Fire and brimstone from heaven, from earth, in hell, or, Three discourses I. Concerning…

Therefore by way of Appendix unto Sodom's burning, and by way of Introduction unto the burning of Hell, I shall treat of Aetna, or Mount Gibel's burning with Fire and Brimstone out of the bowels of the Earth; especially in the eruption of it the last year; which being a thing so late, and so near, and so attested by eye-witness, and so easily disproved, yet not disproved, as it would have been by this time, had it been false; I suppose will find credit with the most, and may be of greater use than hath as yet been made of it, from the relation we have had so barely of the thing without any mention made of the name of God, or his hand, or the end which he may have in such wonderful and stupendous burnings.

Therefore by way of Appendix unto Sodom's burning, and by way of Introduction unto the burning of Hell, I shall treat of Aetna, or Mount Gibel's burning with Fire and Brimstone out of the bowels of the Earth; especially in the eruption of it the last year; which being a thing so late, and so n•ar, and so attested by eye-witniss, and so easily disproved, yet not disproved, as it would have been by this time, had it been false; I suppose will find credit with the most, and may be of greater use than hath as yet been made of it, from the relation we have had so barely of the thing without any mention made of the name of God, or his hand, or the end which he may have in such wonderful and stupendous burnings.

It is from the soul that the body hath it's life and motion, it's beauty and lustre, when the soul is separated, the body becomes a carcass breathless, lifeless, gha•y, and subject to putrefaction: The whole world is full of God: Praesentemque refert quaelibet herba Deum, every pile of Grass, yea the meanest thing which is the object of our eye, or any […] doth carry an Impress of God; especially ⟨p. 51⟩the greater works of Creation and Providence do bare large characters of the Deity, and have Praise unto the Lord, written more legibly upon them: and although God be not the Soul of the World as some have affirmed; yet the whole Creation hath it's beauty from him, and so far are any work truly admirable and great, as God is taken notice of in them. The Sun, Moon, and Stars, and the whole frame of the Heavens, are most great and illustrious, as by their brightness and motion they declare the glory of the Lord their maker and ruler. The Earth and Sea, and all things in both, as they set forth Gods infinite power and wisdom and goodness, so far they are most worthy our observation and admiration. All the good things we receive, are only so far truly good, to us, as we perceive them handed to us by God; and Gods hand in afflictions also doth sweeten them to us, when we are persuaded of the Author, and God's love and design for our good in them. To leave out God therefore in the consideration of any work, is to leave out that which is chiefly remarkable; without him we see but the carcass without the Soul, without the the life and beauty.