are possessed with an opinion of hell fire and alluring them to subiection by hope of eternall life that so Princes may enioy outward peace temporall prosperitie Examples of this last sorte we haue Leo the tenth of that name Bishop of Rome who when he had heard Bembus alleadge places out of the Scriptures concerning Christ said vnto him Quid mihi narras illam de Christo fabulam why dost thou tell me that fable of Christ Againe in ostentation of his riches said Vide quantum mihi profuit illa de Christo fabula See what treasure I haue scraped together by publishing to the people that same fable concerning Christ An example also is Machiauel which holdeth these principles grounds of policy Princeps qui sapientia est praeditus debet ea promissa vitare quae suis commodis contraria fore videt I am vero hominibus nunquam defuturae sunt causae quibus in violatam fidem colorem inducant A wise Prince must not regard his promise if he finde it not for his profit neither shall he at any time be destitute of such shiftes and euasions whereby he may iustify and make good the breach and falsifying of his oath Qui sagatior fuerit vt vulpinum ingenium melius exprimeret ei faelicius omnia ceciderant That he must learne to play the Fox which will haue his designes and proiects to take effect He proposeth vnto Princes the example of Pope Alexander the sixt to immitate of whome he saith Is nihil quam mortalium impostorem egit nihil quam ad omnē malitiam fraudem quo hominum genus falleret mentem suam exercuit In asseuerando autem quis magis fuerit efficax aut qui speciotius iurauit iusiurandum vicissimque qui minus praestiterit nemo vnquam fuit Nihilo secius doli nunquam ei non commode ceciderunt That is he plotted nothing more then how he might be the cosoner and deceiuer of men he set his minde vpon nothing but malice and fraude whereby men might be by him supplanted ouertaken no man promised more largely nor swore more deeply then he and no man performed lesse then he and yet not-withstanding his falshood knauery he neuer fayled of his purpose Proinde non est quod Princeps omnes eas superius descriptas virtutes ostentet sunt enim aduersus tales dissimulandae saepe numero callidèque tegendae And yet for al that falshood preuaileth better thē plaine dealing yet a Prince must not make a shewe of a large conscience but he must dissemble carry him selfe cunningly before the eyes of the worlde Quocirca ad omnem fortunae ventorum conuersionem versatile ingenium Princeps habeat necesse est ab eo quod bonum est ne discedat at si necessitas vrgeat edoctus sit et malum auertere Wherefore a Prince must frame him selfe for all times seasons as occasions may serue let him imbrace truth and doe iustice vnlesse he see cause to the contrary but if he doe let him be so wise that he do not disaduantage him selfe Princeps acram curam diligentiam adhibeat vt pietatom fidem integritatem humanitatem religionem sanctè colere videatur atqui nihil magis est quod prae se ferat quam illam virtutem fere enim homines magis specie colore rerum quam rebus ipsis permouentur iudicant Nemo non videt quid prae te feras at paucissimi sunt qui quid sis sensu percipiant Vitam princeps tueatur curetque imperium conseruare quibus autem idsiat rationibus ex modo honesti spaciem prae se ferant nunquam non honore dignae laudibusque existimabuntur Let a Prince especially take heed to him selfe that he seeme godly true honest curteous and aboue all religious because men for the most parte are caryed away with the outward shewe of religion and doe iudge all things according to outward appearance Euery man can take notice of that which you seeme to be but fewe men can sound the bottome of your heart and diue into your secret thoughts so farre as to discouer what in deed you are to conceiue what your intent meaning is Let a Prince looke especially to the defence of his owne life and state it maketh no matter by what meanes he doe it be they lawfull or vnlawefull so as they haue an outward shewe and colour of honestye Chapter 2. Of the causes of Atheisme THat I may speak somwhat of the causes of Atheisme They are many Some men are become Atheists by building vpō a false ground by misconstruing and wresting that place of Tully to their owne perdition Sunt qui negant Deos habere procurationem rerum humanarum quorum sententia falsa est quia sic omnis religio inanis esset religione autem sublata tolleretur hominū sides magna sequeretur vitae perturbatio confusio There are saith Tully some men which deny that there is a God which taketh vpon him the care of humane affaires whose opinion is euicted to be false for as much as if it were so all religion were in vayne and were it not for religion there would be no fidelitie or honestie among men nothing but disorder confusion through the whole worlde I cannot deny but religion doth maintaine ciuill gouernment and kingdomes are best gouerned where men haue the greatest feeling of religion because the feare of God hauing taken a deepe roote in mens hearts by the often preaching of the worde doth binde subiects to their Princes farre more fast then humane lawes the feare of the Princes displeasure And I must needs confesse that the King and the whole state of England are to ascribe this long peace which we haue had and yet doe inioy as also this great increase of wealth and loyaltye of the subiectes more to the diligent preaching of the Ministers then to the sincere gouernmēt of the Magistrates to Diuines then to Polititians how little soeuer now Diuines be regarded and how highly soeuer Polititians be esteemed Subiects are now more obedient to Lawes and loyall to Princes then in times past they haue bene because the Gospell is more preached among them then it was in former ages So then it is not for feare but for conscience sake not because they feare him that can kill the bodie but because they feare him that is able to destroy both bodie and soule in hell fire And yet the Prouerb in many hath bene fulfilled Filia deuorauit matrem that the daughter hath deuoured her owne mother For religion is the mother of peace and peace is the daughter of religion because the preaching of Christian religion hath brought peace into the worlde All godly Diuines preach the doctrine of St. Paul Si fieri potest quantum in vobis est cum omnibus pacem habetote if it be possible and as much as lyeth in you haue peace with all men But
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
worship For as much therefore as the bookes of Moses are more auncient then all other bookes therefore that religion is the truest which is contayned in them and because there can be but one true Religion the onely truth is in them therefore they are the word of God And as for the other bookes of the Bible which were written long since they handle the same subiect they holde the same doctrine as the bookes of Moses and are but all partes and members which make one body of the Bible written by the same Spirit and of the same nature and therfore are also the word of God and there is no other written booke of God but the Bible In the seauenth place I could alleage for witnesse that the Bible is Gods word the great multitudes of Martyrs which haue dyed in the defence of the Bible and sealed the same with their owne bloud both before and in and after the times of the ten bloudy persecutions to whome God gaue the gift of patience to suffer death willingly for the testimony of the worde Neither could so manye of them haue suffered in such manner vnlesse God had strengthned them in so good a cause But because this argument is not so forcible to perswade Atheists as it is to exhort christians I passe it ouer Last of all the testimonye of the Gentiles proueth the Bible to be the worde of God For because God the Father had eternally decreed to send his Sonne to take flesh for the saluation both of Iewes and Gentiles and vnlesse they beleeued in him there could be no saluation purchased by his death neither for Iewe nor Gentile That he might be receiued by the consent of each people it could not seeme good vnto his heauenly wisdome vnlesse he did long before our Sauiour should come publish his comming both to the Iewes and Gentiles And therfore Christ was published to the Iewes many wayes as the Apostle speaketh by dreames visions Angels but especially by their owne Prophets Dauid Esay Ieremye Moses Daniell and the rest which were Iewes in that respecte called their owne Prophets that they might giue the more credit vnto them To the Gentiles also he was made known by the heathen Prophets and Prophetesses Baalam Mercurius Trismegistus Hidaspes and especiallye the tenne Virgins called Sybils the heathenish Prophetesses of which we may read at large in the workes not onely of the heathens but also of the Fathers and Ecclesiasticall writers of the Primatiue Church Now forasmuch as the Gentiles were vnacquainted with Moses the Iewish Prophets and not accustomed to read the Canonicall writers and destitute for the most part of the Bible and therefore would giue no credit to the testimonyes cyted out of these bookes and yet were to be conuerted to the Fayth by vertue of the Commission giuen to the Apostles Math 28. where our Sauiour said Goe Preach and baptize all Nations The Apostles and Disciples in the Primitiue Church at their first Preaching to the Gentiles prooued the Bible by the testimonye of heathen writers the Sybils Hydaspes Mercurius as St. Origin and Lactantius declare at large In such sorte did S t Paul deale with the Inhabitants of Creet alleaging for authoritie the verse of their owne Poet Epimenides which Cicero and Lacrtius doe reporte to haue beene a kinde of Prophet or Diuiner among them And therfore St. Paul saith a Prophet of their owne said of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cretians are alwayes lyers foule beastes slowe bellyes Likewise to the Greekes he alleageth the testimonye of a Greeke Poet Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euill wordes corrupt good manners And to the Scholers at Athens the testimonye of the Poet Aratus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are his generation meaning God And for this cause the heathens called the Christians Sybillistes because Christian religiō was most of all proued out of the Sybils Oracles which writ more playnly and plentifully then all other heathen writers And as Clemens Alexandrinus writeth S. Paul in one of his Sermons saide vnto the people Libros quoque Graecos sumite agnoscite Sybillam quo modo vnum Deum significet ea quae sunt futura take in hand your Greeke authors read Sybil see how she teacheth that there is one God and fore-telleth thinges to come Hydaspen sumite legite inuenietis De filium multo clarius apertius esse scriptum Doe but vouchsafe to read Hydaspes ye shall finde in him a cleare and euydent testimonye of the Sonne of God And because the Christians were so frequent in alleaging of the Sybils Oracles for confirmation of Christian Fayth vnto the Gentiles and conuerted so manye vnto Christ by these bookes as Iustin Martyr writeth Proclamation was made that vpon payn of death no man should read them any longer nor Hydaspes his writings yet the people would not refrayne from reading them And againe Gods prouidence did wonderfully appeare in the perseruation of the Sybills verses for the behoofe of the Gentiles as of the Bible for the Iewes in that they were verie faithfully kept in the Capitoll of Rome and that being once loste by a mischance when the Capitol was burned yet by publik edicte of the Senate diligent search and inquirie was made for all coppies that could be gotten that so an other booke was newly written and kept in recorde being duely examined corrected and purged of all faultes that might else haue escaped And to that purpose commission was giuen to diuers learned men fitte to bee imployed in such a seruice which was performed with all dilligence and the booke was layed vp in the capitol againe euē as the bookes of Moses were kept in the Arke of the couenant So when the Christians labored the conuersion of the Romans they were not onely furnished with proofes of their Doctrine out of the Sibilles to cōuince the Romans and their idolatrie but also they were freed from suspition of corrupting those bookes or any clause in them contayned because whatsoeuer was by them alleaged was consonant agreeable to their own Coppie which they kept in their Tower or Capitoll or treasure house which was the chiefest place of their recordes Now for as much as nihil est iam dictum quod non fuit dictum prius there can bee no newe or strange inuention now which hath not bin thought of before as the wise man speaketh I cannot finde any way to disprooue the Atheists better then that which the Apostles vsed to disproue the infidels that is by the testimonie and witnesse of heathen Authors For if they will neither stand to arguments drawen from reason neither yet to authoritie neither Diuine nor Humane then they reiect all the Topics of Aristotle and places whereby they should be confuted they renounce the lawes of Schooles and order of disputation by a consequent they shew themselues meerily ignorant and contra indoctos non