conclude a general But still more says Sebagius may they not know all our Concerns by Revelation from God Yes answers Theosebius if he please to reveal them but he hath not so pleased he limits his power by his Will and can do what he will not for it cannot be proved that God ever hath or will make known all things in Heaven and Earth to Men N. B. departed and to Angels ordinarily at all times in all places without Priviledge or Exemption Moreover 'T is absurd to suppose that God will communicate Omniscience to Saints or Angels for he gives according to the Capacities of Receivers and they are not able to receive this Attribute It is part of God's Essence and incommunicable and therefore he doth not give it to them But once more says Sebagius may not that which cannot be known in a natural and ordinary way nor by Revelation from Angels nor from God be made known in God himself when the Souls of Saints departed have a full sight of his Face in Glory Do they not in seeing him see all things Have they not in that Glass the Idea of every thing set forth to their view if so then they may know and consequently we may pray to them My Answer to this Question said Theosebius must be of larger compass than my former and therefore I beg of you a like Patience and if it may be a double Attention As to your Allusion of a Glass you must understand that to see therein is our Condition here and not theirs who are in God's more immediate Presence Moreover even in this Glass all things have not been seen for the deep Mysteries of the Gospel was in that Glass and yet the Angels who have always seen God have not seen them nor could they but by Revelation from Christ's Church And though God knows the day of Iudgment yet the Saints and Angels cannot spy it with their most stedfast looking in him Again they who appoint the Saints this Glass as a means whereby they may know all our Requests and Necessities do wickedly bind God to a Conjunction of Causes as a natural Agent and necessitate N. B. him to discover those matters to them who are in his presence whereas he is a most voluntary Agent and may or may not impart the Knowledge hereof and till they can shew what God doth hide and what and how much he doth make known they cannot reasonably perswade us that Saints in Heaven have such a Knowledge as may assure us of Success in the Prayers we make to them But further If there could be such a Glass yet it would be to no purpose unless the Saints who look in it were as large as that is But thus they are not for they can't know all God's Secrets and they can't know the Thoughts and Prayers of Men and so 't is in vain to pray to them Besides We cannot guess what or how much each Saint knows and so know not to whom to commend our Conditions We may mistake and pray to that Saint N. B. who hath no Commission to help us by his Intercession He may not be the Advocate appointed to plead our cause and do our business and appear in God's Court in our names We know not what share of Knowledge any Saint has and so may give him more Credit than is his due Now all this Uncertainty may close up our Lips and discourage us from Praying to Saints This Device of a Glass is too too brittle to lay any stress upon it and therefore we can frame no Argument from it that the Saints in Heaven may know our Conditions and thereupon be perswaded by our Prayers to intercede with God for us Now Sebagius having spent all his Queries and being too weak to confute what had been urg'd in this present case Theosebius proceeds to his concluding Topick from primitive Authority and thence argues for his Negative Maxim about Angels and Saints in Divine Worship For saith he St. Austin in his 4th Book concerning Care for the Dead discourseth Cap. 13. largely on the 63d Chapter of Isaiah v. 16. where 't is said that Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel doth not know us and and in the Conclusion of that Discourse he says That if famous Patriarclis as Abraham and Iacob did not understand how the N. B. World went with their Posterity which came from their Loins How can it be that Men deceased should at all take any notice of the state or meddle with the assisting Men alive on Earth And on the Promise made to King Iosiah that he should be gathered to his Fathers in Peace and not see the Destruction of Ierusalem nor the Plagues which were to come on that People St. Austin says that the Promise had been to no effect if after Death Men may seel those Calamities which happen in their Life and he thus resolves the case namely that ordinarily the Saints departed meddle not with us and have no Knowledge of our Affairs What though they may extraordinarily at some times and by special Dispensation take notice of some things And what though they may be Assistants in some cases and to some particular Persons yet all this will not prove it reasonable to pray to them To this purpose Iamblicus an Heathen says That those Men make themselves ridiculous who seek any good but from God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus what was confidently and orthodoxly asserted is plainly and irrefragably prov'd namely That in every comfortless Condition we should pray and pray to God only Enough says Sebagius and thereupon with a chearful Countenance and courteous Bow to the Lecturer he intimated his Satisfaction and according to his Promise in the starting of this dispute that was followed with his sincere Conversion from his former Errors in this and some other points of Religion And now this crooked and knotty part of the Lecture being thus smoothed and made strait Theosebius would not let it lie so but like a skilful Artificer made use of it to the Edification of his Hearers Wherefore he first put them in mind of the Shame and Folly which they procure who apply themselves to any other Master of Requests in the King of Heavens Court than only his only begotten Son the Prince of Peace For proof of which he saith That the Angels and Saints are out of the reach of our lowdest Crys and can no more hear our Complaints than their Statues or Pictures can and our Confidence of supply for our Wants by hearing an Answer from them to our Petitions and neglecting Divine Assistance is as great a Folly as Ammonius's Ass's was who though he eagerly crav'd Food yet neglected it to hear Poetical Fables So that our Prayers to them are but the Spider-web Castles of our superstitious Conceits and as equally foolish and comfortless as they are vain and ridiculous For when trusted to
of the great advantage of due and well order'd Meditation for hereupon for some time past he had perceiv'd that he was not so wise and knowing as he had appear'd to be in his own Conceit but could manifest the Folly and Fallacy of that Wisdom and Knowledge of Truth upon which he formerly had valued himself and the inevitable Misery which did follow it Hereupon his Motion was approved and whereas it was noted that formerly when he spake it was but Talk and at adventure what came next Now he did He did then effutire only now he did apposite loqui discourse to some purpose as will appear in this Specimen which he gave to the Assembly which upon silence made he thus began CHAP. V. Phanias's Discourse upon the Wise Fool or Mistaken Wisdom Phanias one who would appear what he was not à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Appareo IT is a Catholick Desire because planted in all Mankind to be or at least to be esteem'd Wise and truly Knowing and the very Name of Folly is as equally despis'd and abhorr'd as the Practice of it through Misapprehension is followed and applauded and this is the reason why all People put themselves into a Way i.e. upon such Determinations and Actions or into such a course of Life and Conversation which they suppose will answer this their aim and design and frequently they think they have hit this mark which they have aim'd at Yet upon strict Examination and punctual Measuring they will be found to be much besides it Now this their false Conceit is caused by the crooked Rule of their Wills for the Bent and Bias of them giving Authority to foul Errors and evil Actions they perswade them that Evil is Good or very near it and when they are thus perswaded the Event will prove not only a matter to be ridicul'd by all true wise and learned Men but fatal in all respects imaginable and though for the present there is no such apprehension of it because Error is not soon perceived and noted in the first setting out of it 't is but dwarfish and slender yet when by its gradual progress it is fully made known and by going on it grows large and tall then it will appear to be destructive in the superlative degree as shall be demonstrated as we proceed and in its proper time Now what I shall declare upon this Subject which I call the mistaken Wise Man or the Wise Fool shall be delivered in these two following Conclusions namely First That Men are prone to conceive I. falsly of things and thereupon to prejudice Faith and Good Manners Secondly That such false Conceits will II. 〈◊〉 prove fatal to them and this shall be made evident by Reason and in various and manifold Experiments and Circumstances First Men are prone to think falsly of things c. The several extravagant Opinions which the Philosophers had of God may in some sort satisfie us that it is so for upon fixing our thoughts on them we shall find that the true Nature of God was as far from their minds as the Emperial Heaven was from their Schools and that they lived at the same distance from Truth as Truth did from falsehood Listen at Plato's Porch and you may hear him call God some curious thing which was only busied in empty Ideas and did Magnificently contemn humane Matters Read Aristotle and he will tell you of a God tied to the Sphers as Ixion was to the Wheels Consult Epicurus and in him you will find idle Deities overflowing with Delights and Lazily living in Heaven as in a Paradise at which word Musophil could not forbear to add Where Showers don't fall nor Winds unruly blow Where neither blasting Frost nor hoary Snow Rifle the Place but Heaven is ever Bright Spreading its glorious Smiles with chearful Light These were strange Sentiments of God and yet the Wise Men of the World embraced them these ways in descrying the Essence of God did seem strait and true in their Eyes Moreover I shall make it evident that their false Conceits or their Wise Folly appeared not only in the foremention'd great Point concerning God but in Matters of manners and that Egregiously -For The Grecians approv'd of publick Robberies Lact. de Fal. Sapient And in some parts those People sacrificed their Children And in other parts the wounded Gladiators were brought forth as Spectacles of Mirth and Iollity Aristotle and Cicero account Revenge amongst their Virtues and the first of these tho' the Philosopher affirm'd That War against Barbarians which were all People but the Grecians was Natural The Lacedemonians whose Laws were approv'd of and prais'd by Appollo's Oracle and the Romans have declar'd That all Praise and Virtue are got in Wars tho' apparently unjust But the plainest Demonstration was that their very God's were highly vicious and the People were not asham'd to worship them whom they were asham'd to imitate and sometimes they ador'd him with their hands whom they blush'd to Priap see with their eyes These Matters did seem truly Religious and were Effects of the best Wisdom of the Heathens and they who were so bold as to dare to be more vicious than others seem'd to them rightly qualified to be their Gods and to whom they erected Altars and paid their Devotions If we pass from Heathens to Christians and consider the first Heresies that were born in their Church we shall be clearly convinced of the truth of this Assertion for things false and absur'd did seem true and righteous to them If we will gather from Church History the several wild and monstrous Opinions of Simon Magus Valentinus Cerdo Artemas Novatus and Arius those Six Heretical Patriarchs from whom all Heresies sprang or those Garrisons from whence Hereticks marcht forth as so many Troops from the Trojan Horse and surpriz'd the Christian World we shall have cause enough to be assured that the Wisdom of men is foolish and vain in things of the greatest and most useful Concern I need not Examine tho' some affirm it whether the cause thereof proceeded from the twisting together the Principles of Philosophy and Christianity 'T is most certain that they did hereby notorioufly prejudice the Christian Faith for they made the Professors hereof contemptible and furnished its Adversaries with Ammunition and Provision that is gave them Arguments to plead against it I could give more Instances hereof amongst our selves in the empty and foolish Wisdom which swarms in our Assemblies for some of them are crowded with Persons of slight of hand that is such which would make others believe that they have not what they have or have that which they have not and were their Wisdom in Religion as sound as it seems Plausible it would be a pleasant passage to Heaven or were this their Garment as strong and warm as 't is slight and gay it would apparel the Soul well but as it is it only cloaths it with
live either that he may be reformed or that the good Person may be exercised by him And 't is worth a Remark that this is one Difference betwixt the Sons of Nobles and Inferiour Persons that the first have their Governors who care for them and reprove and correct them when there is need of it the others have none but they do what they list Thus those who are the adopted Sons of God 〈◊〉 they are dutiful and obedient and are Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven they have a Governor that is an Enemy who exerciseth corrects and reforms them Hereupon Christ saith Love your Enemies St. Mat. 44. and do good to them that hate you He saith not in this place Do good to them who do evil to you but to them who hate you And this saying shews that he who persecutes us does not do us evil but good because by him we are exercised to Vertue When Rebecca had two Sons in her womb Esau and Iacob they strove between themselves Hereupon God said The Elder shall serve the Younger i. e. Esau Iacob Hence S. Augustin asks How did Esau serve Iacob since he persecuted him to Death and through the fear of him he fied his Countrey To which he answered That the Elder was to serve the Younger not by Obedience but Vexation as the Fire serves the Gold Wherefore tho' the Sinner persecutes the Righteous by Scoffs and Injuries and threats of Death yet he doth not hurt but profit him he doth him good and not evil and therefore is not his Enemy He is only his true Enemy who seeks the Life of his Soul and always studies to deprive him of his eternal Inheritance and this the Devil doth and therefore is his true and only true Enemy This wrought such Conviction upon one of the Assembly who sate near the present Speaker named Eureketas that he openly said Certainly he must have no Eye in his Soul that is no understanding who cannot perceive much Splendour and he must be a bad Accomptant who cannot reckon up many Benefits which are plac'd in this Office of Love Enemy as you have describ'd it to us But if you can yet hold out I would beg the Favour of you to teach me how to make those Engines by which I may frame it in my self for till now I never esteemed it possible to be wrought in any Body I shall replied Eumenes only teach you to make one Engine and that will do it as well as a Thousand and that is this I would have you not only to know what the Grace of Charity is as it hath been lately described to you but to live in the right use and exercise of it for as the heat of the Sun consumes the Clouds so the heat of Charity melts away Injuries to nothing and so translates an Enemy into a Friend But on the contrary as the cold of the Night nourisheth the Clouds so the Heart grown cold with Malice and Revenge retains and encreaseth Reproaches and hatcheth Enmity out of a very little Injury It is worth more than our ordinary Notice what we read in Holy Writ of a little Cloud which ascended from the Sea and then the Heavens were much darkned 2 King 18. and many Clouds and much Wind did arise and there followed a great Storm For it may be thus applied It is frequent in our present Case That first a little Cloud ariseth from the Sea that is some small Injury from a salt bitter heart some Scurvy word is utter'd and then other Clouds of Injuries do follow Hereupon the Mind is much darkned and much Thunder and Rain that is many railing and angry Expressions fall but if the heat of the Sun of Charity extenuates the little Cloud of Reproaches and disperseth it then a Tempest of revengeful Evil will not arise Upon Tryal you will find that the Affection of Love is an hot Sun and he that takes it away deprives the World of that Planet but if it remain then as the Sun gives light to the Stars so that will give Loveliness to Angels and Men And as Gold gilds Wood and Iron and adorns them so will that Affection gild the Soul and cloath it with the Ornament of God I am hugely satisfied said the forementioned Eureketas that an Engine made as you have directed is proper to frame this sort of Affection and when it is fram'd I must own it to be an excellent Peice and such as will make the Soul very gay and lovely But there is one part of it generally disliked and I have seen some scornfully Smile at it and say that it spoils the whole and indeed most Persons whom I have convers'd with Shoot some Bolt against it I had thought said Eumenes to have given you a Taste a full Draught would prove nauseous of the Sentiments which some entertain against this Duty of Loving our Enemies But you speak but of one part which finds an ill Character with some Persons and therefore I pray mention it that you may have your desired Resolution therein It is then with Submission said he That part of the Duty which concerns the forgiving of Injuries That is replied Eumenes a curious Slip of that delicate Flower the Love of an Enemy and it is Pity it should be blown upon and ruffled with the Wind of a detracting Tongue However proceed and tell us What is the ill Character which you have heard of it It is this said Eureketas Namely that to forgive Injuries is called by some a low pittiful sneaking Temper and us'd only by Persons of narrow scanty Souls and Fortunes and void of all Bravery and Courage I have heard the same said Eumenes but this is an Errour and such which rather deserves Pity if not Scorn than a serious Thought and an Argument against it would be too too great an Honour for it For I pray weigh the Matter and N. B. tell me Doth God himself account it high and noble to Forgive and shall any Person account it vile and base Is it honourable in the Lords eye and shall it be despicable in the Servants Surely if there can be any such Conceit it must be the mishapen Child of Ignorance and Pride There are other Persons who instead of forgiving Injuries study to excuse themselves from the Duty by saying that if they do so All People will slight them and they shall bear no Figure or a very little one amongst their Neighbours Now herein I shall suppose as they do and also that they may be scorched with the Iuniper Coals or the scotts and Ieers of rude Tongues but then I must request them to tell me whether the Commendations of God and Angels will not prove a Remedy sufficient to cure the smart which they suffer hereupon It is well known that unworthy Persons condemn them and those of the best Qualifications think them Praise-worthy Fools deride and Wise men admire them and surely this Carriage may be made use