N01310:68
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's: I. The Gospel of the rainbow. In the meditations of piety, on the appearance of the bright clouds, with the bow of God upon them. II. The Saviour with his rainbow. And the covenant which God will remember to his people in the cloudy times that are passing over them. / By Cotton Mather., D.D. ; [Seven lines of quotations]
printed by B. Green, 1712
Title page typeset from the transcription.
The GOSPEL of the Rainbow. › Meditation 2: The Second MEDITATION.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But then, Secondly; Tho' Aben Ezra thinks there was no Rainbow before the Flood, and many Christians also deny the Antediluvian Existence of it; yet very many will say with my Learned Helvetian, Oppido falluntur; They are very much mistaken. The Army of them, who Engage on this side, will have no less than a Great Calvin, for a Standard-bearer. The Lord speaks not of the Rainbow as a New Thing; He seems to speak of it, as a Thing that had been already placed in the Clouds; I have set my Bow in the Cloud. He invites us rather to Look on the New Use which He assigns unto it. Suppose a Rainbow before the Flood. Why, so 'tis in all our Sacramental Elements. The Water, the Bread, the Wine, that are used in our Sacraments did Exist before; This is no prejudice to the Sacramental Importance, which they carry with them, after a Consecration from Heaven for that purpose on them. To this purpose Danaeus in his Physice Christiana, says, To conclude from the Sacramental Importance of the Rainbow, that there was no such thing before the Flood, is no other, quam si quis Bov•s ante Sacrificia Lege Mos•s praescripta, vel Aquam ante Baptismum non fuis•• Colligat.
I return to my Meditation
The Rainbow is Expressly called. A Token of the Covenant. One would suspect, the Pagant ⟨p. 18⟩had some Notion of this; when they would have this Meteor to be, Internuncia Deorum, the Messenger of the Gods. With Homer 'tis, [Greek or Hebrew], as if one should say, An Angel of the Covenant. He represents Iris therefore, as being sent with a peremptory Command unto Neptune, that he should not aid the Graecians; doubtless, by the Swelling of the Waters. The Name Iris, perhaps may be from [Greek or Hebrew], i. e. [Greek or Hebrew]. Or, from the Chaldee, Ir, an Angel.