command from Augustus Caesar Augustus was the proper name of this King but the name Caesar was a common name for every King who was set over the Romans was called Caesar even unto this as the King of the Egyptians was called Pharaoh and of the Persians Kosro and this Caesar governed the Romans the Egyptians the Hebrews and the Assyrians The Command went out That the inhabited World should be Taxed because he was desirous to know the number of men within his Jurisdiction according as David sent Joab and numbred the people Others say because he was willing to send every one into his own City and Countrey but these opinions are not the likeliest to be true but that which is most probable is That he was willing to raise Pole-money which is manifest from that which Gamaliel said in the Acts of the Apostles That Judah of Galilee arose in the dayes when men were taxed for Pole-money and there was not another tax neither before nor after that And St. Ephraim in his Exposition testifieth as much and Christ was born in the time of this Tax and he excited this King thereunto though he were unworthy as he did unto Balaam and the Wise men that Joseph and Mary coming up from Nazareth to Bethlehem might there be Taxed and our Lord be born there to fulfill the word of Micah Thou Bethlehem c. And that the Jewes might not contend and say That he was not Christ neither of the Lineage of David therefore he ascended thither and he was born in the Forty third year of Augustus and the Thirty third of Herod Augustus is expounded an arising brightness and splendor and Christ is the splendor of the Father and did arise from on high Augustus had not yet governed Sixteen years and Christ unto whom he was Type hath no end of his Kingdom And if Caesar Taxed them for Pole-money Christ also said Give unto Caesar that which is Caesars And if it were to know how many men were within the compass of his Jurisdiction Christ also in regard of the Providence he hath over us said The hairs of your heads are numbred and if it were for the return of every one into his own Countrey or Region Christ also brought forth Souls out of Hell and caused them to return unto their former place And it came to pass in those dayes Not in those wherein John was Nursed up until the day of his Proclamation in those dayes Christ was Thirty years old Neither in the dayes that Elizabeth brought forth for then Mary had conceived Three Months but dayes he calls in this place the dayes after Elizabeth brought forth FINIS The ARMENIAN CREED Translated out of that Language by D.L. J.U.D. WE profess and believe with a sincere heart God the Father not made nor begotten and without beginning the Begetter of the Son and Fountain of the Holy Ghost We believe God the Word not made but begotten and having a beginning from the Father before the world being not after nor younger than the Father the Father being Father onely and the Son Son onely We believe the Holy Ghost not made eternal not begotten but proceeding coessential with the Father and equal in glory with the Son We believe the Holy Trinity One Nature One Godhead not Three Gods but One God One Will One Kingdom One Authority Creator of all things visible and invisible We believe the Holy Church the remission of sins the communion of Saints We believe that One of the Three Persons the Word God begotten of the Father before the world descending in time took of the blood of the Virgin Mary the Mother of God and united it unto his Godhead was Nine moneths contain'd in the Womb of an uncorrupted Virgin and that he was perfect God and perfect man with soul mind and body One Soul and One Person compos'd in One Subsistence God was made Man without mutation without confusion without seed of Conception of incorrupt Nativity There is no beginning of his Divinity nor end of his Humanity for Jesus Christ yesterday and to day and for ever We believe our Lord Jesus Christ convers'd on earth and that after Thirty Years conversation here He was Baptized the Father testifying This is my well-beloved Son and the Holy Ghost descending as a Dove That He was tempted of Satan and that he assiduously preached Salvation unto men That He laboured in Body and suffered in weariness That he was hungry and thirsty That He afterward voluntarily came among his enemies That he was Crucified and Dyed in his Body but lived in the Divinity He preached unto souls and took Hell captive and free'd the Spirits After Three dayes he arose from the Dead and appeared to the Disciples I believe our Lord Jesus Christ is with the self same Body ascended into Heaven and that he sits on the Right Hand of the Father Moreover That He is with the same Body and with the glory of the Father to judge the living and the dead at the Resurrection of all men I believe also a retribution of Works eternal life for the Just and eternal torment for Sinners FINIS INTRODUCTIO DIONYSIISYRI IN EXPOSITIONEM SUAM QUATUOR EVANGELISTARUM Per DUDLEIUM LOFYUSIUM J. U. D. in Linguam Latinam versa DVBLINII Et prostant venales apud Josophum Wilde M. D C. LXXII Virtute quidem auxilio sanctae Trinitatis in essentia aequalis Patris Filii ac Spiritus sancti unius veri Dei exorsi sumus scribere explicationem Evangelii colendi sancti è quatuor sanctis Evangelistis Matthaeo Marco Luca Johanne collecti quam edidit sanctus Dominus Dionysius viz. Jacobus filius Crucis qui secernens eam quasi in Sectiones ab omnibus libris Expositorum ad instar flabelliferi divenit Caput primum ipsius Sancti praenominati ABsolutâ explicatione Legis antiquae Prophetarum Frater noster prout expedire visum est breviter stiloque quem potui adhibere simpliciore novam aggressisumus i.e. Evangelium Actus Apostolorum necnon Pauli Epistolas ea mente ut eandem simili modo tractemus de propriis tamen nostris nihil dicturi sed Expositorum innitentes fundamento aedificium spirituale animae proficiens struximus Cum autem intuiti fuerimus exploraverimus explicationem Evangelii quam ediderunt ipsi quorum nomina sum recitaturus viz. Dominus Ephraim Dominus Johannes Cyrillus insuper etiam Moses Bar Cepha Johannes de Dara cum non modica aliorum Doctorum Caterva nobis videatur omnino impossibile omnes eorum Expositiones in uno libro coacervare nè ita ultra justam produceretur mensuram hujusmodi Tractatus ut ei non sufficeret librorum Schedarum multitudo Nobis visum est omnium istorum Expositorum sensum in Compendium deducere nec non longitudinem latitudinem verborum quibus usi sunt in quantum poterimus contrahere haec est instituti nostri ratio
beginning of the Evangelium which is good Tydings is the Baptism of Christ as blessed Mark saith and inasmuch as he saith The Beginning of the Gospel he sheweth that he was the first that gave the name of Evangelium to a Book Moreover forasmuch as Evangelium or Gospel is by interpretation good Tydings and Christ before his Baptism did neither Preach nor Evangelize but after he was Baptized and Tempted he immediately Preached Repent the Kingdom is at hand as Matthew and Mark have written Moreover from his Birth to his Baptism he was governed by the Law and from his Baptism by such a new Administration as comported with the New Testament Again before his Baptism he performed no Miracle nor delivered any Doctrine otherwise than by Question and Answer in the Temple when he was Twelve years old as Luke sayes Moreover those things which were from his Birth to his Baptism are not to be reputed as of the Gospel though they have relation thereunto and are compiled therewith that we might be taught after what manner were his Conception and Birth Nor were it possible that we should be capable of receiving the Doctrine of the Gospel if we had not first learned where and how he was born whereas in those Years from his Birth to his being Thirty Years of Age he satisfied the Obligation of the Law of Nature and the written Law then he applied himself to frame a Module of a new World in his Baptism and to Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God And forasmuch as Mark knew that Baptism was the Beginning of the Gospel and that our Lord thence took his Commencement in the new Administration he wrote in the beginning of his Book thus The Beginning of the Gospel And if it shall be Objected Wherefore did the other Evangelists begin higher than his Baptism It is plain that Matthew wrote so that he might make it appear unto the Hebrews to whom he wrote That as the Prophets had before written that Christ should spring from the Lineage of David so he did then spring thence and Luke that he might bring them into Contempt who unskilfully undertook to write the Histories of deeds and John that he might write concerning the Divinity of Christ for that the other three omitted it lest it should be concealed and Christ be reputed but a meer man for these three causes they took their rise so high and not for that his Conception his Birth his Circumcision c. were of the Gospel The Son of God He calls Jesus Christ the Son of God and not the Son of Grace as say the Nestorians for we are the sons of grace and that Mark doth not here call Jesus Christ the Son of Grace but the Natural Son of God is evident from that which the Apostle said to the Philippians in an Epistle Let this mind be in your selves which was also in Christ Jesus who being the likeness thought it not robbery to be equal with God but evacuated himself of reputation and assumed the likeness of a servant and was made in the likeness of the sons of men and in fashion was found as man and humbled himself and became obedient even to death even the death of the Cross wherefore God hath exceedingly exalted him and given him a Name more excellent than all names That at the Name of Jesus every knee should how c. Let the Nestorians and Calcedonians be demanded Who is he who so evacuated himself and assumed the likeness of a servant Man or the word God Divine Nature or Nature Humane for Man and Humane Nature were already evacuated and servants wherefore this is the sense of the words that the word God evacuated himself and observe that the word God who evacuated himself and assumed the likeness of a servant doth he call Jesus Christ and to him is attributed Subjection Obedience and Death and the Cross and to him is attributed Exaltation and the giving of the Name of God which is more excellent than all Names And forasmuch as the Apostle said concerning the word God that he evacuated himself these are evident Demonstrations First That he being God by Nature was incarnate and made Man of his own will without being changed from being God Secondly That being equal in Nature with the Holy Ghost and Giver thereof and having a natural Holiness he took upon him to be anointed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost as he was Man for being made Man he suffered natural and animal Passions but not culpable Hunger and Thirst Sleep and Death did he taste for us And Thirdly That being called by eminent and exalted Names to wit Lord and God and Omnipotent and other the like so that whatsoever he had did as naturally belong unto him as to the Father and the Holy Ghost as having life of his own nature having power over all things and having glory due unto him from all things yet it is said That it was given him of the Father and that he received it from the Father And this moreover for that he was evacuated and made man And these were Demonstrations of his Exinanition that he vouchsafed to be called by humble and inferiour names as of Man Son of Man and a Stone Moreover it is certain That the word God who was the natural Son of God the Father is called Christ and not the Son of man who was of Mary for David saith That thy Throne O God is for ever and ever a right Scepter is the Scepter of thy Kingdom thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity wherefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyle of gladness above thy fellows It is therefore clearly understood that he whom he calls God and of whom he saith Thy Throne O God for ever is the same whom God the Father anointed and not the Son of Man who was of Mary Furthermore forasmuch as he saith That he anointed him above his fellows that is to say more than all they who were anointed by the Holy Ghost because they stood in need of anointing and were anointed by the Holy Ghost but the word God was anointed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost not being in want thereof because he was equal with the Holy Ghost and had a natural Holiness and was full as St. John saith of his fulness have we all received but because he was made man he received the Spirit and his anointing and his holiness that by his Mediation he might give us the Spirit to anoint and sanctifie us for that this word was anointed and sanctified by the Spirit because he was sent into the World and was made man is manifest from that which he saith of himself Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world thou blasphemest because I said unto you that I am the Son of God for it is certain that he who was sent from God the Father into the world was God the word and he who was sent was
THE EXPOSITION OF DIONYSIUS SYRUS Written above 900 Years since on the Evangelist St. Mark Translated by DUDLEY LOFTUS J. U. D. and one of the Masters of the High Court of Chancery in IRELAND Anno 1672. WHEREWITH Are bound up several other Tracts of the same Authour and an ancient SYRIACK SCHOLIA on the Four Evangelists As also some PERSIAN ARMENIAN and GREEK Antiquities Translated as aforesaid The Titles whereof are set down immediately after the Epistle to the READER with Reference to the several Pages where they are DVBLIN Printed for Joseph Wilde Book-seller in Castle-street 1672. TO THE Sacred Majesty OF CATHERINE OF PORTUGAL Queen of England Scotland France and Ireland and the many Dominions thereunto belonging MADAM IF Success the Grand Patroness of bold Attempts may prevail to justifie or conceal my presumption in this humble Address by Your Majesties favourable acceptance I shall then attain to the highest Elevation of ambition if otherwise I shall own your Majesties reprehension to be as just as my presumption is great yet will I hope that the drift of my sincere Intention to serve Your Majesty in promoting Your progress to that period which You most desire to attain and the fame of so renowned an Authour as is Dionysius Syrus whose Interpreter I am may intercede for pardon which if it shall be denied in the Signature of Grace I shall resort to that of Justice and therein exhibit my Plea which is the Authour's Merit and the uncomputable piety and transcendent Learning of his Works Comprehendiendo mucha sententia en pocas palabras or mucho valor en poco peso which as by the Law of Mines the value appropriates unto Your Majesty as Soveraign in that kind You having as great a Reputation abroad in the Zeal of Religion as You have at home in the fame of an assiduous Devotion You being not more glorious in the splendor of Your Crown than in the Eminency of Your Piety for which reason I humbly conceive it as lawful to present You with this piece of the Authour as it would be unlawful to detain from Your Majesty what is Your own however I shall have reason to acknowledge my own failing and to beg Your Majesties pardon for by imparting so small a piece of the Authour's Work I may rather set Your Majesty a longing than give You satisfaction which shall be the Endeavour of my Soul and the whole Retinue of Faculties thereunto belonging as being the most devoted of Your Majesties subjects And Faithful Servant DUDLEY LOFTUS To the Indifferent READER IN the publication of this Treatise I rely upon an higher Faith of Acceptance than novelty or antiquity though both of them are considerable persuasives and are found in the Authour who being distanced from us by a great interspace of time and place it being above 900 Years since he wrote and he being now first brought to light out of the Mist of a Syriack Manuscript into our Language affords many things observable worthy to be Transcrib'd into the Table-book of thy memory relating as well to positive Points as to Scholastical Disquisitions in Theology For amongst the many Tapers or rather Flambeau's set up in the Oriental Church and crown'd with light for the illustration of the Gospel none carries a greater flame than this Dionysius to conduct thee without fear of misguidance into a rectified understanding of Holy Scripture or to shew and confute the Errors of the ancient Heresiarchs for he is as a Celestin or a Cyril against Nestorius as an Athanasius a Liberius or an Hilarius against Arius as a Gregory a Bazil or a Nazianzen who was tearm'd Orientis lumen against Macedonius As there is nothing in this Treatise which will offend an indâ—fferent Reader so most things in the rest of his Works may be allow'd of in his sense both by Roman and English Catholicks For I find him deciding those Controversies as fully as clearly and with as much indifferency as if they had been referred in terminis to his Umpirage and undoubtedly if most Controversies between them were referred to the determination and genuine Expositions of disinterested Oriental Antiquity especially to the unsuspected Testimonies of Syriack Authours as well those Differences which gave occasion to Protestant and Roman Catholicks to part one from the other as those others which have grown up in the progress of Separation might easily be reduced to such terms of Agreement as to make them mutually interrogate each other as Tiberius did his Souldiers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What do we contend for It is certainly true That we may rely upon the unsuspected Testimonie of the Holy Greek and Latin Fathers who have been the great Assertors and Patrons of Truth yet the exuberancy of their Stile many times overflowing in Rhetorical and florid elocution of Metaphors Allegories and Hyperboles have made their expressions lyable to various senses which as they were severally apprehended by different Readers gave occasion for divers Opinions which may be best reconcil'd by reading of Syriack Fathers who expound Scripture in the plainest terms without affectation of Stile or flourishes of Oratory and were not too much affected with litigious speculations the late incumbrances of Christian Religion and have not deriv'd their Doctrine from the source of any extremity of Opinion but usually give such a sense of the Ancients as may give satisfaction to the indifferent of both parties whereof I shall hereafter give many Instances over and above what are contain'd in this Treatise in my Notes upon the same Authour the rest of whose Works I am now Translating into Latin for the satisfaction and more general advantage of all those who by the advice of reason are willing to surrender themselves to the determination of sincere Antiquity and are not swayable in Religion by the dictates of Interest nor conducted by reasons of State to the determination of their Profession for it is to no purpose nor of much import to endeavour the reconciliation of those who proportion the zeal which they have for Religion by the weights of reasons of State or refined products of Policy There is nothing in this Treatise which favours the Saints of the Phanatick Calendar nor oppugneth the Catholick Religion but it may be allow'd without any great stress in the Principles either of Roman Catholocism or English Protestancy and may easily be espoused to those who are not precontracted to prejudices and prepossessions of Education It will be censur'd perhaps by the Schismatical pride of those who can never read ancient Authours with that indifferencie which is requisite to frame a right judgment of them for how can they affect ancient Expositors who are resolv'd to follow their own sense and to stand to no judgement but their own This Authour Dionysius Syrus is of an authentick reputation being a replenished Treasury of Christian Doctrine affording Rules of Faith to measure thy persuasion and of conscience to govern thy actions and though the
souzes She cast in more than all the men cast in And how did she cast in more than all whereas they cast in twice as much as she He presently explains the difficulty and saith For all they cast in of their abundance Christ here teacheth us two things First That this gift which was made out of her penury was more abundant and greater in God's esteem than that which proceeded from Redundancy Secondly That God doth not regard the greatness or smallness of a gift but the will and mind wherewith it is given and it is certain That if it be given with a chearful will it is accounted much and great with God although it be small but if otherwise it is meanly esteemed by God though much in quantity CHAP. XIII BVt of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels neither the Son but the Father The Hereticks to wit the Arrians when they are desirous to vilifie the Son they produce this Argument To whom we answer For inasmuch as he is God he knew all things that are before they were made but inasmuch as he was man he saith he knows not and the very same that is God is man and no other as he is life by nature and became death for us forasmuch as he was man so though he doth know all things as being God he said that he did not know as man And as he was before Abraham in respect of his Godhead according as he said Before Abraham was I am yet he was after him as being man for if he had said I know he had been like to the Father onely and not at all like unto us but he said I know not that he might be likened unto us and that there might be no place left for mistakes or to say that he was not made man for this property of man not to know things in futurity was common to him for he communicated in our want of knowledge even as in other humane infirmities and this is manifest from hence that he did not say Neither the Son of God knoweth but neither the Son simply as he was the Son of God so was he a so the Son of man and in that respect wanted knowledge though he knew all things as God Moreover it is certain That as he was man he said he did not know forasmuch as he did not say concerning the Holy Ghost that he did not know Again we say That God the Father is greater than the day of the coming of the Son and is more hidden and concealed than that day and yet the Son saith Even as the Father knoweth the Son the Son knoweth the Father If therefore he knoweth the Father who is high and exalted above all things and is more hidden and concealed than this day how much more then doth he know this day And if any one shall object That the Father knows the Son perfectly but that the Son knoweth the Father but in part let him know That for the same reason he might conclude that the Father knoweth not the Son but in part for the same knowledge is attributed to the Father and the Son as the Father knoweth the Son c. We say further That if the Father knows this day and hour the Son must necessarily know it because there is one knowledge of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit for they are of one and the same nature the same will the same power and operation and therefore necessarily have they one and the same knowledge Moreover for that the Son created the Worlds and Times and Years and Months and Hours and Dayes it is manifest That he knows the day and hour of his appearance but if any one shall object That he hath not yet created the day of his coming he may be convinced by the force of two reasons First From this which is written That he finished the heaven and the earth and all that was in them and God finished his works on the seventh day Secondly Let it be granted That it were so though it be not a Truth yet he knew as God before hand those Things which are not and he knows every thing before hand Again How doth he know the Prognostications and the Signs which are to be at the day of his coming and yet not know the day for he declareth how that there shall be lightning and that the Sun shall be darkned and other such like things and the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken and the sign of the Son of man shall appear and other the like things which are to happen in that day and hour and how is it possible That one should know what things are in the House and not know the House or how doth a man know the thing that is within a City or a Ship without knowing the City or the Ship And how can he who knoweth what things are without and within a Wall say that he doth not know the Wall in the middle Moreover as he knew the hour of his Birth and the day of his first coming in Bethlehem so doth he know his second coming Furthermore Paul saith That Christ is the power and wisdom of the Father and in this that he saith the power he sheweth That there is nothing out of his Jurisdiction and Providence and by that of wisdom he declares That there is nothing out of the reach of his knowledge but that all things which are and are to come are comprehended within the compass of his knowledge for if he can err in any thing he is not perfect wisdom especially since that he is the Divine wisdom of the Father and in him is hidden all wisdom and he it is that gives wisdom to the wise as saith the Son of Syrach All wisdom is of the Lord and Christ is the Lord whence it was that the Angels said to the Shepherds there is born unto you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. Neither the Angels In this which the Angels said unto the Shepherds viz. To you is born c. which neither the Angels knew did he forbid them to declare that day and by this That neither the Son that is to say my self he stopt their mouths from asking him for in like manner they asked him after the Resurrection Art thou at this time about to restore the Kingdom And he stopt their mouths saying It doth not belong unto you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath appointed c. But the Father Inasmuch as he spoke of the knowledg of the Father he prevented them that they might not ask him and it is like to that of the mother of the sons of Zebedee for being unwilling to answer whether he would grant the request or no he answered It is not mine to give when assuredly it was he who was to place the Sheep on his right hand and the Goats on his left and to call Come ye
death was not yet come At the Third hour he was Crucified and at the Ninth hour he dyed and from the Third to the Ninth are but six hours for it was thought that one who had been Crucified but six hours would not have dyed and when he heard that he was dead he wondred And this Testifieth for Christ That he dyed of his own Will and not by constraint for that he dyed truly as to his Body we say but that he admitted death of his own Will and not by constraint as we the Thieves were not dead but he because of his own accord he permitted death to approach unto him therefore he dyed at the Ninth hour Again He marvailed as at something that was not customary for every one that is Crucified remains a day or two but he failed in the Ninth hour of the day and whatsoever was done there was a miracle CHAP. XVI AND when the Sabbath was past Mary Magdalene and the other Mary bought sweet spices that they might anoint him That is to say according to the custom of Women who on the Sabbath or the Third day of the Week or on Friday and on Festivals went in honour of the dead to the Sepulchre with perfumes and sweet oyntments And they saw a young man sitting on the right hand They called the Angel Gabriel a young man because he appeared in the likeness of a young man That he might signifie that he who was risen did restore our nature to its Youth And that he appeared on the right hand sheweth That he was to Preach glorious and prosperous Things unto the Women But go tell his Disciples and Cephas He distinguished and singled out Cephas as him who had carried himself defectively in respect of Faith for Behold he came twice to the Sepulchre And that he might fill him with consolation inasmuch as he was terrified and confounded with shame by reason of his denial and that he might know that his repentance was complete And he calls him Peter to shew the strength of his love though he was somewhat lyable to humane failing and that he was restored by Repentance to his former Honour so as to be the foundation of the Church And in the morning the first day of the week he arose and appeared In the Greek Copy and the Harkalian it is thus written When he arose in the morning of the first of the week he appeared first of all to Mary Magdalene This sense is apt and it is apparent That first he said when he arose and then made a distinction by interposing a point and afterwards added the other words viz. in the morning of the first of the week he appeared to Mary Magdalene Whence we understand That our Saviour first arose at a time unknown to any but the Father and the Holy Ghost for no Creature knew it for if we do not know our own Resurrection at what hour or time it shall be so no man knoweth at what time Christ arose That he arose truly we know but at what time or hour of the night we know not but whil'st it was the time of the morning of the first of the week he appeared to Mary Magdalene as John hath said and written Again The words morning and appeared are annexed to Mary and not to the time when he arose yet here the word arose is interposed though in congruity of sense it goes before the word morning because he spoke briefly of the Resurrection and in what manner he appeared to Mary he rendred the sense confused St. Severus saith That there are many Copies of the Gospel of Mark which want from the morning of the first day of the week he arose unto the end of the Book so that the Gospel ends with these words Neither said they any thing to any man for they were afraid Afterwards he appeared to the eleven That is to say He laid before them their want of Faith and hardness of Heart saying That they did not give credit unto them who had seen that he was risen He that believeth and shall be baptized shall be saved That is to say He who believes in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Ghost Three persons and one God and shall be baptized in the Name of these three persons shall be saved from sin which is the death of the foul Moreover He shall live a life Immortal whereunto shall be joined inseparably joyes which shall never fail He that believeth He sheweth That first a man gets Faith and then worketh Miracles according to this If ye have Faith ye shall remove Mountains As these signs have been wrought amongst them so if Faith shall be found in them they shall work Miracles according to what is said He who hath Faith can do every thing He that doth not believe That is to say Unbelievers shall have a life mixed with torments without end In my name shall they cast out Devils That is to say the Apostles and Disciples cast out many Devils and spoke the Languages of the Nations They shall take up Serpents There are two kinds of Serpents the one proceeds from the earth the other from Devils and neither kind saith he shall be able to hurt the faithful who keeps his Commandments And if they shall drink any deadly poyson They say That the Gentiles made one of the Seventy two Disciples to drink deadly poyson and he did not dye therewith and that they cast poyson into the Cup of the Mysteries wherein was the blood of Redemption and made a Saint drink thereof and he did not thereof dye and many others there were who drank poyson and it hurt them not And they shall lay hands on the sick This we have seen done even to this day by many Priests But the Heathens object If these words of Christ are true wherefore do not they cast out Devils and take hold of Serpents c We answer according to the judgment of Philoxenus That Christ doth not use the word by way of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is to say for a determinal and universal term but an indefinite for he doth not say That these Things shall belong to every one that believeth in him but to those who believe in him for he did not use the word all or every of them in his Proposition Therefore it is not said of every one of them but that there are many who shall be attended with these signs as Apostles and Saints He ascended into Heaven and sate on the right hand For the right hand denotes Honour According to this He shall place the sheep on his right hand That is to say He shall associate them with himself in glory for the Father is not corporeal that he should have a right and left hand neither have the Angels a right and left hand for this belongs to Bodies but the right hand of God the Father signifieth equality of Session of Majesty with him for there is but
Ten senses He applies himself after Prayer to root out of the mind anger and wrath which if it be not done Prayer is not accepted The Form of PRAYER which our Saviour made after his Baptism when the Heavens were opened as it is delivered by Dionysius Syrus according to the Testimony of St. Philoxenus and Translated by D. L. O Father according to the good pleasure of thy Will I am made Man and from the time in which I was born of a Virgin unto this day I have finished those things which are agreeing to the nature of Man and with due observance have perform'd all thy Commandments the Mysteries and Types of the Law And now I am baptized and so I have ordain'd Baptism that from thence as from the place of spiritual Eirth the Regeneration of Men may be accomplish'd and as John was the last of the Legal Priests so am I the first of the Evangelical Thou therefore O Father by the mediation of my Prayer open the Heavens and from thence send thy Holy Spirit upon this womb of Baptism that as he did untye the womb of the Virgin and thence form me so also he would loose this Baptismal womb and so sanctifie it unto men that from thence now men may be begotten who may become thy Sons and my Brethren and Heirs of thy Kingdom And what the Priests under the Law until John could not do grant unto the Priests of the New Testament whose chief I am in the oblation of this Prayer that whensoever they shall celebrate Baptism or pour forth Prayers unto thee as the Holy Spirit is seen with me in open Vision so also it may be made manifest that the same Spirit will adjoyn himself in their society a more secret way and will by them perform the ministeries of the New Testament for which I am made Man and as the High Priest I do offer these Prayers in thy sight Dionysius Syrus his Question and Answer concerning the Prayer which JOHN the Baptist taught his DISCIPLES Translated by D.L. Quest VVHat was the Prayer which John taught his Disciples Answ Some recite it thus O Lord fit us for thy Kingdom and that we may enjoy the happiness thereof with thy Son Others thus O Father shew me the day of the Baptism of thy Son But what if one should say What need was there of this Prayer after he had baptized the Son had seen the Spirit and had heard the Father Others say That he prayed thus Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Others thus O Father let me hear thy Voyce O Son shew me thy Person O Spirit shew me thy Descent and raise up thy Power But neither is this approved the first Exposition carries with it the greater verisimilitude Gregorius the SYRIACK SCHOLIAST called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the Four Gospels Translated by DUDLEY LOFTUS J.U.D. MATTHEW the First The Son of David the Son of Abraham HE mentioneth David for that they hoped Christ would arise from him according to that Was not Christ to rise from the seed of David and from Bethlehem He mentions Abraham also for that it hath been said In his seed shall all Nations be blessed And Luke because that he wrote unto the Gentiles mounted up unto Adam the common Father and from him to God the Creator of all things Jacob begate Judah and his Brethren He did not mention the Brethren of Isaac and Jacob for that the Nation of the Hebrews were not to derive their Genealogy from them as from the Brethren of Judah for these were Hebrews the other were Edomites the sons of Ishmael and Esau Judah begate Pharez and Zarah of Thamar Pharez was a Type of the New Testament whose resemblance he was made in regard he first put out his hand which was afterwards withdrawn And after Zarah who was a Type of the Old Testament came out and therefore he expresses both their names and the Evangelist abstains from making mention of Zarah Rebecca and other vertuous Women but mentioneth Rahab Ruth and Beersheba to reprove the Jews who upbraided the Lineage of the Gentiles with the peculiarity of the people of God and thought that the meritorious cause of becoming the servants of God was Lineage or Wisdom whereas he shews That David the Great descended from Thamar the Ammonite who committed Fornication with her Father-in-law and from Rahab the Harlot who received the Spies in Jericho and from Ruth the Moabite though against the Moabites and Ammonites it was decreed That they should not enter into the House of the Lord for ever and King Solomon the wise was begotten of Beersheba the Hittite who at first had unlawful Communication with David Joram begate Hosiah Joram did not beget Hosiah but Ahaziah and Ahaziah begate Joash and Joash begate Amoziah and Amoziah begate Hosiah In the Catena he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Africanus of Emaus and St. Severus say That the Evangelists omitted these three for that they descended from Attaliah the Sister of Ahab she who for her wickedness was also called the sister of Jezabel but if it were so How cometh he to make mention of Ahaziah and Manaasse who were more wicked Georgius de Gentilibus saith Concerning this the Authour of the Catena after the citation of many Opinions rests upon none but saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id est quam voluerit sententian sequatur lector That the first Scribe failed by reason of the similitude of letters and instead of Ahaziah wrote Hosiah but neither doth this Opinion prevail with me because that if these three be brought into computation with the others they make up Seventeen Generations and if they were not omitted by the Evangelist How did he set down Seventeen and reckon but Fourteen It is therefore known that the computation of Origen ought rather to take place and to be credited who saith That the Evangelist omitted those persons to accommodate the computation to the pleasure of the believing Hebrews who much respected the number Fourteen Josia begate Jocania and his Brethren in the Captivity of Babylon Jocania who was the Grandson of Josia he calls his son for Josia begate Jehoiachim who was Aliakim and Jehoiachim begate Jocania and the Uncles of Jocania on the Fathers side Jehu Achaz and Zedekia are called his brothers children according to the custom of Scripture as Abraham said unto Lot the son of his brother We are Brethren And because the Prophet Daniel reckoneth the seventy years of Captivity in the Transmigration from the Prophesie of Jeremiah which began the 13th of Josia Matthew saith That he begate Josiah although it was Achaziah Jocania begate Shelathiel Jeremiah the Prophet said concerning Jocaniah That his Throne shall perish without children and that no man of his seed shall sit upon the Throne of David How therefore can Christ of whom it is said The Lord will give him the Throne of his Father David derive his Genealogy from him for one of the
set down by St. Mark is evident from this That before our Lord was Baptized he neither Preached nor Evangelized but after that he was Baptized and Tempted he began to say Repent the Kingdom of heaven is at hand And St. Basil saith That this Mark first used the word Evangelium and this is clear from hence That the other Three Evangelists made no mention thereof A voyce crying in the wilderness John is called a voyce because he made known Christ the Word for by the voyce is made known the Word that is hidden in the mind Confessing their sins Hence it is manifest That confession is necessary for the Faithful And straightway he came up out of the water That is to say our Lord. He saw To wit John the Baptist And straightway the Spirit took him out To wit the holy Spirit What have we to do with thee This one speaks as from the mouth of them all CHAP. II. THE son of Halphaeus All the Doctors agree That this Levi was Matthew the Publican who was an Evangelist and that Jesus sat down in his House and Mark here calls him the son of Halphaeus and that this was not the brother of James the son of Halphaeus is demonstrable from this That Matthew was of the Tribe of Issachar and this James was of the Tribe of Menasse When Abiathar was High Priest In the Book of Samuel it is written That David desired the holy bread from Achimelech the Father of Abiathar and it is possible that he desired it from Achimelech and that Abiathar his son gave it CHAP. III. SOns of Thunder Because the sons of Zebedee did preach with a high voyce he calls them by this name And his Kindred heard That is to say the children of Joseph CHAP. IV. THat under the shadow thereof the Fowl may dwell That is to say the Gentiles without the Law may rest under the shade of the Gospel And they left the multitudes In some Copies it is read He left but that reading is not to be approved but we ought to follow the Greek Copies to wit That he and his Disciples left them or dismissed them And there was a great tempest The Syriack word signifieth a boysterous wind which bloweth on the face of the earth and raiseth up dust and sand it is of an Hebrew derivation and is expounded the ascent of God CHAP. V. LEGION That is to say Ten Thousand CHAP. VI. BEhold the Carpenter the son of Mary It is likely that Joseph was dead and therefore he did not mention him with his mother and brethren Except a Rod. The word except beareth the sense of neither in this place and it is clear from this That Matthew saith neither a Rod. It is not lawful for thee to take the wife of thy brother Because she had by fraud caused him to be put to death and had it not been for this it had not been unlawful for him to take her to Wife according to the Law of Moses CHAP. X. TImaeus the son of Timaeus In two Greek copies it is a blind man the son of a blind man And to say Son of David In two Greek copies we find it Son of the Son of David have mercy upon me CHAP. XIII AND not the Son but the Father Matthew hath not the woâ—ds and not the Son And our Lord said this wâ—th reservatâ—on and not that he was ignorant of the thing for he who knew the Father who was concealed and â—ncomprehensible saying No man knows the Father but â—he Son Hâ—w could he but know the time of the end of the World He said thus for this reason to wit That if he had said I know and will not tell they had been offended and it he had said he knew and had declared it unto them others would have known it frâ—m them and have communicated it to all other generations and so by reason of the remoteness of time they would have grown negligent and careless Hence it is known That it is more advantagious to the sons of men to be ignorant of a matter of this kind than to have knowledge thereof CHAP. XIV AND he took the Chalice and gave thanks and blessed and gave unto them In the Greek it is not said That he blessed any moâ—e than the body onely And a certain young man followed him and was naked onely covered with a linen cloth That this was a stranger is known from hence that his Disciples were modest and ashamed to accompany him with a linen cloth only Wine mixed with myrrhe That he might be the more intoxicated and not be sensible of the agony of death And Mary the mother of James the less That is to say the brother of our Lord and that he might be distinguished from James the brother of Zebedee he calls him the less and this Mary was not the mother of our Lord but the wife of Joseph to wit the mother of his children And of Jose and Shalom These also were the natural sons of Joseph and were called the brethren of our Lord in name only and not by consociation of blood CHAP. XVI AFter this he was seen of two of them Luke the Evangelist speaks clearly of one of them that he was Cleophas but as concerning the other there are different opinions Some say it was the wife of Cleophas Others say That it was Luke himself and that he might not seek glory he did not mention his name And confirmed their words with the signs which they wrought St. Severus saith in the Seventy seventh discourse of his Epithronion That in approved Greek copies the Gospel of Mark ends with these words For they were afraid LUKE CHAP. I. FOrasmuch as many That is to say The Sect of Simon the Sorcerer and those of the Circumcision for it is said That there were Eighty four Gospels according to the number of Apostles and Disciples and after the Apostles departed this life their Disciples chose two of those of the Apostles to wit those of Matthew and John and two of those of the Disciples to wit Mark and Luke and that they destroyed the rest According to what they have delivered That is to say The Apostles To us That is to say To me and to Mark. Of the Word That is to say of Preaching to wit Evangelical denuntiation and the doctrine of our Lord in the World and that this voyce the Word is applicable to those Three senses is apparent from the words of Gregorius Theologus Theophilus This man was a Believer and one of the Rulers of Alexandria Nor Seicera strong drink That is to say a certain kind of drink which was made of Honey and of Dates c. From the Birth of Jesus to his Baptism were Thirty years and from his Baptism to his Ascension were Two years and Six months He shall be great That is to say His greatness shall be revealed to Angels and to Men. And the power of him on high shall come upon thee All the
Greek Doctors agree That with this saying the Divinity was united with the Soul and Body and amongst the Syrian Fathers Absanius of Mabog saith That with this saying the Word was united with the Flesh as John saith The Word was made flesh and dwelt in us and after Forty dayes when the body was formed it received the rational soul By the name of his father Zacharia Every first-born son they called by the name of his Father according to the custom which they held And they made signs unto his father This sheweth That his speech failed also with his hearing And he was in the Wilderness When he was Two years and an half old his Mother fled with him from Herod for he was born Six months before our Lord and when our Lord was Two years old the Wise men came and Herod slew the Children and because Zacharia had caused his son to flie away he sent to put him to death between the Altar and the Temple whereunto he fled and betook himself viz. to the horns of the Altar CHAP. II. THat all the people of his Empire should be taxed The Greek That all the inhabitated World should be taxed Here the Syriack sense is more to be approved than the Greek because Caesars power did not extend its self to all Nations of the World And good tydings unto men You may take notice that the word Amen is hereunto added in some Syriack Copies but not in the Greek And when eight dayes were accomplished The Armenians partly adhering to the fancy of Julianus say That he was not in Truth circumcised but that they onely drew a line over his skin And when the dayes of their purification were accomplisht She who bore a son was purified in Forty days but she who bore a daughter in Eighty dayes His name was Simeon He was the Father of Jesus the son of Asira and he was one of the Seventy and two Interpreters who Translated the Hebrew Bible into the Greek in the dayes of Ptolomy and because he doubted concerning this passage viz. a Virgin shall conceive and bring forth spoken by Esay the Prophet he was bound Two hundred and eighty years to the Oblation until he saw him who was born of a Virgin Behold he is appointed for the fall That is to say of the Scribes and Pharisees And for the rising of many in Israel That is to say of sinners who shall be justified by him And for a sign of contention That is to say There shall be divers Opinions concerning him Of the Tribe of Aser she also was aged In the Greek the words she also are not written for she was not so old as Simeon CHAP. III. VVIth your allowance That is whatsoever was given by the King for their maintenance I baptize you with water That is to say I wash you from sins The son of Heli. Matthew the Evangelist calls Joseph the son of James and not the son of Heli and Aphrichianus the Genealogist saith That Heli was the son of Matthath and that James was the son of Mathan Brethren by the Mother whose name was Estha and they were searchers of Secrets and when Heli dyed without sons James his Brother took his Wife according to the Law for constitution of sons and of her begate Joseph Hence it is that Joseph was the natural son of James as Matthew said and the legal son of Heli as Luke said The son of Matthath the son of Levi the son of Melchi Aprichianus saith That according to the Tradition they received from the Hebrew Genealogists Heli Matthath and Levi were Brethren the sons of Melchi and not as Luke said Heli the son of Matthath and Matthath the son of Levi. The son of Zerubabel Matthew saith That Zerubabel begate Abiud and Luke saith That Zerubabel begate Resa and St. Severus saith That Zerubabel had two sons Abiud and Resa and Matthew computed Abiud and Luke reckoned upon Resa and George of the Gentiles saith That they had not one Father but two who were called by the same name Zerubabel and others say That Abiud was Resa to wit that one person was called by two names The son of Shelathiel the son of Neri Matthew saith That Jechonia begate Shelathiel and Luke saith That Neri begate Shelathiel and St. Severus saith That Melchi the Father of Neri took a Wife whose name was Nahashta and of her begate Neri and when Melchi dyed Jehoiakim the King who was Eliakim took Nahashta his Wife for her beauty and of her begate Jochania and Neri and Jochania were Brethren by the Mother and Neri took a Wife and dyed without sons and Jochania his Brother took his Wife and of her begate Shelathiel Hence it was that this Shelathiel was the natural son of Jochania as Matthew said and the legal son of Neri as Luke said and George of the Gentiles doth not agree to this but saith That Shelathiel the son of Jochania was one and Shelathiel the son of Neri was another The son of Joram This Joram was not the son of Jehoshaphet as Matthew saith but the son of Mathitha The son of Nathan the son of David Matthew saith That David begate Solomon and Luke saith That David begate Nathan and this difference proceeds from this That Matthew was willing to write onely the natural Genealogy which was deduced from Solomon the son of David and Luke by reason of a contest amongst the Jewes was forced to write the natural and legal Genealogy which was deduced from Nathan the son of David for which reason many names in Luke differ from those in Matthew The son of Jesse the son of Obed the son of Boaz. Julianus King of the Gentiles objects and saith If Luke wrote the legal Generations wherefore doth he mention Obed to be the son of Boaz according to the rule of nature and not the son of Malion according to the legal deduction as it is written in the book of Ruth The Doctors answer thus That there was a controversie amongst the Jewes concerning Joseph whether he proceeded from David or no and therefore blessed Luke proves That not only naturally as Matthew writes but legally also the Genealogy of Joseph mounts up to David and Luke ascending from David to Abraham computes the natural Fathers as Matthew did The son of Abraham the son of Terah From hence Luke begins to carry on the Genealogy where Matthew left off and to raise it to Adam because he did not as St. Matthew write his Gospel to the Hebrews who boasted of Abraham but to all Nations who were deduced from Adam as well as he The son of Adam who was from God Aprichianus sets down Fifty persons from Abraham to Christ and in all the Copies of Luke which are read in the Holy Churches there are Fifty and Six and so from Adam to our Lord Seventy and six and according to the natural Genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew from Abraham to Joseph there were Forty persons and according to the Book