Observations, censures, and confutations of notorious errours in Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan and other his bookes to which are annexed occasionall anim-adversions on some writings of the Socinians and such hæreticks of the same opinion with him / by William Lucy ...

Sect. 7.

I will take every word apart, and vindicate it from their several Objections: first this word egressus, whose goings forth, as our English; their explication of this, is [that he came forth by the generation of his forefather, in particular of David,] I answer, that it is true, that a man may be said to come forth of another, who was long time before in him, as in our usuall language, we express it, he descended from such Ancestors (I make their expres∣sion clearer then I find it in any of their Authors by this explication,) Nay, we can say, such a man's Son, when he shall be born, will be descended from an antient family, from Kings and great Persons; but to say, he hath des∣cended, before he is, can abide no answerable constructi∣on;

but this is our consideration, the Text saith of him, who shall be borne in Bethlehem, but yet is not; that his goings forth have been from of old; now untill a man is, he cannot be said, to have his going forth from of old; a man may say it will be; not that it hath been; and therefore, without doubt, this Text, speaking of the same person, which he said should be borne in Bethlehem [whose goings forth] we must understand by it something of that person which was in those ancient times, which can be nothing but our Saviour's divinity; but they ob∣ject against this Phrase, that it is said goings forth, in the plurall number; now according to true doctrine, our Saviour's divinity hath but one emanation, or egression, or going forth, therefore, say they, this cannot be understood of that egression. That our Saviour's Egression, according to his divinity, was but one, will easily be granted by us; but it is excellently observed by Hebricians, that the holy Ghost is usually pleased to expresse that which is but one in his essence, by a plurall number, when the effests are di∣vers. So Prov. 1.20. Wisdome (we read it] cryeth with∣out, but in the Original it is in the plural number, wis∣domes; without doubt the Wisdome of God is one onely, as he is one, but the energies, the operations of this wis∣dome are many, in regard of which it is called wisdomes in that holy language; so likewise concerning the mer∣cy of God Gen. 32.10. the least of thy mercies, when, without doubt, the mercy of God is one, but the ope∣rations of mercy are divers; multitudes of Instances might be given to this purpose; and this is the Case of our Saviour's divinity, the emanation, the going forth of it is but one, the operations are divers, and in regard of them it is called goings forth. God's eternall pur∣pose to make man; to forgive him, for Jesus Christ's

sake; to work man's redemption by him; to judge the world at the last day by him; these are operations of the eternall emanation of the Son of God; and because these are diverse, this going forth of his, which is one, is put in the plural number, goings forth. Again, because I will shew that these words, in their own Language, can confute nothing of our Doctrine; conceive with me then that these goings out may be understood of the manifestation of his eternal going out to us. So we say the sun shin'd oftentimes; this or that day, when we know that the shining of the Sunne is nothing but an emission and sending forth his light; which act being a proper passi••n of the Sun, we know its shining out to have been ever since the Sun was created; but because this blessed act of the Sun is often impeded and hindred from manifesting its self to us, by Cloudes or such im∣pediments, therefore we say it shines, only when those Cloudes are removed, and that shining, which is alwayes actu exercito, alwaies in operation, hath this operation only then manifested to us; and these shinings of the Sun, in this respect, are said to be many, in Considera∣tion of those various manifestations, although in its own nature it be but one; thus this eternall egr••ssion, going forth of the Son of God, although it be but one in its self, yet, in respect of its manifestations to us by Moses and the Prophets, it may, in the plural number, be said to be egr••ssions, many: and yet give me leave to adde this, that unlesse the Sun-shine had its being, it could not have those many egressions and manifestations to us: So unlesse our Saviour had had a being of old or in the beginning, he could not be said to have many egressions: but yet, methink's, I am not full enough in my expres∣sion, for taking the words as they require, they may

say, that these egressions were not ab initio, or principio, for the egressions, or rather manifestations of his egressi∣ons were not made in the beginning; if I should take be∣ginning, as they doe, for the beginning of David's raigne, they had their answer, but if principium must be the reading, as we require, and indeed is countenanced by both Vatablus, Tremelius, and the Septuagint, let it be then from the beginning; we will distinguish then of a twofold egression of our Saviour, eternall, from the fa∣ther, and temporal, to us, in his manifestation, to the world in his Creation, in his Prophets, in his providence, and in this sense the Divinity of our Saviour hath di∣verse egressions, and these were a principio, and à diebus seculi, from the beginning, and in antient dayes.

Notes

• The text ta∣ken in pieces and vindica∣ted from their objections.
• One in essence plurally ex∣pressed, when the effects are divers.
• Christs eter∣nal egression compared to the shining of the Sun.