Tacit,Iib.~. 10. PJutarch. de interit, or~c. ThcAu· thorsand pen-men of ScriptU[CS. Cajes ofCon(cience. z.Booke.' was llrange, and yet fully anfwerable to his A proruife.For thedifcrpleswcrc but few,t\ileluc and difcouer rhe faJflJocd of the falfc ptc· phet Hanani,ler. z8.rG. And God•heauie hand, no doubt, would long fince haue becnc vpon the miniflers & pteach_ers of this word, ifthey had vniufllyoud wrongfully fathered itvponhim. tn number,& al vnlcarned,and yet they prea– ched in the name of Chrill,and by bare prea· ching (without humane eloquence, and the giftsofnature) conucrccd many narions.yca, thewholeworld. And though thcfclue>were hut weake men, and prcoched things abfurd to thecorrupt reafonofman,yet they wonne many foules to God, & conucttcd the world. TheV.Grownd is borrowed from the tcili– mony of the Heathen,who haucrccordcd in theirwrirings,thevcry fame things touching Cht~CI, which arc reucaled in the Scriptures. lofephm 3 lew, and anenerpy to Chrifl,in his 1 &.bookc ofantiquities,Chap+ fpcakesthe B famerhmg• ofChrrfl thatMatthewdotb,that he was a moll worthyman,that hce wrought ma.ny miracles, and that heearofe from the dead. Otbcrs affirmc,that hee was crucified vnderPiiatcin the tJmeof T1bcrius, and that TibcriuHvould b:mc put him in the number ofhis gods. Aga1ne, heathen writers report, rhat at his death,vnder rhe raigne ofTibtriru, all the orocles of the world ceafed, and that thegreat Pan (as thcy(oy) then died. CHAP. Ill. OftiJeScriplum. The fecond mainc ~flion, is touching C therrurh of Scripture: Whether the Scriptures be the true word of (jod _? THe anfwer .is, thac chey are. And the Grounds of thts A!Tcrrion may be redu– ced to lixe heods. SeC/.1 . . Thefirflistakenfromthecattfes, namely, the Authorand writers of the Scriptures. Touching the Author, the Scripture refer· reth itfelfevnto God. Therefore bee alone is the trueand vndoubtedAuthor thereof, and none but bee. The fuf!iciencieof t.heconfe- D quence,l!ands,.pon thcfegrounds: F~tfl ,1f God were notthe Author ofthe Scriptures, there would bee no one booke in t~c earrhfo fabulous, & fofull of crro"as it, which to fay is blafphemy.Forit fpeakes fuch chings, as n~ucr any could fpeakc,bur God. Sccondly,ificwcrenot the bookeof God, then oil Gods will Or0uld bee hidden, and God u10uld neuer yet haue reucalcd his will roman. Thirdly, if it had not beene the word of God, tbcfaiOlOad thereofwould haucbeene deteCted long agonc. For there hath beene nothing faJOy fa id ofGod atony time,which hee himfelfc bath not at fome time or other, opened and rcucaled. Eucn as!Jee did dctccS . Againe, for thewrittrsand penne·men of Scnpturc:Mofes,thc Ptophcrs,and Apolllcs in their "ruings,doenor IC:r forth rheirowlle glorie, nobilirie, orvcrtues: but all wirhone copfent, haue acknowledged direCily and plainely their owne errours and faults ;JC'a, fuch faults as mny bee dilgracefullro them· felues and their poflcritic, and yet they haue done Jt. Aplarne proofe, that they werenot carriedbypolicic,& naturaii rcafon, bur were holy men, guided by rhe holy Ghofl. For if they had beene guided by rcafon, they woukl neuer hauc written thar, which l.l'Ould haue tended t9 rhcir ownc difgracc: but would rather h;ue commC'ndcd rbemfeJucs, their narnc,fiocke,:md Jinagc.Agnlnc,hurnane au– rhors in their difcourfes, do commonly write of rhe praifcsand vermes of men,of whcme they wrirc:but thepen-men ofScriprurc,with one confcnr,giueall roGod; yea, when rhey fpcake of commerjdarion due to men, rhe)' giucitall roGod in men, God ismrhcirwri– tings,rhc bcginning,rhc cnd,andall. StCI. 2. A fccond hc~d of reafons, is taken from The m:aner rhcmarttr and_Conrenrs of the Scriptures, ofScrip.. whicharemanifold. Theprincipallarethefe: turC', Firfl, theScripturedoth that which no O· rher bookcs can doe. For ir fers our rhe cor– ruprion of mans nature byfinnc; thcfcun– ralneof rhis corruption; and rhc punifhmenr of the fame, both in this life, and thelife to come : it difcouercth finnefull mans particu~ larrhoughrs, lufls, and offeClions, which ne– uer any booke hath done befide it. No PhiJo. phcrwas cuerablc to make fo rrue record, & 1 fo plaincdcclararion of thcthou~hts, mori· ons, and affcCiionscf the hem. The reafon of mancannot d1fccrnc them. bynature, vn– JetTc it receiue a further lighrby grace, then 1t hathnaturally init fclfe. Yea the Scripture fctsdown things that no man.sl1eortcan ima– gine,and yer are true by c"per.Je(ICC'. For ex· ample: rhat it is an euill thou'g6t to thinke thereisnoGod, manbynature cannot irr.a· gine, bur yet ir 1strue in experience, and by thelightofrheword. And therefore Dauid f•ith,Pfal.r4.1. The fioleh•thftidinhu htart, thtr~ if no G'od.. Secondly, rhe maine Content! of this l)Ooke, are fund ne :unclesof (:nrh, all which arc far re abouc the reach vr humane reafon, and yet they are not •gainll it, but ar!call fome ofthem may be prooued by ir. For example; rhar there is aRedeemer of the "·orJd,i& an articleof faith,ab(lue reafonJ! yet nor ag~infi the fame, For in naruraJJ \'n– dcrll andmg, God is nor aJJ iuflice, and no f11trcir. Dutif there wereno Rcdefrner,rhen lhould
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