aswell as the other but is not the subiect of my Treatise There are other sortes of men or rather beastes I meane such beasts as S. Paul stroue with at Ephesus in the shape of men farre more abhominable then the other two of which so ofteÌ„ I spake I may iustly say with Eliphas Feare coÌ„meth vpon me dreade which maketh all my bones to tremble and a winde passeth before me which causeth the hayres of my head to stand vp and that I may vse the wordes of the Lord to Samuel such a wickednes as shall not be purged by sacrifice nor offering for euer Such a slaunder to States Kingdomes so offensiue to all chast religious eares that whosoeuer shall heare of it his eares shall tingle These beastes holde there is no God and they are of foure sortes The first saith in broade tearmes without blushing Non est Deus there is no God of that brood were not onely the olde Philosophers Diagoras Lucretius Epicurus and others but also since the Gospell was published to the worlde many of them haue been known of whome Theodoret an ancient Father hath written as also Prateolus and other writers of later times and especially Lilius Grigorius Giraldus Ferrariensis maketh mention of a whole Iland lately inhabited by such as deny God And I wish all Atheists were banished out of Christian States and Kingdomes and sent into that Iland that other places might not be infected by them The second doth scoffe at God and deride him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his name and make open profession of contempt against him and all Religion Such an Atheist was Holophernes which said vnto Achior Because thou hast prophefied amongst vs to day hast saide that the people of Israel is able to sight because their God will defend them and who is God but Nabuchodonozor he will send his power and destroye the face of the earth and their God shall not deliuer them Such an Atheist was Pharao which said Who is the Lord that I should heare his voyce and let the people goe I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel goe And Senacherib who said by the mouth of Rabshakah Let not Ezekias deceiue you for he shall not be able to deliuer you out of my hand neither let Ezechias make you to trust in the Lord saying The Lord will surely deliuer vs this Land shall not be giuen euer into the hand of the King of Ashur Ezechias doth deceiue you saying The Lord will deliuer vs. Who are they among all the Gods of the nations that haue deliuered their Land out of my hand that the Lord should deliuer Ierusalem out of my hand Such Atheists were Lucian which in his writings that he might be thought to confesse no God mocked all Gods Iulian the Apostata which scoffed at religion Olimpius the Arrian which as he was washing himselfe in his Bath spake blasphemy against the Trinitye Doletus which called Moses Helias and Christ the three deceiuers of the worlde And such Atheists are the swaggerers of our age which are not ashamed to call them selues The damned crue Of the saluation of such there is no hope whose God is their bellye whose glory is their shame and whose end is damnation as the Apostle speaketh Their damnation sleepeth not nay they are condemned alreadye because they speake blasphemye against the Holy Ghost Of such as offend God vpon weakenes there may be some hope that they will come to repentance because their sinne is against the Father which is strength Concerning them which offend him vpon ignorance there is also hope of their conuersion because they sinne against God the Sonne which is wisedome But as for these they mocke God in 〈◊〉 of him they sinne vpon malice therefore their blasâ—â—â—â—â—… against the Holy Ghost which is loue and charitye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no hope of their conuersion because our Sauiour hath already pronounced sentence of damnatioÌ„ against them saying Their sinne shall neuer be for giuen neither in this life nor in the life to come The third professe the religion which is professed in the place where they dwell so farre as lawes may not take holde of them but otherwise are of all religions which may bring them profit and are of no religion farther then to serue their turne For example whereof I cannot instance in any man better then in William Rusus King of England which professed him selfe to be a Christian for feare of the Pope the Ecclesiasticall censure because else he could not haue held his Kingdome Of him it is written that the Iewes being many in England one of them was conuerted to be a Christian and the olde Iewe his Father taking the matter greiuously desired the King to interpose his authoritye and to commaund him to renounce his Christian faith againe The King vpon consideration of 80. Markes of siluer before hand payed vnto him vndertooke the conuersion of the young man to the Iewish religion againe Whereupon the partie was conuâ—nted before the King hee gaue him charge to renounce Christ but he answered Sir you professe Christ yourselfe how then can you perswade me to be a Iewe If you be a Christian in deed you will not perswade me to renounce Christ but if your selfe professing Christ will commaund me to denye Christ you are not of any religion but an Atheist and if you be so it is fit the Popes holynes should vnderstand so much The King fearing the Popes displeasure dismissed the man but saide in great furye Get thee out of my presence else by S. Lukes face I will scratch out thine eyes The olde Iewe his Father expostulated with the King because the bargaine was not performed and required restitution of his money But the King answered holde ye contented Sir heere is halfe I will haue the other halfe for my endeauour I did the best I could Of such Atheists we haue many The fourth sorte are they which insinuate them-selues into Noble-mens houses and Princes Courts taking vpon them to be the great Polititians of the worlde and account all men fooles besides themselues They also make open profession of religion but for aduantage I meane them which haue turne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Machiauel Their Diuinitie is policye their zeale is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and their God is the deuill These English Italiana and 〈◊〉 incarnat doe holde these damnable opinions That there was no creation of the world that there shall be no day of iudgement no resurrection no immortallitye of the soule no hell they dispute against the Bible reckon vp Genealogyes more auncient then Adam alleadge arguments to proue that the story of Noah his Arke and the Deluge were fables Finally they holde that the Scriptures were deuised by men onely for policye sake to maintaine peace in states and Kingdomes to keep subiects in obedience to lawes and loyaltie to Magistrates by thus terrifying them from enormities when their consciences
this long peace which we haue enioyed hath increased our riches riches haue made vs to forget God and so like an vnnaturall daughter peace hath deuoured religion which bred and maintayned peace in the world The Prophecie is verifyed In these last dayes since the mountaine of the house of God hath beene prepared in the top of the mountaines and hath beene exalted aboue the hilles and all nations haue flowed vnto it and many people haue gone said Come let vs goe vp to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his wayes and we will walke in his pathes our swordes haue beene broken into mattocks our speares into sythes nation hath not lifted vp a sworde against nation neither haue they learned to fight any more The Lamb dwelling with the Wolfe hath beene in safetie the Kid with the Leopard the Cow feeding with the Beare the Calfe with the Lyon the sucking Childe hath plaied vpon the hole of the Asp the weaned Childe hath put his hand into the hole of the Cockatrice without any hurt and the reason is alleaged by the Prophet Because the earth was full of the knowledge of the Lord euen as the waters that couer the sea This Prophecye you see is fulfilled But these sayings are by them mistaken For Tully doth not argue in this manner that we must holde there is a God and maintaine religion that so ciuill gouernment may be maintayned and men may liue orderly in a common wealth But his meaning is cleane contrary that we must performe all ciuill duties in a common wealth for religion sake and we must be religious for Gods sake because there is a God which hath ingraffed religion in our hearts whereby ciuill states may be the better maintayned and which will punish all such as are not religious that is which haue not a true feeling of religion And it was not the meaning of the Prophet Esay that after the knowledge of true religion had planted peace among vs and peace had brought prosperitie then we should cease to be religious so forget God but rather increase our zeale and hauing receiued such benefits at his hands whome we serue continue faithfull in his seruice A second cause of Atheisme may be the want of due right hearing of the worde preached because faith commeth by hearing and therefore where there is a want of hearing faith fayleth and by a consequent Pagisme and infidelitie increaseth For many of them doe not heare but absent them-selues or if they be present they stand not for figures but for cyphers they doe not by the worde preached as the virgin Mary did by the sayings of our Sauiour Christ which layed thē vp in her heart or as Abraham did by the Angels which receiued them into his house or as the Sunamite woman did by Elizeus or the widowe by Elias which entertayned them with willingnes The worde to them is not as the raine of heauen falling vpon the earth or the deawe of Hermon vpon mount Sion but as the Childrens bread cast before whelpes or pearls cast before swine seede sowen by the high way side the peace of the Apostles bestowed vpon vnworthye houses and therefore returneth backe againe They stop their cares with the Adder or sleep with Eutichus or make loue as the Egiptians did to Aholah and Aholibah cloathed with blewe silke and diuers suites pleasant young men that they may set Aholah and Aholibah on fire bruise the brestes of their virginitye and powre out their adulterie vpon them as the Prophet speaketh Some heare the Preacher with great attention but as the Pharisies did our Sauiour to intrappe him in his speech to take exception against his wordes as the Athenians did St. Paul to scoffe at his simplicitie they read the Bible but as Porphurye did to finde as they prophanely call them absurdities and contradictions in the worde of God not as the Bee which gathereth honye but as the Spider which sucketh poyson out of wholsome flowers A third cause of Atheisme proceedeth from the long suffring of God which doth not presently punish Atheists For he doth not onely with patience suffer them to blaspheme his holy name but also in his wisdome which no man can sound in his iudgementes whome no man can search blesseth them with worldly blessings as if he did reward their vngodlines It is not my complaint alone but it is the complaint of the Prophet Dauid which cryeth out in this manner Why standest thou so farre off ô Lord and hydest thee in due time euen in affliction the wicked hath made boast of his owne hearts desire and the couetous blesseth himselfe he contemneth the Lord he is so proud that he seeketh not for God he thinketh alwaies there is no God his wayes alwaies prosper he saith in his heart I shall neuer be moued nor be in danger Nay it may very well be said as it was of Iob that the Lord hath made an hedge about him his house and about all that he hath on euery side he hath blessed the worke of his handes and his substance is encreased in the Land The Lord suffred his owne Arke to be taken by the Philistins his enemies and his owne people the Iraēlites which fought his battle to be ouerthrowne in the battell And this cōmendation is giuen of the godly King Iosias that he read the lawe of the Lord before the people he made a couenant with the Lord that the people should walke after the Lord and keep his commandements his testimonies statutes with all their hearts all their soules all the people stood to the couenant he purged the Temple and put downe the Idols he slewe the idolatrous Priests he kept such a passeouer in honour of God as neuer the like was holden from the daies of the Iudges y t iudged Israel nor in al the daies of the Kings of Israel the Kings of Iuda he tooke away thē which had familier spirits and the sooth-sayers and the Images and the Idols and all the abhominations that were espyed in the Land of Iuda and Ierusalem that like vnto him there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart all his soule and all his might according to all the lawe of Moses neither after him arose there any like him And yet see how the Lord rewarded him The very next thing which followeth in the same Text is this Pharao slewe him at Megiddo Thus you see how the Lord rewarded faithfull Iosias which serued him trusted in him with death in this worlde and ouerthrowe in sighting of his owne battell and gaue the victory to Pharao an heathen King which put no trust nor considence in him Likewise Nabucodonozor burned Gods house robbed his Temple in contempt of him and his seruice yet God prospered him as if
of fayth which are to be beleued concerning him Being not able to preuaile therein he descended to the Article of the holy Ghost and so stirred vp Macedonius to deny the Godhead of the holy Ghost Being not able to preuaile therein he went to the Articles concerning the Church and so in sundrye ages hath gone from one Article to an other vntill he hath gone ouer all the Articles of the Creed Now being disproued in them all he doth not so rest but returneth againe to the first at which he began not to proue a multiplicitie of Gods as he did before endeuour but to proue a nullitie of any God by disprouing the God-head either of the Father or of the Sonne or of the holy Ghost of all three But he goeth to worke with greater violence to chop off all fayth all religion at one blowe by prouing that there is neuer a God and to this purpose hath he armed his Polititians with arguments against the Bible But to them may be applyed the wordes of Policarpus to Marcian the haereticke who being asked of him Agnoscis me ô Policarpe Dost thou acknowledge me ô Policarpus answered him Agnosco te esse primogenitum Satanae I knowe thee very well thou art the sonne and heire of the Deuill The last cause of Atheisme is the lenitye and ouer great mildnes of Princes and Gouernours which doe suffer Atheists to escape vnpunished I may iustly say it is their fault that there are Atheists that will suffer Atheists For so saith the holye Ghost concerning Azariah the King of Iudah He did vprightly in the sight of the Lord according to all that his Father Amaziah did but the high places were not taken away for the people yet offered and burned Incense in the high places And the Lord smote the King he was a leper vnto the day of his death The King him-selfe you see is commaunded to be a godly man not he but his subiects committed idolatrye yet God punisheth him for the idolatrye of his subiects But that could not stand with the iustice of God to punish the King for his subiects offences vnles it were the Kings faulte that the subiects offended Where the Spanish Inquisition is it is a very rare thing to heare of an Atheist which I speake not to that end as if I did wish that Inquisition to be brought into any Christian Kingdome but onely to shewe that it is better to liue where there is too much seueritie rather then too much loosenes and where nothing is lawfull rather then where all things are permitted as if they were lawfull The Lord of his mercy stirre vp the hearts of all his annoynted Princes inflame their Zeale that they may not onely hate Atheisme as I hope they doe with a perfecte hatred but also banish such impietye that heereafter not onely the opinions but also the verye name of Atheist may be as it were buried in hell and no more heard of in their Kingdomes Chapter 3. How Atheisme may be rooted out of all Christian landes AS prosperitie causeth many men to forget God and others to denye God so aduersitie sicknes imprisonment such like chastisements of God for sinne will make wicked men not onely to acknowledge confesse God but also to stoop downe before him and to flye for succour vnto him When Iulian the apostata was deadly wounded by a dart from heauē he could not be silent but that plague extorted out of his mouth a confession of the power of Iesus Christ whome before he had denyed he cryed out Vicisti Galilaee Iesus of Galile the conquest is thine Though Pharao in his prosperitie had said who is the Lord I knowe him not I will not let the people goe yet when his land was plagued with Frogges he called for Moses and Aaron and said Pray ye for me vnto the Lord that he may take away the Frogges from me and from my people and I will let the people goe that they may doe sacrifice to the Lord But as soone as God gaue him a little rest that the plague ceased he was hardned againe When the hand of the Lord was heauye vpon the men of Ashdod and he destroyed them and smote them with Emeroides they remoued the Arke out of the house of Dagon and said Let vs send the Arke of God vnto his owne place that he slay vs not and our people When Nabuchodonozer was depriued of his Kingdome and turned into an Asse to graze in the field for the space of seuen yeares then he began to be humble to vnderstand himselfe better to lift vp his eyes to heauen to giue thankes to the most high to praise and honour him that liueth for euer to confesse that his power is an euerlasting power that his Kingdome indureth from generation to generatiō that all the inhabitānts of the earth are reputed as nothing that according to his will he worketh in the armye of heauen and in the inhabitants of the earth that none can stay his hand nor say vnto him what dost thou Then he could make both an humble a large consession and say I Nabuchodonozer prayse and extoll and magnifie the King of heauen whose workes are all truth and his waies iudgement and those that walke in pride he is able to abase But for as much as now such miracles doe cease and it belongeth to Gods annointed Kings to be ielous of his glory if they wil abanden Atheisme out of their Kingdomes first of all they must withdrawe their countenace from all vngodly liuers For so long as the Prince dooth looke cheerfully vpon them the eyes of the people will be defixed vpon them also they will admire them and think their vices to be vertues You know what Hamon said Thus shall he be honoured whome the King doth honour and againe the argument must followe aswell on the contrary side Thus and thus shall he be dishonoured whome the King doth dishonour You are not ignorant of the saying of Salomon Indignatio Regis est nuncius mortis The displeasure of the King is but a fore-runner of death If the King giue countenance to Atheists the people will respect them by his example if he frowne vpon them the people will trample ouer them The King is like the maior preposition in a Sillogisme the people are like the conclusion But it is a most certaine rule in Logicke Conclusio sequitur deteriorem partem If the maior be negatiue or perticuler the conclusion will bee so if any thing bee worser then other in the King the people wil be sure to followe that Secondly they must be assisting vnto their Ministers For God in the Primitiue Church gaue them the gift of working miracles to credit their office and calling whereby they did chastise Gods enemies So St. Paul stroke Elymas the sorcerer with blindenes for peruerting and seducing the Deputye from the fayth And St. Peter stroke Ananias and
not confesse the same are in that poynt worsse then deuils Last of all it stan leth with good reason that it should be the safest opinion for the Atheists to holde that there is a God For if so be that there were no God there could come no hurt vnto them for thinking so because all men besides them selues holding the same there were none that would punish them for their opinion But if so be that there be a God as I haue prcued vnto them that there is surelye one day he will torment them in hell fire for their contempt because they would not belceue in him and confesse his name Therefore I conclude with the Apostle Corde creditur ad iusticiam orefit confessio ad salutem Let the heart belecue to righteousnes and the tongue consesle vnto saluation At the name of Iesus let euery knee bow both of thinges in heauen and thinges in earth thinges vnder the earth and let euery tongue confesse that Iesus Christ is the Lord vnto the glorye of God the Father Amen Chapter 5. What God is SAint Chrisostom saith Ego omne quod intelligo sinc Christo Spiritu Sancto Patre nolo intelligere nisienim intellexero in Trinitate quae me seruabit mihi dulceesse non potest quod intelligo I can vnderstand no other God when I heare the name of God mencioned but the Father the Sonne and the holy-Ghost For vnlesse I vnderstandd it to be ment by the holy and vndiuided Trinitye whereby I am saued my vnderstanding shall content me nothing So thē according to S. Auguste God is a diuine nature consisting of three persons the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost God the Lord the Cōforter He which begetteth which is begotten he which regenerateth newe begetteth Of one all things In one al things By one al things Frō whence By whome in whom are al things Life w c liueth Life of him which liueth the quickner of al things which are liuing One of him selfe One of an other One of thē both The principles of humane artes and liberall sciences are by themselues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to bee proued by the same artes An Arithmetician cannot proue by Arithmeticke that Omnis numerus est par aut impar euerye number is euen or odde The Musitian cannot proue by his owne Arte that two crotchets make a quauer because these be principles of Arithmeticke and Musicke All principles as Aristoile teacheth in his Demonstrations if they be demonstrated must be demonstrated by the Metaphysics which are of an higher nature but that the principles of the Metaphysics cannot be demonstrated because there is no higher science But forasmuch as Diuinitye is the highest it is enough for vs to belceue the principles thereof without farther serching and happy is the man which seeth not the reason how they should be so and yet belecueth that they are so No man hath seene God at any time because he is inuisible Tully saith Vtioculus it a anima sereliqua videns seipsum non videt The eye seeth not it selfe and the soule vnderstandeth other thinges better then it selfe And that this saying Nosce teipsum know thy selfe is meant in regarde of the soule of man because it is so hard to conceiue what it is But if so be that an eye cannot see it selfe no meruaile though it haue not seene God if a man cannot fullye vnderstand him selfe how should he so perfectly conceiue and define what God is which is so infinitelye aboue himselfe That which is finite him which is infinite the creature the Creator the pipkin the pipkin maker he which is made of vile claye him that hath made all thinges of nothing But as Moses when he was a mortall and sinfull man was not able to beholde the glorye of God and therfore sawe but his backe partes onelye as he passed by So let vs which haue but shallowe braynes so far demonstrate faith by reason as faith may be discerned by reason The Philosophers as S. Augustin saith seeking after the nature of God found that he could not be a body therefore concluded that he was farre more excellent then all bodyes and therfore a Spirit that he could not be subiect to change and therfore that he was aboue all bodyes and soules which are subiect to alteration that all mutable thinges haue their beginning from that which is without all shadowe of change or mutabilitye and that hee which is not thus subiect is simply of him selfe depending of nothing but all other thinges haue their dependance on him Againe they considered that al substances are other bodyes or Spirits and that a Spirit is more excellent then a bodie but that to be moste excellent which hath made both the bodie and the Spirite They considered likewise that the shape of the body is discerned by the outward sences and the spirit is perceaued by the vnderstanding but that which is onely vnderstood is better then that which is seene and that there was something more excellent then both these by so many waies God is known Therfore for asmuch as God is one simple essence not compounded of any partes not consisting of any accidents and yet subsisting and the Apostle speaketh of him in the plurall number saying the inuisible things of him are seene by the creation of the worlde because the truth of God is knowne and perceaued by many meanes through the thinges which he hath made by the continuance of his creatures is vnderstood his eternitie by the greatnes of them his omnipotencie by the excellent order wherby he hath disposed them his wisdome by his gouernment and preseruation of them in that comely and decent order his goodnes and all these thinges doe belong to the vnitie of his substance Therefore not to speake of the authoritie of the holy Bible where at the Baptisme of our Sauiour the blessed Trinitie did sencibly appeare the Father in a voice the Sonne in a man the holy Ghost in a doue how in the beginning the Father made the Son spake and the holy Ghost mooued vpon the waters Bara elohins creauit dij seu Deus Trinus a verbe of the singular number is Ioyned to a nominatiue case of the plurall to shew that these three are one how when three Angels came to Abraham his house he prostrated himselfe to them as vnto God which could not bee without the crime of idolatrie vnlesse they had bin God howe sometimes he spake to them in the plurall number as vnto three persōs sometimes in the singular as vnto one God how the Angels crie in heauen Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabaoth three times holy once Lord to show that there were three persons one God But if I come onely to shewe the backe partes of God so farre as by earthlie comparisons he may be made manifest vnto sinfull man the Atheist doth aske how it can
A CONFVTATION OF ATHEISME By Iohn Doue Doctor of Diuinitie The Contents are to be seene in the Page following Psalm 68. God will arise and his enimies shall be scattered they also that hate him shall flye from him AT LONDON Printed by Edward Allde for Henry Rockett And are to be sold at the long shop vnder S. Mildreds Church in the Poultry 1605. The Contentes of this booke WHat Atheisme is Chapter 1. The cause of Atheisme Chap. 2. How Atheisme may be rooted out of all Christian landes Chap. 3. That there is a God Chap. 4. What God is Chap. 5. That there is but one God Chap. 6. The bookes of the Bible are the worde of God Chap. 7. Of the will and sufferance of God Chap. 8. The world had a beginning Chap. 9. The soule of man what it is whence it commeth how it is infected with sinne and the immortalitie of it Chap. 10. Of Noah his Arke and the Deluge Chap. 11. Of the destruction of Sodom Chap. 12. Of Christ Chap. 13. The world shall haue an end Chap. 14. There is hell fier C 〈…〉 TO THE MOST HIGH and Mightie Prince Iames by the grace of God King of Great Brittanye France and Ireland Defender of the Faith MOST dread Soueraigne your Maiesties gratious acceptance of my late Treatise against Recusancy causeth me to present vnto your Highnes this poore Mite which out of my penury I offer into the treasurye of the Church being no way comparable to the Talents which others out of their great plentye haue cast into the offrings of God Albeit the right worshipfull Sr. George More knight hath learnedly and religiouslie handled the same subiect yet may I tread the same wine-presse againe by the example of Saint Augustine which confuted the Arrians whome Athanasius had confuted before him and the learned of our age which dayly write bookes notwithstanding others before them haue written bookes of the same argument And as S. Augustine in his time because there were many haeretikes wished that all men which were able to write would write against haeresie so because now 〈◊〉 many Atheistes it is to be wished that many would write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheisme The state of religion dependeth vpon the state of the Pastors and Ministers And therefore S. Iohn prophecying of the decay of it first discouereth the defects of them as the cause therof That he of Ephesus had lefte his former loue he of Pergamus had them which maintayned the doctrine of Balaam and the Nicholaitans he of Thyatira suffered Iezabell to make the people commit fornication and eat meate sacrificed to Idols he of Sardis had onely a name that he liued but was dead he of Laodicia was neither hotte nor colde but such a one as the Lord would spewe out of his mouth that he which tooke vpon him a greater charge then all they should haue onely hornes like the lambe Christ Iesus but as for his doctrine he should speake like the dragon Sathan And S. Paul prophecying of that great Apostasie and reuoliment from true religion through the world shewed the cause to be in him which tooke vpon him to be the vniuersall Pastor of the world That he should be an aduersaerie exalting him-selfe aboue all that is called God that sitting in the Temple of God he should not shew himselfe as the minister of God but as God The holy Ghost deriued the corruption of religion and calamitie of the Church of Israel from the base condition of the Priestes in the dayes of Ieroboam saying that he made Priestes of the lowest of the people And it is a curse denounced against them from God by the Prophet Malachye that their Priestes should be despised and vyle before the people Your Highnes vnder the Maiestie of Almightie God now sitteth in the seate of Dauid and vpon the throne of Salomen You haue the same authoritie ouer vs which Iosias Iosaphat Ezechias and the other Godlie Kinges had ouer Iuda The Lord therefore of his infinite mercie toward you his anoynted and vs your people continue in your Princely heart this your zeale of his house and great care of the aduancement of the state of the ministerie for the aduauncement of the Ghospell the increase of Godlines the subuersion of Atheisme and all Impietie The Lord make you such a King as Dauid was a man according to his owne heart that your Highnes may raigne ouer vs religiously peaceably happily to his glorie our comfort and the saluation of your owne soule The Lord graunt to our noble Queene that she may be an auncient Mother iâ— Isâ—â—â—â—â—… to Prince Henrie a large heart as he did vnto Salomon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blesse all your posteritie that they way continue in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worlds end Your MAIESTIES humble and obedient Subiect IOHN DOVE A CONFVTATION of Atheisme Chapter 1. What Atheisme is SOmetimes vnder the name of Atheists are comprehended Pagans Infidels and Idolaters all such as are ignorant of the true God albeit in their kinde they be very deuout religious and godly So saith the Apostle Wherefore remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh and called vncircumcision of them which are called circumcision in the flesh made with handes that ye were I say at that time without Christ aliants from the common wealth of Israel strangers from the couenant of promise and had no hope were without God in the world But what it was to be without God in the world he expresieth in an other place saying Euen then when ye knewe not God ye did seâ—â—…ce vnto them which by nature are not Gods That is they worship the Sunne Moone and carued idols the creature in steede of the Creator which is blessed for euermore Amen These be not the Atheists which we are to treate of Other Atheists there be which haue a knowledge of the true 〈◊〉 and how he is to be worshiped and are in name Christians 〈◊〉 a continuall habit and custome of sinne haue so hardned 〈◊〉 â—…durated them selues that they haue no sence or feeling of the iudgement of that true God which they knowe and professe and would be thought outwardly to serue And therefore they are bolde to commit sinne against him because they presume vpon his mercye or at the least his conniuencye and negligence in punishing as if they were perswaded God did not see them or he would not punish them Of such saith the Prophet The foole hath said in his heart there is no God And of such fooles he speaketh else-where more plainly saying Wickednes saith to the wicked man euen in mine heart that there is no feare of God before his eyes And what it is to cast away all feare of God from before his eyes he sheweth more plainly saying He hath said in his heart God hath forgotten he hydeth away his face will neuer see And this kinde of Atheist is in state of damnation
earth and a fluide or liquid body yet confined within the bankes that it cannot drowne the earth the earth solid and firme vnder our feet that we cannot sinke we must confesse ô sonne Tatius that there is one which is Lord maker of these thinges for it is impossible that euery thing should continue in due place number and meeasure and so iust a preportion should be obserued without a maker and who could make these thinges but God therfore there is a God To this booke of nature agreeth the booke of the Bible who saith The heauens declare the power of God the firmament sheweth the worke of his handes one day teacheth another one night giueth knowledge to another Againe the wrath of God is reuealed from heauen against all vngodlynes and vnrighteousnes of men which detaine the truth of God in vnrrighteousnes for asmuch as that which may be knowne of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it vnto them for the inuisible thinges of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the worlde being considered in his workes to the intent that they should be without excuse Dauid saith he couereth him selfe with light as with a garment and spreadeth the heauens like a curtayne he layeth the beames of his chamber in the waters maketh the clowdes his chariots and walketh vpon the winges of the winde In which wordes I doe not presse them with the authoritye of the Scriptures because the Scriptures are not of sufficient credit with them but with the reasons which are vsed in the Scriptures which if they cannot answer they must yeild vnto and confesse that there is a God And therefore I conclude against them in this manner We see dayly effects before our eyes in all the elements continuall motions in the heauens but there can be no effecte without a cause there can be no motion without a mouer no action without an agent no worke without a workeman these be relatiues and therefore one could not be without the other Mercurius Trismegistus could say Statuam siue imaginem fieri sine statuario aut pictore nemo dicit Hoc vero opificium fine opifice factum est Ô multam cacitatem ô multam impietatem ô multam ignorantiam nunquam ô sili Tati priuaueris opifice opificia A picture cannot be made without a Painter or a grauen image without a Caruer And can such a piece of worke be made without a worke van It is blindenes it is impietye it is grosse to entertaine such a conceit So then we take these for vndouted principles in naturall Phiosophye that they may not be denyed to witte Euery effect hath his cause euery action his agent euery motion his mouer But as there be many secondary causes agents mouers so there must needes be one principall and aboue the rest There is ordo causarum qui in rerum natura non procedit in infinitum an order of causes sub-ordinate one to an other and therefore there is no infinite ascention vp in the subordination of causes but at the lēgth by ascēding we must come to the highest we must in ea consistere stay when we come there because we can goe no higher and that is God What naturall body soeuer is moued I say it is moued by some other which is higher then it selfe For example The sphere of the Moone which is the lowest of the heauens is moued by the spheare of Merc. which is higher thē it Mer. is moued by Venus which is higher then it Venus by the Sun the Sun by Mars Mars by Iupiter Iupiter by Saturne Saturne by the sphere of the fixed staries and so we ascend vntill we can goe no higher that is vnto the heauen which is called Primum mobile y t first highest body w c is subiect to motion volubility That also is moued aswell as the rest not of it selfe because no naturall bodye can moue it selfe therefore it hath motion frō some other not from any other bodye because there can be no other bodye aboue the highest therefore it must of necessitye be moued by that which is a Spirit and not a bodye not naturall but metaphisicall and that can be nothing else but God In like manner the Sunne and a man doe beget a man the Sunne putrifaction doe engender Flyes and these thinges being subiect to outward senses are therefore naturall bodyes and because they are naturall bodyes they haue foure causes two inward which are matter and forme and two outward efficient and finall and there is nature which hath his secret motion tell me therefore what is that You will say peraduenture that is nature which Aristotle defineth to be principium motus the beginning of motion you say rightly but that is inward therefore you must besides this assigne an outward cause of motion and what is that If you say the ayre that is but a middle cause and therefore you must ascend higher for if there be causa media there is also prima if there be a midde or subordinate cause there is also a principall and first cause And what is that but onely God that is causa causarum the cause of all other causes and from whence all other thinges haue their being Againe all agents doe not worke alike for one thing worketh of necessitye and that is nature an other thing worketh in these outward and indifferent thinges partly of will and partly of necessitye that is man there you see medium participationis a meane which participateth with the extremitye but there can be no meane without two extreames and there can be no one extreame without the other and therefore of necessitye there must be a third agent which worketh freely as nature worketh of necessitye and man partly of will partly of necessitye And that can be nothing else but Deus liberrimum agens euen God which worketh freelye that no power is able to withstand his worke Therefore I conclude this point with Iob Aske the beastes and they will teach thee the foules of the heauen and they will shewe thee speake to the earth and it will tell thee the fishes of the sea and they shall declare vnto thee who is ignorant of all these but the hand of the Lord hath made all these Secondly to leaue the work-manship of the whole worlde and to come to man alone which is but one little part of the same If man goe no farther then him selfe he shall see God most liuely in him selfe three manner of wayes First in his conscience and vnderstanding Secondly in his naturall inclination he hath to religion Thirdly in the excellencye of the work-manship both of his bodye and his soule Concerning the first I say there is in euery man at some time or other an inward feeling of his conscience which wil he nill he maketh him to confesse there is a God For suppose a man for
especiall thinges which may best serue for this purpose The Scriptures foretolde long before the time that the world should be conuerted to Christian Religion all Nations should beleeue and submit themselues to the obedience of the Faith a thing in mans iudgement not to bee expected For the Prophet saide concerning the Kingdome of Christ I meane his Kingdome of the Gospell or of Grace The Heathens raged the people murmured against the Lord and his Christ but in vaine the Kinges of the earth stood vp banded them selues and the Princes assembled themselues togeather But he that sitteth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision Euen I haue set my King vpon Sion mine holie mountaine I will declare the decree that is the Lorde hath saide to me thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee aske of me and I shall giue thue the Heathen for thine inheritance and the endes of the earth for thy possession There could not be a more vnlikely thing foretolde and yet it was fulfilled long since no Atheist can denie it Tertullian to this purpose saith who was able to gouerne the world but onely Christ of whome it was foretolde that his Kingdome should be extended ouer the whole world The Kingdome of Salomon saith her was confined within the Land of Iudaea from Dan to Beersheba and his territories did reach no farther Darius raigned ouer the Pabylonians and Persians but no farther Pharao ouer the Aegiptians and there his dominion ceased Nabuchodonozer was a great Monarche yet he reigned not ouer the whole worlde but onely from India vnto Aethiopia the like may bee saide of the Greekes the Romās which were called the Lords of the world and yet the whole world was not knowne vnto them much lesse subdued by them But as for the Kingdome of Christ it hath extended it selfe farre and wide the Gospell hath bin preached in al places and receaued of all Nations of the Parthians Medes Elamites the inhabitantes of Mesopotamia Armenia Phnygia Cappadocia Aegipt Pamphilla Asia Africa and the vttermost Indies Of this assertion there bee so many recordes that it cannot bee denyed As for some few things which are foretolde in the Scriptures not yet fulfilled as namely the conuersion of the Iewes and the destruction of Antichrist the time is not yet come to passe that they should be fulfilled for all thinges must be performed in that due time which God in his secret wisdome hath appointed There are other thinges also foretolde which must goe immediately before the ende of the world which are not yet performed because as you see the ende is not yet But it is a sufficient argument to induce Infidelles to beleeue that all these thinges shall come to passe because they see all other things alreadie performed in their time and order For as hee that sometimes lyeth shall not bee beleeued though hee tell the truth so hee which alwaies hath tolde the truth cannot without impietie bee suspected of fallhood God cannot deceaue or bee deceaued And which is not to bee omitted St. Peter did prophecie that at the latter end there should bee such Atheistes which should denie these thinges and the Prophecie is now verified otherwise this my labour might haue bene spared their impiety maketh it good which the Prophet hath foretolde Againe there is in Daniel an auncient Prophecie concerning the death of our Sauiour Christ euen the verie time and computation of yeares is defined when hee should be put to death Seauenty weekes saith hee are determined vpon thy people and vpon the holy Cittie to finish the wickednesse and seale vp the sinnes and reconcile the iniquitie and bring in euerlasting righteousnesse to annoynt the moste holy From the going foorth of the commaundement to bring againe the people and build Ierusalem to Messias the Prince shall bee 69. weekes and after he shall bee slaine but so that for one weeke hee shall teach but in the middle of the weeke hee shall cause the Sacrifice and oblation to cease But these weekes are annuae hebdomadae euery weeke is seauen yeares and so reckoning weekes consisting of yeares not onely of daies as for euery day in the weeke should be reckoned a yeare 70. of Daniels weekes make 490. yeares But the Temple which was the first and cheifest thing reaedified in Ierusalem began in the second yeare of Cyrus the builders were hindred 42. yeares as it appeareth out of the Gospell and in the 46. yeare it was finished because the laste 4. yeares they had quietnes Longimanus in the second yeare of his raigne giuing foorth a newe edict that they should builde without molestation and no man vnder payne of death should hinder the workemen as in times past they had done From the second year therfore of Longimanus the Emperour to Alexander the great were 145. yeares from Alexander to the natiuitye of our Sauiour 310. from his birth to his baptisme 30. these being put together make yeares 485. so the 69. weekes make 482. yeares but at his baptisme the whole 482. yeares that is 69 were fullye complete and ended In the next weeke or 7. yeares our Sauiour taught the people and in the middle thereof that is in the fourth yeare he was put to death What Iewe or Atheist can except against the truth of this Prophecye A second proofe that the bookes of the Bible are the worde of God is the generall consent and agreement of so many writers which writ at diuers times in diuers places remote one from an other in diuers languages and vpon diuers occasions all writing of one and the selfe-same subiect all agreeing in Doctrine none contradicting other that they might not so fitlie bee termed diuers writers as diuers pennes of the same writer The bookes of Moses were written in the wildernesse of Iosua Iudges and the Kinges in the land of Promise of Daniell in Babylon the workes of St. Paule some at Rome some in other places as Athens Ephesus Laodicea Nicapolis St. Iohns reuelation in Pathmos the Booke of Iob no man knoweth by whome when nor where The Bookes of Moses about 2554. yeares after the creation of the worlde the Psalmes some of them 605. yeares after Moses the bookes of Ezra after the returne from Captiuitie about 605. yeares after Dauid by whome manie of the Psalmes were made Betweene Dauid and the Captiuitie Esay and Osee vnder King Ioathan Achaz and Ezechiaz Ieremie vnder Iosias Ioachim Zedechias Ezechiel Abacuc Daniel in Captiuitie and the whole new Testament long after the olde yet all agree as the diuers thunders which haue one voyce foure Beastes which sing one song Vox tamen vna manet qualem decet esse sororum Damascen compareth them to a Garden bedecked with varyetie of hearbes of excellent vertue which are to be gathered one by one and yet to make one Garland or diuers precious stones in one brest-plate
of the water to them I answer the waters preuayled on the earth 150. dayes albeit they began to be diminished before the full end of 150. dayes albeit they began to be deminished before y e ful end of 150. dayes For nothing letteth but y t they might well be saide to preuayle that is to be strong and deep vpon the earth albeit they were in parte diminished and that the Arke might drawe so deep of water as the mount being high to rest vpon it And where it is said after the Arke rested vpō the mountayne then the waters were abated that is it might then more plainly sensibly be perceiued and apeare to the eyes of Noah The heathen historyes doe mention this Deluge although after a corrupt maner which is not sufficient to strengthen the truth but yet serueth to conuince the Atheist And though S. Augustine sayth Diluuium gentium nec Latina nec Graeca nouit historia no heathenish writers doe remember it meaning without corruption yet Iosephus sayth Huius arstem diluuij arcae meminerunt omnes Barbaricae historiae scriptores that all Barbarian historiographers haue mentioned this Deluge and Arke of Noah whereof he reckoneth these namely Berosus the Chaldaean Hicronimus the Egiptian Phoenix Mnasseas Nicholaus Damascenus And Eusebius remembreth Greeke writers Alexandrum Polihistorem Molonem Empoleneum and others which haue written of it vnder the name of Deucalion as they haue receiued it from others by reporte Ouid maketh a liuely discription of this Deluge vnder the name of Deucaliō And Iustin Martyr sayth we Christians call him Noah whom the heathens call Deucalion Plutarch sayth that the Doue which was sent out of Deucalion his Arke brought to him a token of the fall of the water And Lucian an A theist yet sayth that this generation of man which now is was not from the beginning but that it wholye perished which then was and that this progenye which now is is an other which descended from Deucalion And of the generation which perished that they were cruell wicked periured they harboured not strangers they were inexorable for which cause they suffered great calamitye for suddenlye the earth poured out great store of water great quantitye of rayne fell from the skye the riuers swelled the Sea arose to such an height that the worlde was drowned and all thinges perished Of that multitude only Deucalion was left aliue who was preserued by these meanes Hee put him selfe with his wife and children in a great Arke which he had made when he had imbarqued him selfe there came vnto him Swine Horses Lyons and all other Beastes which the earth nourished two of euery sorte So God lefte not him selfe without witnes among the heathen that thereby he might stirre them vp to search out the truth which onely remayned in the Church of God Chapter 12. Of the destruction of Sodome WHen Lot had entred into Zoar the Lord rayned vpō Sodom fire brimstone burned the Cittie the plaine and all the inhabitantes and all that grewe vpon the earth And Lots wife behinde him looked backe and she was turned into a Piller of Salte This is the slorie of the Bible and what ground hath any Atheist to deny it The Christian may easily confound the Atheist because the reliques of it doe yet remayne and the place doth shew it selfe Concerning the time when it was done it is set downe in the Text that it was burned in the dayes of Abraham which arose early in the morning and beheld the smoke of it mounting vp as the smoke of a Furnace And by iust computation it is well knowne to haue beene about 392. yeares after the sloud The place is well knowne to all Cosmographers and is daylye seene by many trauaylers it is one of the three famous Lakes which are in the Land of Canaan which are commonly by the figure catachresis called seas For in that Land there are three such waters the Sea of Galilie where Peter Andrew Iames and Iohn were about their nettes when our Sauiour did call them to be Apostles The Sea of the Gaderens into which the heard of swine did run hedlong when the Deuils had entred into them by the permission of our Sauiour Christ being beyond Jorden towards Arabia and the waters are at this time venimous and as it is thought polluted by those swines The third is this which wee are now to speake of and the subiect of our discourse A greate part of it which then was land is now all water and is called Asphaltites of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth pitch because great quantitie of pitch boyleth out of it and it is also called Mare mortuum the dead Sea or mare mortuorum the sea of the dead because no fish nor other creatures can liue in it The nature of it is such that if any bordes be throwne into it they will presently sinke to the bottom if any vessell be vpon it which hath men in it so long as the men liue it will bee aboue the water but as soone as the men are dead being poysoned with the stinke of it the vessel wil presently sinke In so much that when Vespasian the Emperour had caused certaine men to haue their handes tyed behinde them that they might not be able to shift for themselues and so to be violently plunged into the botome they were presently driuen vp againe with as great a violence vnto the top and so sloted vppon the superficies of the water vntill they were dead The quātitie of this stinking lake is about 8. high Almaigne miles with in the compasse of it were scituated these fiue Citties Sodom Gomorah Adama Seboim and Segor which were destroyed with fire and brimstone of the which the cheife and principal was Sodom In this water standeth a Rocke which to them that behold it representeth the image of a woman that is Lots wife In the bankes round about it al the ground which is neare it are some reliques of these Citties yet remayning for the earth doth looke like ashes taken out of a furnace there are great stones and peeces of rockes which looke as if they had bin in the fier greate heapes of salte a smell of fire as if the place were still burning a filthye sauour of brimstone such smokes vapours continually rising out of the ground that they doe annoy the villages and inhabitants which are anye way nere that place Some Trees doe growe there and bring fruite but the fruites thereof neuer come to rypenes if a man gather one of the Apples and cut it with his knife they are full of nothing but sparkles of fire and noysome smoakes And therfore for the confirmation of this story besides the witnes of the Scriptures we need no more then the testimony of the place it selfe which doth most plainly discouer it selfe And therefore the best counsaile that I can giue the Atheist that readeth this
storye is this that hereafter he doe no more denye the truth of it or make anye question how it might be but rather thus Quotiescunque legit historiam timeas ne ipse flat historia so often as he readeth the storye let him tremble at Gods iudgements leaste he become also an acter of such a Tragedye and the subiecte of the like storye that is leaste he be turned into a stone as Lots wife was or consumed with fire and brimstone as Sodome was Chapter 13. Of Christ I Haue I trust sufficiently proued that there is a God that the Atheists might be conuerted vnto the true God But because this knoweledge of God in his creatures is onely sufficient to giue them occasion to seeke further and no way in it selfe able to saue their soules they must also knowe him in his Sonne by whome onely saluation commeth When the fulnes of time was come saith the Apostle God sent his Sonne made of a womā c That I may therefore proue vnto them God in his Sonne our Sauiour Christ by humane authorityes and reasons because they will not stand to the authoritye of the Scriptures I will not alleage the testimony of the deuils out of the Gospell which sayd Iesus thou Sonne of God what haue we to doe with thee art thou come hither to tormēt vs before y e time but out of prophane historyes which sayd in effect the same thing For being silenced at his comming that their Oracles could giue no more answer and being asked a reason of their silence one of them answered as in the 4. Chapter I haue already shewed vnto you Me puer Hebraeus diuos Deus ipse gubernans Cedere sede iubet tristemque redire sub orcum Aris ergo dehinc tacitus abcedito nostris Vpon which answer by them giuen Augustus the Emperour erected an Altar in the Capitoll of Rome with this inscription ARA PRIMO-GENITI DEI An Altar dedicated to the first begotten Sonne of GOD. I cannot see how any thing can be playner then the deuils confession by the Oracle of Apollo wherein he is called Puer Hebraeus an Hebrue Childe Deus a God A childe there is his birth and humane nature like that of the Prophet Esay Natus est nobis puer a Childe is borne vnto vs and an Hebrue as the Apostle speaketh Hee descended not of Angells but of the seede of Abraham And God there is his Diuine nature God is become a childe there is Christ God and man Our Sauiour shewed himselfe many waies to the Infidels to be God yet to be borne but they vnderstood him not Tully citeth the prophecy of Sybel for proofe y t a King should be borne and that none shold be saued vnles they did imbrace him yet neither he nor the rest of the Romās had the grace to applie it rightly Tully his selfe did onely aleadge it but not beleeue it for hee thought it to be some inuentiō of man tēding to the alteration of the state of Rome Lentulus applyed it vnto himselfe hoping hee should be that King therfore ioyned in conspiracie with Cataline Virgill applyed it to Solonius the Sonne of Pollio because he was his good Patron was desirous to honour magnifie him aboue other men And it is very likely that Virgil had heard something concerning this matter of the Hebrues themselues because as Iosephus writeth when so euer Herod the King of Iudaea came to Rome he lodged at Pollio his house vnto which house Virgill often resorted But afterward Constantine the great did expound that prophecie to bee vnderstood onely of the incarnation of Christ Iosephus writeth that there was an auncient prophecie among the Romans that a King should come out of Iudaea which should be the great man of the worlde But they were so blinde that they could not apply it vnto Christ of whome it was meant but they vnderstood it of Vespacian the Emperour because hee conquered the Iewes Swetonius maketh mention of a strange accident which fell out at Rome before the birth of Christ by which it was publikely acknowledged that Nature did beeede a King which should raigne ouer the people of Rome what that wonder was Dio sheweth In the Capitoll many images were ouerthrowne from heauen writings in grauen in Marble pillers were blotted out But they had not somuch light as to vnderstand that the Kingdome of Christ his Gospell should ouerthrow idolatrie and prescribe new Christian lawes whereby his Church should be gouerned Great was the blindenes of Augustus which could erect an altar to the Sonne of God yet could not acknowledg the Sonne of God whē he was borne and published to the world and being himselfe a tipe figure of Christ yet did not see christ in his selfe of whome hee was a figure And that it may not seeme to any man absurde which I haue said that Augustus was a tipe of Christ wee finde the like in the Prophet Esay concerning Cyrus the King of Persia I haue likened thee to my selfe thogh thou hast not knowne me Cyrus was a tipe of Christ though hee knewe not Christ in that he deliuered Gods people out of Captiuitie by giuing them leaue to returne to their countrie and to builde the Temple So was Augustus a tipe of Christ in his happie peaceable gouernment of the Empire in that hee was saluted first by that name of Augustus the sixt day of Ianuarie and the same day was Christ worshipped as a God King by the wise men which came from the Easte that vnder him were burnt the recordes and specialties of the debts w t were due to the treasure house or chamber of the Empire for so by our Sauiour was cancelled the hand-writing of ordinance which was against vs and it was nayled on the Crosse when our Sauiour was borne greate quantitie of oyle did miraculously issue out of the earth what was that but the birth of the Lords annointed w t was annointed with the oyle of gladnes aboue al his fellowes vpon that miracle Augustus was so astonished y t he made proclamatiō y t after that time no mā shold call him Lord what was that but a manifest acknowledgemēt that a greater Lord was borne then Augustus was To this also I may adde the testimonye of the starces and constellations in heauen to shew the Atheist the birth of the Son of God vpon the earth The wisemen as I haue shewed before sought out our Sauiour Christ by the leading of a Starre which Staire I haue proued to bee miraculous And yet although the birth of the Sonne of God was not subiect to constellations but was farre aboue the capacitie of Astrologers and the course of the heauens yet the verie Astrologicall predictions and Aspects of other naturall Starres were enough to giue occasion to the Gentiles to seeke farther and so to come to the knowledge of the birth