Direfl, 12• Pope1y by dell:)'ing Senje, denyeth all Humanity and (ertainty., further by the help of pivint Rcvelatio~ by faith. To argue Negatively againll the conclufions of Rea[on or Divine R(vclation, from the rneer negation of Jwfitive apprchtnfi(ln is to make a Bea{i of !11an. \Ve mufi,not be fo irra1ional or impiou1, as to fay, that there if nothing but what we have feen, or felt, or tall:t:d, &c. If we will believe others who have [ten ths.m, that chere are other p.1rrs of the world, we have full RCJfon to believe the !ealed tcfiimony of God himklf, that there are [uch fuperiour w~rlds and powers as he hath !old us.: . We have the ufe of[tnfe in hearir.g, or fefing GvdJ revelatton; and we have no more m recetYmg mans report of thofe Countreys which we never faw. ·.§. 13. If they will make it the ~efiion, whether the fenfe may not be deceived; I anfwer, we doubt not by d;j1ance of the objects, or difiempers, or di[proportions of'it [elf or the Media, it may: But if the fe11k it (elf, and all.the means and objects have their natural foundmfs; aptitude and di[– pofiti?n_ it is a· contra~i8~on fo fay it is dccei~cJ.: for that_ is to fa~, it is not the fenfe which we fuv– pofe H ts : If9_od decuve tt thus, he maketh 1t another thmg. lt IS no more the fame, nor will ad~ mit the fame definition. But however, it is mofl evident, that the fenfls being the hrfi entrance or inlet of knowledge, the firjt certainty mull be there, which is prefuppofed to the ctrrain judgement of the intcllcd:: But if tbrfe err,. all following certainty which fuppohth the certainty of the knfcs is deflroyed: And this error in the firll rccrptimt (like an error in the firft conctrtliun ) is not rtdified by the fecond. And ifGod !hould thus leave all men under a fallibility of J;,t[t, he !hould leave no certainty in the world; and I ddirc thofe that know the ddinition of a lye, to conlidtr whether th:s be not to feign. God to lye in the very frame of nature, and by confiant Iyes to rule the: world, when yet it is impoflible for God to lye. And if 1his Blafphemy were granted them, yet it would be mans duty !\ill to judge by fuch fenfes as he harh about the objeC<s of lenfe: For if God have made them fallible, wecannot make them better: Nor can we create a Rea[o11 in our felves which ihall ilot prefuppofc the judgement of fcnji, or which 0Jall fupply its ordinary natural defects. So that the Roman[llith ofTran{ubfiantiation, denying the reality ofBread and Tf'inc, doth not only unrnan the ·world, but bring man lower than a Bean, and make {(:nfc to be no fenfe, and the worla to be governed by natural deceit of lyes, and bani{h all certainty of faitb and rt4im frcm the Earth: and after all (with fuch wonderful enmity to charity, as maketh man liker the Devil, than elfc could cafily be be~ lievcd ) they fentcnce all to Hell that believe not this; and decree to bum them firfi. on earth, and ro dep?fe 'femJ.oral LordJfrom their d~minio~s, ·rhat favour ~hem, o~ rhat will not c~termin~tt them. from theu La11ds, and fo ablolve thetr Subjeds from thetr Allegtance , and gtve theu DommjonS to others. All this you m3y read in the third Canon of the Laterane General Council under Innocent 3· 9· 14• Direct. 1 t. look not upon a•y cbjefl offenfe with fe•fe al011e, •or flop not in it, but ltt ru– fon begin wherefon[t doth .end, a11d alwayu fie by faith br reafon the part which i1 invifibk, a_1wtll a< tbe fenfible part by fenfc. Jiy that which is fc"' coUca and rife up to tbat .,bich it u•feen. It God had given us an eye, or ear, or tajle, or feeling, and not a mind, then we fhould havt exercifcd 110 other faculty but what we had. But furc he that hath given us the higher facttlty requireth that we ufe it as well as the lower. And remember 1hat they arc not ·meer co--ordinate faculties, bu!: .the frnfitive faculty is {ttbordinate ro thclnteVellu.Jl: And accordingly that which the {enfible crea1ttre objcdively rcvcaleth rhrough the fenfe unto the lntellctl, is fomcthing to which things fenfiblc are fubordintlte. Thu·cforc if you !lop in fmfible thing1, and fee not the Principle which animateth ·th~..m, the Power which ordererh and rulcth them, and the End which thty arc m:~de for, and mlli be ufed for, you play the BeaHs ; you fee nothing but a dead cark,cJji without the foul, and nothing ·.but a ufelefs {i:nfdefs thing. You know nothing indeed to any purpofc: no not the creatHtt it {elf; while you know not the ufe and meaniJrg of the creature, but fep::ttate it from its Lifr, and Guide, and Eod. 9· 15· Direct. 12. Firft therefore fu tlw you'"" z,,P,_ upon aU things fcnjible as the produas cf the .will of tbe invifible God, depending o;:.; him mor~ than the Sunjhine dotfJ upon tbe Sun:, and never fee uT tafte a creature Jcparatedly from God. Will you know what a plant is, and not know tlut it is the ~artb that beareth and nouriihcth it? Will you know what a 'Fijh is, and yet be ignoram that he liveth in the water? Will you know what a branch or fruit is, and yet not know thar it crowcth rn :he Tree? The 11ature of things cannot be known without the: knowledge of theit caui~s, and refpu~tive parts : It is as no ~Qtowledge to know incoherent fcraps and parcels : To know a band as no part of rhe body~ or an eye or nofe without knowing ahead; or a body without knowing its life or fouJ, is not to k,now it; tor you make it another thing. · It is the diflerencc between a wife man and a fool, that Sapiens rt.JPicit ad plura, infipienJ ad pauciOTa: A wife man lookctb cornprehenfivdy to thmgs as they arc conjunct, and takes all together, and leaveth out nothing that is ufcful to his end; bur a fool fe,th one thing and overfeeth another which is necdfary to the true knowledge or ufe of rhat which he feeth: fee God as the CaHji and Life of every thing you fee: As a carkafs is bll! a gh,fily fight without the foul> and quickly corrupteth and fiinketh when it is ft:paratcd ; {o the Creature ·.without God is an unlovcly fight, and quickly corruprr-th and becomes a fnare or anno}•ance to you: God is the beaQty of all rhats beautiful, and the lirength qf all thats frrong, and the glory of .t-he Sun, and all that is glorious, and the wifdom ofall thats wife, and the goodnefs of al11hatsgood, as being the 011/y original total caufe of all. You pby ·the Brutes when you fee the creature, and overlook its Mak,tr, from whom it is, whatfoevtr it is. Will you fee the DiaU, and overlook the Sun. Reme.mbcr it is the ufe of every Creature to Chew you GJd, and therefore it is the u[e of every jinfe to promote_the knowledge of him,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=