6 Of the 1\_nowledg of (jod the Father? ~ without it, or that Heaven, and the Earth was made the firfl: Day, before the BooK I. Light, which was the lecond Day: For the Heavens are fmd to be made by the ~Word ofGod, Plal. q6. 5· To him, that by Wifdom made the Heavens, not by the Attribute Wifdom ; for in the Proverbs Wifdom is the Perlon, and it is faid, Prov. 3· 19. The Lord by Wtfclomhath founded tf.e Earth. They were therefore all made both Heaven and Earth, and all thmgs m them by one, and the fame; [God fnd] and by his Word. But finding the Word [Vs]repeated again, and again in Mofes's Story,denoting Perfons whom God !peaks umo, as at the Creation ofMan, and again in matters of Government about Man, asat confounding their Languages, Let Vs go down, Gen. r 1. 7· And in the Prophets the fame; and fo many other Scriptnres flowing in, compared with thefe of Mofes to give Evidence, I refolved to content my felfwitb the Tdbmony ofMojes alone, as tt came tllullrated unto me by fo many concurrent Witndfes, fo that I will not divert, but will center in this one Proof alone, as the Seal for all the other. Gen. I. 2 6. Let 111 makg Man in 011r Image, after 011r Li/zenefl. It is God !peaking bimfelf, Godfoid, and not Mo[cs, as in the Name of God: And there is no ln(bnce in the Hebrew, that We, or Vs, is ever ufed ofone fingle P<rfon, when God hi"mldffpeaks ofhimftlf. And, Second!), It is God lpcakmg, not by way ofDeclaration ofwhat he could do alone fingly; but nttered by way of Conference unto, and with fome other Perlons. And not only lo, but 'tis an Excitation or Calling upon them, to do it with him, as if he fhou\d fay, Come, Let us mall,f', as thole that being with God at that Time, were to join in that Work alfo with him. Thirdly, God lpeaks not to his Attrih11tes: No wife Man ever thus fpeaks to his own Abilities, Come, let us do fuch or fuch a thing; which more efpecially appears in that other Speech, Let us go down. Tis a Perfon, or Perfons, who are laid to defcend: as elfewhere, the Holy Ghofl: is faid to defcend in the li/z_encft of a Dove, Mat. 3· 16. and the Son ofGod, often in the Gofpels, to come from Heaven. Fourthly, Thefe fpoken unto, were not the Angels, (as fome think) for they are never called our Creators: But God alone is faid to create, exprefly, :fob 9.8. lfo. 45· 18. And he is fiill faid to create by himlelf, becaufe he ufed no other Infl:rument: Soexprefly in Ifa-44· 24. Thusfoith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee front the Womb: I am the Lord that mafl!th aU things; that flretch– eth forth the Heavens alone, and (jreadethabroad the Earth by my felf: And Chap·4'5· 18. Efpecially, the Angels create not the Souls ofMen, which God alone is the Father or, not Angels, Heb. 12. 9· Nor are we faid, to be made after their Image, but Gods, (ol. 3· 10. Nor ~re the Angels meant, when it is laid, Thy M.kgrs are thy Husband, as ']er. 54· 5· Or, Remember thy Creators in the Days of thy Youth; which fl:i\e of Creators is yet in the Plural ufed, when God is fpoken of, in Multitudes ofother Place•, Pfal. I49· 2. ln hi< Makgrs. !fa. 44· 2. The Lord thy .J/1akgrs. Yea, as Let us makg, is in the excitation to it: fo, in the next Verfe which mentions the performance ofthis Work, it is accordingly faid, [So, God created Man J which was the thing done, it is thrice repeated: 1. So, God cre.ted Man in hi< own Image; 2. In the Image ofGod created he him; 3· lviale and Female created he them: God, not Angels. Nor did he ule them as Infl:ruments, as when he gave the Law he did, but not in the Creation ofthe leafl: Creature. But let us further confider things impartially, comparing the Old and New Tefl:ament together, as to the Explication ofthis one Pa!fage, Let us, &c. 1. Let us enquire, whether it be not ellewhere in the New Tefl:ament faid when the Creation is fpoken of, that there were Perfons, yea that thele Perfon; ·were [with God] yea, and that when Man was made, '}ohn I. 1. In the beginning wtu the Word, and the Word w-u with God, and again, ver. 2. The fome was in the beginning with God. Yea, and is it not as expreOy there affirmed, that that Word that was with God> was at the making of Man ? ver. 3· AU thmgs were made by hint, tmd witho11t hi!Jl was not any thingmade,that wa1 made: And ifal1 things were, and nothing made without him, then Man certainly: Anddmh it not follow alfo, from
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