Since the Scriptures in the same words, and in reference to the same one says, " When the Lord saw that he drew near to see. the Lord called to him from the midst of the bush, saying, Moses, Moses. And he answered. Here am I. But he said. Draw not nearer, loose thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is holy ground. And he said to him, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
That there is also a certain antemundane, living, and self-existing substance, ministering to the Father and God of all unto the formation of all created objects, called the word and the wisdom of God, besides the proofs already advanced, we may also learn from the very words of wisdom, speaking of herself in the clearest manner, through Solomon, and thus initiating us into her mysteries. Prov. viii. " I wisdom make my habitation with prudence and knowledge, and have called to understanding. By me kings reign and princes define justice. By me the great are magnified, and rulers subdue the earth." To which he subjoins the following : " The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways, for his works ; before the world he established me, before the formation of the earth, before the waters came from their fountains, before the foundation of the mountains, before all hills, he brought me forth. When he prepared the heavens, I was present with him, and when he established the fountains under the heavens, I was with him, adjusting them. I was his delight; daily I exulted before him at all times, when he rejoiced that he had completed the world." That the divine word, therefore, preexisted and appeared, if not to all, at least to some, has been thus briefly shown.
THE REASONS WHY THE GOSPEL WAS NOT PROCLAIMED SOONER.
The reason, however, why this was not also proclaimed before in ancient times, to all men and all nations, as it is now, will appear from the following considerations. The life of men, in ancient times, was not in a situation to receive the doctrine of Christ, in the all-comprehensive fulness of its wisdom and its virtue. For immediately in the beginning, after that happy state, the first
