The first part. Of the creation of al things. The Church readeth this
book in her Office from Septuagesima til Passion Sunday. Also this first chapter
& beginning of the second on Easter Eue before Masse.
God createth heauen and earth, and al things therin; distinguishing and
bevvtyfying the same; 26. last of al, the sixth day he createth man: to vvhom he subiecteth al corporal
things of this inferiour vvorld.
1 IN ᴛʜᴇ beginning GOD created heauen and earth.
2 And the earth was voide & vacant,
and darkenes was vpon the face of the deapth: and the Spirite of God moued ouer the
waters.
3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made.
4 And God saw the light that it was good: & he diuided the light from
the darkenes.
5 And he called the light, Day, and the darkenes, Night: and there
was euening & morning, that made one day.
6 God also said: Be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it
diuide betwene waters & waters.
7 And God made a firmament, and diuided the waters, that were vnder
the firmament, from those, that were aboue the firmament. And it was so done.
8 And God called the firmament, Heauen: and there was euening &
morning made that made the second day.
9 God also said: Let the waters that are vnder the heauen, be
gathered together into one place: and let the drie land appeare. And it was
so done.
10 And God called the drie land, Earth: and the gathering of
waters together, he called Seas. And God sawe that it was good.
11 And said: Let the earth shootforth grene herbes, and such as
may seede, & fruite trees yelding fruit after his kinde, such as may haue
seede in it selfe vpon the earth. And it was so done.
12 And the earth brought forth grene herbe, such as seedeth
according to his kinde, & tree that beareth fruite, hauing seede eche one
according to his kinde. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was euening & morning that made the third day.
14 Againe God said: Be there lightes made in the firmament of
heauen, to diuide the day & the night, and let them be for signes &
seasons, and dayes and yeares:
15 to shine in the firmament of heauen, & to giue light vpon
the earth. And it was so done.
16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to
gouerne the day: and a lesser light to gouerne the night: and starres.
17 And he set them in the firmament of heauen, to shine
vpon the earth.
18 and to gouerne the day & the night, and to diuide the
light & the darkenes. And God sawe that it was good.
19 And there was euening and morning that made the fourth
day.
20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth creeping
creature hauing life, and and flying foule, ouer the earth vnder
the firmament of heauen.
21 And God created huge Whales, and al liuing &
mouing creature, that the waters brought forth, according to eche sorte,
& al foule according to their kinde. And God sawe that it was good.
22 And he blessed them saying: Increase and multiplie, and
replenish the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied vpon
the earth.
23 And there was euening & morning that made the fifth day.
24 God said moreouer: Let the earth bring forth liuing creature,
in his kind, cattle, & such as creepe, & beastes of the earth according
to their kindes: and it was so done.
25 And God made the beastes of the earth according to their kindes,
and cattle, & al that crepeth on the earth in his kind.
And God saw that
it was good,
26 and he said Let vs make Man to our image & likenes: and
let him haue dominion ouer the fishes of the sea, and the foules of the
ayre, and the beastes, and the whole earth, and al creeping creature,
that moueth vpon the earth.
27 And God created man, to his owne image: to the image of
God he created him, male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them, and saith: Increase and multiplie,
& replenish the earth, and subdew it, and rule ouer the fishes of the
sea, and foules of the ayre, & al liuing creatures, that moue vpon the
earth.
29 And God said: Behold I haue giuen you al manner of hearbe
that seedeth vpon the earth, and al trees that haue in them selues seede
of their owne kinde, to be your meate:
30 and to al beastes of the earth, and to euerie foule of the
ayre, & to al that moue vpon the earth, and wherein there is life, that
they may haue to feede vpon. And it was so done.
31 And God sawe al things that he had made, and they were
very good. And there was euening & morning that made the sixt day.
ANNOTATIONS.
Cʜᴀᴘ. I.
1. In the beginning.] The Church had only Traditions & no Scripture aboue 2400. yeares.
Holie Moyses telleth what was done in the beginningof the world, and so forward euen til his
owne time, writing aboue two thou∣sand and foure hundreth yeares after the beginning. Al which being
incom∣prehensible by humaine witte or discourse, he knew partly by Reuelations from God, for he had
the gyft of Prophecie in most excellent sorte: partly by Traditions from his elders, who lerned of
their fathers. For vntil that time the Church had only Traditions of such things, as were reueled
to special men, wherby we see the great authoritie of Traditions, before there were
Scrip∣tures. And since Scriptures were written they are also necessarie, for three spe∣cial
reasons.
Tradition necessary for three causes.
1.
First for that we are only assured by Tradition of the Church, that those bookes are
in dede holie Scriptures, which are so accounted, and not by the Scripture it selfe, for that
were to proue the same by the same, vntil we be assured of some part, that proueth some other
partes. And this made S. Au∣gustin to say plainly, *that he could not beleue the Gospel, except the
Church told him vvhich is the Gospel.
* cont. Epist. fund. c. 5.
2
Scripture most eminent authoritie.
Secondly holie Scriptures being once knowen to be
the word of God, and so of most eminent authoritie of al writings in the world, as S.
Augustin S. Ierome, & al other Fathers agree, yet for the true vnderstan∣ding of the same, both
the Scripture it selfe, and the ancient Fathers remitte vs to the Church, namely to those in the
Church, that are appointed by Gods ordinance, in the high place that he hath chosen. VVhich were
the High Priests in the old Testament, as appeareth: Deut. 17. Mat. 23. Ioan. 11. And in the new
Testament, S. Peter and his Successors for whom Christ prayed that his faith should not faile: and
therfore commanded him to confirme his bretheren Luc. 22.
3
Thirdly for things not expressed in
particular in holie Scripture, the Scrip∣ture and Fathers do likewise remitte vs to Traditions,
and to the iudgement and testimonie of the Church. Christ saying to his Apostles: *he that
heareth you heareth me. The Apostles doubted not to say: **It semed good to the Holie Ghost and
to vs. And S. Paul willed the Thessalonians ***to hold the traditions, vvhich they had lerned,
whether it were by word, or by his Epistle.
* Luc. 10,16.
**Act. 15, 28.
***2. Thess. 2.
1. In the beginning God made heauen and earth.] Scriptures hard.
Al writers ancient and later find such difficulties in these first chapters, that some
otherwise very lerned haue thought it not possible to vnderstand the same according to the proper
and vsual signification of the wordes, as the letter may seme to sound, but ex∣pound al
allegorically, as that by the waters aboue the firmament should be vnderstood the blessed Angels,
by the waters vnder the firmament wicked spitites, and the like. So did *Origen and diuers that
folow him therein. Yea **S. Augustin in his bookes vpon Genesis against the Manichees, written
shortly after his conuersion, when he could not find as he desired a good and probable sense
agreable to the wordes, in their proper signification, expoun∣ded them mystically, but afterwards
in his ***other bookes de Genesi ad literam, he gratfully acknowledgeth that God had geuen
him further sight ther∣in, and that now he supposed he could interprete al according to the
proper signification of the wordes. yet so that he durst not nor would not addict him selfe
to one sense, but that he was readie to imbrace an other, lest by sticking to his owne iudgement
he might faile. So likewise ****S. Basil, S. Chrisostom, S. Ambrose, S. Ierome, S. Bede, and
other greatest Doctors found & confessed great difficulties in these first chapters, which they
with much studie endeuo∣red to explicate. And therfore it is a wonder to see our Protestants &
Puritans hold this Paradox, that Scriptures are easie to be vnderstood.
* Origen. super. Gen. c. 1.
** Aug. li. 2. de Gen. cont. Manich. ca. 2.
*** lib. 1. c. 18. & lib. 8. c. 2.
**** Bas. ho. 9. in Genes.
Chrisost. epist. 44.
Amb. & Beda in examen.
Ieron. Epistol. ad Eustoch.
Gen. 1. v. 3. & 14.
Exo. 20,5. & 18, v. 20.
Ioan. 8,25.
Rom. 8.
Why Scriptures are hard.
VVheras both by
testimonie of those that haue in deede studied & laboured in them, and by a litle due
consideration, the cōtrarie is most euident. For whosoeuer wil looke into the holie Scriptures,
shal find that some times in shew one place semeth contrarie to an other; some times the letter
& phrase are obscure & ambi∣guous; some times the sentences vnperfect. Againe manie
speaches are pro∣phetical, manie parabolical, metaphorical, and vttered vnder other tropes and
figures, and that in the literal sense.
Three spiritual senses besides the Literal.
Moreouer there are three spiritual senses besides the
literal, very frequent in holie Scripture.
Allegorical.
Moral.
Anagogical.
Allegorical pertay∣ning to Christ and the Church;
Moral pertayning to maners; and Anagogical pertayning to the next life. As this word
Ierusalem literally signifieth the head citie of Iewrie: Morally the soule of man: Allegorically
the Church militant: and Anagogically the Church triumphant. And sometimes this (and the like
of others) metaphorically in the literal sense signifieth the Church militant, and not the citie
of Iewrie, as in the 12. chapter to the Hebrewes: and some times the Church triumphant, as
in the 21. of the Apocalips.
2. The Spirite of God.]
In the Hebrew it is signified, that the Spirite of God was on the waters to make them fertile,
for that fishes and birdes were to be procreated therof; the word is merahepheth, incubabat,
sate vpon, to produce fruict (saith S. Ierom) from the waters, as a henne by her heate,
produceth life in the egges. And the same *S. Ierom, and before him Tertullian teach, that
this was a figure of Baptisme, which consisteth of water and the Holie Ghost.
A figure of Baptisme.
For as water in the beginning of the world receiued a certain vital vertue of the Holie Ghost to produce
liuing creatures: so also Baptisme receiueth vertue of the same Holie Ghost to procreate new men.
Christians called fishes.
VVherupon Tertullian calleth Christians fishes, because they are gotten from the waters,
and thence haue their first spiritual life. Let it not therfore seme strange (saith he)
that in Baptisme VVaters geue life.
*Ieron. Epistol. 83. ad Ocea.
Tert. de Baptis.
16. Tvvo great lights, and starres.] Light being an accident remayned without subiect,
by the iudgement of some lerned Fathers.
Here occurreth an other example of the hardnes of holie Scripture. For if the two great lights
(towit the Sunne & the Moone) and also the starres, vvere made the fourth day, and not before,
as it m•y seme by the wordes in this place, then what was that light, and in what subiect
was it, that was made the first day? S. Basil, S. Gregorie Nazianzen, Theodoret, and some others,
writing vpon this place do thinke that the light, which was made the first day, remayned though
an accident without his sub∣iect til the fourth day. And albeit most other Doctors rather think
that the substance of the Sunne & Moone, & of other planets and starres were created the first
day, and the fourth day set in that order and course which now they kepe, with more distinction
for signes and seasons, and dayes and yeares: yet it is clere that the foresaid ancient Doctors
iudged it possible, that accidents may remaine without their subiect.
The accidents of breade and wine can remaine by Gods power without their subiects.
which a Sacramentarie
wil be loath to grant, lest it might be proued possible, as both these & al other
Catholique Doctors beleued and taught, that the accidents of bread and wine remaine in the
bles∣sed Sacrament of the Eucharist without their subiects. VVhich Protestants denie.
26. Let vs make man to our Image.] Tenne prerogatiues of man in his creation.
For better consideration of Gods bountie towards vs, and sturring our selues to gratitude towards
him, we may here note tenne prerogatiues bestowed on vs, by our Lord & maker in our creation
aboue al other earthlie creatures.
1. made like to God.
First, wheras God by an imperial word of commandment made other
creatures, Fiat lux, Fiat firmamentum: Be there light: Be there a firmament: intending to make
man, he procedeth familiarly, by way, as it were, of consultation, and as to his owne vse and
seruice to make man saying: Let vs make man to our image and likenes, that is to say, a reasonable
creature with vnderstanding and free wil, which beastes haue not.
2. The Mysterie of the B. Trinitie insinuated in his creation.
Secondly, in this worke God
first insinuateth the high Mysterie of the B. Trinitie, or pluralitie of Persons in one God
(because man is to beleue the same) signifying the plura∣litie of Persons by the wordes Let vs
make, and to our: and the vnitie in substance, by the wordes Image and likenes, the
first in the plural number, the later in the singular.
3. produced by God him selfe.
Thirdly, other creatures were produced by the
waters and earth, Let the vvaters bring forth (fishe and soule) Let the earth bring forth
(grasse and cattle, & other beastes) but God brought forth man, not by the earth, though of the earth,
nor by water, nor by heauen, nor by Angels, but by him selfe, geuing him a reasonable soule, not
sensual only as to beastes, and the same not produced of anie creature, but created immediatly
of nothing.
4. placed in paradise.
Fourthly, God gaue man Paradise a most pleasant place to dwel in.
5. Lord of al earthlie creatires.
Fiftly, God
gaue man do∣minion and imperial authoritie ouer alliuing creatures vnder heauen.
6. innocencie.
Sixtly, man was
created in that innocencie of life, and integritie of al vertues, that his mind was wholly
subiect to God, his sense to reason, his bodie to his spirite, and al other liuing creatures
obedient to him: euen the terrible Lions, the cruel Tigres, the huge Elephants, and the wildest
birdes.
7. excellent knowledge.
Seuently, God brought them al to man, as to do him homage, and to take their names
of him. VVhich by his excellent knowledge he gaue them conformable to their na∣tures.
8. powre to liue euer.
Eightly,
God gaue man in some sorte an immortal bodie, that if he had kept Gods commandment, he
had liued long and pleasantly in this world, and so should haue bene translated to eternal life
without dying.
9. gift of prophecie.
Ninthly, God did not only adorne man with al natural knowledge, and supernatural
ver∣tues, but also with the gift of prophecie. VVherby the knew that Eue was a bone of his
bones, and flesh of his flesh, though being a slepe he knew not when she was made.
10. God conuersed familiarly with man.
Tenthly
(which was the chiefe benefite of al) God conuersed familiarly with man, and that in shape of
man, which was a token of his meruelous great loue to man, and a singular incitment of him to
loue God. Reade more, if you please, of the dignitie of man, and the benefites of God towards
him in his creation, in S. Bernard vpon the 99. Psalme. And vpon the 61. chapter of Esaie.
28. Increase and multiplie.] Gods blessings alwayes effectual.
VVhether this be a commandment or no, at least it is a blessing, for so the wordes before
conuince, God blessed them and said: In∣crease and multiplie. He said the same also to brute
creatures, which are not ca∣pable of a precept, but by this were made fertile. VVherby we see
that Gods blessing alwayes worketh some real effect: as of fertilitie in this and other
places, of multiplication of the loaues and fishes, Ioan 6.
Especially in the holie Eucharist.
And some real effect Christs
blessing must nedes worke also in the blessed Sacrament. Mat. 26. VVhich can be no other but
changing bread and wine into his bodie & bloud, seing him selfe expresly sayeth: This is my
bodie. this is my bloud.
Not al men & wemen commanded to marie.
And though Gods blessing in this place, be also a precept, yet it is not to al men for euer,
but for the propagation of mankind, which being long since abundantly propagared, the
obligation of the precept ceaseth the cause cea∣sing. So S. Cyprian, S. Ierome, S. Augustin,
and other Fathers expound this place. And confirme the same by the text, for immediatly God
signifying to what end he spoke, saith: and replenish the earth. VVhich benig replenished,
Gods wil is therin fulfilled.