NEuer age afforded a perfection of that eminencie which was not exposed to enuie , or opposition , or both . Truth is the childe of vertue ; and , as the inheritresse of all her glories ; so , her sufferings . Now , vertue growes by vniust wounds , & so doth truth too ; and like steele that is bent , springeth the other way . She shewes her best lustre vpon encounter , and like the Sunne shines brightest betwixt two clowds , malice , errour ; both ( here ) conspire to ouercast and darken the glory of those beames which enlighten euery man that comes into the world , the sunnes of righteousnesse . It hath euer beene the stratagem and proiect of that Arch-enemy of man , for the aduancement and strengthening of his great title — The Father of lies — , either to strangle truth in the conception , or smother it in the birth . If he miscarry in his owne particular vndertakings , hee will suborne his Factors , Scrives and Pharisees ; and these not onely to question , but to oppose a deity , fit agents put vpon such a damned designe , for it is theirs no lesse by debt , than parentage ; — Ye are of your Father the Deuill , v. 44. He hath bequeathed you a prodigious lie , and you would faine practise it on the Sauiour of the world , labouring to nullifie his acts , blemish his descent , imposture all his miracles . Where were they euer seconded , but by the finger of a God ? or , where contradicted , but by the malice of a Iew ? could the powers of the graue , and the shackles and bands of death be dissolued , and broken by the meere hand of Beelzebub ? or a dead and stinking carkasse , enliued and quickened by a Samaritan and his deuill ? could the kingdome of darknesse , and all those legions below , fetch a soule out of the bosome of your Abraham , and re-inthrone it in a body foure daies entombed ? no , that — Magnus hiatus interte , & nos — , returnes the lie vpon all hellish power , and the prince thereof . — Between : you , and vs , there is a great gulfe fixed , Luke 16.26 . Why then exclaime you on the iniustice and falshood of his testimonies ? Opera quae ego facio — , the workes which I doe beare witnesse of me . Looke on them , and if they vnscale not your wilfull blindnesse , the axioms and principles of your owne law will conuince you . It is written in your Thalmud , — That the testimony of two men is true — . Behold then out of your own bloud , and Nation , two strong euidences against you , Iewes both , and both speake him a true God , — A virgin shall conceiue and bring forth a Sonne , and his name shall be called Emmanuell , God with vs , Isa. 7.14 . This is our God , and there shall be none in comparison of him , Baruch 3.36 . Why then are ye so startled at his naming Abraham ? or why doth your indignation swell , that he saies he is before him ? Abraham reioyced to see my day , and saw it , and was glad , vers . 56. ( My day of eternity , and my day of incarnation , with the eie of faith . ) Why enquire you into the number of his yeeres ? a whole age to him is as an houre , two thousand yeeres but as a minute , and all the wheeles and degrees of time within his span , and as a nunc or instant ; before Abraham was , before the world , before all time I am . Iew , take his word , it is orthodox , or if not , his asseueration : and if that be too slight and single , loe , hee doubles it , Verily , verily , I say vnto you , before Abraham was , I am .

And now thou that sittest in the chaire of Moses , heare what S. Augustine tells thee , — Appende verba , & cognosce mysterium — , the words ( indeed ) are of a narrow circuit , yet they shrine and inuolue a mystery , and carry with them both maiesty and depth , like rich stones set in Ebonie , where though the ground be darke , yet it giues their lustre and beauty clearer ; learne here then both propriety , and weight of language , and how to criticke between a God , and thy owne frailty . — Intellige , fieret , ad humanam facturam , sum verò , ad diuinam pertinere substantiam ? — Was , points onely to a humane constitution , — I am , to a diuine substance , and therefore the originall hath a — 〈◊〉 — for Abraham , & an — 〈◊〉 — for Christ . Diuinity is not cloistered or confined to time , either past , or future , but commands all as present ; and therefore not — I was , but — I am . Neither doe the Latines giue Abraham an — esset , but a — fieret , nor Christ a — fui , but a — sum . Hereupon the full tide of Expositors , besides * * Ego latius extendo , Cal. in 8. lo. M. Caluine , and his Marlorate , ( who though they a while diuide the streame , yet at length they meet in the same channell , and so make the current a little fuller ) waue this way , and send vs to that — I am , of Exodus , in the 3. chap. 14. vers. where wee finde the roote with an — Ehich , Asher Ehich , which though the Chaldee renders , — Ero qui ero , I will be that I will be — ( which indeed is the genuine signification of the originall ) yet the vulgar Edition giues it in the present , — I am that I am — and the Septuagint — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , — I am he that is — ( it being both frequent and necessary with the Hebrewes to place the future for the present ) and by this they imply — Gods eternall and vnchangeable being in himselfe . The Thalmudists also ( whose authority must passe for current , where there is no power to contradict , or scanne ) allow this , — Ehich — as much as — Sam — Fisi — ero — the comprehension of three times , past , present , and to come — . So the Rabbins in Elleshemoth Rabbi vpon this Text , reade , — I that haue beene , and I the same now , and I the same for time to come . Howeuer the Chaldee Paraphrast labours an indifferency , and hath charity enough to afford both interpretations , — He that was , and hereafter will be . — Ad denotandam aeternitatem eius ( saith Ionathan ) to shew the eternall being of him who alone can say — Sam , ero — I am , and I will be ; for he is the very source and fountaine of all life and essence , In whom we liue , and moue , and haue our being — , and by reason of this triplicity of time , and power , Vatablus would deriue Ihehouah from this word — Ehich ( though some of the Hebrew Doctors fetch the pedigree a little higher ) from — Hauah , — He was , and tels vs that by the first letter is signified , he wil be , and by the second — Ho , — He is ; & to this Rabbi Bechai seems to assent , in his 65. page vpon Exodus . But howeuer they war a little in the deriuation , they do not in the substance , proportioning both this triple priuiledg , & where there is such an immensity , we cannot but make a God , & where such a God , eternitie . All things besides him once were not , and being , are limited in their natures , neither could possibly persist , vnlesse God preserued them ; many also haue lost or shall loose their proper essence , and whilst they remaine are obnoxious to daily fluctuarions ; only God eternally — Is — without beginning , limitation , dependance , mutation , end , consisting onely of himselfe , and all other creatures of him , and therefore this — Ehich — I am — is a peculiar attribute of omnipotencie , not determining any other , but indeterminatlie signifying all manners of being , for so it imports — The very immensitie of Gods substance , — and to this with an vnanimous consent all interpreters subscribe , and the whole quire of Fathers . I haue now brought — Ehich — close up with Iehouah , this — I am — with him that is — First — and Last , so that we may here rather challenge than borrow that of the Apostle ; Iesus Christ yesterday , and to day , and the same for ever . Where S. Chrysostome will put Christ vpon that triple prerogatiue to make him a compleat God , too . — A yesterday , for time past , — to day — present — for euer , to come , though I meet here ( as I shall in euery cranny and passage of my discourse ) a violent opposer , Eniedinus Samosatenianus , who limits the Apostles — Heri — and Hodie — ad Rem nuperam , & recentem — , so in Iob ( he saies ) men are called — Hesterni — by the Greekes , 〈◊〉 — yesterday — and to day — for their breuitie of life ; but this interpretation is no lesse bold than desperate , and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — which followes in the originall , will cut off all comment and glosse of transitorinesse — The same for euer — and therefore we find him cloathed with peculiar titles of the Almighty , and by Saint Iohn foure seuerall times fronted with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , — from him that was , and is , and is to come ; — so that if any murmuring vnbeleeuer should recoile in the acknowledgement of Christs diuinitie , he beats on againe , a third & a fourth time , that if he can not pierce the stonie heart by a single perswasion , he will batter it by inculcation . Howeuer the malice or peruersenesse of most ages haue brought this truth not onely vpon termes of scruple , but opposition , so that now it is growne disputable , whether Christ suffered more in his body by the fury and violence of the hand , or in his diuinitie by the scourge and sting of venomous and deprauing tongues ? one would haue him , no God , another no man ; this againe would haue him a meere man , and that denies him a true bodie ; one strips him quite of flesh , another cloathes him with it , but makes it sinfull ; this would haue him an Angell , that little better than a deuill , or at least that he vsed one . One , no bodie , another ( I beleeue ) nothing — Est illud mirabile ( saith Athanasius ) Cum omnes haereses inuicem pugnent ; in falsitate omnes consentire — .

Euery head is frantike with a strange opinion , and that with some wilde fancie , which all meet in the same improbabilitie and ( which it euer breeds ) falshood . Errour and infidelitie may blow on diuine truth , and shake it too , but not ouerthrow it ; 't is founded on such a Basis and sure ground-worke as is subiect neither to battery nor vndermining . The Rocke , Christ . The Iew and the Arrian lay on fiercely here , not onely to deface this goodly structure , but to demolish it , and ruine ( if possible ) his diuinitie ; but lend me a while your noble attention , I le shew you with what weaknesse they come off , what dishonour . In the trauersing of which giue mee leaue to make vse of that Apologie which in the same subject Saint Ambrose did to Gratian , — Nolo argumento credas ( sancte Imperator● ) & nostrae disputationi ; scripturas interrogemus , interrogemus Apostolos , Prophetas , Christum . Leane not so much to my strength of Argument and disputation , as to a sacred authoritie & proofe , Let vs aske the Scriptures , Patriarchs , Prophets , Euangelists , Apostles , Christ ; let me adde ( for so both my taske and industrie require ) Fathers , Councels , Rabbins , Schoolemen , Histories sacred and prophane , let 's giue antiquitie her due , and not in a lazy thirst drinke of the streame , ( which is either troubled or corrupt ) when wee may haue our fill at a cleere fountaine ; to traffique here at home with a few moderne Systeames , is no small sinne of the age onely , but our profession too , if we can fleyle downe the transgressions of the time in some few stolne Postellismus , and peece a sacred line with a worme-eaten Apophthegme , so it be done in a frequent and hasty zeale , we are the Sages and the Patriots of the time , and the lights no doubt of this vnder firmament ; but our discourse grouels not so low ; we are here to tread a maze , and threed a Labyrinth , sometimes on hils of ice , where , if we slip in the least punctum , we tumble into haeresio ; sometimes with Peter in the deepe , that if the hand of Christ did not a little succour vs , we should sinke into infidelity . I will ball asse my discourse with as much cautelousnesse as I may , and where I meet with difficulties which are stony and vntrodden , if I cannot fairely master them , I will oppose them with my best strength , and if not finde a way smooth to satisfaction , dig on ; I may perchance awaken haeresies , but I will lull them againe in their own slumber , I will onely pull aside the vaile and shew you their vglinesse , and shut them vp in their owne deformities . I know I am to speake to an Auchtorie , as well seasoned with faith , as vnderstanding , and yet ( perchance ) not without some mixture and touch of weaknesse . Here are shallowes then for Lambes to wade , and deepes for Elephants to swimme , passages which he leuell with humble capacities ; others which will venture to stand vp with riper iudgments , if they stoop somtimes and seeme too low for these , and mount againe and proue too high for others , it was euer my desire to keepe a correspondence with the best , and so to make vse of that of Augustine , — Non fraudabo eos qui possunt capere , dum timeo superfluus esse auribus corum qui non possunt capere — . Yet come I not to fill those eares which are pickt and drest for accuratenesse I am so farre from labouring to please such , that I intend to vex them ; if any charitable care bee prone to a soure discourse , pitch that attention heere one houre , and I shall make good my promise out of the words of the Text. Before Abraham was , I am .

And here we are first to enter lifts with that capitall and Arch-enemy of Christ , the vexation of the Fathers , and the incendiary and firebrand of the Eastern Church , the Arrian , who out of an enuious pride is at once bountifull and iniurious , willing to inuest Christ with the title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but disrobes him of that glorious , and his owne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , granting him a like essence with the Father not the same : equall to him in power , not eternitie ; but giue me leaue to strip one heriticke to cloath another , and put on ours what Tertullian did on Marcion — Quid di●…idias mendacio Christum ? why dost thou thus peece-meale and mince a deity , and halfe god ( as it were ) the Son of the Almighty ? — Totus veritas , he is the spirit of truth , and oracle of his Father , the brightnesse of his glory , in whom are hid all the treasures of Wisedome , knowledge , by whom God made the world .

It were too bold a solecisme to ranke transitorinesse with what is sacred , or that which is fleeting with euerlastingnesse , what below eternall dare we make compatible with omnipotencie ?

An eternall Intellect , most perfect , and such is God , requires an obiect equally perfect , and eternall , which from God , holding a relation to God , can be nothing but God it selfe ; and seeing that no Intellect can conceiue without the image of that obiect which it conceiues , it will follow of necessitie that God , since from all eternitie he knew himselfe most perfect , should conceiue and bring forth in himselfe a most perfect image of himselfe , his Sonne . There is no act of vnderstanding without imagination , which naturally presents an image , by so much the more perfect , by how much the obiect , whose image it is , is more diuinely excellent . And this is that the Apostle glanc't at , when he stiled Christ , — Characterem hypostasis patris — the expresse image of his Fathers person , a sonne so begotten of and in the substance of the Father , that there can be nothing from it , diuers , or repugning . Seeing then , in God to vnderstand and to be are not so much parallels , as equals . Intelligi autem sit ipsum filij esse — as the Schoole speakes — Keck . Syst. Theol. l. 1. ca. 2. strength of consequence will induce , that the substance of Father and Sonne , sound one both in power and euerlastingnesse ; in fine , for as much as the vnderstanding of God is from eternitie , actiue , nay , the very act eternall , and that vnderstanding cannot be without an Image , It followes that this Image which was conceiued , the Sonne , was equall to that which did conceiue , the Father , so that the eternitie of God the Sonne , and his equalitie with God the Father doth arise from that essentiall Identitie of both , for where two persons shall agree in the same essence , if the one be infinite , the other must riuall in the same eternitie .

Here is the Rock then on which we build our Church , and the sure Basis where we foot and fasten our beleefe . — The Sonne is begotten of the essence of the Father , and alwayes begotten , — Non quòd quotidiè renouetur illa generatio , sed quia semper est , — saith Origen , Tom. 2. hom. 6. in Ierem. not because it is dailie renouated , but because it euer — Is — or rather — Was. For Saint Gregory in the 29 of his Morals , the first Chapter , plaies as well the Criticke , as the Diuine , and is no lesse nice , than solid , — Dominus nester Iesus Christ us in eo quòd virtus & sapientia Dei est , de patre ante tempora natus est , vel potius quia nec coepit nasci , nec desift dicam verius , semper natus , non possumus , semper nascitur , nè imperfectus esse videatur — Our Lord Iesus Christ in that he is the power and wisedome of God is said to be borne of the Father before all times , or rather because there was no beginning or end of his generation , we may speake more congruously , he was alwayes borne , not — Is — , for that presupposes some imperfection , and as the same Father prosecutes . Vt 〈◊〉 designari 〈◊〉 , & perfectus , & semper 〈◊〉 & natus , quatenus , & natus ad perf●ctionem pert●… , & semper ad aeter●…atem . That we may declare him both perfect and eternall , we allow him as well a — semper — as a — Natus — for as much as — Natus — hath reference to perfection , — semper — , to eternitie . Howeuer S. Augustine in his exposition of that of the Psalmist , — Ego hodie genui te — Thou art my Son , this day haue I begotten thee , Psal. 2. sayes that — Hodiè — praesentiam significat and in eternitie , neither is the time past any thing , as if it should cease to be , nor time to come , as if it were not yet , but onely the time present , Because whatsoeuer is eternall alwaies — Is — yet at length hee vnderstands that place — de sempiterna generatione sapientiae D●i — And Lombard descants on it in his first booke ninth distinction , who would haue the Prophet to say — Genui — 〈…〉 putaretur , — hodiè — ne praeterita generatio videretur : I haue begotten thee , lest it should be thought new , to day , past , and thence out of the authoritie of the Text or the interpretation concludes a perpetuall generation of the Sonne from the essence of the Father .

But here the Hereticke interposes , and thus subtilly beates at the gates of reason . A thing that is borre , cannot be said that it was ouer , for in this respect it is said to bee borne , that it might be . S. Hillarie , Lib. 12. de Trin. by a modest answer or confutation rather , limits his proposition to things meerely secular , which borne here in the course of nature , must necessarily call on time , and tell vs they sometimes were not , it is one thing then to be borne of that which alwayes is not , another of that which alwayes was , for that is temporary , this eternall .

If then it be proper to God the Father , alwayes to be Father , it must be to God the Sonne , alwaies to be Sonne , so the Euangelist . Ioh. 1. v. 1. — In the beginning was the word , and the word was with God , and that word was God , and the same was from the beginning ; erat , erat , erat , erat , en quater erat , vbi impius inuenit quod non erat ? Saint Ambrose in his first to Gratian 5. c. & indeed it was not without a mysterie when in that glorious transfiguration on Mount Tabor , Peter saw Christ with Moses , and Elias ( when his face did shine as the Sunne , and his raiment was white as Snow ) what did that vision portend ? Ambros . vt supra . Nisi vt appareret nobis quod lex & Prophetae cum Euangelio congruentes sempiternum dei filium quem annunciauerant , reuelarent . But that it should appeare vnto vs that the Law and the Gospell going hand in hand with Euangelicall truth ( for vnder Christ and Moses and Elias , Saint Augustine also shrines those three ) Aug. in orat . ad Catech. cap. 6. should reveale vnto vs the euerlasting Sonne of God , whom they had both foretold and showne . And loe yet , as if these were not Oracles loude enough for the promulgation of such a Maiestie , the voice of the Almightie fils it vp with a — Hic est meus Dilectissimus — This is my beloued Sonne , My Sonne of eternitie , — Ego ex vtero ante Luciferum genui te — . Psal. 34. And a sonne of mine owne substance , — Ex ore Altissimi prodiui — Wis. 7. — primogenitus — before the day was , I am he , Esay 43.13 . — Vnigenitus — A iust God , and a Sauiour , There is none beside me , Esay 45.21 . A Sonne begotten , not created , not of grace , but nature , before , not in time .

Hereupon Christ taking his farewell of his Disciples , Iohn 20. shewes them this Interuallum and distance of generation and adoption : I goe to my Father , and your Father , and to my God and your , not to our Father , but to mine and yours . This separation implies a diuersitie , and shewes that God is his Father indeed , but our Creator ; and therefore he addes . My God and your God ; Mine by a priuiledge of nature , yours of grace ; Mine out of the wombe ( as it were ) of euerlastingnesse ; yours out of the iawes of time . Yet the Heretique would faine sell vs to vnbeleefe and errour , by cheating Christ of an eternall birth-right , tossing it on the tides of time , and so make him a creature , and no God .

Heere to dissent meerely were both perfunctory and dull , such a falshood merits rather defiance , than deniall , Amb. vt supra . — Negamus ? potius horremus vacem — . Errours that are so insolent are to be explos't , not disputed , and spit at rather than contrould . Confutation swayes not heere , but violence , and therefore the Apostle driues this blasphemy to the head , Coloss. 1.15 . Where we finde Christ stiled primogenitus vniuersae Creaturae . The first-borne of euery creature ; not the first created , — Vt genitus pro Natura , & primus pro perpetuitate credatur — . saith Ambrose ; borne presupposes diuine nature — First , perpetuitie , and therefore when the pen of the Holy Ghost sets him out in his full glory , he giues him this title Col. 1. — haeredem omnium — , — The heire of all things , by whom God made the world — , To make the world , and to be made in it , how contradictory ? Amb. 1. de si . ad Grat. cap. 2. Quis Authorem inter opera sua deputet vt videatur esse quod fecit ? saith the Father . Was there euer malice so shod with ignorance , which could not diuide the Artificer from his worke , the Potter from his clay , the Creator from the thing created ? heare him speak in whose mouth there was no guile . — Ego & pater vnum sumus , Ioh. 10. I and the Father are one . Vnum — to shew a consent both of power and eternitie . — Sumus — a perfection of nature without confusion . Againe , — Vnum sumus — not — vnus sum — ( so Augustine descants ) Orat. ad Catech. cap. 5. — Vnum — to confute the Arrian , — Sumus — the Sabellian , the one disiointing and seuering the times of Sonne and Father , the other confounding their persons . — Vnum — than , to shew their essence one , — Sumus — the persons diuers .

I could wish that we were now at truce , but with these there is neither peace nor safety , but in victory ; wee are still in the Front and violence of our Aduersary , who puts on here as Philip did to Christ , with a — Domine ostende nobis — Lord shew vs the Father , and it sufficeth vs , but obserue how the Lord replies , and in his reply controules , and in his controulement cure's ? Haue I been so long time with thee , and hast thou not knowne me Philip ? I came to reconcile thee to the Father , and wilt thou separate me ? Why seekest thou another ? he that hath seene me , hath seene my Father also — Audi Arriane quid Dominus ? ( saith Augustine ) si errasti cum Apostolo , redi cum Apostolo ▪ Hearke Arrius how the Lord rebukes him , and if thou hast digrest with an Apostle , returne with an Apostle , so his checke shall be thy conuersion . But whilst we thus shoulder with the Arrian , the Sabellian lies in ambush , who now comes on like lightning and thunder , but goes off like smoake ; for looking backe to those words of our Sauiour , he runnes on boldly to his owne paradox , and by this harmony of Sonne and Father would perswade vs to a confusion of their persons ; but the Text beares it not , and one little particle shall redeeme it from such a preposterous interpretation ; for it runnes not with a — Qui me videt , videt patrem , — He that sees me , sees my father , as if I were both father and sonne , but with a — Qui me videt , videt — & — patrem , — He that sees me , sees my father also . Vbi interpositio vnius sillabae , & , patrem descernit , & filium , teque demonstrat , neque patrem habere , neque filium , August . in his contra 5. host . genera cap. 6. It is a rare opinion that hath not something to hearten it either in truth or probability , otherwise it were no lesse erroneous , than desperate . But here there can be no colour or pretence for either , where both Diuinity and Arts breathe their defiance ; that two natures should dissolue into one person , religion contradicts ; two persons into one nature , reason ; but two persons into one person , both reason & religion . — Dixit Dominus Domino meo — saith the Psalmist , The Lord said vnto my Lord , sit at my right hand . Harke Sabellius , here is a Lord and a Lord two then , not one ; where is now thy confusion of persons ? Ego Deus solus , & non alius extra me , Deut. 32.12 . I am God , and there is none beside me — . Arrius where is thy God of eternity , and thy God of power , thy God of time , and operation , and thy God from the beginning ? Audi Israel , Dominus noster Deus vnus — , The Lord our God is God onely , no riuall , no sharer in his omnipotency , for if temporary , how a God ? if a God , how not eternall ? if eternall , how not one ? Thou allowest him the power of God , but not the eternity , the operation , not the time ; what prodigy of errour ? what dearth of reason ? what warre of contradiction ? what is this but to be God , and no God ? temporary , and yet euerlasting ? Opinion once seeded in errour , shoots-out into heresie , and after some growth of time , blasphemy . Who ( besides an Arrian ) could haue thus molded two Gods out of one ? except a Tritheite , or a Maniche ? Who ( scarce so grossely neither ) denie them not an equality of time , but condition , coeternall , but this good , and that euill . Thus men ouer-borne with the strength of a selfe-conceit , are so precipitated and drawne on with the swindge of an vnruly fancy , that leauing the road and vsuall wayes of truth , they run into by-paths of errour , and so at length loose both their iudgement , and their faith . Some haue beene so busie with starres , that they haue forgotten him that giues them influence ; and like curious Lapidaries , dally so long with sparkling obiects , that they loose the light of that organ which giues life vnto their Art . Learning ( indeed ) in many is a disease , not a perfection , a meere surfeit , rather vomited , than emptied , nothing passeth but what is forced , and as sometimes with a fit of weaknesse , so of pitty . A greedy knowledge feeds not our vnderstanding , but oppresseth it , and like a rauenous appetite chewes more to poison , than to nourishment . Were I to drinke freely of what is sacred , I should desire that which flowes , not that which is pumped for , waters that are troubled yeeld mud , and are oftentimes aswell the bane of the receiuer , as the comfort . A Pioner or bold myner which digs on too farre for his rich veine of Ore , meets with a dampe which choakes him ; and we may finde some dispositions rather desperate than venturous , knowne more by a heady resolution , than a wise cautelousnesse , whom we may resemble to that silly and storme-tost Seaman , who diued so long for a piece of his shipwrackt treasure , that either want of aire , or ponderousnesse of water depriued him at once of life and fortune . Arrius hath been so long conuersant in the schoole of Philosophy , that he forgets hee is a Priest , and now makes that the Mistresse of Diuinity , which was before the handmaid . S. Augustine therefore in his Oration ad Catechum . expostulates with the hereticke , and by way of Prosopopeta doth catechize him thus , — Credis in Deum patrem omnipotentem ? Dost thou beleeue in God the father Almighty , & in his sonne Iesus Christ our Lord ? I beleeue , thou sayest : here , then thou art mine against the Pagan , and the Mahometan . Dost thou beleeue that the God and man Christ Iesus was conceiued of the holy Ghost , and borne of the Virgin Mary ? I beleeue ; thou art yet with me against Photinus , and the Iew. Dost thou beleeue the father to be one person , and the sonne another , yet father and sonne but one God ? and this also ; here thou art mine too against the Sabellian . — Age si mecum es in omnibus , quare litigamus ? saith the Father , if wee are one in all these , why contend we ? Let there be no strife betweene thee and me , for we are brethren . But it will fall out here anon as betweene Lot and Abraham , by reason of our substance we cannot dwell together , wee must part anon . Tell me then how is the sonne equall to the father , in operation or beginning , in power or eternity , or both ? In operation and power , the heretique allowes , but not eternitie ; for how can that which was begotten be equall to that which was not begotten ? Yes , eternitie , and greatnesse , and power in God sound one , for he is not great in one thing , and God in another , but in this great , that hee is God , be cause his greatnesse is the same with his power , and his essence with his greatnesse . Seeing then the sonne is coequall in respect of power , he must be coeternall too in respect of euerlastingnesse . Here the Arrian is on fire , and nothing can allay or quench these flames but that which giues them an vntimely foment , Reason . To proue a principle in nature is both troublesome and difficult , but in religion without the assent of faith , impossible : In matters of reason , it is first discourse , then resolue , but in these of religion , first beleeue , and the effect will follow , whether for confession of the truth , or conuiction of errour , or both . The greatest miracles our Sauiour did in way of cure or restauration was with a — si credas — , and that to the liuing , and the dead , and betweene those , the sicke . To the Centurion for his seruant with a — sicut credis — , As thou beleeuest , so be it vnto thee , Matth. 8.5 . To the Ruler of the Synagogue for his daughter , with a — Crede — too , — Feare not , but beleeue , Mar. 5.36 . To all that are dumbe , or blinde , or lame in mysteries of Diuinity , as to those dumbe , or blinde , or lame in bodie , with a — Vtrum creditis ? Doe you beleeue these things ? then your faith hath made you whole , Matth. 9.28 . but if wee meet with vnweildy dispositions , such as are not onely vntractable , but opposite to the waies of faith , we shall rather drag than inuite them to beliefe ; howeuer the Father labours here by a powerfull perswasion , and where hee failes in the strength of proofe , he makes it out by way of allusion , which he illustrates by a similitude of fire & light , which are distinct things , one proceeds from another , neither can the one be possibly without the other , the father he resembles to the fire , the sonne to the light , and endeauours to deriue it ( though obliquely somewhat ) from sacred storie in Deut. 4.24 . God is called a fire , — Thy God is a consuming fire ; in Psal. 8. Christ the light , Thy word is a light vnto my steps : With this double stone he batters the forehead both of the Sabellian , and the Arrian ; first of the Sabellian , for here are two in one , fire and light , yet two still not one , why not so with Sonne , and Father ? The Arrian next , for here also is one borne of another , yet the one not possibly to be borne without the other , neither of them first and last ; fire and light coequall , Father and Sonne , so too . The similitude iarres onely in this , those are temporarie , and these eternall , — pater ergo & filius vnum sunt ( saith the Father ) — Sunt — dico , quia pater & filius , — vnum — quia Deus ; dualitas in prole , vnitas in deitate , cum dico filius , alter est , cum dico Deus , vnus est . cont . 5. host . genera cap. 7. What more obuious and trodden to the thinnest knowledge , than that there is here — alius and — alias , but not — aliud — , as in bels of equal magnitude , and dimension ( pardon the lownesse of the similitude ) which though framed out of the same masse , and Art , where the substance and workmanship are one , yet the sound is diuers ; for though of Sonne and Father the substance be one as God , yet the appellation and sound is diuers , as Sonne and Father .

The Heretique either impatient of this truth , or ignorant , once more makes reason his vmpire , but how sinisterly , how iniuriously ? that which should be the mistresse of our sence , and the Sterne and arbitresse of all our actions , must now be a promotresse and baud to error . It is bold expostulation that runnes vs on these shelues of danger , and hath been the often wracke of many a blooming and hopefull truth . There are errours besides these desperate , of will , of vnderstanding , which sometimes are rather voluntary , than deliberatiue , and ballaced more by the suggestions of a weake fancy , than any strength of iudgement ; If our thoughts still lie at Hull in those shallowes of nature , where we coast daily about sence and reason , how can we but dash against vntimely errours ? but if we keepe aloofe in principles of Religion , where those winds of doubt and distrust swell and bluster not , faith will be at last our wafter vnto truth . Let 's not then any longer root our meditations in vallies vnder vs , but looke vp to those hills from whence our saluation commeth . Let 's conuerse a little with Prophets and Euangelists , and those other Registers and Secretaries of the Almightie . — In te est Deus , & non est Deus praeter te , Esay 45.5 . Infidell , either deny a diuinity of Father , or Sonne , or confesse an vnitie of both ; for one thou must doe ; of the Sonne thou canst not , for there is a God in him , the Father , Pater qui in me manet ipse loquitur , the Father that is in me he speaketh , and the works which I doe be doth Ioh. 10. of the Father thou dar'st not , there is a God in him the Sonne , — I am in the Father , and the Father in me , Ioh. 14. Here then is both a proprietie of nature , and vnitie of consent . God in God , yet not two , but one , fulnesse of diuinitie in the Father , fulnesse in the Son , yet the Godhead not diuers , but the same , so that now there is no lesse a singlenesse of name than operation . And therefore those words of the Apostle , though in the first encounter and suruay , they offer a shew of contradiction , yet searched to the quicke and kernell , are not without a mysterious weight , Rom. 8.32 . It is said of the Father , — Filio proprio non pepercit , sed pro nobis tradidit — . He spared not his owne Sonne but gaue him for vs all to death ; yet Ephes. 5. It is said of the Sonne , — Tradidit semetcipsum pro nobis — , — He gaue himselfe for vs — , Heere is a double — Tradidit — an a — pronobis — , and a — sepronobis — , if he was giuen of the Father , and yet gaue himselfe , how can it follow , but that there must be both a simpathy of nature and operation ? And indeed it were a meere sacriledge and robbery of their honour , to depriue them of this so sacred a correspondence . We allow to all beleeuers but one soule and one heart , Acts 4 to all those that cleaue to God one spirit . 1 Cor. 16. to husband and wife one flesh , to all men in respect of nature , but one substance ; If in sublunary matters ( where there is no alliance or reference with those more sacred ) Scriptures approue many to be one , shall we riffle the Father and the Sonne of the like Iurisdiction , and deny them to be eternally one , where there is no iarre of will , or substance ? Heare how the Apostle doth chalke out a way to our beleefe , by the rules of diuine truth , 1 Cor. 8.6 . There is one God which is the Father , of whom are all things , and we of him , and one Lord Iesus Christ by whom are all things , and wee by him . Here is — Deus — and — Dominus — , a God and a Lord , and yet no pluralitie of Godhead , and an — ex quo — and a — per quem , — of whom and by whom , yet a vnitie of power , for as in that he sayes one Lord Iesus Christ , he denied not the Father to be Lord , so by saying one God the Father , he denied not the Sonne to be God . — In te igitur est Deus per vnitatem naturae , & non est Deus praeter te propter proprietatem substantiae . Ambros . lib. 1. de fide ad Gratian 2. cap. With what sacred inscriptions do we find him blazoned , the ingrauen forme of his Father , the image of his goodnesse , the brightnesse of his glory ? and with these three of an Apostle , Esay 9.6 . a Prophet rankes other three not subordinate in maiestie , or truth ; as if the same inspiration had dictated both matter and forme . Counsellor , the Almighty God , the euerlasting Father , the euerlasting Father in a double sence , either as he is author of it , as Iuball was said to be the Father of Musicke when he was but the Author or inuentor , or in respect of his affection , because hee loues with an euerlasting loue ; yet some leaning on the word of the Greeke Interpreter 〈◊〉 , which the vulgar renders , — Pater futuri seculi — would restraine it onely to the life to come , but Caluine extends it to a perpetuity of time and continued Series of all ages ; In cap. 9. Esay . And the Chaldee translation ( which with the Hebrew is most authentique ) seemes not onely to assent to it , but applaud it too . — Nomen eius ab ante mirabilis consilio , Deus fortis , permanens in saecula saculorum — . Howeuer the Septuagint ( terrified with the maiestie of so great a name ) giue it vs by — Magni confilij Angelus — ; which words though they haue no footing in the originall , yet both Augustire and Tertullian approue the sence , taking — Angelus — for — Nancius — , so that Christ tooke not vpon him the nature of an Angell ( as some would iniuriously foize upon Origens opinion ) but the office , by which as a Legate or mediator , rather he appeared to those Patriarches of old , Abraham and the rest , Gen. 18.3 .