees and Plants and Beasts of the earth But neyther vnto the Herbs nor the Trees nor the Beasts or Serpeuts is it sayd Increase and multiply notwithstanding that all these as well as the Fishes Fowles or Men do by generation both increase and continue their kinde 2. What then shall I say to it O thou Truth my light Shall I say that it was idly that it was vaynly sayd Not so O Father of piety farre be it from a Minister of thine owne Word to say so And notwithstanding I fully vnderstand not what that Phrase meaneth yet may others that are better that is more vnderstanding then my selfe make better vse of it according as thou O my God hast inabled euery man to vnderstand but let this cōfession of mine bee pleasing in thine eyes for that I confesse vnto thee O Lord how that I firmly beleeue thou speakest not that word in vaine nor will I conceale that which the occasion of reading this place hath put into my minde 3. For most true it is nor doe I see what should hinder mee from thus vnderstanding the figuratiue phrases of thy Bible For I know a thing to be manifoldly signified by corporeall expressions which the mind vnderstands all one way and another thing againe vnderstood many waies in the minde which is signified but one way by corporeall expression See for example the single loue of God our neyghbour in what a variety of mysteries and innumerable languages in each seuerall language in how innumerable phrases
is it that thus feedes thee Ioy list then to what followes Notwithstanding ye haue well done that ye diâ—communicate with my affliction For this hee reioyceth vpon this hee fed euer because they were beneficia vnto him not because hiâ— straight was eased by them his who saith vnto thee Thou hast enlarged me wheâ— I was in distresse for that he knew to abound and to suffer want through thy self who strengthenest him For yee Philippians know sayth he that in the beginning of thâ— Gospell when I departed from Macedonia no Church communicated with me as coÌ„cerning giuing and receiuing but ye only For euen in Theffalonica ye sent once again vnto my necessity 3. Vnto these good workes hee now reioyceth that they are returned and he is as glad that they flourished againe as at the fruitfulnesse of a field that beginnes to grow greene againe But was it for his own necessities that hee sayd Ye sent vnto my necessities Reioyceth he for that Verily not for that But how know we that Because himselfe saies immediately not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit I haue learned of thy self O my God to distinguish betwixt a gift fruit A gift is the very thing which he giues that imparts these necessaries vnto vs as money meate drinke cloathing harbour help but the fruit is the good and the vpright will of the giuer For our good Master saye not barely He that receiueth a Prophet but addes in the name of a Prophet Nor does he onely say He that receiueth a righteous man but addeth in the name of a righteous man one verily shall receiue the reward of a Prophet and the other the reward of a righteous man Nor sayth hee onely He that shall giue to drinke a cup of cold water vnto one of my little ones but hee added in the name of a Disciple and so concludeth Verily I say vnto you he shall not lose his reward The Gift hâ—re is To receiue a Prophet to receiue a righteous man to giue a cup of cold water to a Disciple but the fruit is to do it in the name of a Prophet in the name of a righteous man in the name of a Disciple With the fruite was Eliah fed by the Widdow that knew shee fed a man of God and that euen therefore shee did feede him but with the Gift did the Rauen feede him Nor was the inner man of Eliah so fed but the outter man onely who might also for want of that foode haue perished CHAP. 27. He allegorizes vpon the Fishes and the Whales 1. I Will here therefore O Lord speake what is true in thy sight namely that when ignorant men and infidels for the gayning and admitting of whom into the Church these Sacraments of beginnings and the mighty workings of miracles are necessary which wee haue supposed to bee signified vnder the name of Fishes and Whales doe giue entertaynment for bodily refreshment or otherwise succour with something vsefull for this present life vnto thy Children whenas themselues be ignorant eyther what to doe and to what end neyther doe those feede these nor are these fed by those because that neyther doe the one sort doe it our of an holy and vpright intent nor the other sort reioyce at their gifts whose fruit they as yet behold not For vpon that is the minde fed of which it is glad And therefore doe not the Fishes and Whales feede vpon such meats as the Earth brings not forth vntill after it was separated and diuided from the bitternesse of the sea-Sea-waters CHAP. 28. Very good why added last of al 1. ANd thou O God sawest euery thing that thou hadst made and behold it was very good Yea euen wee haue seene the same and lo euery thing is very good After euery seuerall kind of thy workes when thou hadst sayd the word that they should bee made and they were made thou then sawest both this and that that it was good Seuen times haue I counted it to bee written that thou sawest that euery thing was good which thou madest this is the eighth that thou sawest euery thing that thou hadst made and behold it was not onely good but also very good as being now all together For seuerally they were onely good but all together both good and very good In this manner is euery kinde of body sayd to bee fayrer by reason that a body is far more beautifull which is made vp of all its members then the same members are when by themselues by whose most orderly coniuncture the whole groweth to bee complete notwithstanding that the members seuerally viewed be also beautifull CHAP. 29. Gods works are good for euer 1. ANd I more narrowly looked to find whether it were seuen or eight times that thou sawest that thy workes were good when as they pleased thee but in that Seeing of thine I found no times by direction of which I might vnderstand how that thou sawest so often that which thou hadst made And I sayd Lord is not this thy Scripture true since thou art true and thou who art Trueth hast set it foorth why then doest thou say vnto me That in thy Seeing there be no times whereas behold thy Scripture tells me that what thou madest euery day thou sawest that it was good and when I counted them found how often Vnto this thou answerest me for thou art my God and with a strong voyce thou tellest thy seruant in his inner eare breaking through my deasenesse and crying O man that which my Scripture sayeth that I my selfe say and yet doeth that speake in time whereas mine own Word falls not within the compasse of time because my Word consists in equall eternity with my selfe Euen thus the self-same things which you men see through my Spirit doe I also see like as what you speake by my Spirit I my selfe speake And on the other side when as you see the very same things in compasse of time I doe not see them in the compasse of time as in like manner whenas you speake the same things in the compasse of time I my selfe doe not speake them in the compasse of time CHAP. 30. Against those who dislike Gods workes 1. AND I ouer-heard O Lord my God and I licked vp a drop of sweetenesse out of thy truth and I vnderstood that certaine men there bee who mislike of thy good workes and who say that thou madest many of them meerely compelled by necessity instancing in the Fabricke of the heauens and in the ordering of the Starres and that thou neuer madest them of thy selfe but that they were otherwhere ready created to thy hand which thou onely drewest together and ioynedst one to another and framedst vp at such time as against thine enemyes now newly ouercome thou raysedst vp the Walls of the world that by this building they being vtterly now defeated might neuer againe be able to rebell against thee As for
other things they say thou neuer at all madest them nor euer so much as ioynedst them together instancing in all kinds of flesh and in all sorts of these smaller creatures and whatsoeuer thing hath its roote in the earth but that a certaine minde at enmity with thee and another nature which thou createdst not and which was contrary vnâ—o thee did in these lower stages of the world beget and fiame these things Mad men are they to affirme thus because they looke not vpon thy workes by the Spirit neyther doe they know thee in them CHAP. 31. The Godly allow that which is pleasing to God 1. BVt whosoeuer by Thy Spirit discernes these things t is Thou that discernest in them Therefore when they see that these things are good Thou seest that they are good and what soeuer for thy sake giues content t is Thou that giuest content in it and what by meanes of thy Spirit please vs they please Thee in vs. For what man knoweth the things of a man saue the Spirit of a man which is in him euen so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Now we sayth he haue receiued not the Spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that wee might know the things that are freely giuen to vs of God I am here upon put in minde still to say That the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God how then can we know what things are giuen vs of God Answere is made me That those things which we know by his Spirit no man in that manner knoweth them but the Spirit of God For as it is rightly sayd vnto those that were to speake by the Spirit It is not you that speake so is it as rightly sayd to them that Know through the Spirit of God It is not you that know Neuer the lesse therfore as it is rightly sayd to those that See through the Spirit of God It is not you that see so what soeuer through the spirit of God they see to bee good t is not they but God that sees that it is good 2. T is one thing therefore for a man to think that to be ill which indeed is good as the forenamed Manichees doe and another thing that what is good a man should see to be so because indeed it is so Euen iust as thy creatures be pleasing vnto diuers because they be good whom for all that Thou Thy selfe doest not please in those creatures so that rather had they inioy them then Thee Yea and another thing it is That when a man sees any thing that it is good t is God that sees in him that it is good and that to this end playnly That himselfe might be loued in his creature for he should neuer be loued but by the Holy Ghost which he hath giuen Because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs by whom we see that a thing is good whatsoeuer any way hath any Essence For from him it Is who Himselfe Is not by any way that other things are but originally of himselfe IS what he IS CHAP. 32. He briefely summes vp the works of God 1. THanks to Thee O Lord. Wee behold the Heauen and the Earth be it eyther the corporeall part superior and inferior or the Spirituall and corporeall creature and in the adorning of these integrall parts of which the vniuersall pile of this world and the whole creation together doth consist wee see light made and deuided from the darknes we see the Firmament of heauen or that which between the spirituall vpper waters â—â— the Inferior corporeall waters is the first compact body oâ— the world next aboue this space of Ayre which it selfe is also stiled heauen through which wander the fowles of heauen euen betwixt those waters which are in vapors lifted vp aboue it and which in cleare nights distill downe in dew again and those heauier waters which runne thorow and vpon the Earth 2. We behold a face of waters gathered together in those fields of the Sea and the dry land both vnfurnished and replenisht that it might be visible and fully shaped yea the matter of herbs Trees We behold the lights shining froÌ„ aboue the Sunne to serue the day the Moone the Starres to â—heate the night and in all these the seuerall Seasons to be marked out and signified We behold on all sides a kindly moisture blessed with abilitie to be fruitfull in fishes beasts and birds and that the grossenesse of the Ayre which beares vp the flights of Birds thickneth it selfe by the Exhalation of the waters 3. We behold the face of the Earth deckt vp with earthly creatures and Man created after Thine own Image and likenesse euen for that Image and likenesse sake that is the power of Reason and vnderstanding made superior to all vnreasonable creatures And like as in his soule ther is one power which beares rule by directing and another nature made subiect that it might obey euen so verily was there a woman made who in the mind of her reasonable vnderstanding should haue a parity of nature w th the man but in the sexe of her body should be in like manner subiect to the sexe of her husband as the appetite of doing is fayne to conceiue the skill of Right doing euen from the rationall direction of the vnderstanding These things wee behold and they are all seuerally good and altogether very good CHAP. 33. How euery creature ought to prayse the Creator 1. LEt all thy works praise Thee that wee may loue Thee yea let vs loue Thee and let all Thy works praise Thee euen those which from Time haue their beginning and their ending their rysing and their falling their growth and their decaying their forme and their priuation They haue therefore their succession of morning and euening part insensibly and paâ—tly more apparantly for they were of nothing made by thy power not of Thy substance not of any thing that is not thine nor of any thing that was before but of a matter concreated that is All at once created by Thee because that into that matter which was without forme and voyd Thou didst introduce a Forme without any distance of time betweene For seeing the matter of Heauen and Earth is one thing and the forme of Heauen and Earth is another thing Thou madest the matter of meerely nothing but the forme of the world Thou producedst out of the vnformed matter yet madest both matter and forme so iust at one instant that the forme should follow the matter without any respite of delay betweene CHAP. 34. Of the order and various fruit of a Christian life 1. VVE haue also lookt into this After whose patterne desirest thou to haue these things made in this order or described in this method And wee haue seene That all things are good