Yet these two fires may be compared, namely the strange fire to Leaven, to the Sea water which is salt, and to Vinegar, a corrupted Wine, and other sorts of Leavens Fires against nature. And the Celestiall to the Altar to pure and unleavened Past, to sweet water fit to drinke, to Aqua vitæ, without Vinegar, representing the state of innocence in our first fathers, before their transgression, and the simplicitie of their knowledge, infused into them by the Creator. But when they were once tempted afterwards with ambition, to know more then they should, they would by humane discourse become more subtill and sage, in tasting the fruit of knowledge of good and evill; their Past without Leaven began to swell, to bee proud with the Leaven themselves introduced, which perverted and spoyled it, appropriating it to corporall and sensible things, for the bread which wee eate is leavened, but that which wee use in the Church must not be so, and not without cause, for unleavened bread will bee kept six moneths without molding or corrupting; that leavened bread will not keep so many weekes. It is therefore that the Apostle said, a little Leaven corrupts the whole Masse: Because that one propriety of the Leaven is to convert into their corruption all that is adjoyning of their nature, as Vinegar doth Wine, and Leaven pure Past, also Rennet which is in the number of Leavens. And when they have no Leaven, they make some, corrupting the Past with Vinegar, Lees of Beere, Egges, and like substances, who by their corruption acquire to themselves the propertie of strange fire which is able to convert into its nature, that where it can bite, as wee may see in a Feaver against naturall heate, so that hee turnes it selfe into all things, and all into it selfe, according to Heraclitus, who set it downe for the Principall, yet after Zoroastres, who thought all things were begotten of Fire after it was extinguished, for being living it begets nothing, no more doth Salt, nor the Sea which Homer calls ἀτρὺγετος unfruitfull, which doth nothing but consume and destroy: An immense and wicked portion of things (saith Pliny) and wherein it is doubtfull whether it consume or bring forth more things. Leaven then is a strange fire, and is indeed caustique or burning, for applyed to naked flesh, it engenders therein little cloches, which shewes its fierynesse, (also it doth not so without Salt) called for this reason in Latine fermentum, Leaven which increaseth by bring warme: and in Greek ζύμη Leaven from ζέω to boile. The Chymicks call it the interior fire, fire within the vessell, for wee see by experience, that bread, if the Past be not leavened, what boyling soever you give it, shall never be but of a hard and uneasy digestion, greatly oppressing the stomach, if the Leaven which they joyne thereunto make it boyle within; whence then it comes that Moses so knowing a man, and so illustrated with the Divine Spirit, so rejecteth a thing so profitable and necessary, and banisheth so expresly the Leaven of the Sacrifices, which is so great an aide and succor in our principall aliment, Bread. You shall burne no Leaven nor Honey in the Lords Sacrifice, Levit. 2.11. And Exod. 12.15, hee condemneth to death those who in the dayes of unleavened bread should eate leavened bread, or should have ever so little in his house. Is it not because Idolaters use Leaven? but hee doth not forbid it in all and throughout all; for in the 23 of Levit. 17. he commands them to offer two leaven loaves. Moreover Idolaters imploy also in their Sacrifices Salt and Incense, and many other things that are not forbidden. It must then bee that some mystery lies hidden hereunder. Origen in his 5. Homil. upon Levit. interpreteth Leaven for arrogance, that wee conceive of a vaine worldly doctrine, which blowes us up as leaven doth Past, and makes us proud, thinking that wee know more then wee doe. So that wee quit the expresse and direct Word of God, to retaine our selves within our phantastique traditions, as our Saviour reproacheth it to the Pharisees, Mark. 7. Truely Esay prophecied very well of you Hypocrites, when hee saith, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is farre from me, howbeit in vaine doe they worship me, teaching for Doctrines the Commandements of men, Mark. 7.6,7. And therefore admonisheth us to beware of this Leaven. And upon Numbers, it is not to beleeve said the said Origen, that God would punish with death those who during the solennitie of unleavened bread had eaten leavened bread, or that had leaven found in their houses, but by leaven is understood malignitie, envie, rancor, concupiscence, and the like vices that inflame our soules, and make them boile with wicked and pernicious desires, corrupting, altering, and perverting all that which might bee good, following what the Apostle said, a little Leaven corrupts the whole masse. Therefore wee may not undervalue any little sinne, for after the manner of Leaven it will very soone produce others; undervalue not, saith St. Augustine, the machinations and ambushes of a few men; for as a sparkle of fire is a small thing, and which can hardly bee discerned if it meet with food and nourishment, it will in a short time set on fire great Townes and Cities, Forrests, and whole Countries. Leaven is the same, for how little soever you put in your Past or Dough, it will alter it in short space and convert it to its owne nature. Perverse Doctrine is of the very same, which gaineth Countries by little and little, as a Canker doth in the whole body.
And in his third Book against Parmenian to glorifie himselfe, not in his sinnes, but in those of others, as the Pharisee said, Luk. 18. 11. I give thee thanks O Lord God, that I am not as other men are, Extortioners, Unjust, Adulterers, &c. I fast twice in the weeke &c. comparing his owne innocence to the defaults of others, this is but a little leaven, but to boast himself in iniquities, and trespasses, is a great one; Furthermore, Leaven is taken in good part, as well as in bad part, in holy Writ; which relates to the two fires. The first hath been touched heretofore for pride, and naughtinesse, that corrupts the soule. Touching the good, in the 7. of Levit. 12, 13. there are loaves of leavened bread, which they offer for peace offerings, with oblation of thanksgiving, and in the 23. 17. of every family two loaves of the first eares of wheat at Pentecost; and in St. Matthew, and the 23 of St. Luke Jesus Christ compared the Kingdome of God to leaven that a woman had put into three measures of dough, till it was all leavened; for there it is taken for the fervent zeale of ardent faith; and it is the fire wherewith we must be salted: for as the fire boyles our meats, and the salt seasons them, also leaven is the cause that the past bakes the better, and prepares thereby to make more wholesome, and of lighter digestion, more savoury, and of better tast: In which case leaven relates to the Evangelicall Law, as Saint Augustine saith, and old leaven to the Mosaicall, which the Jewes tooke by the barke, and by the hairs. By reason whereof the Apostle admonisheth us, to cast it farre from us: that is to say, all superstition, and malice; Cast off the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, for even Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for you. Therefore let us keep the Feast not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickednesse, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, which leaven is without doubt this strange fire, that devoures and consumes us within; that is to say, our soul, to swallow us up, and make us goe downe living into Hell. And the Fire of the Altar, the celestiall fire of charity, faith, hope, it is that which we must desire of God to kindle in our hearts, and to season our thoughts and our desires, that no corruption be begotten there; as it doth here below in things corruptible and corporall; the prompt Minister, and executor of that, which the divine goodnesse will please to give of comforts and commodities in this temporall life. What obligations then do wee owe thee, thou excellent portion of Nature, without which we should live in so great misery? thou doest lighten in darknesse, thou dost make us rejoyce in obscurity, bringing us another day. Thou doest chase away from about us, hurtfull powers, feares, and nocturnall illusions; thou doest warm us being cold, thou doest redry us being wet; thou bakest our viands; thou art the soveraigne Artizan of all arts and manufactures which have been revealed unto us, to serve as a rampard against our naturall Imbecillities, that make us in regard of our bodies the feeble and infirm animall of all others. All this by reason of thy Divine beneficence, thou doest communicate to all mortals. And thou, O cleare luminous Sunne, the visible image of the invisible God, the light whereof, doth rebate it selfe in thee, as within a fair manifold multiplying glasse, rendring thy selfe overflowing with all sorts of happinesses, which afterwards thou communicatest to all thy sensible Creatures, being so fair and so desireable a liberall benefactor, thou arisest most resplendent, with luminous beams, which thou doest spread abroad into all parts of the world, and by the vertue of thy spirit, and breath, by thy vivifying vigour, thou governest and maintainest this little All. Thou the illustrious Torch of Heaven, thou the light of all things; cause and secondary Author of all that groweth here below, which by the faculty and power, which the Soveraigne dispensator of all goodnesse hath given thee, obligeth all nature to thy selfe; which with an unwearied course, doest dayly run through the foure corners of the Universe. Thy beauty, thy light, thou doest lend unto our senses by thy unknowne and imperceptible Divinity, and impartest it with a liberall largess; without any vaile or covverture that come to enterpose betwixt them to the Church, thy deare spouse, to break open to us here below, the effects illightning by the same meane of thy inextinguible and inexhaustible Torch, all the celestiall fires. Looke upon us then with a benigne and favourable eye, and by the excellent beauty which shewes it selfe in thee, elevate our understanding to the contemplation of this other more great, that no mortall eie can behold, nor spirit apprehend, but by a profound and pious thought, for as much as it will please him to gratifie it.
But thou Soveraigne Father of this intellectual fire and light, what can wee bring thee here, but devout supplications and prayers? that it will please thee to burne with the fire of thy Holy Spirit, the wills and courages of us thy most humble Creatures, that wee may serve thee with a chast body, and to agree with thee by a pure and neat conscience: to the honour and glory of thy holy name, and salvation of our soules: through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy deare Sonne, who liveth and raigneth with thee, God coeternall, forever and ever, AMEN.
The second Part of the Lord
BLAISE his Treatise
touching FIRE and
SALT.
