That Christianity onely is of power to lay open the Deuills subtilty and delight, in illuding of ignorant men. CHAP. 33.
THis onely true religion is of power to lay open that the Gentiles gods are * 1.1 most vncleane spirits, desiring vpon the occasion of some departed soules, or vnder the shapes of some earthly creatures, to bee accounted gods, and in their proud impurity taking pleasure in those obscaenities as in diuine honours, ma∣ligning the conuersion of all mens soules vnto the true God. From whose beastly and abhominable tyranny a man then getteth free, when hee layeth his beliefe vpon him, who by his rare example of humillity declared from what height and for what pride those wicked fiendes had their fall. Hence arose those routes of gods, whereof partly wee haue spoken, and others of other nations, as well as those wee now are in hand with, the Senate of selected gods: selected indeed, but for villany, not for vertue. Whose rites Varro seeking by reason to reduce to na∣ture, and to couer turpitude with an honest cloake, can by no meanes make them square together: because indeed the causes that hee held (or would haue others hold) for their worship, are no such as he takes them, nor causes of their worship. For if they, or their like were so, though they should not concerne the true God, nor life eternall which true religion must affoord, yet their colour of reason would be some mitigation for the absurd actes of Ignorance: which Varro did endeuour to bring about in diuers their theater-fables, or temple-mysteries: wherein hee freed not the theaters for their correspondence with the temples, but condemned the temples for their correspondence with the theaters: yet en∣deuouring with naturall reasons to wipe away the filthy shapes that those pre∣sentments imprinted in the sences.