Page 335
Sect. 11.
And in this St. John giveth the Son of God no new name, but such as men knew him by long before Saint John's time; The Philosophers in all ages,* 1.1 when their Soules soared so high as to contemplate the essence of God, his creation and government of the world, they said, he had a Son, or mind, which proceeded from him like Light from the Sun, (that is a simile they are fre∣quent in) and they termed that Son his word; and they say, that that Word made the world, and gave Life and being to all things; thus Trismegistus in the first Chap∣ter of his Poemander: and Section 4. according to the edition of Flussus, he saw in his rapture an indefinite Light; then in the fifth Section he enquired, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, what comes out of the light? the answear was made, The holy word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the holy word; then in the sixth Section, when Trismegistus had begg'd an expression of this vision, I, saith Poemander, I 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 intellectus, mens, I a Spirit, I translate it, or, as is commonly amongst those Philosophers, the Supreme Spirit of God, I that Spirit, thy God, am that light: and presently after, that bright or resplendent Word, which thou didst see come out, is the Son of God; I could shew much more to this purpose out of him, but this is enough to shew, that this, which St. John deliver's here, when he calle's the Son of God the word internall, is according to the language of this Philoso∣pher; if there could be any farther doubt, let any man read that whole Chapter, he shall find his expressions extremely full; the same may be found up and down in Plato, the Sibylls, Zoroaster, and many more, which I need not name, because the observations out of them are made by many, and as well as this acknowledged by Socinus, as I shall shew presently.