GEOLOGIA OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the EARTH before the DELUGE WHEREIN The FORM and PROPERTIES ascribed to it In a Book intituled The Theory of the Earth Are Excepted against And it is made appear That the DISSOLUTION of that Earth was not the Cause of the Universal Flood ALSO A New Explication of that Flood is attempted By ERASMVS WARREN Rector of Worlington in Suffolk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ECCLESIAST iii. 11. Et Mundum tradidit Disputationi eorum LONDON Printed for R. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC XC TO THE READER HAving perused the Book called The Theory of the Earth considering it simply and abstractedly in it self as a Philosophic Scheme or representation of things I found it a Treatise not unworthy of the ingenious Author of it Though so it was not without its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Defects But then taking it as it relates to the Doctrine of the Bible and so bears the Title Sacred I thought it liable to several Exceptions Some of these I determinâ—d to set down forthwith and in a Letter transmit them to the learned Theorist But my Pen growing warm quite our-run the bounds of my first Intentions and forcing me to alter the Method I had begun carry'd things on to this length and drew them up in this Form My Design is only an humble Proposal of some few Exceptions against the Essentials of the Theory And I as humbly beg that they may not be mistaken as to their Rise nor misconstâ—ued as to their End They â—low but from Affection to Truth and are directed to her Vindication Let none therefore think them off-springs of a narrow mind or issues of a captious disputatious Spirit much less of a stingy â—icque against Philosophy to which as I owe all becoming veneration so I shall ever duly pay it Nor have I ingaged with the Theory at all because it is New but because it is False For all that is true must needs be ancient only the Discovery of some truth may be New But then every such discovery of important truth is highly to be valued and applauded To be welcom'd into the World with thanks and joy and entertain'd with reverence and a sweet reception Yea as every such Discovery of weighty Truth ought to be receiv'd with great kindness and respect so that happy Person who makes the Discovery ought to be exceedingly honoured too and lookt upon as deserving a Coronet and a Monument And for my own part I had much rather assist with my hands in â—itting up both than write one word or syllable with my Pen to hinder him of either Again therefore I heartily profess my Scope to be nothing else but a Vindication of Truth unless I â—hall add and of Religion also For though I am far from that temper of being alarm'd at the proposal of every new Theory as if all Religion were falling about our ears yet I am sensible the Theorist has assaulted Religion and that in the very foundation of it And therefore he must not blame me if I have taken the alarm to use his own word when he was pleased in such a manner to give it And truly should not some of us have been awakened by it considering how loud he rings it in our ears he might well have concluded we were too fast asleep When the fourteen Books of Numa Pompilius that ancient and famous King of Rome were found in the Earth in a Chest of Stone and being taken out were perused by several at last upon the Praetor Pâ—tilius's report that they contained pleraque dissolvendarum Religionum many things tending to the undoing of Religion at least in some Ceremonies or appendages of it they were condemned by the Senate An Argument of their tenderness and due concern for the Religion they had though but a mean one Now allowing our regard for Religion to exceed that of the Romans as in reason it should but as much as our Religion exceedeth theirs and how deeply must we resâ—nt especially those of us in Holy Orders even the smallest injuries done unto it But then when Books come forth too like to Numa's the Contents whereof strike at Religion the least we can do is to complain of the abuse and endeavour meekly to confute them And that the Theory of the Earth does strike at Religion and assault it as I said in the very Foundation of it is but too evident For in several things as will appear in our Discourse it contradicts Scripture and by too positive asserting the truth of its own Theorems makes that to be false upon which our Religion is founded And to assert such things positively as imply Scripture to be false in any Periods of it must be of very pernicious consequence For if it fails in some instances it may do so in many and that which renders it suspected in part will impeach the credit of the whole Let it be noted therefore that the Dispute here is not meerly whether the World we live in be the same now as it was of old before the Flood or whether there be not as much difference betwixt its primaeval and its present State as betwixt a goodly Structure when standing in its glory and groveling in its ruines but which is far more material whether some sacred and revealed Truths or gay but groundless Philosophic Phancies shall be preferred The Book has lain by in Manusâ—ript a great while Why it did so is well known to some good Men and I need not trouble all with the Reasons of it But when none as I could learn were dispos'd to write better I let it come abroad In it I have not to speak in the Theorist 's language made Iudgment or Consure of his Hypothesis upon general presumptions and prejudices nor according to the temper and model of my own spirit but I think according to reason And that I might not impose upon my self or others have laid aside that lazy and fallacious method of censuring by the lump and endeavoured to bring things close to the Test of true and false to explicit proof and evidence And whosoever says he makes such Objections against an Hypothesis hath a Right to be heard This Right therefore so far as it is mine and I may lawfully do it I now challenge To conclude Whereas I have endeavoured to explain the Universal Deluge in a new and unusual way I would by no means be thought to ground upon it as certainly true but only to show that another way of opening and unfolding that intricate Phaenomenon may be found out as plausible or approvable as that which the Theory goes in And truly for my own part I am much of the Opinion of a very learned Friend of mine a great ornament both to the University and the Faculty he is of who upon perusal of this Book in Manuscript wrote this to me among other things Though we have Moses yet
with the Description of Paradise 3. It would have destroy'd the Ark. 4. And have made the Earth of a Form different from what now it is of 5. It would also have reduced it to a miserable Barrennels 6. And have overturned the Buildings which outstood the Deluge 7. And have rendred the Covenant which GOD made with Noah vain and insignificant p. 284 CHAP. XV. 1. The Flood explicable another way as well as by that in which the Theory goes 2. What the height of its Waters might be viz. Fifteen Cubits upon the surface of the Earth 3. The Probability of the Hypothesis argued from Scripture 4. What the Fountains of the Great Deep were 5. A Second Argument for the Hypothesis from the easie and sufficient Supply of Waters to raise the Flood to such an height 6. A Third from its agreeableness with St. Peter's Account of the Deluge 7. A Fourth from the Habitableness of the Earth at the Flood 's going off 8. A Fifth from its Consistency with Geography p. 299 CHAP. XVI 1. Objections must be answered 2. Our Exposition of Scripture not to be made an Objection by the Theorist or any that hold with him 3. The First Objection from the Hills being covered answered 4. The Second from the Arks resting upon the Mountains of Ararat answered 5. The Third from the appearing of the Tops of the Mountains upon the decrease of the Waters answered 6. The Fourth from the possibility of Mens being saved from the Flood without the Ark answered 7. The Fifth from the likelihood of other Creatures escaping answered 8. The Sixth from the imaginary excess of Water answered 9. The Seventh from the Raven which Noah sent out of the Ark answered 10. The Eighth from danger of Shipwrack which the Ark would have been in answered 11. A General Answer to farther Objections p 324 CHAP. XVII 1. The Positiveness of the Theory 2. Noted in the English Edition of it 3. It s Author's Intentions laudable 4 The Conclusion p. 356 LICENS'D Ian. 29. 1688 9. Rob. Midgley ERRATA PAge 13. Line 10. Read incorruption p. 48. l. 3. after that insert were in it p. 58. l. 3. r. host of p. 59. l. 31. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 60. l. 26. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 75. l. 13. r. and. p. 95. l. 1. r. professed p. 98. l. 23. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 109. l. 21. r. canales p. 116. l. 7. r. Miles p. 127. l. 9. r. Brahe p. 129. l. 25. r. descry p. 145. l. 28. r. inartificial p. 233. l. 1. r. grow l. 5. blot out so p. 255. l. 1. r. just l. 30. r. it s p. 282. l. 14. r. Crops p. 289. l. 21. after land insert excepting the Red Sea p. 306. in the last line of the Mâ—â—gent r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 307. l. 17. blot out a. p. 321. l. 25. r. two hundred p. 324. l. 17. after in r. answered p. 333. l. 2. r. about p. 345. l. 25. r. hideous The Parentheses p. 289. l. 15 16 17 18. and p. 290. l. 2 3. should have been left out Some mispointings also must be noted GEOLOGIA OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the EARTH Before the Flood CHAP. 1. 1. The great Usefulness of Natural Philosophy 2. In proving there is a God 3. In acquainting us with His Nature 4. In asserting a Providence 5. In excluding Idolatry 6. In vindicating the Gospel in several Points 7. As the Immortality of the Soul 8. The Resurrection of the Body 9. The Conflagration of the World 10. And the endless fiery Torments of the Damned 11. Philosophy is useful also as to Divinity 12. And like to flourish 13. Caution against abusing it 14. Which is done either by speaking or thinking slightly of it 15. Or by Setting it too low in its Operations 16. Or else by Raising it too high 17. Which is the fault of The Theory of the Earth 18. A Character of it 19. The Occasion of this Discourse against it 20. Together with its Method 21. This Chapter an Introduction to the Discourse 1. IT is a memorable and worthy Saying for a Heathen of Simplicius Philosophy is the greatest Gift that ever GOD bestowed upon Men. And were it restrained to Natural Philosophy alone there would be much truth in that Assertion of his For it serves our interests with a mighty efficacy and is highly conducive to our benefit not only many but innumerable ways Thus it exalts our Minds and inlarges our Understanding and fills them with rich and invaluable Notions It elevates our flat and groveling Souls and make them at once to look up and look high It disinthralls our Judgments inslav'd to Sense and weak Speculations and swells our shrivel'd narrow Thoughts into wide and generous and comprehensive Theories It wipes the dust of Ignorance and dimness of Prejudice out of our Eyes and inables us not only to see Nature's Beauty but duely to admire it Yea in a short time it turns our Admiration into studious Industry and of passionate Lovers of Nature's Perfections makes us curious and painful Searchers into her Mysteries And here new Discoveries bring fresh Delights and our intellectual Satisfactions do more than compensate our most tiresom Disquitions For the Mind being weighed down with the luggage of the Body and bound fast as with Chains in the straitnesses of it Philosophy relieves it says a great Man by giving it a fair Prospect of the things of Nature and lifting it up from Earthly to Divine Concerns To take cognoscence of which while it sallies out it recovers a kind of liberty and breaking loose in some sense from the uneasie pressure and confinement it suffers is refreshed with the survey and study of the Heavens The learned Father flies higher still though not in the least above the Mark. For he makes Philosophy profitable for Godliness to such as fetch Faith from Demonstration And says That if it does not comprehend the vastness of Truth nor is able to perform the Commandments of the LORD yet it makes way for the most royal Doctrine And therefore he would have all not excusing very Women to mind Philosophy And argues That none who are young should defer it and that none who are old should be weary of it because no Man is too young nor yet too old to get a found Mind And then adds He that says 't is too soon or too late to study Philosophy is just like him who says it is too soon or too late to be blessed And that Philosophy should contribute towards Mens Blessedness we need not wonder when as he says in another place it does before-hand purge and prepare the Soul to receive the Faith upon which the truth builds Knowledge And albeit in these Expressions he might not mean Natural Philosophy only yet speaking all along of the Greek Philosophy in general he cannot be supposed to exclude that neither Which indeed does very much qualifie and
dispose us for true Religion and is rarely instrumental to improve and advance it To make out this fully how useful and serviceable Philosophy is to promote Religion would require a whole Volume Let me only touch upon a few Particulars 2. First it is useful To prove There is a GOD. Of all the Fundamentals of Religion this is the chief Yet if Philosophy did not lend us some Topicks from whence we might fetch Arguments to evince and confirm the Existence of a DEITY all that we could say would be too cold and languid to confute the Atheist But when that discovers an absolute necessity of a First Cause and of a First Mover and of an infinitely Wife and Powerful Creator of the Universe and of as infinitely Wise and Powerful a Governour of the same Or else on the other hand shews a necessity of Deifying the World itself by bestowing Godlike Attributes upon it and of granting Self-movency Life and Vnderstanding to Matter with other most notorious and numberless Absurdities Then he must either openly confess there is a GOD or with silence submit to a Belief of his Being And what a considerable stroke Philosophy has in proving there is a GOD Plutarch fairly gives us to understand where he declares That the first Notion Men had of him they took from the beauty of the aspectable things And a little after They had the knowledge of a GOD from the Stars which appeared while they beheld the great harmony they caused and how orderly they made Day and Night and Winter and Summer To which agrees what we read Wisd. 13. 3 4. 3. Secondly To acquaint us with the Nature of the DEITY For what to make of his Immatorial or Spiritual Essence of his Necessary and Self-existence of his Ubiquity or Omnipresence of a TRINITY in Unity or Three distinct Persons in one and the same undivided Nature and common essential Substance c. we should be utterly at a loss were it not for Philosophy Not that Philosophy can enable us to look to the Centre of God's Perfections neither and throughly to understand him that 's impossible For he is nothing else but GLORY and GREATNESS And such is the Brightness of the one and the Immenseness of the other yea the Infiniteness of both that no created Capacities with all the helps they can possibly get shall attain to a clear and full knowledge of him Yea much of the felicity of the Eternal State seems to lye in this That as we shall always see more and more of GOD so we shall never be able to discern all But shall incessantly be entertained with fresh Perceptions of new Delights arising from fresh Apprehensions and new Discoveries of the incomprehensible Goodness and Beauties of the Divinity Which Apprehensions will be so very clear and the Oblectations issuing from them so high and strong in reiterated rapturous Vibrations in the Soul that we shall be strangely overflowed and as it were quite swallowed up of endless and most beatifying Satisfactions And O amazing Bliss and Happiness indeed where we shall ever be sinking deeper and deeper still in an abyss of intellectual Joy and Sweetness This will make our condition a boundless Ocean of transporting Pleasures as GOD's Nature is a like Ocean of Divinest Excellencies But then if GOD be too Glorious and Great to be perfectly understood by us in the Mansions above where the dormant Powers and Faculties of our Souls which perhaps are many shall be all awakened into lively Actings how much less can Philosophy help us to understand him compleatly here in these lower Regions Yet as Men may see more with a good Perspective than they can do without it so we may better acquaint our selves with the Nature of GOD being assisted by Philosophy than if we had it not And the truth is even the very Word and Works of GOD the two most informing things we have the most apt and able to lead us into competent knowledge of His MAJESTY without Philosophy are neither of them to be rightly or tolerably understood in innumerable Instances 4. Thirdly To assert a Providence and the free use of our Faculties Astra regunt homines Stars govern Men has taken great place in the World Insomuch that a Mans Stars and his Destiny have been Terms equivalent As free Agents as we are they have been thought to controll us to be Disposers of our Lot and Dispensers of our Portion and the Masters of our Fortune To incline our Minds and to sway our Wills to determin our Motions and over-rule our Actions staking us down as it were in all our Proceedings by irresistible force or tying us up to fatal necessity A Persuasion most strange and also as false It might come from hence The Stars were observed to be very numerous and for their largeness most considerable Bodies And therefore for them only to shine in the Night-time and that with so pitiful a light as every little Fog or Cloud can obscure might well be thought too mean a work for them at least for their whole Employment Whereupon to intitle them to another Task more noble and suitable they were fancied to have Mankind committed to their charge to be ruled by them with an absolute Regency But whence sprang this Mistake of the Stars Superintendency and Sovereign Dominion save merely from the want of sound Philosophy For as many as are tolerably vers'd in that know they can have no such Influence or Empire but are wholly incapable of exercising a Regiment of that Nature over us And do know as well likewise to what other great Ends or Uses they may serve most worthy of themselves much better than to such an impossible Jurisdiction as has been wildly and unreasonably attributed to them 5. Fourthly To exclude Idolatry The most general and constant Idol among Men has been the Sun And how came he to be so Why from his Motion he might probably be reputed an Animal And from his regular Motion he might as well be thought to have Understanding And then from these Notions or Persuasions concerning him Men might easily ascend to an higher yet and fancy him a Being of Divine Perfections as Cardan and Vaninus did And so it would be natural to honour him as a GOD by paying Divine Worship to him Yea a long and prevailing Doctrine it has been That the Sun though he was not a rational and understanding Creature himself was actuated and directed by a Spirit or Intelligence And this seems an Opinion but one remove from the other and might give too just occasion and encouragement to superstitious Adoration of the Sun if not open a wide door whereat it might enter But then true Philosophy interposing here makes so full a discovery of his Nature as may throughly abolish and for ever destroy all grounds and reasons of Idolatrous Practices in reference to him Though through want of such Philosophy at Athens Anaxagoras fell under a double misfortune being at