N01310:71
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.
Some will have the Rainbow, to be a Token of the Covenant, which may be called, Quedammodo Naturale; inasmuch as it is only seen, when the Clouds are so thin, as to give no Apprehensions of Showers enough to make another Flood. Valesius accordingly says, Qui enim possit, cum neque Caelum totum Obductum nubibus sit neque quae adsunt sunt valde densae? Thus Aquinas, and Cajetan, and Cardan; Thus among the Hebrews, R. Levi Ben Gerson; who is also followed by Vossius. But some will hardly allow the Expression; because the Flood was not accomplished by mere Showers; but with some Supernatural Circumstances. The Rainbow they will have to be a Token of the Covenant purely by Institution. And with very much of Reason, if the Prognostications of the [Greek or Hebrew], the Pluvius Vates, (as the Rainbow was of old called) be as Uncertain as Pliny would make them; Nam ne pluvios quidem, aut Serenos Dies, cum Fide portendunt. And yet we can't but own there is in the Rainbow some sort of Analogy, with the Covenant, ⟨p. 19⟩whereof it is Instituted for a Token; whereof one point is this; The Rainbow is Naturally a Token, that the Rains will not be Great, nor Long; and that Fair Weather is anon to be Looked for. Bodin speaks the Sense of the usual Prognostications on the Appearance of the Rainbow; Certissimum est Argumentum, Imbres fore Leviores. 'Tis therewithal a most agreeable and Symbolical Token, that the World shall not be any more so Destructively, as once it was, Rained upon. Look upon it accordingly; and say upon it; Oh! the Patience of our God! Tho' the Earth deserve as much as ever, to be drowned, for the Wickedness of Mankind upon it, yet thou sparest it, O Lord, and thou hast promised, that thou wilt still do so.
Some will have the Rainbow, to be a Token of the Covenant, which may be called, Quedammodo Naturale; inasmuch as it is only seen, when the Clouds are so thin, as to give no Apprehensions of Showers enough to make another Flood. Valesius accordingly says, Qui enim possit, cum neque Caelum totum Obductum nubibus sit neque quae adsunt sunt valde densae? Thus Aquinas, and Cajetan, and Cardan; Thus among the Hebrews, R. Levi Ben Gerson; who is also followed by Vossius. But some will hardly allow the Expression; because the Flood was not accomplished by meer Showers; but with some Supernatural Circumstances. The Rainbow they will have to be a Token of the Covenant purely by Institution. And with very much of Reason, if the Prognostications of the 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, the Pluvius Vates, (as the Rainbow was of old called) be as Uncertain as Pliny would make them; Nam ne pluvios quidem, aut Serenos Dies, cum Fide portendunt. And yet we can't but own there is in the Rainbow some sort of Analogy, with the Covenant,