exactly ordered and helps to resolve a thousand great difficulties the submission Christians owe unto Councils and upon the infallibility that M. Meaux maintains that Protestants attribute to Councils M. Nicole goes farther for he affirms that they attribute the gift of infallibility to each faithful person to refute him he is given to understand by several examples that it is not necessary to think ones self infallible to be convinced of any Opinion and because the knot of the difficulty lies in this that they which are deceived are no less convinced than the Orthodox the Author acknowledges that the Characters cannot be precisely shewn which distinguish the false and true perswasions and at the same time says that these differences are real and make themselves apparent It is good faith that can convince the publick that Mr. Iurieu is none of those Controvertists whereof M. Simon gives us such ugly Ideas I would say of those that wou'd rather dye than acknowledge that they cannot clear precisely this or that difficulty He gives us at the same time many instructions upon the manner how hearing and reading the Word of God conducts infallibly into the Truth those in whom the Holy Ghost works by an efficacious Grace but lest people may confound the infallibility that is produced by this Grace with the privileged infallibility which was belonging to the Apostles he teaches us the marks whereby to distinguish them after which he fully answers two objections that were proposed to make the Protestant Church seem to become to the highest pitch of impertinence For it was objected that a private Person how ignorant soever he could be should be assured according to their principles that he can understand the true sense of Scripture better than all the Church besides and that he owes no submission to Church or Council unless he sees by his own proper light that their decision is good all these difficulties are solidly answered and made to disappear The reader sees that hitherto M. Iurieu has met with several difficulties in his way but they are but trifles to what he must encounter now for he is going to answer objections that relate to the way of examen and that are without any dispute the main strength of M. Nicole He answers them first indirectly and argues almost thus We must go to the knowledge of Scripture either by Authority or by way of examen but it is impossible that Authority should conduct us to it therefore we must make use of the way of examen He proves the minor in shewing that upon Earth there is no infallible and speaking Authority and tho' there were it would be impossible to have recourse to it because it cannot be known by any certain sign of necessary truth It is the bravest Field in the World wherein the Enemy is led without having any place to retreat to so that if there were able and disinterested Judges as the Platonists and Aristoteleans were to observe the strokes given there are no People in the World they would despise so much as the Christians whereof they would see the greatest part brag of a Doctrine that cannot keep the Field one Moment in sight of the Enemy and which nevertheless subdues every day some of the other party upon this may be well said the absurdity which Sandaicat published concerning the Battle of Cerisoles les Spagnales victoriosos serinder however it be let us mark in a few words what the Author does here He shews that if Faith did not enter the Soul but by the way of Authority M. Nicole would have it the Iewish Church should never have had any good assurance of the Will of God as well because there was not in a long time any Prophet or other infallible Tribunal that declared it as that the Authority of the Prophets themselves might have been suspected to be false that amidst the most famous Miracles because there was none that could infallibly assure them that these Miracles came from God or from the Devil These dreadful difficulties are pushed to the time of Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles and it 's shewn that according to the Roman Church the Iews would have had no reason to be converted to it The same thing is shewn in respect of following ages in a word it is maintained against M. Nicole that his principle is the great road to Pyrrhonisme and Atheism because for to trust well the way of Authority we must know it well but very few could be able to come to the requisite assurance by the way of examen upon this subject and to the end that the difficulty should come to be more inexplicable the Author has invincibly refuted all that M. Nicole brought to prove that the Authority of the Church makes it self easily known so that here is the way of Authority quite shut up by what way then will people enter into the Faith must it be by examen if that be the way M. Iurieu must take away the Obstacles that M. Nicole has put in it and he must answer directly for to answer by retortions as was observ'd by a Modern Author is to furnish Deists with the best Arms that they ever yet made use of and is to compleat what M. Nicole has begun for the dullest amongst them would say after he had seen Mr. Nicoles book and what we have mentioned of Mr. Iurieu that seeing God has not made Man capable of choosing without rashness the only Religion that is Good it is evident that he has Revealed us nothing of it but has left it to our Education and Natural light therefore of necessity to disarm these Libertines he must answer directly to what Mr. Nicole says and let us see how he will behave himself He accuses his adversaries argument against the way of examen of two great faults one that it supposeth no help from the Holy Ghost to them who meditate upon Scripture the other that he supposes a Cartesian principle that would entirely ruine all Religions if it were applyed to Moral knowledge this principle is that we must believe nothing but what we understand clearly distinctly and to be lawfully assured that we have attained this evidence we must first have examined a thing all manner of ways and must have known that it could not have been other ways Our Author says that this condition being impossible in regard of most People and yet all men being obliged to be firmly satisfied of their Religion it follows that Religion is not subject to these preliminary conditions which Des Cartes only requires for the objects of speculation The Remonstrants believe they can draw great Advantages from M. Nicoles objections because they believe that for to answer him the points of Faith must be reduced to a very little number of Articles clearly contained in the Word of God but the Author says that this answer would cure no evil because to be assured to that degree of certainty which is required by
Mr. Nicole that Jesus Christ came into this World we must examine according to the Cartesiaen method whether the Gospel be a feigned Book or no and hear all that is said by the Wicked upon this Subject and examine all the moral demonstrations whereon the certainty of things done is grounded Moreover we must be assured by Philosophical reasons and by good answers to Spinoza's Systeme that Man acts freely that he has an immortal Soul and that God prepares pains and recompences Where are Tradesmen or Peasants who are capable of so long a dispute pushed to a contradictory decree So that this cannot be the way to answer well for if we did but retain one or two Articles of our Creed we should have enough to do to render our selves certain of them according to des Cartes method And all this shews that Mr. Nicoles principle ought not to be applyed to matters of Religion And he is shewn several other very inconvenient consequences of this principle and it is concluded that Faith does not depend upon an examen of discussion but upon an examen of attention the effects whereof are Learnedly explained in shewing the manner how Divine Truths are imprinted in our understanding this is very fine and gives us a second example of Mr. Iurieu's sincerity for without troubling himself whether Mr. Nicole will brag of having obliged the Ministers to quit their ground he leaves him wholly to the examin of discussion and maintains that this was not what he ought to have disputed against and he answers an objection of Mr. de Meaux whether there be a time wherein a Christian may doubt of the Truths of Scripture and that according to the Principles of the reformed Church Let us say a word upon the last Book of this answer the Author has not so much indifference for Mr. Nicole but he has taken care to hinder his too great brags of the full victory that he has had in several cases upon the examen of discussion and says that this victory is but of little use to Papists but that it furnisheth Weapons to Libertines and Pagans to combate the Christian Religion Moreover he is not of Opinion that all the Arguments that were thundered against the examen of discussion are good and as to what concerns the way of feeling and this ray that he has so much laught at he is shewn that there is no reason to be so merry upon that word that there are really things in Scripture which are known by the way of feeling and that it is no sufficient Argument against it to say that it deceives Hereticks daily for the Author says if it deceives them it is because it is not assisted by an interiour Grace from the Holy Ghost as when we feel the light of Truth besides this he maintains that the most simple were able to know what was requisite to make them quit the Roman Communion In fine he shews the analysis of Faith according to St. Augustine and he answers Mr. Nicole in several things concerning the calling of the first Reformers and the Schism whereof some would fain have convinced them he answers him I say in all this and accuseth him of a thousand frivolous quibbles unworthy both of a Man of Honour and a witty Man I do not doubt but many of my readers may not understand what the analysis of Faith is Let us then say that we understand by these words the reducing of Faith to its first principles that it is a Metaphor borrow'd from Chymists who call Analysis the Operation that disunites the parts of a compound body setting apart the ingredients until they come to the most simple parts so to make the Analysis of Faith is nothing else but to mount by degrees to its beginning and to the first reasons whereon it is grounded and in this the Religions of the West are very different for tho' it is very true that the Protestants and Catholicks being questioned why they believe the Trinity agree in answering that it is because God has revealed it in Scripture but if you ask them this other question how they do know that God has revealed it in Scripture their answer will be very different the Catholick will answer that it is because he is told that the Roman Church finds the meaning of Trinity in certain passages of Scripture but the Protestant will say it is because he finds that these passages signify the Trinity whence it follows that the Faith of a R. C. is grounded on the Authority of the Church that of a Protestant upon the very Light which he finds in the Object proposed by Scripture There are but few who trouble themselves with this Analysis they content themselves well enough with believing what they have a feeling of Moreover it is a great question with Roman Catholicks whether in the Analysis of Faith they must stop at the Pope or go on to the Council Gregory of Valence in his Analysis Fidei Catholicae maintains firmly that they are to stop at the Pope But Mr. Holden an English Man by Nation and a famous Doctor of Sorbonne holâ—s for the Council in his Divinae fidei Analysis seu de fidei Christianae resolutione which has been re-printed lately at Paris with some additions A Lutheran Professor called Hannekenius refutes the Jesuite in the year 1683 by publishing paralysis fidei Papaeae I do not know whether he will publish such another Paralysis against the Doctor of Sorbonne Mr. Iurieu put at the end of his Book a short answer to what Mr. Ferrand published against the Parallel of Papism and Calvinism if this Article had not passed the bounds already we could give a short extract of this short answer it is admirable and discomforts this Author who to speak the truth has not answered the hopes that the Catholicks of this Country conceived of his Work they were a little surprized with the stroke they received from the parallel and they expected that Mr. Ferrand that was chosen to revenge their common Mother would acquit himself well of the Office but they experienced that he did not hold to what the Church promised it self of him Non illum nobis genetrix pulcherrima talem promisit The Accomplishment of Prophesies or the Deliverance of the Church near at hand c. Corrected and Augmented almost a third part with the Explication of all the Visions of the Apocalypse By the S P. J. PEPETH A. R. at Rotterdam by Abraham Achers 1686. 2. Vol. in 12. THis Work has made such a noise that there are two thousand Copies disposed of in four or five Months and yet there are but a very few gone into France which would have taken off a great many if it were suffered that it might be disposed of there this considerable part of Europe being almost nothing by report in respect of the Booksellers Trade one would think that the first Edition should have sufficed nevertheless there was soon occasion
Persecution than the Remonstrants They will have the Fundamental Error of the R. Church to consist in this We must not saith Episcopius in a Writing inserted by Mr. Limborg in the Preface of this Work consider Popery in some of its parts but in its whole not in this Doctrine nor in that which is accused of Heresie for it is almost the same thing on both sides the one is mistaken in one point and the other in another ..... We must look upon the whole Body of the Roman Church which is a composition of ignorant ambitious and tyrannical Men I call them ignorant not because they are not very Learned for sometimes they are too much so but because they know not and are obliged to know only what is prescribed unto them often against their Conscience against Reason and Divine Law It is the most pernicious of all Ignorances because it is a servile one which is upheld only by the Authority of the Pope and Councils and which is the source of the many Sophisms they are constrained to make to maintain such Opinions they have ingaged themselves into whether they find them true or false It extends its Empire as well upon the Practice as Belief because they are both tyed to the Foundations which they are always to suppose unshaken without freeing themselves by examining the solidity thereof Thence Tyranny is form'd It is this which makes it impossible ever to come back from this ignorance and which produceth Idolatry and ridiculous thoughts of the Divine Worship It is the Poyson of true Religion because it leads Men to serve God not according to his Will or by a Principle of Knowledg and Conscience but after that manner which the Pope liketh So that it is in vain to say that in this Church are many things which are good or sufferable this availeth nothing seeing they hold not what is good because it is good but because they are obliged to acknowledge it for such The Remonstrants have upon this establisht Principles which are very opposite to those of the Roman Church They not only believe with other Protestants that Scripture contains clearly all that is necessary to be known to believe to hope to do and to be saved and that all those who read it with an attentive mind and without prejudice may acquire by this reading a perfect knowledge of the Truths contain'd in it and that there is no other Divine Rule of our Faith but they admit also and maintain the necessary consequence of this Principle upon which many Divines expound not themselves distinctly enough Thence it followeth saith Mr. Limborg in this Preface 1. That no Man whoever he be no Assembly how considerable soever its Authority is and how Learned soever its Members are have not a Right of prescribing to the Faithful as necessary to Salvation what God hath not commanded as such in his Word 2. That from the Communion are to be excluded those only whom God hath clearly revealed he will exclude from Heaven 3. That to know certainly Damnable Errors and wholsome Doctrines we must see if in Scripture God hath promised Salvation to those who shall believe these Doctrines or threatned with Damnation those who shall embrace these Errors 4. That the only means to procure the Peace of the Church it to suffer those who retain the Fundamental Doctrines although according to us they are mistaken in things which God hath not commanded nor prohibited expresly under the condition of Salvation or Damnation 5. That if this rule was followed all Christians who have quitted the Roman Church would soon agree in Fundamental Points and differ but in Tenets which have neither been commanded nor prohibited under this condition 6. That consequently none have a right of imposing the necessity of Believing under pain of Damnation these non-essential Tenets 7. That no other means can procure a true Christian Union because constraint may tye the Tongue but not gain the Heart This is the drift of the Preface to come to the Work it self It is composed of three Letters and of a small Treatise of William Bom a Roman Catholick with as many Answers and some other Letters of Episcopius concerning the Infallibility of the Church The matter we see is of the utmost consequence and it is sufficiently known after what manner Episcopius was able to treat thereof Bom was a Priest who was no great Grecian as he confesseth himself and who besides was ingaged in the weakest Hypothesis which the Doctors of Rome ever embraced it is that which makes the Infallibility of the Church reside in the Pope's Person So that although he hath exposed pretty well the common reasons of his Party it may be said of him in relation to his Adversary Par studiis aevique modis sed robore dispar The occasion of this Dispute was a Conference which Bom and Episcopius had at the coming from a Sermon which the last had Preached Some of those who had been present thereat declared That Bom had been reduced to silence upon which he being willing to shew how much these reports were false Writ to two common Friends to put them in mind of the Reasons he had said and added to that a Writing to prove that St. Peter was established chief of the Catholick Church Episcopius at first made some difficulty of Answering this Priest because there is nothing more tedious and more unprofitable for a Protestant than to enter into dispute with a Catholick seeing that as it is an Article of Faith with him that his Church is Infallible so he believes himself obliged in Conscience not to confer with Hereticks but in the design of instructing them and not to have even the thought of receiving any instruction nor any light from them It is not possible without ingaging ones self into an excessive prolixity to relate all the reasons which have been said on each side in this dispute we shall only stop at some of the principal proofs and those which are not so commonly met withal in Books of Controversie Episcopius failed not at first to ask of his Adversary in what place of the Gospel Iesus Christ had appointed any body to be Soveraign Judge of Controversies and to decide without Appeal all the differences which should arise in the Church after the death of the Apostles As there are not in Scripture passages sufficiently express for this institution Bom had recourse to the Practice of the Church upon which Episcopius alledged to him three Acts of the Ecclesiastical History which agrees not well with the Belief of the Infallibility of the Pope 1. The first is drawn from the dispute which fell out towards the middle of the Second Age concerning the day in which the Passover should be celebrated Victor Bishop of Rome Excommunicated the Churches of the Diocess of Asia because they Celebrated this Feast the Fourteenth day of March and not the Sunday following according to the Custom of Rome Palestine and
Divines who pretend that Episcopacy is of Divine Institution maintain at the same time That Saint Iames Bishop of Ierusalem was not an Apostle But St. Paul gives him the Title of an Apostle They say That this first Bishop of Jerusalem had a right of entring into the most Holy Place and to carry a Golden Reed as the High Priest of the Jews But it is certain at least that St. Epiphanes mistook when he relyes upon the Authority of Eusebius to prove it For Eusebius never said any such thing speaking of St. Iames and there is a great likelyhood that this is one of these false Traditions which cannot be applyed to any of the Apostles Besides the Apostles there were Prophets in the Christian Church whose Charge consisted chiefly to edifie the Church by the Exposition of the most difficult passages of Scripture They penetrated sometimes into the time to come and foretold its events Justin Martyr assures us that this Gift of Prophecy continued also to his time But it was soon extinguished For when Montan begun to publish his Revelations the Churches of Phrygia were moved thereat and these motions of wonder and admiration are formed commonly on unheard of events or which are extreamly rare The Author affirms this Maxim That Prophecies are not well understood until after their accomplishment Opinions have been always much divided about the duration of the Ministery of Iesus Christ who is the Head of the Church St. Irenaeus refuting the Valentinians is fallen into a great Excess For he believed that Iesus Christ lived almost 50 years The most common opinion is that he Preached the space of 3 or three years and a half Mr. Burman takes another Party and maintains that Iesus Christ Celebrated but two Feasts of the Passover whence he concludes That he could live but a year and a half after his Baptism The last Passover wherein Iesus Christ Instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist makes another subject of Contestation The Greeks who think they have a great Interest to maintain That Iesus Christ Communicated with Leavened Bread pretend That he Celebrated his last Passover after the Wednesday at night This opinion which is established by them but since the Dispute they had with the Roman Church upon the Azymes deserves not much examination Scaliger hath not been ashamed to retract and to refute himself upon this matter For after having inclined to the Greeks he maintains at last That there is reason to believe that Jesus Christ eat the Lamb of the Passover a day before the greatest part of the other Jews who begun to Celebrate the Feast but on Friday at Night Our Author believes on the contrary That all the Jews were forced to Celebrate the Feast the same day because it was necessary to kill all the Lambs in the Porch of the Temple The almost infinite number of these beasts which were to be killed and which if Iosephus may be believed amounted to Five Millions five thousand six hundred troubleth him not He believeth that the great number of Priests who assisted at this Service was sufficient for this great Execution Not mentioning that each private Man had a right to kill his Lamb provided it was in the Porch of the Temple which was so big that in the time of Solomon there entred into it 22000 Oxen 12000 Sheep besides the other Sacrifices which the People offered Yet there remains a great difficulty For the Lambs were not begun to be presented but at the Ninth Hour to wit at three in the Afternoon and Iosephus assureth us that this Ceremony ended about Nine of the Clock So though the Temple should be spatious enough to contain the number of Lambs the time would not be long enough to kill them The last Disputes concern the Eucharist But as this matter hath been treated on very often we will make an end here A Famous SPEECH of Monsieur Cocquelin Chancellor of the Church of Paris in 1686. IT is the Custom amongst the Divines of Paris before the Cap is given to those who have accomplished their License to present them by a Doctor to the Chancellour of the Cathedral Church The Doctor who presents these Licentiates makes a small Discourse in their Praise to which the Chancellor answers by another Discourse As this which Mr. Cocquelin hath made this year on the like occasion hath had something singular in it as well for its Eloquence which how natural soever it is to the Author had not notwithstanding appeared with so much lustre but for the fine and delicate turn wherewith he manag'd his Subject when he treated on the Affairs of the times and by the fine Poem which he added to it We have thought we could not do better than to begin with this Piece which hath fallen by chance into our hands and to gather together the scatter'd Pieces which we have promised to impart to the Publick when they should deserve to have this Justice done them Here is then what he saith VIris eruditis è Theologica Palaestra Biennio quolibet secendentibus Viri Ecclesiae Parisiensis Proceres sapientissimi Patres Auditores humanissimi non defuit huc usque neque decrit unquam laborum laudisque sibi conciliandae seges si modo quod in scholis didicerint ad summum perducere pro rerum pro locorum pro temporum opportunitate impendere ad bravium de quo hodie Apostolus at que immarcescibilem corenam totis viribus contendere voluerint Et sane quamvis pro uberrima Sacrae facultatis Theologicae Paris feracitate ex ipsius sinu viri in omni sacrarum litterarum genere quantum patitur aetas exercitatissimi longè plures uno quoque biennio prorumpant quam ex toto quantus quantus est reliquo Christiano orbe quod nihilominus apud Apostolos Christus olim Dominus pronuntiavit effatum illud ipsum labentibus exinde perpetuo saeculis merito proferri potuit poteritque inposterum Messis quidem multa operarii vero pauci At nunquam ejusdem Christi aliud oraculum vos Apostolos ad fidem religionemque praedicandam adhortantis aequiori jure quam in praesentiarum possit usurpari quo verae sapientiae candidatis ejusdem fidei religionisque aut disseminand◠aut propagandae pro nostro munere concedamus Licentiam Videte aiebat Deus ille generis humani servator videte Regiones quoniam jam albae sunt ad messem Enimvero quicumque hactenus sacrae Facultatis Theol. Paris stadium emensi praeivere vobis ad coronam Galliam quae monstris ad Calvinum usque caruerat aut totam Catholicae fidei deditam aut nascentem haeresim quae proinde tunc contemptui potius quam timori habebatur aut jam adultam atque roboratam atque adeo cui evertendae inutilis ut plurimum opera navabatur divino sacrae sapientiae lumine illustrandam aggressi sunt vobis vero Licentiandi meritissimi id unum ex divinae providentiae
to Dr. Cave in his English Life of Clement Alexandrinus which hath been very useful to us in the making this Clement in the Passage which hath been related concerning the Philosophy he approved if as Socrates who in his Phoedon applies to Philosophers this Proverb which they made use of in their Mysteries There are many who bear the Thyrse but few who are truly filled with the Spirit of Bacchus Socrates adds immediately after These are I believe only those who applied themselves as they ought to Philosophy of the number of whom I have endeavoured to be as much as I could c. As the whole Passage is in Roman Character Dr. Cave thought that these words Of the number of whom c. were Clement's whereas they are Socrates as appears in Plato and even at the bottom of the Page where Clement Cites them If all this Passage had been in Italick Dr. Cave would not have been deceived in it which ought in no wise to appear strange to those who know that to write the Life of an Author collected out of divers places Attention must be given to so many things all at a time that it is very difficult to avoid confounding ones self Besides in distinguishing the Subjects by a Line and the Citations by different Characters more Facility is given to those who have read an Author in finding such places again as they may have occasion for which is not of little use As to this Edition there are three Indexes one of the Passages cited by St. Clement the second of the Subjects and the third of the Words and Greek Phrases either worthy of Remark or such as this Author applieth to a particular Sense If these Indexes were complete and correct they would be without doubt very useful but they are neither There is an infinite sigâ—t of Faults in the Numbers and often conâ—rary to what is in Clement The Passage of Iob There is no one that is clean is related in Chap. 25. of his Books whereas it is in the 14 th There is in the Index Peccato originali infectae omnium animae corpora 488. d. On contrary Clement refutes this Opinion in this place but Sylburge or some other who hath made this Index had apparently in his mind what Clement ought to have said according to him rather than what he effectually did say There is besides a fourth Index at the beginning of the Work which contains a List of the Authors cited by Clement but the Pages where he cites them being not marked it is altogether useless It were a thing to be desired for the Republick of Letters not only that Kings were Philosophers or that Philosophers were Kings but also that Booksellers were learned or that the Learned Men were Booksellers and that they brought back the Age of the Manuces and Stephens for to give us good Editions of the Writings of the Ancients and to level the way for a Study which of it self is hard enough without making difficulties by our own Negligence Chap. 1. Our Author begins the Defini-nition of the word Church as used in the Primitive Times which since it agrees so much with the present general Definition we shall pass it over to remark what is more uncommon Afterwards he comes to treat of its Members which he distinguishes into the Clergy and Laity in which he considers these three Particulars 1. Peculiar Acts of the Clergy 2. Peculiar Acts of the Laity 3. Joint Acts of both The Clergy he considers in these three Offices Bishops Priests and Deacons He begins at Ierusalem where the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and Disciples induing them with the Gift of Tongues working Miracles and fitting them to Preach the Gospel to all the World He assigns St. Andrew to Scythia St. Bartholomew to India St. Matthew to Parthia St. Iohn to Asia the less telling us also that the rest of the Apostles had every one their Commission and Allotment according to Clemens Romanus The Apostles went forth Preaching both in City and Country appointing the first Fruits of their Ministry for Bishops and Deacons which they left behind them whilst they planted the other Churches Thus Clemens was ordained Bishop of Rome by St. Peter and Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna by St. John as says Tertullian Our Author reconciles what the Scripture and St. Clemens Romanus says Ep. ad Cor. p. 2. about the Plurality of Bishops in one Church with the Negation of Ignatius Tertullian and St. Cyprian who affirm that there ought to be but one Bishop in a Church He says the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the Bishop by way of Eminency and Propriety tho' there might be others such as St. Cyprian reckons Bishop Pastor President Governor Superintendent and Priest 2. Our Author shews in the Second Chap. that these Bishops Jurisdiction or Ancient Diocesses appeared to him to be but one Congregation for which he brings the Authority of several of the Fathers He also shews that the word Parish is as old as Irenaeus who in his Synodical Epistle to Pope Victor calls the Bishopricks of Asia Parishes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Euseb. l. 5. c. 24. p. 193. He brings eight more Instances of the word and gives us some Examples of matter of Fact parallel hereunto which cou'd not be otherwise as to meeting all together receiving the Eucharist from the Bishop alone were Baptized only by the Bishop who was the Common Almoner all the People met at a Church Censure and when the Bishop was dead all met to choose another publick Letters were read before the whole Diocess or Parish all the Diocess met to manage Affairs c. Our Author all along cites his Authorities very plentifully in the Margent to maintain his Assertion 3. In the Third Chap. he considers the Bishops Office which he says was Preaching the Word Praying with his People Administring the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper taking care of the Poor Ordaining of Ministry Governing his Flock Excommunicating Offenders and Absolving Penitents for every one of these Offices our Author Cites a Father He proceeds a little after to shew the manner of his Electing Bishops which he shews was by the Choice of all the People who knew his Life and Conversation before-hand but the Voice of the People was not sufficient by it self for after they had Elected one they presented him to the neighbouring Bishops for their Approbation for without that the Election was not valid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Euseb. Lib. Cap. 11. Pag. 212. After a Bishop's Election he was install'd by Imposition of Hands by other Bishops he cites all along his Authorities 4. He treats of Presbyters and gives this Definition That a Presbyter is a Person in holy Orders having thereby an inherent Right to perform the whole Office of a Bishop but being possessed of no Place or Parish nor actually discharging it without the Permission and Consent
tibi solus Sed ubi tres Ecclesia est licet Laici c. Grotius took the part of Mr. Rigaut his Friend and then printed a small Dissertation de Coenae administratione ubi Pastores non sunt It is in the third Tome of his Theological Works We may also see an Abridgment thereof in a Letter to Salmatius which is 260. of the 1. p. where our Author testifies he was of Erasmus's opinion to wit that in the Primitive times the Faithful consecrated the Bread and Wine and communicated together there being often no Priest in the Company See the Letter of Erasmus to Cuthbert Tonstar l. xxvi Epist. Grotius seems to have much respect for Christian Antiquity as may be seen by all his works and by this place of the Letter 191. of the 2. p. Perhaps those who are of Voetius 's opinion will think it will be a Socinianism to make the principal part of Religion consist in the observation of the precepts of Iesus Christ. But I see that the Christians of the first Ages the Assemblies the Doctors Martyrs have been of this Iudgment that there are few things which we ought necessarily to know and that as to the rest God Iudgeth us according to the obedience we have rendered to him The same also appears by a Conversation that Grotius had with the Prince of Condé in 1639. and whereof he gives an account to Chancellor Oxenstiern in Letter 1108. of the 1. p. He relates to this Suedish Lord that the Prince had given him a visit that they had discoursed of several things and that this Prince had approved his Opinions that in this Age one may attribute to himself the Name of a Christian and the Surname of Catholick the Scripture must be believed interpreted not according to the particular Judgment of each one which hath caused Seditions Schisms and often Wars but according to the universal and perpetual consent of the Ancient Churches which we find in the Writings of several excellent men and chiefly in the Symbols and Acts of the true Ecumenick Councils which were held before the Schism of the Eastern and the Western Churches and which the Emperors and all the Churches have approved of That moreover we must abstain from calumniating any one to leave off the Spirit of Parties to endeavour the Unity of the Church such as Jesus Christ hath ordained and the Apostles have founded and to hold for our Brothers to wit for Christians and Catholicks all those who are in these opinions although those who rule over the Churches have separated themselves from the External Communion Haec omnia Princeps sibi dicebat probari sapientissimis quos cognosset hominibus Not that Grotius was very much conceited with the antiquity he believed as some are that the Ceremonies which it hath constantly kept to are all of Divine Right Thus he speaks to Mr. des Condés about Confirmation and Imposition of hands Let. 329. 1. p. I have found by reading that the imposition of hands was a Jewish Ceremony which was introduced not by any Divine Law but by Custom every time that any Body prayed God for another For the Jews prayed God that his Power should accompany that Man as the hands which were put upon his Head and which were the Symbol of the Divine Power were united to him Jesus Christ followed this Custom as several others of the Synagogue whether Children were to be Blessed or the sick were to be Cured in joining Prayer to this Ceremony It is according to this Custom and not consequent to any Precept that the Apostles laid their hands on those to whom they conferred the Gift of the Holy Ghost by Prayer Thus it was that not only Priests used the same when they received any into their Body as it appears by the Example of Timothy 1 Tim. iv 15. But the Apostles themselves received anew the imposition of Hands when they engaged into any new design Acts xiii 2 So if at every time that hands were imposed a Sacrament was conferred we shall find Sacraments in all the Prayers which have been made for any one which is contrary to the true Signification of the word and to the use of the Ancients It 's from this Ceremony continueth our Author which was not ordained by God but which hath of it self been introduced amongst the Jews and Christians that sprung the Sacraments of Confirmation of Ordination and Penitence of Extream Unction and even of Marriage for the Ancient Churches laid their hands on those who were Married as the Abyssins this day do The Baptism of Christians adds he consisted in times past in immersion only as that of the Jews who baptized all those who embraced their Religion It appears not that any laid hands on those who were baptized but those who had the Gift of conferring the Holy Ghost This hath been introduced rather in honour of Bishops to persuade the People that they had succeeded to the Rights of the Apostles In the second Age and the following divers Ceremonies were added to Baptism by allusion to some passages in Scripture according to the Custom of the Ancients who expressed themselves not only by Words but also by Signs and Symbols It is for that that they made those who were baptized to tast of Hony and Milk But it was thought fit to represent particularly by these Symbols that those who believe in Jesus Christ receive in their Soul the same Graces which Jesus Christ made the sick feel which he cured in their Body or that those who make profession of believing in him feel the Eyes of their Soul to open as well as the Ears of their Heart that they are cured of all their spiritual maladies and that the Devil hath no further Power over them Therefore Exorcisms were made use of and the term of Epphata be opened also of Spittle of Oyl whereof Jesus Christ and the Apostles made use of in curing corporal maladies Posterity was not content with this 'T was thought it ought to be made apparent that Christians are Kings and Priests in anointing with a more odoriferous oyl This Unction was joined to Baptism as it is yet with the Greeks and as it hath been a long time in the Latin Church The Priests who baptized administred it as well as the Bishops the Bishop according to the Testimony of St. Ierome and St. Augustine differing from the Priest only in this that the Bishop had the sole right of Ordaining Priests Our Author after having made these Remarks gives his Sentiment concerning a Canon of a 1. Council of Orange which caused then great disputes betwixt Mr. de S. Cyran and F. Sirmond and maintains that the latter had well cited and understood it tho' his Adversary accused him of falshood Grotius believes that this Canon gives the Power to Priests to administer the Chrisme and orders that it should be administred but once Nullus Ministrorum qui baptizandi recepit officium sine Chrismate
Athens but every three Years This Jesuite maintains against him that they were celebrated every year But when he afterwards proveth by a very obscure passage of Titus Livius that they were celebrated every first Year of each Olympiad he seems to give himself a needless trouble seeing that if he hath proved well that they were celebrated every year it followeth without any difficulty that they were celebrated the first Year of all the Olympiads It may nevertheless be said for his Justification that he makes use of the passage of Titus Livius but to shew the impossibility of the Hypothesis of Scaliger He corrects in this same place a passage of Plutarch which seems to say That the Mysteries were celebrated in the Market place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Casaubonus who perceived the fault thought he was bound to correct it in reading 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or else 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 't is not for that we must read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wit to Agra which was a place near the River Ilissus where there was a Temple of Ceres and whence Diana had apparently taken her name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In fine her Remarks that most Authors have unseasonably confounded the Mysteries with the Thesmophoria which were celebrated in the Honour of Ceres He relates several Differences betwixt these two Ceremonies One of the things upon which he hath enlarged so much is the Bridge that Xerxes built to pass from Asia into Europe Herodotus hath given us the Description thereof Father Petau expounds it and corrects in it a great many faults We should be too tedious if we should descend into a more particular Relation Let us be content with this Remark upon a passage of Cassiodorus L. 9. Ep. 5. Where it 's ordered to keep no more Corn than would be necessary to maintain each Family Sive in gradu sive in aliis locis condita potuerint invenire These words have much tormented the Interpreters Father Petau saith that by in gradu an Isle of the Adriatick Sea must be understood situate towards the place where Venice hath been built and not the Bread which was distributed upon the Stairs at Constantinople Let us now say somewhat of the Work of Father Hardouin He has plac'd the Orations of Themistius in the order they ought to be in according to the time wherein they were spoken and to effect this he hath made a Chronological Table the exactest that he could He hath filled the vacancies which were in this Author and cut divers things which had been added and spoiled the sense he hath corrected the faults which had slipped thereinto and finally he hath cleared the places that are most difficult by his Learned Observations He observes that the Romans had Dragons in their Colours and as 't is also certain that they had Eagles in their Ensigns he teacheth us to discern these two things it is saith he that the Eagles served for the entire Legion and the Dragons for a Cohort He pretends that Sethus Calvisius having placed the Death of Procopius in the Year 365. and changed the Name of Iovinus designed Consul for the Year ensuing into that of Dagalaiphus hath added a false Calculation in all the sequel of his Chronology He makes several Discoveries and several Remarks upon the Family of the Emperour Theodosius to whom he restores two Children that no body does more than mention to wit Gratian and Pulcherius tho' it is certain that St. Gregory of Nissa and St. Ambrose have spoken thereof He speaks to the purpose upon the Chapter of Genealogies for he hath better distinguished than Mr. Henry de Valois had done the two young Valentinians whereof the one was Son to the Emperour Valentinian the first and the other was the Son of Valens and was named Galates because he was born in Galatia It was for this that the ninth Oration of Themistius was made Mr. de Valois seemed to believe when he published the first time his Ammian Marcelline that these two Valentinians were Brothers He is reproached with it here but as he corrected this fault in his Notes upon Socrates after he had seen the Idatius of Father Sirmond and that the same fault was also corrected in the new Edition in Folio of Amien it will be taken ill that Father Hardouin thought upon such a Censure and it will perhaps be said that he fetcht the occasion a little too far One of his most curious Remarks concerns the passage which induced some to believe That Themistius made profession of Christianity and which seems to be the same with that of Solomon The heart of the King is in the band of the Lord. This Philosopher cites his fine Sentiment as taken out of the Books of the Assyrians Father Petau believed by these Assyrian Books the holy Scripture was to be understood because Themistius sometimes gave the Christians the Title of Syrians according to the custom of the Gentiles who often confounded the Iews with Christians Father Hardouin rejects this Opinion and founds his own upon this that Themistius could not borrow the passage in question neither from the Original of Scripture nor from the Version of the 70. The Hebrew is Leb melek Ve Iaed Iehovah the Heart of the King in the hand of the Lord. The 70 have thus Translated it simply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Themistius saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He has this passage from another place according to this Iesuite and not from Holy Scripture Some profane Author furnished him as was that who taught him to say That Men commonly sung upon Lebanon I know not whether it was ever said That Aesop must needs have read Solomon seeing he cites a Sentence which is found word for word in Chap. 3. of Proverbs God resists the Proud but shews favour to the Humble So it is That the 70. have turned the passage of Solomon and that the Apostle St. Iames hath cited it in his Epistle There would not be much reason under pretence of this great conformity between the passage of Aesop and that of the Scripture to maintain that Aesop had read the sacred Books for whence could he draw the signification which the teâ—m hath in the Sentence of Aesop which is a particular signification to the Greek Bible of the 70. It is better to say with Vavasseur the Iesuite That Plenuda is the Author of the Book which we call this day the Fables of Aesop. At least it is true That some Christian is the Author of the Moral Sense which hath been expressed in one of the Fables of Aesop by the very Greek terms of the Scripture An Abridgment of the Prerogatives of St. Ann Mother of the Mother of God approved by the Doctors of the Sorbonne and Translated out of French into English to accompany a Book which is Entituled Contemplations on the Life and Glory of the Blessed Virgin with the Defence of that Work and other pieces of that nature to
Ordination and that it belongs to the Bishop only to confer it and she allows the Distinction of Orders And tho' there is none under a Deacon because the Scripture makes mention of none yet she acknowledges that they are very antient Sixthly As for the Real Presence tho' Dr. Wake treats of it at length we will omit speaking of it until we come to the XII Article where there are many Books seen that concern this Subject Seventhly We receive says the English Expositor with equal Veneration all that comes from the Apostles let it be by Scripture or Tradition provided we be assured that they are the true Authors of the Doctrine or Practice attributed to them so that when we are shewn that a Tradition was received in all Ages and by all Churches then we are ready to receive it as having the Character of an Apostolical Institution So our Church does not reject Tradition but only the Tenets and Superperstitions which Rome pretends to justify after this way Eighthly And as for the Authority of the Vniversal Church of all Ages the English acknowledges 1. That they have received Scripture from their Hands and it is chiefly for this Authority that they look upon Solomon's Song to be Canonical and reject other Books Apocryphal which perhaps they would have received with as much ease These Books have our respect even before we know by reading whether they be worthy of the Spirit of God but this Reading confirms us in the respect which the Authority of the Church gives unto them as to the Holy Writings II. If there had been an Vniversal Tradition not contested that had come from the Apostles to us concerning the meaning of the Holy Books as concerning their number the Church of England would receive it also but she does not believe that a particular Church such as that of Rome should usurp this Priviledge nor that it ought to force others to follow the Interpretations which she gives of the Passages of Scripture III. When any Disputes arise concerning Faith the best way to appease them is to assemble a Council but it does not follow that such an Assembly can say as the Assembly of the Apostles at Ierusalem It seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to us nor that it is Infallible or that it's Canons are not subject to Correction IV. Dr. Wake goes on and says When we say I believe in the Holy Catholick Church we do not only understand that Iesus Christ has planted a Christian Church which is to last to the end of the World but also that the Son of God will conserve either among the Christians or in the Vniversal Church Truth enough to denominate it such a Church that is he will never suffer that Truths requisite for Salvation should be unknown in any place So that tho' the Vniversal Church can err it does not follow that it can sink altogether nor become wholly erroneous because then it would cease to be but such a particular Church as that of Rome can err and fall into utter Apostacy And tho' the Fundamental Points be clearly contained in Scripture and that it is very hard that one Man alone should gain-say the Opinion of all the Church nevertheless if this Man was certainly convinced that his Opinion was grounded upon the undoubted Authority of the Word of God we would be so far being afraid to bear with him that we all agree that the most glorious Action that St. Athanasius ever did was that he alone maintained Christ's Divinity against the Pope the Councils and all the Church V. And so tho we acknowledge that God has subjected Christians to the Government of the Church for Peaces sake and to preserve Vnity and Order and that she has power to prescribe to her Children what Doctrines are and are not to be publickly taught in her Communion yet we believe that the Holy Scripture is the only Support of our Faith and the last and infallible Rule by which the Church and we are to govern our selves Ninthly That there are some that think that the Church of England makes the Fathers of the three First Ages Idols and equals them in Authority to the Holy Scripture But Mr. Wake will undeceive them for says he Tho' we have appealed to the Churches of the first Ages for new Proofs of the truth of our Doctrine it is not that we think that the Doctors of those times had more right to judge of our Faith than those had that followed them but it is because that after a serious examination we have found that as for what concerns the common Belief that is among us they have believed and practised the same things without adding other Opinions or Superstitions that destroy them wherein they have acted conformably to their and our Rule the Word of God notwithstanding it cannot be denyed but that they effectually fell into some wrong Opinions as that of the Millenaries and Infant Communion which are rejected by both Parties Tenthly Whether one may be saved in the Roman Church the English think that as she yet conserves the Fundamental Doctrines those that live in her Bosom with a disposition to learn and leave off their pernicious Errors and profess all the truth that they will discover may be saved thro' the grace of God and Faith in Jesus Christ and by a general Repentance that puts their Errors in the number of the Sins they do not know of But that ill use may not be made of this charitable Grant the Expositor limits it as followeth I. That it is harder to be saved in the Communion of this Church since the Reformation than it was before because its Errors were not so well known nor so solidly refuted which rendred the ignorance excusable II. That they that live among Protestants and in a Country wherein they may learn and make publick and open profession of the Truth are more condemnable than the other III. That Priests are yet more than Laicks In a word the Protestants hope that the good Men of the Roman Church will be saved but they have no assurance that they are to be saved Whereas they are assured That they will be saved that live Christian-like in their own Communion They do not know whether God will condemn Roman Catholicks for the Errors they professed taking them for truth but they are assured that the Crime of those that being convinced of Popish Superstitions leave the Protestants thro' motives of Interest and Ambition and maintain Tyrannical and Superstitious Tenets against their Consciences deserve no pardon Eleventhly As for Idolatry the Homilies of the Church of England accuse that of Rome as well as the English Doctors who lived under Edward the VI. and Queen Elizabeth The Catholicks object that the Learned of this Kingdom changed Opinion in the Reign of King Iames the First and begun to maintain that the Church of Rome was not Idolatrous but these Gentlemen are so unlucky in Proofs that of six Authors
in the New Testament Mark 9.1 Mat. 16.19 11.11 10.25 Iohn 3.5 4. Many Rites and Ceremonies Ordinances and Customs but slightly mentioned in the Scripture are fully explained by the Rabbins as Circumcision Gen. 17. 1 Cor. 7.18 becoming uncircumcised again So Anathema Maran atha 1 Cor. 16.22 So the Fronâ—leâ—s Deut. 6.8 Phylacteries Numb 15.38 Mat. 23.5 their zizith fringes So the Passover and Lord's Supper Mat. 27.34 Korban Mat. 15.5.39 Stripes 2 Cor. 11.24 So for the Manner of their Sacrifices which typifie the Grace of the Gospel and the like 5. To be able to Answer and Convince the Iews requires good skill in their Writings and thereby great advantage may be made of their own Concessions as the Apostle doth frequently practise in his Epistle to the Hebrews where he oft argues from their Concâ—ssions And they had need know the Iews Principles who would Expound that Epistle 6. Many difficult and vâ—ry obscure places of Scripture whose Explication is sought for in vain among other Commentaries are clearly explained by the Rabbinâ— as Numb 3.39 compared with ver 22 28 34 43 46 49. vid. Pref. Cartwright and Menasseh in Concil Quaest. 3. on Numbers And indeed the Books of Psalms Iob Proverbs Isaiah c. are in many places so elliptical that render them inaccessible to any that are not well acquainted with the Language And in explaining these Difficulties the Rabbins are most excellent having spent all their time therein As for Instance Numb 24.17 't is said The Star that shall arise out of Iacob shall destroy all the Children of Sheth Now Noah was of Sheth's Posterity and thereby all the World since the Flood are Sheth's Children But 't is hard to think Jesus Christ will destroy all Mankind good and bad Abarbinel in Mashmiah Ieshuah fol. 7. says the word is Vnwall not Destroy and says the sense is that the Governments of the Nations shall be unhinged that the Lord's Rule over all Nations may be established So Deut. 32.36 the Lord saith he 'll help his People when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left Now what is meant by none shut up or left Abarbinel ibid. fol. 6 7. sheweth where he says that the word Shut up ought to be read Ruler and the word Left is to be read Helper and proves the sence of the word is That when God sees his People are brought so low that they have no Ruler to head them and no Helper to defend them then God himself will arise for their help So Mat. 27.9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Ieremiah the Prophet about the thirty pieces of Silver Which was not spoken by Ieremiah but Zachariah cap. 11. ver 12. The Talmudists divide the Bible into Three Parts viz. 1. The Law 2. The Prophets 3. The Cetubim or Hagiographi vid. Masoret Hammasoret pag. lat 40. The first of the latter Prophets the Talmud makes to be Ieremiah and the Masorites Isaiah and when they alledge a thing out of any of the Prophets in that Volume as the twelve minor Prophets they say So saith Ieremiah though not Ieremiah but Zachariah saith it For so the Masorites who put Isaiah first say such a place is in Isaiah which is not in Isaiah but in some other of the Prophets that are in that Volume which begins with Isaiah As for Instance The seventh Keri u lo Ketib baim is twice said to be in Isaiah which it is not but in Ieremiah 31.38 vid. the Masora on the first word of Deuteronomy And on Lam 3.13 So Luke 24.44 All that is written in the Law the Prophets and the Psalms And why the Psalms only and no more of the Hagiography Because as Elias observes some place the Psalms first in the Hagiography and so the whole Volume is intended thereby vid. Otho Lexicon Rabbinnico-Philologicum p. 261. Lightfoot Kimchi's Preface on Ieremiah So Psal. 118.27 Bind the Sacrifice with Cords unto the Horns of the Altar As Kimchi saith 't is Bring the Lamb that is bound with Cords the Blood whereof is sprinkled on the Horns of the Altar But never is Sacrifice bound with Cords to the Hornsof the Altar So Rom. 9.3 the Apostle's wishing himself cursed from Christ for the Iews is supposed only to be the common Expression of Affection used by the Iews to Persons departed Anu Cipperoti kai Would we were an Atonement for thee Masecat Sanhedrim cap. 2. ver 1. So to bind or to loose is no more than to forbid or permit The Kingdom of Heaven the Days of the Messiah to walk with Christ in White alludeth to their searching the Persons of the Priests If they were perfect and approved for the Priesthood they were sent forth apparelled in White if not they came forth in Black vid. Masecat Middoth cap. ult So Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments alluding to the Rulers of the Temple who went the Round at Night and if they found a Priest asleep on the watch they beat him and burnt his Garments vid. Middoth cap. 11. also the Good Eye and the Evil Eye alluding to those that gave bountifully or niggardly in their Offerings So Isa. 12.3 to the Feast of Booths Psal. 116.13 to the Passover and the like 7. Hence Seventhly The Commentaries of the Rabbins have been a great help to all that Translate or Expound the Text As Munster saith in his Preface on the Bible That no one can well Explain the Scripture without the Commentaries of the Rabbins And Ierom saith He therefore hired a Iew to help him in the difficult places which he durst not attempt without And the best Commentaries amongst Christians are those who have plowed with the Rabbins Heifer What were the Criticks on the Bible but Men best skill'd in the Rabbins as Munster Mercer Fagius and the rest 8. Many Parts of the History of the New-Testament are well explained by the Rabbinical Writings as 2 Tim. 3.8 Iannes and Iambres mentioned by Ionathan's Paraphrase on Exod. 7.11 and the like 9. Many Proverbial Speeches are best explained by them even of the New-Testament as Mat. 19.24 Mark 10.25 Mat. 10.25 7.2 2 Thes. 3.10 c. 10. Many Names of Places Sects Moneys Weights Measures even in the New-Testament are best explained from their Writings They have indeed many Traditions very foolish but still they know their Language best and their own Affairs 11. The Law of Moses Moral Judicial and Ceremonial is fully explained by them only as to many Laws 12. To conclude As they are helpful to explain the Text so is the Knowledge of the Rabbins very needful to defend and maintain the Purity Perspicuity and Divine Authority of the Text it self as to the true Copy the Character the Points Vowels and Accents and the like Without some knowledge of the Rabbins Persons will find themselves very unable to judge of the Arguments themselves that are used on such Subjects Nay they 'll be
they writ their Epistles but that they only taught privately being not as yet separated from the Church He enquires into the time that all these Epistles had been written and shews according to his account that this agrees very well with the Epoche which he hath observed of the first Schism that happened in the Church Celsus a great Enemy to Christianity confesseth in Origen that the first Disciples of our Lord were all of the same Opinion and that they were not separated from one another until their number increased He reproaches them with these Divisions and had not omitted it if there had been any in the time of the first Disciples to have made a Demonstration of them in like manner The same Truth also appears by a place of Clemens of Alexandria This Author pretends to prove that the Heretical Churches were of a later date than the True To this purpose he divides the time which passed since the Birth of Iesus Christ into three Periods the first comprehends the time of our Saviour's Life from Augustus to the fifteenth Year of Tiberius according to the Calculation of Clement the second from the Death of Iesus Christ to the Martyrdom of St. Paul under Nero's Empire and the third from Nero to Adrian Clement shews that all Heresie began after these three Periods thus agreeing with Mr. Dodwell that they appeared not until Adrian so that some were in being until the Emperor Antoninus's time which is true of the Heretick Marcion and very likely of Valentinus Mr. Dodwell having proved in his first Dissertation that the Hereticks did not begin to disturb the Church until under the Emperor Trajan pursues this Subject in the Dissertation whereof we give the Extract and proves in particular that Marcion Basilides Valentinus and some other Hereticks made Polycarp say so often O God to what times am I reserv'd That all these Hereticks I say did not discover themselves until under the Empire of Adrian the reason hereof may be seen in the Author we will be satisfied to remark that he reprehends Tertullian by the bye of some very gross Faults as that he made but one Emperor of Tiberius and Claudius under the name of Tiberius Claudius but this of Tertullian will not seem so strange as in Eusebius one Emperor divided into three Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and that the Historian says they were Brothers After having spoke of the time of St. Irenaeus's Birth Mr. Dodwell search'd after that of his Death he rejects the pretended History of his Martyrdom by the Persecution of the Emperor Severus because it does not appear in any Author of the four first Ages that this Father was Martyred there being none that gives him this name To comprehend the strength of the Argument which is a Demonstration on this Subject you must know that the Honour of Martyrdom was so Glorious that this Praise was never forgot so that St. Irenaeus not having it from any Ancient Author though they gave him many Glorious Titles we ought to conclude that it was not due to him It 's true some of the following Ages honoured him with the Title of Martyr the first that gave it him was the Author of the Questions to the Orthodox which Mr. Dodwell supposes to be one Iustina Sicilian that is supposed to be writ about the end of the fifth Age at least he is sure he did not live until after the Emperors embraced Christianity and consequently his Testimony alone ought not to be taken for things that passed a long time before The second who calls S. Irenaeus Martyr is St. Ierom but because this Doctor has not given him this name in the places wherein he ought to have given it him if he had thought it his due Mr. Dodwell judges it is some Remark that might have passed out of the Margin into the Text so that nothing can be concluded in favour of St. Irenaeus's pretended Martyrdom neither from the Author of the Questions to the Orthodox nor from the Testimony of St. Ierom and Gregory of Tours may be looked upon as the first that spoke of it affirmatively but it is with so little Exactness and upon so false Supposition that one ought not to take notice of what he says He will have him dye in the same Persecution that crowned Photion Bishop of Lions whom nevertheless St. Irenaeus succeeded Besides it is certain that he lived when Victor was Pope as appears by the famous Dispute that happened about Easter which was undoubtedly in that Pope's time And it seems under the Empire of Commodus Eusebius and the Chronicle of Alexandria make mention of this Father in the third Year of this Emperor Mr. Dodwell believes that it was upon the occasion of his Works against the Schism of Blastus and Florinus that he put out under Commodus rather than Severus by reason of the Troubles of the Reign of this last during which it seems this Dispute was quieted The last Actions of St. Irenaeus which we have any knowledge of end in the Year CLXXXIX of our Saviour and the Tenth of the Emperor Commodus so that it may be concluded this Father died about Ninety but not full a Hundred Years of Age. This Author attributes this long Life to Providence that Tradition might be more compleat The same also was said of the Patriarchs before Moses because the Revelations were not writ but the Writings of the New Testament being received and known the like Necessity does not appear Nevertheless Mr. Dodwell carries this thought further and says That it was more difficult that the Churches planted by the Apostles should consent to an Error than to convey Books under the borrowed names of Apostles there would be nothing wanting to fall into this Unhappiness but the Perfidiousness of an Ill or the too great Credulity of a Good Man It 's to befriend Tradition extreamly to bring it from the Inconveniencies to which it seems a thousand times more subject than Scripture For after all how would it be possible to distinguish from the true Apostolick Tradition what might be added under pretext of Explication for some other end After having spoke of the Person of St. Irenaeus Mr. Dodwell passes to his Writings in the following Dissertations The design of his Work against Heresies and the time wherein it was written wholly takes up the fourth Dissertation If this Father excuses the Rudeness of his Style it is not that he was an Enemy to Eloquence or that he despised it but because his long abode in Gaul made him lose the Habit of speaking the Greek Tongue and because he was not accustomed to write whence it is concluded that his Work against Heresies was the first of his Writings nor did he write it until he was far in Years because he talks of having seen Polycarp in his Youth as a particular Advantage which seems to intimate that there were but few then in the World that could say the same thing He says
of Collecting these Pieces together The three other parts of these Prefatory Discourses are so many Dissertations one upon St. Polycarp and his Writings the second upon St. Barnabas and his Epistle the third upon Hipolitus and the greatest part of the Works that are Attributed to him Before he begins his first Dissertation he tells us That he had no design to publish the Epistles of Polycarp and Barnabas because they were already so well known but coming into Holland he heard every where a great Rumour that was surprizing enough viz. That M. Rulleus who was Chaplain to Mr. Paetus during his Embassy to Spain and who afterwards making a Voyage into Italy brought back from thence a Manuscript of the Epistle of St. Polycarp above twice as big as any that has yet appear'd as his Mr. Rulleus was very Inquisitive after it and himself intended to publish this rare Treasure but Death preventing him his Brother made a Present of the Manuscript to Mr. Le Moyne who soon perceived that they had taken the Epistle of St. Barnabas for part of St. Polycarp because they were both joyned together without any distinction The Jesuit Turrian a very Learned Man and very much accustom'd to Manuscripts was also fallen into the like mistake Which made me remember that formerly the piece of Minucius Felix's was taken for the eighth Book of Arnobius because it was affixed to his seven and that it was imagined instead of Octavius which was its true Title it ought to be read Octavus It must be very welcome to the World that the Author according to the last Will of Mr. Rulleus made an Impression of these two Epistles for there are many fine Observations added which are altogether new In his first Dissertation he maintains That St. Polycarp suffer'd Martyrdom on one of the Days of the Great Sabbath which was the beginning of the Ecclesiastick Year the first Day of the Month Nisan according to the Hebrews He says That the Jews gave the Name of the Great Sabbath to the two first Days of the Civil and Ecclesiastick Years the first of which began in the Month Tisri or September and the last in the Month Nisan or March These two Days were call'd by preference 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the first Day of Tisri was prefer'd to the other insomuch that the first Day Nisan was only the second Great Sabbath whence it comes adds Mr. Moyne that in the Gospel according to St. Luke there is mention made of a second first Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which perhaps is so nam'd because they call'd the first Day of the Year 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbathum principii Anni Now because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Annum secundum some Antient Interpreters wou'd Translate by sticking too much to the Letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbathum principii Anni by these other words Sabbathum primo secundum or secundo primum which the Greeks have render'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Observation will appear very probable to those that understand both Languages The Author says There is much reason to believe that Polycarp dyed in the Year 167. under the Consulship of Quadratus and he maintains this Cronological Observation very learnedly against all those that affirm he suffered Martyrdom in any other Year and to remove all difficulty he shews that there were many Quadratus's There was T. Numidius Quadratus who was Consul in the Year 167. and L. â—tatius Quadratus who was Pro-Consul in the lesser Asia at the same time There is a happy Illustration of a very considerable matter of Fact amongst the Circumstances of the Death of this Martyr some tell us That a Dove which came out of his side fled into the Air having lighted upon the Pile of Wood without being injured by the Flame was killed by a Soldier Neither Eusebius nor the Antients speak any thing of that Miracle they only say That St. Polycarp was wounded in the side and that a great quantity of Blood issued from the wound The Author believes That there was formerly in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna wherein the Martyrdom of this Holy Man was related these Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ex sinistro Latere exivit Magna copia Sanguinis and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was chang'd into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Dove after which they were piously believed and as confidently published that a Dove went out from the side of St. Polycarp M. Le Moyne supposes also that Lucian who lived in the same time with St. Polycarp only composed his Peregrinus to insult over this Martyr and to turn Christianity into Ridicule He believes that the Novus Empedocles to whom Themistius compares the Emperor Iovinian was Polycarp and proves it by Reasons that appear very solid and in refuting the Opinion of M. Petit who maintains in his Miscellanea Printed in the Year 1682 that this Empedocles is infallibly the Peregrinus of Lucian The Discourse upon St. Bernard is also full of Curicus Remarks The Author observes he was of the Isle of Cyprus where there was so great a number of Iews and that once they put all the Idolaters in that place to Death These Iews lived in the principal Towns of the Isle as Cyrene and Labithus and as they went often to Ierusalem both because the Passage was very easie and to assist at the Solemn Feasts so they had Synagogues there and these he says are those that were called Cyrenians and Lybertines in the 6th chapter of the Acts. St. Barnabas dying in Cyprus was Buried under a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Carch-Tree and not under a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cherry-Tree as a Learned Interpreter believed it to be We may see here very Learned Etymological Remarks intermixt with a great deal of Arabick The consideration of St. Barnabas was because the Metropolitan of Cyprus pretended to the right of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Independent of any Patriarchal Jurisdiction M. Le Moyne illustrates whatsoever he says with very fine Notions and after having observed that upon the Breast of this Apostle was the Gospel of St. Matthew Writ in Hebrew by his own hand he refutes the false consequence that Mr. Mallet has inferred from thence That the Apostles would not permit the Laicks to read the Holy Scripture He praises Mr. Arnaâ—d and the vigour with which he refutes this consequence of M. Mallet But however he proves by very good Reasons that the Epistle that is attributed to St. Barnabas is none of his He supposes it to be St. Polycarp's without absolutely determining any thing upon it In the Dissertation upon St. Hypolitus he maintains that he was not put to death in the Year 230 but many Years after He proves it by the Letter he writ to Severa Wife to the Emperour Philip. She is call'd Severina in the Canon Paschalis that was published by Scaliger but as there never was any