The eight Chapter.
The commensement of divels fondlie gathered out of the 14. of Isaie, of Lucifer and of his fall, the Cabalists the Thalmudists and Schoolemens opinions of the creation of angels.
T HE witchmoongers, which are most commonlie bastard divines, doo fondlie gather and falselie conceive the commensement of divels out of the fourteenth of Isaie; where they suppose LuciferIsai. 14. is cited, as the name of an angell; who on a time being desirous to be checkemate with God himselfe, would needs (when God was gone a litle asside) be sitting downe, or rather pirking up in Gods owne principall and cathedrall chaire; and that therfore God cast him and all his confederates out of heaven: so as some fell downe from thence to the bottome of the earth; some having descended but into the midle region, and the taile of them having not yet passed through the higher region, staied even then & there, when God said, Ho. But God knoweth there is no such thing ment nor mentioned in that place. For there is onlie foreshewed the deposing and deprivation of king Nabuchadnez-zar,/502. who exalting himselfe in pride (as it were above the starres) esteemed his glorie to surmount all others, as farre as Lucifer the bright morning starre shineth more gloriouslie than the other common starres, and was punished by exile, untill such time as he had humbled himselfe; and therefore metaphoricallie was called Lucifer.
But forsooth, bicause these great clarkes would be thought methodicall, and to have crept out of wisedomes bosome, who rather cralled out of follies breeches; they take upon them to shew us, first, whereof these angels that fell from heaven were created;The opinion of the Thalmudists. to wit, of the left side of that massie moold, whereof the world was compounded, the which (saie they) was Putredo terræ, that is, the rottennesse of the earth. The Cabalists, with whome Avicen seemeth to agree, saie that one of these begat another:/361. others saie, they were made all at once. The Greekes doo write that angels were created before the world. The Latinists saie they were made the fourth daie, when the starres were made. Laurence AnaniasLaur. Anan. lib. de natur. dæm. 1. saith, they were made the first daie, and could not be made the fourth daie, bicause it is written; Quando facta sunt sidera, laudaverunt me angeli: so as (saith he) they were made under the name of theCrœavit* cælum & terram. [* Creavit]
[* Gen. 1. 1. Vulg.] heavens.
There is also a great question among the schoolemen, whether more angels fell downe with Lucifer, or remained in heaven with Michael. Manie having a bad opinion of the angels honesties, affirme that the greater part fell with Lucifer: but the better opinion is (saith Laurentius Ananias)Lau. Anan. lib. de natur. dæm. 1. that the most part remained. And of them that thinke so, some saie the tenth part were cast downe, some the ninth; and some gather upon S. John, that the third part were onelie damned; bicause it is written, that the dragon with his taile plucked downe with him the third part of the starres./