302 NO NAME FOE GOD. 



LIB. v. \yliich is admirable, and other like names. Him they did 

 worship, as the chiefest of all, whom they did honour in be 

 holding the heaven. The like wee see amongst them of 

 Mexico and China, and all other infidelles. Which accord- 

 eth well with that which is saide of Saint Paul, in the Acts 

 of the Apostles, where hee did see the Inscription of an 

 Altare, Ignoto Deo To the vnknown God. Wherevpon 

 the Apostle tooke occasion to preach unto them, saying, 

 Acts xvii. &quot; He whome you worship without knowing, him doe I preach 

 vnto you&quot;. In like sort, those which at this day do preach 

 the Gospel to the Indians find no great difficultie to perswade 

 them that there is a high God and Lord over all, and that 

 this is the Christians God and the true God. And yet it 

 hath caused great admiration in me, that although they had 

 this knowledge, yet had they no proper name for God. 

 If wee shall seeke into the Indian tongue for a word to 

 answer to this name of God, as in Latin, Dens, in Greeke, 

 Tkeos, in Hebrew, El, in Arabike, Alia; but wee shall not 

 finde any in the Cuscan or Mexicaine tongues. So as such 

 as preach or write to the Indians vse our Spanish name 

 DioSj fitting it to the accent or pronunciation of the Indian 

 tongues, the which differ much, whereby appeares the small 

 knowledge they had of God, seeing they cannot so much as 

 name him, if it be not by our very name : yet in trueth they 

 had some little knowledge, and therefore in Peru they made 

 him a rich temple, which they called Pachacamac, which was 

 the principall Sanctuarie of the realrne. And as it hath 

 been saide, this word of Pachacamac is, as much to say, as 

 the Creator, yet in this temple they vsed their idolatries, 

 worshipping the divell and figures. They likewise made 

 sacrifices and offrings to Viracocha, which held the chiefe 

 place amongst the worships which the Kings Yncas made. 

 Heereof they called the Spaniards Virocochas, for that they 

 holde opinion they are the sonnes of heaven, and divine ; 

 even as others did attribute a deitie to Paul and Barnabas, 



