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significations suited to our imperfections, they must needs come
infinitely short of him, and so our apprehensions of them. These are
scattered among the creatures, therefore they cause divers conceptions in
us, but all these are united in him. He is a most simple, pure being, that
eminently and virtually is all things, and properly is none of all.

Another way we have of apprehending him, by way of negation, denying all
the imperfections of the creatures, and removing them at an infinite
distance from him. And truly, though this be an imperfection in knowledge,
yet it is the greatest knowledge we can attain to, to know rather what he
is not, than what he is. He is not limited to any place, nor bounded with
any measures and degrees of perfection, as creatures are, therefore we
call him infinite. He is not comprehended within the limits of time, but
comprehends all within himself, therefore he is eternal. He is not subject
to changes and alterations, therefore called immutable. He is not
compounded, as a result of divers parts, therefore he is most purely
simple, and one. He is not like those things we see and hear, that fall
under our senses, therefore we call him a Spirit, or a spiritual Being.
Now, in all these weak endeavours of man, to detain and fix his own spirit
in the contemplation of God, if he cannot reach the understanding of what
God is, yet certainly he will attain this great point of wisdom,--not to be
ignorant of his own ignorance. And truly, my beloved, this is the thing I
would have us to learn to know, that the admiration of God in silence is
the best expression of him. We would not search into these mysteries, to
satisfy our curiosity, but rather compose our hearts to a continual silent
wondering before him for where our understandings are confounded, and our
minds overwhelmed with the infiniteness of that glory, so that we can see
nothing but our ignorance of all this should certainly compose all to
quiet admiration, for silence and wonder is the proper and natural posture
of a soul that is at a stand, and can neither get forward for inaccessible
light, nor will retire backward, for that it apprehends already.

"This then is the message, that God is light." Because we cannot conceive
in our poor narrow minds what God is in himself, therefore he expresseth
to us often in similitudes to the creatures, and condescends to our
capacity. As he stands in manifold relations to us, so he takes the most
fami