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Show Cuar.t.§is, Thefir(ft Bookeofthefirst part dine, roundedsorthefe places.of Salm, and S..Pauls Tohs5.3. ‘ Vee bane wot beard his wolee at any eel shis,[am fire, agreeth with the nature of Gads fimplicity,of which S. Axgufline, vane cyrit.ce chrily ‘4 fa enim natura,vehfubjlantia, vel gailsbetalia xomine appellar er) i ? fee oftheHiftorie ofthe World. hath not want ofany forrain teftimonie)yet as the Fathers,with others excellently lest ned,are my examples herein ;fo S. Paul himfelfe did not defpife,bur thoughtit lawful, and proficable,to remember whatfoeuer hee found agreeable to the Word of God. 2. . TimG,16 sine,neitherdine ye [een bzs [bape And agaite, Whom meuer aHifawnor can few. Cuara. §3.4, quo ! mong the Heathen,thathemight thereby take from them all efcape; by way of j Roe Gretade it, corporaliter vidert woepbteft ¢ That uatare, onthar fibftanieés or byw Mi Qeuer name rance,Godrendrihg vengeance to thei that know him not : a$ jn the Epiftlero ‘Titus Limes perceived Andothis oputonwere Origen,prélyShry/oflome,Grez0r7 Naxianzcnus, Hie. rome, Aighflime, Gregory the great, Emarptus, Alcurens; Dionyfits: Artopagita Agi , feuenteenth ofthe Ais, Aratus &cfor Truth(faithS, Ambrofe) by Wwhomfocuer vitered, Theolog.uizvin that isto be calied which#g-God, whetfoeuerthar Beesthe faine cannot de Corporally he.cyteth Epimenides againft the Cretians,and to the Corinthians, Menander and in the is ofthe holy Ghoft ; Veritas aqnocnng, dicatur,a SpirituJancto eft: and laftly, let thofe ahdall ochcts of authoritie. But byhis owne Word, ahd by this vifible World) is God | io perceiuied of men; whichis,alfo the vnderftoodlanguage ofthe Almighty, vguchfafed 1 4- toall his Crea ures,whofe Hieroglyphicell Gharattexs, arothe wanunbre@ Stars , the alfoon onthefe large Volumesof the Firmament : written cap.4-célveep. Hievar, Hierar,1bo bom.ps Snne and Moone,written .. 1s ee kind of men learnethis rule's Quefacrisferuinnt,prophanda nonfunt' Nathineis propane >, xo that feructhtothevfe ofholy things. si Sayed aioe §. 111, oD zqtaartat. the Barth andthe Seds,by the letters ofall thofeliuing Creaturef,and. Pla ngsjwhich inGaibi-Dews, habire & refide therein. Therefore faidthat learned Cysan VS, Mundus yminerfas nibil His vifible world ofwhich Mofes writeth,God created in the beginning,or, firft ofall : in which( faith Tertullian )things beganto be. ‘This word Besinviro (ah which the Hebrewes feeke fomehidden myfteric,and whichin the ewes Taroum "ipiilisehee aloud eff, quam Deus explicatas ;"The World Vninetfall, is notltiry elfe bu "God expreft. a vifibilibus iil Andtheinuifible thingsofGod (faith S:Pau/) ateftene by-eredtion of the World, be- pol):t fcirt,obus +5 confidered in his Creatures. Ofall which, there was no othercaufe preceding, than eauhe fbi his owne Will, no other matter than his owne Power, no other workman is conuertedby the word Sapentia) cannot be referredtofucceffion of time, nor a thanhis fa- owne Word, no other ¢gnfiderattonthan his owgeinfiniteGeodneffe. The example ‘erm and patterne ofthefe his Creatures , as hee beheld the fameinall eternity in the abun-1 rille dance of hisowne toue, fo was it at lengthrin the moft wife order, by his vnchanged ". Willmoued, byhis high Wifedome difpofed, and by his almighty Powerperfected pit' and madevifible. Andtherefore (faitht Msrardula) we ought to loue God, Exfi } that of CGod. And by what name fhall weethen call fuch an One (faith Lasdtantiz ) as -xceedeth God in potency : for it is an act of more excellencieto make,thanto difpole gue [ache fant,guedg,fiunt & gubernantur obferuatione & collatione, vel ex ipfius Dei ver bas of For he ofwhomthere is no higher caufé,cannot be knowne by any knowledgeofca AMomNat, ot beginning, (faith AZontanus) but. either by. the obferuing and conferring of thia Oo"? wiffol7. things made? whereupon it may be concluded,that Matter could not be before this Beginning : except we fainea double creation,or allow of two powers, and both infinite,the impoffibility whereof fcorneth defence. Nam impofsibileplura effe infiuita 1 4uo~ Cufande Mente which hehath,or dothcreate and gouerne,orelfeby the Word of God himfelf. 26 214% alter. 3° obtntg §. ‘FI. der, as fonie men haue conceiued,both whichare fubfequent; but onelyto Creation 2othen. For before that Beginning,there was neither primarie matter to beinformed,nor forme to informe,noranybeing, but the Eternall. Nature was not,northe next Parent of Timebegotten, Time properlyandnaturally taken: for if God had but difpofed of Matteralreadyin being,thenas the wordBeyizuing couldnot be referredto all things, fo muft itfollow,thatthe inftitution of Matter proceeded from a greater power, than aefe atg, effettions, (thatis both parlwaded by:shis Wordjand bythe effets of the Worl dialog. rr tion : Neg enimaui caufacaret,ex canfa G origiue{cirt, cognofcidpatel,fed vel ex } Komino Wouie Jet in alterofinitum ; There cannot be more infinites than one sfor one ofthem l1b.3. Wht Fie oF. er. We §. IV. That,thewfefl ofthe Heathen,whofe authority ts not to be defp ifeds haue acknowledged théworld to banebeenecreatéd by God, hg 4 ; sdid moft ofthe dfcient & learned fopheis acknowledge,though by diuets'termes, & ina different‘maunet ex flinsdasty. preft,I mean allthofe whoateintitled by S$. Avovstin Ey SummiPbilofephh cuanahi gir * Philofophers of higheft indgement &vadetftandines Mercurius Trifmeg if Lovmontfacro, Calleth God,Principinm univerforankThe originall ofthe vniuerfall: to whom he giueth4 allo the attributes of Mews Natura, Adlus,Nece/sit.at,Pinis Renovatio. And wherein he truely, with S.P4w/,caftéth vpon Godall power: confeflingalfo') that the:»world wa mad ¢ by Gods-almighty Word, and not by hands yrenbe hers wennibusfabricatHs op mands. Zordafter (whom Herachtus followed in Opinion) tooke the word:Fire, to ex prefleGod by (asin Deateronomy,and in'S, Pan/it is Vied) Oxminex vnoigne genita {wits Dtut.4.24, Heb, 12.29. Allthings (faith'he) areeaafed,or produced out ofonefire. + So did Orpheus plainelyteach,that the world had beginning intime; fromthe Wil Orphde fun, . Of the moftHigh God ; whofe remarkeable words arethus conuerted : Cir: abfood? longs fet omnia Iupiter furirins, deindein lumen Sratumemifit,exfacre corde oper ans cooitate' eee 0 fwhich I conceiue this ferife. when great lupiter had Bidder all things in hime ni / Of the meaning of In Principio, Genef: 1.1, tisetbeuteerebletres whebebeforeeee rough forth attra Piwdar -teuant. us the Poet; andione ofthe Wifeft,acknowledged alfoon the words Heauen avd Earth, Genef-2.1. He vniuerfall matter of the world (which ™ofés comprehendeth ynderthe names of Heawen andEarth)is bydiuers diuerfly vnderftood : for there are that conceiue,that by thofe words was meant the firft matter, as the Peripatetickes vnderftandit ; to which S.Augafline andIfidore feeme to adhere. Fecifli muiadum ( fayth S.Augufline) de materia informi,gquamfesifii de nulla re,pene aullam rem: that is > Thou haft 9 madethe world ofa matter withoutforme, which matter thou madef? ofnot hing , and being made jt was little other than nothing. : a But this potential] and imaginarie materia prima, cannot exift without forme. Peter Lombard,the Schoolemen,Beda,Lyranus,Comeftor ,Toflatas, &others aflirme,that it pleated God firft of all to create the Empyrean Heauen: whichat thefucce ng inftant ( faith Beda and Strabo) he filled with Auge/s. This Empyrean Heauen Steuchius Enoubinus pode tessa 17 imine Clarity,and unereated : an errour,for which he is {harpely charge d by Pq bo fuper rerius though(as I conceiue) he rather failed in the fubfequent, when he madeit to be can >,andthe feate of Angels and iuft Soules, than in the x affirmation; for of 50° irft, That God liueth in eternal! Lig! on ; foule , praife thon the Lord, that coucreth himfelfe with lisht :and inthe R Sanne neyther of the lobn Mercervp Moone tofbine init for the th notin ion; And the City hath no need of the ; bt it. And heerein alfo» ‘ DF e God,the Vidcaps. moft High, to bsthe Fatherand Creator ofall things . Vwus Deus. Pater Creator fummus.PLAT® callet h G od thecaufe andoriginallithe nature and teaton nat wra,catife ce origo Deas. But hereof more at large herea of the ynivertall,Totlas ae fter. sion anorramtoueh the eamoiiryoffomemen hauefound it fuperfluous, ‘to remerabet tae opinions of Philofephers.in matters of Diuinity ; (itbeing true, thatthe Sci Heauen °* 1 11S ludge- rat God hi Af, wAeNnat "af Cor God nimielfe,itvvas NOt necel- lefiemm meo indiciocreari( faith Mercer ) nom en' Chit. an inuifible a id incorpor ate, for the |