The xxxiii. Chapter.Against fond witchmongers, and their opinions concerning corporall divels.NOW, howBrian Darcieshe spirits and shee spirits, Tittie and Tiffin, Suckin and Pidgin, Liard and Robin, &c: his white spirits and blacke spirits, graie spirits and red spirits, divell tode and divell lambe, divels cat and divels dam, agree herewithall, or can stand consonant with the word of GOD, or true philosophie, let heaven and earth judge. In the meane time, let anie man with good consideration peruse that booke published byW. W.The booke of W. W. published, &c.and it shall suffice to satisfie him in all that may be required touching the vanities of the witches examinations, confessions, and executions: where, though the tale be told onlie of the accusers part, without anie other answer of theirs than their adversarie setteth downe; mine assertion will be sufficientlie prooved true. And bicause it seemeth to be performed with some kind of authoritie, I will saie no more for the confutation thereof, but referre you to the booke it selfe; whereto if nothing be added that may make to their reproch, I dare warrant nothing is left out that may serve to their condemnation. See whether the witnesses be not single of what credit, sex and age they are; namelie lewd, miserable, and envious poore people; most of them which/389.speake to anie purpose being old women, & children of the age of 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. or 9. yeares.And note how and what the witches confesse, and see of what weight and importance the causes are; whether their confessions/543.be not woonne through hope of favour, and extorted by flatterie or threats, without proofe. But in so much as there were not past seventeene or eighteene condemned at once at S.OseesAt S. Osees 17. or 18. witches cōdemned at once.in the countie ofEssex, being a whole parish (though of no great quantitie) I will saie the lesse: trusting that by this time there remaine not manie in that parish. If anie be yet behind, I doubt not, butBrian Darciewill find them out; who, if he lacke aid,Richard GallisofWindesorwere meete to be associated with him; whichGallishath set foorth another booke to that effect, of certeine witches ofWindsoreexecutedatAbington. But with what impudencie and dishonestie he hath finished it, with what lies and forgeries he hath furnished it, what follie and frensie he hath uttered in it; I am ashamed to report: and therefore being but a two pennie booke, I had rather desire you to buie it, and so to peruse it, than to fill my booke with such beastlie stuffe.The xxxiiii. Chapter.A conclusion wherein the Spirit of spirits is described, by the illumination of which spirit all spirits are to be tried: with a confutation of the Pneumatomachi flatlie denieng the divinitie of this Spirit.TOUCHING the manifold signification of this word [Spirit]*[*[] in text.]I have elsewhere in this breefe discourse told you my mind: which is a word nothing differing in Hebrue from breath or wind. For all these words following; to wit,Spiritus,Ventus,Flatus,Halitus, are indifferentlie used by the Holie-ghost, and called by this Hebrue wordרוחin the sacred scripture. For further proofe whereof I cite unto you the words ofIsaie;Isai. 30, 28.For his spirit (or breath) is as a river that overfloweth up to the necke, &c: in which place the prophet describeth the comming of God in heate and indignation unto judgement, &c. I cite also unto you the words ofZacharie;Zach. 6, 5.These are the foure spirits of the heaven, &c. Likewise inGenesis;Gen. 1, 2.And the spirit of GOD mooved upon the waters. Moreover, I cite unto you the words of Christ;Joh. 3, 8.The spirit (or/544.wind) bloweth where it listeth. Unto which said places infinite more might be added out of holie writ, tending all to this purpose; namelie, to give us this for a note, that all the saiengs above cited, with manie more that I could alledge, where mention is made of spirit, the Hebrue text useth no word but one; to wit,רוחwhich signifieth (as I said)Spiritum,ventum,flatum,halitum; which may be Englished, Spirit, wind, blast, breath.But before I enter upon the verie point of my purpose, it shall not be amisse, to make you acquainted with the collection of a certeine Schoole divine, who distinguisheth and divideth this word [Spirit]**Eras. Sarcer. in dictio. Scholast. doctr. lit. S.into six significations; saieng that it is sometimes taken for the aier, sometimes for the wind, sometimes for/390.the bodies of the blessed, sometimes for the soules of the blessed, sometimes for the power imaginative or the mind of man; and sometimes for God. Againehe saith, that of spirits there are two sorts, some created and some uncreated.A spirit uncreated (saith he) is God himselfe, and it is essentiallie taken, and agreeth unto the three persons notionallie, to the Father, the Sonne, and the Holie-ghost personallie. A spirit created is a creature, and that is likewise of two sorts; to wit, bodilie, and bodilesse. A bodilie spirit is also of two sorts: for some kind of spirit is so named of spiritualnes, as it is distinguished from bodilinesse: otherwise it is calledSpiritus á spirando, id est, á flando, of breathing or blowing, as the wind dooth.A bodilesse spirit is one waie so named of spiritualnes, and then it is taken for a spirituall substance; and is of two sorts: some make a full and complet kind, and is called complet or perfect, as a spirit angelicall: some doo not make a full and perfect kind, and is called incomplet or unperfect, as the soule. There is also the spirit vitall, which is a certeine subtill or verie fine substance necessarilie disposing and tending unto life. There be moreover spirits naturall, which are a kind of subtill and verie fine substances, disposing and tending unto equall complexions of bodies. Againe there be spirits animall, which are certeine subtill and verie fine substances disposing and tempering the bodie, that it might be animated of the forme, that is, that it might be perfected of the reasonable soule. Thus farre he. In whose division you see a philosophicall kind of proceeding, though not altogether/545.to be condemned, yet in everie point not to be approoved.Erasm. Sar. in lib. loc. & lit. prædictis.Now to the spirit of spirits, I meane the principall and holie spirit of God, which one defineth or rather describeth to be the third person in trinitie issuing from the father and the sonne, no more the charitie dilection and love of the father and the sonne, than the father is the charitie dilection and love of the sonne and Holie-ghost. An other treating upon the same argument, proceedeth in this reverent manner:Laurent. à Villavicentio in phrasib. s. script. lit. S. pag. 176.The holie spirit is the vertue or power of God, quickening, nourishing, fostering and perfecting all things: by whose onlie breathing it commeth to passe that we both know and love GOD, and become at the length like unto him: which spirit is the pledge and earnest pennie of grace, and beareth witnesse unto our heart, whiles wee crieAbba, Father.Rom. 8, 15.2. Cor. 6, 5.This spirit is called the spirit of GOD, the spirit of Christ, and the spirit of him which raised up Jesus from the dead.Jesus Christ, for that he received not the spirit by measure, but in fulnesse, doth call it his spirit; saieng:John. 15, 26.When the comforter shall come, whome I will send, even the holie spirit, he shall testifie of me. This spirit hath diverse metaphoricall names attributed thereunto in the holie scriptures. It is called by the name of water,bicause it washeth, comforteth, moisteneth, softeneth, and maketh fruitefull with all godlinesse and vertues the minds of men, which otherwise would be uncleane, comfortlesse, hard, drie, and barren of all goodnesse: wherupon the prophetIsaieIsai. 44.saith; I will powre water upon the thirstie, and floods upon the drie ground, &c./391.Wherewith-all the words of Christ doo agree;John. 7, 38.Hee that beleeveth in me, as saith the scripture, out of his bellie shall flowe rivers of waters of life. And else where;John. 4, 14.Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never be more a thirst. Other places likewise there be, wherein the holie spirit is signified by the name of water and flood: as in the 13. ofIsaie, the 29. ofEzech.the 146.Psalme,&c.The same spirit by reason of the force and vehemencie thereof is termed fier. For it doth purifie and cleanse the whole man from top to toe, it doth burne out the soile and drosse of sinnes, and setteth him all in a flaming and hot burning zeale to preferre and further God’s glorie. Which plainelie appeared in the apostles, who when they had re/ceived546.the spirit, they spake fierie words, yea such words as were uncontrollable, in so much as in none more than in them this saieng of the prophetJeremieJer. 23, 29.was verified,Nunquid non verba mea sunt quasi ignis?Are not my words even as it were fier? This was declared and shewed by those fierie toongs, which were seene upon the apostles after they had received the holie spirit.Moreover, this spirit is called annointing, or ointment, bicause that as in old time preests and kings were by annointing deputed to their office and charge, and so were made fit and serviceable for the same: even so the elect are not so much declared as renewed and made apt by the training up of the holie spirit, both to live well and also to glorifie God. Whereupon dependeth the saieng ofJohn;1. Joh. 2, 20.And yee have no need that anie should teach you, but as the same ointment doth teach you. It is also called in scripture, The oile of gladnesse and rejoising, whereof it is said in the booke ofPsalmes;Psal. 44.God even thy God hath annointed thee with the oile of joy & gladnes, &c.Cyrill. in evang. Joh. lib. 3. cap. 14.And by this goodlie and comfortable name of oile in the scriptures is the mercie of God oftentimes expressed, because the nature of that doth agree with the propertie and qualitie of this. For as oile doth flote and swim above all other liquors, so the mercie of God doth surpasse and overreach all his works, and the same doth most of all disclose it selfe to miserable man.Exod. 8.It is likewise called the finger of God, that is, the might and power of God: by the vertue whereof the apostles did cast out divels; to wit, even by the finger of God. It is called the spirit of truth, because it maketh men true and faithfull in their vocation: and for that it is the touchstone to trie all counterfet devises of mans braine,and all vaine sciences, prophane practises, deceitfull arts, and circumventing inventions; such as be in generall all sorts of witchcrafts and inchantments, within whose number are comprehended all those wherewith I have had some dealing in this my discoverie; to wit, charmes or incantations, divinations, augurie, judiciall astrologie, nativitie casting, alcumystrie, conjuration, lotshare, poperie which is meere paltrie, with diverse other: not one wherof no nor all together are able to stand to the triall and examination, which this spirit of truth shall and will take of those false and evill spirits. Naie, they shalbe found, when/547.they are laid into the balance, to be lighter than vanitie: verie drosse, when they once come to be tried by the fervent heate of this spirit; and like chaffe, when this spirit bloweth upon them, driven awaie with a violent whirlewind: such is the per/fection,392.integritie, and effectuall operation of this spirit, whose working as it is manifold, so it is marvellous, and therefore may and is called the spirit of spirits.The holie spirit can abide nothing that is carnall, and uncleane.This spirit withdrawing it selfe from the harts of men, for that it will not inhabit and dwell where sinne hath dominion, giveth place unto the spirit of error and blindnesse, to the spirit of servitude and compunction, which biteth, gnaweth, and whetteth their harts with a deadlie hate of the gospell; in so much as it greeveth their minds and irketh their eares either to heare or understand the truth; of which disease properlie the phariseis of old were, and the papists even now are sicke. Yea, the want of this good spirit is the cause that manie fall into the spirit of perversenes and frowardnes, into the spirit of giddinesse, lieng, drowzines, and dulnesse: according as the prophetIsaieIsai. 29, 10.saith; For the Lord hath covered you with a spirit of slumber, and hath shut up your eies: and againe else-where,Dominus miscuit in medio, &c:Isai. 19, 14.The Lord hath mingled among them the spirit of giddinesse, and hath madeAegyptto erre, as a dronken man erreth in his vomit: as it is said byPaule;Ro. 1, 21, 23.And their foolish hart was blinded, and God gave them over unto their owne harts lusts. Which punishmentMosesDeuter. 28, 28, 29.threateneth unto the Jews; The Lord shall smite thee with madnesse, with blindnesse and amazednesse of mind, and thou shalt grope at high noone as a blind man useth to grope, &c.In summe, this word [Spirit] dooth signifie a secret force and power, wherewith our minds are mooved and directed; if unto holie things, then is it the motion of the holie spirit, of the spirit of Christ and of God: if unto evill things, then is it the suggestion of the wicked spirit, of the divell, and of satan.A question.Whereupon I inferre, by the waie of a question, with what spirit we are to suppose such to be mooved, as either practise anie of the vanities treated upon in thisbooke, or through credulitie addict themselves thereunto as unto divine oracles, or the voice of angels breakeing through the clouds? We cannot impute this motion unto/548.the good spirit; for then they should be able toAn answer.discerne betweene the nature of spirits, and not swarve in judgement: it followeth therefore, that the spirit of blindnes and error dooth seduce them; so that it is no mervell if in the alienation of their minds they take falsehood for truth, shadowes for substances, fansies for verities, &c: for it is likelieA great likelihood no doubt.that the good spirit of God hath forsaken them, or at leastwise absented it selfe from them: else would they detest these divelish devises of men, which consist of nothing but delusions and vaine practises, whereof (I suppose) this my booke to be a sufficient discoverie.Judgement distinguished.It will be said that I ought not to judge, for he that judgeth shalbe judged. Whereto I answer, that judgement is to be understood of three kind of actions in their proper nature; whereof the first are secret, and the judgement of them shall apperteine to God, who in time will disclose what so ever is done in covert, and that by his just judgement. The second are mixed actions, taking part of hidden and part of open, so that by reason of their uncerteintie and doubtfulnes they are discussable and to be tried; these after due examination are to have their competent judgement, and are incident to the magistrate. The third are manifest and/393.evident, and such as doo no lesse apparentlie shew themselves than an inflammation of bloud in the bodie: and of these actions everie private man giveth judgement, bicause they be of such certeintie, as that of them a man may as well conclude, as to gather, that bicause the sunne is risen in the east,Ergo*[*Ital.]it is morning: he is come about and is full south,Ergo* it is high noone; he is declining and closing up in the west,Ergo* it is evening. So that the objection is answered.Howbeit, letting this passe, and spirituallie to speake of this spirit, which whiles manie have wanted, it hath come to passe that they have prooved altogether carnall; & not savouring heavenlie divinitie have tumbled into worsse than philosophicall barbarisme:*Josias Simlerus li. 4. ca. 5. adversus veteres & novos Antitrinitarios, &c.& these be such as of writers are calledPneumatomachi, a sect so injurious to the holie spirit of God, that contemning the sentence of Christ, wherein he foretelleth that the sinne against the holie spirit is never to be pardoned, neither in this world nor in the world to come, they doo not onelie denie him to be God, but also pull from him all being, and with theSadducesmain/teine549.there is none such; but that under and by the name of holie spirit is ment a certeine divine force, wherewith our minds are mooved, and the grace and favour of God whereby we are his beloved. Against these shamelesse enimies of the holie spirit, I will not use materiall weapons, but syllogisticall charmes. Andfirst I will set downe some of their paralogysmes or false arguments; and upon the necke of them inferre fit confutations grounded upon sound reason and certeine truth.1. Objectiō. The scripture dooth never call the holie spirit God.Their first argument is knit up in this manner. The holie spirit is no where expresselie called God in the scriptures;Ergohe is not God, or at leastwise he is not to be called God. The antecedent of this argument is false; bicause the holie spirit hath the title or name of God in the fift of theActs.* The first answer. A refutation of the antecedent, &c.Againe, the consequent is false. For although he were not expresselie called God, yet should it not therupon be concluded that he is not verie God; bicause unto him are attributed all the properties of God, which unto this doo equallie belong. And as we denie not that the father is the true light, although it be not directlie written of the father, but of the sonne; He was the true light giving light to everie man that cōmeth into this world: so likewise it is not to be denied, that the spirit is God, although the scripture dooth not expresselie and simplie note it; sithence it ascribeth equall things thereunto; as the properties of God, the works of God, the service due to GOD, and that it dooth interchangeablie take the names of Spirit and of God oftentimes. They therefore that see these things attributed unto the holie spirit, and yet will not suffer him to be called by the name of God; doo as it were refuse to grant untoEvethe name ofHomo,†[†Ital.]whome notwithstanding they confesse to be a creature reasonable and mortall.The second reason is this.Hilarie2. Objectiō.Hilariedoth not call the spirit God, neither is he so named in the common collects.in all his twelve bookes of the Trinitie dooth no where write that the holie spirit is to be worshipped; he never giveth therunto the name of God, neither dares he otherwise pronounce thereof, than that it is the spirit of God. Besides this, there are usuall praiers of the church commonlie called the Collects, whereof some are made to the father, some to the sonne, but none to the holie spirit; and/395[4].yet in them all mention is made of the three persons. *Hereunto* The 2. answer.I answer, that althoughHilariedooth not openlie call the holie spirit, God:/550.yet doth he constantly denie it to be a creature. Now if any aske me whyHilariewas so coie & nice to name the holie spirit, God, whom he denieth to be a creature, when as notwithstanding betweene God and a creature there is no meane: I will in good sooth saie what I thinke. I suppose thatHilarie,Hilarius lib. 12. de Triadefor himselfe, thought well of the godhead of the holie spirit: but this opinion was thrust and forced upon him of thePneumatomachi, who at that time rightlie deeming of the sonne did erwhiles joine themselves to those that were sound of judgement. There is also in the ecclesiasticall historie a little booke which they gaveLiberiusa bishop ofRome, whereinto they foisted theNicenecreed. And thatHilariewas a freend of thePneumatomachi, it is perceived in his bookeDe synodis,where he writeth in this maner;The place is long, and therefore I had rather referre the reader unto the booke than heere to insert so many lines.Nihil autem mirum vobis videri debet, fratres charissimi, &c: It ought to seeme no wonder unto you deere brethren, &c. As for the objection of the praiers of the church called the collects, that in them the holie spirit is not called upon by name: we oppose and set against them the songs of the church, wherein the said spirit is called upon. But the collects are more ancient than the songs, hymnes, and anthems. I will not now contend about ancientnesse, neither will I compare songs and collects togither; but I say thus much onelie, to wit, that in the most ancient times of the church the holie spirit hath beene openlie called upon in the congregation. Now if I be charged to give an instance, let this serve. In the collect upon trinitie sundaie it is thus said: Almightie and everlasting God,Collecta in die domin. sanctæ Trinit.which hast given unto us thy servants grace by the confession of a truth to acknowledge the glorie of the eternall trinitie, and in the power of the divine Majestie to worship the unitie: we beseech thee that thorough the stedfastnesse of this faith, we may evermore be defended from all adversitie, which livest and reignest one God world without end. Now bicause that in this collect, where the trinitie is expresselie called upon, the names of persons are not expressed; but almightie and everlasting God invocated, who abideth in trinitie and unitie; it doth easilie appeare elsewhere also that the persons being not named, under the name of almightie and everlasting God, not onelie the father*[* ? is]to be understood, but God which abideth in trinitie and unitie, that is the father, the sonne, and the Holie-ghost./551.A third objection of theirs is this.3. Objectiō. The spirit is not to be praied unto but the father onlie.The sonne of GOD oftentimes praieng in the gospels, speaketh unto the father, promiseth the holie spirit, and dooth also admonish the apostles to praie unto the heavenlie father, but yet in the name of the sonne. Besides that, he prescribeth them this forme of praier: Our father which art in heaven.Ergo†[†Ital.]the father onlie is to be called upon, and consequentlie the father onelie is that one and verie true God, of whome it is written; Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him onelie shalt thou serve.*Whereto* 3. Answer. The consequent is denied.I answer first by denieng the consequent; The sonne praied to the father onelie,Ergo[B] the father onlie is of us also to be praied unto. For the sonne of GOD is distinguished of us both in person and in office: he as a mediator maketh intercession for us to the father: and although the/395.sonne and the holie spirit doo both togither receive and take us into favour with God; yet is he said to intreat the father for us; bicause the father is the fountaine of all counsels & divine works. Furthermore, touching the forme of praieng prescribed of Christ, it is not necessarie that the fathersname shuld personallie be there taken, sith there is no distinction of persons made: but by the name of father indefinitelie we understand God or the essence of God, the father, the son, and the Holie-ghost. For this name hath not alwaies a respect unto the generation of the sonne of God; but God is called the father of the faithfull, bicause of his gratious and free adopting of them, the foundation whereof is the sonne of God, in whom we be adopted: but yet so adopted, that not the father onelie receiveth us into his favour; but with him also the sonne and the holy spirit dooth the same. Therefore when we in the beginning of praier doo advertise our selves of Gods goodnesse towards us; we doo not cast an eie to the father alone, but also to the sonne, who gave us the spirit of adoption; and to the holie spirit, in whom we crieAbba, Father. And if so be that invocation and praier were restreined to the father alone, then had the saints doone amisse, in calling upon, invocating, and praieng to the sonne of God, and with the sonne the holy spirit, in baptisme, according to the forme by Christ himselfe assigned and delivered.Another objection is out of the fourth ofAmos,[Am. 4, 13.]in this maner. For lo it is I that make the thunder, and create the spirit, and/552.shew unto men their Christ,4. Objectiō. Amos saith that the spirit was created.making the light and the clouds, and mounting above the hie places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is his name. Now bicause it is read in that place, Shewing unto men their Christ; thePneumatomachicontended that these words are to be understood of the holie spirit.*But* 4. Answer. Spirit in this place signifieth wind.Ambrosein his bookeDe spiritu sancto, lib. 2. cap. 7.doth rightlie answer, that by spirit in this place is ment the wind: for if the prophets purpose and will had beene to speake of the holie spirit, he would not have begunne with thunder, nor have ended with light and clouds. Howbeit, the same father saith; If anie suppose that these words are to be drawne unto the interpretation of the holie spirit, bicause the prophet saith, Shewing unto men their Christ; he ought also to draw these words unto the mysterie of the Lords incarnation: and he expoundeth thunder to be the words of the Lord, and spirit to be the reasonable and perfect soule. But the former interpretation is certeine and convenient with the words of the prophet, by whom there is no mention made of Christ; but the power of God is set foorth in his works. Behold (saith the prophet) he that formeth the mountaines, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, which maketh the morning darknesse, and walketh upon the hie places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is his name. In this sortSantesTo create is not him to be made that was not.a right skilfull man in the Hebrew toong translateth this place of the prophet. But admit this place were written of the holie spirit, & were not appliable either to thewind or to the Lords incarnation: yet doth it not follow that the holie spirit is a creature; bicause this word of Creating doth not alwaies signifie a making of something out of nothing; asEusebiusEuseb. Cæsariens. li. 3. adversus Marcellum.in expounding these words (The Lord created me in the beginning of his waies) writeth thus. The prophet in the person of God,/396.saieng; Behold I am he that made the thunder, and created the spirit, and shewed unto men their Christ: this word Created is not so to be taken, as that it is to be concluded thereby, that the same was not before. For God hath not so created the spirit, sithence by the same he hath shewed & declared his Christ unto all men. Neither was it a thing of late beginning under the sonne: but it was before all beginning, and was then sent, when the apostles were gathered togither, when a sound like thunder came/553.from heaven, as it had beene the comming of a mightie wind: this word Created being used for sent downe, for appointed, ordeined, &c: and the word thunder signifieng in another kind of maner the preaching of the gospels. The like saieng is that of thePsalmist, A cleane hart create in me O God: wherein he praied not as one having no hart, but as one that had such a hart as needed purifieng, as needed perfecting: & this phrase also of the scripture, That he might create two in one new man; that is, that he might joine, couple, or gather together, &c.5. Objectiō. All things were made by the son,Ergothe spirit was also made by him.Furthermore, thePneumatomachiby these testimonies insuing endevor to proove the holie spirit to be a creature. Out ofJohnthe 1. chap. By this word were all things made, and without it nothing was made. Out of 1.Cor.8. Wee have one God the father, even he from whome are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whome are all things, and we by him. Out of the 1.Coloss.By him were all things made, things in heaven, and things in earth, visible and invisible, &c. Now if al things were made by the sonne, it followeth that by him the holie spirit was also made.*Whereto* 5. Answer. Universall propositiōs or speeches are to be restrained.I answer, that when all things are said to be made by the sonne, that same universall proposition is restrained byJohnhimselfe to a certeine kind of things: Without him (saith the evangelist) was nothing made that was made. Therefore it is first to be shewed that the holie spirit was made, and then will we conclude out ofJohn, that if he were made, he was made of the sonne. The scripture doth no where saie that the holie spirit was made of the father or of the sonne, but to proceed, to come, and to be sent from them both. Now if these universall propositions are to suffer no restraint, it shall follow that the father was made of the sonne: than the which what is more absurd and wicked?6. Objectiō. The spirit knoweth not the father & the sonne.Againe, they object out ofMatth.11. None knoweth the sonnebut the father, and none the father but the sonne; to wit, of and by himselfe: for otherwise both the angels, & to whomsoever else it shall please the sonne to reveale the father, these doo know both the father and the sonne. Now if so be the spirit be not equall with the father and the sonne in knowledge, he is not onelie unequall and lesser than they, but also no God: for ignorance is not/554.incident unto God.*Whereto* 6. Answer. How exclusive propositions or speeches are to be interpreted.I answer, that where in holie scripture we doo meete with universall propositions negative or exclusive, they are not to be expounded of one person, so as the rest are excluded; but creatures or false gods are to be excluded, and whatsoever else is without or beside the essence and being of God. Reasons to proove and confirme this interpretation, I could bring verie manie, whereof I will adde some for example. In the seaventh ofJohnit is said; When Christ shall come, none shall knowe from whence he is: notwithstanding which words the Jewes thought that neither God nor his angels should be ignorant from whence Christ/397.should be. In the fourth to theGalathians; A mans covenant or testament confirmed with authoritie no bodie dooth abrogate, or adde anie thing thereunto. No just man dooth so; but tyrants and truce-breakers care not for covenants. InJohneight; Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the middest. And yet it is not to be supposed that a multitude of people was not present, and the disciples of Christ likewise; but the wordSolus, alone, is referred to the woman’s accusers, who withdrew themselves awaie everie one, and departed. In the sixt ofMarke; When it was evening, the ship was in the middest of the sea, and he alone upon land: he was not alone upon land or shore, for the same was not utterlie void of dwellers: but he had not anie of his disciples with him, nor anie bodie to carrie him a shipboord unto his disciples. Manie phrases or formes of speeches like unto these are to be found in the sacred scriptures, and in authors both Greeke and Latine, whereby we understand, that neither universall negative nor exclusive particles are strictlie to be urged, but to be explaned in such sort as the matter in hand will beare. When as therefore the sonne alone is said to know the father, and it is demanded whether the holie spirit is debarred from knowing the father; out of other places of scriptures judgment is to be given in this case. In some places the holie spirit is counted and reckoned with the father and the sonne jointlie: wherefore he is not to be separated. Else-where also it is attributed to the holie spirit that he alone dooth know the things which be of God, and searcheth the deepe secrets of God: wherefore from him the knowing of God is not to be excluded./555.7. Objectiō. The spirit praieth for us.They doo yet further object, that it is not convenient or fit for God after the manner of suters to humble and cast downe himselfe: but the holie spirit dooth so, praieng and intreating for us with unspeakeable grones:Rom.8.Ergothe holie spirit is not God.*Whereto* 7. Answer. The spirit dooth provoke us to praie.I answer that the holie spirit dooth praie and intreat, in so much as he provoketh us to praie, and maketh us to grone and sigh. Oftentimes also in the scriptures is that action or deed attributed unto God, which we being stirred up and mooved by him doo bring to passe. So it is said of God untoAbraham; Now I know that thou fearest God: and yet before he would have sacrificedIsaach, God knew the verie heart ofAbraham: and therefore this wordCognovi, I know, is as much asCognoscere feci, I have made or caused to know. And that the spirit to praie and intreat, is the same that, to make to praie and intreat, the apostle teacheth even there, writing that we have received the spirit of adoption, in whome we crieAbbaFather. Where it is manifest that it is we which crie, the Holie-ghost provoking and forcing us thereunto.8. Objectiō. The spirit is sent from the father and the son.Howbeit they go further, and frame this reason. Whosoever is sent, the same is inferior and lesser than he of whome he is sent, and furthermore he is of a comprehensible substance, bicause he passeth by locall motion from place to place: but the holie spirit is sent of the father and the sonne,John.14, 15, & 16. It is powred foorth and shed upon men,Acts.10.Ergothe holie spirit is lesser than the Father and the Sonne, and of a comprehensible nature, and consequentlie not verie God./398.*Whereto* 8. Answer. How the spirit is sent.I answer first, that he which is sent is not alwaies lesser than he that sendeth: to proove which position anie meane wit may inferre manie instances. Furthermore, touching the sending of the holie spirit, we are here to imagine no changing or shifting of place. For if the spirit when he goeth foorth from the father and is sent, changeth his place, then must the father also be in a place, that he may leave it and go to another. And as for the incomprehensible nature of the spirit, he cannot leaving his place passe unto another. Therefore the sending of the spirit is the eternall and unvariable will of God, to doo something by the holie spirit; and the revealing and executing of this will by the/556.operation and working of the spirit. The spirit was sent to the apostles; which spirit was present with them, sith it is present everie-where: but then according to the will of God the father hee shewed himselfe present and powerfull.Some man may saie; If sending be a revealing and laieng open of presence and power, then may the father be said to be sent, bicause he himselfe is also revealed. I answer, that when the spirit is said to be sent, not onlie the revealing, but the order also of his revealing isdeclared; bicause the will of the father and of the sonne, of whom he is sent, going before, not in time, but in order of persons, the spirit dooth reveale himselfe, the father, and also the sonne. The father revealeth himselfe by others, the sonne and the holie spirit, so that his will goeth before. Therefore sending is the common worke of all the three persons; howbeit, for order of dooing, it is distinguished by diverse names. The father will reveale himselfe unto men with the sonne and the spirit, and be powerfull in them, and therefore is said to send. The sonne and the spirit doo assent unto the will of the father, and will that to be doone by themselves, which God will to be doone by them; these are said to be sent. And bicause the will of the sonne dooth go before the spirit in order of persons, he is also said to send the spirit.9. Objectiō. The spirit speaketh not of himselfe.Yet for all this they allege, that if the spirit had perfection, then would he speake of himselfe, and not stand in need alwaies of anothers admonishment: but he speaketh not of himselfe, but speaketh what he heareth, as Christ expresselie testifiethJohn.16.Ergohe is unperfect, and whatsoever he hath it is by partaking, and consequentlie he is not God.*Whereto* The 9. answer.I answer, that this argument is stale: for it was objected by heretikes long ago against them that held the true opinion, asCyrillCyrill. lib. 13. thesaur. cap. 3.saith; who answereth, that by the words of Christ is rather to be gathered, that the son and the spirit are of the same substance. For, the spirit is named the mind of Christ. 1.Cor.2: and therefore he speaketh not of his owne proper will, or against his will in whom and from whom he is; but hath all his will and working naturallie proceeding from the substance as it were of him.10. Objection.Lastlie they argue thus: Everie thing is either unbegotten or unborne, or begotten and created; the spirit is not unbegotten,/557.for then he were the father; & so there should be two without beginning: neither is he begotten, for then he is begotten of the father, and so there shall be two/399.sonnes, both brothers; or hee is begotten of the sonne, and then shall he be Gods nephue, than the which what can be imagined more absurd?Ergohe is created.*Wherto* 10. Ans. The spirit proceedethI answer, that the division or distribution is unperfect: for that member is omitted which is noted of the verie best divine that ever was, even Jesus Christ our saviour; namelie, to have proceeded, or proceeding: That same holie spirit (saith he) which proceedeth from the father. Which placeNazanzendooth thus interpret. The spirit, bicause he proceedeth from thence, is not a creature: and bicause he is not begotten, he is not the son; but bicause he is the meane of begotten and unbegotten, he shall be God, &c.And thus having avoided all these cavils of the *Pneumatomachi,* Such were the Arrians, Tritheits,† Samosatenians, &c.† [Tritheists]asect of heretikes too too injurious to the holie spirit, insomuch as they seeke what they can, to rob and pull from him the right of his divinitie; I will all Christians to take heed of their pestilent opinions, the poison whereof though to them that be resolved in the truth it can doo little hurt, yet to such as stand upon a wavering point it can doo no great good. Having thus far waded against them, and overthrowne their opinions; I must needs exhort all to whom the reading hereof shall come, that first they consider with themselves what a reverend mysterie all that hitherto hath beene said in this chapter concerneth; namelie, the spirit of sanctification, and that they so ponder places to and fro, as that they reserve unto the holie spirit the glorious title of divinitie, which by nature is to him appropriate: esteeming of thesePneumatomachiorTheomachi,Sus magis in cœno gaudet quàm fonte sereno.as of swine, delighting more in the durtie draffe of their devises, than in the faire fountaine water of Gods word: yea, condemning them of grosser ignorance than the old philosophers, who though they savoured little of heavenlie theologie, yet some illumination they had of the holie and divine spirit,The hethenish philosophers acknowledged the holie spirit.marrie it was somewhat mistie, darke, lame and limping; neverthelesse, what it was, and how much or little soever it was, they gave thereunto a due reverence, in that they acknowledged and intituled itAnimam mundi, The soule or life of the world, and (asNazanzenwitnesseth) τὸν τοῦ παντος νοῦν, The/558.mind of the universall, and the outward breath, or the breath that commeth from without.PorphyrieCyrill. lib. 1. contra Julianum.expounding the opinion ofPlato, who was not utterlie blind in this mysterie, saith that the divine substance doth proceed and extend to three subsistencies and beings: and that God is chieflie and principallie good, next him the second creator, and the third to be the soule of the world: for he holdeth that the divinitie doth extend even to this soule. As forHermes Trismegistus, he saith that all things have need of this spirit: for according to his worthinesse he supporteth all, he quickeneth and susteineth all, and he is derived from the holie fountaine, giving breath and life unto all, and evermore remaineth continuall, plentifull, and unemptied.And here by the waie I give you a note woorth reading and considering; namelie, how all nations in a manner, by a kind of heavenlie influence, agree in writing and speaking the name of God with no more than foure letters.Marsilius Ficinus in arg. in Cratyl. Plat.As for example, theÆgyptiansdoo call himTheut, thePersianscall himSyre, theJewesexpresse his unspeakable name as well as they can by/400.the wordAdonaiconsisting of foure vowels; theArabianscall himAlla, theMahometistscall himAbdi, theGreekescall himTheos, theLatinescall himDeus,&c.This, although it be not so proper to our present purpose, yet (because we are in hand with the holie spirits deitie) is not altogetherimpertinent. But why GOD would have his name as it were universallie bounded within the number of foure letters, I can give sundrie reasons, which require too long a discourse of words by digression: and therefore I will conceale them for this time. These opinions of philosophers I have willinglie remembred, that it might appeare, that the doctrine concerning the holie spirit is verie ancient; which they having taken either out ofMoseswritings, or out of the works of the old fathers, published and set foorth in bookes, though not wholie, fullie, and perfectlie understood and knowne: and also that ourPneumatomachimay see themselves to be more doltish in divine matters than the heathen, who will not acknowledge that essentiall and working power of the divinitie wherby all things are quickened: which the heathen did after a sort see; after a sort (I saie) bicause they separated the soule of the world (which they also call the begotten mind) from the most sovereigne and unbe/gotten559.God, and imagined certeine differences of degrees, and (asCyrillsaith) did Arrianize** [Arianize]in the trinitie.So then I conclude against thesePneumatomachi, that in so much as they imitate the old giants, who piling upPelionOvid. lib. metamorph. 1 fab. 5. de gigantib. cœlum obsident.uponOssa, and them both uponOlympus, attempted by scaling the heavens to pullJupiterout of his throne of estate, & to spoile him of his principalitie, and were notwithstanding their strength, whereby they were able to carrie huge hilles on their shoulders, overwhelmed with those mountaines, and squized under the weight of them even to the death: so thesePneumatomachi, being enimies both to the holie spirit, and no freends to the holie church (for then would they confesse the trinitie in unitie, and the unitie in trinitie, and consequentlie also the deitie of the holie spirit) deserve to be consumed with the fier of his mouth, the heate whereof by no meanes can be slaked, quenched, or avoided. For there is nothing more unnaturall, nothing more monstrous, than against the person of the deitie (I meane the spirit of sanctification) to oppose mans power, mans wit, mans policie, &c: which was well signified by that poeticall fiction of the giants, who were termedAnguipedes, Snakefooted: which asJoachimus Camerariusexpoundeth of wicked counsellors, to whose filthie persuasion tyrants doo trust as unto their feete; andJames SadoletJacob. Sadol. in lib. de laud. philosoph. inscript. Phædrus.interpreteth of philosophers, who trusting overmuch unto their owne wits, become so bold in challenging praise for their wisedome, that in fine all turneth to follie and confusion: so I expound of heretickes and schismatikes, who either by corrupt doctrine, or by mainteining precise opinions, or by open violence, &c: assaie to overthrow the true religion, to breake the unitie of the church, to denieCæsarhis homage, and GOD his dutie, &c: and therefore letJovis fulmen, wherewith they were slaine,assure these that there isDivina ultiodue to all such, as dare in the ficklenes of their fansies arreare themselves against the holie spirit; of whom sith they are ashamed here upon earth (otherwise they would confidentlie and boldlie confesse him both/401.with mouth and pen) he will be ashamed of them in heaven, where they are like to be so farre from having anie societie with the saints, that their portion shalbe even in full and shaken measure with miscreants and infidels. And therefore let us,/560.if we will discerne and trie the spirits whether they be of God or no, seeke for the illumination of this inlightning spirit, which as it bringeth light with it to discover all spirits, so it giveth such a fierie heat, as that no false spirit can abide by it for feare of burning. Howbeit the holie spirit must be in us, otherwise this prerogative of trieng spirits will not fall to our lot.Peter Mart. in loc. com. part. 2. cap. 18. sect. 33. pag. 628.But here some will peradventure move a demand, and doo aske how the holie spirit is in us, considering thatInfiniti ad finitum nulla est proportio, neque loci angustia quod immensum est potest circumscribi: of that which is infinite, to that which is finite there is no proportion; neither can that which is unmeasurable be limited or bounded within anie precinct of place, &c. I answer, that the most excellent father for Christes sake sendeth him unto us, according as Christ promised us in the person of his apostles; The comforter (saith he)John. 14, 26.which is the holie spirit, whome my father will send in my name. And as for proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite, &c: I will in no case have it thought, that the holie spirit is in us, as a bodie placed in a place terminablie; but to attribute thereunto, as dulie belongeth to the deitie, an ubiquitie, or universall presence; not corporallie and palpablie; but effectuallie, mightilie, mysticallie, divinelie, &c.John. 16, 14. & 14, 16.Yea, and this I may boldlie adde, that Christ Jesus sendeth him unto us from the father: neither is he given us for anie other end, but to inrich us abundantlie with all good gifts and excellent graces; and (among the rest) with the dis- cerning of spirits aright, that we be not deceived. And here an end.FINIS.
Against fond witchmongers, and their opinions concerning corporall divels.
NOW, howBrian Darcieshe spirits and shee spirits, Tittie and Tiffin, Suckin and Pidgin, Liard and Robin, &c: his white spirits and blacke spirits, graie spirits and red spirits, divell tode and divell lambe, divels cat and divels dam, agree herewithall, or can stand consonant with the word of GOD, or true philosophie, let heaven and earth judge. In the meane time, let anie man with good consideration peruse that booke published byW. W.The booke of W. W. published, &c.and it shall suffice to satisfie him in all that may be required touching the vanities of the witches examinations, confessions, and executions: where, though the tale be told onlie of the accusers part, without anie other answer of theirs than their adversarie setteth downe; mine assertion will be sufficientlie prooved true. And bicause it seemeth to be performed with some kind of authoritie, I will saie no more for the confutation thereof, but referre you to the booke it selfe; whereto if nothing be added that may make to their reproch, I dare warrant nothing is left out that may serve to their condemnation. See whether the witnesses be not single of what credit, sex and age they are; namelie lewd, miserable, and envious poore people; most of them which/389.speake to anie purpose being old women, & children of the age of 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. or 9. yeares.
And note how and what the witches confesse, and see of what weight and importance the causes are; whether their confessions/543.be not woonne through hope of favour, and extorted by flatterie or threats, without proofe. But in so much as there were not past seventeene or eighteene condemned at once at S.OseesAt S. Osees 17. or 18. witches cōdemned at once.in the countie ofEssex, being a whole parish (though of no great quantitie) I will saie the lesse: trusting that by this time there remaine not manie in that parish. If anie be yet behind, I doubt not, butBrian Darciewill find them out; who, if he lacke aid,Richard GallisofWindesorwere meete to be associated with him; whichGallishath set foorth another booke to that effect, of certeine witches ofWindsoreexecutedatAbington. But with what impudencie and dishonestie he hath finished it, with what lies and forgeries he hath furnished it, what follie and frensie he hath uttered in it; I am ashamed to report: and therefore being but a two pennie booke, I had rather desire you to buie it, and so to peruse it, than to fill my booke with such beastlie stuffe.
A conclusion wherein the Spirit of spirits is described, by the illumination of which spirit all spirits are to be tried: with a confutation of the Pneumatomachi flatlie denieng the divinitie of this Spirit.
TOUCHING the manifold signification of this word [Spirit]*[*[] in text.]I have elsewhere in this breefe discourse told you my mind: which is a word nothing differing in Hebrue from breath or wind. For all these words following; to wit,Spiritus,Ventus,Flatus,Halitus, are indifferentlie used by the Holie-ghost, and called by this Hebrue wordרוחin the sacred scripture. For further proofe whereof I cite unto you the words ofIsaie;Isai. 30, 28.For his spirit (or breath) is as a river that overfloweth up to the necke, &c: in which place the prophet describeth the comming of God in heate and indignation unto judgement, &c. I cite also unto you the words ofZacharie;Zach. 6, 5.These are the foure spirits of the heaven, &c. Likewise inGenesis;Gen. 1, 2.And the spirit of GOD mooved upon the waters. Moreover, I cite unto you the words of Christ;Joh. 3, 8.The spirit (or/544.wind) bloweth where it listeth. Unto which said places infinite more might be added out of holie writ, tending all to this purpose; namelie, to give us this for a note, that all the saiengs above cited, with manie more that I could alledge, where mention is made of spirit, the Hebrue text useth no word but one; to wit,רוחwhich signifieth (as I said)Spiritum,ventum,flatum,halitum; which may be Englished, Spirit, wind, blast, breath.
But before I enter upon the verie point of my purpose, it shall not be amisse, to make you acquainted with the collection of a certeine Schoole divine, who distinguisheth and divideth this word [Spirit]**Eras. Sarcer. in dictio. Scholast. doctr. lit. S.into six significations; saieng that it is sometimes taken for the aier, sometimes for the wind, sometimes for/390.the bodies of the blessed, sometimes for the soules of the blessed, sometimes for the power imaginative or the mind of man; and sometimes for God. Againehe saith, that of spirits there are two sorts, some created and some uncreated.
A spirit uncreated (saith he) is God himselfe, and it is essentiallie taken, and agreeth unto the three persons notionallie, to the Father, the Sonne, and the Holie-ghost personallie. A spirit created is a creature, and that is likewise of two sorts; to wit, bodilie, and bodilesse. A bodilie spirit is also of two sorts: for some kind of spirit is so named of spiritualnes, as it is distinguished from bodilinesse: otherwise it is calledSpiritus á spirando, id est, á flando, of breathing or blowing, as the wind dooth.
A bodilesse spirit is one waie so named of spiritualnes, and then it is taken for a spirituall substance; and is of two sorts: some make a full and complet kind, and is called complet or perfect, as a spirit angelicall: some doo not make a full and perfect kind, and is called incomplet or unperfect, as the soule. There is also the spirit vitall, which is a certeine subtill or verie fine substance necessarilie disposing and tending unto life. There be moreover spirits naturall, which are a kind of subtill and verie fine substances, disposing and tending unto equall complexions of bodies. Againe there be spirits animall, which are certeine subtill and verie fine substances disposing and tempering the bodie, that it might be animated of the forme, that is, that it might be perfected of the reasonable soule. Thus farre he. In whose division you see a philosophicall kind of proceeding, though not altogether/545.to be condemned, yet in everie point not to be approoved.
Erasm. Sar. in lib. loc. & lit. prædictis.Now to the spirit of spirits, I meane the principall and holie spirit of God, which one defineth or rather describeth to be the third person in trinitie issuing from the father and the sonne, no more the charitie dilection and love of the father and the sonne, than the father is the charitie dilection and love of the sonne and Holie-ghost. An other treating upon the same argument, proceedeth in this reverent manner:Laurent. à Villavicentio in phrasib. s. script. lit. S. pag. 176.The holie spirit is the vertue or power of God, quickening, nourishing, fostering and perfecting all things: by whose onlie breathing it commeth to passe that we both know and love GOD, and become at the length like unto him: which spirit is the pledge and earnest pennie of grace, and beareth witnesse unto our heart, whiles wee crieAbba, Father.Rom. 8, 15.2. Cor. 6, 5.This spirit is called the spirit of GOD, the spirit of Christ, and the spirit of him which raised up Jesus from the dead.
Jesus Christ, for that he received not the spirit by measure, but in fulnesse, doth call it his spirit; saieng:John. 15, 26.When the comforter shall come, whome I will send, even the holie spirit, he shall testifie of me. This spirit hath diverse metaphoricall names attributed thereunto in the holie scriptures. It is called by the name of water,bicause it washeth, comforteth, moisteneth, softeneth, and maketh fruitefull with all godlinesse and vertues the minds of men, which otherwise would be uncleane, comfortlesse, hard, drie, and barren of all goodnesse: wherupon the prophetIsaieIsai. 44.saith; I will powre water upon the thirstie, and floods upon the drie ground, &c./391.Wherewith-all the words of Christ doo agree;John. 7, 38.Hee that beleeveth in me, as saith the scripture, out of his bellie shall flowe rivers of waters of life. And else where;John. 4, 14.Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never be more a thirst. Other places likewise there be, wherein the holie spirit is signified by the name of water and flood: as in the 13. ofIsaie, the 29. ofEzech.the 146.Psalme,&c.The same spirit by reason of the force and vehemencie thereof is termed fier. For it doth purifie and cleanse the whole man from top to toe, it doth burne out the soile and drosse of sinnes, and setteth him all in a flaming and hot burning zeale to preferre and further God’s glorie. Which plainelie appeared in the apostles, who when they had re/ceived546.the spirit, they spake fierie words, yea such words as were uncontrollable, in so much as in none more than in them this saieng of the prophetJeremieJer. 23, 29.was verified,Nunquid non verba mea sunt quasi ignis?Are not my words even as it were fier? This was declared and shewed by those fierie toongs, which were seene upon the apostles after they had received the holie spirit.
Moreover, this spirit is called annointing, or ointment, bicause that as in old time preests and kings were by annointing deputed to their office and charge, and so were made fit and serviceable for the same: even so the elect are not so much declared as renewed and made apt by the training up of the holie spirit, both to live well and also to glorifie God. Whereupon dependeth the saieng ofJohn;1. Joh. 2, 20.And yee have no need that anie should teach you, but as the same ointment doth teach you. It is also called in scripture, The oile of gladnesse and rejoising, whereof it is said in the booke ofPsalmes;Psal. 44.God even thy God hath annointed thee with the oile of joy & gladnes, &c.Cyrill. in evang. Joh. lib. 3. cap. 14.And by this goodlie and comfortable name of oile in the scriptures is the mercie of God oftentimes expressed, because the nature of that doth agree with the propertie and qualitie of this. For as oile doth flote and swim above all other liquors, so the mercie of God doth surpasse and overreach all his works, and the same doth most of all disclose it selfe to miserable man.
Exod. 8.It is likewise called the finger of God, that is, the might and power of God: by the vertue whereof the apostles did cast out divels; to wit, even by the finger of God. It is called the spirit of truth, because it maketh men true and faithfull in their vocation: and for that it is the touchstone to trie all counterfet devises of mans braine,and all vaine sciences, prophane practises, deceitfull arts, and circumventing inventions; such as be in generall all sorts of witchcrafts and inchantments, within whose number are comprehended all those wherewith I have had some dealing in this my discoverie; to wit, charmes or incantations, divinations, augurie, judiciall astrologie, nativitie casting, alcumystrie, conjuration, lotshare, poperie which is meere paltrie, with diverse other: not one wherof no nor all together are able to stand to the triall and examination, which this spirit of truth shall and will take of those false and evill spirits. Naie, they shalbe found, when/547.they are laid into the balance, to be lighter than vanitie: verie drosse, when they once come to be tried by the fervent heate of this spirit; and like chaffe, when this spirit bloweth upon them, driven awaie with a violent whirlewind: such is the per/fection,392.integritie, and effectuall operation of this spirit, whose working as it is manifold, so it is marvellous, and therefore may and is called the spirit of spirits.
The holie spirit can abide nothing that is carnall, and uncleane.This spirit withdrawing it selfe from the harts of men, for that it will not inhabit and dwell where sinne hath dominion, giveth place unto the spirit of error and blindnesse, to the spirit of servitude and compunction, which biteth, gnaweth, and whetteth their harts with a deadlie hate of the gospell; in so much as it greeveth their minds and irketh their eares either to heare or understand the truth; of which disease properlie the phariseis of old were, and the papists even now are sicke. Yea, the want of this good spirit is the cause that manie fall into the spirit of perversenes and frowardnes, into the spirit of giddinesse, lieng, drowzines, and dulnesse: according as the prophetIsaieIsai. 29, 10.saith; For the Lord hath covered you with a spirit of slumber, and hath shut up your eies: and againe else-where,Dominus miscuit in medio, &c:Isai. 19, 14.The Lord hath mingled among them the spirit of giddinesse, and hath madeAegyptto erre, as a dronken man erreth in his vomit: as it is said byPaule;Ro. 1, 21, 23.And their foolish hart was blinded, and God gave them over unto their owne harts lusts. Which punishmentMosesDeuter. 28, 28, 29.threateneth unto the Jews; The Lord shall smite thee with madnesse, with blindnesse and amazednesse of mind, and thou shalt grope at high noone as a blind man useth to grope, &c.
In summe, this word [Spirit] dooth signifie a secret force and power, wherewith our minds are mooved and directed; if unto holie things, then is it the motion of the holie spirit, of the spirit of Christ and of God: if unto evill things, then is it the suggestion of the wicked spirit, of the divell, and of satan.A question.Whereupon I inferre, by the waie of a question, with what spirit we are to suppose such to be mooved, as either practise anie of the vanities treated upon in thisbooke, or through credulitie addict themselves thereunto as unto divine oracles, or the voice of angels breakeing through the clouds? We cannot impute this motion unto/548.the good spirit; for then they should be able toAn answer.discerne betweene the nature of spirits, and not swarve in judgement: it followeth therefore, that the spirit of blindnes and error dooth seduce them; so that it is no mervell if in the alienation of their minds they take falsehood for truth, shadowes for substances, fansies for verities, &c: for it is likelieA great likelihood no doubt.that the good spirit of God hath forsaken them, or at leastwise absented it selfe from them: else would they detest these divelish devises of men, which consist of nothing but delusions and vaine practises, whereof (I suppose) this my booke to be a sufficient discoverie.
Judgement distinguished.It will be said that I ought not to judge, for he that judgeth shalbe judged. Whereto I answer, that judgement is to be understood of three kind of actions in their proper nature; whereof the first are secret, and the judgement of them shall apperteine to God, who in time will disclose what so ever is done in covert, and that by his just judgement. The second are mixed actions, taking part of hidden and part of open, so that by reason of their uncerteintie and doubtfulnes they are discussable and to be tried; these after due examination are to have their competent judgement, and are incident to the magistrate. The third are manifest and/393.evident, and such as doo no lesse apparentlie shew themselves than an inflammation of bloud in the bodie: and of these actions everie private man giveth judgement, bicause they be of such certeintie, as that of them a man may as well conclude, as to gather, that bicause the sunne is risen in the east,Ergo*[*Ital.]it is morning: he is come about and is full south,Ergo* it is high noone; he is declining and closing up in the west,Ergo* it is evening. So that the objection is answered.
Howbeit, letting this passe, and spirituallie to speake of this spirit, which whiles manie have wanted, it hath come to passe that they have prooved altogether carnall; & not savouring heavenlie divinitie have tumbled into worsse than philosophicall barbarisme:*Josias Simlerus li. 4. ca. 5. adversus veteres & novos Antitrinitarios, &c.& these be such as of writers are calledPneumatomachi, a sect so injurious to the holie spirit of God, that contemning the sentence of Christ, wherein he foretelleth that the sinne against the holie spirit is never to be pardoned, neither in this world nor in the world to come, they doo not onelie denie him to be God, but also pull from him all being, and with theSadducesmain/teine549.there is none such; but that under and by the name of holie spirit is ment a certeine divine force, wherewith our minds are mooved, and the grace and favour of God whereby we are his beloved. Against these shamelesse enimies of the holie spirit, I will not use materiall weapons, but syllogisticall charmes. Andfirst I will set downe some of their paralogysmes or false arguments; and upon the necke of them inferre fit confutations grounded upon sound reason and certeine truth.
1. Objectiō. The scripture dooth never call the holie spirit God.Their first argument is knit up in this manner. The holie spirit is no where expresselie called God in the scriptures;Ergohe is not God, or at leastwise he is not to be called God. The antecedent of this argument is false; bicause the holie spirit hath the title or name of God in the fift of theActs.* The first answer. A refutation of the antecedent, &c.Againe, the consequent is false. For although he were not expresselie called God, yet should it not therupon be concluded that he is not verie God; bicause unto him are attributed all the properties of God, which unto this doo equallie belong. And as we denie not that the father is the true light, although it be not directlie written of the father, but of the sonne; He was the true light giving light to everie man that cōmeth into this world: so likewise it is not to be denied, that the spirit is God, although the scripture dooth not expresselie and simplie note it; sithence it ascribeth equall things thereunto; as the properties of God, the works of God, the service due to GOD, and that it dooth interchangeablie take the names of Spirit and of God oftentimes. They therefore that see these things attributed unto the holie spirit, and yet will not suffer him to be called by the name of God; doo as it were refuse to grant untoEvethe name ofHomo,†[†Ital.]whome notwithstanding they confesse to be a creature reasonable and mortall.
The second reason is this.Hilarie2. Objectiō.Hilariedoth not call the spirit God, neither is he so named in the common collects.in all his twelve bookes of the Trinitie dooth no where write that the holie spirit is to be worshipped; he never giveth therunto the name of God, neither dares he otherwise pronounce thereof, than that it is the spirit of God. Besides this, there are usuall praiers of the church commonlie called the Collects, whereof some are made to the father, some to the sonne, but none to the holie spirit; and/395[4].yet in them all mention is made of the three persons. *Hereunto* The 2. answer.I answer, that althoughHilariedooth not openlie call the holie spirit, God:/550.yet doth he constantly denie it to be a creature. Now if any aske me whyHilariewas so coie & nice to name the holie spirit, God, whom he denieth to be a creature, when as notwithstanding betweene God and a creature there is no meane: I will in good sooth saie what I thinke. I suppose thatHilarie,Hilarius lib. 12. de Triadefor himselfe, thought well of the godhead of the holie spirit: but this opinion was thrust and forced upon him of thePneumatomachi, who at that time rightlie deeming of the sonne did erwhiles joine themselves to those that were sound of judgement. There is also in the ecclesiasticall historie a little booke which they gaveLiberiusa bishop ofRome, whereinto they foisted theNicenecreed. And thatHilariewas a freend of thePneumatomachi, it is perceived in his bookeDe synodis,where he writeth in this maner;The place is long, and therefore I had rather referre the reader unto the booke than heere to insert so many lines.Nihil autem mirum vobis videri debet, fratres charissimi, &c: It ought to seeme no wonder unto you deere brethren, &c. As for the objection of the praiers of the church called the collects, that in them the holie spirit is not called upon by name: we oppose and set against them the songs of the church, wherein the said spirit is called upon. But the collects are more ancient than the songs, hymnes, and anthems. I will not now contend about ancientnesse, neither will I compare songs and collects togither; but I say thus much onelie, to wit, that in the most ancient times of the church the holie spirit hath beene openlie called upon in the congregation. Now if I be charged to give an instance, let this serve. In the collect upon trinitie sundaie it is thus said: Almightie and everlasting God,Collecta in die domin. sanctæ Trinit.which hast given unto us thy servants grace by the confession of a truth to acknowledge the glorie of the eternall trinitie, and in the power of the divine Majestie to worship the unitie: we beseech thee that thorough the stedfastnesse of this faith, we may evermore be defended from all adversitie, which livest and reignest one God world without end. Now bicause that in this collect, where the trinitie is expresselie called upon, the names of persons are not expressed; but almightie and everlasting God invocated, who abideth in trinitie and unitie; it doth easilie appeare elsewhere also that the persons being not named, under the name of almightie and everlasting God, not onelie the father*[* ? is]to be understood, but God which abideth in trinitie and unitie, that is the father, the sonne, and the Holie-ghost./
551.A third objection of theirs is this.3. Objectiō. The spirit is not to be praied unto but the father onlie.The sonne of GOD oftentimes praieng in the gospels, speaketh unto the father, promiseth the holie spirit, and dooth also admonish the apostles to praie unto the heavenlie father, but yet in the name of the sonne. Besides that, he prescribeth them this forme of praier: Our father which art in heaven.Ergo†[†Ital.]the father onlie is to be called upon, and consequentlie the father onelie is that one and verie true God, of whome it is written; Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him onelie shalt thou serve.
*Whereto* 3. Answer. The consequent is denied.I answer first by denieng the consequent; The sonne praied to the father onelie,Ergo[B] the father onlie is of us also to be praied unto. For the sonne of GOD is distinguished of us both in person and in office: he as a mediator maketh intercession for us to the father: and although the/395.sonne and the holie spirit doo both togither receive and take us into favour with God; yet is he said to intreat the father for us; bicause the father is the fountaine of all counsels & divine works. Furthermore, touching the forme of praieng prescribed of Christ, it is not necessarie that the fathersname shuld personallie be there taken, sith there is no distinction of persons made: but by the name of father indefinitelie we understand God or the essence of God, the father, the son, and the Holie-ghost. For this name hath not alwaies a respect unto the generation of the sonne of God; but God is called the father of the faithfull, bicause of his gratious and free adopting of them, the foundation whereof is the sonne of God, in whom we be adopted: but yet so adopted, that not the father onelie receiveth us into his favour; but with him also the sonne and the holy spirit dooth the same. Therefore when we in the beginning of praier doo advertise our selves of Gods goodnesse towards us; we doo not cast an eie to the father alone, but also to the sonne, who gave us the spirit of adoption; and to the holie spirit, in whom we crieAbba, Father. And if so be that invocation and praier were restreined to the father alone, then had the saints doone amisse, in calling upon, invocating, and praieng to the sonne of God, and with the sonne the holy spirit, in baptisme, according to the forme by Christ himselfe assigned and delivered.
Another objection is out of the fourth ofAmos,[Am. 4, 13.]in this maner. For lo it is I that make the thunder, and create the spirit, and/552.shew unto men their Christ,4. Objectiō. Amos saith that the spirit was created.making the light and the clouds, and mounting above the hie places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is his name. Now bicause it is read in that place, Shewing unto men their Christ; thePneumatomachicontended that these words are to be understood of the holie spirit.
*But* 4. Answer. Spirit in this place signifieth wind.Ambrosein his bookeDe spiritu sancto, lib. 2. cap. 7.doth rightlie answer, that by spirit in this place is ment the wind: for if the prophets purpose and will had beene to speake of the holie spirit, he would not have begunne with thunder, nor have ended with light and clouds. Howbeit, the same father saith; If anie suppose that these words are to be drawne unto the interpretation of the holie spirit, bicause the prophet saith, Shewing unto men their Christ; he ought also to draw these words unto the mysterie of the Lords incarnation: and he expoundeth thunder to be the words of the Lord, and spirit to be the reasonable and perfect soule. But the former interpretation is certeine and convenient with the words of the prophet, by whom there is no mention made of Christ; but the power of God is set foorth in his works. Behold (saith the prophet) he that formeth the mountaines, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, which maketh the morning darknesse, and walketh upon the hie places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is his name. In this sortSantesTo create is not him to be made that was not.a right skilfull man in the Hebrew toong translateth this place of the prophet. But admit this place were written of the holie spirit, & were not appliable either to thewind or to the Lords incarnation: yet doth it not follow that the holie spirit is a creature; bicause this word of Creating doth not alwaies signifie a making of something out of nothing; asEusebiusEuseb. Cæsariens. li. 3. adversus Marcellum.in expounding these words (The Lord created me in the beginning of his waies) writeth thus. The prophet in the person of God,/396.saieng; Behold I am he that made the thunder, and created the spirit, and shewed unto men their Christ: this word Created is not so to be taken, as that it is to be concluded thereby, that the same was not before. For God hath not so created the spirit, sithence by the same he hath shewed & declared his Christ unto all men. Neither was it a thing of late beginning under the sonne: but it was before all beginning, and was then sent, when the apostles were gathered togither, when a sound like thunder came/553.from heaven, as it had beene the comming of a mightie wind: this word Created being used for sent downe, for appointed, ordeined, &c: and the word thunder signifieng in another kind of maner the preaching of the gospels. The like saieng is that of thePsalmist, A cleane hart create in me O God: wherein he praied not as one having no hart, but as one that had such a hart as needed purifieng, as needed perfecting: & this phrase also of the scripture, That he might create two in one new man; that is, that he might joine, couple, or gather together, &c.
5. Objectiō. All things were made by the son,Ergothe spirit was also made by him.Furthermore, thePneumatomachiby these testimonies insuing endevor to proove the holie spirit to be a creature. Out ofJohnthe 1. chap. By this word were all things made, and without it nothing was made. Out of 1.Cor.8. Wee have one God the father, even he from whome are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whome are all things, and we by him. Out of the 1.Coloss.By him were all things made, things in heaven, and things in earth, visible and invisible, &c. Now if al things were made by the sonne, it followeth that by him the holie spirit was also made.
*Whereto* 5. Answer. Universall propositiōs or speeches are to be restrained.I answer, that when all things are said to be made by the sonne, that same universall proposition is restrained byJohnhimselfe to a certeine kind of things: Without him (saith the evangelist) was nothing made that was made. Therefore it is first to be shewed that the holie spirit was made, and then will we conclude out ofJohn, that if he were made, he was made of the sonne. The scripture doth no where saie that the holie spirit was made of the father or of the sonne, but to proceed, to come, and to be sent from them both. Now if these universall propositions are to suffer no restraint, it shall follow that the father was made of the sonne: than the which what is more absurd and wicked?
6. Objectiō. The spirit knoweth not the father & the sonne.Againe, they object out ofMatth.11. None knoweth the sonnebut the father, and none the father but the sonne; to wit, of and by himselfe: for otherwise both the angels, & to whomsoever else it shall please the sonne to reveale the father, these doo know both the father and the sonne. Now if so be the spirit be not equall with the father and the sonne in knowledge, he is not onelie unequall and lesser than they, but also no God: for ignorance is not/554.incident unto God.
*Whereto* 6. Answer. How exclusive propositions or speeches are to be interpreted.I answer, that where in holie scripture we doo meete with universall propositions negative or exclusive, they are not to be expounded of one person, so as the rest are excluded; but creatures or false gods are to be excluded, and whatsoever else is without or beside the essence and being of God. Reasons to proove and confirme this interpretation, I could bring verie manie, whereof I will adde some for example. In the seaventh ofJohnit is said; When Christ shall come, none shall knowe from whence he is: notwithstanding which words the Jewes thought that neither God nor his angels should be ignorant from whence Christ/397.should be. In the fourth to theGalathians; A mans covenant or testament confirmed with authoritie no bodie dooth abrogate, or adde anie thing thereunto. No just man dooth so; but tyrants and truce-breakers care not for covenants. InJohneight; Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the middest. And yet it is not to be supposed that a multitude of people was not present, and the disciples of Christ likewise; but the wordSolus, alone, is referred to the woman’s accusers, who withdrew themselves awaie everie one, and departed. In the sixt ofMarke; When it was evening, the ship was in the middest of the sea, and he alone upon land: he was not alone upon land or shore, for the same was not utterlie void of dwellers: but he had not anie of his disciples with him, nor anie bodie to carrie him a shipboord unto his disciples. Manie phrases or formes of speeches like unto these are to be found in the sacred scriptures, and in authors both Greeke and Latine, whereby we understand, that neither universall negative nor exclusive particles are strictlie to be urged, but to be explaned in such sort as the matter in hand will beare. When as therefore the sonne alone is said to know the father, and it is demanded whether the holie spirit is debarred from knowing the father; out of other places of scriptures judgment is to be given in this case. In some places the holie spirit is counted and reckoned with the father and the sonne jointlie: wherefore he is not to be separated. Else-where also it is attributed to the holie spirit that he alone dooth know the things which be of God, and searcheth the deepe secrets of God: wherefore from him the knowing of God is not to be excluded./
555.7. Objectiō. The spirit praieth for us.They doo yet further object, that it is not convenient or fit for God after the manner of suters to humble and cast downe himselfe: but the holie spirit dooth so, praieng and intreating for us with unspeakeable grones:Rom.8.Ergothe holie spirit is not God.
*Whereto* 7. Answer. The spirit dooth provoke us to praie.I answer that the holie spirit dooth praie and intreat, in so much as he provoketh us to praie, and maketh us to grone and sigh. Oftentimes also in the scriptures is that action or deed attributed unto God, which we being stirred up and mooved by him doo bring to passe. So it is said of God untoAbraham; Now I know that thou fearest God: and yet before he would have sacrificedIsaach, God knew the verie heart ofAbraham: and therefore this wordCognovi, I know, is as much asCognoscere feci, I have made or caused to know. And that the spirit to praie and intreat, is the same that, to make to praie and intreat, the apostle teacheth even there, writing that we have received the spirit of adoption, in whome we crieAbbaFather. Where it is manifest that it is we which crie, the Holie-ghost provoking and forcing us thereunto.
8. Objectiō. The spirit is sent from the father and the son.Howbeit they go further, and frame this reason. Whosoever is sent, the same is inferior and lesser than he of whome he is sent, and furthermore he is of a comprehensible substance, bicause he passeth by locall motion from place to place: but the holie spirit is sent of the father and the sonne,John.14, 15, & 16. It is powred foorth and shed upon men,Acts.10.Ergothe holie spirit is lesser than the Father and the Sonne, and of a comprehensible nature, and consequentlie not verie God./
398.*Whereto* 8. Answer. How the spirit is sent.I answer first, that he which is sent is not alwaies lesser than he that sendeth: to proove which position anie meane wit may inferre manie instances. Furthermore, touching the sending of the holie spirit, we are here to imagine no changing or shifting of place. For if the spirit when he goeth foorth from the father and is sent, changeth his place, then must the father also be in a place, that he may leave it and go to another. And as for the incomprehensible nature of the spirit, he cannot leaving his place passe unto another. Therefore the sending of the spirit is the eternall and unvariable will of God, to doo something by the holie spirit; and the revealing and executing of this will by the/556.operation and working of the spirit. The spirit was sent to the apostles; which spirit was present with them, sith it is present everie-where: but then according to the will of God the father hee shewed himselfe present and powerfull.
Some man may saie; If sending be a revealing and laieng open of presence and power, then may the father be said to be sent, bicause he himselfe is also revealed. I answer, that when the spirit is said to be sent, not onlie the revealing, but the order also of his revealing isdeclared; bicause the will of the father and of the sonne, of whom he is sent, going before, not in time, but in order of persons, the spirit dooth reveale himselfe, the father, and also the sonne. The father revealeth himselfe by others, the sonne and the holie spirit, so that his will goeth before. Therefore sending is the common worke of all the three persons; howbeit, for order of dooing, it is distinguished by diverse names. The father will reveale himselfe unto men with the sonne and the spirit, and be powerfull in them, and therefore is said to send. The sonne and the spirit doo assent unto the will of the father, and will that to be doone by themselves, which God will to be doone by them; these are said to be sent. And bicause the will of the sonne dooth go before the spirit in order of persons, he is also said to send the spirit.
9. Objectiō. The spirit speaketh not of himselfe.Yet for all this they allege, that if the spirit had perfection, then would he speake of himselfe, and not stand in need alwaies of anothers admonishment: but he speaketh not of himselfe, but speaketh what he heareth, as Christ expresselie testifiethJohn.16.Ergohe is unperfect, and whatsoever he hath it is by partaking, and consequentlie he is not God.
*Whereto* The 9. answer.I answer, that this argument is stale: for it was objected by heretikes long ago against them that held the true opinion, asCyrillCyrill. lib. 13. thesaur. cap. 3.saith; who answereth, that by the words of Christ is rather to be gathered, that the son and the spirit are of the same substance. For, the spirit is named the mind of Christ. 1.Cor.2: and therefore he speaketh not of his owne proper will, or against his will in whom and from whom he is; but hath all his will and working naturallie proceeding from the substance as it were of him.
10. Objection.Lastlie they argue thus: Everie thing is either unbegotten or unborne, or begotten and created; the spirit is not unbegotten,/557.for then he were the father; & so there should be two without beginning: neither is he begotten, for then he is begotten of the father, and so there shall be two/399.sonnes, both brothers; or hee is begotten of the sonne, and then shall he be Gods nephue, than the which what can be imagined more absurd?Ergohe is created.
*Wherto* 10. Ans. The spirit proceedethI answer, that the division or distribution is unperfect: for that member is omitted which is noted of the verie best divine that ever was, even Jesus Christ our saviour; namelie, to have proceeded, or proceeding: That same holie spirit (saith he) which proceedeth from the father. Which placeNazanzendooth thus interpret. The spirit, bicause he proceedeth from thence, is not a creature: and bicause he is not begotten, he is not the son; but bicause he is the meane of begotten and unbegotten, he shall be God, &c.
And thus having avoided all these cavils of the *Pneumatomachi,* Such were the Arrians, Tritheits,† Samosatenians, &c.† [Tritheists]asect of heretikes too too injurious to the holie spirit, insomuch as they seeke what they can, to rob and pull from him the right of his divinitie; I will all Christians to take heed of their pestilent opinions, the poison whereof though to them that be resolved in the truth it can doo little hurt, yet to such as stand upon a wavering point it can doo no great good. Having thus far waded against them, and overthrowne their opinions; I must needs exhort all to whom the reading hereof shall come, that first they consider with themselves what a reverend mysterie all that hitherto hath beene said in this chapter concerneth; namelie, the spirit of sanctification, and that they so ponder places to and fro, as that they reserve unto the holie spirit the glorious title of divinitie, which by nature is to him appropriate: esteeming of thesePneumatomachiorTheomachi,Sus magis in cœno gaudet quàm fonte sereno.as of swine, delighting more in the durtie draffe of their devises, than in the faire fountaine water of Gods word: yea, condemning them of grosser ignorance than the old philosophers, who though they savoured little of heavenlie theologie, yet some illumination they had of the holie and divine spirit,The hethenish philosophers acknowledged the holie spirit.marrie it was somewhat mistie, darke, lame and limping; neverthelesse, what it was, and how much or little soever it was, they gave thereunto a due reverence, in that they acknowledged and intituled itAnimam mundi, The soule or life of the world, and (asNazanzenwitnesseth) τὸν τοῦ παντος νοῦν, The/558.mind of the universall, and the outward breath, or the breath that commeth from without.PorphyrieCyrill. lib. 1. contra Julianum.expounding the opinion ofPlato, who was not utterlie blind in this mysterie, saith that the divine substance doth proceed and extend to three subsistencies and beings: and that God is chieflie and principallie good, next him the second creator, and the third to be the soule of the world: for he holdeth that the divinitie doth extend even to this soule. As forHermes Trismegistus, he saith that all things have need of this spirit: for according to his worthinesse he supporteth all, he quickeneth and susteineth all, and he is derived from the holie fountaine, giving breath and life unto all, and evermore remaineth continuall, plentifull, and unemptied.
And here by the waie I give you a note woorth reading and considering; namelie, how all nations in a manner, by a kind of heavenlie influence, agree in writing and speaking the name of God with no more than foure letters.Marsilius Ficinus in arg. in Cratyl. Plat.As for example, theÆgyptiansdoo call himTheut, thePersianscall himSyre, theJewesexpresse his unspeakable name as well as they can by/400.the wordAdonaiconsisting of foure vowels; theArabianscall himAlla, theMahometistscall himAbdi, theGreekescall himTheos, theLatinescall himDeus,&c.This, although it be not so proper to our present purpose, yet (because we are in hand with the holie spirits deitie) is not altogetherimpertinent. But why GOD would have his name as it were universallie bounded within the number of foure letters, I can give sundrie reasons, which require too long a discourse of words by digression: and therefore I will conceale them for this time. These opinions of philosophers I have willinglie remembred, that it might appeare, that the doctrine concerning the holie spirit is verie ancient; which they having taken either out ofMoseswritings, or out of the works of the old fathers, published and set foorth in bookes, though not wholie, fullie, and perfectlie understood and knowne: and also that ourPneumatomachimay see themselves to be more doltish in divine matters than the heathen, who will not acknowledge that essentiall and working power of the divinitie wherby all things are quickened: which the heathen did after a sort see; after a sort (I saie) bicause they separated the soule of the world (which they also call the begotten mind) from the most sovereigne and unbe/gotten559.God, and imagined certeine differences of degrees, and (asCyrillsaith) did Arrianize** [Arianize]in the trinitie.
So then I conclude against thesePneumatomachi, that in so much as they imitate the old giants, who piling upPelionOvid. lib. metamorph. 1 fab. 5. de gigantib. cœlum obsident.uponOssa, and them both uponOlympus, attempted by scaling the heavens to pullJupiterout of his throne of estate, & to spoile him of his principalitie, and were notwithstanding their strength, whereby they were able to carrie huge hilles on their shoulders, overwhelmed with those mountaines, and squized under the weight of them even to the death: so thesePneumatomachi, being enimies both to the holie spirit, and no freends to the holie church (for then would they confesse the trinitie in unitie, and the unitie in trinitie, and consequentlie also the deitie of the holie spirit) deserve to be consumed with the fier of his mouth, the heate whereof by no meanes can be slaked, quenched, or avoided. For there is nothing more unnaturall, nothing more monstrous, than against the person of the deitie (I meane the spirit of sanctification) to oppose mans power, mans wit, mans policie, &c: which was well signified by that poeticall fiction of the giants, who were termedAnguipedes, Snakefooted: which asJoachimus Camerariusexpoundeth of wicked counsellors, to whose filthie persuasion tyrants doo trust as unto their feete; andJames SadoletJacob. Sadol. in lib. de laud. philosoph. inscript. Phædrus.interpreteth of philosophers, who trusting overmuch unto their owne wits, become so bold in challenging praise for their wisedome, that in fine all turneth to follie and confusion: so I expound of heretickes and schismatikes, who either by corrupt doctrine, or by mainteining precise opinions, or by open violence, &c: assaie to overthrow the true religion, to breake the unitie of the church, to denieCæsarhis homage, and GOD his dutie, &c: and therefore letJovis fulmen, wherewith they were slaine,assure these that there isDivina ultiodue to all such, as dare in the ficklenes of their fansies arreare themselves against the holie spirit; of whom sith they are ashamed here upon earth (otherwise they would confidentlie and boldlie confesse him both/401.with mouth and pen) he will be ashamed of them in heaven, where they are like to be so farre from having anie societie with the saints, that their portion shalbe even in full and shaken measure with miscreants and infidels. And therefore let us,/560.if we will discerne and trie the spirits whether they be of God or no, seeke for the illumination of this inlightning spirit, which as it bringeth light with it to discover all spirits, so it giveth such a fierie heat, as that no false spirit can abide by it for feare of burning. Howbeit the holie spirit must be in us, otherwise this prerogative of trieng spirits will not fall to our lot.
Peter Mart. in loc. com. part. 2. cap. 18. sect. 33. pag. 628.But here some will peradventure move a demand, and doo aske how the holie spirit is in us, considering thatInfiniti ad finitum nulla est proportio, neque loci angustia quod immensum est potest circumscribi: of that which is infinite, to that which is finite there is no proportion; neither can that which is unmeasurable be limited or bounded within anie precinct of place, &c. I answer, that the most excellent father for Christes sake sendeth him unto us, according as Christ promised us in the person of his apostles; The comforter (saith he)John. 14, 26.which is the holie spirit, whome my father will send in my name. And as for proportion of that which is infinite to that which is finite, &c: I will in no case have it thought, that the holie spirit is in us, as a bodie placed in a place terminablie; but to attribute thereunto, as dulie belongeth to the deitie, an ubiquitie, or universall presence; not corporallie and palpablie; but effectuallie, mightilie, mysticallie, divinelie, &c.John. 16, 14. & 14, 16.Yea, and this I may boldlie adde, that Christ Jesus sendeth him unto us from the father: neither is he given us for anie other end, but to inrich us abundantlie with all good gifts and excellent graces; and (among the rest) with the dis- cerning of spirits aright, that we be not deceived. And here an end.
FINIS.