their Nation This name he seems afterwards to have changed for Thaddeus a word of the very same import and signification as some think from a particular dislike of the Name of Judal among the Apostles the bloody and Treasonable practices of Judas Iscariot having rendred that name very odious and detestable to them wherefore to put a difference he often styles himself Judas the Brother of James for his name Lebbeus it seems to have been derived from an Hebrew word signifying a Lyon and therein to have respect to old Jacobs Prophesie That he should be as a Lyon which probably might have a main stroke to fasten this name upon St. Jude From this Patriarchal Prophesie we are told that one of the Schooles of Learned men among the Jews took occasion to denominate themselves Labij as accounting themselves the Schollars and Descendants of this Lyon like Son of Jacob and that St. Jude was of this Society and because of his Eminency among them retained the Title of Labius or as it was corruptly pronounced Lebbeus For his descent and Parentage he was of our Lords Kindred the Son of Joseph and the Brother of James the Less We find not when he was called to the Discipleship not meeting with him till we find him enumerated among the Catalogue of the Apostles nor is any thing particularly recorded of him afterward more than one question that he propounded to our Saviour Who having told them what great things he and his Father would do and what particular manifestations after his Resurrection he would make of himself to his Disciples and followers St. Jude whose thoughts as well as the rest were taken up with the expectation of a Temporal Kingdom of the Messiah not knowing how that could consist with the Publick Solemnity of that Glorious State they looked for asked them what was the reason that he would manifest himself to them and not to the World Our Lord replied That the World were not capable of those Divine Manifestations as being a Stranger and an Enemy to what should fit them for Heaven that they were only good Men Persons of a Divine temper of Mind and Religious Observers of his Lawes and will whom God would honour with these familiar Converses Eusebius faith expresly That soon after our Lords Ascension St. Thomas dispatched Thaddeus the Apostle to Abgarius Governour of Idessa where he healed diseases wrought Miracles expounded the Doctrine of Christianity and Converted Abgarus and his People to the Faith for all which pains when he offered him vast gifts and presents he refused them with a noble scorn telling him They had little reason to receive from others what they had relinquished themselves Here he is said to have died peaceably and to have been most Honourably Buried But by the general consent of the Latin Church He is said to have Travelled to Persia where after great success in his Apostolical Ministry for many years he was at last for his free and open reproving the superstitious rites and usages of the Magi cruelly put to death That he was one of the Marryed Apostles appears sufficiently from his Grand-Sons mentioned by Fusebius of whom one gives this account Domitian the Emperour whose heinous Wickedness had awakened in him the quickest Iealousies and made him suspect every one that looked like a corrival in the Empire had heard that there were some of the Line of David and Christs Kindred that did yet remain Two Grand-Children of St. Jude the Brother of Our Lord were brought before him having confessed that they were of the Family and race of David he asked them what Possessions and Estates they had They told him that they had but a very few Acres of Land out of the Improvement thereof they both payed him Tribute and maintained themselves with their own hard Labour as by the hardness and brawniness of their hands which then they shewed him did appear He then enquired of them concerning Christ and concerning the State of his Kingdom what kind of Empire it was and when and where it would commence To which they reply'd That his Kingdom was not of this World nor of the Seiginories and Dominions of it but Heavenly and Angelical and would finally take place at the end of the World when coming with great Glory he would Judg the quick and the dead and reward every one according to their deeds At length looking upon the meanness and simplicity of the men as below his Iealousies and Fears He dismissed them without using any severities against them who being now looked on not only as Kinsmen but as Martyrs of Our Lord were honoured by all and preferred to great places of Authority amongst the Christians and lived till the time of Trajan St. Jude left only one Epistle of Catholick and Vniversal Concernment inscribed at large to all Christians It was some time before it met with a general reception in the Church or was taken notice of The Author indeed stiles not himself an Apostle no more doth St. James St. John nor sometimes St. Paul himself and why should he fair the worse for calling himself The Servant of Jesus Christ when he might have added not only an Apostle but Brother of our Lord Being satisfied in the Canonicalness of this Epistle none but St. Jude could be the Author of it for who but he could be the Brother of St. James a Character by which he is described in the Evangelical story more than once A Modern Writer indeed will needs have it Written by a yunger Jude the Fifteenth Bishop of Jerusalem in the reign of Adrian And finding that that passage the Brother of James stood full in his way He concludes but without any reason that it was added by some Transcriber But this is too bold dealing with sacred things no wise to be allowed The design of the Epistle is to preserve the Christians from being infected by the Doctrine of the Gnosticks the Loose and Debauched Principles vented by Simon Magus and his followers whose wretched Doctrines and Practices he briefly and elegantly represents perswading Christians heartily to avoid these pernicious Seducers as pests and Firebeands not to communicate with them in their sins lest they perished with them in that terrible vengeance that was ready to overtake them The Life of St. Matthias S MATHIAS PArticular Remarks concerning St. Matthias are not to be expected from the History of the Gospel he not being an Apostle of the first election He was one of our Lords Disciples and probably one of the Seventy that had attended upon him the whole time of his Publick Ministry and after his Death was Elected unto the Apostleship upon this occasion Judas Iscariot who had been one of the Twelve immediately called by Christ to be one of his intimate Disciples equally impowered and commissioned with the rest to Preach and Work Miracles and yet all this while was a Man of Vile and Corrupt designes branded with no meaner Character than Thief and
where for many years he Preached and Propagated Christianity at last he came to Patrae a City of Achaia where he gave his last and great Testimony to it by laying down his Life for it the manner of his Martytâ—â—m one describeth thus Aaegaas Proconsus of Achaia coming to Patrae and observing many of the people imbrace Christianity he endeavoured by all means to reclaim them whereupon the Apostle went to him and expostulated with him about the matter but the Proconsul derided him as the Propagator of that Religion whose Author the Iews had infamously put to death upon the Cross The Apostle from this took occasion to discourse more fully of Christ but the other told him plainly that he might perswade them so that would believe him for his part if he would not do Sacrifice to the Gods he would make him suffer upon the same Cross which He so much extolled Afterwards he was committed to Prison again The next day he was again brought before the Proconsul where they began to intreat one another The Proconsul the Apostle that he might not foolishly forgo the pleasures of this Life The Apostle the Proconsul that he might not wickedly throw away his Soul This so inraged the Proconsul that he told the Apostle he must either forsake that new Religion or resolve to be tortured severely He replyed that he feared not his torture he might do his worst and that if he had one torture greater than another he might heap that upon him The Proconsul first commanded him to be Scourged by seven Liâ—ors successively whipping his naked Body But seeing his great patience commanded him to be Crucified but not to be fastened to the Cross with Nails but Cords that so his death might be more lingering and tedious Being come within sight of the Cross he heartily saluted it saying That he long desired and expected that happy hour wherein he might shew an honourable Testimony to his Glorious and Renowned Master After having prayed and exhorted the people to constancy in that Faith which he delivered to them he was fastned to the Cross whereon he hung two days Teaching and Instructing the people all the time and Exhorting them to suffer chearfully for Christ and his Truth when-ever they should be called to it And when great importunities in the mean time were used by some to the Proconsul in his behalf he earnestly begged of our Lord at this time he might Seal the Truth with his Blood God heard his fervent prayer and he immediatly expired on the last of November though in what year no certain account can be recovered The Life of St. JAMES the Great S JACOB MAIOR JAmes surnamed the Great either because of his Age or for some peculiar honours which our Lord conferred upon him was a Galilean born the Son of Zebede a Fisherman his Mothers name was Mary surnamed Salome his Education was in the Trade of Fishing which Trade his Father also followed in the exercise of which our Saviour found him when he passed by the Sea of Galilee where he called them to be his Disciples which Call they readily obeyed leaving their aged Father with the Servants to manage the Trade It was not long after his first calling till he was called from the station of an ordinary Disciple to the Apostolical Office and not only so but honoured with some peculiar Acts of Favour beyond most of the Apostles being one of the three whom our Lord usually made choice of to admit to the more intimate Transactions of his Life Thus with Peter and his brother John he was taken to the Miraculous raising of Jairus his daughter admitted to Christs glorious Transfiguration upon the Mount taken along with him into the Garden to be a spectator of his bitter and terrible Agonies Nor was it the least instance of that particular honour which our Lord conferred upon these Apostles that at his calling of them he gave them a new Name and Title The Lord setting forward in His Iourney to Jerusalem in order to his Crucifixion and the better to prepare the minds of his Apostles for his departure from them he told them he was to suffer and yet after all he should rise again but they whose minds were big yet with the expectation of a Temporal Power and Monarchy understood not well the meaning of his discourse However James and his Brother supposing the Resurrection which he spoke of would be the time when his Power and Greatness would commence Prompted their Mother to put up a Petition for them she after leave modestly asked for her Address beg'd of him That when he took possession of his Kingdom her two Sons might have the Principal places of Honour and Dignity next his own Person Our Lord directing his discourse to the two Apostles told them they quite mistook the nature of his Kingdom which did not consist in External Grandeur but in Inward Life and Power that they would do well to consider whether they were able to undergo what he was to undergo They probably not understanding the force of his reasoning answered They were able to do all this but He not taking advantage of their rash and inconsiderable Reply told them That as for suffering they would indeed undergo it as well as he but for any peculiaâ—â—onour or dignity he would not by any absolute and peremptory favour of his own dispose of it any otherwise then according to those Rules and Instructions which he received from his Father The rest of the Apostles were offended with this Ambitious request but our Lord to Calm their passion discoursed to them at large of the nature of the Evangelick State and its difference from the Kingdoms of the World with which discourse the storm blew over and their exorbitant passions began on all hands to be allayed and pacified What became of St. James after our Saviours Ascension we have no certain account either from the Sacred or Ecclesiastick Stories some affirm that after the Martyrdome of Stephen when the Christians were dispersed he came to the Western parts of the world even to Britain and Ireland and having planted Christianity amongst them went back again to Jerusalem but this seems improbable upon several accounts and therefore its safest to confine his Ministry to Judea and the parts there abouts and to seek for him at Jerusalem where we are sure to find him Herod-Agrippa Son of Aristobolus being great in favour where the Emperour Claudius was setled and confirmed by him in all that his Grand-Father Herod the great enjoyed and seeing that this most probable way to gain the affection of the Iews was to fall heavy upon the Christians he resolves accordingly to do it Finding St. James Vigorous in contending for the Truth Him he commands to be apprehended and cast in prison and sentence of death to be passed upon him as he was Led forth to the place of Martyrdome The Soldier that had guarded him to the Tribunal having been convinced by
Petition of Peters there were afterward Three Churches Built upon the top of this Mountain which in after times were had in great Veneration which possibly might give some foundation to that report which one makes That in his Time there were shewed the Ruines of these Three Tabernacles which were Built according to St. Peter's desire After that our Lord had entered Jerusalem in Triumph he soon retired to Bethany whence he dispatched Peter and John to make Preparation for the Pasfeover accordingly they found the Person whom he had described to them whom they followed home to his House Whether this was the House of John the Evangelist seituate near Mount Sion or of Simon the Leper or of Nicodemus or of Joseph of Arimathea is not certain These Three also accompanied him to the Garden where he laboured under his Agony to this Garden Eusebius tells us That Christians even in his time were wont to come Solemnly to offer up their Prayers where also another tells us there was a fair and stately Church Built to the Honour of the Virgin Mary The Lord being Ascended into Heaven and having fulfilled his Promise of sending the Holy Ghost the Apostles and Disciples continued a while at Jerusalem being tossed only with gentle Storms but now a more violent Tempest overtook them upon the occasion of Stephen's Death which dispersed the Disciples one of which to wit Phillip the Deacon went to Samaria where he Preached the Gospel with great success confirming the same with Miracles In this place was one Simon who by Magick and Diabolical Sorceries sought to advance himself into a great Fame and Reputation with the People insomuch that they generally beheld him as the Great Power of God for so the Antients tell us he used to Stile himself giving out himself to be the first and Chiefest Deity that is That he was that which in every Nation is accounted the Supream Deity The Apostles who were yet at Jerusalem hearing of Phillip's success sent Peter and John to his assistance who when they came thither laid their Hands upon these new Converts whereupon they presently received the Holy Ghost which when Simon saw he offered them Money if they would conferr this Power upon him Peter perceiving his vile intentions scornfully rejected his impious offer telling him That it concerned him to Repent of so great and heinous a Wickedness Not long after Peter wrought a miraculous Cure upon one Aeneas who had been a Cripple for a long time and another soon after at Joppa upon one Tabitha where he tarried till Cornelius called him It was now about the end of Caligula's Reign when Peter after his Visitation being returned to Jerusalem not long after Herod-Agrippa Grand-Child to Herod the Great having attained the Kingdom the better to ingratiate himself with the People had put St. James to Death and finding that this gratified the vulgar resolved to send Peter the same way after him in order whereunto he is Apprehended and cast in Prison and set strong Watches to guard him but the Lord by his Angel carried him out of the Prison the Night before the intended Execution so that he escaped But before this he is said to have gone down to Antioch where he Planted the Christian-Faith and there Founded a Church and to have been the first Bishop of that See This Eusebius and others expresly declare What became of Peter after his Deliverance out of Prison is not certainly known probably he might have Preached in some parts a little farther distant from Judea as we are told he did at Bizantium and in the Countries thereabout After this he resolved upon a Iourney to Rome where most agree he arrived about the Second Year of the Emperor Claudius A Learned Author tells us That coming to Rome he brought Prosperity along with him to the City for besides several other extraordinary advantages which at that time happened to it this was not the least observable That Camillus Scrivonianus Governour of Dalmatia Soliciting the Army to Rebel against the Emperour the Eagles their Military Standard remained so fast in the Ground that no power nor force was able to pluck them up with which unusual accident thâ— minds of the Souldiers were so amazed and startled that turning their Swords against the Author of the Sedition continued firm and loyal in their Obedience whereby a dangerous Rebellion was prevented likely enough otherwise to have broken out It is not to be doubted but that at his arrival he disposed himself among the Jews his Countrymen who ever since the time of Augustus dwelt in the Region beyond Tyber but when afterward he began to Preach the Gospel to the Gentiles he was forced to change his Lodging and was taken in by one Pudens a Senator lately Converted to the Faith here he closely plyed his Main-Office and Imployment to Establish Christianity in that place Here we are told he met with Philo the Iew who was lately come upon his Second Embassy to Rome in the behalf of his Country-Men at Alexandria and to have contracted an intimate Friendship and Acquaintance with him and now it was that Peter being mindful of the Churches which he had lately Founded in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Bythinia and Asia the less Wrote his First Epistle to them Next to the Planting Religion at Rome he took care to Propagate it in the Western parts and to that end he sent abroad Disciples into several Provinces It happened that after St. Peter had been several Years at Rome Claudius the Emperour taking advantage of some Seditions and Tumults raised by the Jews by a Publick Edict Banished them out of Rome in the Number of whom it is said St. Peter departed thence and returned back to Jerusalem and was present at the Great Apostolical Synod where the Controversie about Mosaical-Rites was Debated and Decided what became of him after this we cannot certainly determine We are told by some that he came to the Western parts yea that he was particularly in Brittain where he Converted many to the Faith but where ever he was it is certain that toward the latter end of Nero's Reign he returned to Rome where he found the Peoples minds strangely bewitched and hardned against the imbracing the Christian Religion by the Subtilties and Magick-arts of Simon Magus whom he had formerly Baffled at Samaria This Simon was Born at Gitton a Village of Samaria Bred up in Arts of Sorcery and Divination and by the help of the Diabolical Powers performed many strange Feats and wonders of activity insomuch that the People generally looked upon him as some Deity come down from Heaven but being discovered by St. Peter at Samaria he left the East and fled to Rome where by Witch-craft and Sorceries he insinuated himself into the Favour of the People and at last became very acceptable to the Emperours themselves insomuch that no Honour nor veneration was too great for him especially Nero who was the Patron of Magitians and all