saith he the excellency of it's moral Precepts the high Strains and noble Flights of Piety prove not that it was written by inspiration for then Plato Seneca Ignatius Clement Romanus the VII wise Men of Greece c. might lay claim to inspiration Would you think it that a Protestant Divine should talk thus ignorantly of the blessed Scriptures Are the Precepts in Plato and Seneca as Excellent as those of the Holy Bible Can he find such high Strains and noble Flights of Piety in Pagan Authors as in the inspired Writings A Man that has felt the Power of God's Word renewing quickning comforting and strengthening his Heart will acknowledge the vast Difference between inspired and humane Writings and resolve his Faith into the Authority of God who speaks powerfully and feelingly unto our Consciences by his Spirit in the Scriptures which have Signatures of their Divine Original upon them that no Book besides can lay claim to Tradition is of Use to beget in us a good Opinion of the Scripture but he that makes it a Rule of Faith especially the first and leading Rule as the Rector seems to do resolves his Faith into a humane Authority which can beget but a Humane Faith Divine Faith is founded upon a Divine Testimony and a Humane Testimony can produce but a Humane Faith * Vinc. Lerin adv haeres Lerinensis his Rule about Tradition is quod omnes ubique semper All the Faithful have not at all times and in every Place transmitted every Book of Scripture as of Divine Authority The Popish Church pretend Tradition for the Apocrypha which they receive as Canonical Few of the People are able to judge of the Rule whether it be True or False Ministers may tell 'em of it suppose they receive their Dictates which few are able to Examin they believe with an Implicite Faith because their Ministers say so and thus the Subordinate Rule becomes the first and leading Rule Creeds Canons Dictates of wise and good Men and the like are either agreeable to the Scripture or they are not If they be not they are far from being Rules of Divine Faith for they are Rules of Error and Falshood If they are agreeable to the Scripture we believe and receive them because they are Consonant to the Word of God the only Rule of saving Divine Faith We will allow 'em to be helps unto our Faith but judge it very improper to call 'em Rules of Faith I told the Rector That the laying aside the Un-scriptural Terms of Communion which have been the fatal Engines of Disunion and Schism wou'd soon heal us To this he Answers 1 The Experiment has been once made in the late Times but without Success Divisions were increased c. Things were in a fair way of healing when the Concessions of King Charles I. were voted satisfactory by the Parliament had not a Faction in the Army put all out of Course and governed the Nation by a very Arbitrary Power and yet there were very hopeful beginnings of a Coalition between the moderate Episcopal Presbyterian and Congregational Brethren upon the Principle I mention between the years 1652 and 1659 as appears by the Worcester-shire Association as also by those of Cumberland Westmorland Essex c. which are to be seen in Print If this Principle did not heal us in those distracting and unsettled Times it does not follow that it would not do it now in a State of Settlement and such a Settlement wherein the Bishops are in Power under whom the moderate Dissenters wou'd not scruple to Exercise their Ministry if the offensive Terms were removed out of the way And if ever our unhappy Breaches be healed it must be upon this Principle which has been asserted by the Great Men of the Episcopal Communion †Iren. Pref. Dr. Stillingfleet the present Biship of Worcester declares against Vn-scriptural Impositions He that came to take away the Un-scriptural Yoke of Jewish Ceremonies certainly did never intend to Gall the Back of his Disciples with another instead of it And it would be strange the Church should require more than Christ himself did What possible Reason can be assign'd why such Things shou'd not be sufficient for Communion with a Church which are sufficient for Eternal Salvation Without all Controversy the main In-let of all the Distractions Confusions and Divisions in the Christian World hath been by adding of other Conditions of Church Communion than Christ hath made My Lord Bacon saith that the ancient and true Bounds of Unity are one Faith one Baptism and not one Ceremony one Policy * Resusc par 1. p. 129. The same was the Judgment of King James the I. In non necessariis libertati Christianae locus detur †Is Casaub ep ad Card Peron See Mr. Tallents's healing Book of large Foundations wherein you may find more Testimonies to this purpose 2. The Rector perscribes the method of healing us and that is to obey them that have the Rule over us in all lawful things i. e. which are not forbidden by God The meaning is if I understand him that Church Rulers have Power to impose Things lawful i. e. not forbidden as Terms of Communion and that it is our Duty to obey such impositions This Explication permised I answer 1. He ought to prove that Christ hath Commission'd our Church Rulers to fix un-scriptural Terms of Christian Communion before he prove it our Duty to obey ' em Where they have no power to command I see not our obligation to obey The grand Commission saith Dr. Stillingfleet the Apostles were sent out with was only to teach what Christ had Commanded them Not the least intimation of any Power given to impose or require any thing beyond what himself had spoken to them or they were directed to by the immediate Guidance of the Spirit of God * Iren ubi supra It is not whether the things required be lawful or not but whether they do consult for the Churches Peace and Unity who suspend it uopn such Things How far the Example of our Saviour or his Apostles doth warrant such rigorous Impositions We never read the Apostles making Laws but of Things supposed necessary 2. He ought to shew that all Things not forbidden may lawfully be imposed as Terms of Communion The use of Oyl Spittle Salt Cream c. are not forbidden in Baptism therefore the Rector wou'd submit to the Use of them if his Rulers think fit to enjoyn them as is done in Popery Holy Water is not forbidden nor are any of the Ceremonies used in Popery expresly Prohibited in Scripture therefore they are lawful to the Rector You see whither this Hypothesis tends Sitting at the Lords Supper is not forbidden no more is Prostration the humblest Gesture of Adoration the Rector would scarce like it if either of these were rigidly imposed 3. Who must judge what is Lawful what not If those that obey we are but where we were that
Certificate of the Consent of Parents If this be so The Rector is guilty of the basest disingenuity to revive a malicious Accusation against a Man in his Grave and to suppress his Compurgation whereby his Innocency was cleared Mrs. P. affirms and will take it upon her Oath if there be occasion that she had her Parents Consent and that Morning before she was Married to Mr. P. she had both Father and Mother's blessing and in the Evening they were both entertain'd and wellcomed by her Parents He quarrels with an innocent Passage in the Reverend Mr. O. H's Family Altar the design of which is to persuade Persons to keep up the Worship of God in their Families It 's well if the Rector in his Parochial Visitations be as forward to oblige his Parishoners to Pray in their Families as he is to ridicule a judicious Discourse upon the Subject of Family Prayer It puts me in Mind of the Jews Treatment of the Christians of which Just Martyr gives this Account tho' one shou'd speak Ten Thousand Words never so well if he happens to say the least Thing that does not please you because it 's either not understood or not carefully heeded you overlook the abundance of Things that are well spoken and get some little Word by the end and fasten upon it the most impious Constructions | Just Mart. adv Tryphon The Rector serves Mr. O. H. much after the same Manner he over-looks all the good Things in Mr. H's excellent Book the very Subject of which is recommending to every Devout Christian and has pick'd out one Sentence in it to make Sport with which is this God is the Author of all Topography and Geography as well as Genealogy and Chronology p. 37. Any one but the Candid Rector wou'd have over-look'd a Passage of this kind in a popular Discourse of Practical Religion wherein Ministers Study not all the exactness of Expression But he is One of Just Mart. Criticks who seeks Occasion to reproach more useful Men than himself The words are capable of a fair Construction Why may not God be call'd the Author of Geography as Hipparchus call's Homer hujus peritiae primarium Authorem * the first and Chief Author of Geography Tho' Homer has not written professedly of that Subject but there are a great many Discriptions of Places scatter'd up and down in his Poems and so there are in the Scripture The Great Bochart hath written a very Learned Book of Sacred Geography †It 's certain the first Book extant that Treats of Geography Genealogy and Chronology is the Bible of which I hope the Rector will not deny God to be the Author FINIS ADVERTISEMENT WE find ye for we in Matt. 20. 22. of a fair Octavo Bible Printed at Oxford 1679. ye are able instead of we are able THE POSTSCRIPT Being an Answer to the Rector's 2d Chapter wherein he endeavours to prove the Titles of the Psalms to be no Parts of Scripture and the Hebrew Bibles to have been Corrupted in very material Things IN pursuance to my promise I will now examine his Digression about the Titles or Inscriptions of the Psalms and the Purity of the Hebrew Text of which our English Bibles are a Translation I must here premise that the Difference between the Rector and me about the Hebrew Titles and Copies is no point of Controversy between the Episcopal Party and the Dissenters but I oppose a bold Paradox of his which he endeavours to maintain against the Common Sentiments of learned Protestants and the more moderate Papists I shall begin with the Titles of the Plalms which because he finds 'em omitted in the Liturgy Translation of the Psalms he attempts to exclude out of the Sacred Canon We agree that they are very Ancient but he is of Opinion they are humane Additions and that some of 'em are False I affirm and undertake to prove that they are of equal Authority with the rest of the Psalms and to be admitted for Canonical Scripture Before we enter upon the debate of this Point let it be consider'd 1st That the Rector's Opinion is very singular and has few or no Patrons in the Christian World at this Day He has not hitherto been able to produce any one Protestant Writer or Christian Commentator that has condemn'd 'em as Spurious and un-Un-canonical A wise Man is not Ambitious of being thought singular especially in a doubtful Point least of all in an Error and that of such a Nature as strikes at the Authority of any Part of the inspired Volumns 2dly Tho' the Titles of the Psalms be but a small Part of Scripture and several of 'em obscure and hard to be understood we must not therefore expunge them out of the Divine Canon to which we must neither add nor diminish Every Word of God ought to be equally precious to us as being an Emanation from the same Fountain of un-erring Wisdom and Truth Even the more abstruse and seemingly less useful Parts of Scripture must be received with the same Veneration which is paid to those that are more plain and do more sensibly concern us 3dly If the Titles be Parts of the Holy Scripture as I shall prove immediately the Rector stands convicted by his own Sermon of being a Corrupter of the Word of God for he endeavours to diminish from it In prosecuting this Subject 1st I will vindicate my Arguments to prove the Titles of the Psalms to be Canonical 2dly I will answer his Objections to the Contrary CHAP. I. Vindicating my Arguments for the Titles of the Psalms THE Rector having challenged us to prove the Titles to be Original and Essential Parts of Scripture I proposed a few Arguments for the Affirmative without Design of entering into this Controversy as being foreign to his Charge These he pretends to Answer which I shall now Vindicate I. My first Argument was this That they are as Ancient as the Psalms themselves for ought appears to the Contrary they being in all the Hebrew and Greek Copies that ever I have seen and that they are most of 'em Translated by the LXX and by Theodotion Symmachus and Aquila as also by the Targumist * Remarks upon Remarks p. 9. To this he answers That the Subscriptions of St. Paul's Epistles are to be found in all Greek Copies save that of Claromont and are always Translated into our modern Versions and yet the Remarker will not own them for Canonical Scripture Nothing can be inferr'd from these Subscriptions in prejudice of my Argument because 1st They are not in all Greek Copies as Grotius and Beza with many others have observ'd and the Rector is forced to confess but can he produce any Copy of the Hebrew Psalms that wants the Titles The constant Consent of all Hebrew Copies bespeaks 'em not only ancient but original Parts of Scriptures 2. The Postscripts of St. Paul's Epistles are not the same in all ancient Manuscripts and therefore saith Grotius they are of
no Authority because they are not in all ancient Copies nor the same in those that have 'em and they are different in the Syriac and Arabic Copies †Nullius sunt Authoritatis quia nec in omnibus exemplaribus apparent c. Grot. ad fin Ep. ad Rom. Vid. Est in loc But the Titles of the Psalms are the same in all our Hebrew Copies and so they were in those which Jerom used which is an Argument they were not added but are cover'd with the Text. When the Rector has produced the like Variety in the Hebrew Copies concerning the Titles as is to be found in the Greek Manuscript concerning the Subscriptions he does something to the Purpose in the mean Time we 'l dismiss his Argument as Impertinent II. My 2d Argument was That the Titles of the Psalms were receiv'd by the Jewish Church and are by the Christian Church as Canonical Scripture they are Translated by the Jewish Doctors into Greek and by Jerom into Latin and they are in the modern Versions To this he Answer That the Subscriptions of Sr. Paul's Epistles are Translated in the modern Languages and all Christian Churches receive them yet not as Canonical Scripture So the Jews receiv'd the Titles but not as Essential Parts of Scripture but as we do the Postscripts and the Contents of the Chapters I. That the Jewish Church received 'em but not as essential Parts of Scripture is barely affirm'd and not prov'd I challenge him to give us one Instance for the confirmation of so bold an Assertion The Jews receiv'd the Titles and the Body of the Psalms alike we do not find that they made any difference in Point of Authority between the one and the other they that affirm they did ought to prove it 2dly We reject the Contents of Chapters and the Postscripts of St. Paul's Epistles from being Canonical but he cannot prove the Jews did so by the Titles of the Psalms They formerly received them as Parts of Scripture and they do so still in our modern Hebrew Bibles in which several of the Titles make the first Verse of the Psalms as they do in several modern Translations Vid. Jun. Temell Piscat Calvin c. 3dly It 's true the Postscripts are Translated in the modern Languages but most Commentators wholly overlook 'em or censure them as no Parts of Scripture But both Jewish and Christian Commentators explain the Titles of the Psalms as they do other Scriptures which is a clear Evidence they take 'em for Canonical I will confirm this 2d Argument with another which puts this Matter beyond all Contradiction If the Jewish Church to whom were committed the Oracles of God receiv'd the Titles of the Psalms in the Apostles Time they must needs be Canonical for the Scripture as receiv'd by them is of Divine Inspiration as the Apostle declares 2 Tim 3. 16. But they were receiv'd by the Jewish Church in the Apostles Time and long before for they were in the Copy which the LXX used who translated some and transcribed others that still agree with several of those in our Hebrew Bibles They are to be found in the Syriac Version I mean that out of the Hebrew which is generally ascribed to the Age in which the Apostles lived tho' Gabriel Sioniâ—a refers it to Solomon's Time And they are Translated by Theodotion Symmachus and Aquila in the next Age after the Apostles Therefore they were received in the Jewish Church in the Apostolical Age and consequently are of Divine Inspiration III. I added that some of the Titles are undeniably Canonical as that of Psalm 18th mention'd in 2 Sam. 22. To the Chief Musician a Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord who spake unto the Lord the Words of this Song in the day that the Lord deliver'd him from the Hand of all his Enemies and from the Hand of Saul It does not follow saith the Rector that an inspired Person affixed it unto the 18 Psalm So that those Words as placed before the 18 Psalm may in strictness be said not to be Canonical there tho' they be Canonical 2 Sam. 22. p. 10. What a miserable shift is this poor Man put upon to avoid the Evidence of Truth The Title of this Psalm is Canonical and not Canonical Scripture and no Scripture inspired and not inspired It 's Canonical with him in one Part of the Bible it 's a humane Addition in another He does not pretend to give any Reason for so bold a Suggestion only you must believe it is so because it is so However it is enough to my Purpose that he allows the Words of the Title to be Canonical in 2 Sam. 22. There you have the Psalm and a Canonical Title prefix'd to it by his own Confession Hence it evidently follows that some Psalms have Canonical Titles And if some be Canonical the Titles of all the rest must be so for no Reason can be given why some shou'd be Divine and others Humane since all are equally Ancient and of the same date for any thing can be made appear to the Contrary If the Words be Canonical in 2 Sam. 22 they are undeniable so in Psalm 18. until the Rector can prove them added by an un-inspired Person which he 'l never be able to do with all the help that F. Simon or any of that Tribe can afford him IV. My 4th Argument was That other Titles must be prefixed by the Pen-Man or by a Person Divinely inspired for they refer to Passages of History not mention'd in the body of the Psalm I instanced in Psalm 3. and 30. and 34. and 54. and 56. and 90. To this he answers Tho' there be no particular and very obvious Expressions relating to historical Passages there are general Ones which gave the Collectors of the Book of Psalms occasion of affixing those Titles to them p. 10. The general Expressions he talks of could never have directed 'em to such particular Events as some Titles refer to As for Instance in Psalm 3. No general Passages there can be applied more to Absalom than to Saul or others of David's Enemies but that the Title of the Psalm directs us to refer them to Absalom when David fled before him The Title of the 30 Psalm is a Psalm or Song at the Dedication of the House of David There is not one Passage in this Psalm that the most observing Man cou'd have applied to this Occasion rather than any other joyful Event if the Holy Ghost had not prefixed this Inscription The like may be said of Pslam 34. which was Penn'd when David chang'd his behaviour before Abimelech as the Title assures us but there is nothing in the body of the Psalm but what might be equally applied to other deliverances The same may be affirm'd of the other Psalms I mention'd above especially of Psalm 90. A Prayer of Moses the Man of God But saith the Rector tho' Moses and the Israelites be not mention'd in Psalm 90. yet
Version which are not to be met with in the Hebrew e. g. Psalm 137. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jeremy composed this Song I ask then is this Title Divinely inspired and yet Jerom Translates and Comments upon it p. 13. I Answers 1st The LXX Interpreters have added and diminished in abundance of Places besides the Titles of the Psalms It were easy to give hundr'ds of Instances of this kind Nothing can be infer'd from hence but that the Greek Interpreters took too Great a Liberty of varying from the Original Text. 2dly It is uncertain who composed the 137. Psalm nor is it material for us to know while we are satisfied he was divinely inspired Some conceive it was pen'd by David prophetically as Isajah wrote of the Burning of the Temple Isa 64. 11. So did Asaph of the Destruction of the City and Temple Psalm 79. and 74. Dr. Hamond is inclined to think it might be pen'd after the return from the Captivity and if so it cou'd not be by Jeremiah who was dead before 3dly The Addition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not in the Ancient Copies of the LXX as Hilary assures us for thus he speaks It seem'd good to some to prefix the Names of Jeremiah Haggai and Zechariah to the superscriptions of some Psalms but none of these are to be found in the Authentic Copies of the LXX Version * Horum nihil in authenticis LXX Translatorum Libris ita editum reperiatur Hil. in Psalm prol IV. His last Reason is The Oriental Versions the Syr. Arab. and Chaldee Paraphrase often wants Titles frequently change 'em and sometimes add Titles where Hebrew and Greek have none which cou'd never have happen'd if they had been Canonical Scripture The Chaldee Paraphrase on the Pentatuch by Onkelos and that on the Prophets by Jonathan which are thought to be written about the Times of Christ are not of that Authority as to bring the Hebrew Copy in question where they differ from it I confess they have their Use both for confirming the Purity of the Hebrew Text as in Gen. 3. 15. and the Illustration of it as in Gen. 4. 8. but especially in Controversies against the Jews where they bear Testimony to the Messiah as in Gen. 49. 10. Isa 45. 17 c. but where they differ from the Hebrew as they do in a great many Places we ought to prefer the Fountain before the Streams In the more obscure Places they follow the LXX Version as Munster observes †Praefat in Jonam and therefore can be of no greater Authority than the LXX They are not without some Jewish Fables as in Num. 21. 19. In some Places they depart from the Fountain of Truth the Hebrew Text as in Num. 23. 3. and in Deut. 4. 28. and 28. 64. where it is foretold that the Israelites shou'd serve other Gods the Chaldee Paraphrase transfers the Guilt of this upon the Heathen A great deal of this Nature will occur to the observant Reader The Targum or Paraphrase on the Hagiographa among which the Jews reckon'd the Psalms was made about the Year of Christ 600 and is of less Authority than the two Former This also varies from the Hebrew Text in multitudes of Places besides the Titles of the Psalms The Syriac which is Ancient tho' in many Places it follows the Hebrew yet in others it differs from it in several of which it follows the LXX The Arabic Version generally follows the Syriac | Prolegom in Pol. Synop. and therefore deserves no particular consideration So that this Argument of the Rector proves nothing in Prejudice of the Titles of the Psalms without affecting other Parts of Scripture which are differently rendred in the Oriental Versions Thus our Author by attempting to destroy the Titles of Psalm has produced an Argument which equally depreciates the Authority of most if not all the Books of the Old Testament Theodoret Censures some who thought the Inscriptions of the Psalms to be False 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And adds To me it seems great Rashness to alter the Inscriptions which were in being in the Time of Ptolomy who reigned in Egypt after Alexander and were Translated by the LXX Elders into the Greek Tongue as was the rest of the Holy Scripture * Theod. proefat in Psalm The Rector adds that there is not one Title in the Hebrew which is at all useful to the unfolding any Mysteries relating to Jesus Christ p. 15. This is confidently spoken after his Manner but the Ancient Fathers were of another Mind They apply the Title of the 22d Psalm to Jesus Christ To the Chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar i e. the Morning Hind so Jerom explains it Jesus Christ saith he is the only Hind or Deer who destroys Serpents and takes away Poysons as is Evident by the Contexture of the whole Psalm †Sed nos cervum nullum alium nisi Christum intelligimus sicus-totius Psalmi contextus ostendit Hieron in Psal Tom. VIII He is follow'd by the greatest part of our modern Learned Commentators The LXX render it for the Morning Assumption and this saith the same Learned Father signifies the Mystery of the Resurrection and Ascention of Jesus Christ unto the Father | Hier. ibid. Theodores also applies this Title to Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Morning Assumption is the appearance of our Saviour who did shine as the Morning upon them that sat in Darkness for the Lord is the true Light § Theod. in Psal 22. They apply the Title of the 30th Psalm a Psalm at the Dedication of the House of David to the Incarnation of Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Dedication of the House the Renovation of the human Nature which our Lord Christ perfected when he dyed for us and destroy'd Death and gave us hope of a blessed Resurrection * Theod. in Psal 29. Gr. To the same purpose speaks Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Spiritual meaning signifies the Assuming of a Human Body by the Divine Word and the Title refers to the Dedication of that House which was built a new and in a wonderful manner †Basil in loc They apply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greek Title of several Psalms we render the Hebrew Chief Musician to the Resurrection and the End of the World | Vid. Basil hom in Psal 44. and 45. and 48. Had the Rector been as conversant with Jesus Christ as the Ancient Fathers were he might have found him even in the Titles of the Psalms Others of them direct us to the Author Occasion Intention and Use of the Psalm which greatly contribute to the right Understanding of it Some others refer to the Meter and Instruments on which they were to be Sung These the Hebrew Doctors confess their Ignorance of But it does not follow if some of them be unintelligible to us that all ought to be expung'd out of the
whence is all this Spite at poor Jerome The Rector is a Man that cannot suppress tho' he endeavours it the reasons of his Resentments He calls Jerome before he was aware the Presbyterian Father These Presbyterians are a sad sort of People the very mention of their Name puts the Rector into a visible Disorder and raises such a Commotion in his Spirits as if he were haunted by a Legion of Presbyterian Ghosts His hatred to them is such that he cannot forbear spitting his Venome at every body that seems to favour their Principles This is Father Jerome's fault which the Rector cannot forgive him He hath prov'd Bishops and Presbyters were one and the same in the Apostles times and that the difference between them was by Ecclesiastical Custom and not by Divine Disposition * Hier. Comment in Ep. ad Tit. It s well if St. Peter St. Paul and St. John fall not under his displeasure as Presbyterian Fathers for Jerome brings his Proofs out of their Epistles I presume the Candid Reader will not believe the Rector when he charges the Presbyterians with lying and abusing Scripture for Jerome himself the Presbyterian Father can't escape his Censure He is very angry with me p. 19. For endeavouring to make my Party believe he designed to depress the Authority of the Hebrew Copies Surely this Minister saith he never considers what he writes It 's well if the Rector considers what he does in giving occasion to this Charge which I shall abundantly confirm He saith in his Sermon p. 9. That it is more probable the Three controverted Verses might be left out of the Hebrew Copies by the carelesness of the Transcribers than thrust into the Greek by Translators Here he evidently depresseth the Authority of the Hebrew Copies and prefers the Lxx before them Nay By this Rule we must receive all the Additions of the Lxx which are exceeding many as Canonical and suppose 'em left out of the Hebrew Copies by the carelesness of the Transcribers e. g. they add a whole Psalm at the end of the Psalm about David's Victory over Goliah They add a Verse concerning the Knifes of Stone with which the Israelites were Circumcised at Gilgal that they were laid up in Timnath-Serah and afterwards in Joshua's Grave Josh 21. 42. and 24. 30. They add to Exod. 24. 10. Instead of they saw the God of Israel they read they saw the place where God stood They add a whole Paragraph at the end of Joshua Joshua 24. 33. They have a long Verse in Job 1. 9. in which they represent Job's Wife scolding at her Husband They add to the end of Job 42. 17. I cou'd instance in some Hundreds of Additions to and Variations from the the Hebrew Text. Now all these must be admitted to the prejudice of the Hebrew Copy and of our English Bibles which have 'em not according to the Rector's way of reasoning The Rector obstinately asserts the Authority of the Lxx which he is inclin'd to believe to be divine vindicates the additional Verses in the fourteenth Psalm against the Hebrew Bibles that have them not professedely charges our Hebrew Text with several Corruptions and those in things very material which I shall consider presently and yet confidently tells us 't was never in his thoughts to depress the Hebrew p. 19. Sure the Rector does not expect to be believ'd in what he says If charging the Bible with gross Corruptions be not a depressing of it what is He wou'd have it burnt for one Corruption and yet the charging it with many Corruptions is no depression to it We will suppose the Rector at this time had an eye to the Presbyterian Father and did not care what he said or wrote I told him If the Lxx be of as good Authority as the Hebrew it 's uncertain what becomes of the Rector's Text Prov. 30. 6. for it is not in my Edition of the Lxx. Cambr. 1665. Here he mightily triumphs that he has found his Text in the Lxx and p. 20. charges me with lying and want of sincerity and honesty These are words of Course with the Rector and signifie no more than that he is a Man of good breeding and has a Sett of mannerly expressions with which he accommodates his friends upon all Occasions It 's true the Text is in the Lxx but not in its proper place I look'd into the end of the Proverbs where it ought to be and not finding it there concluded it was not in my Septuagint Bible I have met with it since in Prov. 24. incerted between the 22 and 23 verses with the addition of 13 or 14 verses more of Pro. 30. The rest of the Chapter and the beginning of the 31st Chap. to verse 10. I cannot yet find This Omission and Dislocation is an evidence that our Copies of the Lxx which are of divine Authority to the Rector are very imperfect and may ground a Conjecture that these Verses were thrust into that place by some ignorant hand which has made bold with the Lxx in abundance of other places I find them mis-placed not only in the Roman but also in the Alexandrian Copy It s being rightly placed in the Complutensian and Frankford Editions which the Rector takes notice of p. 20. is no Argument that it was in the Ancient Copies of the Lxx for the Complutensian Bibles are a new and mixt Version partly from Origen's Additions out of Theodotion Aquila and Symmachus | Walt. Prolegom ad Polygl ix 28. The Frankford and other German Editors have taken the liberty to change and transpose the Order of some Books Chapters and Verses that they might adapt them to the Hebrew Text as Dr. Walton observes †Ibid. 29. He suggests that Isaac Vossius has abundantly prov'd the Hebrew Copy corrupted and that with much Learning and Judgement I know not how the Rector comes to espouse the Notions of Isaac Vossius who unworthily disparages our Hebrew Bibles not only contrary to the Sentiments of his Learned and more Judicious Father Gerhard Vossius but to the received Opinion of most Protestant Writers who have with great Learning and Judgment asserted the Purity of the Hebrew Text against the Papists Lindanus P. Galatinus Canus Jacobus Christopolitanus Gord. Huntlaeus and many more of the Popish Doctors have endeavoured to enervate the Purity of the Hebrew Text in favour of the Latine Version which the Papists prefer above the Original Among our selves Isaac Vossius and a few more among whom the Rector seems ambitious to make some little Figure have deserted the Protestant Doctrine and conspired with the Romanists to expose the Hebrew Text as impious and corrupt for what reasons and ends they know best It will not be much for the Rector's Reputation to lick up Vossius's Spittle whose Judgment bore no proportion to his great reading as may appear by the following Passages which I shall transcribe out of him That Book saith he of the Hebrew Bible is dumb