MEMB. 2. SUBSECT. 1. Religious Melancholy in defect; parties affected, Epicures, Atheists, Hypocrites, worldly secure, Carnalists, all impious persons, Impenitent sinners, &c.

In that other extream, or defect of this love of God, knowledge, faith, fear, hope, &c. are such as erre both in doctrine and manners, Sadduces, Herodians, Libertines, polititians; all manner of Atheists, Epicures, Infidels, that are secure, in a reprobate sense, fear not God at all, and such are too distrustfull and timorous, as desperate persons be:

That grand sin of Atheisme or impietie, Melancthon cals it monstrosam melancholiam, monstrous melancholy; or venenatam melancholiam, poysoned melancholy. A company of Cyclopes or Giants, that war with the gods, as the Poets fained, Antipodes to Christians, that scoffe at all religion, at God himself, deny him and all his attributes, his wisdom, power, providence, his mercy and judgement.

Esse aliquos manes, & subterranea regna, Et contum, & Stygio ranas in gurgite nigras, Atq; unâ transire vadum tot millia cymbâ, Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum ære lavantur.

That there is either Heaven or hell, resurrection of the dead, pain, happinesse, or world to come, credat Judæus Apella: for their parts they esteem them as so many Poets tales, Bugbears, Lucians Alexander; Moses, Mahomet and Christ are all as one in their creed.

When those bloudy wars in France for matters of Religion, (saith Richard Dinoth) were so violently pursued betwixt Hugenotes and Papists, there was a company of good fellows laughed them all to scorn, for being such superstitious fools, to loose their lives and fortunes, accounting faith, religion, immortality of the soul, meer fopperies and illusions.

Such loose Atheisticall spirits are too predominant in all kingdoms. Let them contend, pray, tremble, trouble themselves that will, for their parts, they fear neither God nor divel; but with that Cyclops in Euripides,

Haud ulla numina expavescunt cœlitum, Sed victimas uni deorum maximo, Ventri offerunt, deos ignorant cæteros.

They fear no God but one, They sacrifice to none, But belly, and him adore, For Gods they know no more.

Their God is their belly, as Paul saith, Sancta mater saturitas;

—— quibus in solo vivendi causa palato est.

The Idol which they worship and adore, is their Mistris, with him in Plautus, mallem hæc mulier me amet quam dii, they had rather have her favour then the Gods. Satan is their guide, the flesh is their instructor, Hypocrisie their Counsellour, Vanity their fellow-souldier, their will their law, Ambition their captain, Custome their rule: temerity, boldnesse, impudence their Art, toyes their trading, damnation their end.

All their endeavours are to satisfie their lust and appetite, how to please their Genius, and to be merry for the present,

Ede, lude, bibe, post mortem nulla voluptas.

The same condition is of men and of beasts; as the one dieth, so dieth the other, Eccles.3.19. the world goes round,

—— truditur dies die, Novæque pergunt interire Lunæ:

they did eat and drink of old, marry, bury, bought, sold, planted, built, and will do still.

Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no recovery, neither was any man known that hath returned from the grave: for we are born at all adventure, and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been; for the breath is as smoke in our nostrils, &c. and the spirit vanisheth as the soft air.

Come let us enjoy the pleasures that are present, let us chearfully use the creatures as in youth, let us fill our selves with costly wine and ointments, let not the flower of our life passe by us, let us crown our selves with rose buds before they are withered, &c.

Vivamus mea Lesbia & amemus, &c. Come let us take our fill of love, and pleasure in dalliance, for this is our portion, this is our lot.

Tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis,

For the rest of heaven and hell, let children and superstitious fools beleeve it: for their parts they are so far from trembling at the dreadfull day of judgement, that they wish with Nero, Me vivo fiat, let it come in their times: so secure, so desperate, so immoderate in lust and pleasure, so prone to revenge,

that as Paterculus said of some Caitiffes in his time in Rome, Quod nequiter ausi, fortiter executi: it shall not be so wickedly attempted, but as desperately performed, what ere they take in hand.

Were it not for Gods restraining grace, fear and shame, temporall punishment, and their own infamy, they would Lycaon-like exenterate, as so many Cannibals eat up, or Cadmus souldiers, consume one another.

These are most impious, and commonly professed Atheists, that never use the name of God but to swear by it: that expresse naught else but Epicurisme in their carriage, or hypocrisie; with Pentheus they neglect and contemn these rites and religious ceremonies of the Gods, they will be Gods themselves, or at least socii deorum;

Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet.

Aproyis an Ægyptian tyrant, grew, saith Herodotus, to that height of pride, insolency and impietie, to that contempt of God and men, that he held his kingdom so sure, ut à nemine deorum aut hominum sibi eripi posset, neither God nor men could take it from him.

A certain blasphemous King of Spaine (as Lansius reports) made an edict, that no subject of his for ten years space, should beleeve in, call on, or worship any god.

And as Jovius relates of Mahomet the second, that sacked Constantinople, he so behaved himself, that he beleeved neither Christ nor Mahomet, and thence it came to passe, that he kept his word and promise no farther than for his advantage; neither did he care to commit any offence to satisfie his lust.

I could say the like of many Princes, many private men (our stories are full of them) in times past, this present age, that love, fear, obey, and perform all civil duties, as they shall finde them expedient or behoveful to their own ends.

Securi adversus Deos, securi adversus homines, votis non est opus, which Tacitus reports of some Germans, they need not pray, fear, hope, for they are secure to their thinking, both from God and men.

Bulco Opiliensis, sometimes Duke of Silesia, was such a one to an hair, he lived (saith Æneas Sylvius) at Wratislavia, and was so mad to satisfie his lust, that he beleeved neither heaven nor hell, or that the soul was immortall, but married wives, and turned them up as he thought fit, did murder and mischief, and what he list himself.

This duke hath too many followers in our dayes: say what you can, dehort, exhort, perswade to the contrary, they are no more moved,

—— quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes,

then so many stockes, and stones, tell them of Heaven and hell, ’tis to no purpose, laterem lavas, they answer as Ataliba that Indian Prince did Frier Vincent, when he brought him a book, and told him all the mysteries of salvation, heaven and hell were contained in it: he looked upon it, and said he saw no such matter, asking withall how he knew it: they will but scoffe at it, or wholly reject it.

Petronius in Tacitus when he was now by Nero’s command bleeding to death, audiebat amicos nihil referentes de immortalitate animæ, aut sapientum placitis, sed levia carmina & faciles versus, in stead of good counsel and divine meditations, he made his friends sing him bawdy verses and scurrile songs.

Let them take heaven, paradise, and that future happinesse that will, bonum est esse hic, it is good being here: there is no talking to such, no hope of their conversion; they are in a reprobate sense, meer Carnalists, fleshly minded men, which howsoever they may be applauded in this life by some few parasites, and held for worldly wise men, They seem to me (saith Melancthon) to be as mad as Hercules was when he raved and killed his wife and children.

A milder sort of these Atheisticall spirits there are that profess religion, but timide & hæsitanter, tempted hereunto out of that horrible consideration of diversity of Religions, which are and have been in the world, (which argument Campanella, Atheismi Triumphati cap.9. both urgeth and answers) besides the covetousness, imposture and knavery of Priests, quæ faciunt (as Postellus observes) ut rebus sacris minus faciant fidem;