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
part I say of all this doe you at last affirme to befalse Is it because I sayd that the first matter was without for me in which by reason there was no forme there was no order But then where no order was there could bee no interchange of times and yet this almost nothing in as much as it was not altogether nothing was from him certainely from whom is whatsoeuer is in what manner soeuer it is This also say they doe wee not deny CHAP. 16. Against such as contradict diuine truth and of his owne delight in it 1. VVIth these will I now parley a little in thy presence O my God who grant all these things to bee true which thy Truth whispers vnto my soule For as for those praters that deny all let them barke and bawle vnto themselues as much as they please my endeauour shall bee to perswade them to quiet and to giue way for thy word to enter them But if me they shall refuse and giue the repulse vnto do not thou hold thy peace I beseech thee O my God Speake thou truely vnto my heart for onely Thou so speakest and I will let them alone blowing the dust withou doores and raysing it vp into their owne eyes and myselfe will goe into my chamber and sing there a loue-song vnto thee mourning with groanes that cannot bee expressed and remembring Ierusalem with my heart lifted vp towards it Ierusalem my country Ierusalem my mother and thy selfe that rule in ouer it the enlightener the Father the guardian the husband the chast and strong delight and the solid ioy of it and all good things that bee vnspeakeable yea all at once because the onely Soueraigne and true good of it Nor will I bee made giue ouer vntill thou wholy gather all that is of me from the vnsetled and disordred estate I now am in into the peace of that our most deare mother where the first-fruites of my spirit be already whence I am ascertayned of these things and shall both conforme and for euer confirme mee in thy mercy O my God But as for those who no wayes affirme all these truths to bee false which giue all honour vnto thy holy Scriptures set out by Moses estating it as wee did in the top of that authority which is to bee followed and doe yet contradict mee in some thing or other to these I answer thus Be thy selfe Iudge O our God betweene my Confessions and these mens contradictions CHAP. 17. What the names of Heauen and Earth signifie 1. FOr they say Though all this that you say bee true yet did not Moses intend those two when by reuelation of the Spirit hee sayd In the beginning God created Heauen and Earth He did not vnder the name of heauen signifie that Spirituall or intellectuall creature which alwayes beholds the face of God nor vnder the name of earth that vnshap't matter What then That man of God say they meant as we say this was it hee declared by those words What 's that by the name of heauen and earth would hee signifie say they all this visible world in vniuersall and compendious termes first that afterwards in his sorting out the works of the seuerall dayes hee might ioynt by ioynt as it were bring euery thing into his order which it pleased the holy Ghost in such generall termes to expresse For such grosse heads were that rude and carnall people to which he spake as that he thought such workes of God as were visible onely fit to be mentioned vnto them So that this inuisible and vnshap't earth and that darkesome Deepe out of which consequently is shewne all these visible things generally knowne vnto all to haue beene made and disposed of in those sixe daies they doe and that not incongruously agree vpon to be vnderstood to bee this vnshapely first matter 2. What now if another should say That this vnshapelynesse confusednesse of matter was for this reason first insinuated to vs vnder the name of Heauen and earth because that this visible world with all those natures which most manifestly appeare in it which wee oft times vse to call by the name of heauen and earth was both created and fully furnished out of it And what if another should say that the inuisible and visible natures were not indeede absurdly called heauen and earth and consequently that the vniuersall creation which God made in his Wisedome that is In the begininng were comprehended vnder those two words Notwithstanding for that Al these bee not of the substance of God but created out of nothing because they are not the same that God is and that there is a mutable nature in them all whether they stand at a stay as the eternall house of God does or be changed as the soule and body of man are therfore the cōmon matter of all visible and inuisible things though yet vnshap't yet shapeable out of which both heauen and earth was to be created that is both the inuisible and visible creature now newly formed was expressed by the same names which the Earth as yet inuisible and vnshapen and the darknes vpon the deepe were to be called by but with this distinctiou that by the earth inuisible hitherto and vnshapen the corporeall matter be vnderstood before the qualitie of of any forme was introduced and by the darknesse vpon the deepe the spirituall matter bee vnderstood before it suffered any restraynt of its vnlimited fluidenesse and before it receiued any light from wisdome 3. There is yet more libertie for a man to say if hee be so disposed that namely the already perfected and formed natures both visible and inuisible were not comprehended vnder the name of heauen and earth when wee reade In the beginning God made heauen and earth but that the yet vnshapely rough hewing of things that Stuffe apt to receiue shape and making was onely called by these names and that because in it all these were confusedly contained as being not distinguished yet by their proper qualities and formes which being now digested into order are called Heauen and Earth meaning by that all spirituall creatures and by this all corporeall CHAP. 18. Diuers Expositors may vnderstand one Text seuerall wayes 1. ALL which things being heard well considered of I will not striue about words for that is profitable to nothing but the subuersion of the hearers but the law is good to edifie if a man vse it lawfully for that the end of it is charity out of a pure hart good conscience faith vnfained And well did our Master know vpon which two cōmandements he hung all the law and the Prophets And what preiudice does it mee now confessing zealously O my God thou light of my inner eyes if there may bee seuerall meanings gathered out of the same words so that withall both might bee true What hinders it mee I say if I thinke otherwise of the Writers meaning then another man does All wee
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
the earth all that is in them behold they bid me on euery side that I should loue thee nor cease they to say so vnto all to make them inexcuseable But more profoundly wilt thou haue mercy on whom thou wilt haue mercy and wilt haue compassion vpon whom thou wilt haue compassion for else doe the heauen and the earth speake forth thy prayses vnto the deafe What now do I loue whenas I loue thee not the beauty of any corporall thing not the order of times not the brightnesse of the light which to behold is so gladsome to our eyes not the pleasant melodies of songs of all kinds not the fragrant smell of flowers and oyntments and spices not Manna and honey nor any fayre limbs that are so acceptable to fleshly embracements 2. I loue none of these things whenas I loue my God and yet I loue a certaine kinde of light and a kind of voyce and a kinde of fragrancy and a kinde of meat and a kind of embracement Whenas I loue my God who is both the light and the voyce and the sweet smell and the meate and the embracement of my inner man where that light shineth vnto my soule which no place can receiue that voyce soundeth which time depriues me not of and that fragrancy smelleth which no wind scatters that meate tasteth which eating deuoures not and that embracement clingeth to mee which satiety diuorceth not This is it which I loue when as I loue my God And what is this I askt the Earth and that answered me I am not it and whatsoeuer are in it made the same confession I asked the Sea and the deepes and the creeping things and they answered me We are not thy God seeke aboue vs. I asked the fleeting winds and the whole Ayre with his inhabitants answered me That Anaximenes was deceiued I am not thy God I asked the heauens the Sunne and Moone and Starres Nor say they are wee the God whom thou seekest 3. And I replyed vnto all these which stand so round about these dores of my flesh You haue answered me concerning my God that you are not he And they cryed out with aloud voyce He made vs. My questioning with them is my intention their answer is their figure and species And I turned my selfe vnto my selfe and sayd Who art thou And I answered A man for behold here is a soule and a body in me one without and the other within By which of these two am I to seeke my God whom my body had inquired after from earth to heauen euen so farre as I was able to send these beames of mine eyes in ambassage But the better part is the inner part vnto which all these my bodily messengers gaue vp their intelligence as being the President and Iudge of all the seuerall answers of heauen and earth and of all things that are therein who all sayd Wee are not God but He made vs. These things did my inner man knâ—w by the intelligence giuen him by the outer man And I the inner man knew all this I the soule by meanes of the Sences of the body 4. I asked the whole frame of the world concerning my God and that answered mee I am not He but Hee made me Doth not this corporeall figure guidently appeare to all those that haue their perfect sences why then speakes it not the same things vnto all The creatures both small and great doe see this corporeall figure well enough but they are not able to aske any questions of it because Iudge Reason is not President ouer their Sences which are to giue vp intelligence vnto him But Men are well able to aske that so they may clearely see the inuisible things of God which are vnderstood by the things that are made But by inordinate loue of them they make themselues subiects vnto them and slaues are not fit to be Iudges Nor will the creatures answere to such as aske of them vnlesse the askers be able to iudge nor so much as alter their voyce that is their out-ward appearance if so bee one man onely lookes vpon it and another seeing it withall enquires of it so as it may appeare one way to this man and another way to that man but it appearing the same way vnto both is dumbe to this man but makes answere vnto that Yea verily it speakes vnto all but they onely vnderstand it who compare that voyce receiued from without by the Sences with the Truth which is within For Truth sayes vnto me Neyther heauen nor earth nor any other body is thy God This their very Nature sayes vnto him that lookes vpon them There is lesse bulke in the part of a thing then in the whole Now vnto thee I speake O my soule Thou art my better part for thou quickenest this bulke of my body by giuing life vnto it which no body can giue vnto a body but thy God is the life of thy life vnto thee CHAP. 7. God is not to bee found by any ability in our bodies 1. VVHat is it therefore which I loue when as I loue my God who is Hee that is aboue the top of my Soule By this very soule will I ascend vp vnto him I will so are beyond that faculty of mine by which I am vnited vnto my body and by which I fill the whole frame of it with life I cannot by that faculty finde my God for so the Horse Mule that haue no vnderstanding might as well finde him seeing they haue the same faculty by which their bodies liue also 2. But another faculty there is not that onely by which I giue life but that too by which I giue sence vnto my flesh which the Lord hath framed for me when namely he commands the eye that it should not heare and the care that it should not see but orders that for mee to see by and this for mee to heare withall and assignes what is proper to the other Sences seuerally in their owne seates and offices which being diuers through euery sence yet I the soule being but one doe actuate and gouerne I will I say mount beyond this faculty of mine for euen the Horse and Mule haue this seeing they also are sensible in their bodies CHAP. 8. The force of the Memory 1. I Will soare therefore beyond this faculty of my nature still rysing by degrees vnto Him who hath made both mee and that nature And I come into these fields and spacious palaces of my Memory where the treasures of innumerable formes brought into it from these things that haue beene perceiued by the sences be hoarded vp There is layd vp whatsoeuer besides wee thinke eyther by way of enlarging or diminishing or any other wayes varying of those things which the sence hath come at yea and if there bee any thing recommended to it and there layd vp which forgetfulnesse hath not swallowed vp and buried To this treasury when
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
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
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
somewell-filld Fruit-yards in which they discouering some fruites concealed vnder the leaues gladly flock thither and with cherefull chirpings seek out and pluck off these fruites For thus much at the reading or hearing of 〈…〉 words doe they discerne â— how that all things 〈…〉 to come are out 〈…〉 by thy eternall and 〈…〉 continuance at the 〈…〉 and how there is 〈…〉 all that any one of the 〈…〉 all creatures which 〈…〉 of thy making O God â—hose Will because it is the â—â—â— that thy selfe is is no â—â—â—s changed nor was it â—â—â— Will newly resolued vpâ—â— or which before was not â—â— thee by which thou createdst all things not out of thy selfe in thine own similiâ—â—â— which is the forme of â—â— things but out of nothing â—â— a formelesse vnlikenesse to â—â— selfe which might after â—â—â— formed by thy similitude â—â—â—â—â—king its recourse â—â—â— thee who art but one 〈…〉 to the capacity 〈…〉 for it so farre as is giuen to each thing in his kind and might all bee made very good whether they abide neere about thy selfe or which being by degrees remoued further off by times and by Places do eyther make or suffer many a goodly narration These things they see and they reioyce in the light of thy trueth according to all that little which from hence they are able to conceiue 2. Another bending his obseruation vpon that which is spokeÌ„ In the beginning God made heauen and earth hath a conceit that that begining is Wisedome because that also speaketh vnto vs. Another aduising likewise vpon the same words by Beginning vnderstands the first entrance of the things created taking them in this sense In the begining he made as if he should haue sayd He at first 〈◊〉 And among them that vnderstand In the beginning 〈◊〉 In thy Wisedome thou createdst heauen and earth One beleeues the matâ—â—â—â— of which the heauen and earth were to be created to be there called heauen and earth Another the natures already formed and distinguished Another vnder the 〈◊〉 of Heauen conceiues â—â—â— one formed nature and that the spirituall one to bee 〈◊〉 and vnder the name of Earth the other formelesse 〈◊〉 of the corporeall matter And as for them that vnder the names of heauen and earth vnderstand the matter as yet vnformed out of which heauen and earth 〈◊〉 to be formed neyther let they vnderstand it after 〈…〉 manner but One 〈◊〉 matter out of which both the intelligible and the sensible creature were to bee made vp Another that matter onely out of which this sensible corporeall bulke was to bee made which in his mighty bosome contaynes these natures so easie to bee seene and so ready to be had Neyther yet doe euen they vnderstand alike who beleeue the creatures already finished and disposed of to bee in this place called heauen and earth but one vnderstands both the inuisible and visible nature another the visible onely in which wee behold this lightsome heauen and darkesome earth with all things in them contayned CHAP. 29. How many wayes a thing may be sayd to be first 1. BVt he that no otherwise vnderstands In the beginning he made then if iâ— were sayd At first he made hath on ground whereupon with any truth he may vnderstand heauen earth vnlesse hee withall vnderstand the matter of heauen and earth that is to say of the vniuersall intelligible and corporeall creature For if he would haue the vniuerse to be already formed it may be rightly demanded of him If so be God made this first what then made hee after wards After the vniuerse surely he will finde nothing at all wherevpon must bee against his will heare of another question How is a thing first if after it there bee nothing But when he sayes God made the matter vnformed at first â—ad formed it afterwards there is no absurdity committed prouided that he bee able to discerne what 〈◊〉 first in eternity what in time what in choyce and what in Originall First in eternity so God is before all things first in time so is the flower before the fruit first in choyce so is the fruit before the flower first in Originall so is the sound before the Tune Of these foure the first and last that I haue mentioned are with extreme difficulty obtayned to be vnderstood but the two middlemost easily enough For too subtle and too losty a vision it is to behold thy eternity O Lord vnchangeably making these changeable things and so in that respect to be before them 2. And who in the second place is of so sharpe-sighted an vnderstanding as that hee is able without great paines to discerne how the sound should bee before the Tune yet is it so for this reason because a Tune is a sound that hath forme in it and likewise 〈…〉 that a thing not formed may haue a being whereas that which hath no forme can haue no being Thus is the matter before the thing made of â—â— Which matter is not before the thing in this respect for that it makes the thing seeing it selfe is rather made into the thing nor is it before in respect of distance of time for we doe not first in respect of time vtter formelesse founds without singing and then tune or fashion the same sounds into a form of singing afterwards iust as wood or siluer be seru'd whereof a chest or vessell is fashioned Such materials indeede doe in time precede the formes of those things which are made of them but in singing it is not so for when a man sings the sound is heard at the same time seeing that hee does not make a rude formelesse sound first and then bring it into the forme of a Tune afterwards 3. For a sound iust as it is made so it passeth nor canst thou finde aught of it which thou mayst call backe and set vnto a tune by any Art thou canst vse therefore is the tune carryed along in his sound which sound of his is his matter which verily receiues a forme that it may become a tune And therefore as I sayd is the matter of the sound before the forme of the tune not before in respect of any power it hath to make it a tune for a sound is no way the workemaster that makes the tune but being sent out of the body is like materials subiected to the soule to make a tune out of Nor is it first in our choyce seeing a sound is not better then a tune a tune being not onely a bare sound but a gracefull sound But it is first in Originall because a tune receiues not forme to cause it to become a sound but a sound receiues forme to cause it to become a tune By this example let him that is able vnderstand the matter of things to bee first made and called Heauen and Earth because Heauen and Earth were made out of it Yet was not this matter first made in respect of time because that the forme of
Ghost the Creator of all thine owne creatures CHAP. 6. Of the Spirits mouing vpon the waters 1. BVt what was the cause O thou true-speaking light vnto thee lift I vp my heart let it not bee taught vanities dispell thou the darkenesse of it and tell mee by our mother charity I beseech thee tell mee the reason I beseech thee why after the mention of heauen and of the inuisible and shapelesse earth and darknesse vpon the Deepe thy Scriptures should euen then at length make the first mention of thy Spirit Was it because it was meete so to haue Him insinuated as that he should bee sayd to moue vpon and so much could not truely bee sayd vnlesse that were first mentioned vpon which thy Spirit may bee vnderstood to haue moued For verily neyther vpon the Father not vpon the Sonne was hee moued nor could he rightly be sayd to moue vpon if there were nothing yet for him to moue vpon First therefore was that to bee spoken of which He was sayd to moue vpon and then Hee whom it was requisite not to haue named otherwise then a Hee was sayd to moue vpon But wherefore yet was â—â— not fitting to haue Him insinuated otherwayes vnlesse Hee were sayd to moue vpon CHAP. 7. Of the effect or working of the Holy Ghost 1. FRom hence let him that is able follow with his vnderstanding thy Apostle where hee thus speakes Because thy loue is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs and where concerning spirituall gifts he teacheth and sheweth vnto vs a more excellent way of charity and where he bowes his knees vnto thee for vs that wee may come to learne that most excellent knowledge of the loue of Christ And therefore euen from the very beginning did the Spirit supereminently moue vpon the waters Whom shall I tell it vnto and in what termes shall I describe how the hugy weight of lustfull desires presses downe into the steepe pit and how charity rayses vs vp againe by thy Spirit which moued vpon the waters Vnto whom shall I speake it and in what language vtter it For they are no certaine places into which wee are plunged and out of which wee are againe lifted What can bee liker and yet what vnlikeer They bee Affections they be Loues they be the vncleannesse of our owne spirits that ouerflow our lower parts with the loue of cares and it is the holynesse of thy Spirit that rayseth vs vpwards againe by the loue of our safeties that wee may lift our harts vp vnto the Lord where thy Spirit is moued vpon the waters and that wee may come at length to that repose which is aboue all rests when namely our soules shall haue escaped ouer these waters where we can find no ground CHAP. 8. How Gods Spirit cherisheth feeble soules 1. THE Angels fell and mans soule fell and all thy Spirituall creatures in generall had shewne the way vnto the deepe which is in that most darkesome bottome hadst not thou sayd Let there be light and there was light and vnlesse euery spirituall creature of thy heauenly City had continued in obedience vnto thee and settled it selfe vpon thy Spirit which moues vnchangeably vpon euery thing that is changeable Otherwise had euen the heauen of heauens it selfe for euer continued a darkesome Deepe whereas now it is light in the Lord. And now by that miserable restlesnesse of the falling spirits and by their discouering of their owne darknesse the garment of thy light being pluckt off them doest thou sufficiently reueale how noble the reasonable creature is which thou hast created vnto which nothing will suffice to settle its happynesse and rest vpon that is any way inferior vnto thy selfe and therefore cannot herselfe giue satisfaction vnto herselfe For t is thou O Lord that shalt lighten our darknesse from thee must grow these our garments and then shall our darknesse be as the noone day 2. Giue thy selfe vnto me O my God yea restore thy selfe vnto me for I loue thee and if it be too little let mee now loue thee more affectionately I am not able to measure my loue that I may so come to know how much there wants of enough that my life may euen runne into thy embracements and not tnrne from them againe vntill I bee wholy hidden in the secret of thy presence This one thing am I sure of that woe is me if I be not in thee yea not so onely if I bee without my selfe but ill will it goe with mee though I be hidden within my selfe yea all other plenty besides my God is meere beggery vnto me CHAP. 9. Why the Spirit onely moued vpon the waters 1. BVT did not the Father also or the Sonne moue vpon the waters And if wee vnderstand mouing as it were in a place like a body then neyther did the Spirit moue But if the excellent highnesse of the diuinity aboue euery changeable creature bee vnderstood then did both Father Sonne and Holy Ghost moue vpon the waters Why therefore is this sayd of thy Spirit onely Why of him onely as if there had beene some place where indeede there is no place for it of which onely it is written that Hee is thy gift Let vs now take vp our rest in this thy gift there let vs enioy thee O our rest and our place 2. Loue preferres vs thither and thy good Spirit aduances our lowlynesse from the very gates of death In thy good pleasure lies our peace our body with his owne lumpishnesse swaies vs towards its owne place Weight makes not downeward onely but to his owne place also The fire mounts vpward a stone sinks downeward All things pressed by their owne weight goe towards their proper places Oyle powred in the bottome of the water yet will swimme on the toppe of it water powred vpon Oyle sinkes to the bottome of the Oyle They are weighed downe by their owne hea-luinesse they go to seeke their owne centers Things a little out of their places become vnquiet put them in their order agayne and they are quieted My weight is my loue that way am I carried whithersoeuer I bee carried Wee are inflamed by thy gift and are carried vpwards wee waxe hot within and we goe forwards Wee ascend thy waies that be in our heart and wee sing a song of degrees inwardly enflamed with thy fite with thy good fire and wee goe euen because we goe vpwards to the peace of Ierusalem for glad I was when as they sayd vnto me We will go vp into the house of God There let thy good pleasure settle vs that wee may desire no other thing but to dwell there for euer CHAP. 10. All is of Gods gift O Happy creature which knowes no other thing but that whenas it selfe was another thing euen by thy Gift which moueth vpon euery mutable thing it was so soone as created and no delay of time betweene taken vp in that
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
at all no being such empty huskes as these was I then fed with yet not a whit nourished 3. But thou my Love after whom I pine that I may gather the more strength art not these bodies which we see though froÌ„ heaven appearing nor art thou any of those which wee see not there for all those hast thou created nor yet in these chiefest pieces of thy workmanship art thou farre absent How farre then art thou from those fond fantasies of mine the phantasies of those bodies which have at all no being than which the Images of those bodies which have reall existence are farre more certaine and yet the bodies themselves more certaine than their owne Images yet these bodies thou art not No nor yet art thou the Soule which is the life of those bodies though better and more certaine be the life of those bodies than the bodies themselves are But thou art the life of soules the life of lives yea the very living life itselfe nor art thou altered O life of my soule Where therefore how neere wert thou then unto me and how far from me Very far verily had I stragled from thee being even barr'd from the huskes of those swine whom with huskes I was set to feed How much better then are those fables of the Poets and Grammarians than these fooletraps For their Verses and Poems and Medea flying are more profitable surely than these mens Five elements odly devised to answer the Five Dens of darknesse which have at all no being and which slay the beleever For verses and Poems I verily can referre to the true Elements But Medea flying although I charted sometimes yet I maintaind not the truth of and though I heard it sung I beleeved it not But these phantasies I throughly beleeved 4. Alas alas by what degrees was I brought into the very bottome of hell when as toyling and tunnoyling my selfe through want of Truth I sought after thee my GOD to thee I now confesse it who hadst mercy on me when I had not yet confessed not according to the understanding of the minde wherein thou madest mee excell the beasts but according to the sense of the flesh But thou at the same time wert more inward to me than my most inward part and superiour then unto my supremest I chanced upon that bold woman who is simple and knoweth nothing that subtilty in Salomon sitting at the doore of her house and saying Eate yee bread of secrecies willingly and drinke yee stolne waters which are sweete This harlot seduced me because she found my soule without doores dwelling in the eye of my flesh and chewing the cud by my selfe upon such bayts as through her inticement I had devoured CHAP. 7. The absurd doctrine of the Manichees 1. FOr I knew not that there was any other truth and was as it were through mine owne sharpe wit perswaded to give my consent to those foolish deceivers when they put these questions to me Whence cometh evill and whether God were made up in a bodily shape and had haires and nayles and whether those were to be esteemed righteous men who had many wives at once and did kill men and offered sacrifices of living creatures At which things ignorant I was much troubled and while I went quite from the truth I seemed to my selfe to be making towards it because I yet knew not how that evill was nothing else but a privation of good having of it selfe at all no being Which how should I come to see whose sight pierced no further than to a Body with mine eyes and with my soule no deeper than to a meere phantasie 2. Nor did I yet know God to be a Spirit who hath not any parts extended in length and breadth or whose Being was to bee a bulke for that every bulke is lesser in his part than in his whole and if it be infinite it must needs be lesse in some part that is limited in a certaine space than that which is not limited and cannot so bee wholly every where as a spirit as God is And which part in us that should be by which we were like to God and how rightly in the Scriptures we may be said to be made after the Image of God I was altogether ignorant Nor was yet acquainted with that true and inward righteousnesse which judgeth not according to custome but out of the most rightfull Law of God Almighty by which the fashions of severall places and times were so desposed as was fittest both for those times and places it selfe in the meane time being The same alwaies and every where not another thing in another place nor otherwise upon another occasion According to which righteousnesse both Abraham and Isaac and Iacob and Moses were righteous yea and all those other commended by the mouth of GOD but they were judged unrighteous by unskilfull people judging out of humane judgment and measuring all mankinde in generall by the model of their owne customes just as iâ— in an Armory a man being ignorant what peice were appointed for what part should clap a boote upon his head draw an headpeice upon his leg and then murmur because they would not fit him or as if upon some â—â— day when the course of Iustice 〈◊〉 publikely forbidden in the afternoone a shopkeeper should stomacke at it that he may not have leave to sell his wares which it was lawfull for him to doe it the forenoone or when in some house he observeth some servant to passe that kinde of businesâ— through his hands which the Butcher is not suffered to medle withall or some thing done behinde the stable which is forbidden in the dyning-roome or as if he should bee angry that where there is one dwelling house and one family the same equality of distribution is not observed every where and to all alike in it 3. Of the same humor bee those who are fretted to heare something to have beene lawfull for righteous men in the former age which is not so for just men now adayes And because GOD commanded them one thingthen and these an other thing now for certaine temporall respects and yet those of both ages to be servants to the same righteousnesse whereas they may observe that in one man and in one day and in one house one thing to bee fit enough for one member and one thing to bee lawfull now which an hower hence is not so and some thing to be permitted or commanded in one corner which is forbidden and punished in another Is Iustice thereupon various or mutable No but the times rather in which Iustice governes are not like one another for they are times But men now whose life is but short upon the earth for that in their owne apprehensions they are not able to compare together the causes of those former ages and of other nations which they have had no experience of with these which they have had experience of
soule wilt thou be still following thine owne flesh Let that rather turne and follow thee What ever by her thou hast sense of is but in part and the whole whereof these are parts thou knowest not and yet this little contents thee But had the sense of thy flesh beene capable of comprehending the whole and not for thy punishment beene stinted to a part of the whole thou wouldst have then desired that whatsoever hath existence at this present should passe away that so the whole might better have pleased thee altogether For what wee speake by the same sense of the flesh thou hearest and yet wouldst not thou have the same syllables sound ever but flye away that others may come on and thou mayst heare up the whole sentence Thus are all these things in ever Being which have still any one part of theirs in being and yet all those parts which goe to the making up of that whole Being are never all together in present Being All together surely must needs delight morefully than parts single if the pleasure of all could be felt all at once But farre better than these all is he that made all and he is our God nor does he depart away for that he hath no successor If bodies then please thee praise God for them and turne thy love upon him that made them lest otherwise in those things which please thee thou displease him CHAP. 12. Love of the creatures is not forbidden provided that in those which please us God bee loved 1. IF then soules please thee let them be loved in God for they are mutable but in him are they firmly established or else would they passe and perish In him therefore let them be beloved and draw unto him along with thee as many soules as thou canst and say to them Him let us love let us love him he made all these nor is hee farre from them For he did not once make them and then get him gone But of him and in him they are See where he is even where-ever truth is savoury Hee is within the very heart but yet hath the heart strayed from him 〈◊〉 againe to your owne heart Oâ—â— transgressors and cleave fast â—â— to him that made you 〈◊〉 with him and you shall 〈◊〉 surely Repose your 〈…〉 him and yee shall rest 〈◊〉 Whither goe you iâ— these 〈◊〉 gy passages O whither goe you The good that you love is 〈◊〉 him and in respect of him 〈◊〉 both good and pleasant But it shall justly be turned to bitternesse because whatsoever is from him is unjustly loved if hee be forsaken for it 2. Whither now wander 〈◊〉 further and further over these difficult and troublesome passages There is no rest to be found where you seeke it Seeke what you doe seeke but yet 't is not there where you are seeking for it You seeke a blessed life in the land of death 't is not there for how should there be a happy life where there is at all no life But our Life descended downe hither and tooke away our death and kild him out of the abundance of his owne life and he thundered calling unto us to returne from hence to him into that secret place from whence he came forth to us comming first into the Virgins wombe where the Humanity was marryed unto him even our mortall flesh though not ever to be mortall and thence came he like a Bridegroome out of his chamber rejoycing as a Giant to run his course For hee foreslow'd not but he ranne crying both in words deedes death descent and ascension still crying to us to returne unto him And hee withdrew himselfe from our eyes that we might returne to our owne heart and there finde him 3. He withdrew himselfe and behold he is still here He would not tarry long with us yet hath he not utterly left us for thither is he gone from whence he never parted because the world was made by him And in this world hee was and into this world hee came to save sinners unto whom my soule now confesseth that he may heale it for it hath sinned against him O ye sonnes of men how long will ye be slow of heart will ye not now after that Life is descended downe to you will not you ascend up to it and live But whither ascended you when you were high-conceipted and lifted up your head into heaven Descend againe that you may ascend and ascend to God For descended you are by ascending against him Tell the soules whom thou lovest thus that they may weepe in this valley of teares and so carry them up with thee unto God because by his Spirit thou speakest thus unto them if speak thou doest burning with the fire of charity CHAP. 13. Love whence it comes 1. THese things I as then knew not and I fell in love with these inferior beauties and I was sinking even to the very bottome and unto my friends I said doe wee love any thing that is not beautifull For what is faire and what is beauty what is it that inveigles us thus and that drawes our affections to the things we love for unlesse there were a gracefulnesse and a beauty in them they could by no meanes draw us unto them And I markt narrowly and perceived that in the bodies themselves there was one thing as it were the whole feature which in that respect was beautifull and another thing that did therefore become because it was aptly fitted to some thing as some part of the body in respect of the whole body or a shooe in respect of the foot and the like And this consideration sprang up in my minde even out of the innermost of my very heart and I composed certaine bookes De Pulchro Apto two or three as I thinke Thou knowest it O Lord for 't is out of my memory For I have them not now by me but lost they are and I know not how CHAP. 14. Of his booke of Faire and Fit 1. WHat was the cause O Lord my GOD that moved me to dedicate unto Icherius an Orator of Rome these bookes of mine whom as then I so much as knew not by face but upon love to the man meerely for the fame of his learning which was eminent in him and some words of his that I had heard which very well pleased me But rather did he please me for that they pleased others who highly extold him admiting much that a Syrian borne brought up first in the Greeke Eloquence should afterwards prove so wonderfull a master in the Latine also being above all this a most knowing man in all the studies that pertaine unto Wisdome A man is commended and loved even when hee is absent Doth then this love enter the heart of the hearer immedidiately from the mouth of the prayser Nothing so But by one lover is another inflamed Hence comes it that hee is oft loved who is heard commended when namely his worth
soules these things that are to come For thou hast already taught thy Prophets which is the way that thou vnto whom nothing is to come dost teach things to come or rather out of Future dost informe vs of things present For that which is not cannot bee taught Too too far is this way out of my kenning it hath gotten out of my reach I cannot by mine owne power arriue vp to it but by thy assistance I may againe euen when thou shalt vouchsafe me that most sweet light of the inward eyes of my soule CHAP. 20. These three differences of times how they are to bee called 1. CLeare now it is and playne that there are neyther things to come nor things past Nor doe we properly say There be three times past present and to come And yet perchance it might bee properly sayd too There be three three times a present time of passed things a present time of present things and a present time of future things For indeede three such as these in our soules ther bee but other-where doe I not see them The present time of passed things is our Membry the present time of present things is our Sight the present time of future things our Expectation If thus wee bee permitted to speake then see I three times yea and I confesse there are three Let this also be sayd There bee three ttmes Past present and to come according to our mis-applyed custome let it so be said See I shall not much bee I troubled at it neyther gaine-say nor find fault with it prouided that bee vnderstood which is sayd namely that neyther that which is to come haue any being now no nor that which is already passed For but a very few things there are which wee speake properly but very many that we speake improperly though yet we vnderstand one anothers meaning CHAP. 21. How time may bee measured 1. AS therefore I was euen now a saying We take such measure of the times in their passing by as we may be able to say This time is twice so much as that one or This is iust so much as that and so of any other parts of time which be measurable We do therefore as I sayd take measure of the times as they are passing by And if any man should now aske mee How knowest thou I might answere I doe know because wee doe measure them for wee cannot measure things that are not and verily times past and to come are not But for the present time now how doe wee measure that seeing it hath no space We measure it therefore euen whilest it passeth for when it is passed then wee measure it not for there will bee nothing to bee measured 2. But from what place and by which way and whitherto passes this time while it is a measuring whence but from the time Future Which way but by the time present whither but into the time passed From that therefore which is not yet by that which hath no space into that which is not still Yet what is it wee measure if not time in some space For wee vse not to say Single and double and triple and equall or any other way that we speake of time but with reference still to the spaces of times In what space therefore doe wee measure the time present Whether in the Future space whence it passed but that which is not yet we cannot measure Or in the present by which it passed but no space wee doe not measure or in the past to which it passed But neither doe wee measure that which is not still CHAP. 22. He begs of God the resulution of a difficulty 1. MY some is all on fire to bee resolued of this most intricate 〈…〉 Shut it not vp O Lord God O my good father in the name of Christ I beseech thee doe not so shut vp these vsuall but yet hidden things from this desire of mine that it bee hindred from piercing into them but let them shine out vnto mee thy mercy O Lord enlightening me Whom shall I make my demands vnto concerning these poynts And to whom shall I more fruitefully confesse my ignorance then vnto thee whom these studies of mine so vehemently burning to vnderstand thy Scriptures are no wayes troublesome Giue mee Lord what I loue for loue I doe and this loue hast thou giuen mee Giue it me Father who truely knowest to giue good gifts vnto thy Children Giue mee because I haue takâ—n vpon mee to know thee and it is painefull vnto me vntill thou openest it 2. Euen by Christ I beseech thee in the name of that Holy of holies let not mans answere disturbe mee For I beleeued and therefore doe I speake This is my hope this doe I pant after that I may contemplate the delights of the Lord. Behold thou hast made my dayes short and they passe away I know not how And wee talke of time and time and times and times How long time is it since hee sayd this how lond time since he did this how long time since I saw that and this syllable hath double time to that single short syllable These words wee heare and these termes wee vnderstand and are vnderstood againe Most manifest and ordinary they are and yet the selfe-same things too deeply hidden yea the finding out of the secret of them would proue a very new deuice CHAP. 23. Hee cleares this question what Time is 1. I Heard a learned man once deliuer it That the motions of the Sunne Moone and Starres and not the yeeres were the very true Times But why then should not the motions of all bodies in generall rather be times But what if the lights of heauen should cease and the potters wheele run round should there bee no time by which wee might measure those whirlings about and might pronounce of it that eyther it moued with equall pauses or if it turn'd sometimes flower and other whiles quicker that some rounds tooke vp longer time and other shorter or euen whilest we were a saying this should wee speake in Time or should there in our words be any syllables short and others long but for this reason onely that those tooke vp a shorter time in founding and these a longer Graunt vnto vs men the skill O God in a little hint to descry those notions as be common to things both great and small 2. The starres and lights of heauen 't is true bee appoynted for signes and for seasons and for yeeres and for dayes They bee indeede yet should I neuer on the one side affirme The whirling about of that fiery wheele to bee the day nor though it were not that therefore on the other side there were no time at all let Him affirme eyther of these I for my part desire to vnderstand the force and nature of time by which we are to measure the motions of bodies as when wee say for example this motion to bee
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
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
delight to jeere at and to put tricks upon others CHAP. 4. How Tullies Hortensuis provokt him to study Philosophie 1. AMongst these mad companions in that tender age of mine learnd I the Bookes of Eloquence wherein my ambition was to be eminent all out of a damnable and vaine-glorious end puse up with a delight of humane glory By the ordinary course of study I fell upon a certaine booke of one Cicerâ— whose tongue almost every man admires though not his heart This booke of his contaynes an exhortation to Philosophie and 't is called Hort ensius This very Book quite altered my affection turned my prayers to thy selfe O Lord and made me have cleane other purposes and desires All my vayne hopes I thenceforth slighted and with an incredible heat of spirit I thirsted after the immortality of wisdome and began now to rowse up my selfe that I might turne again to thee ward For I made not use of that booke to file my tongue with which I seemed to buy with that â—â—â—â—bition my another allowed me in that mine tenth yeere of my age my father being dead two yeeres before I made not use therefore of that book I say to sharpen my tongue withall nor had it perswaded me to affect the find language in it but the matter of in 2. How did I burne then my God how was I inflamed to fly from earthly delights towards thee and yet I knew not what thou meanedst to doe with me For with thee is wisdome That love of wisedome is in Greeke called Philosophie with which that booke inflam'd mee Some there bee that seduce others through Philosophie under a great a faire promising and an honest name colouring over and palliating their owne errors and almost all those who in the same and former ages had beene of that stamp are in that booke censured and set forth there also is that most wholesome advice of thy Spirit given by thy good and devout servant made plaine Beware left any man spoyle you through Philosophie and vaine deceipt after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ For in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily 3. For my part thou light of my heart knowest that the Apostolicall Scriptures were scarce knowne to me at that time but this was it that so delighted mee in that exhortation that it did not ingage mee to this or that sect but left me free to love and seeke and obtaine and hold and embrace wisdome it selfe what ever it were Perchance 't was that booke I was stirred up and inkindled and inflamed by This thing only in such a heat of zeale tooke me off that the name of Christ was not in it For this Name according to thy mercy O Lord this Name of my Saviour thy Sonne had my tender heart even together with my mothers milke devoutly drunken in and charily treasured up so that what booke soever was without that Name though never so learned politely and truely penned did not altogether take my approbation CHAP. 5. Hee sets lightly by the Holy Scriptures because of the simplicity of the stile 1. I Resolved thereupon to bend my studies towards the holy Scriptures that I might see what they were But behold I espie something in them not revealed to the proud not discovered unto children humble in stile sublime in operation and wholly veyled over in mysteries and I was not so fitted at that time as to pierce into the sense or stoope my high neck to track the stile of it For when I attentively read these Scriptures I thought not then so highly of them as I now speake but they seemed to me farre unworthy to be compared to the statelinesse of the Ciceronian eloquence For my swelling pride soar'd above the temper of their stile nor was my sharpe wit able to pierce into their sense And yet such are thy Scriptures as grew up together with thy little Ones But I much disdained to be held a little One and big-swoln with pride I tooke my selfe to be some great man CHAP. 6. How hee was insnared by the Manichees 1. ANd even therefore I fell upon a sect of men proudly doting too carnall and prating in whose mouths were the very snares of the divell and a very Birdlime compounded by the mixture of the syllables of thy Name and of our Lord Iesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost the Comforter All these names came not out of their mouth but so farre forth as the sound only and the noyse of the tongue for their heart was voyd of true meaning Yet they cryed out Truth and Truth and divers sounded the word to mee yet was the Truth it selfe no where to be found amongst them But they spake falsehood not of thee onely who truely art the Truth it selfe but also of the elements of this world thy creatures Concerning which it had beene my duty O my supreme good Father thou beauty of all things that are beautifull to have out-stripped all the Philosophers though they spake most truely O Truth Truth how inwardly did the very marrow of my soule pant after thee when as they often and divers wayes though but barely pronounced thy name to me with their voice onely and in many bookes and hugie volumes And these were the dishes wherein to hunger-starven me they instead of thee served in the Sun and Moone Beautifull works indeed of thine but thy creatures notwithstanding not thy selfe no nor thy first creatures neither For thy spirituall works are before these corporeall workes celestiall though they be and shining 2. But I hungered and thirsted not after those first workes of thine but after thee even thee the Truth with whom there is no variablenesse neither shadow of turning yet they still set before me in those dishes glorious phantasies than which much better it were to love this Sunne which is true to our sights at least than those phantasies which by our eyes serve to deceive our minde Yet because I thought Them to be Thee I fell to and fed not greedily though for thou wert not savoury in my mouth nor like thy selfe for thou wast not those empty fictions nor was I soundly nourisht by them but drawne dry rather That food we dreame of shewes very like the food which we eat awake yet are not those asleepe nourisht by it for they are asleep But neither were those phantasies any way like to thee as thou hast since spoken to me for that those were corporeall phantasies only false bodies than which these true bodies both celestiall and terrestriall which with our fleshly sight we behold are far more certaine These things the very beasts and birds discerne as well as wee and they are much more certayne than any we can fancy of our selves And againe we doe with more certaintie conceive the images of these than by them entertaine the least suspition of any vaster or infinite bodies which have