their mutability by which they both leaue to bee what they haue beene and begin to bee what they haue neuer beene And this shifting out of one forme into another I suspected to bee caused by I know not what thing without form not by nothing at all yet this I was desirous to know not to suspect onely But if my voyce pen should here confesse all vnto thee whatsoeuer knots thou didst vnknâ—t for me in this questioÌ„ what Reader would haue so much patience to bee made conceiue it Nor shall my heart for all this cease at any time to giue thee honour and a Song of praise for all those things which it is not able to expresse For the changeable condition of changeble things is of it selfe capeable of all those forms into which these changable things are changed And this changeablenesse what is it Is it a soule or is it a body or is it any figure of a soule or body Might it be sayd properly that nothing were something and yet were not I would say This were it and yet was it both of these that so it might bee capeable of these visible and compounded figures CHAP. 7. Heauen is greater then Earth 1. BVt whence are both these but from thee from whom are all things so far forth as they haue being But how much the further off from thee so much the vnliker thee I doe not meane farrenesse of places Thou therefore O Lord who art not another in another place nor otherwise in another place but the same and the very same and the very selfe-same Holy Holy Holy Lord God almighty didst in the Beginning which is in thine owne selfe in thy Wisedome which was borne of thine owne Substance create something and that out of nothing 2. For thou createdst heauen and earth not out of thine owne selfe for so should they haue beene equall to thine onely Begotten Sonne and thereby vnto thine owne selfe too wheras no way iust it had beene that any thing should bee equall vnto thee which was not of thee Nor was there any thing besides thy selfe of which thou mightest create these things O God who art One in Trinity and Three in Vnity Therefore out of nothing hast thou created Heauen and Earth a great thing and a small thing for thou art omnipotent and good to make all things good euen the great heauen and the little earth Thou wert and nothing else was there besides out of which thou createdst Heauen and Earth two certaine things one neere thee the other neere to nothing One for thy selfe to bee superior vnto the other which nothing should bee inferiour vnto CHAP. 8. The Chaos was created out of nothing and out of that all things 1. BVt that Heauen of heauens which was for thy selfe Lord and this earth which thou gauest to the Sonnes of men to be seene and felt was not at first such as wee now both see and feele for it was inuisible and vnshapen and there was a deepe vpon which there was no light or darkenesse was vpon the deepe that is more then in the deepe Because this deepe of waters visible now adayes hath in his deepes a light proper for its nature perceiueable howeuer vnto the Fishes and creeping things in the bottome of it But all this whole was almost nothing because hitherto it was altogether without forme but yet there was now a matter that was apt to bee formed For thou Lord createdst the World of a matter without forme which being next to nothing thou madest out of nothing out of which thou mightest make those great workes which wee sonnes of men so much wonder at 2. For very wonderfull is this corporeall heauen which firmament betweene water and water the second day after the creation of light thou commandedst it to be made it was made Which Firmament thou calledst heauen the heauen that is to this earth and sea which thou createdst the third day by giuing a visible figure vnto the vnshapen matter which thou createdst before all dayes For euen already hadst thou created an heauen before all dayes but that was the Heauen of heauens because In the beginning thou createdst heauen and earth As for the earth which thou createdst it was an vnshapely matter because it was inuisible and without forme and darkenesse was vpon the deepe Of which inuisible earth and without forme of which vnshapelynes of which almost nothing thou mightest create all these of which this changeable world consists which continueth not the same but mutability it selfe appeares in it the times being easie to bee obserued and numbred in it For times are made by the alterations of things whilest namely their figures are varied and turned the matter whereof is this inuisible earth aforesayd CHAP. 9. What that Heauen of heauens is 1. THe Spirit therefore the Teacher of thy seruant whenas it recounts thee to haue in the beginning created heauen and earth speakes nothing of any times nor a word of any dayes For verily that Heauen of heauens which thou createdst in the beginning is some Intellectuall creature which although no waies coeternall vnto thee O Trinity yet being partaker of thy eternity doth through the sweetnesse of that most happy contemplation of thy selfe strongly restrayne its owne mutability and without any fall since its first creation cleauing close vnto thee hath set it selfe beyond all rowling interchange of times Yea neyther is this very vnshapelynesse of the inuisible earth and without forme once numbred among the dayes For where no figure nor order is there does nothing eyther come or goe and where this is not there playnely are no dayes nor any interchange of temporall spaces CHAP. 10. His desire to vnderstand the Scriptures 1. O Let truth the light of mine heart and not mine owne darkenesse now speake vnto me I fell off into that and became all be-darkned but yet euen for this euen vpon this occasion came I to loue thee I heard thy voyce behinde mee calling to mee to returne but scarcely could I discerne it for the noyse of my sinnes But see here I returne now sweating and panting after thy fountaine Let no man forbid me of this will I drinke and so shall I liue For I am not mine own life if I haue liued ill my death is farre from my selfe but t is in thee that I reuiue againe Speake thou vnto me discourse thou with mee I haue beleeued thy Bible but the words of it be most full of mystery CHAP. 11. What he learnt of God 1. NOw hast thou with a 〈…〉 voyce O Lord spoken in my inner care because thou art eternall that onely possessest immortality by reason that thou canst not be changed by any figure or motion nor is thy Will altered by times seeing no Will can be cald immortall which is now one and then another all this is in thy sight already cleare to me let it be more more cleared to me
I beseech thee and in the manifestation thereof let me with sobriety continue vnder thy wings Thou toldest mee also with a strong voyce O Lord in mine inner care how that t is thy selfe selfe who made all those Natures and substances which are not what thy selfe is and which yet haue their being and how that onely is not from thee which hath no being no nor the Will that slydes backe from thee that art eminently vnto that which hath an inferior being because that all such backeslyding is transgression and sinne and that no mans sinne does eyther hurt thee or disturbe the order of thy gouernment first or last All this is in thy sight now cleare vnto mee and let it bee so more and more I beseech thee and in the manifestation thereof let mee soberly continue vnder thy wings 2. With a strong voyce thou toldest mee likewise in mine inner care how that neyther is that creature coeternall vnto thy selfe whose desire thou onely art which with a most perseuering chastity greedily drinking thee in does in no place and at no time put off its naturall mutability and thy selfe being euer present withit vnto whom with its whole affection it kepes it selfe it hauing neyther any thing in future to expect nor conueying any thing which it remembreth into the time past is neyther altered by any change nor stretcht along into any times O blessed creature if any such there bee euen for cleauing so fast vnto thy blessednesse blest in thee the eternall Inhabitant and Enlightener thereof Nor doe I find what I am more glad to call the Heauen of heauens which is the Lords then thine owne House which still contemplating that delight which in thee it finds without any forsaking thee to goe into other a most pure mind most peacefully continuing one by that settled estate of peace of those holy spirits those Citizens of thy Citty in heauenly places which are farre wes that it is not here meant of the aboue those heauenly places that we see By this now may the Soule vnderstand how farre shee is cast off by her owne straggling if namely she now thirsts after thee if her owne teares be now become her bread while they daily say vnto her Where is now thy God If she now seekes thee alone and require this one thing that shee may dwell in thy house all the dayes of her life 3. And what is her life but thou And what are thy dayes but euen thy eternity like as thy yeeres are which fayle not because thou art euer the same Hereby therefore let the Soule that is able vnderstand how farre thou art aboue all times eternall seeing that thy very house which hath at no time departed from thee although it be not coeternall vnto thee yet by continually and inseparably cleauing vnto thee suffers not the least changeablenesse of Times All this is cleare vnto me in thy sight and more and more let it bee so I be seech thee and in the manifestation thereof let mee abide vnder thy wings 4. There is behold I know not what vnshapednesse in the alterations of these last made and lowest creatures and who shall tell mee what vnlesse such a one as through the emptynesse of his owne heart wanders and tosses himselfe vp and downe with his owne fancies Who now but euen such a one would tell mee That if all figure bee so wasted and consumed away as that there onely remaines vnshapelynesse by which the thing was changed and turned out of one figure into another that that were able to shew vnto vs the changeable courses of the Times Playnely it can neuer doe it because without the variety of motions there are no times and there is no variety where there is no forms CHAP. 12. Of two creatures not within compasso of time 1. THese things considred for as much as thou giuest O my God for as much as thou stirrest mee vp to knock and forasmuch as thou openest to me when I knock two things I finde that thou hast made not within the compasse of times notwithstanding that neyther of them bee coeternall with thy selfe One which is so formed as that without any ceasing to contemplate thee without any interruption of change though in it selfe it bee changeable yet hauing beene neuer changed it may thorowly for euer enioy thy eternity and vnchangeablenesse The other was so vnshapely as that it had wherewithall to be changed out of one forme into another eyther of motion or of station whereby it might become subiect vnto time But this thou didst not leaue thus vnshapely because before all dayes thou in the beginning didst create Heauen Earth the two things that I spake of 2. And the Earth was inuisible and without shape and darknesse was vpon the Deepe In which words is the vnshapelynesse noted vnto vs that such capacities may hereby bee drawne on by degrees as are not able to conceiue so vtter a priuatiō of all the forme of it as should not yet come so low as a meere nothing out of which another Heauen was to bee created together with a visible earth a well furnished and the Waters replenished with their kinds and whatsoeuer beside is in the setting foorth of the world recorded to haue beene not without dayes created and that because they are of such a nature that the successiue changes of times haue power ouer them by reason of their appoynted alterations of motions and of formes CHAP. 13. The nature of the Heauen of heauens described 1. THis O my God is my priuate iudgement in the meane time whenas I heare thy Scripture saying In the beginning God made Heauen and Earth and the Earth was without shape and voyd and darkenes was vpon the deepe and not once mentioning what day thou createdst them This I in the mean time iudge to bee spoken because of the Heauen of heauens that intellectuall Heauen where to vnderstand is to know all at once not in part not darkly not through a glasse but in whole clearely and face to face not this thing now and that thing anon but as I sayd know all at once without all succession of times and I iudge it spoken also because of that inuisible and voyd Earth exempted in like manner from all interchangeablenesse of times which vses to haue this thing now and anon that the reason is that where there is not any figure there can bee no variety of this or that Because of these two that One first formed vtterly vnperfected Heauen meaning the Heauen of heauens and this other earth meaning the inuisible and shapelesse earth because of these two as I iudge in the meane time did thy Scripture speake without mention of any dayes In the beginning God created Heauen and Earth seeing presently hee added what earth hee spake of and because also the Firmament being recorded to bee created the second day and called
call whereby thou saydest Let there be light and there was light Whereas in vs there is distance of time betweene our hauing beene darknesse and our making light but of that creature it is onely sayd what it would haue beene if it had not beene enlightened And this is spoken in that manner as if it had beene vnsetled and darkesome before that so the reason might now appeare for which it was made to bee otherwise that is to say that it being conuerted vnto the light that neuer faileth might it selfe bee made light Let him vnderstand this that is able and let him that is not aske it of God Why should he trouble mee with it as if I could enlighten any man that commeth into this world CHAP. 11. Of some Impressions or resemblances of the blessed Trinity that be in man 1. VVHich of vs does sufficiently comprehend the knowledge of the almighty Trinity and yet which of vs but talkes of it if at least it be that A rare soule it is which whilest it speakes of it knowes what it speakes of For men contend and striue about it and no man sees the vision of it in peace I could wish that men would consider vpon these three that are in themselues Which three be farre another thing indeede then the Trinity is but I doe but now tell them where they may exercise their meditations and examine and finde how farre they are from it Now the three that I spake of are To Be to Know and to Will For I both Am and Know and Will I Am Knowing and Willing and I Know my selfe to Be and to Will and I would both Be and Know. Betwixt these three let him discerne that can how vnseparable a life there is yea one life one mind and one essence yea finally how vnseparable a distinction there is and yet there is a distinction Surely a man hath it before him let him looke into himselfe and see and then tell mee 2. But when once hee comes to finde any thing in these three yet let him not for all this beleeue himselfe to haue found that vnchangeable which is farre aboue all these and which IS vnchangeably and Knowes vnchangeably and Willes vnchangeably But whether or no where these three bee there is also a Trinity or whether all three bee in each seuerall one or all three in euery of them or whether both wayes at once in admirable manner simply and yet manifoldly in its infinite selfe the and vnto it selfe by which end it is and is knowne vnto it selfe and that being vnchangebly euer the same by the abundant greatnesse of its Vnity it bee all-sufficient for it selfe what man can readily conceiue who is able in any termes to expresse it ◠who shall dare in any measure rashly to deliuer his opinion vpon it CHAP. 12. The water in Baptisme is effectuall by the Holy Spirit 1. PRoceede in with thy Confession of the Lord thy God O my faith O holy holy holy Lord my God in thy name haue we beene baptized O Father Sonne and Holy Ghost because that euen among vs also in Christ his Sonne did God make an heauen and earth namely the spirituall and carnall people of his Church Yea and our earth before it receiued the forme of doctrine was inuisible and vnformed and wee were couered ouer with the darknesse of ignorance For thou hast chastised man for his iniquity and thy Iudgements were like the great deepe vnto him 2 But because thy Spirit moued vpon the waters thy mercy forsooke not our misery for thou saydst Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heauen is at hand Repent Let there be light And because our soule was troubled within vs wee haue remembred thee O Lord concerning the land of Iordan and that hill which being equall vnto thy selfe was made little for our sakes and vpon our being displeased at our owne darkenesse wee turned vnto thee and were made light So that behold we hauing sometimes beene darknesse are now light in the Lord. CHAP. 13. His deuout longing after God 1. BVT yet we walke by faith still not by sight for we are saued by hope but hope that is soene is not hope And yet doeth one deepe call vnto another in the voyce of thy water-spoutes and so doeth hee that sayth I could not speake vnto you as vnto spirituall but as vnto carnall euen He who thought not himselfe to haue apprehended as yet and who forgot those things which are behynd and reacht foorth to those things which are before yea he groaned earnestly and his soule thirsted after God as the Hart after the water-brooks saying When shall I come desiring to be cloathed vpon with his house which is from heauen he calleth also vpon this lower deepe saying Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind And Be not children in vnderstanding but in malice be ye children that in vnderstanding ye may be perfect and O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you 2. But now speakes hee no longer in his own voice but in thine who sentest thy Spirit from aboue by his mediation who ascended vp on high and set open the flood-gates of his gifts that the force of his streames might make glad the City of God Him doeth this friend of the bridegroome sigh after though hauing the first fruites of the Spirit in himselfe alreadie yet groaneth he within himselfe as yet wayting for the adoption to wit the redemption of his body to him he sighes as being a mēber of his Bride towards him he burnes with zeale as being a friend of the Bridegroome towards him hee burneth not towards himselfe because that in the voyce of thy water-spowtes and not in his owne voyce doth hee call to that other deepe for whose sake hee is both iealous and fearefull lest that as the serpent beguiled Eue through his subtiltie so their minds should be corrupted from the simplicitie that is in our Bridegrome thy onely Sonne Oh what a light of beauty will that be when we shall see that Bridegrome as Hee is when all teares shall be wiped from our eyes which haue beene my meat day and night whilest they daily say vnto me Where is now thy God CHAP. 14. Our misery is comforted by faith and Hope 1. ANd so say I too Where art thou O my God see where art thou In thee take I comfort a little while whenas I powre out my soule by my selfe in the voyce of ioy and prayse which is the sound of him that keepes holyday And yet againe is it besadned euen because it relapseth againe and becomes a darkesome deepe or perceiues it selfe rather euen still to bee one Vnto it thus speakes my faith which thou hast kindled to enlighten my feete in this my night Why art thou so sad O my soule and why art thou so
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
Take vp and reade Take vp and reade ST. AVGVSTINES translatedand With some marginall notes illustrated By WIlliam Watts Rector of St. Albanes Woodstreete Saint Augustines Confessions translated AND With some marginall notes illustrated WHEREIN Diuers Antiquities are explayned And the marginall notes of a former Popish Translation answered BY William Watts Rector of St. Albanes Woodstreete LONDON Printed by IOHN NORTON for IOHN PARTRIDGE and are to be sold at the signe of the Sunne in Pauls Church-yard 1631. TO THE NOble and Religious Lady the Lady Elizabeth Hare Wife to the Honourable Sir Iohn Hare of Srow in Norff. and daughter to the Right Honourable Thomas Lord Couentry Lord Keeper of the great Seale c. Madam HOW great aduantage a natiue disposition to goodnesse is we confesse all all know how much the goodnesse of the Stock conferres towards the sweetnesse of the Fruite And yet haue our Gardeners obserued another aduancement of Nature namely how wonderfully the goodnesse of the Stock is improued by the vertue of the Cyon and that t is the Graft and not the Plant alone which renders the fruit more pleasant Besides that naturall preeminence therefore which your Ladyship hath to be honorably descended you are as the world acknowledges vertuously descended also your Stock is good and you are which the world knowes not high borne too your Cyon is better borne from aboue not onely once but againe and I fully perswade my selfe that I haue long since seene many vnsayned assurances of it I must not tempt your Ladyship with your own prayses your neighbours can speake foorth them and did I not know you to be most discreetly humble I might not haue sayd so much Let me now be bold good Madame to adde one Counsell after many Commendations it shall be but such a one as I know you most apt to take giue mee leaue to put you in mind that al this though the chiefe yet is it not the onely Engagement your Ladyship stands obliged to Almighty God in but that you owe him aboue most women a daily thankefulnesse both for his domesticke and worldly blessings God hath endowed your Ladyship with a most plentifull fortune And aboue that with a well-chosen and a towardly Gentleman one of the early hopes and prayses of his Country a yoake-fellow equall to your Selfe in blood in youth in personage And to increase all these blessings hath God increast you both with a sweete numerous Issue euen so numerous that your Oliue branches are already round about your table So that blessed be God neyther of you both are likely to want Heyres nor they Inheritances Thus hath God blest you as he did Ioseph with blessings of the Heauen aboue and blessings of the Deepe beneath blessings of the brests and of the womb And what could God haue done more to his Vine And what remaines for your Ladyship to doe but to cultiuate to pâ—une and to water both Stock and Cyon with a religious industry I know your Ladyship to be addicted as well to the Closet as to the Church to priuate Reading as to publike Hearing and I haue heretofare serued your Ladyship in both In thankfulnesse therfore for your salt which I haue eateÌ„ â—here make present of a most fit instrument for your Spirituall culture St. Austens own Pruning knife by which Hee cut off his sinnes by Repentance an exercise for your Closet deuotion the deuout st piece of all St. Austen and the vsefullest by which Confession is made vnto Saluation I direct not this to your Name by any chance but vpon deliborate choyce for I presume to be so priuy to the way of your Religion as to know that euen this Subiect of Priuate Confessions will much please you It will I hope do your soule good Let it therefore I beseech you Madam partake againe of your Goodnesse Countenance it I intreate your Ladyship with your Nime and defend it with the priuiledge of a Ladies Honour which no man I hope will be so vnmannerly as to vivlate God blesse your Honored Husband and Selfe and Children and Kinred and Family with Grace in this Life and with Glory in the next Thus prayes he affectionately who still remaines Madame Your good Ladyships obliged to honour and serue you VVilliam VVatts To the deuout Reader FOr such a one I hope this booke will make thee I am forced for want of paper to turne an Epistle into an excuse If thou here missest the Preface know that the swelling of the volum shut it out This Translation I began for the exercise of my Letâ—ten Deuotions but I quickly found it to exercise more then my Deuotion it exercised my skill all I had it exercised my Patience it exercised my Friends too for t is incomparably the hardest taske that euer I yet vndertooke the Presse wrought as fast as I wrote and I could not recall what was past Some things therefore may be ouerslipt but neither many I hope nor materiall to Religion nor so many by many as those of the former Translation which misled me as much as helpt me especially the two first books when I too much trusted him Who was the Author of it I assuredly know not some name Parsons others name a knight That I somtimes touch him too tartly was my aâ—ale against him not onely for being so Arrantly Partially Popish but for being so spitefull to the Holy Scriptures which he neuer honors with quoting in his margent euery where debases by aduancing the Romish Church aboue them If finding himselfe aggrieued hee shall in Print discouer himselfe against me I hope this of mine will one day come to a second Impression Now in the meane time I humbly desire the Deuout Reader to bee a Courteous Censurer I promise to send any man as many Thanks as he shall fairely send me word of Faults escaped in my booke God blesse the Readers and send them all to make confession vnto Saluation So prayes your Chaplayne the Translater W. W. St. Augustines owne testimony of this Booke taken out of his Retractations THe thirteene bookes of my Confessions both of my sinnes and good deedes do prayse God who is both iust and good and doe excite both the affection and vnderstanding of man towards him In the meane time for as much as concerneth me they wrought this effect when I wrote them and so they yet do when now I read them What others find thereby let themselues obserue but this I know That they haue much pleased and do much please many of my brethren From the first thâ—â—â—â— the whole tenth Booke they are written of my selfe in the three Books following of the holy Scripture from that place where it is sayd In the beginning God made heauen earth till he speaks of the Rest of the Sabbath In the fourth book when I confessed the misery of my mind vpon occasion of my friends 〈◊〉 sayes I hat my soule was as it were made one of both
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
curiosities like as the fishes of the Sea in which they wander over the unknown paths of the bottomlesse pit and their owne luxuriousnesse like as the beasts of the field that thou Lord who art a consuming fire mayst burne up those dead cares of theirs and renew themselves immortally 4. But they knew not that way thy Word by which thou madest these things which themselves can calculate and the calculators themselves and the sense by which they see what they calculate and the understanding out of which they do number it or that of thy wisedome there is no number But the onely Begotten is made unto us Wisdome and Righteousnesse and Sanctification and was numbred as one of us and paid tribute unto Caesar This way have not these men knowne by which they should descend from themselves downe to him and by it ascend againe unto him They verily knew not this way and they conceit themselves to move in an high orbe and to shine amongst the Starres whereas behold they grovell upon the ground and their foolish heart is darkened They discourse truely of many things concerning the creature but the true Architect of the creature they doe not religiously seeke after and therefore doe they not finde him Or if they doe finde him acknowledging him to be God yet they glorifie him not as God neither were thankefull but became againe in their imaginations They give out themselves to bee wise attributing thy workes unto their skill and in this humor with a most perverse blindnesse study they on the other side to impute to thee their own follies entitling thee who art Truth it selfe unto their lyes changing thus the glory of the uncorruptible God into an Image made like corruptible man and to birds and foure footed beasts and creeping things changing thy truth into a lye and served the creature more than the Creator 5. But yet diverse observations concerning the creature truly delivered by these Philosophers did I retaine in memory yea and I conceived the Reason of them by mine owne calculations the order of times and the visible testimonies of the Staries and all this I compared with the sayings of Manichaeus who had written much of these subjects doting most abundantly nor did he give me any reason either of the Solstices or Aequinoxes or the Ecclipses of the greater Lights nor of any such point as I had learned in the Bookes of secular Philosophie But in his Writings was I commanded to beleeve all but no answer met I withal unto those reasons which had beene found true both by mine owne calculatings and eye-sight from all which his was quite contrary CHAP. 4. Onely the knowledge of GOD makes happy 1. TEll me O Lord God of Truth is whosoever is skilfull in these Philosophic all things thereby acceptable unto thee Surely most unhappy is the man that knowes all these things and is ignorant of thee but happy is hee that knowes thee though ignorant of these And he that knowes both thee and them is not the happier for them but for thee onely upon condition that as he knows thee so he glorifies thee as God and it thankfull and becomes not vaine in his owne imaginations 2. For even as he is in better case that knows how to possesse a Tree and to returne thanks unto thee for the commodities of it although he knowes not how many cubits high it rises or how broad it spreads than hee that hath the skill to measure it and keepes an account of all the boughes of it and is neither owner of it nor knowes nor loves him that created it Even so a faithfull man whose right all this world of wealth is and who having nothing yet doth as it were possesse all things even by eleaving unto thee to whom all things serve though he knowes not so much as the Circles of the North yet is it folly to doubt but he is in better estate than hee that can quarter out the heavens and number the starres and poises the Elements and yet is negligent of thy knowledge who hast made all things in number weight and measure CHAP. 5. The rashnesse of Faustus in teaching what he know not 1. BVt yet who requested I know not what Manichaean to write these things without the skill of which true piety might well bee learned For thou hast said unto man Behold piety is wisedome of which that Manichaean might be utterly ignorant though perfect at the knowledge of these things but these things because he knew not most impudently daring to 〈◊〉 them hee was not able plainely to attaine the knowledge of that piety A great vanity it is verily to professe the knowledge of these worldly things but it is a pious thing to confesse unto thee Wherefore this roving fellow prated indeed much of these things that so being confuted by those who had not learned the truth of these things he might bee evidently discovered what understanding he had in points that were abstruser For the man would not have himselfe meanely thought of but went about forsooth to perswade that the Holy Ghost the Comforter and Enricher of the faithfull ones was with full auhority personally resident within him 2. Whereas therefore he was found out to have taught falsely of the Heavens and Starres and of the courses of the Sunne and Moone although these things pertaine little to the Doctrine of Religion yet that his presumptions were sacrilegious is apparent enough seeing that he delivered those things not onely which he knew not but which himselfe had falsifyed and that with so mad a vanity of pride that he went about to attribute them to himselfe as to a divine person When-ever now I heare a Christian Brother either one or other that is ignorant enough of these Philosophicall Subtilties and that mistaketh one thing for another I can patiently behold such a man delivering his opinion nor doe I see how it can much hinder him when as he doth not beleeve any thing unworthy of thee O Lord the Creator of all if perchance hee be lesse skilled in the situation or condition of the corporeall creature But then it hurts him if so be he imagines this to pertaine to the forme of the doctrine of piety and will yet stand too stiffely in a thing he is utterly ignorant of 3. And yet is such an infirmity in the infancie of a mans faith borne withall by our Mother Charity till such time as this new Convert grow up unto a perfect man and not to be carried about with every wind of Doctrine whereas in that Faustus who was so presumptuous as to make himselfe the Doctor and Author the Ring-leader and chiefe man of all those whom he had inveigled to the opinion that who-ever became his follower did not imagine himselfe to follow a meere man but thy holy Spirit who would not judge but that so high a degree of madnesse when once hee had beene convicted
drops of time are precious with mee and I haue long since had a burning desire to meditate in thy law and by it to confesse both my skill and vnskilfulnesse vnto thee the morning light of thy enlightning mee and the relikes of darknesse in mee so long remayning swallowed vp by till infirmitie bee strength Nor will I suffer my houres to bee squandered away vpon any other thing which I finde free from the necessities of refreshing of my body and the recreating of my minde and the complying in those offices of seruice which wee owe vnto men yea also which wee owe not and yet pay them 2. Giue eare vnto my prayer O Lord my God and let thy mercy hearken vnto my petition because it stryueth not to entreate for my selfe alone but to be beneficiall also to my brethren Thou seest my heart that so it is and that I am ready to sacrifice vnto thee the best seruice of my thoughts and tongue now giue mee what I am to offer vnto thee For I am poore and needy but thou art rich to all those that call vpon thee who not distracted with cares thy selfe takest the care of all vs. From all rashnesse and lying doe thou circumcise both my inward and my outward lippes Let my chaste delights bee thy Scriptures let me neyther be deceiued in them nor deceiued by them Hearken Lord and haue mercy vpon me O Lord my God O thou light of the blind and the strength of the weake yea also the light of those that see and the strength of the strong hearken thou vnto my soule and heare mee crying vnto thee out of the Deepe For if thine eares bee not with vs also in the Deepe whither then shall wee goe to whom shall wee cry The day is thine and the night is thine at thy backe the time passes away 3. Affoord out of it some spure time for my meditations vpon the hidden things of thy Law which I beseech thee shut not vp when they knocke for entrance at it For in vayne it was not that thou wouldest haue so many leaues full of darkesome secrets committed vnto wryting nor are those Fortests without their Harts which retire themselues into them making their range and walkes in them feeding lodging and chewing the Cud in them Perfect me O Lord and reueale them vnto me Behold thy voyce is my ioy yea thy voyce exceedeth the abundance of all pleasures Giue mee what I loue for verily I doe loue it and this loue is of thy giuing Forsake not therfore thine owne gifts nor despise thou him that thirsteth after thy herbage Let me confesse vnto thee whatsoeuer I shall finde in thy bookes and let mee heare the voyce of prayse and let me drinke thee vp and let me consider of the wonderfull things of thy law euen frō the very Beginning wherein Thou madest the heauen and the earth vnto that euerlasting kingdome of thy holy City which is before thee Haue mercy Lord vpon mee and heare my petition for it is not I suppose of the earth not for gold siuer or precious stones or gorgeous apparell or honors and offices or the pleasures of the flesh or necessaries for the body or for this life of our earthly pilgrimage all which shall bee added vnto those that seeke thy kingdome thy righteousnesse Behold O Lord my God what it is that I now desire The vngodly haue sometimes told mee what themselues delight in but they are not like the delights of thy Law See now whence my desire proceedes 4. See Father behold and approue and let it bee pleasing in the sight of thy mercy that I shall find so much grace with thee as that the Secrets of thy Word may bee opened vnto mee when I knocke By our Lord Iesus Christ thy Sonne I beseech thee that man on thy right hand that Sonne of man whom thou hast appoynted a Mediator betwixt thy selfe and vs by whom thou soughtest vs who little sought for thee yet didst thou seeke vs that wee might seeke thee and thy Word by whom thou madest all things and mee amongst them Thy Onely Sonne by whom thou hast called the beleeuing people vnto thee and mee amongst them by Him I beseech thee who sitteth at thy right hand and makes intercession for vs in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge Him doe I seeke in thy bookes of Him Moses wrote this hee sayes this Truth sayes CHAP. 3. Hee desires to vnderstand the holy Scriptures 1. LEt mee heare and vnderstand how thou In the beginning hast made Heauen and Earth This Moses wrote of he wrote and passed away hee passed from hence vnto thee for he is not at this present before mine eyes for if hee were then would I lay hold of him and intreate him and for thy sake would I beseech him to open these things vnto me yea I would lay mine eares vnto his mouth But should he speake in the Hebrew tongue in vayne should hee beate mine eares for neuer should he come neere my vnderstanding whenas if he spake Latine I should well enough know what hee sayd 2. But how should I know whether he sayd true or no and if I could learne this too should I know it by him For within mee in that inward house of my thoughts neither the Hebrew nor the Greeke nor the Latine nor any other language but euen Truth it selfe and that without any helps of the mouth tongue without any sound of sillables should tell me He sayes true and my selfe therupon assured of it would confidently say vnto that seruant of thine Thou speakest truth Seeing I haue not now the meanes to conferre with Moses I beg of thee my God inspired by whom he vttred these truths I beg of thee the pardon of my sinnes and thou that enabledst that seruant of thine to deliuer these Truthes enable mee also to vnderstand them CHAP. 4. The Creatures proclayme God to bee their Creator 1 BEhold the heauens and the earth are already they proclaime themselues to haue beene created for they are changed and altered from what they were Whereas whatsoeuer is not made and yet hath a being hath nothing in it now which it had not before which to haue were indeede to bee changed and altered They proclayme also that they made not thēselues but say Therefore wee are because we are made and therefore were wee not before our time was to bee as if we could possibly haue made our selues Now the euidentnesse of the thing is this voyce of the Speakers 'T is thou therefore O Lord that madest them thou who art full of beauty they beeing fayre also thou who art good they also beeing good euen Thou who hast Being seeing these haue their Beings yet are they neyther so fayre so good nor are so as thou their Creator art compared with whom they are neyther fayre nor good nor are at all Thus much wee know thankes to
Heauen giues vs to note of which Heauen hee before spake without mention of any dayes CHAP. 14. The depth of holy Scripture 1. VVOnderfull is the depth of thy Scriptures which at first sight little ones please themselues withall and yet are they a wonderfull deepnesse O my God a most admirable profundity A depth striking horror to looke into euen a horror of honor and a trembling of loue The enemies of it doe I hate vehemently oh that thou wouldst slay them with thy two-edged sword that they might no longer bee enemies vnto it for thus do I loue to haue them slayne vnto themselues that they may liue vnto thee But now behold others not fault-finders but extollers of thy booke of Genesis The Spirit of God say they which by his seruant Moses wrote these things would not haue those words thus vnderstood hee would not haue it vnderstood as thou faiest but so as we say Vnto whome making thy selfe Iudge O thou God of vs all do I thus answer CHAP. 15. The difference betwixt the Creator and the creatures Some discourses about the Heauen of Heauens 1. DAre you affirme it to bee false which with a strong voyce Truth told me in my inner care concerning the eternity of the Creator namely that his substance is no wayes changed by time nor his Will separated from his Substance Where vpon hee willeth not onething now and another thing anon but that once and at once and alwayes he willeth all things that he willeth not againe and againe nor now this now that nor willeth afterwards what before hee would not nor bee vnwilling with that now which hee was willing with before because such a will is mutable and no mutable thing is eternall but our God is eternall Agayn this is told me also in my inner eares That the Expectation of things to come is turned to Sight whenas they are once come and the same Sight again is turned to memory so soone as they be once past Now euery Intention which is thus varied is mutable and no mutable is eternall but our God is eternall These collections I make and put together and finde that God euen my eternall God hath not vpon any such new Will made any creature nor that his knowledge suffereth any transitory passion 2. What will you then reply O yee gainesayers are these things false No they say What is this Is this false 〈◊〉 That euery nature that is formed euery matter capable of forme hath no other being but from Him who is supremely good because supremly he hath his being neither say they doe we deny this What then doe you deny this that there is a certain sublime creature with so chast aloue cleauing vnto the true and true eternall God as that notwithstanding it bee not Coeternall to him yet that vpon occasion of no variety and turne of times does it let goe its hold or parteth with Him but rests it selfe contented in the most true contemptation of him onely Because thou O God vnto him that loueth thee so much as thou commandest doest shew thy selfe and giue him satisfaction and euen therefore doth hee neyther decline from thee nor toward himselfe This is the house of God not of earthly mould no nor of any celestiall bulke corporeall but a spirituall house and partaker of thy eternity because it remaines without blemish for euer For thou hast made it fast for euer and euer thou hast giuen it a law which shall not be broken And yet is it not coeternall vnto thee because it is not without beginning for it is created For notwithstanding wee find no time before it yet hath Wisdome beene created before all things not that Wisedome I meane which is altogether equall and coeternall vnto thee his Father by which all things were created and in whom being the beginning thou createdst heauen and earth but that Wisedome verily which is created that is to say the Intellectuall nature which by contempiating of the light is become light For this though created is also called Wisedome 3. But looke what difference there is betwixt that light which enlighteneth and the light that is enlightened somuch is there betwixt that Wisedome that createth and this Wisedome which is created like as there is betwixt that Righteousnesse which iustifyeth and that righteousnesse which is made by iustification For wee also are called thy Righteousnesse for so sayth a certaine seruant of thine That we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him Therefore Wisedome hath beene created before all things which was created a rationall mind and an intellectuall of that chast City of thine our mother which is aboue and is free and eternall in the heauens In what heauen if not in those that praise thee euen the Heauen of heauens because this is also the heauen of heauens made for the Lord. And though wee finde no time before it because that which hath beene created before all things hath precedency of the creature of time yet is the eternity of the Creator himselfe euen before it from whom that being created tooke beginning not beginning of its time for time was not yet in being but of its creation Hence comes it so to be of thee our God as that it is altogether another frō thee not thou thyselfe because though wee neyther finde time before it nor in it it being most meete euer to behold thy face nor is euer drawne away from it for which cause it is not changed by any alteration yet is there a mutable condition in it for all this which would cause it to waxe darke and cold but for that by so strong an affection it cleaueth vnto thee that it receiues both light and heate from thee as from a perpetuall noone 4. O house most lightsome and delightsome I haue loued thy beauty and the place of the habitation of the glory of my Lord thy builder and owner Let my way faring here sigh after thee and to him I speake that made thee that he would take possession of me also in thee seeing he hath likewise made me I haue gon astray like a lost sheepe yet haue I a good hope vpon the shoulders of my Shepheard thy builder to bee brought backe into thee What say you now vnto mee O ye Gaynsayers that I was speaking vnto you that beleeue Moses to haue beene the faythfull seruant of God and his bookes to bee the Oracle of the Holy Ghost Is not this house of God though not coeternall indeed with God yet after its manner eternall in the heauens where you seeke for the changes of times all in vaine because there you shall neuer finde them For it farre ouergoes all extention and all running space of Age the happinesse of it being Euer to cleaue vnto God It is so say they What part then of all that which my heart hath so lowdly vttered vnto God whenas inwardly it heard the voyce of his prayse what
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
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
of speaking it is corporeally expressed and thus doth this Fry of the waters increase and multiply Obserue againe Reader who euer thou art behold I say that which the Scripture deliuers and the voice pronounces one onely way In the Beginning God created Heauen Earth is it not vnderstood many a seuerall way not w th any deceit of errour but in seuerall kinds of very true sences Thus does mans of spring increase and multiply 4. If therefore wee can conceiue of the natures of things not allegorically but properly then may the phrase Increase and multiply very well agree vnto all things whatsoeuer that come of any kinde of Seede But if wee intreate of the words as figuratiuely spoken which I rather suppose to be the purpose of the Scripture which doth not I beleeue superfluously attribute this benediction vnto the increases of watery and humane creatures onely then verily doe we find multitudes both in creatures spirituall and creatures corporeall as in Heauen and Earth and in Soules both righteous and vnrighteous as in light and darkenesse and in holy Authors who haue beene the Ministers of the Law vnto vs as in the Firmament which is settled betwixt the higher and the lower Waters and in the society of people yet in the bitternesse of infidelity as in the Sea and in the studies of holy soules as in the dry land and in the workes of mercy done in this life as in the herbs bearing seede and in the fruitefull trees and in spirituall gifts shining forth for our edification as in the lights of heauen and in mens affections reformed vnto temperance as in the liuing soule in all these instances we meete with multitudes abundance and increase 5. But that such an increase and multiplying should come as that one thing may be vnderstood and expressed many wayes and one of those expressions vnderstood seuerall waies too wee doe no where find except in words corporeally expressed and in things intelligibly deuided By these words corporeally pronounced wee vnderstand the generations of the waters and that for the necessary causes of fleshly profundity by these things intelligibly diuided wee vnderstand humane generations and that for the fruitfulnesse of their reason And euen therefore we beleeue thee Lord to haue sayd to both these kinds Increase and multiply for that within the compasse of this blessing I conceiue thee to haue granted vs a power and a faculty both to expresse seuerall waies that which wee vnderstand but one and to vnderstand seuerall waies that which wee reade to bee obseurely deliuered but in one Thus are the waters of the Sea replenished which are not moued but by seuerall significations thus with humane increase is the earth also replenished whose drynesse appeared by its affections ouer which reason ruleth CHAP. 25. He allegorically compareth the Fruites of the Earth vnto the duties of piety I Will now also deliuer O Lord my God that which the following Scripture puts mee in minde of yea I will deliuer it without feare For I will vtter the truth thy selfe inspiring me with what thy pleasure was to haue me deliuer concerning those words But by no other inspiration then thine can I beleeue my selfe to speake truth seeing thou art the very truth and euery man a lyer He therefore that speaketh a lye speaketh it of his owne that therefore I may speake truth I will speake it from thee Behold thou hast giuen vnto vs for foode euery herbe bearing seede which is vpon the face of all the earth and euery tree in which is the fruit of a tree yeelding seede And that not to vs alone but also to all the Fowles of the ayre and to the beasts of the earth and to all creeping things but vnto the Fishes and to the greate whales hast thou not giuen them 2. Now by these fruites of the earth wee sayd before that the workes of mercy were signified and figured out in an Allegory which for the necessition of this life are afoorded as 〈◊〉 of a fruitfull earth Such an Earth was the doâ— out Quâ—siphâ—rus vnto whose housethou gauest mercy who often refreshed thy Paul and was not ashamed of his chaine With such a crop were those Brethren fruitfull also who out of Mecedonia supplied his wants But how much grieued hee for such trees as did not affâ—â—rd him the fruite due vnto him where hee sayth At my first â—â—swere no man stood by me 〈◊〉 men forsooke me I pray God that it may not be layd to their charge For these fruits are due vnto such as minister the Spirituall doctrine vnto vs out of their vnderstanding of the diuine Mysteries and they are due â—â— vnto them as they are 〈◊〉 yea and due so vnto them also as vnto liuing 〈◊〉 in that they giue themselues as patternes of imitation in all continencie â—nd so are they due vnto them also as they are flying 〈◊〉 for their Blessings which are multiplied vpon the 〈◊〉 because their found i gaue out into all lands CHAP. 26. The pleasure and the profit redounding to vs out of a 〈◊〉 turne done vnto our neyghbour 1. THey now are fedde by these fruites that are delighted with them nor are those delighted with them whose belly is their God Neither yet euen in them that yeeld them is that the fruit which they yeeld but the mind with which they affoord them Hee therefore that serued God not his own belly I plainely see the thing that caused him so to reioyce I see it and I reioyce with him For hee had receiued fruit from the Philippians who had sent it by Spaphroditâ—s vnto him and yet I still perceiue the cause of his reioycing For that which hee reioyced vpon that hee fed because hee speaking as truth was of it I reioyced sayth hee greatly in the Lord that now at last your 〈◊〉 of mâ— hath flourished againe wherein yee were also carefull but it was tedious vnto you These Philippians therefore had now euen rotted away with a longsome irkesomnesse and withered as it were in respect of the fruit of this good worke and he now reioyceth for them not for himselfe that they fliurisht again in asmuch as they now supplyed his wants Therefore sayth hee afterwards This I speake not in respect of want for I haue learned in whatsoeuer state I am therewith to be content I know both how to be abasâ—i and I know how to abound euery where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer neede I can do all things through him which strengtheneth me â— Of what art thou so glad O great Paul of what art thou so glad what is it thou so feedest vpoÌ„ Othou man renued in the knowledg of God after the image of him that created thee thou liuing soule of so much coÌ„tinency thou tongue of the flying fowles speaking such mysteries for to such creatures is this foode due what