Deist know this when so many Monuments of Antiquity relating to the first Centuries are lost This Method I remember to be used by Bishop Pearson in the Defence of Ignatius's Epistles It is certain that in the first and second Ages there were some that denied the Book of the Revelations to be Canonical Scripture and that the Author thereof was Cerinthus the Heretick and not St. John and there was no reason that induced them to think so besides this Doctrine of Milleranism Nepos an Egyptian Bishop was a great defender of this Opinion he writ a Book about the Year of our Lord 244. in defence of it he Titles his Book a Reproof of the Allegorists By that Name he called the Antimillenaries so that the Opponents of the Millenaries must have been then considerable their Nickname is sufficient Demonstration thereof 'T is very surprizing to hear our Deist affirm that they who oppose this Opinion never quote any for themselves before Dionysius Alexandrinus Forasmuch as the same Dionysius in Eusebius lib. 7. c. 25. affirms that some who Preceeded him rejected the Book of the Revelations upon that account Besides the Defenders of this Doctrine kept it as secret as they possibly could Non defendere hanc Doctrinam says Lactant. lib. de vit Beat. publice atque asserere solemus We are not wont to defend and assert this Doctrine publickly 'T is no wonder then if the Opponents of this Opinion were not so numerous 'T is also very plain that our Deist is mistaken in the Design and first Contrivance of this Millenary Invention as he calls it Nay Lactantius lib. 7. c. 26. pretends there is a Command from God to keep this Doctrine in silence Now if Lactantius who was himself a Millenary and well acquainted with their Methods hath rightly informed us our Deist's Suggestions must be very weak We read in Eusebius lib. 7. c. 23. how successful Dionysius was in overthrowing Milleranism and that Coracion a principal Man of that Party was so convinced by him as that He promised never to dispute for that Doctrine more never more to teach it nor to make any mention of it If the Books of Dionysius and Nepos two of the greatest and ablest Writers of the respective Parties were now extant we could not fail of having a true Prospect of this Controversie but their Books by the Injury of Times are perished Upon which consideration if we had said nothing else this last Remark had been sufficient to defeat Mr. Blount's Argument drawn from the Silence of the two first Ages The various reading of the much celebrated place in Justin Martyr relating to the Millenaries leaves us in Uncertainties But we are confident after a diligent Examination that Irenaeus no where pretends as our Deist bears us in hand that he did to relate the very Words which Christ used when he delivered this Doctrine Besides that which is a prejudice never to be overcome is the Silence of the Gospel in so important a Matter Our Author is frequent in quoting Councils as well as Fathers for Heterodoxies what reason there should be for his not citing any Councils in this Case no not so much as Gelasius Cyzicenus in reference to the Nicene Council I cannot account for I can only account for my self declare that what general or ancient Prov. Coun. have done in this case whether they have approved it or condemned it I do not know neither am I ashamed so to confess For Scaliger in his Exercit. 345. calls verbum Nescio ingenni candidique animi pignus In the beginning of the Reformation there were some who endeavoured to give Countenance to this Opinion wherefore our Church then passed a severe Censure on such Persons For in a Convocation at London in the Year of our Lord 1552. in the last Article save one the Millenaries are called Hereticks The Article is as followeth They that go about to renew the Fable of the Hereticks called Millenarii be repugnant to Holy Scripture and cast themselves headlong into a Jewish Dotage This Article is to be seen in the Collection of Articles Injunctions c. p. 52. Prefaced by the Learned Bishop Sparrow I say Prefaced because the Author of the Antopology p. 56 informs us that the said Bishop told him That he was not the Collector and that if he had been concerned in the Collection he would have published more Materials The latter part of this Information seems very probable forasmuch as the said excellent Prelat was most accurate in Matters of this nature From what hath been said concerning this Subject we may sufficiently discover Mr. Blount's Vanity when p. 169. he affirms that there was as Universal a Tradition for Milleranism in the Primitive Times as for any Article of our Faith Whereas there is no Article of our Faith but may be tried and proved by that Golden Rule of Vincentius Lyrinensis Quod omnibus quod semper quod ubique the Articles of our Faith have been received by all Orthodox Persons at all Times and in all Places which cannot be said of Milleranism We acknowledge no Articles of Faith but such only as can be proved by Holy Scriptures and to such Articles the Rule of Vincentius is only competent This I conceive to be the Sense of our Convocation in the Year of our Lord 1562. Collect. Artic. p. 92. when they define that all Articles of Faith are grounded on those Canonical Books of Holy Scripture of whose Authority there was never any doubt in the Church I think I may not be importune and unreasonable if I relate the whole Article Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation So that whatsoever is not Read therein nor may be Proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation in the Name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament of whose Authority there never was any doubt in the Church SECT IX Of Augury Of a God Origin of Good and Evil plurality of Worlds Natural Religion Ocellus Lucanus PAg. 167. Augury is a sort of the ancient heathenish Superstition And Pag. 169. We may see that Superstition like Fire endeavours to resolve all things into it self ANSWER Mr. Blount hath given us some Account of the Pagan Superstition of Augury out of which it appears how insufficient Natural Religion is of it self and how necessary Revealed Religion is to shew the vanity of these Abominations To this purpose very remarkable is that of Alexander ab Alexandro in the end of his last Book Dierum genialium Quantum debemus Christo Domino Regi Doctori nostro quem verum Deum veneramur scimus quo praemonstrante explosa monstrosa ferarum gentium doctrina rituque immani ac barbaro veram religionem edocti humanitatem verum Deum colimus evictisque erroribus infandis ineptiis
this Reply Quis nescit Vocabulum omnis passim in Sacris Literis ambiguae esse significationis rarissime absolute accipi plurimis vero locis restringi ad subjectum de quo agitur Vt apud Mosem Gen. 41. Cum famem super Vniversam Orbem invaluisse scribâ—t non nisi de aliqua orbis portione intelligendum esse fatentur Theologi quid abstat igitur quo minus cum Deus dâ—cituâ— Inundasse Vniversam Terram totam Terrâ—m habitatam Omma haebitatae telluris animalia intelligamus Who is so Ignorant as not to know that the Word all is every where in the Holy Scriptures of an ambiguous signification and very seldom put absolutely in most places 't is restained to the Subject Matter As in Gen. 41. When the Famine is said to prevail over the whole Earth Divines understand it of some part of the Earth What should hinder but that the same may be understood in this case of the Flood and the destruction of all Creatures This is most certain from the Holy Scriptures That all Mankind those in the Ark excepted were destroyed by the Flood For the occasion thereof is thus expressed in Genesis And God saw the wickedness of Man was great upon the Earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the Lord said I will destroy Man whom I have created from the face of the Earth And again all Flesh died thot moved upon the Face of the Earth and every Man and every living Substance was destroyed that was upon the Face of the Ground both Man and Cattle and the Creeping things and the Fowl of Heaven and they were destroyed from the Earth and Noah only remained alive and they that were with Him in the Ark. So that Mr. Blount is very vain in Mustering up the Arguments he pretends to be brought to prove that the Flood was only in the Land of the Jews And Vossius seems to be in a great Error in limiting the same to Syria and Mesopotamia For as it seems strange that in so short an Interval as that was from Adam to the Flood according to the ordinary Computation 1656 Years and not much above Two thousand according to the largest the World should then be fully Peopled So it also seems no less strange that in such a space of time Syria and Mesopotamia should only be Peopled Besides it cannot be well imagined that so many Nations should have knowledg thereof if it were not of a much greater extent For Vossius confesseth that almost all Nations had knowledg thereof the Egyptians only excepted Josephus a Costa Witnesseth for the Americans and so doth Laet. Martinus for the Chineses for the knowledge of others Bochart in his Geogr. Sacra and Grotius in his Annotata on the First Book of the Truth of the Christan Religion And now we draw towards a Conclusion I shall not use any other Words then those which are used by the most Learned Dr. Stillingfleet now Lord Bishop of Worcester in his Origines Sacrae p. 539 and 540. I cannot see any urgent necessity from the Scripture to assert that the Flood did spread it self over all the surface of the Earth It is evident that the Flood was Vniversal as to Mankind but from thence follows no necessity at all of asserting the Vniversallity of it as to the Globe of the Earth unless it be sufficiently proved that the whole Earth was Peopled before the Flood which I dispair of ever seeing proved I grant as far as the Flood extended all Creatures were destroyed but I see no reason to extend the destruction of these beyond that compass and space of Earth where Men Inhabited All these are the Assertions of that great Man So that I suppose the vanity of Mr. Blount's Suggestion is apparant by this right the Notion of the Flood Pag. 12. I must ingeniously confess Original Sin was ever a difficult Pill with me to swallow my Reason stopping it in my throat and not having Faith enough to wash it down And p. 15. never did any Church enjoyn Penance or Repentance for Original Sin wherefore it seems preposterous and unreasonable that any Man should be Damned for that which no Man is bound to Repent ANSWER That Mr. Blount hath not Faith to wash down Original Sin which sticks in his Throat is a thing to be lamented this truth being so plainly laid down in Holy Writ that no Man who hath any regard for the Scriptures but will be offended with him for Writing so contemptably of this Doctrine The chief Argument which he brings for his opinion taken from Penance and Repentance is of no force But because I think t is new I will consider it In the Primitive Church Penance was only imposed for Three Crimes viz. Idolatry Homicide and Adultry which is proved at large by Morinus in his fifth Book de Penitentia cap. 3. out of Fathers and Councils and he concludes the Chapter thu Toâ—â—igâ—â—ur tantis Testimonis freti recte nobis videmur Colegere quadringentis prope annis a Christo nato Patres haec sola tria crimina Penitenta Cassigasse Trusting to so many Testimonies we think we may truly conclude that for almost Four Hundred Years after our Saviour no Penance was Imposed but only for these Three Crimes Now if Mr. Blount's Negative Argument with relation to the Practice of the Church be valid how many Men have lived in the World without Actual Sin So that his Argument proves too much a most certain sign of its Weakness As for the Second part of his Argument That no Church ever required Repentance for Original Sin is a mistake and proceeds from not knowing the Churches Practice In the Primitive Church Repentance was required of all adult Persons who desired Baptism which must relate to Original as well as Actual Sin Tertullian in his Book de Baptismo says Ingressuras Baptismum orationibus crebris jejuniis geniculationibus crebris pervigiliis orare aportet confessione omnium retro delectorum Such as intend to be Baptized must prepare themselves by frequent Prayers Fastings frequent Humiliations Watchings with Confession of all their Sins Agreeable to this ancient Practice our Church begins its Office of Baptism with the Confession of Original Sin in these Words Dearly beloved for as much as all Men are conceived and born in Sin and our Church prays for the Pardon of the same in these Words We call upon thee for these Infants that they coming to this Holy Baptism may receive Remission of their Sins by spiritual Regeneration And to the same purpose before Tertullian we have Justin Martyr in his second Apology where he says That those who were to be Baptised jejunare docentur nobis una cum illis orantibus jejunantibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They are required to Fast the Congregation also praying and fasting together with them Now the Church requiring all Catechumens to
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so he goes on instancing in particulars that which is allowed by those to be just is condemned by others as unjust that which by some is accountde good by others is accounted evil The Persians think it lawful to lie with their own Daughters the Greeks detest it The Massagetes have Wives in common c. the Greeks abhor it The Cilicians think Robberies to be lawful 't is otherwise with the Greeks And much more is to be found in the same Laertius to this effect Out of which 't is manifest what a blind guide Nature is in matters of Religion how vain the Religion of the Deist is and what necessity there is of Divine Revelation What our Author adds of the Imitation of God in all His imitable Perfections and especially in His Goodness and believing magnificently of it destroys His Hypothesis and supposes revealed Religion And I appeal to the Reader whether Mr. Blount can think magnificently of the Goodness of God when He and His Deist affirm That a Mediator derogates from the Infinite Mercy of God equally as an Image doth from His Spirituality and Infinity And that not by the by but openly in the Chapter where the Articles of the Religion of the Deist are treated of there it is where this Position is laid down for this is the third Article Not by a Mediator for it is unnecessary and derogates as much from God's Mercy as an Image doth from His Spirituality and Infinity The Repugnancy of which to Holy Scripture appears from the First of Timothy 2. Chap. v. 5. For there is one God and one Mediatour between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus Our Lord is also called Mediatour of a better Covenant Hebr. 8.6 the Mediatour of the New Testament Heb. 9. v. 15. And the Mercy of God is frequently declared by His sending a Mediatour So that the Deist's Religion bids defiance to Christian Religion and yet now and then He expresses some regard for the same which overcomes all Impudence unless He owns that the Deist's Religion is made up of Contradictions Pag. 91. To be sure the Deist is no Idolater the Jew and the Mahometan accuse the Christian of Idolatry the Reformed Churches the Roman the Socinian the other Reformed Churches the Deists the Socinian for his Deus factus but none can accuse the Deist for Idolatry for He only acknowledges one supream everlasting God and thinks magnificiently of Him ANSWER The Immortal Deist as our Author calls him p. 95. had good reason thus to boast if He alone were free from Idolatry His Position may be true His Logical Inference is faulty For there is not one here mentioned neither Romanist Reformed or Socinian but will ackowledge one Supream everlasting God and thinks magnificently of him So that if any of the forenamed may be Idolaters notwithstanding this ackowledgment what should hinder but that our immortal Deists may be so too Dr. Pearson in his Exposition on the Creed Article the first says That to imagine the Universe to be infinite and eternal is to imagine it to be God the Consequence is unavoidable That great Deist Pliny begins his Natural History in these words Mundum numen esse credi par est aeternum immen sum neque genitum neque interiturum unquam It is fit to be believed that the World is God eternal immense having neither beginning nor end That this is the opinion of our Modern Deists these Oracles of Reason prove for in the Title Page of the Book we find it laid down as the the 16th Oracle That the World is eternal So that 't is easy to be perceived how ungrounded this Vaunting of our Deist is and that He will find it more difficult to purge Himself of Idolatry than to fasten it on others Doctor More indeed in his Apologetical Epistle for the Cartesian Philosophy p. 4. peremptorily asserts That there were always and even now that there are some who seriously conjoyn this Opinion of the Independency and Eternity of Matter with the Religious Worship of God But then the Dr. adds That this is inconsistent with the true Notion of God and in truth it is in Scripture language halting between God and Baal which include Idolatry That the Infinity of the World introduces a Duality of God is rightly inferr'd by the great Scaliger in his 359. Exerc. cont Cardanum Infiniti mensura nulla est duo infinita nequeunt esse neque in natura neque extra naturam essent enim duo principia prima An Infinite cannot be measured wherefore there cannot be two Infinites Equality is the formal Reason of Commensuration And yet the Deist makes both God and the World Infinite The Deist acknowledges here in words That there is one Supreme God yet He cannot say this upon any firm Principle because p. 192. He says If Genesis be but a Parable the Persians may be in the right as well as the Jews Which is in effect to say That they who believe and worship two contrary Gods with two contrary Services as the Persians did according to the appointment of their Zoroaster who was 5000 Years ancienter than the Trojan War if you will believe their fabulous Chronology may be as much in the right as those who believe one only God To such Repugnances Men are obnoxious who defend untruths and to those may be apply'd that of the Apostle in the 2 Ep. Thes c. 2. ver 11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie Saint Austin in the fourth of his Confessions chap. 7. speaking of the miserable condition He was in when a Manichee breaks out into this Expression Non enim tu eras sed tantum phantasma error meus erat Deus meus Not thou O Lord but a vain phantasm and my error was then my God How appositely and truly this may be apply'd to the Deist the Reader cannot but perceive and would to God it might be apply'd not only to them with respect to their Error but also with respect to their Conversion SECT VI. Concerning the Arrians Trinitarians and Councils PAg. 97. How grateful this Discourse of yours will be to the Quicunque Men I shall not presume to determine since I am sure Mr. Hobbs is as much above their Anger as they are below his Resentments ANSWER With what Contempt doth He here treat the Ecclesiasticks of the Church of England These are the Quicunque Men that here meant As to His Opinion of them in this His odious Comparison between Mr. Hobbs whom He so much honours as p. 16. to call Him the great Modern Philosopher of this Nation and them I need say no more than this That the most partial Reader must be convinced that no Man can or hath been more plainly refuted than Mr. Hobbs hath been by our Quicunque Men to omit others our most Reverend Archbishop's Book call'd Hobbs His Creed and Dr. Templer's Idea of the Theology of the
cannot be concluded from this passage For he frequently contradicts Himself in this particular And as Lipsius in the Third Book of His Stoical Physiology observes aliquando accedit aliquando recedit sometimes He affirms it sometimes He denieth it In the 36th Epist where He commends a certain person who removed from unavoidable Troubles in publick Affairs and comforts Him against death he hath these Expressions Mors quam parti mescimus recusamus intermittit vitam non eripit venet iterum qui nos in lucem reponet dies Death which we so much fear may intermit Life it shall not wholly deprive us of it the day will come which shall restore us from Death to Life And if we add what follows quem multi recusarent nisi oblitos reducerent his Contradictions in this place will be both visible and palpable In his 63d Epistle which was a Consolatory one upon the Death of a Friend and in the end of that Epistle he says Et fortasse si modo sapientum vera fama est recipitque nos locus aliquis quem putamus periisse praemissus est And perhaps our Friend whom we fear is lost for ever is only gone before us Some wise men are of Opinion that there is a common Receptacle for us all And this makes Lipsius in his Commentaries on this place to say Dubie trepide super immortalitate animae alias Seneca philosophizes doubtfully of the Immortality of the Soul as he doth also in other places And although Mr. Blount would in this page perswade us that Senecae is for the Mortality of the Soul yet p. 124. he confesses the Contradiction himself where he writes When I hear Seneca the Philosopher and others preaching up the doctrine of the Souls Immortality with a quid mihi cura erit transfuga tackt to the end of it nothing under Heaven seems to me more unaccountable and contradictory By which we see what little regard is to be had to the Stoical Philosophers if you consider them without their moral Sentences He that hath but the least Skill in Natural Philosophy cannot but perceive how grosly erroneous they are therein They who make the great God Corporeal they who make the Stars to feed on the Vapours of the Earth in which absurd Notion Seneca with his Rhetorical Flourishes seems to boast they who make the Sun to drink up the Waters of the Sea to quench his Thirst and the Moon to drink up the Rivers they I say who discourse so unphilosophically in these Physical Matters if they err in the momentous point of the Souls Immortality it cannot be accounted strange Natural Religion being according to our Author grounded on the immortality of the Soul and yet as it will appear hereafter that this immortality cannot certainly be known but by Scripture and the Parsons harangues as He by way of contempt says p. 118. and not by the Reasons of Philosophers The necessity of Revealed Religion must be very evident which our Deists Hypothesis will not allow P. 118. No Subject whatever has more entangled and ruffled the thoughts of the wisest men than this concerning our future State it has been controverted in all Ages by men of the greatest Learning and Parts ANSWER The Method Mr. Blount proceeds by in concluding from the Immortality of the Soul to future Rewards and Punishments is very good and I think the Reciprocal Consequence to be equally true The Sadduces as Josephus tells us lib. 18. Antiq. c. 2. affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Souls of men perish together with their Bodies And the same Josephus de bello Judaico p. 788. affirms that the Sadduces did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They did deny the Immortality of the Soul and consequently Rewards and Punishments in the world to come And in this the Sadduces were agreeable to their Principles Ludovicus Vives in his excellent Book De veritate fidei chap. 5. lays it down for certain that whatsomever was affirmed by Philosophers with respect to a future State ita sunt leviter dicta ac frigide ut non satis videantur credere quae affirmabant Whatever they affirmed with respect to Rewards for Vertue or Punishments for Vice was so slightly and coldly delivered as that they seem not to believe themselves And the same Author speaks to the same Purpose chap. 6. What the Philosophers declare as to Remunerations after this Life they do it timide quasi diffidentur They declare their Opinions with Fear and Diffidence This Censure of Ludovicus seems to be too mild as I will exemplifie in some Particulars Cicero in his Oration pro Cluentio speaking of the Death of a certain Person says Quid mali mors illi attulerit Nisiforte ineptiis ac fabulis ducimur ut existimemus illum apud inferos impiorum supplicia sufferre What Evil did Death bring to him certainly none at all unless we give credit to such Fables and Fooleries as we are told befal impious Persons in another World And in the first Book of his Tusculane Questions Quae anus tam delira quae timea ista Aehcrontia templa alta orâ—i pallida Leti obnubila obsira â—enebâ—is loca Non pudet Philosophum in eo gloriari quod haec non timeat quod falsa esse cognoverit What dreaming Old Woman can be so delirious as to be afraid of Acheron's Temples of the Principalities of Hell of pale Death of the cloudy and dark Palaces below It is a shame for a Philosopher to boast that he doth not fear these things for he knows that they are meer Cheats As for Pythagoras we have his Opinion in Ovid's Metamorphosis Quid Styga quid tenebras quid nomina vana timemus Why should we be so vain as to be afraid of Styx Acheron and such ridiculous Trifles And Plato alone seems only to speak doubtingly when in his Phaedon speaking of the Rewards of good Men concludes with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I cannot positively determine in this matter To these I must add many more Testimonies together with that large Quotation of Pliny with which our Author fills two whole Pages and more but these may suffice to make it appear that we can have no certainty of a future State but from the Scriptures And that Natural Religion Mr. Blount's Diana can give no satisfaction in this Point controverted as he says by Men of the greatest Learning and Parts It would be now worth knowing what are the Expectations of a Deist with relation to this future State To which Mr. Blount replies Pag. 91. That there is a probability of such a Deist's salvation before the Credulous and ill living Papists which in truth is no more then this the Deist hath more probability of his salvation then he that hath none at all Especially if he be in earnest when he writes Pag. 92. That the Popish Religion stands on the same Foundation with Heathen Idolatry I say if he be in earnest for in his Notes
All the old Paraphrasts call Shilo the Messias the Targum of Jerusalem renders it expresly untill the time when King Messiah shall come Jonathan renders it untill the time when Messiah shall come Onkilos untill Messiah come whose is the Kingdom The Talmud also reckons Shilo among the Names of the Messiah Hoornbeck writing of the Conversion of the Jews reckons the Concurrence of divers Rabbies to this Interpretation And to the same purpose Morney du Plessis in his Book of the Truth of Christian Religion cap. 27. all which Authorities assure us that the Ancient Jews understood this Prophesy of the Messias and that this was no Imagination according to a Fantastick Cabbala as is wickedly suggested The truth of this exposition is Confirmed by the Words which follow To him shall the gathering of the People be For this is the same Character by which he was declared to Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed He was signified also by this Character in the Prophet Isaiah In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the People to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be Glorious As also in the Prophet Micah The Mountain of the House of the Lord shall be Established on the top of the Mountains and it shall be Exalted above the Hills and the People shall flow unto it And thus the Blessing of Judah is plainly understood Judah thou art He whom thy Brethren shall praise Thy hand shall be in the Neck of thine Enemies thy Fathers Children shall bow down before thee Now this Blessing was to make way for a greater This Government was not to fail until there came a Son out of Judah's Loyns greater than Him For whereas Judah's Dominion reached only to the Tribes of Israel the Dominion of Him who came out of His Loyns should be over the World all Nations shall serve him Seeing then that this Exposition is not only according to the ancient Jews but according to the Scriptures themselves How greatly hath Mr. Blount erred in affirming that this Exposition was occasioned by the introduction of Sects among the Jews Page 158. As for the Messias being of the line of David this was no general Opinion for how then could any have imagined Herod the great to have been the Messias ANSWER If this way of arguing be good there is no general Opinion concerning any thing Leo Modena in his History of the present Jews p. 249. acquaints us that the 12th Article of their Belief is That the Messias is yet to come And Modena pag. 247. says that this is one of those Articles which are generally believed by all Jews without contradiction Yet Isaac Vossius p. 226. of the Sibilline Oracles tells us Ne nunc quidem inter Judaeos desint qui Herodem pro Messia admittant There are not wanting now some among the Jews who affirm that Herod was the Messias Is there any Opinion more general than that of the Existence of God yet some Philosopers have deny'd it Have there not been some Prodigies in Nature who denied that there was any such thing in the World as Motion yet nothing can be more evident Aristotle in his Metaphysicks disputes against some who deny'd that it imply'd a Contradiction for the same thing to be and not to be at the same time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet I presume most men think the contrary to be a general Opinion In a word this Method of Argumentation used by our Author is very ridiculous For what Tully in his Books de nat Deorum speaks is very manifest Nihil tam absurdum quod non dixerit aliquis Philosophorum Nothing contained so great an absurdity but some Philosopher or other would contend for it Pag. 158. How could Josephus fix that Character upon Vespasian as Him who should restore the Empire and glory of Israel to whom all Nations should bow and submit unto his Scepter ANSWER Josephus sought the Favour of the Romans and He was kindly used by them so that 't is not so strange He should interpret Oracles in Favour of Vespasian None of the Jews besides Him did so Philostratus says That Apollonius Tianaeus was familiar with Vespasian and He indeed apply'd the Oracles of the Messias or King promiss'd to Vespasian but He was a vain Sycophant a Magician and in this very ridiculous But notwithstanding their Flatteries Vespasian was of another Mind He was perswaded that the Oracle did belong to one of the Jewish Nation and of David's Family wherefore He made it his Business to destroy the whole Race of that Family as Eusebius informs us lib. 3. cap. 11. and 12. Page 158. I do not read that the Jews harboured any such Exposition during their Captivity under Nebuchadnezzar albeit that the Scepter was at that time so departed from the Tribe of Judah that it was never resetled in it more ANSWER I have already made it plain that the authentick Paraphrasts of the Jews understand it in this sense as also God's holy Prophets Our Author takes for granted That there should always be a King of the Tribe of Judah until the Coming of the Messiah which is not affirmed by the Prophesy We readily acknowl'dge that Judah was not a Kingdom till the Coming of the Messiah for there was no kingly Authority in Judah before David nor after Zedekiah Unless you perhaps count the Macchabees of whose Tribe there is some dispute as Du Plessis Morney assures us c. 29. of his book of the truth of the Christian Religion or Herod who was an Idumaean The Meaning therefore of the Prophesy is Not that Judah should have a King till the Messiah came or that it should not cease to be a Kingdom but that it should not cease to be a State a Body Politick having Power of Government within its self until Messiah came Wherefore the Seventy for Sceptrum a Scepter translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Governour should not fail to be in Judah It should not cease to be a Government altho' it had no King of that Title It cannot be said that the Scepter departs from the Poles whether the Elector of Saxony or Prince of Conti enjoy it And to this purpose Episcopius in his Institutions truly asserts Nec dubitandum quin respublica ista quando ei praecrant Levitae Hasmonâ—i aut Herodes Idumaeus aut quicunque alius eamque ex legibus more populi regebant respublica semper manserit populi Judaici eaque nomenclatura ubique venerit ut ex historia temporum manifestum est 'T is not to be doubted but that it was the Republick of Jewry when the Hasmonean Levites presided or Herod the Idumean or whosomever else govern'd according to the Laws and Customs of the People of Jewry This Republick so long continued and it had that Denomination as is manifest out of History
The forecited Honor. Du Plessis in the 29. c. positively and truly affirms Quod ipsi Sanhedrin seu Juces 70. quos R. Moses Hadarsan ante adventum Messiae non destituros dicebat sub Assyriorum jugo sub Macchabaeorum Principatu persever abant The Sanhedrin or 70 Judges whom Rabbi Moses Hadarsan asserted should not cease till the the Coming of the Messiah continued under the Bondage of the Assyrians and the Government of the Macchabees He also adds In ipsa captivitate habuerunt perpetuo Judaei suum Reschgaluta id est Principem exulum ex tribu Juda exque ipsa Davidis stirpe quod Judaeorum Historiae testantur The Jewish Historians testify That when they were in Captivity they had their Prince of the Tribe of Judah of the Family of David And yet Mr. Blount contrary to all these Authorities peremptorily says That the Scepter in the Captivity under Nebuchadnezzar so departed from the Tribe of Judah as that it was never resetled in it more A plain Argument He had not well considered Revealed Religion which so ignorantly he impugns Pag. 159. Other Prophecies are either general and indefinitly exprest as to the time of their accomplishment or inexplicable from their obscurity or uncertain as to their Authority such as are the Weeks of Daniel which Book the Jews reckon among their Hagiographa or Sacred but not Canonical Books ANSWER The Prophesies of the Prophet Daniel which expresly point at the time of the Messiah's Coming and concur with our JESUS are very considerable The Prophesy in the 9th of Daniel ver 24 25 and 26. Seventy Weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in the everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophesy and to anoint the most holy Ver. 25. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks the street shall be built again and the war even in troublous times Ver. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off but not for Himself and the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the ends of the war desolations are determined Ver. 27. And he shall confirm the Covenant with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease and for the overspreading of Abominations he shall make it desolate even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate This Prophesy is clearly meant of the Messiah because here we have not only his Name but his Sufferings and the account of his Sufferings not for himself but the People The ancient Jews understood this place of the Messiah Hoornbeck to this purpose tells us that R. Saadias a gaon Rabbi Naahman Gerundensis and divers others expound this place of the Messias At last he gives us Manasse Ben Israel which being very material I shall quote it at large out of him Verum ut addam illud interpretationis hujus prophetiae varie etiam illa ab hujus aevi Hebraeis explicata est neque illud mirum cuique videre debet si in prophetia tam obscura variant sententiae But that I might add this of the Interpretation of this Prophesy for this is variously expounded by the Hebrews of this Age neither let this be a wonder to any if there be a difference of opinions in so obscure a Prophesy There are therefore those who take these 70 weeks so that they say After the end of them the Messiah is to come who would constitute the Jews Lords of the whole Earth And this truly all those did imagine that took arms against the Roman Emperour and altho' they were obnoxious to many miseries and labours yet notwithstanding they always placed their hope in the Messias that was to come because they thought he would afford the sight of himself when they were in the midst of their miseries wherefore these words To finish transgressions they expounded That after the expiration of 70 weeks sins are pardoned Thus far Hoornbeck out of Menasse Ben Israel We have here an evident testimony that the Jews that lived about the time of the Destruction of Jerusalem looked for the Messias then to come because they thought Daniel's Period was then ended and tho' by mistake they expected a temporal Prince yet 't is evident they thought this Prophesy did concern the time when the Messias should come That which is most difficult here is the direct time of the Messias's cutting off is told us under the name of so many Weeks which are not to be understood in our common acceptation of the word but are to be taken for Years The word Weeks in holy Scripture signifieth sometime the space of seven Days as here in this Prophesy 10. ch ver 2. where Daniel says That he mourned three Weeks or sevenets of Days And in the 16. of Deuteron 9. ver where commandment is given Seven Weeks shalt thou number unto thee begin to number the seven Weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn The word Weeks is sometime taken for Years in Scripture and containeth seven Years As in the 29. chap. Genes ver 27. Fulfil her Week and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other Years As also Leviticus ch 25. ver 8. And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of Years unto thee seven times seven Years and the space of the seven Sabbaths of Years shall be unto thee forty and nine Years The Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in approved Authors is in like manner used not only for seven Days but also for seven Years space as in the end of the 7th Book of Aristotle's Politicks where mention is made of such as divided Ages by Sevenets of Years 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Varro in his first Book of Images writeth Se jam duodecimam annorum hebdomadam ingressum esse That he had now entred into the twelfth Sennet of Years which Expression is plain and full In this Signification the Word is to be taken in this place understanding by 70 Sevennets 490 Years having Proof thereof from Holy Scripture and Prophane Authors And to those before mentioned we may add Censorinus de die Natali c. 14. and Macrobius Book first in Somnium Scipionis c. 6. As for those who stretch the Word further to a Sevenet of Tenths or Jubilies or Hundreds of Years as some have done their Opinion hath neither warrant of God's Word nor any likelyhood of Truth The greatest Difficulty is about the Beginning of those Weeks concerning which we need not say any thing considering that those must