^ ' Zi'j'i^i'as.' — Vide Irenceum.
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referred ? if to the former part, tliiis, what they know naturally as brute beasts, then the sense will be that knowledge which they have in common with the beasts. Man is in part an angel, in part a beast ; in his reason and upper part of the soul he resembleth an angel, and in his appetite and senses a beast. What they know by their senses and brutish desires, that will be the sense, if you allow of this first refe- rence. If to the latter part, thus, in those things as brute beasts they corrupt themselves, then it will suit with the parallel place in Peter, 2 Peter ii. 12, (h'i dXoja "Qwa ^vctlkcl, ' as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed ; ' and it will imply that they degenerated into beasts, notwithstanding that natural knowledge wherewith they were endowed. But to speak my own thoughts in this matter ; the former reading is more agreeable to the posture of the words in the original, oaa Se (j>vaLK(b<i &)? aXoya ^(oa eTrlaravrai,, ' what they natu- rally as brute beasts know,' in those things they are worse than beasts, corrupting and defiling themselves by the excesses of the sensual appetite : as in eating and drinking, and the use of the woman in common copulation, as if there were no law, nor limited use of those things, which yet they might discern in the beasts themselves, and the dictates of their own consciences.
This being premised, I come to explain the words. What they hiow, (pvaiKm, natu7^ally. There is a threefold light: — (1.) Sense or instinct; (2.) Reason; (3.) Grace; and accordingly as a man is fur- nished he may be said to be irvev/j.a.Tifco'i, spiritual, or furnished with the light of grace, or ■\^vj(^iKo<i, which we translate natural, 1 Cor. ii. 14, — it signifieth one that hath nothing but the light of a reasonable soul. Lastly, (f>vacKO'i, merely natural, which signifieth one guided by the blind motion and instinct of nature, without reason, counsel and choice, as the beasts are. So it is said here, ' what they know naturally,' that is, what they understand by natural inclination, or the mere judg- ment or perception of sense, to be good or evil, in those things they corrupt themselves, (^Oeipovrai, are corrupted. So Erasmus ; but the word is not simply passive, but after the form of the conjugation Hithpael among the Hebrews, which infert passionem in se, it implieth such a passion as we cause to ourselves. But how do they corrupt them- selves ? sinfully or penally ? I answer — Both ways ; sinfully they cor- rupt and defile themselves, and so draw down punishments both upon their souls and bodies, 2 Peter ii. 12, ' They shall perish in their own corruption.'
Obs. 1. Having made this way, I come to the observations ; and in the first place observe, that truth is usually slandered out of ignorance ; because men do not understand the ways and things of God, therefore they do condemn them. In the apostles' days, ' the doctrine of the cross' was accounted 'foolishness' by those that knew least of it; and afterwards the Christian religion was condemned because it could not be heard ; Simul ac desinunt ignorare, desinunt odisse, so Tertul- lian in Apologia — when they knew it, they could not hate it. It is the devil's cunning to keep us at a distance from truths, and therefore burdeneth them with prejudices, that we may suspect rather than search, and condemn that out of ignorance and upon vulgar clamour which upon knowledge we could not choose but love and profess ; and
266 AX EXPOSITION. WITH NOTES. [VeR. 10.
it is man's perverseness and pride to speak evil of things above his reach, and to disprove that which he has not attained unto or cannot understand. Nazianzen speaks of some ignorant people that condemned learning, because they had not the happiness to attain to it ; Xva to Kar avTov<; KpvTTTrjraL, saith he, Orat. xx. ; that their own deficiency being the more common, might be less odious ; or to instance in a higher case, Papists and carnal men scoff at imputed righteousness, assurance of salvation, and the testimony of the Spirit, because they are things they are utterly unacquainted with. Well, then, when we declaim against things, we should speak out of advised knowledge, not rash zeal. See John iii. 11, ' We speak that which we know, and testify that which we have seen : ' zeal, as it must have a riglit aim, so a solid ground to proceed upon. It is a vain thing to begin at the affections, and to hate before we know : Prov. xviii. 13, ' He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is a folly and shame to him.' If you light right, it is but a happy mistake and stumble : Quid miqiuus quam ut oderint liomines quod ignorant, etiamsi res mei^etur odium — Teriid. ut supra. When the affections outstart the judgment, men grow obstinate in their ignorance, and will not know what they have a mind to hate : Malutit nescire quia jam oderunf, as Tertullian goeth on. Rash prejudices engaging men in opposition, they will not own the truth when represented to them ; having hated it without knowledge, they hate it against knowledge, and so are hardened against the ways of God, which is the case of many who in a blind zeal have appeared against the public ministry and ordinances ; and being engaged, are loath to strike sail, and lay down their defiance, when sufficient conviction is offered.