this long peace which we haue enioyed hath increased our riches riches haue made vs to forget God and so like an vnnaturall daughter peace hath deuoured religion which bred and maintayned peace in the world The Prophecie is verifyed In these last dayes since the mountaine of the house of God hath beene prepared in the top of the mountaines and hath beene exalted aboue the hilles and all nations haue flowed vnto it and many people haue gone said Come let vs goe vp to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his wayes and we will walke in his pathes our swordes haue beene broken into mattocks our speares into sythes nation hath not lifted vp a sworde against nation neither haue they learned to fight any more The Lamb dwelling with the Wolfe hath beene in safetie the Kid with the Leopard the Cow feeding with the Beare the Calfe with the Lyon the sucking Childe hath plaied vpon the hole of the Asp the weaned Childe hath put his hand into the hole of the Cockatrice without any hurt and the reason is alleaged by the Prophet Because the earth was full of the knowledge of the Lord euen as the waters that couer the sea This Prophecye you see is fulfilled But these sayings are by them mistaken For Tully doth not argue in this manner that we must holde there is a God and maintaine religion that so ciuill gouernment may be maintayned and men may liue orderly in a common wealth But his meaning is cleane contrary that we must performe all ciuill duties in a common wealth for religion sake and we must be religious for Gods sake because there is a God which hath ingraffed religion in our hearts whereby ciuill states may be the better maintayned and which will punish all such as are not religious that is which haue not a true feeling of religion And it was not the meaning of the Prophet Esay that after the knowledge of true religion had planted peace among vs and peace had brought prosperitie then we should cease to be religious so forget God but rather increase our zeale and hauing receiued such benefits at his hands whome we serue continue faithfull in his seruice A second cause of Atheisme may be the want of due right hearing of the worde preached because faith commeth by hearing and therefore where there is a want of hearing faith fayleth and by a consequent Pagisme and infidelitie increaseth For many of them doe not heare but absent them-selues or if they be present they stand not for figures but for cyphers they doe not by the worde preached as the virgin Mary did by the sayings of our Sauiour Christ which layed thē vp in her heart or as Abraham did by the Angels which receiued them into his house or as the Sunamite woman did by Elizeus or the widowe by Elias which entertayned them with willingnes The worde to them is not as the raine of heauen falling vpon the earth or the deawe of Hermon vpon mount Sion but as the Childrens bread cast before whelpes or pearls cast before swine seede sowen by the high way side the peace of the Apostles bestowed vpon vnworthye houses and therefore returneth backe againe They stop their cares with the Adder or sleep with Eutichus or make loue as the Egiptians did to Aholah and Aholibah cloathed with blewe silke and diuers suites pleasant young men that they may set Aholah and Aholibah on fire bruise the brestes of their virginitye and powre out their adulterie vpon them as the Prophet speaketh Some heare the Preacher with great attention but as the Pharisies did our Sauiour to intrappe him in his speech to take exception against his wordes as the Athenians did St. Paul to scoffe at his simplicitie they read the Bible but as Porphurye did to finde as they prophanely call them absurdities and contradictions in the worde of God not as the Bee which gathereth honye but as the Spider which sucketh poyson out of wholsome flowers A third cause of Atheisme proceedeth from the long suffring of God which doth not presently punish Atheists For he doth not onely with patience suffer them to blaspheme his holy name but also in his wisdome which no man can sound in his iudgementes whome no man can search blesseth them with worldly blessings as if he did reward their vngodlines It is not my complaint alone but it is the complaint of the Prophet Dauid which cryeth out in this manner Why standest thou so farre off ô Lord and hydest thee in due time euen in affliction the wicked hath made boast of his owne hearts desire and the couetous blesseth himselfe he contemneth the Lord he is so proud that he seeketh not for God he thinketh alwaies there is no God his wayes alwaies prosper he saith in his heart I shall neuer be moued nor be in danger Nay it may very well be said as it was of Iob that the Lord hath made an hedge about him his house and about all that he hath on euery side he hath blessed the worke of his handes and his substance is encreased in the Land The Lord suffred his owne Arke to be taken by the Philistins his enemies and his owne people the Iraēlites which fought his battle to be ouerthrowne in the battell And this cōmendation is giuen of the godly King Iosias that he read the lawe of the Lord before the people he made a couenant with the Lord that the people should walke after the Lord and keep his commandements his testimonies statutes with all their hearts all their soules all the people stood to the couenant he purged the Temple and put downe the Idols he slewe the idolatrous Priests he kept such a passeouer in honour of God as neuer the like was holden from the daies of the Iudges y t iudged Israel nor in al the daies of the Kings of Israel the Kings of Iuda he tooke away thē which had familier spirits and the sooth-sayers and the Images and the Idols and all the abhominations that were espyed in the Land of Iuda and Ierusalem that like vnto him there was no King before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart all his soule and all his might according to all the lawe of Moses neither after him arose there any like him And yet see how the Lord rewarded him The very next thing which followeth in the same Text is this Pharao slewe him at Megiddo Thus you see how the Lord rewarded faithfull Iosias which serued him trusted in him with death in this worlde and ouerthrowe in sighting of his owne battell and gaue the victory to Pharao an heathen King which put no trust nor considence in him Likewise Nabucodonozor burned Gods house robbed his Temple in contempt of him and his seruice yet God prospered him as if
Arke it was 300. cubits in length 50 in bredth 30. in height there were 3. chambers or floores in it therefore there was roome enough to receiue all these beastes and many more and meate for them for a long time that we need not for the defence of this storye to flye to Geometricall cubits saying that Moses being learned in Geometrye and all the artes of the Egiptians did vnderstand Geometricall cubits but playne cubits Such a cubit is the length of a mans arme from his elboe to the top of his middle finger Though no dout such cubits were longer then now they are because men were of higher stature then now they are But the length therof being 300. cubits sheweth that it was 5. times the length of Salomons Temple which was but 60. cubits long the bredth of it being 50. it was twice an halfe as broad as being but 20. cubits broad But the length of it being 300. cubits and the bredth 50. being ioyned together do make of square measure by the cōmon rules of arte 15. thousand cubits Moreouer it contayned in the height of it 3. storyes as I haue shewed one being aboue the other in regard whereof it was 3. times as capable of the creatures contayning 3. times the measure of the lowest roome excepting onely the thicknesse of the boordes which made the partition betweene the floores that is in the whole 45. thousand cubits and euerye seuerall floore contayning 10. cubits in height The food of the beastes whatsoeuer it was before it might behaye hearbes and berryes for what food would not hunger cause them to eat The worke-manship though it were aboue the knowledge of man to deuise it and contriue it in such sorte and aboue his cunning and strength to guide so great a vessell on the water and to keepe it frō wrackes it was an hūdred yeares in building it needed not to be lanched out into the water as Ships are because the water of itselfe did beare it vp whē all the earth was ouerflowen From whence had God such great quantity of water to drowne the worlde There were two immediat causes the Sea beneath because the fountaynes of the deep were opened and the heauen aboue for the windowes of the heauen were also open Concerning the waters from beneath The vaynes and pores of the earth were broken vp to send forth more abundance of water the waters which were before gathered together into certayne places began to swell and being rarified ouer flowered the bankes that as before according to nature the water was to hide and couer the whole earth yet secundum naturae consilium according to the counsell and dispensation of nature for the preseruation of these creatures the water and the earth made but one globe so now againe for the destruction of these creatures the waters did hyde couer the whole earth as according to nature they ought to doe And we see by our owne experience though not in generall because God hath promised otherwise yet in particular how often the water goeth beyond the bankes maketh breaches into the land And it is in mans reason impossible how it should be otherwise but that the water being a liquid and fluid substance so farre in quantitye exceeding the earth and in place higher then the earth should presentlye drowne the earth But onely God doth supernaturally gouerne it restrayne it against the nature of the first creation The windowes of heauen were open that is as the Text doth expound it it rayned 40. dayes and 40. nights all the cloudes were melted and dissolued into rayne and wheras before God separated and diuided the waters from the waters that some were beneath in the Sea and riuers and parte of the earth some in the ayre frozen and congealed into cloudes now to make a deluge and generall ouer-flowing he brake the partition and let them be at libertye as they were before I could for their better contentment stand vpon such natural causes as are besides the Text as some Diuines Philosophers haue done which by the windowes of heauen vnderstand Cancer Pisces Heiades Pleiades and Orion among the starres Mars Venus and Luna among the planets Also I could alleadge Mechlinus the scholer of Albertus Magnus in his Cōmentaryes which writeth that before the floud there was a Coniunction of Iupiter Saturne in the end of Cancer contrary to the Ship called Argo which represented the Arke and that this Coniunction did portend an inundation although I need not to stand vpon these thinges because the naturall causes which I haue alleaged out of the Text are sufficient But they obiect that the waters couered the mountaynes 15. cubits vpward as it is in the Text and they aske how that could be seeing there were but two causes the swelling of the waters beneath and the rayne from aboue For some mountaynes are higher then the middle region of the ayre and by a consequent they are higher then the clowdes as namely Olympus in Thessaly Artas in Barbary the Alpes c My answer is that if any parte of the earth is aboue the cloudes it is naturall for the water also to be aboue that parte of the earth bee it neuer so high therefore it is not to be wondred at much lesse is it impossible or absurd Againe though the cloudes are not aboue these fewe mountaines yet the firmament or middle region of the ayre it selfe is farre aboue them and although some of these mountaynes are found to be by the plum-lyne or perpendiculer 15. surlonges ascending from the playne and the cloudes are commonly lifted vp but 10. furlonges aboue vs yet sometimes they are lifted vp 40. furlonges as Pliny sheweth Againe the very waters of the deep doe stand aboue the mountaynes You aske how that may be you say they are beneath the firmament that therfore they cannot be aboue the mountaines seeing these aboue the firmament are the clouds which are a great deale lower then the mountaynes vnlesse the waters which are beneath the firmament should be aboue the waters which are aboue the firmament To this I answer that the mistes which are in the vallyes are reckoned among the waters which are aboue the firmament and yet are sometimes dissolued into rayne before they are drawne vp so high as the mountaynes for which cause they seeme to them which be in the vallyes to be gathered together in the tops of the mountaynes and doe hyde the mountaynes with darknes in the tops of which mountaines yet Springes doe arise which are of the waters beneath the firmament For an other cauell they obiect that the floud began the 17. day of the second month that the rayne continued 40. dayes that the waters preuayled 150. dayes where-vpon they aske how it could be that the Arke rested vpon the mount of Armenia the 7. day of the 7. month which by this account was 4. dayes before the falling
of the water to them I answer the waters preuayled on the earth 150. dayes albeit they began to be diminished before the full end of 150. dayes albeit they began to be deminished before y e ful end of 150. dayes For nothing letteth but y t they might well be saide to preuayle that is to be strong and deep vpon the earth albeit they were in parte diminished and that the Arke might drawe so deep of water as the mount being high to rest vpon it And where it is said after the Arke rested vpō the mountayne then the waters were abated that is it might then more plainly sensibly be perceiued and apeare to the eyes of Noah The heathen historyes doe mention this Deluge although after a corrupt maner which is not sufficient to strengthen the truth but yet serueth to conuince the Atheist And though S. Augustine sayth Diluuium gentium nec Latina nec Graeca nouit historia no heathenish writers doe remember it meaning without corruption yet Iosephus sayth Huius arstem diluuij arcae meminerunt omnes Barbaricae historiae scriptores that all Barbarian historiographers haue mentioned this Deluge and Arke of Noah whereof he reckoneth these namely Berosus the Chaldaean Hicronimus the Egiptian Phoenix Mnasseas Nicholaus Damascenus And Eusebius remembreth Greeke writers Alexandrum Polihistorem Molonem Empoleneum and others which haue written of it vnder the name of Deucalion as they haue receiued it from others by reporte Ouid maketh a liuely discription of this Deluge vnder the name of Deucaliō And Iustin Martyr sayth we Christians call him Noah whom the heathens call Deucalion Plutarch sayth that the Doue which was sent out of Deucalion his Arke brought to him a token of the fall of the water And Lucian an A theist yet sayth that this generation of man which now is was not from the beginning but that it wholye perished which then was and that this progenye which now is is an other which descended from Deucalion And of the generation which perished that they were cruell wicked periured they harboured not strangers they were inexorable for which cause they suffered great calamitye for suddenlye the earth poured out great store of water great quantitye of rayne fell from the skye the riuers swelled the Sea arose to such an height that the worlde was drowned and all thinges perished Of that multitude only Deucalion was left aliue who was preserued by these meanes Hee put him selfe with his wife and children in a great Arke which he had made when he had imbarqued him selfe there came vnto him Swine Horses Lyons and all other Beastes which the earth nourished two of euery sorte So God lefte not him selfe without witnes among the heathen that thereby he might stirre them vp to search out the truth which onely remayned in the Church of God Chapter 12. Of the destruction of Sodome WHen Lot had entred into Zoar the Lord rayned vpō Sodom fire brimstone burned the Cittie the plaine and all the inhabitantes and all that grewe vpon the earth And Lots wife behinde him looked backe and she was turned into a Piller of Salte This is the slorie of the Bible and what ground hath any Atheist to deny it The Christian may easily confound the Atheist because the reliques of it doe yet remayne and the place doth shew it selfe Concerning the time when it was done it is set downe in the Text that it was burned in the dayes of Abraham which arose early in the morning and beheld the smoke of it mounting vp as the smoke of a Furnace And by iust computation it is well knowne to haue beene about 392. yeares after the sloud The place is well knowne to all Cosmographers and is daylye seene by many trauaylers it is one of the three famous Lakes which are in the Land of Canaan which are commonly by the figure catachresis called seas For in that Land there are three such waters the Sea of Galilie where Peter Andrew Iames and Iohn were about their nettes when our Sauiour did call them to be Apostles The Sea of the Gaderens into which the heard of swine did run hedlong when the Deuils had entred into them by the permission of our Sauiour Christ being beyond Jorden towards Arabia and the waters are at this time venimous and as it is thought polluted by those swines The third is this which wee are now to speake of and the subiect of our discourse A greate part of it which then was land is now all water and is called Asphaltites of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth pitch because great quantitie of pitch boyleth out of it and it is also called Mare mortuum the dead Sea or mare mortuorum the sea of the dead because no fish nor other creatures can liue in it The nature of it is such that if any bordes be throwne into it they will presently sinke to the bottom if any vessell be vpon it which hath men in it so long as the men liue it will bee aboue the water but as soone as the men are dead being poysoned with the stinke of it the vessel wil presently sinke In so much that when Vespasian the Emperour had caused certaine men to haue their handes tyed behinde them that they might not be able to shift for themselues and so to be violently plunged into the botome they were presently driuen vp againe with as great a violence vnto the top and so sloted vppon the superficies of the water vntill they were dead The quātitie of this stinking lake is about 8. high Almaigne miles with in the compasse of it were scituated these fiue Citties Sodom Gomorah Adama Seboim and Segor which were destroyed with fire and brimstone of the which the cheife and principal was Sodom In this water standeth a Rocke which to them that behold it representeth the image of a woman that is Lots wife In the bankes round about it al the ground which is neare it are some reliques of these Citties yet remayning for the earth doth looke like ashes taken out of a furnace there are great stones and peeces of rockes which looke as if they had bin in the fier greate heapes of salte a smell of fire as if the place were still burning a filthye sauour of brimstone such smokes vapours continually rising out of the ground that they doe annoy the villages and inhabitants which are anye way nere that place Some Trees doe growe there and bring fruite but the fruites thereof neuer come to rypenes if a man gather one of the Apples and cut it with his knife they are full of nothing but sparkles of fire and noysome smoakes And therfore for the confirmation of this story besides the witnes of the Scriptures we need no more then the testimony of the place it selfe which doth most plainly discouer it selfe And therefore the best counsaile that I can giue the Atheist that readeth this