occasions did almost universally obtain before the Christian Religion prevailed in the World But again other Deities were presumed to be so nice and squeamish that nothing was to be offered them but Milk and Wine and Honey and some Fruits of the Earth It were infinite to relate the Rites and Customs of their Sacrifices and all the ways they used to please their Gods and to find out whether they were pleased or not by the posture the tongue the entrails of their Beasts by the flying of Birds the feeding of Chickens the falling of a staff the holes of a sieve c. and innumerable ways of Divination by which they flatter'd themselves that they understood the good Will and Pleasure of their Gods which did not so much satisfy their curiosity as fill them with perpetual fears and oppress them with the horrible Bondage of Superstition which exalted almost every thing to the honour of a Deity and made themselves miserable by seeking to please them But although this were the deplorable state of Mankind forsaken of God and left to their own inventions yet such is the weakness and folly of Men that when God himself had given a Law to the Israelites to regulate their Worship with as much condescension to their weakness as the Wisdom of his Laws would permit yet so great was the Witchcraft of Superstition that they were always almost hankering after the Dotage of their neighbour Nations And although they often smarted severely for it yet the rod was no sooner off but they were ready to return to their former Superstitious vanities and were so obstinately bent upon them that nothing could move them not their former experience not the unreasonableness of the thing not the terrible denunciations of Gods heavy judgments against them till at last when there was no remedy the whole People were carried into Captivity from whence the greatest part never returned and their very memory is lost by a mixture with other Nations Those who returned have been so wise ever since as to abhor that provoking sin of Idolatry which their Ancestors suffered so much for but by degrees they fell into other kinds of Superstitions For it was thought a mean thing among them to keep to the Law but the Traditions of their Elders were looked upon as precious things and happy was the Man that was strictest in the observance of them Their frequent Washings their additional Fastings and Prayers their Garments their Postures their very Looks had such an appearance of Sanctity above other Mens that a man who kept only to the Law was of no regard or esteem for Piety and Devotion This was the state of Religion among the Jews when Christ appeared who laid open the foppery and hypocrisie of these great pretenders to extraordinary Sanctity He directed men to the love of God and their Neighbours as the main substantial parts of true Religion And next to his making a propitiation for the sins of Mankind by the Sacrifice of himself his great end was to restore true Religion to the World which had been so long buried under the heap of Superstitions And there needed so great an Authority as his was to assure Mankind that nothing was so pleasing and acceptable to God as unaffected Piety and universal Goodness which comprehends under it all the Duties of Temperance Righteousness and Charity And it is one great Argument of the Providence of God watching over his Church that he hath caused the Discourses of our Blessed Saviour to be preserved by the Writings of the Evangelists without which in all likelihood the Christian Religion had been long since lost in the World For the Jewish Christians who corrupted Christianity had represented St. Peter as so favourable to them and so misrepresented St. Paul that unless Christs Doctrine had been preserved in his own words and that by the concurrent Testimony of different Writers the Christian Religion had preserved little more than its name in the World And yet with all this advantage such was still the fondness of Mankind for their own Inventions that even under the Apostles eyes most of the Churches began to be tainted with these corruptions partly by the Judaizing Christians and partly by the followers of Simon and Menander But they all agreed in something new and mysterious and more pleasing to God than the dull and common way of Faith and Obedience After the Apostles decease the corruptions still multiplied and any new pretence to Revelations and Mysteries especially being joined with greater Abstinence and severity of Life took wonderfully among weak and injudicious Christians and made them apt to despise the Churches Devotions as too cold and flat and not having that Life and Spirit that Strictness and Austerity which appeared among the new pretenders What disturbance on this account did the Spirit of Montanus give to the Churches of Phrygia Galatia and Cappadocia The meer pretence to Revelation had never done it had it not been for the stricter Laws of Fasting and Mortification and greater Severity of Discipline than was used in the Catholick Church It was this which made Tertullian swallow the bait he had despised before and the force of all his Arguments against the Church is we are stricter than you But notwithstanding all these pretences the Christian Church still kept it self within its bounds making nothing necessary to Salvation but what Christ and his Apostles had made so yet recommending the Practice of Fasting as there were just Occasions especially before the great solemnity of Easter wherein both the Sacraments were administred with more than ordinary Devotion and the Penitents reconciled to the Communion of the Church If we look at this day into the state of the Christian World how great a part of it is relapsed into almost Heathen Superstitions in the Worship of Images and Saints and Angels as Mediators and no great difference in the outward Solemnities and Processions save that their Sacrifices are turned into a Consecrated Wafer which is carried in Procession as the Heathen Gods were wont to be It is true there are great pretences to Will-worship and Humility and neglecting the Body in several Orders of Men and those are looked on as ways of greater perfection than living in the World and doing good in it Which we have no reason to think agreeable to the Doctrine of Christ or our Apostle here But where there is not only Sanctity and Merit placed in such observations but Supererogation too they flatly contradict S t Paul for if that be true these things have far more than the shew of Wisdom for what wiser thing can any man do than not only to provide for his own Salvation but for others too In the Eastern Churches the best part I fear of their remaining Christianity lies in the strict observing the Fasts and Feasts of the Church They mightily despise the Fasting practised in the Roman Church as not deserving the name of Fasting because they end it at noon
besides all the Judaizing Christians were not followers of Cerinthus there being different Sects among them as appears by Irenaeus Epiphanius and others and Baronius himself grants that the Pharisaical Jews of that and following Ages did Worship Angels as the Host of Heaven And the Essens had their Angels of Prayer and made their prayers to the rising Sun whom they looked on as on the rest of the Stars as animated and intelligent Beings And why the Judaizing Christians should not retain their former Superstitions as well as their other Traditions and Observations I do not understand Especially since Theodoret so expresly affirms that those who then pleaded for the keeping of the Law brought in the Worship of Angels which custom he saith continued a long time in Phrygia and Pisidia and at last the Council of Laodicea made a Canon against praying to Angels Those of the Church of Rome are so sensible of the force of this Testimony of Theodoret against their practice that they are driven to desperate shifts to avoid it Bellarmine saith that he speaks against the Gnosticks whereas Theodoret mentions only those who were for keeping the Law Baronius saith in plain terms Theodoret was mistaken and that there were no such Hereticks then but this is so gross that Bellarmin and others contradict him in it Others therefore say that the Worship of Angels here spoken against is the Worshipping of them as Makers of the World But that is more than St. Paul saith for he speaks againstthat Worship which arises from Humility and nothing so proper for that as the Worshipping them as Mediators between God and us Some think it is when Angels are preferred before Christ which is likewise more than the Apostle saith and they who chuse other Mediators by whom God is more accessible by us do prefer them in Use though not in Dignity Others as the Jansenists in their New Testament say it is When Angels are set up as Mediators in opposition to Christ but that cannot be the Apostles meaning for then his great business would have been to have proved Christ to be the true Mediator and not Angels and if any Religious Worship of Angels had been agreeable with the Christian Doctrine the Apostle would never have thus in general condemned it but with such restrictions and limitations as made it to be evil Therefore to avoid these difficulties some conclude that by the Worship of Angels is understood such a Worship as was introduced by a pretended Revelation of Angels but against this we have the concurrent testimony of St. Chrysostome St. Hierome St. Ambrose Oecumenius Theophylact who all agree that it is to be understood of the Worship given to Angels So impossible it is for those who either give themselves or justifie and allow the giving by others any Religious Worship to Angels to escape falling under the Apostles censure of being Seducers and corrupting the Gospel of Christ. 2. About stricter Abstinence and greater Severity of Life For these Seducers gave out that the Christian Churches were yet very defective in this matter And that there were several Societies of Men both among the Jews and Heathens which went very far beyond them as the Essens the Pythagoreans the Gymnosophists and others who far outstript the Christians in Watchings and Fastings in the hard usage of their Bodies and a total abstinence from Wine and Flesh and other lawful Pleasures of Life On which account these false Teachers represented the Christianity as yet received in these Churches as too soft and gentle an Institution and not answering the Character that was given of it but if they had a mind to set it off with advantage it would be necessary for them to take in some of the strictest Precepts of those Societies especially relating to Meats and Marriage Touch not taste not handle not which they magnified as the greatest Instances of true Religion Self-denyal Humility Mortification without which they despised the Christian Institution as a mean and ordinary thing requiring only the belief of some great things done and suffered by Jesus Christ in Judea and the adhering thereto till Death and doing those Offices of Humanity and Kindness to each other and those Duties of Religion to God which all Mankind thought fit and reasonable to be done But these pretended refiners of Christianity were not contented with such common things they must set up for something singular and extraordinary so Epiphanius observes of the Gnosticks in the beginning that they condemned Marriage and abstained from Flesh that under these pretences they might draw others into their snares And likewise of the Ebionites one of the Sects of Judaizing Christians that they carefully abstained from all Flesh and were every day Baptised and celebrated the Eucharist only in Water for fear of being defiled with the taste of Wine wherein they were followed by the Encratitae Aquarij and several others who affected something out of the way as a badge of more than ordinary Sanctity And there are scarce any of those who are mentioned as the Authors of great Mischief to the Church but were remarkable for something of this Nature as appears by Marcion Montanus Manichaeus Severus and others And which is observable this sort of singularity prevailed no where more than in these parts of Phrygia where the Encratitae very much encreased and continued so to do in the days of Epiphanius So very little effect had this wise and timely caution given by the Apostle in this place upon those who were willing to be deceived in that or following Generations Cajetan confesses himself to seek what sort of Men those were the Apostle discourses against but it seems most probable to me that they were a sort of Judaizing Christians who endeavoured to introduce the Customs of the Jewish Essens into the Christian Church For when St. Paul speaks of the Jewish Customs he mentions no other but such as were in esteem among them he takes no notice of Sacrifices which were disesteemed among them But let no man judge you in Meat which among them was only Bread and Salt or in Drink which was only Water or in respect of a Holyday or New Moon or the Sabbath Days which as Philo relates they were great observers of And when he speaks of the Customs they would bring among the Christians they were no other than such as were strictly observed among them viz. great abstinence hard usage of their Bodies and some Religious Rites with respect to Angels Concerning which the Apostle delivers his Judgment two ways 1. He grants that these things have a shew of Wisdom in them i. e. that they make so good an appearance to men as is apt to raise an esteem of those persons in whom it is First Because they seem to flow from a forwardness in Religion so I render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we call Will-worship but that being a thing of an ill
apprehends to be unlawful by vertue of a general command For that is a Moral Duty and obedience to those places of Scripture which bid us abstain from all kind and appearance of evil But yet it is plain here was a Negative Superstition in the forbearance of lawful things And so it was in the dispute between Christ and the Pharisees about healing on the Sabbath Day they thought it unlawful Christ declares it to be lawful to do good on the Sabbath Days Here was no positive observance on the Pharisees part Yet here was Superstition in them and therefore the true notion of Superstition doth extend to the forbearance of things in themselves lawful as displeasing to God But how shall we know when such a forbearance is Superstitious By these Rules 1. If such a forbearance be thought to bring some special honour to God For then even Dr. Ames himself grants it to be Superstition to abstain from lawful things though accounted unlawful by the Persons who abstain when some singular service and honour is by that abstinence intended For then he grants it to be a kind of Ceremonious Worship The question then is when this case happens for our Abstinence from Popish or Mahumetan Superstitions is not any special Act of Service or Honour to God But if we lived where those Acts of Worship were required by lawful Authority and we refused to comply with them that would be a special Act of Honour and Worship to God it being a declaration of our Minds that we thought God dishonoured by such Acts and therefore durst not comply with them It was once a great Question among the Papists whether they might lawfully come to our Churches or not and if not to our Prayers and Sacraments yet to our Sermons to avoid the severe Penalties of the Laws And after great debate both by a Committee of the Council of Trent and afterwards at Rome it was resolved in the Negative upon this Reason because in our Circumstances it was signum distinctivum cultûs a mark of distinction as to Religious Worship and therefore it was an Act of special honour and service to God to forbear To abstain from pouring out Wine and throwing Incense in the fire is in it self no Act of Worship but when the Heathen Emperours commanded the Christians to do it in token of compliance with their Religion their abstaining then from it was a singular Act of Worship to God So in the present Case when men are required by lawful Authority to do things which in themselves are lawful to testifie their union and conjunction with us in Religion their refusal in this Case is a special Act of Worship and being without Ground is nothing else but Superstition 2. When men value and esteem themselves as more holy and more in the favour of God on the account of such forbearance As the Pharisees did on the account of their Traditions who believed that God had no such people upon Earth as they were and despised others who were far nearer to the Kingdom of God than themselves as mere Publicans and Sinners And it is very natural to Mankind to set a great value upon themselves for the sake of their affected singularities in Religion and in a transport of pride and vanity to tell God himself as the Pharisee did That they are not like other Men But this is a certain sign whatfoever they pretend that they look on the forbearance of the things which others do as a part of Holiness and if they do so it is undoubtedly Superstition For on this ground we charge the Papists with Superstition in their Ceremonies because they place holiness in them It is true they say they are the Instruments to convey some degrees of holiness to them but this makes no material difference for those who account themselves more in God's esteem for the sake of such things do attribute some real efficacy to such distinctive Characters of themselves as to the obtaining the favour of God 3. When they forbear necessary Duties of Religion rather than comply with others in lawful things as Communion with the Church they live in in Prayers and Sacraments which cannot be denied to be necessary Duties but if men resolve rather to forbear these than to join in such Ceremonies and Prayers as do accompany the performance of them it is a sign they prefer the following their own imaginations before the joining in Communion with the Church in the most unquestionable Duties of Religion As in the Case of the Encratitae of old who thought it unlawful to taste of Wine and therefore refused to communicate in the Eucharist unless they might have it in Water alone Was not this a great Superstition in them rather to forbear communicating with the Church than not to observe their own fancies in what they thought most pleasing to God as to the manner of doing it Now to apply this to our own Case We are often blamed for laying too great weight on the Ceremonies of this Church But certainly never any Church laid less weight upon its own Orders supposing that it believes them to be just and reasonable It places no holiness no merit no efficacy in them as to the obtaining the Grace and Favour of God It expects obedience only for Order and Peace-sake It hath taken great care by Prefaces and Canons and Rubricks to prevent any misinterpretation of its intention and design But on the other side those who dissent from us lay so great weight on their scruples that they will rather hazard breaking a Church in pieces ruining our Religion by our differences losing all the benefit of Communion with a Church whose Doctrine they approve in all the Duties of religious Worship than they will yield to the allowance of those circumstances of our Communion which our Church requires And now on which side the charge of Superstition more justly lyes let all that are impartial judge So much I thought necessary on this Occasion to speak in vindication of our Church from this common imputation of Superstition by those who so little understand what it means Nothing now remains but to make Application of all to our selves You see how much mischief the shew of Wisdom was like to do in the Apostolical Churches let us all have a care of being deceived by it It was long since observed by Menander That things which were like Truth were more easily believed by the generality of Mankind than Truth it self So I am afraid it is about Religion which is the Wisdomhere spoken of that which makes a great shew of it to the World is more apt to prevail among persons of weak and well disposed Minds than true Wisdom For the shew of Wisdom strikes more upon the fancy and inclination of such Persons than sober calm and well-weighed Religion which seems dull and flat to those who have more warmth and zeal than judgment and discretion And I do not at all
Name doth not so well answer to the shew of Wisdom for what shew of Wisdom is there in doing an ill thing This is therefore a readiness of Mind to do any thing in Religion which men think pleasing to God whether required by him or not So Hesychius expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And other Greek Words of a like composition do imply no more than a voluntary inclination as in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Plato useth for a service out of good Will and free Inclination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Xenophon And St. Augustine observes that in his time a Man that affected to be Rich was called Thelo-dives and he that desired to be thought Wise Thelo-sapiens so according to this Analogy a Man that would be thought very Religious would then have been called Thelo-Religiosus taking Religiosus in the sense of Massurius Sabinus and not of Nigidius Figulus i. e. in a good and not in a bad sense And so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a desire of appearing more Religious than ordinary which is not a thing evil in it self but depends on circumstances The next is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Humility a Vertue so graceful so becoming Mankind with a respect to God and to each other that whatever makes a Shew of that doth so of Wisdom too The third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not sparing the Body but using it with hardship to keep it under 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which Words have such a hardness in their construction as hath caused great variety of interpretations which I shall not repeat That which seems most natural is that Honour implies a regard to the Body and so it only explains what was meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sense being not with any regard to the Flesh for its satisfaction which hath a farther appearance of Wisdom not barely in the subjection of the Body to the Mind but as it seems to argue a Mind so elevated above the Body that it hath little or no regard to the necessities of it 2. Notwithstanding all this fair shew of Wisdom the Apostle doth really condemn these things as not pleasing to God nor suitable to the Christian Religion For 1. He saith they have only a shew of Wisdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith St. Chrysostome who certainly understood the force of the Words the Shew saith he not the Power therefore not the Truth of Wisdom Imaginem rationis humanaeque sapientiae saith St. Jerom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Theodoret so that notwithstanding the fair Shew they make they have no real Wisdom in them 2. This new way of Worship though it hath such a specious shew of Devotion and Humility yet it reflects on the Honour of Christ as Mediator and therefore the Apostle charges the introducers of it with not holding the Head If the Cerinthians did advance the Angels above Jesus Christ they were so much the more guilty but if these Judaizers did only look on them as nearer and more agreeable Mediators to us yet therein they brought a great disparagement upon him whose Office it was to be the sole Mediator between God and Men. Mankind was very excusable in comparison for finding out other Mediators before God had declared to the World that he had appointed his Son to be our only Advocate and Intercessor but for those who own his Mediatorship to make choice of others besides Him is to call in question the Wisdom of the Father or the Sufficiency Interest or Kindness of the Son For if God hath appointed him for this end and he be able to go through his work and willing to help all that address themselves to him what need to call in other Assistants yea what a Dishonour is it for him to stand by and Applications be made to them to do that Office which he was appointed alone to discharge 3. These new inventions though never so plausible are a disparagement to the Gospel as not containing sufficient or at least not the most sublime and perfect directions for Humility and Mortification For our Blessed Saviour was so far from being remarkable for these affected singularities that the freedom and easiness of his conversation was a great offence to those who understood little or nothing of Religion beyond these things The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say Behold a Man Gluttonous and a Wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners Not that he gave way to any thing like Luxury or Intemperance who was the most exact pattern of all true and real Vertues but because they saw nothing extraordinary as to the severity of his Life in these Matters they looked on him but as one of the common sort of men making no appearance of more than usual Sanctity as to eating and drinking And when Johns Disciples who were bred up with greater austerity were really offended that Christs Disciples did not fast as they did our Saviour puts them off with a Parabolical Answer Can the Children of the Bride-chamber fast as long as the Bridegroom is with them which answer might puzzle them more as not understanding why fasting should be inconsistent with his corporal Presence yet to let them see that he did not look on Fasting as a Duty unsutable to his Religion he tells them the Days would come when his Disciples should have their times of Fasting But the Days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast So that it is not Occasional or Anniversary Days of Fasting which are condemned here by the Apostle as Will-worship or neglecting the Body but the imposing a new and severer course of Life upon Christians as a way of greater perfection of Mortification than what was required by Christ or his Apostles This is that which the Apostle calls being subject to Ordinances and living after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men. Theodoret observes that he doth not mean the Law by this but the unseasonable Doctrine of these Seducers and it is evident from the foregoing part of the 20. v. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the World i. e. if ye are freed from the Yoke of the Law what reason is there ye should submit to another which depends only on the Authority and invention of Men But what then Doth S. Paul make it unlawful to submit to any Orders or Rites appointed by the Church in which we live By no means For neither doth the Apostle speak of those who had lawful Authority but of Seducers nor doth he speak of things appointed meerly for Order and Decency but of such things which are supposed by the Imposers to have more of true Perfection and Sanctity in them more Humility and Mortification and consequently to be
question but many of the corruptions of the Christian Church came in from an apprehended necessity of complying with the heat of some over-zealous people who were not contented with the plain and excellent Religion of Jesus Christ but they must as they thought heighten and improve it till they had mixed with it the freaks of Enthusiasm or the dotages of Superstition In the Church of Rome there is in many things a shew of Wisdom in Will-worship and Humility and neglecting the Body And in some of our Sects that seem to abhor Will-worship so much that for fear of it they will not give civil respect to men yet they pretend to shew of Wisdom in Humility and neglecting the Body but after a different manner others have a shew of Wisdom too in a wonderful I had almost said superstitious zeal against what they call Will-worship and Superstition But what is to be done in this Case How shall we avoid being led aside by such a shew of Wisdom on every side I shall only lay down some Directions and so conclude 1. Fix a true Notion of God and the Christian Religion in your minds If you judge aright of the Divine Nature it will ease your minds of many uneasie thoughts troublesome fears and superstitious fancies He is not capable of being flattered or deceived by us God is neither taken with outward appearances nor is he pleased with any thing we do merely because it is displeasing to our selves The righteous God loveth righteousness and he is pleased best with the innocency integrity and holiness of our hearts and lives And for the Christian Religion take not your Notion of it from the different and uncertain opinions of Men but from the Doctrines of Christ and his Apostles Men do not read the Scriptures as they ought to do with a design to know their Religion by them but to justifie what they take to be Religion from them One would think it were impossible for any one that considered the sayings of Christ or his Apostles to place his Religion in being for or against any particular Modes or Ceremonies of Worship whereby he may so easily see that it lies chiefly in an excellent temper of mind holy spiritual humble calm peaceable charitable and a suitableness of action to this temper This is so plain and easie to be understood that he must read the New Testament with a very ill mind that doth not find it out And if you have settled this Notion of true Religion it will be a continual Touchstone about you to judge of all Pretenders 2. Set not an equal value on things that are good in order to other things that you do upon things that are good in themselves For the one are but the Instruments of Religion the other are properly the Duties of it He hath shewed thee O man what is good viz. to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God And this was spoken when very costly Sacrifices were offered instead of it no less than thousands and ten thousands yea the first-born and the fruit of their Bodies And therefore God sets a high value on these Duties and so ought we No one that hath any sense of Religion can despise the immediate Duties of Divine Worship it being a good Saying of Pythagoras mention'd by Cicero and Plutarch that we are never better than when we approach to God or as Cicero expresses it when we do rebus Divinis operam dare are employed in the Duties of Divine Worship But yet to do good is better than Sacrifice and to forgive an injury than the fat of Rams It is a wise Observation of Maimonides That the intention of the Law of God is to keep men within the just Bounds of Vertue but when men found a stronger inclination to one extreme than to another they made use of remedies proper to reduce themselves from that extreme by great severities towards themselves by Watchings and extraordinary Fastings and other hardships But when Fools saw Wise men do these things they imagined presently that there was an Excellency in the things themselves and that if they did the same things they should pass for very good men and be highly in the favour of God Which saith he is just like an ignorant Fellow who observing the Physicians prescribing Physick to his Patients and forbidding eating to them and finding them to recover upon it should presently conclude that surely it is the best way to live upon Scammony and Aloes and such like and to keep himself with the same strictness that was prescribed to the Sick which instead of preventing a Disease would certainly bring one so saith he do those who use the remedies of diseased minds in a state of health they spoil a good constitution of their souls and make it uneasie and troublesome 3. Judge of mens pretences not by their outward shew and appearance but by the Spirit and Temper that goes along with them This was the course the Apostle here took he regarded not their shew of Wisdom and great appearance of Humility and Mortification but he pursued these things to their Fountain-Head and there he found nothing but spiritual pride and vanity of mind We must not judge easily nor rashly concerning this but where the evidence is notorious we have great reason to sleight and contemn the most sanctimonious appearance i. e. if there be great uncharitableness and censoriousness towards all who do not comply with them great scorn and contempt of all other ways but their own great malice and spight against all who go about to oppose them where these are whether in the Church of Rome or elsewhere whatever the shew of wisdom be this wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish But the Wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie FINIS Coloss. 2. 1. Coloss. 1. 7. 4. 13. Philem. 23. Coloss. 2. 2 3. V. 4. V. 5. V. 6. V. 8. A. D. 60. n. 17. Christian. Lup. in Tertul de praescript c. 33. Nat. Alex. Saec. 1. p. 52. Tertull. de praescript c. 33. Epiph. haer 21. p. 58. Bar. ib. n. 20. n. 16. Bell. de S. B. c. 20. Jansen Preface Ep. Aux Coloss. Chrys. in l. Hier. Algas q. 10. Epiph. Haer. 23. p. 63. Haer. 30. p. 139. Epiph. haer 47. p. 339. Philo p. 876. Epiph. p. 42. V. 16. Philo p. 877 899. Plato Sym. Xen. Cyr. Paed. 2. Aug. Ep. 59. A. Gâ—ll. l. 4. c. 9. V. 19. Matt. 12. 19. Matt. 9. 12 13. V. 20. V. 18. V. 22. Vid. Theod. Theophyl Matt. 15. 11. 17. Rom. 14. 17 18. Aug. c. Faust. l. 30. c. 6. Tert. de Jej. c. 15. Iren. l. 1. c. 26. Epiph. haer 30. p. 139. Aq. 2. 2. q. 92. Tan. Fabr. Not. p. 294. Leviath ch 6. ch 11. Mich. Nau. Eccl. Graec. Effig p. 260. Bas. hom de jejun Chris. hom 6. ad Pop. Antioch * V. Job Ludolph Hist. AEthipic l. 3. c. 6. n. 8â— Thom. à Jesu de Convers. omnium Gent. l. 7. c. 18. Cotovic Itiner Hierosolymit Syriac p. 207. Franc. Quaresm Elucid Terrae Sanctae l. 1. c. 53 54 55 56 57 58. Eustrat Zialouski de Eccles. Orient Graec. p. 39. Metroph Critopul c. 18. Haud scio inquit Methodius Graecus apud Mich. Nau. in Eccles. Graecae effigie Dial. 13 unde factum sit ut vos Latini a reliquis Christianorum Nationibus sic in jejunando recesseritis ut nulla vobis nè Maronitana quidem quae tota vestra est consentiat Jejunatis sabbato feriâ 4. Non abstinetis ab esu Carnium pisces quibusdam in locis lacticinia quadragesimali tempore comeditis solvitis meridie jejunium c. De Jei. c. 2. Prudent 1. Cath. hymn post jejun V. Tert. de jejun c. 2. 13. Hier. ep 54. ad Marcel Aug. c. Faust. Manich. l. 30. c. 5. ad Casul Ep. 86. Epiph. in Expos. fidei Cath. n. 23. Socr. l. 5. c. 22. Victor Antioch in Marc. 2. Cassian Coll. 21. c. 30. Voss. Etym. Cic. l. 1. de N. D. Fest v. Religios Aq. 2. 2. q. 92. Art 2. q. 98. Art 3. Suarez de Rel. tr 3. l. 2. c. 1. Matt. 12. 10. 12. Fresh Suit p. 101. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men. Mic. 6. 8. Plutarch de Superst Cic. de Legib l. 2. c. 9. Porta Mosis p. 201. Ver. 18. Jam. 3. 15. Ver. 17.