CHAP.!. co1?ctY3ting fs o ]D. 7 To defineGod perfedkly, as that great and Chrifliata x Logician raid , wee haueneed of Gods owne Logicke, whofe nature kno wne onely to hirnfelfe, infinitely excee- deth all thought and apprehenfionthat can poífibiy be in any creature : wherefore tokeepe vs -within the limits of febrietie,not taking vpon vsto define that we know not, whichwere folly and madneffe, much leffe attempting it in the God-head,wáich were extreame vngodlineffe,we muff remember the anfwer that Godmade veto tl'fofes, defiring to fee the Maieftie ofhis prefence,that he fhould fee his hinder Y psrt,,but hisface could not befence. There is then inGod a fore-part,and a face,there is a hinder-part and backe. Byhis face,that is,his very Maieflie andEf- fence, no manor Angel is able to define Go D but by thofe fleps andmarks ofhis glorie,wherebyhe hathma- nifefledhimfelfe in hisWord &Works, as it were byhis binder &backe-parts,wemay in fome fort defcribc him, which what they are,appeare in the next Chapter, when paffingbyMofes, (whom he fer in the hollowof a rocke, and couered with his hand till he were gone by)he cried, % I E H o V A H, I E H O V A H, the 'nightieGod , merciful/ andgraeiou,, longfufering,andfill ofkindne, andtruth pre.. feruintgkíndne,for thoufands,forgiving iniquitie,and rebelli- en,andfnne,by no meanerfreeing theguiltie, vifiling the ini- quitieoffathersvponchildren,andvpon children, children to the third andfourthgeneration. All which, and whatfoc- uer notes ofhis glorie elfe,fcattered here and there,in the whole Volume ofthe Scriptures,or fhining euery-where in the largeVolumeofthe Heauens,are many times com- prehended in one onely word, as Iah, lehouah, or Ehieh, (that is to fay,I am)as ifyouwould fay,Being or perfeai- on it felfe.For tlaefe three(cornming fromthe fame a root, and being in effe6f but one) are that effentiall and proper name of God, whereby bee calleth himfelfe, when hee wouldeuen the excellencyofhis Nature,& diflinguifh it from all other things that are inHeauen,or vpon the earth, or vnder the earth. So Exod. 3.13,14,15,vfto ttf')[a$, B 4 askir Godis Ieho_ tórzh, three per- Ions. Iehouab (which is Be-. ingor perfec- tion it feife) x Ramus in bric Theologie. y Exed.33.z4: Z Exoal.34.64
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