1Sorrow, Repentance, and the like. What ſhall we ſay there
fore? Without doubt ſuch like Attributes agree with God (to
uſe the Schoolmens words Metaphorically, Proportionally, and by
Similitude: And touching Paſſions, it may be ſaid, that God
condeſcendeth to repreſent himſelf after that manner: as for
inſtance, The Lord is angry; i.e. He revealeth himſelf as one that
is angry: He grieved; i. e. He revealeth himſelf, as one that
is ſorrowful: It repented him that he had made man; i.e. He ſee
med as one that repented. And indeed all theſe things are Com
parativè ad nos, and in reſpect of us. So God is ſaid to be in
Heaven, to move in time, to ſhew himſelf, to hide himſelf, to
obſerve and mark our ſteps; to ſeek us, to ſtand at the door,
to knock at the door; not that he can be contained in a bodily
place, nor that he is really moved, nor in time; nor that humane
manners or cuſtomes can agree with him, ſave only according to
our manner of Apprehenſion: This Conception of ours orderly
diſtinguiſheth theſe Attributes in him one from another, when,
notwithſtanding, they are one and the ſame with him: This Ap
prehenſion of ours divideth alſo his actions into ſeveral times,
which, nevertheleſſe, for the moſt part, are produced in one and
the ſame inſtant: And this, to conclude, alwayes apprehendeth
thoſe things with ſome defect, which, notwithſtanding are in
God moſt perfect. For this reaſon doth the Sacred Scripture
expreſs it ſelf according to the Vulgar Opinion, whilſt it aſcribes
to the Earth Ends and Foundations, which yet it hath not; to
the Sea a Depth not to be fathomed; to Death (which is a Pri
vation, and conſequently a Non entity) it appropriates Actions,
Motion, Paſſions, and other ſuch like Accidents, of all which it is
deprived, as alſo Epithites and Adjuncts, which really cannot
ſuit with it: Is not the bitterneſſe of Death paſt? 1 Sam. 15. 32.
Let death come upon them, Pſal 6. He hath prepared the Inſtru
ments of Death, Pſal. 7. 14. Thou raiſeſt me from the gates of
Death, Pſal. 84. In the midſt of the ſhadow of Death, Pſal. 23.
Love is ſtrong as Death, Cant. 8. 9. The Firſt-Born of Death, Job
18. 13. Deſtruction and Death ſay, &c. Job 28. 22. And who knows
not that the whole Hiſtory of the rich Glutton doth conſiſt of
the like phraſes of Vulgar Speech? So Eccleſiaſticus, Chap. 27.
verſ. 11. The godly man abideth in wiſdome, as the Sun; but a
fool changeth as the Moon; and yet the Moon according to the
real truth of the matter no wayes changeth, but abides the ſame
for ever, as Aſtronomers demonſtrate, one half thereof remain
ing alwayes lucid, and the other alwayes opacous. Nor at any
time doth this ſtate vary in it, unleſſe in reſpect of us, and ac
cording to the opinion of the Vulgar. Hence it is cleer, that the
holy Scripture ſpeaks according to the common form of ſpeech
fore? Without doubt ſuch like Attributes agree with God (to
uſe the Schoolmens words Metaphorically, Proportionally, and by
Similitude: And touching Paſſions, it may be ſaid, that God
condeſcendeth to repreſent himſelf after that manner: as for
inſtance, The Lord is angry; i.e. He revealeth himſelf as one that
is angry: He grieved; i. e. He revealeth himſelf, as one that
is ſorrowful: It repented him that he had made man; i.e. He ſee
med as one that repented. And indeed all theſe things are Com
parativè ad nos, and in reſpect of us. So God is ſaid to be in
Heaven, to move in time, to ſhew himſelf, to hide himſelf, to
obſerve and mark our ſteps; to ſeek us, to ſtand at the door,
to knock at the door; not that he can be contained in a bodily
place, nor that he is really moved, nor in time; nor that humane
manners or cuſtomes can agree with him, ſave only according to
our manner of Apprehenſion: This Conception of ours orderly
diſtinguiſheth theſe Attributes in him one from another, when,
notwithſtanding, they are one and the ſame with him: This Ap
prehenſion of ours divideth alſo his actions into ſeveral times,
which, nevertheleſſe, for the moſt part, are produced in one and
the ſame inſtant: And this, to conclude, alwayes apprehendeth
thoſe things with ſome defect, which, notwithſtanding are in
God moſt perfect. For this reaſon doth the Sacred Scripture
expreſs it ſelf according to the Vulgar Opinion, whilſt it aſcribes
to the Earth Ends and Foundations, which yet it hath not; to
the Sea a Depth not to be fathomed; to Death (which is a Pri
vation, and conſequently a Non entity) it appropriates Actions,
Motion, Paſſions, and other ſuch like Accidents, of all which it is
deprived, as alſo Epithites and Adjuncts, which really cannot
ſuit with it: Is not the bitterneſſe of Death paſt? 1 Sam. 15. 32.
Let death come upon them, Pſal 6. He hath prepared the Inſtru
ments of Death, Pſal. 7. 14. Thou raiſeſt me from the gates of
Death, Pſal. 84. In the midſt of the ſhadow of Death, Pſal. 23.
Love is ſtrong as Death, Cant. 8. 9. The Firſt-Born of Death, Job
18. 13. Deſtruction and Death ſay, &c. Job 28. 22. And who knows
not that the whole Hiſtory of the rich Glutton doth conſiſt of
the like phraſes of Vulgar Speech? So Eccleſiaſticus, Chap. 27.
verſ. 11. The godly man abideth in wiſdome, as the Sun; but a
fool changeth as the Moon; and yet the Moon according to the
real truth of the matter no wayes changeth, but abides the ſame
for ever, as Aſtronomers demonſtrate, one half thereof remain
ing alwayes lucid, and the other alwayes opacous. Nor at any
time doth this ſtate vary in it, unleſſe in reſpect of us, and ac
cording to the opinion of the Vulgar. Hence it is cleer, that the
holy Scripture ſpeaks according to the common form of ſpeech