to make way for the Sea seemes to lie vpon the very waters and to be vpholden by them and so appeared by Gods commandement from vnder them and now to stand in them Q. How called God the waters beneath A. Iammim Seas Gen. 1.10 because there was the collection of many waters all rivers running into it Eccl. 1.7 We see many great rivers which at the first rising out of some hills-side might be covered with a Bushell which after many miles fill a very broad channell and drawing neere to the Sea doe even make a little Sea in their owne bankes Iam signifies the west because the Seas flow from that way c. CHAPTER XIIII Of the Elementaries Question VVE haue heard of the elements what are the elementaries Answere Whereby God made them of these foure elements by a mixture Gen. 1.11 Let the earth bring forth c. This was impossible without heat and moysture therefore other elements were in the composition as may appeare by the resolution of plants out of which water and spirit is to be distilled c. The mystery of this mixture may thus bee conceiued First water being of a running nature is stayed by earths drinesse Secondly earth being dry in the highest degree would destroy waters moysture being not answerable to his quality in the same degree therefore ayre comes in and takes part with water to moderate his excessiue drinesse Thirdly the coldnesse of water and earth together would easily extinguish the heat of the ayre except fire the greatest champion should step in and helpe the ayre against them both And those all foure being closed together fight it out vntill the quarrell be taken vp by euery one yeelding a little to another and remitting their forces vntill they all meete louingly together in the same elementary composition which is as a compound of them all But you will say this is rather Generation then Creation and therefore a foule confusion to bring it amongst divine precepts I answere The action of euery creature is but an imitable genesis or correspondent work-manship to Gods and therefore in euery thing the first course is extraordinary God shewing the creature his way of imitation Therefore all the elementaries were made of God though hee gaue commandement to the elements to bring them forth Q. How devide you these clementaries A. They are either animate or inanimate things with life or without life God shewing himselfe by his worke to be both life and being Now because God proceeds to perfection let vs first see the more imperfect elementaries Q. What are the inanimate elementaries A. Whereby they were made out of the elements without parts that is a body and a soule I confesse some dispute is about Mineralls which containe in them excellent spirits and are found very vivificall in cordialls but yet this is no proper life neither will it follow that they haue a vegetatiue life because they seeme to grow for that is onely by addition of matter and not a liuely extension of the same matter by a springing life increasing to his full perfection c. Q. How are they devided A. They are either Meteors or Mineralls for so it comes to passe that these things which haue onely a body and no soule are either of elements well ioyned together or else of such as hang very loosely together and are casily shaken asunder these things are passed over in silence by Moses and might well be left out of this Art saue onely that God doth wonderfully set forth his glory even by the weakest workes and those that are worst tyed together in their composition We will therefore stay a little in the handling of them for their knowledge shall be both pleasant and profitable Q. What are the Meteors A. All luch things as are mixed of the foure elements imperfectly Gen. 1.6 Of this kinde are the waters aboue Gen. 2.5 the raine that descends from them Psal 148. Clouds fire haile snow winde and vapours are called vpon to prayse the Lord because he created them What marvells doe we meete withall in this head of creatures the clouds the bottles of raine vessels as thin as the liquor which is contained in them there they hang and moue though weightie with their burden These the Lord maketh one while as some ayery Seas to hold water another while as some ayery Furnaces whence he scattereth his sudden fires vnto all the parts of the earth astonishing the world with the fearefull noyies of the thunders eruption out of the midst of the waters aboue he fetcheth fire and hard stones Another while hee makes the clouds as steele-glasses wherein the Sunne lookes and shewes his face in the varietie of colours which he hath not there are the streames of light blazing and falling Starres fires darted vp and downe in many formes hollow openings and as it were gulfes in the skie bright circles about the Moone and other Planets Snowes Haile c. Here might I discourse of a world of wonders to the astonishment of the readers but I must remember my Art which is to speake of Creation and not the generation of things for as the one belongs to Divinitie so the other to naturall Phylosophy And I take it that Meteors were rather generated of the foure elements then created though in all wee are to admire Gods hand though we cannot search out his action But if God lend life as I desire first to acquaint men more fully with the knowledge of Iehovah-Elohim so after with their workes And Creation according to Moses description will yeeld the exactest and divinest Phylosophie Q. What is the perfect mixture A. Whereby the bodies of things are more closely vnited and produced according to the predominant element not hanging by violence out of their proper elements but duely placed of God in their proper places whereby the first matter is filled and adorned God himselfe supplying that voyd and vnformed masse with foure formes and infinite varieties of creatures out of their composition and mixture They which lie the lowest and doe adorne the bowels of the earth wee call Mineralls and they are either Metalls or Stones the one hath water predominant in it the other earth and they are both precious and base purer or impurer And it is to be wondered at that man treading vpon these Mineralls should not learne to contemne them They lie furthest from heaven and the best of them are in India furthest from the Church It is as we haue said that which Midianitish Camels carry that Indian slaues get that servile Apprentises worke that greedy Iewes swallow worldlings admire and Ruffians spend and yet we cannot esteem of it as the meanest of Gods creatures far inferior to a spire of grasse Adam had them in the first Paradise Gen. 2.11.12 In the second we shall not need them Iob 28.1.2.3.5.6 c. There may you see how God hath placed them and how we come by them And so subiect to sinne as God
of time so some others that they might not haue their principles together were to haue something goe before them hence the constancie and inconstancie of Gods creatures The third heauen and the Angels were of necessitie to be created in the first instant that they might haue their perfection of matter and forme together otherwise they should be corruptible for whatsoeuer is of a preexistent matter is resoluble and subiect to corruption But that which is immediately of nothing is perfectly composed hath no other change but by the same hand to returne into nothing againe It was therefore impossible for the world to want a beginning and improbable for the creatures to be all at once and yet some to remaine incorruptible and others corruptible That the worke was of sixe dayes continuance is plaine by Gen. 2.1 Exod 20.11 Q. How is the worke distributed A. Either into the adiuncts of time as a worke of sixe dayes or into the essentiall and integrall parts as into nature constant or inconstant or respecting the agent that gaue all as well matter as forme into Creation immediately perfect or perfect by degrees Gen. 1.1 In the beginning or very first moment of time God created heauen and earth Now by the opposite member in the distribution largely discribed in the whole Chapter we shall be able to vnderstand that which is in silence passed over Earth vpon which wee now tread was made the third day and therefore cannot be this which was made in the very beginning of the first day neither can this heauen be that which was made the second day ver 8. It then remaines by iust consequent to be the highest heauen which at the very first was made most absolute and perfect Secondly the earth that was made at the very same instant as a matter of all that was afterwards to be created being all things in power nothing in act did from his owne center touch the third heauen in euery point and part of his outside that of necessitie least any vacuitie or emptinesse should haue interposed it selfe within the compasse of so great a continent nature abhorring to yeeld nothing a place within the circle of some-thing Therefore were these two as companions and friends immediately made of God in the very beginning of the first day Further it is said of the earth ver 2. that it was without forme and voyd that is as yet it had neither any essentiall or accidentall perfection The Lord afterwards did forme it into the light the expanse improperly called the firmament the water and the earth These foure were mediately created of the earth and yet for their formes immediately from God of nothing Thus was the earth first formed the highest part of it most apt to receiue light the next ayre the third the forme of water and the lowest the forme of earth After the earth had receiued this perfection it was filled in euery part of it with inhabitants as aboue with starres foules below with trees beasts and fishes c. But of these anone I insist here to proue by reason that which is a truth not as yet clearely deliuered and by many contradicted I leaue all to censure according to the evidence I shall giue My meaning is not to binde any man vnto my opinion I onely present things and lay them out as it were vpon a stall neither is it meet I grow into choler with any man that giues me no credit or dis-likes my ware that were to play the Pedant Passion witnesseth that it is not reason so to doe and he that doth any thing out of passion cannot well doe it out of reason Why should any bee angry with mee that I am not altogether of his opinion seeing I am not angry with him because he is not of mine I haue propounded for my example S. Ierome and S. Augustine in their disputations to whom it was no matter who gained the day they would both winne by vnderstanding their errors But why doe I thus draw my selfe from my taske Let truth vphold her selfe by mildnesse and be promoted by patience You haue heard that heaven and earth were made in the very instant and beginning of the first day That they are two opposite members in the worke of God and therefore what is properly giuen to the one must not bee giuen to the other The earth sayth the Text was without forme and voyd Heaven then had at the very first his forme and inhabitant and therefore had the glorious Angels at the same instant created with it other places were in time before their in-dwellers onely the third heaven and the Angels were concreated and the reason is for that their perfections were equally of nothing It could not stand with order after the finishing of the third heauen and entrance made to create of matter afterward to fall off againe and beginne to create substances of no matter I meane integrally for their whole essence otherwise the foure formes of the elements and soule of man were of nothing Q. What is the creation of things immediately made perfect A. Whereby he made them of nothing with their principles together that is their matter and forme were put together of Almightie God not suffering the one to enter the composition before the other Gen. 1.1 In the beginning he made not giuing the one a beginning before the other The same individuall time was the measure of both Our bodies and soules may part asunder because in creation time did separate them c. Q. What followes from hence A. That they are obnoxious and subiect to the motion of their owne nature onely by the power of God No other force is able to worke vpon them or destroy their beings Luk. 12.31 Math. 6.19.20 1. Tim. 6.19 The place and the life therein are both incorruptible subiect to no alteration change or mutation Angels are too quicke and ready in their motion to suffer of any but God he onely is nimble enough to meet them and master them Q. What else A. That they are onely subiect in regard of their essence to creation and annihilation that is by the same hand they may be made nothing as they were of nothing made something Isa 40.15 God can takeaway his creature as easily as the winde doth a little dust Q. What yet further may be obserued A. That they are in themselues no wayes liable to generation or corruption They can neither receiue new formes or loose their old for that matter cannot admit of diverse formes which it selfe was never depriued of his owne So complete is the vnion that the matter hath not so much as the least inclination to any other perfection then it receiues at the first instant by the hand of the Creator and excellencie of his forme Math. 22.30 The idle question of the Sadduces concerning mariage in heauen and procreation of children is fully answered by our Sauiour both in regard of the nature of the place and
preexistent matter or forgoing principles They are not immediately composed but first they haue a matter and then a forme and then their owne being or existing And as time dis-ioynes these things so they are subiect to change with time Gen. 1.2 Out of the voyde and vnformed earth came all inconstant and mutable creatures 2. Pet. 3.5 The earth that now is is sayd to stand out of that Chaos which Gen. 1.2 is called earth water c. This by conversion is as well the ground of confusion as of composition Out of a confusion are they compounded and may by conversion be confounded againe into it Q. What followeth hereupon A. That they are by nature returnable into their former principles and so of a corruptible nature 2 Pet. 3.6 The world that then was perished being over-flowed with the waters that is all that breathed Gen. 7.22 Euery thing vnder the Sunne passeth away Eccl. 1.4 And at the last day the elements with all their inhabitants shall be destroyed 2. Pet. 3.10 As it were a resolution being made into the first Chaos againe as may seeme what a hell were it for a man to be an inhabitant of that first earth The holy Ghost testifieth 2. Pet. 3.7 that the heavens and the earth which are now are kept in store and reserved for fire and perdition of vngodly men at the last day Good reason they should be punished where they sinned and with those creatures they haue abused A fearefull hell to haue all turned into the first Chaos with an addition of the fire of Gods vengeance As if that first matter were then to be formed and filled with nothing but the extremities of Gods curses At the first it was formed and adorned as a Palace and Paradise for man then shall it be left as a dungeon and noysome prison for the torture and torment of all wretched and wicked persons Onely the third heauen with the inhabitants thereof shall then be in blisse and blessed felicitie Q. How manifold is this creation A. It is eyther of the elements or the elementaries Gen. 2.1 Heauen and earth were finished with the host of them All that are placed aboue in the fire and the ayre or below in the waters and the earth are elementaries being composed out of those foure elements and are as the host of this inferiour world Q. What is the creation of the elements A. Whereby he made them of a precedent matter with their formes immediately of nothing That is the matter or earth without forme receiued into euery part and portion of it a simple formation without all mixture yet so that it was formed into foure bodies essentially distinguished which are most simple as hauing nothing in them but one common matter with foure distinct formes immediately created of nothing hence they are in themselues the greatest opposits as fire to water and ayre to earth The maine opposites are fire and water which stickle and striue together and are moderated and compounded by the two other When water would quench the fire earth steps in and helpes to abate his moysture And when fire would dry vp his moysture ayre secondeth the water and prepares a radicall moysture to feed the fire a little longer When the coldnesse of water takes off the edge of heat then ayre with his mild heat helpeth his fellow And when fire over-masters the coldnesse of water then earth checks him and abates his fury whence ariseth all elementaries receiuing the common matter and formes of the elements much abated and moderated after their striuing and strugling together and therefore are not so vehemently opposite and contrary in themselues Gen. 1.3 Let there bee light which was the first simple forme that was put into the common matter ver 6. Let there be an expanse or spreading which was next added to light as his fittest neighbour ver 9. Let there be gatherings or waters which contained the third simple forme came as next fellow to the ayre for so God had appointed that by placing it betweene two great adversaries it might be a friend to both ver 9. Let the dry appeare which comes lowest in ranke and gaue the matter the fourth simple forme Thus heat and cold moysture and drinesse did runne through the first common matter which intertaines them all and giues them leaue to diffuse themselues one into another for further mixture and composition Q. But may these things be handled in Divinitie A. Yes because wee so farre speake of them as they concerne creation which is proper to this Art And our rule is this that where Creation endeth nature beginneth and generation succeeds it as in imitation of Gods first composition God by his omnipotent hand giues to euery thing his being and then sets it a worke by his owne nature and vertue Aristotle knew a first matter but he confesseth he had it from Plato and he from the Aegyptians and they from Moses Yet he erred in many things for want of Divinitie beginning onely with nature where creation had ended his worke First he was ignorant that the first matter was of nothing Secondly that it stood certaine houres without a forme Thirdly that all the formes it receiued were immediately of nothing Fourthly that all this was done in time and that there was nothing in the world eternall but the maker of it Gen. 1.1.2 The earth was a subiect of contrary formes and therefore preexistent Q. What is that first matter of all inconstant things A. It was a thing which God made of nothing in the beginning of the first day without forme and voyd and so by his spirit miraculously sustained it for a certaine space Gen. 1.1.2 Q. What followes from hence A. That of it selfe it is permanent for being immediately of nothing it hath no power to worke vpon it but the same that made it therefore God alone can turne it into nothing from whence he brought it and this is the reason why the first matter and foure first formes are not resolved though all things may be resolved into them For in generation and corruption as they begin here to take new formes so here they leaue them againe And death though a privation of life yet it hath no power to annihilate his contrary and therefore as nature begins where creation ends so creation at the last day will begin againe where nature hath ended I meane in our resurrection euery man receiuing againe those very peeces of the elements whereof he was made Iob. 19.27 2. Cor. 15.35.36.37.38 c. the very seed that is sowne dieth and riseth againe out of those very elements into which nature resolueth it springeth it againe Q. When was it made A. In the first beginning of time or the evening of the first day hence it is co-etaneall and of the same time and age with the third heaven and the Angels Gen. 1.1 And the reason was to hinder a vacuitie in the large space and compasse of that highest heaven
The parts whereof would sooner haue fallen together then haue admitted nothing to stand within their circle For nothing and evill are cousin germans and equally opposed to the being of any thing rather would perfection haue imperfection his next neighbour if so be it haue a being from God then to permit nothing to lodge in his bosome And therefore what a degenerate thing is man to admit evill for his best companion Q. How long was this matter voyd and without forme A. All the time that darknesse was vpon the face of it Now the vicissitude of light and darknesse makes the day and night which as it is most probable were then Equinoctiall of an equall length and size that is twelue houres a peece So then the earth or first matter stood in that imperfection a whole night or twelue houres Gen. 1.1.2.5 involved in nothing but palpable darkenesse Q. How was it preserued all that time A. By the Spirit that moued vpon it and which in stead of a forme did cherish and foster it all that time Gen. 1.2 Q. What kind of creature may we tearme it to be A. Some-thing potentially nothing actually It was all things and nothing A matter for all yet nothing in forme It is called earth and water Gen. 1.1.2 And so it was fire and ayre c. Q. What be the kinds of elements A. The higher and hotter which make one globe or the lower and colder which make another So that all the world is folded vp in three severall globes one comprehending another The divine globe of the third heaven in which God is said to sit Psal 2.4 as a place of blessed rest The second is the etheriall or skie globe containing those glorious lampes and burning torches by whose light and brightnesse all this inferior world is comforted and vpon this heaven the Lord is said to ride Psal 68.4 in regard of his swift motion and expedite manner of working The third and inferior globe which is but as a point to the rest is the earthie and watery sphere and the Lord is said to sit vpon the very circle of it Isa 40.22 And to shake the wicked out of it as it were by a canvase or as a man tumbles a thing out of his lap Iob 38.13 Thus is God in all the globes of the world no where included no where excluded he is in their circles and vpon their circles dis-posing all things as he pleaseth Q. What are the higher and hotter elements A. Whereby they were made with formes more actiue and stirring and therefore hotter and higher then the rest Hence in regard of levitie and gravitie heaven is said to be aboue and earth below Exod. 20.4 Much matter and little forme makes creatures waightie whereupon wee see in our selues that man-hood consists not in the bulke of the bones but in the mettall and spirits So that wee may truely say that the elements aboue are formall and they below materiall Q. What are the kinds of the more formall elements A. The fire and the ayre stiled by the holy Ghost light and expanse or as it is called Firmament Gen. 1.3.6 God naming them by that which is most sensible to vs and in them most proper as light is to fire extension and expansion to the ayre For ayre by reason of his moysture doth more dilate and diffuse it selfe then fire though that be the thinner and more subtile substance Q. What is the Creation of the Fire A. Whereby God made it in the top and highest part of the first matter with the most actiue and working forme so that it is most hot and light therefore in the highest roome and because of his shining is called Photisticos With such violence is the fire deiected that it strikes into the bowels of the earth and bottome of the Sea as may well appeare by the generation of stones and fishes Metalls which are ingendered in the earth shew that fire hath beene there otherwise should we never haue gold so purely purified concocted Hence Phylosophers attribute the engendring of gold to the Sunne of silver to Iupiter lead to the Moon copper to Mars c. Likewise pretious stones could not be so resplendent and glorious if it were not for the worke of the light or fire that penetrates into their severall places and veines Gen. 1.3 Let there be light Gen. 11.31 Abraham is called from Vr of the Chaldees The citie hath fires name because they worshipped it Hence wee read Suidas in Canopo Ruffin hist eccl l. 2. c. 26. that the Chaldaeans challenged all other gods of the god-lesse Heathen to fight with their God an Aegyptian encountered and overcame them thus He caused his Canopus to be made full of holes stopped with waxe and filled with water being hollow in the middle The Chaldaeans put vnder their God Vr or fire and the waxe melting opened a full quiver of watery arrowes that cooled and quenched their devouring God c. 2 Cor. 4.6 God is said to make the light shine out of darkenesse that is after the first night hee made it of that matter which was couered with darkenesse Q. How did the light descend from aboue A. For three dayes by the power of God alone afterwards by the Sunne Moone and Starres which were set of God in the element of fire Gen. 1.4 God divided the light from the darkenesse ver 14. Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to devide the day from the night c. Q. What is the day A. If we speake truely and properly it is the time of the Sunnes remaining aboue the Horizon or visible part of the world Some whom I haue cause much to respect and reuerence haue held opinion that light naturally ascendeth and violently descendeth by a kinde of repercussion made by the Sunnes body and motion then accordingly haue defined the day to be the time wherein the light is turned downeward or reflected vpon the lower parts of the world and so by condensation shineth But others vpon more mature consideration iudge that a new devised way For first Light in its owne nature cannot be said to ascend or descend onely but transfuseth it selfe equally spherically in all dimensions from its owne center Secondly if the shining of the Sunne be nothing else but the beating backward of the ascending beames of the whole skie or element of fire surely the Moone would alwayes seeme full as the Sunne doth being that this ascending light must needs in like maner meere with the thicke body of the Moone and suffer repercussion from it Thirdly though light were made visible in the maner imagined yet the day cannot properly be defined the time wherein the light is reflected by the Sunne vpon the lower parts of the world for this is done perpetually and so wee should haue no night Q. Who gaue the name thereunto A. God himselfe called it Iom which signifieth Stirring because be made the day for man to trauaile in Psal
104.23 When the Sunne riseth man goeth forth to his worke Gen. 1.5 He called the light day by a Trope putting it for the time wherein it is the cause of the day Q. What is night A. If we giue way to evident reason and experience we must needs acknowledge the night to be nothing else but the shadow of the earth that is the privation of light made by the earths thicke body intercepting and cutting off the Sunnes beames They that are of the foresaid opinion define night to be the time wherein the light returneth vpward ascending backe againe to the place where God first created it which is as a paradoxe so an vndefensible Tenent both for the reasons abouesaid as also for that in this description there is no efficient or materiall cause implyed which should make the light returne vpward ascend backe againe Lastly there is no respectiue difference made of the diverse parts of the Globe of the earth Whereupon it may be supposed that he that made this definition did not consider the earth heauens to be sphericall and so to make vicissitude of day and night in the moiety of the earth How called God the Night A. He called it Lailah which signifieth resting because he made the night for man to rest in Q. How did God order these things A. He appointed them to keepe their course making a separation betweene them setting them as it were their limites which they might not passe Gen. 1.4 Q. What is this separation A. The separation betweene the day and the night is the euening betweene the night and the day the morning Gen. 1.5 Euening separates by darkenesse morning by light So that the one dis-ioynes the day from the night and the other the night from the day Onely the first euening separated not because the light was then vncreated yet was it of God appointed even then as apt to stand betwixt light and darkenesse And thus from the euening and the morning was the first day finished consisting of 24. houres In the first evening were heaven and earth created and in the first morning the light or element of fire The observation of time will keepe vs from that foule confusion about heaven and earth which are so frequently expounded of the workes that followed vpon other dayes Q. What is the Creation of the ayre A. Whereby God made it in the next part of the first matter most moyst and of a diffusiue or diffluent nature spreading abroad both for impletion and separation Psal 104.2 He spreadeth the heavens like a curtaine that is the ayre for he had spoken of the light before which is further called a superior chamber very spatious and containes as it were a beame for the hanging of the clouds For water is naturally cold and therefore gathereth it selfe together in the middle region and by helpe of the ayre is held vp which maketh a partition betwixt those waters that are congeled aboue and that are fluide and floating below Gen. 1.7 for the cloudes hang by vertue of cold both in the place and of that which is in vapours being watery and ascending by the violence of the Sunne beames redoubled which when they returne single leaue their vapours behind them which are held by the place till the fire light returning dissolue the bands and send them downe againe in raine or some such like moyst Meteor Iob 38.31 Canst thou bind the sweete influences of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion This is nothing but the neat and cold that rules in the ayre and earth when these brumall or aestivall starres are most to be seene in our haemisphere Orion is seene all night in the moneth of December and so on till the Spring lesse or more The Pleiades begin with the Spring and last till Autumne when Acturus takes place Iob. 9.9 So then as cold bindes vp all in Winter because of the Sunnes absence so heat looseth againe when the Sunne returneth in the Spring And as below so aboue cold knits the clouds and heat breakes their knots Q. How called he it being made A. By the name in Hebrew Shamaijm which signifies there be waters sealing thereby the office in deviding betwixt the two waters Gen. 1.7.8 Hence it comes to passe that raine water is farre more fruitful to the earth then any other because it is not dissolved by the light but it brings downe with it much ayery moysture which is fatter then leane water and we see by experience that one shower is better then much watering Q. When was it made A. In the second 24. houres God taking as it were a whole day for that which was equally capable of light and darkenesse Gen. 1.8 So the euening and the morning were the second day by an equall succession of light and darkenesse 2. Cor. 4.6 God in the first day made light to shine out of darkenesse when there was no capable subiect for the receiuing of it now he stayes a whole day of 24. houres for light and darkenesse to come and goe in a proper subiect Oh then how should we trust this God to shine in our hearts even when we are most vncapable Q. What is the creation of the colder elements A. Whereby he created them with formes lesse actiue and therefore colder these elements are clogged with more matter then forme and therefore the action of them is much hindred Isa 1.2 Heare O earth the dullest of Gods creatures is brought to convince man of disobedience which should be the most forward Q. What are they A. Water and earth Gen. 1.9 Let the waters be gathered and let the drie appeare Q. What is the Creation of the water A. Whereby it was made in the lower part of the first matter most cold and moist His cold appeares to be greatest by his gathering and his moysture in this that it is fluide and of a spreading nature yet much inferior to the ayre as may appeare by putting our hands into oyle and water as likewise by pictures which hold their colours the longer for that they are laid in oyle Now because water sooner dries vp then oyle it is plaine that ayre which is predominant in oyle is moyster then water Gen. 1.9 Let the waters vnder the heaven be gathered together this is done by the cold of them and therefore no wonder to see the Seas tumble together Q. How is this water devided A. Into the waters aboue and the waters beneath Gen. 1.6 And it is probable that both these waters met together in Noahs flood Gen. 7.20 with 11. Q. What meane you by the waters aboue A. The clouds and whatsoeuer water is aboue in the ayre Gen. 1.6 Psal 104.3 and 148.4 For as cold gathers them below so aboue c. and may very well be called Gods botels as containing all those gatherings Iob 38.37 Q. What meane you by the waters beneath A. The Sea and all the waters here below Psal 33.7 Hee gathereth the waters of the
Sea together as vpon an heape and layeth vp the depths in his treasure Psal 104.6.7.8.9 Iob 26.12 and 38.8.9.10 Q. What is the proper place of the water A. To be next vnder the ayre and next aboue the earth yet their proper place by Gods appointment is to keepe within the earth as in a cesterne and that not by a miracle but by a law of nature for the word gather comes of Kavah and passiuely signfies a confluxe of waters God therefore bidding the waters caue did first make them a Cesterne in the bowels of the earth and that was by the ascent of the mountaines and descent of the valleyes Psal 104.8.9 Hither at Gods rebuke they caue and gather themselues by their coldnesse which is of a congregating nature Hence it comes to passe that wee haue the purest fountaines at footes of hills and that often out of their sides great store of waters haue broken forth to the destruction of the inhabitants Gen. 7.11 At Noahs flood all the fountaines of the great deepe were broken vp which may very well be vnderstood of the bursting of the mountaines to let in the waters Againe from the Seas come all the sweet Springs that run betweene the mountaines and water the valleyes Psal 104.10.11.12 which as it were sweating through the bodies of the huge mountaines are purged of their saltnesse and leaue behind them what they had contracted by the continuall working of the Sunne beames and their owne agitation in tossing too and fro Againe for the fluxe and refluxe of the sea which is nothing but the rising and falling of it the one being violent and the other naturall is easily vnderstood by the cause of both The fluxe or tyde is violent caused by the Starres more especially the Moone whose heat being weaker then the Sunne hath her beames returned with greater opposition yet prevailing as being more actiue then water gets vp her fumes and vapours and with them lifts vp the water and carrying them after her makes the water follow her and so they thrust forward the water that is before them vntill they be cleane gotten out of the Sea and then the water fals againe of it owne accord and the refluxe or the ebbe is naturall moysture and coldnes making it runne downeward Thus the Lord keepes the Seas in a perpetuall motion least by standing they should corrupt to the destruction of the whole earth It is not altogether to be neglected which is said of Starres in affecting our bodies which is not in regard of their owne influences but their exhalations For all the Starres worke by the heat they cast downe which being nothing else but the element of fire cannot of themselues otherwise hurt or heale but according to their temper and degree of heat As for example Saturne sends downe a weake heat and raiseth fumes from pooles of water and dunghills and carries them vp into the cold region of the ayre being able to bring them no higher and so they affect the ayre first and then our bodies by it with cold and drinesse two enemies to life consisting in heat and moysture Ergo they say it is fatall to be borne vnder his regiment and to sucke as it were our first breath from him Hence fabulous Poets faine him eating a child onely a better Starre which they call Iupiter by his heat and breath as with a stone chokes him This Starre is brighter then the other and more solide to cast downe his beames hence from him comes a greater heat and raiseth vp more vapours from Meeres which are more sweet and pleasant c. Ergo to draw our first breath vnder such a planet they count wholesome and a prognosticke of good fortune Mars another planet of a reddish and fiery nature turneth downe more solide heat and fire and inflames the fumes and vapours it raiseth and therefore they deeme such as draw in the first ayre vnder such a constellation shall afterward proue men of a word and a blow c. The Sunne being of the greatest strength is able to fetch vp vapours from the bottome of the Sea and lowest bowels of the earth and turne them into the nature of ayre making them according to their matter pleasant or pernicious As fumes of gold and precious stones may bee cordiall of other Mineralls like deadly damps that Metallists often meete withall Venus like Iupiter raiseth vp vapours which falling in the night cherish and nourish plants and so is sayd to be fruitfull and the mother of ofspring This I thought good to admonish all concerning the conceit of Starres of I know not what influences when the truth is they are all but instruments of sending downe light and fire and according to their severall compositions and placing in this element send downe a greater or lesser quantitie of heat the qualitie being all one Christ sayes his locks are full of the dew of the night shewing that the Moone hath not the same regiment over the night in regard of heat that the Sunne hath over the day And Physitians teach that it is dangerous to sleepe with our heads in the Moone-shine for feare of the moyst distempers of the braine And we see in the lunacie that the franticke and madde moode followes the seasons of the Moone So that some-thing is to be giuen to the Starres and yet no more then is to be wrought by the naturall qualitie of heat Q. What is the Creation of the earth A. Whereby he made it in the lowest part of the first matter most dry and cold It is not the coldest element though it be most remote from the fire for in the reflection of the Sunne-beames it is the strongest of all other and therefore it is never the colder for the place of it The Sunne and Starres warme not naturally in descent for heat properly ascends now in the reflexe of the heat the earth is most capable and to be made the hottest It is therefore most dry and lesse cold then the water as may appeare by the propertie of gathering Gen. 1.9 Let the drie appeare Q. How called God the earth A. Erets which signifieth hardnesse or to be trampled vpon sealing thereby the office thereof which was to sustaine the creatures that should goe thereon Gen. 1.10 As to be a fit habitation for man and other creatures Psal 115 16. It is said to haue the Sea for his foundation Psal 24.2 and 136.6 Yea to be made out of the water and to consist in it 2. Pet. 3.5 God would haue Iob admire at the laying of this foundation Iob 38.3.4.5.6 Else where it is sayd to haue no foundation Iob 26.7 Onely to hang in the midst of the world by the power of God immoueably Psal 93.1 and 104.5 Isa 40.12 and 42.5 and 44.19 and 48.13 The truth is the earth is made of God to rest in his proper place and hangs not by any miracle but poyseth it selfe by his owne waight yet the ascending of the earth
to keepe the minde in an equall poyse but as Balances ill matched in their vnsteddy motions come to an equalitie but stay not at it so the scoales of an vnregenerate minde if at any time they seme to be even are easily swayed by contrary passions sometimes vp to the beame through lightnesse and overweening opinion of prosperitie and suddenly downe againe to the lowest pitch being depressed with any load of sorrow There is no heart makes so rough weather as never to admit of a calme When the winde stirreth not the waters and waues of the Sea seeme to be silent so the man that is most disordered may haue some respits of quietnesse It is not enough to avoyde the imputation of madnesse to be sober many Moones for hee that rageth in one is no better than franticke so how quiet so euer these masters haue made themselues yet their rules haue never countervailed all their troubles The wisest and most resolute Moralist that ever was lookt pale when he was to taste his poysonfull Hemlock Courage and constancie against all crosses and curses and then to bee least shaken when mostassayled comes from the rules of an higher art then naturall wisedome was ever able to teach Hastie hounds amd swift on foote often spend their mouths and courses in vaine for want of sent so how easie is it for nature to over runne Religion that so seldome is lead by right reason Wandering Empiricks may say much in tables and pictures to perswade credulous Patients but their ostentation is farre from approbation of skill when they come to effect their cures How many ships haue suffered miserable ship-wracke for all the glorious titles of the Triumph the safe-gard the geod-speed c. So how many soules haue beene swallowed vp with the faire hopes of their fained religions This taske of faving soules is left whole for grace to busie her selfe about it Alas nothing is left in vs but the ruines and relicks of our sinnes and the iudgements of our God Nay the soule diepred with her owne bloud shrinkes not at the face of death following it That goes best downe with the sinner that is freest from grace And as hunger maketh riffe raffe odious viands toothsome or as the vicious stomacke can feed hungerly on coales and ashes so the greedie sinner can with delight devour the murthering morsels of his owne misery In darknesse Starres of the greatest magnitude are not to be seene nor the millions of moats that lie in blindnes so who knowes the magnitude or multitude of his sins O Lord if thou shine not vpon vs wee sleepe in darknes If thou saue vs not in thy sonne we perish in our selues O that we could be netled with the newes of our miserie Can we see our Sauiour mourne for it whiles we haue no grace to mourne for it our selues Should not this strike vs in the very striking and fetch teares from our eyes If he that was without sinne would not be without stripes for vs shall we thinke to be cockered like Adoniah of our heauenly Father Lord strike our hearts with the rod of thy word as Moses smote the hard rocke that our stonie hearts may gush forth plentifull rivers of teares because we haue not kept thy Law Let vs no longer like fooles laugh when we are lashed of our sinnes Transplant vs into thy Sonne for as we are both the stocke and the griffe are euill It was onely for our Sauiour as a sweet Impe to grow out of a Crabstocke But if thy mercy feoffe vs not in the blessings and vertues of thy Sonne as our sinnes doe feoffe vs in the curses of our parents we perish They are grosse faltterers of nature that tell her shee is cleane yea aliue O the vnspeakeable mercy of our God that whiles wee provided him the sinne he provides vs the remedie Behold an expiation as early as our sinnes the pure and innocent Lambe of God slaine from the beginning of the world Thus thus whiles the clamour and feare of our fall to our affrighted consciences runnes on like fire in a traine to the very vtmost rankes of our bodies and soules euery part and power fearing their fellowes no lesse then themselues are affraid even then to the true beleeuer behold the bloud of him who purgeth our consciences from dead workes Heb. 9.14 Nay so admirable a lenatiue that it leaues no more conscience of sinne Heb. 10.12 But from the name and notation let vs come to the definition and fist that which is generall a doctrine Our once lost law of life is left to the teaching of the word and Spirit Sinfull man being dull and deafe of hearing had need to haue his heart prepared made ready by all meanes to receiue the truth The Scriptures are not penned like an Art in order and methode and the reason is because the truth could not be offered to man directly who lookes asquint but on all sides that he may be hit with them on some side The first thunder-bolt that did strike through the soule of man was Adam thou hast sinned and art the childe of death By creation in wonderfull silence was the law written in the fleshy Tables of our hearts and as things which are written in barkes of trees did daily grow out by corruption therefore he thought it high time to write in in tables of stone as more faithfull monuments then our hearts And when he comes to driue it into the iron hearts of men hee takes state vpon him as one that will be trembled at in his word and judgements There was nothing in the deliuery of the Law that might not worke astonishment The eyes dazled and dimmed with lightnings the eares torne with thunders roaring in them The voyce of the Almightie wrapped in smoake and fire and out-speaking both the clamor of the trumpet and clappes of thunder and that in such a manner as he did rather seeme to threaten then teach forbid then command deterre then define what he would haue done More negatiues in opposition to what men would doe then affirmatiues in direction to what men should doe By which wee are to vnderstand that he that was so terrible a Law-giuer would one day appeare as severe a judge If he were so dreadfull in the proclamation he would be as fearefull in the execution Oh! how will this fiery Law flash terrour in the face of euery hard and impenitent sinner when at the day of iudgment his conscience like another Sinai shall tremble and quake before the Iudge then shall he see the Law that was giuen in fire in fire to bee required By this promulgation I plainely see how difficult a thing it is to teach a sinner If God should not change our hearts Ezech. 11.19.20 his Messengers might as well with our venerable Country-man Mr Beda preach to heapes of stones as to the stony hearts of carnall men There is none but God that is able to giue the first charge
knowne in Moses dayes and by the description may be knowne in ours Plinie speakes of a citie called Ctesiphon which lies betweene the river Tigris and Euphrates mentioned by Moses Gen. 2.14 which is wonderfull fruitfull and it lies as an Iland environed by both Also it is well knowne that in Babylon neere Tigris is a most fertile place for feeding of Cattell and the people are faine to keepe them vp in the night for feare of suffocation Their corne they mow thrise and then receiue a twofold increase The Garden of Adonis was in this countrey And Scripture mentioneth 2. King 19.12 The children of Eden which were in Thel-asare That is the Garison Souldiers that were in a tower against the King of Assyria for the defence of this fruitfull countrey The Topographie shewes plainely that here-abouts the Garden stood Perath or Euphrates is a knowne river that devideth Syria from Chaldea and Mesopotamia c. And may be taken for the whole river though it haue but the name of the fourth river which is as it were the midle streame of Euphrates running betwixt the second third river of which nothing is sayd more then the name because it was best knowne to the Iewes when Moses did write Pison the first river may very well be that which Plinie calls Pasi-tigris or Piso-tigris And in Plinie Diglath or Diglito another arme is the same with Hiddekel both signifying the same thing viz. an arrow for the swiftnesse of the water and this is the same with Tigris now called Tegil So that by all this it is most probable that the Garden did lie betwixt Euphrates and Tigris Furthermore Plinie writes that as it were a fish-pond or Marsh in compasse about an Acre of ground burnes continually which may not without probability be thought to besome remembrance of that flaming sword which turned euery way to keepe man from the tree of life Gen. 3.24 God in iust judgement turning the place into ashes a burning poole as he afterwards did Sodome another Eden of the world By this appeares the folly of Papists that thought this Garden was not drowned in the flood and that Enoch and Elias liue in it c. Oh happy man if hee had but knowne his owne happinesse when he first opened his eyes he saw haven aboue him and a flourishing earth vnder him and himselfe placed in the very Paradise and Palace of the world But this is cleane washed away and over turned in the iust judgement of God Yet read the excellent description of it and let the losse of it provoke vs to seeke after a better Gen. 2.8.9.10.11.12.13.14 Q. Why did God thus place man in a Garden A. That man being appointed of God as Lord deputie vnder him might there serue him more freely keepe his Court haue necessary imployment both in dressing and keeping the Garden Gen. 2.15 It was one of Adams faults to suffer the serpent to come into it Another to forget his dutie to God for the very trees did not onely affoord him worke for his hands but instruction for his heart There he saw two Sacraments in the very midst of the rest of the trees grow before him as most eminent teachers of him Gen. 2.9 The greater shame to offend God who had so hedged him in on all sides that by a word of his mouth he might haue rebuked the Serpent and by the least cast of his eye beene confirmed in dutie and diligence But blessed be God that we haue a better tree of life before our eyes not a tree for triall but for confirmation of being happie in despight of Satan of which we may eate and liue Q. Of what kinds was man created A. Male and female Gen. 1.27 The Male immediately for his body of the foure Elements Gen. 2.7 The female for her body of one of his ribs man being cast into a deepe sleepe Gen. 2.21 Man had better loose a peece of himselfe then misse a good wife Yet the Lord would not paine him in sending him a meete helper as for their Soules they were equally inspired that they might both be partakers of the same happinesse Gen. 1.27 For the image they were both equall Q. Why did God make her A. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone and among the rest of the creatures there was none fit to be his companion Gen. 2.18.20 That there might therefore be wanting to him no comfortable thing God thought it needfull that he should haue such an helper as might satisfie his desires and giue him by his divine benediction a fruitfull ofspring Gen. 1.28 Mal. 2.15 All that man saw immediately after his creation were fit to be his servants none his companions and the same God that found the want supplies it Rather then man shall want a comfort God will begin a new creation not out of the earth mans first matter or out of other creatures his servants but out of himselfe for dearnesse for equalitie and that neither of the head nor foote but the side shewing her place which is to stand next to her husband neither as his drudge in being basely governed nor as his wanton in crowing over him Furthermore God consults not with man to make him happie As he was ignorant while himselfe was made so shall he not know while a second selfe is made out of him Both that the comfort might be greater then was expected as also that he might not vpbraid his wife with any great dependance or obligation he neither willing the worke nor suffering any paine to haue it done The rib can challenge no more of her then the earth can of him They are both made equall debters to God who alone tooke care that they might both be happie in him and by him Q. What did God with her being made A. He brought her to man and ioyned her in marriage with him who acknowledgeth her to be flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone This sheweth how exquisite knowledge he had from God If God had giuen him her name or the names of other creatures it had not beene so great a prayse of Adams memory to recall them as it was now of his judgement at first sight to impose them Gen. 2.23 Shee shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man So piercing was the eye of his reason that he saw the inside of all the creatures at first blush and by his perfect knowledge he fitted their names to their dispositions whereas we silly solves his ignorant posteritie see but their skins ever since and forget their very names when we are told them Furthermore he receiued her thankefully to be his wife and established that law of matrimony concerning co-habitation Therefore shall man leaue his father and mother and cleane to his wife and they shall be one flesh Gen. 2.22.23.24 Q. How were man and woman perfect whiles they were both naked A. They then needed no clothing for yet there was