{"id":"01KJR8Q6KP0CW8XHT9DS0N7QMV","cid":"bafkreif5nboxi2abpysmby2bxtf3p7vmkmmdi6c5r3gyq3upadv2wnhqcq","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":591488,"char_start":583568,"chunk_index":82,"chunk_total":89,"estimated_tokens":1980,"source_file_key":"confessions","text":"not now after your kind, as though following your neighbour who went\r\nbefore you, nor as living after the example of some better man (for Thou\r\nsaidst not, \"Let man be made after his kind,\" but, Let us make man after\r\nour own image and similitude), that we might prove what Thy will is. For\r\nto this purpose said that dispenser of Thine (who begat children by the\r\nGospel), that he might not for ever have them babes, whom he must be\r\nfain to feed with milk, and cherish as a nurse; be ye transformed (saith\r\nhe) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good\r\nand acceptable and perfect will of God. Wherefore Thou sayest not, \"Let\r\nman be made,\" but Let us make man. Nor saidst Thou, \"according to his\r\nkind\"; but, after our image and likeness. For man being renewed in his\r\nmind, and beholding and understanding Thy truth, needs not man as his\r\ndirector, so as to follow after his kind; but by Thy direction proveth\r\nwhat is that good, that acceptable, and perfect will of Thine: yea, Thou\r\nteachest him, now made capable, to discern the Trinity of the Unity, and\r\nthe Unity of the Trinity. Wherefore to that said in the plural, Let us\r\nmake man, is yet subjoined in the singular, And God made man: and\r\nto that said in the plural, After our likeness, is subjoined in the\r\nsingular, After the image of God. Thus is man renewed in the knowledge\r\nof God, after the image of Him that created him: and being made\r\nspiritual, he judgeth all things (all things which are to be judged),\r\nyet himself is judged of no man.\r\n\r\nBut that he judgeth all things, this answers to his having dominion over\r\nthe fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over all cattle\r\nand wild beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing\r\nthat creepeth upon the earth. For this he doth by the understanding of\r\nhis mind, whereby he perceiveth the things of the Spirit of God; whereas\r\notherwise, man being placed in honour, had no understanding, and is\r\ncompared unto the brute beasts, and is become like unto them. In Thy\r\nChurch therefore, O our God, according to Thy grace which Thou hast\r\nbestowed upon it (for we are Thy workmanship created unto good\r\nworks), not those only who are spiritually set over, but they also who\r\nspiritually are subject to those that are set over them,--for in this\r\nway didst Thou make man male and female, in Thy grace spiritual, where,\r\naccording to the sex of body, there is neither male nor female, because\r\nneither Jew nor Grecian, neither bond nor free.--Spiritual persons\r\n(whether such as are set over, or such as obey); do judge spiritually;\r\nnot of that spiritual knowledge which shines in the firmament (for they\r\nought not to judge as to so supreme authority), nor may they judge of\r\nThy Book itself, even though something there shineth not clearly; for we\r\nsubmit our understanding unto it, and hold for certain, that even what\r\nis closed to our sight, is yet rightly and truly spoken. For so man,\r\nthough now spiritual and renewed in the knowledge of God after His image\r\nthat created him, ought to be a doer of the law, not a judge. Neither\r\ndoth he judge of that distinction of spiritual and carnal men, who\r\nare known unto Thine eyes, O our God, and have not as yet discovered\r\nthemselves unto us by works, that by their fruits we might know them:\r\nbut Thou, Lord, dost even now know them, and hast divided and called\r\nthem in secret, or ever the firmament was made. Nor doth he, though\r\nspiritual, judge the unquiet people of this world; for what hath he\r\nto do, to judge them that are without, knowing not which of them shall\r\nhereafter come into the sweetness of Thy grace; and which continue in\r\nthe perpetual bitterness of ungodliness?\r\n\r\nMan therefore, whom Thou hast made after Thine own image, received not\r\ndominion over the lights of heaven, nor over that hidden heaven\r\nitself, nor over the day and the night, which Thou calledst before the\r\nfoundation of the heaven, nor over the gathering together of the waters,\r\nwhich is the sea; but He received dominion over the fishes of the sea,\r\nand the fowls of the air, and over all cattle, and over all the earth,\r\nand over all creeping things which creep upon the earth. For He judgeth\r\nand approveth what He findeth right, and He disalloweth what He findeth\r\namiss, whether in the celebration of those Sacraments by which such\r\nare initiated, as Thy mercy searches out in many waters: or in that, in\r\nwhich that Fish is set forth, which, taken out of the deep, the devout\r\nearth feedeth upon: or in the expressions and signs of words, subject to\r\nthe authority of Thy Book,--such signs, as proceed out of the mouth,\r\nand sound forth, flying as it were under the firmament, by interpreting,\r\nexpounding, discoursing disputing, consecrating, or praying unto Thee,\r\nso that the people may answer, Amen. The vocal pronouncing of all which\r\nwords, is occasioned by the deep of this world, and the blindness of the\r\nflesh, which cannot see thoughts; So that there is need to speak aloud\r\ninto the ears; so that, although flying fowls be multiplied upon the\r\nearth, yet they derive their beginning from the waters. The spiritual\r\nman judgeth also by allowing of what is right, and disallowing what he\r\nfinds amiss, in the works and lives of the faithful; their alms, as it\r\nwere the earth bringing forth fruit, and of the living soul, living\r\nby the taming of the affections, in chastity, in fasting, in holy\r\nmeditations; and of those things, which are perceived by the senses of\r\nthe body. Upon all these is he now said to judge, wherein he hath also\r\npower of correction.\r\n\r\nBut what is this, and what kind of mystery? Behold, Thou blessest\r\nmankind, O Lord, that they may increase and multiply, and replenish the\r\nearth; dost Thou not thereby give us a hint to understand something? why\r\ndidst Thou not as well bless the light, which Thou calledst day; nor the\r\nfirmament of heaven, nor the lights, nor the stars, nor the earth, nor\r\nthe sea? I might say that Thou, O God, who created us after\r\nThine Image, I might say, that it had been Thy good pleasure to bestow\r\nthis blessing peculiarly upon man; hadst Thou not in like manner blessed\r\nthe fishes and the whales, that they should increase and multiply, and\r\nreplenish the waters of the sea, and that the fowls should be multiplied\r\nupon the earth. I might say likewise, that this blessing pertained\r\nproperly unto such creatures, as are bred of their own kind, had I found\r\nit given to the fruit-trees, and plants, and beasts of the earth. But\r\nnow neither unto the herbs, nor the trees, nor the beasts, nor serpents\r\nis it said, Increase and multiply; notwithstanding all these as well as\r\nthe fishes, fowls, or men, do by generation increase and continue their\r\nkind.\r\n\r\nWhat then shall I say, O Truth my Light? \"that it was idly said, and\r\nwithout meaning?\" Not so, O Father of piety, far be it from a minister\r\nof Thy word to say so. And if I understand not what Thou meanest by\r\nthat phrase, let my betters, that is, those of more understanding than\r\nmyself, make better use of it, according as Thou, my God, hast given to\r\neach man to understand. But let my confession also be pleasing in Thine\r\neyes, wherein I confess unto Thee, that I believe, O Lord, that Thou\r\nspokest not so in vain; nor will I suppress, what this lesson suggests\r\nto me. For it is true, nor do I see what should hinder me from thus\r\nunderstanding the figurative sayings of Thy Bible. For I know a thing\r\nto be manifoldly signified by corporeal expressions, which is understood\r\none way by the mind; and that understood many ways in the mind, which\r\nis signified one way by corporeal expression. Behold, the single love\r\nof God and our neighbour, by what manifold sacraments, and innumerable\r\nlanguages, and in each several language, in how innumerable modes of\r\nspeaking, it is corporeally expressed. Thus do the offspring of the\r\nwaters increase and multiply."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJR8NK5DAD726FMQ6JCHGZ5R","peer_label":"confessions","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJR8M0JHPZXCPKJ34HTYXSWW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJR8RCV40HMY6MWXNZ411GS2","peer_label":"church","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"religious_institution","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8R5M8VXDW8Z6YHQTCPK14","peer_label":"god","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_being","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RQ2AY1W14YJYKGBFG7AN","peer_label":"sacraments","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"religious_rite","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKDSJK271C07WXRGA24D","peer_label":"man humanity","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"humanity","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKM670AM9YPN8TH6CV36","peer_label":"dispenser of thine apostle paul","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKHX79XJRPY2MG85RRB5","peer_label":"spiritual man","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKHY9QPNE7S8DBKHYYQJ","peer_label":"gospel","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"religious_teaching","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKQ3FT207ZN6SC18CNES","peer_label":"trinity","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"theological_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SKQCZHKWGZCJWM467TSX","peer_label":"unity","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"theological_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SM9X0WVT5NCZ4PW161Z8","peer_label":"fish of the sea","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"animal_group","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SM5N6YGNTCE9XE0G83C3","peer_label":"dominion over earthly creatures","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_mandate","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SM99N24XFRJVN90BG7AV","peer_label":"cattle","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"animal_group","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SMEKMAFMSBG2302KHQCK","peer_label":"creeping things","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"animal_group","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SMEE14H6PN7EBE67S3RY","peer_label":"thy book holy scripture","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"religious_scripture","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SM8M7GVZJE0CRMFQTQ82","peer_label":"fowls of the air","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"animal_group","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SN70E87RHNKH9FMG3R0P","peer_label":"love of god and our neighbour","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"theological_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SN5Y2SRTXE7JNYPGRMV6","peer_label":"figurative sayings of the bible","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"interpretive_concept","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8SN49JBTRXCHF5NGV8PSQ","peer_label":"blessing to increase and multiply","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"divine_command_or_gift","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.134Z"}}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-03-02T21:54:25.014Z","ts":"2026-03-02T21:55:49.215Z","edited_by":{"method":"system","user_id":"01KJ60XQBHJ0GBGTP9X8HXAPPM"}}